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“We need to settle this now my friends. Your normal everyday christian walk involves putting to death all of your self interest. It will throw off every sin that entangles and ensnares. It will daily kill the old man of flesh that cares only for himself. It will supplant God’s will for your own. It will bear witness about your king at the very great expense of all the things this world holds dear. And it will rejoice in the suffering this illicits…”
“…I actually want you to be offended by this. Don’t be offended if the music is too loud or not to your taste, don’t be offended if the carpets are too old, or if someone here in the church once said something to you that was hurtful. Let that stuff slide. But be offended when I lump you into the same batch as the Twelve. Because the moment that you say to yourself ‘Stupid disciples! How did they miss that Jesus just fed 5000 people and could easily feed 4’, then you are in danger more than they ever were…We need to be offended. There is great sanctification in catching yourself next time saying ‘Well, I would never do that’, or ‘At least I’m not like they are’…and then to rebuke yourself. To take every thought captive. And repent. We need to be a people of repentance…”
“What could be more comforting to Christians than to know that the outcome of their lives is not in the hands of fate, or nature, but in the hands of a benevolent God? … ‘The Good news is found in the words: If God is for us ... This is the message of predestination: God does not leave me to impersonal, fortuitous circumstances. God determines, in a very real way, my destiny which is glorification. Whatever else happens to me in this world, I know that God is for me. That knowledge is humbling, as well as comforting.’ (R.C. Sproul)”
“This completes the logic of Romans 8: those who have the Spirit (v.4) will walk according to the Spirit. They will (v.5) set their minds on the things of the Spirit. They will (v.13) put to death the deeds of the body [and] live...If the Spirit of God himself prays that we will be conformed to the image of Christ, and the Father, (v.27) who knows what is the mind of the Spirit, has determined (v.28) to work together with the Spirit to work all things towards this good, we know (v.29) that we will be conformed to the image of his Son, because God has predestined it, and (v.30) “those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” What an incredible hope we have then, in the midst of requisite suffering, that we know that if we suffer for the sake of Christ, we can be confident that the calling, election, and the both present and eternal inheritance of glory is also ours in Christ Jesus.”
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)…While believers are now presently ‘children’ of God, the full implications of our relationship with God is yet to be shown. When our true identity is fully revealed, it will be because we finally see him in all of his glory; then the process of being made like him will be completed and we will share in his glory…In contrast to the cult of positivity, which insists that believers should always have a positive attitude and confession, the Bible describes believers as those who have a view which encompasses both present and future realities. And while God certainly calls us to be content with what he provides for us in this life and to avoid complaining or grumbling, we should never be content spiritually, nor should we feel totally at home in this world.”
“To address God as Father involves a relationship of intimacy. To be a member in good standing in the family of God is a privilege never to be passively assumed or taken for granted. In fact it is the greatest privilege of all, to be able to come to God and address him as Father…There is a peculiar notion permeating our culture that all people are children of God. This misguided presumption is one of the reasons why so many in churches today have such a struggle believing some of the foundational Christian doctrines…Adoption in Paul’s world carried many implications which would be foreign to our thinking today. To start with, adopting a child was almost unheard of, because adoption was generally a method of taking on a legal heir for the purpose of assuming management of the father’s estate.”
“Many people want to soften the words of Jesus here, calling the woman a ‘dog’…and offensive statement in this culture as well as ours…I want to suggest that this offense just needs to stand…he plainly says to the woman ‘you are not of the people of God’…still we get stuck on the word dogs, don’t we?…but look closer…the woman doesn’t see it this way. She sees this riddle for what it is. It’s a parable about timing, not inequalities…the time for the gentiles incorporation into the people of Goe is coming, but not yet…Still yet, she will not be put off…she shows dogged determination to get help for her daughter…We see stark this comparison: the self-righteous Pharisee to the self-abasing Phoenician woman…and for this Jesus commends the woman”
“When I look upon God’s good law, which promises life to those who keep it, and death to those who don’t, it exposes me as a sinner. Some here may even be living the experience that Paul described in chapter 7 rather than a life of freedom from slavery to sin. It is not as though we should just say: “oh there is no condemnation, it doesn’t really matter,” and then go on living just the same. Instead, we should know that this is an untenable situation; an unacceptable position. But it is not as though we should go back to the Law, understanding that the one who sins shall die, and then try harder to keep the commandment…Instead, the solution is to remember who we are. I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Praise God!!! Prayerful meditation on the gospel is the solution. It is the means for sanctification; sanctification by faith alone.”
“The other blunder that us spiritual types tend to make is to speak and act in ways that don't honour God. But, because we are so sincere in our hearts and soft in our voices, we believe God will understand. Just because we are well meaning in our prayers or in our worship doesn't mean that our offerings are acceptable. We must not act outside of how God has said he is to be addressed or praised. Scripture tells us that we must honor God in the ways that he tells us to honour him, and not to presume upon his grace…We must not let the rule-filled life overtake the God-filled life...”
“A Pharisee in the first century was not scorned as a legalist. No, he was looked up to as a model citizen and a person of piety and religion. Unfortunately, Pharisees had (as Paul says) a ‘zeal for God, but not according to knowledge’ (Romans 10). Amazingly we can have a passion for God and yet not know God. We can be deceived, captured and enslaved to the deadly allure of legalism. And tragically those who have been raised in the church are the most susceptible to this deception…”
