July 20, 2010

Justification & Your Response to the Law

As a Christian, what is your response to the demands of the law? Darryl Hart posted an edifying excerpt from Petrus Dathenus’ The Pearl of Christian Comfort on the grounds of the Christians’ assurance.

For even though the law requires perfect righteousness from believers, they refer the demanding law to Christ, in whom they have become the righteousness of God; that is, a righteousness that is acceptable to God (Col. 1:14). If the law demands that believers shall pay for their sins, they refer the law again to Christ who has completely fulfilled all the demands of the law that He also blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, nailing it to His cross (Col. 2:14). That is, He canceled them so that the law can no longer condemn us, no more than it can condemn Christ unto whom we are united, seeing that Christ has delivered us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). Paul is therefore correct when he says, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15: 55-57). This proves that in Christ we are not only set free from the strength of the law and of sin, but also from the power and dominion of death and hell.

From this proceeds the spiritual glorying and confidence of Paul, when he exclaims, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?” (Rom. 8:33-34).

HT: Heidelblog

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November 19, 2009

A Reformed Pastor is a Justified Pastor

Last Summer I began reading Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor. I realise I should have read it long ago, but like many things I just never got around to it. Regrettably, my first attempt failed. I was blessed by what I was reading, but like many things distractions won the battle. Therefore, The Reformed Pastor is on my must read list for this Summer. Despite not having much time today I thought I’d bite into a few pages to wet my appetite again.

Baxter begins by pointing out something that should be obvious; a Reformed pastor is a justified pastor. Well, a Reformed pastor should be a justified pastor. Here is a snippet from Baxter’s exhortation to all those in the ministry and all those training for the ministry:

Believe it, brethren, God never saved any man for being a preacher, nor because he was an able preacher; but because he was a justified, sanctified man, and consequently faithful to his Master’s work. Take heed, therefore, to yourselves first, that you be that which you persuade your hearers to be, and believe that which you persuade them to believe, and heartily entertain that Savior whom you offer to them.

And Baxter continues…

It is a fearful thing to be an unsanctified professor, but much more an unsanctified preacher. Doth it not make you tremble when you open the Bible, lest you should there read the sentence of your own condemnation? When you pen your sermons, little do you think that you are drawing up indictments against your souls! When you are arguing against sin, that you aggravating your own! When you proclaim to your hearers the unsearchable riches of Christ and his grace, that you are publishing your own iniquity in rejecting them, and your unhappiness in being destitute of them!

I’m sure this will be the first of many posts inspired by Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor.

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September 18, 2009

Gordon and Hill on N. T. Wright

Here are two essays brought to my attention by Joseph Randall:

Observations on N. T. Wright’s Biblical Theology by Dr. T. David Gordon (PDF)

N. T. Wright on Justification by Charles E. Hill

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