Trinity, Person, etc, as necessary to unmask false teachers

With all the fuss of late on the Trinity and Elephant Room II, I have found it interesting that my reading of Calvin’s Institutes this year has brought me to a particular section.  Book I, Chapter 13, Section 4 is titled “The church has regarded expressions like “Trinity,” “Person,” etc., as necessary to unmask false teachers.  As you probably know nothing is new under the sun.  Enjoy the section.

4. Such novelty (if novelty it should be called) becomes most requisite, when the truth is to be
maintained against calumniators who evade it by quibbling. Of this, we of the present day have too
much experience in being constantly called upon to attack the enemies of pure and sound doctrine.
These slippery snakes escape by their swift and tortuous windings, if not strenuously pursued, and
when caught, firmly held. Thus the early Christians, when harassed with the disputes which heresies
produced, were forced to declare their sentiments in terms most scrupulously exact in order that
no indirect subterfuges might remain to ungodly men, to whom ambiguity of expression was a kind
of hiding-place. Arius confessed that Christ was God, and the Son of God; because the passages
of Scripture to this effect were too clear to be resisted, and then, as if he had done well, pretended
to concur with others. But, meanwhile, he ceased not to give out that Christ was created, and had
a beginning like other creatures. To drag this man of wiles out of his lurking-places, the ancient
Church took a further step, and declared that Christ is the eternal Son of the Father, and
consubstantial with the Father. The impiety was fully disclosed when the Arians began to declare
their hatred and utter detestation of the term μ . Had their first confession—viz. that Christ
was God, been sincere and from the heart, they would not have denied that he was consubstantial
with the Father. Who dare charge those ancient writers as men of strife and contention, for having
debated so warmly, and disturbed the quiet of the Church for a single word? That little word
distinguished between Christians of pure faith and the blasphemous Arians. Next Sabellius arose,
who counted the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as almost nonentities; maintaining that
they were not used to mark out some distinction, but that they were different attributes of God, like
many others of a similar kind. When the matter was debated, he acknowledged his belief that the
Father was God, the Son God, the Spirit God; but then he had the evasion ready, that he had said
nothing more than if he had called God powerful, and just, and wise. Accordingly, he sung another
note—viz. that the Father was the Son, and the Holy Spirit the Father, without order or distinction.
The worthy doctors who then had the interests of piety at heart, in order to defeat it is man’s
dishonesty, proclaimed that three subsistence were to be truly acknowledged in the one God. That
they might protect themselves against tortuous craftiness by the simple open truth, they affirmed
that a Trinity of Persons subsisted in the one God, or (which is the same thing) in the unity of God.

Text copied from CCEL PDF version.  Slightly different translation than the McNeill version linked above at WTS Books which I am reading.

A Cry for Deliverance

Heavenly Father,

Save me entirely from sin.

I know I am righteous through the

righteousness of another,

but I pant and pine for likeness to thyself;

I am thy child and should bear thy image,

Enable me to recognize my death unto sin;

When it tempts me may I be deaf unto its voice.

Deliver me from the invasion as well as

the dominion of sin.

Grant me to walk as Christ walked,

to live in the newness of his life,

the life of love, the life of faith,

the life of holiness.

I abhor my body of death,

its indolence, envy, meanness, pride.

Forgive, and kill these vices,

have mercy on my unbelief,

on my corrupt and wandering heart.

When thy blessings come I begin to idolize them,

and set my affection on some beloved object –

children, friends, wealth, honour;

Cleanse this spiritual adultery and give me chastity;

close my heart to all but thee.

Sin is my greatest curse;

Let thy victory be apparent to my consciousness,

and displayed in my life.

Help me to be always devoted, confident, obedient,

resigned, childlike in my trust of thee,

to love thee with soul, body, mind, strength,

to love my fellow-man as I love myself,

to be saved from unregenerate temper,

hard thoughts, slanderous words, meanness,

unkind manners,

to master my tongue and keep the door

of my lips.

Fill me with grace daily,

that my life be a fountain

of sweet water.

Valley of Vision – A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Wondrous Cross

As of late I have been doing a lot of thinking about what type of music I fill my head with.  Does this mean I have given up the relm of secular music, No.  I still love the Allman Bros, Railroad Earth, Country Music, but I will be trimming down some of my selection of the other stuff.  In particular most of what is on the radio today, which leaves much to be desired in regards to wholesome lyrics.  So leaves me looking at new “Christian” music (I use that term loosely) on the market which also leaves much to be desired.  Maybe I’m getting old or maybe it is as bad as I think both lyrically and quality!  Not much compares to the lyrics of Psalms and Hymns to contemporary music IMHO.  Speaking of which there is a group called Page CXVI that is on task to make hymns known and accessible again.  Novel concept huh!?  Make music which deep and rich lyrically known in what appears to be a shallow and wide world.  One of my favorites by them is the remake of When I Survey the Wonderous Cross by Issac Watts.  So much truth.  Enjoy the lyrics by Watts and Page CXVI version to music below.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

To Christ, Who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
Forever and forevermore.

Public Prayer

As of late Carl Trueman has become one of my favorite bloggers to read which is hosted over at Reformation 21.  I found his blog Another Thing We Do Badly yeterday particularly striking.  I have personally been in the presense of some bad prayer and some magificient prayer.  It was convicting and challenging as I get the opportunity to pray publicly somewhat frequently during the adult Sunday School class I lead.

In fact, pulpit prayer should be a vital part of the worship service.  It is at those moments that the pastor has the task of leading the people into the very presence of God.  This is an awe inspiring task, not to be undertaken lightly.  Such leading should be clear, suffused with biblical allusions and shaped by biblical thought patterns.  It should be built on the foundation of a solid grasp of the mediation of Christ and should reflect that in its content.
…
To listen to a lot of public prayer in churches is too often like listening in to a private quiet time — and that is not meant as a compliment.  The erosion of the boundary between public and private and the relentless march of the aesthetics of casualness have taken their toll here.  It seems that unless somebody prays in public precisely as we think they might do in private, we all fear that this might be a form of affectation which prevents the prayer from being `authentic’ — whatever that might mean.  Yet often there are people in the congregation on Sunday who have come from a week of pain, worry and confusion; they may be spiritually shattered; they might barely be able to string two words of a prayer together; and at this moment a good pastor can through a well-thought out and carefully expressed prayer draw their eyes heavenwards, lead them to the throne of grace and give them the words of adoration, confession, thanksgiving and intercession which they cannot find for themselves.

Read the rest here at Reformation 21.

Don’t forget the books that are linked as well to give us a healthy example.

Valley of Vision : A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Pastor in Prayer by Charles Spurgeon

Pray the Bible by Matthew Henry

Discipleship fighting for our friends!

Do we fight for our friends sanctification?  I don’t mean the stereotypical accountability groups.  These are defined well in Fight Clubs by the statement, “All too often Christians are either wimps or bullies.  Wimps wuss out of the fight of faith, pathetically following the vain promises of the world.  Bullies beat one another up over petty issues instead of fighting together.  When Christians fight, very few fight in faith for one another.” pg 19

Does this define your view and/or experience with accountability?   Lets not make discipleship and accountability a legalistic checklist of yes’s and no’s and stop there!  Should we act and ask the questions of our Christian duty?  Of course!  But lets not stop there with a pitty party when we fail, lets stick together, address the root issue, and attack it with the forgiveness and power that has been given by accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Only then will we find something truly worth fighting for…. What will motivate us, and how can we keep the gospel central in our obedience?” pg 22

My charge for you and me is to find others to fight for and with and keep the gospel central in the fight.

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
(Hebrews 3:13 ESV)

Completely and Unreservedly

Great post by Derick Thomas over at Reformation 21.

Completely and Unreservedly

From the post:

Within weeks of my conversion I came across Stott’s latest publication (published in 1972), Your Mind Matters. I vividly recall reading these words, “one of the most neglected aspects of the quest for holiness is the place of the mind.” In Basic Christianity, Stott had urged that in addition to a disciplined study of Scripture, Christians ought to “read good Christian books.”

That’s My King

Never gets old.

Discipleship fight for it!

Think about it.  We put up a struggles and fights for a lot of things.  How we look by working out hours in the gym, how well we play a particular game by practicing, our position at work by doing our best and refining our skill set, justice for the less fortunate, fight for our right to have fun, and the list can go on and on.  The question is stated in the book Flight Clubs – Gospel Centered Discipleship, “Do we work equally hard to improve our understanding of grace and defeat sin?  Do we spend hours in front of the gospel?”

Looking at some of my behaviors it would seem I am content with my sin at times.  But by the Spirit I am reminded of passages such as these:

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Romans 8:13 KJV

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12 ESV

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7 ESV

These passages sound like fighting orders to me!  Are we fighting and if so what are we fighting for?  In the booklet fight club Dobson paints it well saying we are fighting for image and we all have an image problem.  “The problem however, is not that we lack beauty, success, creativity, virtue, popularity, or intelligence.  The problem is that we believe the lie that obtaining those images will actually make us complete, happy and content people.” pg. 14

The image we are truly searching for goes right back to Gen 1:26.  We were created in God’s image.  Unfortunately that was scared by the fall with Adam and Eve.  With start filling our mind and lives with what things that can never add up to God’s image.  Fortunately for us though Christ’s work we have a way of restoring that image.  Being changed by the gospel allows us to rethink and move toward what our image really should be by clinging to the person and work of Christ.  “We become what we behold.  If we behold the beauty of Christ, we become beautiful like Christ.  This happens, not just once, but over and over throughout the Christian life.” pg. 15  So, we go back to the verses above.  We are called to mortify the old image, fight for the true image by means of discipleship.

Over the next few weeks we will look more on the topic of discipleship in the context of relational discipleship guided by scripture and the booklet mentioned above.  Hey everyone else on this blog has a series going on I might as well too.

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts

And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
(Isaiah 6:3-8 ESV)

The image of Isaiah’s vision of the LORD and his response brings chills every time I read it.   How often I need the reminder that He is a holy and perfect LORD and has sent the Son to allow my sins to be forgiven.  This needs to be drilled into my fleshly body each day, and by the power of the Spirit I will respond.  Let us as Christians remember our “guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for,” and be moved to say “Here I am, Send Me!”

One of my favorite books that I consider most impactful on my life is The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul.   Please check it out, or the teaching video series here.

Prayer, why do we struggle to do it?

A few months ago a friend and I were talking and the topic of prayer came up.  He made the comment that prayer was the hardest spiritual discipline for him to consistently do.  As I thought about it I had to agree with him. But wonder why, since prayer is such a simple but profound thing that can be done anywhere and anytime.

To start let’s take a look at what prayer is. The Westminster Shorter Catechism question 98 says it well by saying.  “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.

Sounds easy huh?  Offer up our desires unto God, confess or sins.  How much time do we spend a day offering up desires in our minds?  I’d like this car, I’d like to eat dinner at this restaurant, I would like the new iPhone, this TV, that X, that Y, that Z, and the list could go on.  If we examine ourselves we are very good at offering up requests and desires, at a moment’s beckon call.  We are, of course, selfish people aren’t we?

Obviously the list above and others is not “agreeable to his will” as the catechism states, but to my point we are good at desiring.  So why is it hard for us to spend more time offering up desires agreeable to God’s will?  He is in fact our creator and the one we are supposed to glorify and enjoy forever, right?

A couple of thoughts that come to mind as why.

Our instant gratification culture certainly doesn’t help.  We live in a society that demands results, whether it is at home, work, or even church.  If we cannot wait a second longer for task X to be complete and positive results to come a flowing this can affect our prayer discipline if we are not mindful.  We may pray for weeks/years and there is no clear answer yet.  Or maybe we give up after a day.   In the workforce when this happens we scrap that plan and start a new one, right?  Let’s not do this with prayer.  Pray and fast more fervently!  Maybe in these cases we need to re-evaluate if we are praying in God’s will, but let’s not stop praying.  Remember “and whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:22 ESV)

Secondly I think of time.  We tend to fill our days, hours, minutes with something.  When we do have down time, we fill it with one of the many things that bides for our attention.  TV, computer, Smart Phone, iPad, phone call, txts, pick your distraction.  When there is an open moment I know I have to fill it with something.  How about prayer!

We all know there are many more reasons, but my intent here is not to continue to point out all the reasons why we do not pray, but only to list a few and then motivate us to action.

The exhortation to you and me is, let’s examine ourselves and strive to “continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2 ESV).  Turn off the phone, TV, computer, whatever distraction and/or reason we don’t pray and let’s have communion with God as we are designed to.

I leave you with this quote from J.C. Ryle from I Have Something to Say unto You:

“Prayer is the only way by which man can approach God. Prayer is the only messenger we can send to tell God what we want; and if we would have good things for our souls, we must ask for them. Prayer opens the treasuries of God’s mercies like a key; if we ask, we shall receive. Prayer is the means that everyone can use if he will—and yet for all this many people never pray.

Reader, beware lest your neglect of prayer should prove your condemnation. If Jesus is to save you, you must pray. If your sins are to be forgiven, you must pray. If the spirit is to dwell in your heart, you must pray. If you are to have strength against sin, you must pray. If you are to dwell with God in heaven, your heart must talk with God upon earth by prayer. Oh! do not be a prayerless Christian, whatever others may think right. Begin to pray this day if you never prayed before. Remember if you and I are to meet each other with joy at Christ’s appearing, you must pray.”