Always Reforming

I recently shared my thoughts on how pursuing personal holiness is not legalism.  It was my goal to emphasize our responsibility and the covenant motivation for pursuing holiness, but I don't want anyone to think that that is all there is to be said about pursuing holiness.  It is also important to remember that the Holy Spirit is absolutely vital to our pursuit of holiness.  Let's take a look at how the role of the Holy Spirit relates to our responsibility to pursue holiness. Good theology maintains balance.  This can be seen in nearly every field of theology, indeed, of life, but it is displayed most prominently in the discussion of salvation, which includes sanctification.  We must maintain a proper balance between man's responsibility and God's work.  We can truthfully say that man is called to live a holy life, but we can also, and must, truthfully say that he cannot do that without the equipping of the Holy Spirit.  Here is where we must remem...

The prevailing attitude towards the pursuit holiness in the modern Church is unfortunate and unbiblical.  Modern theology often touts freedom in Christ as a veil for license and labels as a legalist anyone who has a genuine desire to be holy.  We hear sermons about how we are weak and broken (nice words for sin), and that's pretty much where the discussion is left off.  We're basically told to admit that we can't earn salvation by works, so we shouldn't even try to be holy.  It reminds me of when Homer Simpson, responding to Lisa's consolation that admitting you have a problem is the first step to overcoming it, said, "Is it also the last step?" The New Testament attitude towards holiness is incredibly far-removed from the one espoused by modern evangelicalism.  The inspired authors of the New Covenant revelation conceive of no faith-based salvation that frees the believer from a life of pursuing holiness.  Far from removing the need for obedience, fai...

We Christians pray things like, "Teach me to rely on You," and "Help me to grow spiritually."  We talk about how hardships force us to develop graces like patience and endurance.  We quote Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 and feel good about our outlook on life.  Boy, it's easy to say all that stuff when life is going well, but it's so much more difficult to be enthusiastic about hardship when your actually experiencing it!  Life has been throwing some pretty stressful things the way of the Spencer household the last few weeks.  It's so easy to freak out and to forget just how blessed we really are (spiritually and monetarily), but, as I continue to pray these things, I am beginning to realize that God is answering my prayers. The question, then, that we must ask ourselves is, "Do I really want to grow spiritually?"  Carnal disciplines (carnal meaning earthly or worldly, as opposed to spiritual) illustrate this idea for us.  I always loved to e...

“Boasting in the Lord” 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 2/28/16 I.                    Sermon Introduction a.      Have you ever heard a kid brag about his dad?  His older brother? b.     He is bragging/boasting, but it’s about something outside of himself c.      Here in 1 Corinthians 1 we are going to see that we as Christians should boast, but not in ourselves d.     Scripture introduction                                                              i.       Here in 1 Corinthians 1 Paul is talking ...

Joshua 23 (take 3 minutes to read this passage)     Have you ever had a friend who just couldn’t break free something or someone, even though he (or she) knew it was bad for them?  Maybe it was an addiction, or perhaps it was an ungodly friend or romantic relationship? Whatever it may have been, he (or she) knew it was spiritually harmful, but they just couldn't break free from it.          In Joshua 23 we see how the Israelites were like this. We also see how important it is for us break free from these types of situations and to dedicate ourselves wholly to God.     Verses 1-2 give us our context.   The Israelites have conquered much of the land, but there remains some occupied by various Canaanite people groups.  Meanwhile,  Joshua is old and dying.  His days of leading the people in battle are over, so he calls the leaders together and he  gives them a final charge.  This charge comprises th...

Grace I.                    Introduction a.      Taking time off from Titus b.      Why are we gathered here today?                                                        i.       Grace—baptism                                                     ii.       Grace—because God has saved u...