Monthly Archives: November 2009

Apply: Galatians 3:6-14

Posted on by
Reply

What a relief it must have been for the Galatians to hear that they were more like Abraham than the Judaisers!  And what a massive twist it must have been for the Judaisers to hear that the true sons and daughters of Abraham are those who believe like Abraham believed.  In Galatians 3:6-14 we learned that God always and only justifies promise-believers, not law-keepers.   We studied: 1) Abraham and the Blessing, 2) The Law and the Curse, 3) A Cursed Christ on a Cursed Cross.  You can download or listen to the message here.  We hope these questions will help you apply the word to your life.  God intends to change us through His word!  May His transforming grace meet us all.

1)  Why does Paul direct the Galatians (and therefore, us) to Abraham and how he was justified by God?  How does Abraham demonstrate God’s plan to justify sinners all along?

2)  How do you think about the blessings and curses that come with the law?  Re-read Deuteronomy 28 in light of the obligation of Deut. 27:26 to keep the whole law.  What hope do sinners like us have?

3)  How do blessing and curse collide in Jesus Christ on the cross?  How do you view the cross of Christ?  Is the cross simply about your sin?  Or do you see the glory, majesty, power and beauty of Christ and what He was accomplishing for us on the cross?

4)  What is the difference between capital “L” legalism and little “l” legalism?  In what ways do you struggle with little “l” legalism when it comes to the blessings of God in your life? How do you try to earn God’s blessing instead of looking to and trusting in Christ alone?

5)  In what area of your life does God want you go grow in faith?  What does it look like for you to be a promise-believer today, tomorrow, this week, this month, the rest of your life?

Consider sharing your answer to #4-5 with your spouse, a trust friend, your parents or friends in your care group.  God is at work in our hearts and is changing us by His grace!

May the grace of our Lord overwhelm you this week,

Eric

Tomorrow Morning at SGC

Posted on by
Reply

Hello everyone!  I hope your Thanksgiving was awesome!  We are looking forward to gathering as a church family tomorrow morning, to celebrate all that Christ has accomplished for us and all the blessings of God that have come to us through Him.  You can join us at 9:00 in the Spurgeon Room for prayer.  Then at 10:00, Jordan will lead us in worship.  He and I talked today about the chance we have to exalt Jesus Christ tomorrow and how much we are looking forward to that.  We trust the songs will help us to praise and exalt the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us.

We will also continue our series in Galatians.  We will study Galatians 3:6-14.  This is a continuation of Paul’s argument that justification comes by faith alone.  He has already pointed the Galatians to his experience (2:20), then to their own experience of justification by faith and not works of the law (3:1-5).  Now he will point even further back – all the way to Abraham! I hope you get a chance to read this section before church.  That will help to get it in your heart and mind as we study the text together.

After this Sunday, we are planning to take a break from Galatians for the Christmas holidays.  We are planning 3 sermons about Jesus Christ:  Fully God, Fully Man, Born This Day.  It will be wonderful to take the time to study our Savior and to see His deep love for us.

See you in the morning!

Eric

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on by
Reply

“How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?” 1 Thes. 3:9

This verse captures how we as pastors feel about our church family at Sovereign Grace Church.  There is simply no way we can give enough thanks to God for you, and for all the joy you bring to us as pastors.  We have watched you walk through a year of joys and sorrows, significant economic trials, transitions and changes, and all of this with joy and faith toward God.  We have watched God’s grace at work in your lives.  We have watched the heroic love you have demonstrated toward one another.  We have experienced the presence of God together in our Sunday meetings and have grown deeper in our love for and trust of our Savior.  As we all turn our thoughts toward the Lord tomorrow and bring to mind all that we are grateful for; please know that you will be on our hearts.  We hope you have a wonderful day celebrating God’s goodness to you!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

On behalf of the Pastors,

Eric

Fresh Motivation

Posted on by
1

In Ephesians 4:1 Paul urges us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…”  The writer of Hebrews exhorts us strive “for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14).  In our efforts to honor God with our lives we must say no to temptations of ungodliness on a daily basis.  An inherent danger of this battle though is to become preoccupied with our sin.  This is often what happens when we allow the Gospel to slide out to the margins of our lives.  The effect of this drift is a weariness and spiritual dryness.  We grow apathetic to the things of God.  Our motivation for godliness slows down or in some cases comes to a halt.  So how do we get started again?  What will make the winter of our soul turn to spring?  Certainly the Galatians series is serving to remind us that we’ve been justified before God based not on our life-performance but through faith in Jesus Christ.

Several months ago I read an excellent book on this subject entitled A New Inner Relish: Christian Motivation in the Thoughts of Jonathan Edwards by Dane Ortlund.  It was through this book that God gave me a fresh appreciation for the doctrine of regeneration and a significant boost in joy.  Maybe you’ve heard the term “conversion” , “born again” or “the new birth”.  These are all synonymous with regeneration,  which describes how God grants us new spiritual life.  The question Ortland poses to his readers is “why do you obey God”?  There a number of answers to this simple question.  We obey God out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us on the cross.  Because Jesus loves us He was willing to die in our place, paying the price for our sins.  Our identity in Christ might be the reason we obey God.  We don’t want to dishonor the name of the Savior.  Or perhaps we obey God because there is great benefit in doing so.  We’re laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven.  These are all perfectly valid and biblical reasons for our obedience.  Jonathan Edwards certainly affirmed them in his extensive writings but the author has discovered what lay at the foundation of the Puritan theologian’s motivation.  Gratitude, identity and benefit are all dependent on the grace of God to be effective and that grace comes through the  regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.

Ortland writes, “Edwards has gone beneath the problem of motivational dearth to the root.  And he has there discovered that nothing external to a human being will invigorate obedience.  Only a divinely initiated, — though humanly sought! — internal change will effect heartfelt obedience.  And this change is the furnishing of a new taste, a new sense, a new inclination, a new relish.” One of the reasons why sin is so tempting is because a part of our heart desires to imbibe its pleasures.  As we’ve seen before “Jekyl’s potion” is no answer.  We need a new hunger and thirst.  Ortland points out, “Our only hope to obey God is if He intervenes and reverses the savoring tendencies of our spiritual taste buds”.   Ezekiel 36:26 describes the transformation that takes place when a person is regenerated; “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” When God raised us up with Christ He gave us nothing less than an entirely new nature!  Our likes, desires, interests, passions, and longings have all changed.  For Jonathan Edwards the thought was “The delight of the saint consists in the enjoyment and exaltation of a Being outside of himself; namely God.  The joy of the regenerate heart is the Creator.”

I found a summary by Ortland helpful; “We have called Christianity the gift of a new relish.  What is it to relish but to enjoy?  We have described it as a new inclination.  But what is it to be inclined in one way and not another but to find great joy in one thing than another?  We have reflected on Edward’s metaphor of a newfound taste. Yet this too implies that we find God intrinsically pleasant.  Our language all through reminds us that Christians are those whose eyes have been opened to a new and superior joy — the joy of holiness.” 

When we begin to grow weary in our pursuit of holiness we must remember that God has changed us down to the very nature of our being.  He’s given us a new heart on which He’s written his Law.  The Holy Spirit (the third member of the Godhead) has come to live within us.  As a result of this change we are able to taste and see and experience and  enjoy (albeit through a glass dimly) He who is truly awesome and worthy of our adulation!  This is what happened to each of us when we were regenerated.   Christian motivation is not simply a function of applied knowledge or spiritual grit and determination.  Rather our forward movement is the work of the Spirit drawn upward and inward by a new inner relish for God Himself.  I encourage you to pick up a copy of Ortland’s book, in our bookstore.  Take some time in the next couple of days to consider your own conversion.  I believe these things will give you fresh vision, hope and motivation as you pursue the Savior!

Thankful for His Grace,

Brett

Apply: Galatians 3:1-5

Posted on by
Reply

Our series in Galatians continues to inform and shape our lives.  Yesterday, Kirk preached from the first 5 verses of Galatians 3.  You can listen to this excellent message here.  The main instruction was: Don’t be foolish, justification is by faith alone.  Kirk showed us how Paul continued his argument for justification by faith alone by pointing to the Galatians personal experience.  He reminded them of their experience with God the Son, God the Holy Spirit and God the Father.  In each, the point was clear; your interaction with the things of God came through faith and not works, right!?!  Of course, the same is true for us.  I hope these questions will serve you as you apply the word to your life:

1)  In your own experience of salvation, what in your life commended you to God or what things in your life made you “deserving” of your salvation?  Were you saved by your works or through faith alone?

2)  Is there anything that distracts you from Jesus Christ and Him crucified?  What about your life or efforts tempts you to look away from His all-sufficient sacrifice for you? When you sin and fail, do you look to Christ crucified on your behalf or do you look to your own efforts to “get back on track”?

3)  Are there any legalistic systems that you’ve developed for your life?  What’s the difference between a “legalistic system” and “godly discipline”?  Does legalism lead you to self-righteousness or spiritual depression?  (Notice: either of these two results should be a hint that the “system” isn’t godly discipline!)

4)  How would you describe your experience with the Spirit when you first got saved?  What about your life indicated to you that you had become a “spiritual” person?  Did you receive the Spirit that moment of your salvation because of your works or because you deserved to receive?  Or, was it simply His grace through faith?

5)  How would you describe your experience of the Spirit’s power in your life since being saved?  Are you tempted to believe His power is contingent on your good or bad days?  Why?

6)  Why do you think Paul would point them to their personal experience to prove justification by faith and not by works?  How does your remembrance of you experience of salvation help you fight against legalism today?

It’s been said before that nobody can argue against someone’s personal testimony.  Paul knew this and used this reality to help his friends see that justification by faith isn’t simply a doctrine.  It is personal.  Jesus Christ has done everything that God required to secure His acceptance of guilty sinners like us.  We have access to all that Christ did on our behalf, not through works, but through faith alone. It is by faith that we have been saved and made alive; and it is by faith that we continue to live in the power of the Holy Spirit today.  And all this has come to us (why us!?!) by His grace.

I hope you enjoy the rich grace of God today!

Eric

Tomorrow Morning at SGC

Posted on by
1

Good evening – I hope you have had a great day.  We are looking forward to our meeting tomorrow morning, at the corner of Centerville and Elbow! Our day begins at 9:00 in the Spurgeon Room, where a group of us gather to pray for the service.  Please join us if you can.  Then, at 10:00, our service begins!  We will begin with a time of singing, celebrating the gift of salvation that has come to us.  We will also hear a testimony from Trace and Corbrett Batton about their experience in Childrens Ministry and about an opportunity to sign up and serve in that crucial ministry.  Finally, our sermon will be the 8th sermon in our study of Galatians.  The text is chapter 3:1-5.  Please read this section in preparation for our study tomorrow.  We will close the meeting with an opportunity to pray for anyone in need of prayer.  And then we’ll move into the lobby for a cup of coffee.  We look forward to seeing you and being to together tomorrow!

Grace to you,

Eric