Providence Reformed Baptist Church

Reformed Baptist Church in Remlap, Alabama

By

Gaining Greater Assurance

There’s perhaps nothing more seemingly allusive for the genuine Christian than experiencing the full assurance of their salvation. Nearly every fellow Christian I’ve known personally for over thirty years has struggled to greater or lesser degree with doubts pertaining to the grand question, “Am I truly saved?” One reason I believe that salvation-assurance is a struggle for the child of God is because it is not something which belongs to the essence of faith. The Second London Baptist Confession speaks to this issue in Chapter 18, paragraph 3, by stating how “a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he [becomes a] partaker” of “infallible assurance.” Yet, despite such difficulties, the Confession exhorts that “it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure, that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance.” So, while a Christian may struggle with having assurance they are not to give up in their seeking after it since the Scriptures do plainly say that we are to “be all the more diligent to confirm [our] calling and election” (2 Peter 1:10).  But nevertheless, my point is, Christians struggle over having assurance of salvation.

Now when we turn to God’s Word under this struggle, there’s no larger divine treatment to aid us better in this conflict than the Book of First John. The historic occasion for John penning this letter was two-fold: first, he wrote to counter a rise of false teachers who were a precursor to the coming heresy called “Gnosticism.” These particular teachers had risen within the visible church (cf. 1 John 2:19) asserting themselves as the spiritual elite because they had “true” spiritual knowledge no one else had. Furthermore, by this claim of privileged knowledge they in turn sought to undermine and shatter any assurance held by Christians who were not privy to this special exclusive knowledge. John therefore aimed his guns at these heretics to expose them for the hypocrites they were and prove emphatically how their claim to “know God” was false.

But while John was beating back these wolves, he was at the same time striving to reassure these discouraged and confused believers that they had received eternal life. In fact, if there is one central theme to John’s first letter it is well summed up in 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” So then, John the apostle writes his letter to bring ordinary Christians the assurance that they really are Christians. As one writer put it, “[John’s] first concern is not to confound the false teachers…but to protect his readers…and to establish them in their Christian faith” [John Stott, The Epistles of John (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1964), p. 41].

But how does John go about helping believers gain a greater assurance in their salvation? John’s method is not to write a logical treatise on assurance, but rather he takes up a three-fold theme centering on the subjects of obedience, love, and truth – looking at them from three different cycles of teaching (2:3-5:5). The first cycle runs from 2:3-27. The second cycle runs from 2:28-4:6. And the third cycle begins at 4:7 and concludes at 5:5. Under these three themes John outlines three types of tests which apply to us all in this matter of examining whether or not we have come to savingly know Christ. These tests are as follows: (1) The Moral Test: Do we obey God’s commands? (2) The Social Test: Do we love God’s people? (3) The Doctrinal Test: Do we hold to the truth about Jesus?

In answer to these questions John nowhere advocates nor insinuates sinless perfectionism. I state this emphatically due to how many times 1 John has been used to promote sinless perfectionism by such statements like 1 John 3:9, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” On the surface, out of context, this statement sounds as if John is claiming that Christians never sin. But John has already established the fact in 1:9 that Christians do sin since a settled pattern in the believer’s life is an ongoing confession of sin. Moreover, in 2:1-2, while John exhorts his readers not to sin – yet, he quickly follows that with what they must do if they sin: be assured they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who has placated God’s wrath against the believer’s sins. Thus, a true Christian does sin, but he is assured his sins are forgiven by virtue of Christ’s saving work. Hence, his continual confession of sin is always met by God’s faithfulness and justice “to forgive [his] sins and to cleanse [him] from all unrighteousness” – due to what Christ has procured. These facts alone from the beginning of 1 John make it patently clear that there’s no such thing as sinless perfectionism taught in this epistle.

But while sinless perfectionism is not taught, yet there is a clear teaching on a settled pattern of life in the Christian which stands in contrast to the settled pattern in an unbeliever. This settled pattern is built first on John’s repeated usage of the present tense verb in what he says about the one who truly knows the Lord. For instance, as just mentioned, in 1:9, when John says,”If we confess our sins…” – the verb “confess” is used in the present tense. This means that a Christian is marked by a life which is in a state of ongoing confession to the Lord for his sins. Such a life like this is in contradistinction to the unbeliever, whom John says are always confessing they have no sin (1:8,10).

Yet, confession of sin is not the only fixed pattern of the Christian life. John goes further with the aforementioned tests which make up the bulk of his letter. First, there is the moral test. Here the question is: Do we obey God’s commands? This begins with the first cycle of teaching where John declares: “And by this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (2:3-6). The best way to understand this passage is to see it in the light of its contrasts. There are those, John tells us, who claim to know God yet never do what God commands. This means that in the unbeliever there is zero obedience to God. They do not ever keep God’s commands in spite of what they claim. However, the true believer, the one who truly knows Christ – his life is fixed in a pattern where he is always striving to keep and obey God’s commands. And while such obedience is never perfect and without sin, yet it is the central character trait of his life. His life is not marked by a pattern of disobedience to God but obeying God despite how often he falls and stumbles into sin.

This is why John declares in 3:9 that those born of God do not make a practice of sinning. Disobedience is not the way of life for the true Christian. Does he sin? Yes. But sin is not his uninterrupted path. When he does disobey God there is godly sorrow leading to repentance. He’s not comfortable with sin. He’s not at peace with sin. He’s at war with sin. This is due to the fact that he has now a new life where “God’s seed abides in him.” He’s a new creation. It is for this reason therefore that John asserts, “Whoever says he abides in [Christ] ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (2:6). How did Jesus conduct His life on earth? How did He walk? He did always and exactly what His Father commanded (John 14:31). In short, Jesus rendered perfect obedience to God. Does this mean then that a Christian is expected to render the same kind of obedience – perfect, without sin? Clearly and obviously not. However, what is expected and assumed due to our union with Christ is that a new pattern of life will be evident. A pattern which is none other than the pattern our Lord lived while on earth: keeping God’s commands. The point is: if the pattern of our life, the marked traits of our character are in the direction of and submission to God’s commands, then we can be sure we’re saved. This is the moral test.

The second test is the social test. And here the question raised is – do we love God’s people? Again, John uses the present tense verb to indicate his emphasis on a settled pattern of life. Thus, when he writes in 3:14, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers,” – the evidence here of a transformed life is one that goes on loving those who are born of God (see 1 John 5:1). This love is not a mere feeling or desire but an action. As John reminds us, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (3:18). This love is also indiscriminate in its treatment of fellow Christians. We don’t reserve this love for those we consider our “favorites” but we freely love all our brethren in Christ because they like us have been born of God. But this love like our obedience has Christ as our example: “By this we know love, that [Christ] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (3:16). Our service to one another as fellow Christians is to be selfless and sacrificial which are the marks of genuine Christlike love.

But should we expect to see this love in its full growth and perfection on this side of glory? No, of course not. However, if we’re born of God in union with Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, then this peculiar love for God’s people will be the general evident pattern in the life of a true Christian despite how weak and immature its fruit may be. In short, you can’t honestly claim to be a Christian if you have no love for other Christians. To be entirely absent of such love for Christians is only proving we’re children of the devil as opposed to children of God (3:10-12). This then is the social test: Do we love God’s people?

The final test John sets forth is the doctrinal test. The question under this test is – do we hold to the truth about Jesus? Commenting on this question, one writer summed up John’s teaching in this way: “The truth that we are to hold to is that Jesus is God come in human flesh, so that he is [truly] God and [truly] man in the same person. Once more John is pretty blunt: if we do not believe this about Jesus, we are not Christians…There is no nonsense about Jesus only seeming to be a man, or about the divine Christ coming upon the human Jesus at his baptism and leaving him just before his death. In the incarnation, the eternal Son of God took full humanity into union with himself. The Son became something he had not been until then, and he has never divested himself of our nature, so that, even in heaven, he ‘continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever’ ” [Rodger Crooks, One Lord, One Plan, One People (Edinburgh, Banner of Truth Trust, 2011), p. 440].  So what is pressed on all of us here is this: What do you believe about Jesus Christ? Do you believe what God’s Word reveals or do you hold to another Jesus and thereby embrace a different gospel (see 2 Corinthians 11:4). And yet, here again, we see in 1 John that settled pattern of life. In this case, it is an ongoing faith and hope and trust in the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (5:20).

So, how does John the apostle help us gain a greater assurance? We must consider three realities and see if they are indeed true about who we are and how we live. Do we obey God’s commands? Do we love God’s people? Do we hold to the truth about Jesus? It’s not perfection we’re looking for but the presence of obedience, love, and truth which is progressing as the fixed pattern of our lives as God’s redeemed children in Christ.

By

Non-resident Church Members?

There’s no such thing as a “non-resident” church member. Despite the fact that this is an actual category recognized among churches (most notably Southern Baptist churches), the very concept is in direct contradiction to what the Word of God identifies as a legitimate member of Christ’s church.

When one is described as a non-resident church member they are typically classed as someone who has made a public profession of faith in Christ, received baptism, and has joined a local church – yet, for whatever reason, they are completely absent from the fellowship and service of the church they have joined. However, in spite of their disappearance, they are still considered members in “good standing” of that local church. In fact, their credibility as church members is especially seen when they just happen to reappear to vote the latest pastor out of the church!

But when we turn to God’s Word, the characteristics and conduct of a genuine member of Christ’s church is anything but the “non-resident” type. First of all, there is nothing superficial about the salvation they have received. They were chosen from eternity by God for salvation (Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:4), given to Christ for redemption (John 6:37; Ephesians 1:7; Titus 3:14), and regenerated by the Holy Spirit unto a new life (John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5). They have also been taken out of Adam and placed into Christ (Romans 5:19), being liberated from the power of sin (Romans 6:1-14). Further, their faith in Christ is a gift from God who authors and preserves their trust in Christ (Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 12:2). And they have become a part of Christ’s living body, the church, and thus joined eternally to all of God’s redeemed people (1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Revelation 7:9).

Second of all, there is an evident change in who and what they are. They are called “a new creation,” a “new self,” and “light in the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:24; 5:8). The fruit of this transformation is seen in the growth, process and progress called “sanctification” (Romans 6:19, 22). The manifestation of this inner divine work is a manner of life that is being conformed to the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). Hence, there will be humility, love, patience, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, joy, forgiveness, and self-control – which are all Godward virtues exercised for the sole purpose of glorifying God (Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 4:17-5:8; Colossians 3:12-17; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31). Moreover, there is seen in them a growing hatred for personal sin that is carried out in the daily work of killing sin by the Spirit (Romans 7:14-25; 8:13). And finally, this transformation is also evidenced by an intentional witness to bear to others the glory of Christ in the saving message of His gospel (Acts 5:42; Romans 10:15).

Lastly, they desire the fellowship of other believers and seek that fellowship in the formal gathered community of a local church (see Acts 2:41-47). This means that they place themselves under the teaching of the Scriptures (Acts 2:42)  and thus under the discipleship of a faithful pastoral ministry (Ephesians 4:12-13). They also strive to build up other believers by bearing their burdens, exhorting them to holiness, praying for them, worshiping with them, and stirring them up to love and good works (Ephesians 4:16; 6:18; Galatians 6:1-2; Hebrews 3:12-14; 10:24-25; Colossians 3:16).

Are there really non-resident church members then, in light of what Scripture says? No. The truth is, if someone claims to be a Christian yet refuses to be committed in covenant with a local church – their entire claim is biblically called into question (1 John 2:19; 3:14). So, what should we look for in someone who joins a church? More than a mere decision, but a life transformed by grace.

 

By

The Whole Gospel

Amidst evangelicalism in our present culture, there’s been a revival of sorts with returning to and rediscovering the Gospel. Whether its seen in conferences, books, or on Internet websites and blogs – the Gospel of God’s grace is “all the buzz”, if you will. To see and hear more talk and teaching explaining how God saves sinners by His grace alone through Christ alone is both encouraging and necessary. We must be clear about the Gospel. We must know what it means and the way to unpack it for sinner and saint alike. All such discussion among Christians is an ear-mark of biblical spirituality.

Yet, while there’s so much to be celebrated in this gospel-revival – like most movements in church history – there’s always something lacking, with some error that actually minimizes the rediscovered truth. In the present case, the excitement over this great renewed interest in the Gospel, has in many circles, laid an exclusive weight on nothing but the Gospel indicatives. This refers only to what God has done to save sinners. Obviously this truth is at the heart of the Gospel and must be preached and understood – if we’re to be faithful to what the Bible bears witness to, as to why any sinner is rescued from their sin and reconciled to God (e.g., Rom. 3:21-5:11; Eph. 1:3-14; Col. 1:13-14).

However, if one places all their emphasis on what God has done to save us, then they will end up with only half of what makes the Gospel good news. And thus, unwittingly, they will wind up in serious error. In fact, where this accent is so strongly pressed on the indicatives of the Gospel, it has brought many professing Christians to embrace ideas about the Christian life that literally truncate all that Scripture reveals about God’s saving grace. And what’s cut off from their understanding are the imperatives which the Gospel calls every believer to live by.

To say it another way: many Christians in our day think that to be Gospel-centered is to only talk about what God has saved us from, without also confessing what God has saved us to. It’s reading only the first eleven chapters of Romans, while ignoring the last five chapters which tell us how Gospel-centered Christians live. The practical outworking of misreading the Gospel in this way, is that you have Christians claiming God’s forgiveness without God’s mandate to pursue holiness (cf. Heb. 12:14). In other words, obedience to God is optional since we’re “under grace and not under law.” This is the mind-set behind an indicative only-gospel.

But let’s be clear: this way of thinking is wrong because it’s reading only half of what the Gospel is about. Since God has saved us in Christ, then our lives should give proof of what the Lord has actually done. This is why, for instance, in Colossians 3:1-17, we begin by reading what God has done for us in salvation – by raising us up with Christ and enclosing our lives in Him. This is the indicative of the Gospel. However, the teaching doesn’t stop there. Since we’re united in Christ, with a new life in Him – there’s now a distinctive way this spiritual union is applied. Colossians 3:5 starts the application: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire…” Here’s the rest of the Gospel. It’s in the imperatives. It’s God’s divine call for His people to flesh out what He has done for them, by living lives in obedience to Him.

And this obedience God commands from us is not impossible, because it’s carried out by God’s power (cf. Phil. 2:12-13). This is why the Lord’s imperatives are the other half of the Gospel – because the life God is calling us to live is the new life we have received due to His saving grace. Therefore the pursuit of holiness, godliness, and righteousness tell the rest of the Gospel story. It demonstrates the power of God’s salvation for all the world to see with both feet on the ground.

So then, in all our “gospel-talk”, let’s remember this: the biblical Gospel declares what God has done, while commanding us how to live. There’s no separation between the two: The Gospel is both indicatives and imperatives. “And by this we know that we have come to know [Christ], if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3).

By

United in Christ as the Body of Christ

When God saves us there are many wonderful and remarkable things that happen to us as individuals. First of all, we’re born again with a new principle of life which we never had before (John 3:1-8). Second of all, with the new birth, we receive a new nature – a new heart – that pulsates with new affections and drives that are centered on Christ and wanting to follow Him in full obedience (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Luke 9:23; Colossians 3:5-10). Third of all, our personal standing with God has radically changed. While before we were under condemnation and wrath due to our sin, now we are forgiven, declared righteous, and forever accepted by God because of everything Christ achieved by His life and death in our place (Romans 3:21-28; 8:1-2; Ephesians 1:7).

But not only has God justified us in Christ, we have also been united with Christ in spiritual union, where He is now our life (Romans 6:1-6; Colossians 3:4). In fact, what the apostle Paul writes to the Galatians as his own testimony, is true of every Christian: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”(Galatians 2:20). These words of truth speak to the reality of spiritual union all Christians have with Jesus Christ our Lord. They testify to the life transformation that God has brought to every sinner He has chosen to save.

In addition to these blessings though, a Christian has become someone who is supernaturally indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). And through the power of the Holy Spirit working in a believer, they are being sanctified in the very image of Christ Himself (2 Corinthians 3:18). Needless to say, the point of all these examples is simply to give proof to the fact that when God’s saving grace comes to us as individuals, there are an astounding number of personal blessings we receive (cf. Ephesians 1:3)

However, while God saves us as individuals, yet He does not leave us in our individualism. What does this mean? It means that the Christian and the life he lives is not as one who is isolated from other Christians. To put it in the vernacular: God does not save sinners to live as “lone rangers.” He redeems us and gives us a new life to be lived with fellow Christians (Hebrews 10:24-25). In other words, our personal walk with God is not a private walk but a corporate, collective, public walk with other believers in Jesus Christ.

This is why, for instance, when you read in Acts 2:41 and following, about the three thousand sinners God saved on the day of Pentecost – it says, proceeding their conversion, they collectively “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). They did not separate from each other but united together as the church of Jesus Christ. Acts 2:44 states this with more plainness: “And all who believed were TOGETHER and had all things in common” (emphasis mine).

If you might be wondering why all these people stayed together, who before their conversion were strangers – 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 gives us the theological and spiritual reason: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we are all baptized into one body – Jews and Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” Based on this passage, here is another remarkable blessing God brings when He saves us in Christ. By the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit we are all placed TOGETHER in the spiritual body of Jesus Christ. No matter our cultural background, our ethnic distinctions, or our social class – when God saves us He unites us, not only with Christ, but with the body of Christ – who is the church.