1. Satan highlights what God has forbidden rather than what he has given to incite sinful desire, grounded in self-sufficiency, self-confidence, and self-trust (‘but God said’ / ‘the LORD has prevented me’)
2. Satan induces faith in self to determine right & wrong rather than faith in God’s word (‘so when the woman saw’ / ‘behold … it may be’)
3. Satan maximizes the damage and uses the faithlessness destroy the faith of others (‘you have listened to the voice of your wife’ / ‘Abram listened to the voice of Sarai’)
4. Satan knows that we were made for fellowship, so he exploits that for sin (‘she also gave some to her husband…’ / she ‘took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband’)
5. Satan’s plotting brings guilt & shame as we realize what we’ve done (‘the eyes of both were opened’ / ‘when she saw…’)
6. Satan happily leaves us to deal, in misery, with the consequences of our sin (‘they sewed fig leaves together’ / ‘she looked with contempt on her mistress’)

May God keep us faithful and wary for our enemies attacks. This is how they typically go. Thank the Lord that he has given us a way of escape (1 Cor 10.13) in the gospel of Jesus.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Satan’s Tactics for Bringing Us Down

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Is it good to take stock of our sin? Should we meditate on it and measure it against God and against the sins of others? Is it right to pay that much attention to sin? I think the answer is both yes and no, depending on how you do it.

Measuring Against God

The kingdom is given to those who are poor in spirit, humble, broken, mourning, and contrite over their sin (Matt 5.3-5). This only comes from rightly evaluating yourself before the throne of a holy God. Before we find any good in the gospel, we must find the bad (Is 6.1-7; Is 66.1-2). God is holy and we are not. Our sin, measured against his purity, means we are filthy before him (Is 64.6).

Measuring against God is a good place to start. It makes us realize our need for a Saviour who will take all our sin and pay all our guilt (Is 53.4-6).

Measuring Against Others (Bad Ways)…

… When I Sin More

There are two bad ways to measure our sin against others. One is to see our sin as greater than others in a way that changes how we think God will deal with us. So if I look at a brother and realize that he’s holier than me though he has been a Christian less time than me, I can begin to think things like this: ‘God must be growing tired of me. He must be disappointed. He’s probably ready to give up on me. Look at how this brother’s life is marked by faith in all the ways I’m marked by failure.’

When I think like this it’s because I’ve forgotten the gospel all together. He doesn’t deal with me as my works deserve, but when I measure myself against others this way I’m acting as if salvation (and God’s favour) are dependent on my performance. That’s simply not true and I will be robbed of the hope that only the gospel of free grace can provide.

… When Others Sin More

But there’s another bad way to measure our sin against others. Sometimes when we compare with others, our performance stacks up favourably for us. We can see our sin as being less than that of a brother or sister… and in fact, that may be accurate.

But if we, even for a second, allow the thought into our mind that our righteous performance began with us, we’ve forgotten the gospel again. If I think that my success in sanctification is somehow due to my strength I will immediately be tempted to pride and judgementalism and I will be robbed of the opportunity to freely and genuinely love my brothers & sisters as God has loved me in the gospel.

Measuring Against Others (Good Ways)…

… When I Sin More

A true measurement of our sin, when we honestly inspect the intentions of the motivations of the heart (Gen 6.5), will find us to be an even greater sinner than most people we know. That’s true from our perspective, even if it’s only because we can’t know the hearts of others like we know our own hearts. The apostle Paul knew this. And when he measured himself against other sinners he humbly recognized that the measurement of his sin was greater than all:

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Tim 1.15-17)

When our sin is measured and found greater than others, rather than being depressed because our works aren’t sufficient, we can glory in the all-surpassing sufficiency of our Saviour who suffered to save us from ourselves. Yes, I may have sinned more — but God’s glorious grace now shines that much more clearly through me. An astounding benefit of this kind of thinking is also an increased love for God who has forgiven much (Luke 7.47).

… When Others Sin More

One day when Matthew Henry was robbed while journeying, he returned home to write this in his diary:

Lord, I thank you
that I have never been robbed before;
that although they took my money, they spared my life;
that although they took everything, it wasn’t very much;
that it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.

What Henry saw was freeing. He knew that, given his nature and his propensity to sin, he could easily have been the one committing the sin that day. So when he measured the sin of another and found it greater than his own, he gave thanks to God who had not — in his wrath — given Henry over to sin (Rom 1.18-32). The fact that Henry had not sinned like this was not an opportunity for pride, but a chance to give thanks to the God of the gospel of grace who, in his grace, had restrained Henry from sin.

The Tale of the Tape

So yes, we should take stock of our sin. Since we’re all going to compare anyway, why not redeem it with the truth of the gospel? We should measure it first against God and then also also against others. But we must be intentional to do it in a way that engages and magnifies the gospel of grace rather than works-driven-legalistic-performance.

What else have you found helpful in turning comparison-type thoughts to worship? What truth do you engage in moments when you’re tempted to measure in non-gospel-honouring ways?

Post from: Julian Freeman

Measuring Sin

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Is the overuse of video games and pervasiveness of online porn causing the demise of guys?

Increasingly, researchers say yes, as young men become hooked on arousal, sacrificing their schoolwork and relationships in the pursuit of getting a tech-based buzz.

Every compulsive gambler, alcoholic or drug addict will tell you that they want increasingly more of a game or drink or drug in order to get the same quality of buzz.

Video game and porn addictions are different. They are “arousal addictions,” where the attraction is in the novelty, the variety or the surprise factor of the content. Sameness is soon habituated; newness heightens excitement. In traditional drug arousal, conversely, addicts want more of the same cocaine or heroin or favorite food.

The consequences could be dramatic: The excessive use of video games and online porn in pursuit of the next thing is creating a generation of risk-averse guys who are unable (and unwilling) to navigate the complexities and risks inherent to real-life relationships, school and employment.

Read the rest here.

Okay, so now that they’ve told us what we already know, can we finally get back to a place where we admit that men & women are wired differently? For a while it seemed like we were supposed to believe that it was only social conditioning that made boys & girls different. So how do we explain why this problem is so heavily man-biased?

Interestingly, in his TED talk on this topic, Psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo laughingly admits he doesn’t know the answer to this problem. He says, ‘What’s the solution? That’s your job to figure out! My job is just to alarm you!’ I’ll give him points for honesty.

The answer, of course, is the gospel. Men were made in the image of God. We were made to be kings & conquerors. We were made to be his representative rulers, spreading his righteous kingdom to all corners of his creation. But sin has rewired men to seek their own adventures, to build their own kingdoms. Since that’s easier to do in a pretend world where we can always win, we choose the safe route, conquering digital enemies and winning digital women.

But the good news of what Jesus has done for us is this: God re-creates us in Christ. We die to sin and are made alive to God. We are given a new heart; we are re-wired to live for conquests that mean something. We are remade as image bearers who live like him and rule like him and put ourselves in harm’s way to serve the weak like him.

Dr. Zimbardo was right and wrong. He was right that he doesn’t know the answer, but wrong that it’s our job to figure out the answer. God showed us the answer when he sent his Son to suffer and die a very real death for a generation of men who have lived fake lives in a fantasy world. Jesus answered the problem finally when he rose from the dead to give us new life and to make us again in his image. This time with a real kingdom to live for.

Post from: Julian Freeman

CNN: ‘The Demise of Guys’

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There are many women who would simply love to bear children, but cannot for a variety of reasons. Also, there is the problem of women who are saved or begin maturing spiritually later in life and have many regrets about the way they mothered their children, but cannot go back and change anything now. How is a message like this at all hope-giving for them?

The Gospel Shifts Our Categories

The gospel, which is the foundation of all our contentedness, must also be the foundation of our categories. When we speak of ‘mothering’ and ‘motherhood’ we want to make sure we’re using these words in a gospel-informed way.

Simply put, the family that matters most in the New Covenant is not husband, wife, and 2.1 kids with a minivan and a white picket fence surrounding a house in the suburbs (or even a quiver-full of kids in the boonies). Rather, it is the family of God; the the motley crew that surrounds you every Sunday morning. We can’t miss this:

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10.29-30)

Foundational to the promises of the gospel and the new covenant is a new family. And we cannot miss this. The very call to follow Jesus will mean that many people will have to forsake natural family relationships.

Some will become singles and ‘eunuchs’ for the cause of Jesus’s kingdom. But that is not a call to be family-less, it is a call to join the family of God (the church).

In fact, this is how Jesus himself viewed his world. When people asked Jesus about his family, he said, ‘Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother’ (Mark 3.31-35). For those who hear the gospel-call to follow Jesus and are willing to leave all this world behind them to gain the pearl of great value, Jesus promises a family. Just not in the categories we’re used to.

What Mothering in the Church Looks Like

I’ll offer two examples of this mothering taking place in the early church family. The first example is that of Tabitha (Dorcas) in Acts 9.36-43. When she died she was lamented because she was ‘full of good works and acts of charity’, specifically to the widows in the church. When Peter came to her, the widows ‘stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them.’

What characterized her life? She wasn’t bearing children, but she was doing motherly things. She was caring for the weak (not necessarily younger). She was full of tender mercy and charity. The text doesn’t use the word ‘mother’ anywhere, but it’s hard to see this woman as anything but a mother in her church family.

The second example comes from Titus 2.3-5. There the older women (spiritually mature) are to be teaching the younger women what essentially amounts to the stuff your mother was supposed to teach you, if she was godly. But the fact is that many in the church don’t have godly biological mothers and need spiritual mothers to teach them the basics of loving hubby, kids, and chores.

What Paul is envisioning here, I think, isn’t some big teaching ministry in front of crowds. It’s the nitty-gritty, day-to-day, in your kitchen (literally) kind of instruction on real life matters.

A Final Word of Hope

The gospel redeems everything that God initially intended for good. If mothering was created good, the gospel ultimately redeems it. And not for some, but for all. And not just a little, but a lot! Think of it. Jesus doesn’t promise one new mother if you believe the gospel, he promises ‘a hundredfold’!

And for those who have longed to be a mother, the family of God allows for one woman to play a mothering role in the lives of way more people than those who merely bear their own biological children. How awesome is that!

And you know what happens when there are mothers like this? The word of God is not reviled and our enemies are put to shame by the gospel-contentedness of Christian women who know what they are made for and embrace it (Titus 2.5, 11-14).

Post from: Julian Freeman

What Gospel-Contented Mothering Looks Like

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What would you see if you looked in my backyard? A sandbox, a patio, some trees, a garden, a shed, some room for the kids to run, and a fence to keep them from running too far. At least, that’s what you’d see at first glance. But if you looked closer, you’d see more.

Upon closer inspection, you would see that the grass is patchy. The retaining wall is leaning. The tree branches that are hanging precariously over my neighbour’s shed need to be cut back. The shed has a bees’ nest in the top and a chipmunk house in the bottom (they made their way through some rotten wood). Yes, there are some things in disrepair.

Right now there are weeds that need to get bagged and some grass seed that needs to get spread. There’s lots to do. Some of it isn’t done because I’ve prioritized other things — and I think it was wise. On the other hand, some of it isn’t done simply because of bad decisions and some measure of irresponsibility on my part.

If you come into my backyard, you’ll see my weaknesses and my shortcomings.

The Thing about Backyards

The thing about backyards is that they’re in the back. No one sees them unless we let them. Most of the time front yards look much nicer, because that’s what we want people to see.

It struck me the other day that when we talk about ‘celebrity pastors’ we’re essentially talking about ‘front yard guys.’ They are guys who, because of their stature, can only be known to their followers by what they put forward for public consumption. If John Piper misses mowing his lawn for a week, no one will know.

Backyards and the Training of Men

For years I had the incredible privilege of training for pastoral ministry under the mentorship of Paul Martin (who, by the way, actually takes care of his backyard quite well). He was a man who willingly and deliberately opened up his life to me as a young man. He let me see his ‘backyard’, his shortcomings and his mortification-still-in-progress. If I’m honest, I think that’s where I grew the most in my respect and admiration for him and in my awareness of the seriousness of the calling.

As I’ve watched him honestly tackle his weaknesses and grow in grace I’ve learned many important lessons about being a Christian, a man, a husband, a father, and a pastor. I learned to grow as I watched him grow. It was in the ‘backyard’ that I learned what it means to bring life into submission to Jesus.

If you are a pastor — or just a mature man in the church who desires to mentor younger Christian men — let me admonish you: Let men into the backyard of your life. It will be good for you and it will bless them immeasurably. Resist the urge to keep guys in the ‘front yard.’ Let them see how you wrestle through the unfinished business of your spiritual life and they will grow.

Young Men and the Backyards of Others

Young men in our day flock to celebrity pastors. Why? The other day I did a quick survey in my mind of all the young men in our church. To my knowledge, of the guys around my age, only about three (3!) had solid Christian fathers who loved their mothers and were involved in their life. The Christian fathers of the past generation all disappeared, but men still need men to look up to. And in a world where cultures create celebrities, the vacuum has been filled by famous pastors.

There is up-side to that. Men like Matt Chandler, CJ Mahaney, John Piper, Tim Keller, Don Carson, Mark Dever (the list goes on and on), are good Bible teachers who love Jesus and can point others to him. But there is a downside, too. You’ll never see their backyard.

If you are a young man — or a man of any age who is seeking to go into ministry — let me admonish you: Don’t cheat yourself by getting ‘mentored’ from afar. Find a man, a local man, whose backyard you can examine, and be mentored by him. Take initiative, ask him to teach you, open your life up to him. Ask him questions. Get to know his strengths and his weaknesses, and watch as he grows (1 Tim 4.15).

I promise you, the more you get into his backyard, the less you’ll need the ‘front-yard-only’ guys. And you will be blessed.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Why Backyards Matter

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Satan Desires Discontentment

Satan’s desire for mothers is the same as his desire for all women. He desires to create discontent in the roles that God has assigned. That is what Satan did in Eden, by approaching Eve first. And according to Paul (1 Tim 2.11-15), that is what Satan was doing in the early church in Ephesus. And you can rest assured that’s what he’s doing today.

God has designed women to be wives and mothers in order that they might reflect God himself, in whose image they are created. But Satan wants to create discontent with all of it so that the image of God is marred and belittled.

There are many ways Satan still works to create discontent in women — even Christian women — today. Here are two:

1. He says you’re too good for mothering

He tells women that the ideal is to get a degree, be a professional, and shatter the glass ceiling. The idea of being a wife and a mother is good for some or perhaps for a time, but the idea of being forever identified as a wife & mother is clearly not for you. The idea of letting a husband ‘lead you’ is so far beneath you it’s inconceivable, and having your identity be something bound up with your husband and your children is degrading.

When he creates this kind discontent, he has won. Just like in Eden, this rising up will result first in frustration, and ultimately in being brought low.

2. He says mothering is too good for you

Satan's lie: mothering should be one continuous string of 'mommy & me' moments

In recent days it seems that our culture has shifted somewhat. Gone are the days (seemingly) when mothering is bad and career is good. Now we have entered the days of ‘Super-Moms’, where mothering is not for the faint-of-heart.

Simply feeding your children is not enough. You have to make your own food, according to all latest health crazes, and you have to prepare them as ‘dishes’ like the chefs on TV. Just clothing your kids appropriate to the weather is not enough. You have to clothe your children just right so that they can be the appropriate fashion accessory for you.

Making sure your children are educated is not enough. You must choose carefully between classical education options, homeschool options and private school options; but you must find something that will make your child excel beyond the others.

Reacting to a generation of moms who were perhaps not involved enough, the pressure now is to engage your children in all manner of special activities from the time they are birthed. Yoga, painting, music, exercise, and who knows what else(!) all become ‘essential’ for good moms. Though previous generations knew nothing about these things, they are apparently now essential for a child’s brain development or emotional and relational health.

And whatever you do, if you are a good mom, you must make sure you get it all on camera so you can post the pictures on Facebook and the ideas on Pinterest to let everyone know you’re keeping up. Plus, you should probably earn some income (at the very least, open an Etsy shop) to prove you’re not inferior to the women around you who hold down jobs.

And on top of that you must make sure that your body looks the exact same as it did before having children so you can be a ‘yummy mummy’ like the real housewives of wherever.

Subtly, but powerfully, Satan communicates to women that all these are essential to good mothering. And when you can’t keep up, you get discouraged and discontent. And in that moment, Satan wins.

God’s Desire Is the Answer

So what is the answer to all these lies and temptations from Satan? That’s what I think Paul is getting at in 1 Tim 2.15; a way to be ‘saved’ through the temptations of Satan. (He argues similarly in 1 Tim 5.14-15 with regard to widows avoiding the temptations of Satan.)

1. Mothers must cling to the gospel too

Paul says, ‘she will be saved through childbearing — if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.’ The continuing in ‘faith and love’ is expressive of Paul’s own testimony (1 Tim 1.13-14). In other words, if mothers are to be content, they must do the same thing that the apostle Paul did: believe the gospel of love which has overflowed to them in the grace and mercy of God. Even more than being a mother, their foundational identity is ‘Christian,’ beloved of God in the gospel.

They must cling to this to be firmly grounded, immovable when Satan tempts them to discontentment.

2. Mothers must be content with their God-assigned role

When Paul says ‘childbearing’ in this verse he is using short-hand to refer to the whole role of ‘marrying, bearing children, managing the household’ (1 Tim 5.14). This role is to be the main occupation of the wife & mother; it is what she was created for. The one who created her desires her to be grounded in the gospel and content in this role in order to be delivered safely through Satan’s temptations.

Being content in this role is where the ‘holiness’ of 1 Tim 2.15 is found, through persistent ‘self-control.’

Post from: Julian Freeman

Satan’s Desire for Mothers

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In Creation & Fall

God created and ordered the world — and it was good. But one thing was not good: Man was alone. So God created the helper suitable for him who would be not only his wife, but the ‘mother of all the living’ even before she had children (Gen 3.20). Once this ‘mother’ was created and given to her husband, creation was ‘very good.’

Of course, the downfall of humanity came when the one who was created to be mother took on a different role, was deceived, and led her family into transgression.

But God was not done with this woman and was not content to leave motherhood unredeemed. Rather, in the very context of pronouncing his judgement on motherhood (Gen 3.16) he also pronounced that the role of motherhood was going to be blessed with the privilege of redeeming all of humanity and all of creation (Gen 3.15). Through this mother would come the one who brings true life to all those who will truly live.

In the Old Testament Narrative

The narrative of Genesis unfolds as a fulfilling of the blessings and curses of God as the seed of the woman is forever opposed by the seed of the serpent. The climax of the stories in Genesis surround the wives of the patriarchs and their inability to bear children. If the women can’t become mothers, the whole plan of God falls apart. But each time God intervenes and gives children to the mothers so that his plan of redeeming the world continues through them.

Midway through the Old Testament, in Psalm 131, the psalmist reflects on God’s dealings with his people in order to call his people to ‘hope in God both now and forevermore.’ Do you know what he appeals to? The best image he can think of to display the trustworthiness of God is the image of a weaned child with his mother. As a weaned child has learned to trust and to hope, so the people of God should trust and hope in their God (Ps 131.1-3).

Similarly, as Isaiah reflects on God’s purposes in judgement and redemption and calls God’s people to trust in his good will and the deliverance he will bring, he compares God’s care for his people with that of a mother for her children. ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you’ (Is 49.15). They can know that God will have mercy and remember to redeem his people because his compassion for them exceeds that of a mother for her children (the highest earthly example).

Jesus would bring this theme to light again when he is about to come to the end of his earthly ministry. In Matthew 23.37 Jesus stands looking out over Jerusalem and declares, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!’ Here again, the compassion of God for his people Israel is compared to that of a mother caring for her children.

In the Coming of the Deliverer

In the opening two chapters of Luke’s gospel there is a strong emphasis placed on the theme of the barren woman miraculously giving birth to a child of promise: first Elizabeth with John and then Mary with Jesus. The reason is simple: we have reached the climax of this particular theme through Scripture, so its fulfillment must be highlighted. Paul reminds us of this very thing in Galatians 4.4 when he tells that Jesus, the Saviour, was ‘born of a woman.’ He is the promised deliverer, the seed of the woman, come to crush the seed of the serpent.

At the end of the Bible, in Revelation 12, John reflects on all God’s working in history through his people Israel and how Satan has opposed them and now continues to oppose the church. What is the picture that John chooses to use? The messianic people are pictured as a mother, with the entirety of redemptive history up until Christ as her period of travail in labour. Woman (together with man!) has been saved through childbearing (1 Tim 2:15), as  Jesus, the promised one, miraculously conceived, is finally born to save his people from their sins.

And that is the story of the Bible, through the lens of motherhood.

Post from: Julian Freeman

The Story of the Bible as Told Through Motherhood

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You have to begin with identifying the sin. You can’t kill it, repent of it, or seek forgiveness for it without identifying it. One suggestion I received a number of years ago was to use the sin lists of the New Testament and try to identify my sin in biblical terms (Col 3.5-10 is one example). That’s helpful because the first step in fixing a problem is identifying the source of the problem.

But even if I’m able to identify that my tire is flat, that doesn’t fix my problem. It just helps me begin the process of fixing the problem. My wife Stacey’s post today was helpful for me as she pointed this out. I think far too often I find the flat tires in my life and then think I’ve actually done something productive. But I need to move from identifying the problem to correcting it.

When it comes to sin, there is no way for me to ‘fix’ the problem; but I must own my sin and confess my sin and again return to the cross, where Jesus has ‘fixed’ my sin problem. If I stop at identifying without moving to confessing, I’m not actually accessing the grace that Christ has purchased for me.

Stacey writes this about her own experience yesterday:

I had recognized pride in my life, but somehow in my identification of it, I forgot its vileness, its disdainfulness. When I looked at my envy, my pride and my covetousness, it was almost palatable. I gave it the right name, but that’s about it. I wasn’t recognizing it for what it actually was.

I’ve always prided myself (how ironic) on being able to identify sin in my life, but so often I forget that I need to confess it. It’s as though I’ve come to equate identification of sin with confession of sin. As I read Tim [Challies]’s biblical description of envy, my patient, longsuffering Father reminded me that I needed to go to Him.

I, so often, forget the value or need for confession. I’ve made my sins acceptable, not recognized them for what they really are, and I know that I’m forgiven for all of them anyway. Confession can therefore seem almost incidental—the mere dotting of an “i”.  Obviously this is patently untrue, but I know that I definitely minimize its value and necessity.

Read her whole post, ‘Called to Confess’, here.

As a sinner, I found this helpful. I hope you will too.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Identification is Not Confession

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One of the many joys of pastoring is seeing Christians grow in their love for one another and in their unity of fellowship, despite various church backgrounds. What becomes apparent when Christians from different backgrounds get together is that depending on what kind of a church experience you come from, you may have a radically different understanding of the Holy Spirit and his work than some of your friends and fellow church-members.

Objective or Subjective Work?

Some of us tend to conceive of his ministry as more objective: his work is done to us. He regenerates, he gives faith, he seals, he protects until the end. That is glorious!

But for others of us, there is a tendency to conceive of the Spirit’s ministry in more subjective categories: his work is done in us. We feel his assurance, we’re equipped with gifts, we are prompted by his leading. And that is glorious too!

The reality is that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is dynamic. He is the Spirit of truth who opens our eyes and affects our hearts. He is the one who gives us life and sustains it. He brings our salvation and completes it. He is intimately involved in us because of what he has done to us.

To the Word

So, in Ephesians 1, Paul glories in the objective work of the Spirit:

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit , who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

He is a seal objectively placed on us; that is our new reality and the certainty that we have of our salvation. Praise God!

But the Psalmist, in Psalm 35 reflects on the present subjective work of the Spirit, assuring him that God is for him: “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation!’” Or, as Augustine personalized the prayer,

Whisper in my heart, ‘I am here to save you’

In Our Worship

I love the way Wesley captures that balance of the objective and subjective work of the Spirit in these two verses of ‘And Can It Be?’:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Saviour in my heart.

So does the Spirit work in objective ways or subjective ways? The answer, of course, is ‘Yes!’ and ‘Amen!’

I’m so thankful to the Triune God for the way he has orchestrated our salvation to display the glories of his grace. He has determined that he would save us in such a way as to show off the glorious ministry of his dynamic Holy Spirit.

Post from: Julian Freeman

The Objective-Subjective Spirit

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Musically speaking, the album is more eclectic than we’re used to from Sovereign Grace. These songs sound distinct from each other and different than previous SGM releases. At first I wasn’t sure what that would mean, since I’ve enjoyed many of Sovereign Grace’s recent albums. But this one stands apart.

Lyrically, this album is rich. The songs glory in the dynamic interplay of God’s transcendence and immanence and the majesty of the eternal God who revealed himself in the suffering servant.

Spiritually and emotionally, this album is gripping and engaging without being cheesy. I am amazed at how well the individual songwriters did at matching the musical elements to the lyrics so that the climactic points of the music serve to make the words even more worship-compelling.

I want you to hear this album so badly I’m embedding it below so you don’t even have to leave the page to hear it.

Worship leaders, you will serve your church well if you give this album a good listen and use what you can to lead your people to the God who is our song ‘from age to age.’

Post from: Julian Freeman

Modern Hymns for the Church

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