What a beautiful expression of God’s faithfulness.  If only we all could have the opportunity, maybe we should just take our lives as we live them and as we are going to share our faith.

For His Glory by His Grace

Here are the notes and videos from the T4G 2012 Main Sessions courtesy of www.t4g.org and Justin Taylor. I would highly recommend taking a few weeks and perusing them.  With permission I have provided a PDF of all Justin’s notes from the main sessions for download.

For His Glory, Pastor James.

T4G 2012 Notes download as PDF, the links next to the titles take you to the specific posts on the blog

John Piper, Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Authority Keep Us Safe for Everlasting Joy: Notes / Video

Matt Chandler, Fulfillment of the Gospel:  Notes / Video

Ligon Duncan, Underestimated God: Notes / Video

David Platt, God’s Sovereignty, the Fuel of Death Defying Missions: Notes / Video

Kevin DeYoung, Spirit Powered, Gospel Driven, Faith Fueled Effort: Notes / Video

Thabiti Anyabwile, Will Your Gospel Transform a Terrorist?: Notes / Video

Mark Dever, False Conversions: Suicide of the Church: Notes / Video

Albert Mohler, Power of the Articulated Gospel: Notes / Video

CJ Mahaney, Sustaining Power of the Gospel: Notes / Video

 Worship

Worship is one of the wonders of the Christian life creating awe, an opportunity of expression and a sense of overwhelming joy that is unsurpassed.  This joy is fully known because of Jesus Christ, the One and only Son of the living God who created all that exists for His glory.  Jesus, in His glorious and triumphant life, death and resurrection, has secured the eternal forgiveness and life for all who believe.  Because of this great work, God is revealed to the lost sheep that they might be saved.  From the beginning of time, God has established Himself as the object of great worth, praise, adoration and reverence.

Though our current attitude toward worship changes from season to season and generation-to-generation, the scriptures teach us all that is needed in order to understand worship, participate in worship and celebrate Christ who is the object of our worship.  Worship, in a nutshell, is praising something because of its worth.  As the church, we understand that the only one who is worth anything in this universe is the one who created it all, the Lord God Almighty who has made Himself known through His Son, Jesus the Holy Anointed One of God.  These lessons will engage the mind and the heart in the action of worship and allow the learner to look deep into the cavern of their soul and discern what is the greatest joy and affection found.  They will be able to see clearly God’s plan for worship through His creation, His holiness, His worthiness, His character, His justice, His mercy and His love toward His children.

Paul says in the book of Romans chapter 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.[1]  Therefore, we must now take time, to view scripture through two lenses:  a lens of theological truths, and a lens of consequences of worship.  Then we will understand the great God worthy of great worship!

Old Testament Principles for Worship

In the Old Testament the worship of Yahweh is a magnificent and glorious collection of types, shadows, rituals and liturgy.  Though often mysterious, it can clearly be understood in light of how the new covenant in Christ transforms the essence of worship and fulfills the totality of how God desires worship through Him.  From Adam to Malachi, we can see a perfect and beautiful display of God’s worth and His desire to be worshipped by His people.

Creation and the Garden for the Coming of the Lamb

Beginning in the Garden of Eden, we see Adam and Eve, the first humans, created righteous and upright before God walking with Him in intimate fellowship.  This walking with God is indeed worship and illustrates a reality that one day will become true for all who believe.  This intimacy and perfect worship of God was destroyed because of willful sin in the lives of the first people and thus, all humanity is now under the curse of sin that leads to death; both physically and spiritually.  People are no longer allowed to walk with God and God illustrated the gospel by providing the skins of an animal through the shedding of its blood in order to “cover” the sinfulness of man.  God must make a way for man to be in His presence, or else we could never be in His sight again, except for damnation.

Of course the creation account alone is a declaration of worship, as the Psalmist declares that the Heavens declare the world of His hands.  Though creation demands the glory and worship of God, the first people are removed and shut out from God’s perfect place, His “holiness” is hidden from them as they are now dead, having only God’s mercy to hold on to except they be eternally condemned.  It could be said that the first believers were also Adam and Eve in that God prepared a shadow for Jesus Christ there in Genesis chapter three with the death of the animal, preparing the atonement and declaring to Adam and Even that He would indeed send the seed of the woman, Jesus, to crush the head of the serpent and redeem His people so they might worship Him again.[2]

Offerings and Gifts

Even before the Law was given and before the Jews were made, God prescribed that man should worship Him by giving of the labor of His hands a sacrifice to the Lord.  Such is evident in the early days of the first siblings, Cain and Able, whom both worshipped God as commanded and gave the first fruits of their labors.  Cain, his grain offering and Abel the prize of the livestock – sadly, Cain hated Abel because Abel was righteous[3] and thus Cain hated God because God would not accept his offering due to the hardness of his heart.  Cain gave false worship while Abel’s was genuine.[4]

The Patriarchs & Posture & Place

Throughout the Old Testament, the birth of Israel is seen and in her, the worship of God, after all, that is the reason for her creation in the first place.  Starting with Abraham all the way to Jacob, when God delivers or disciplines, the result is worship.  Eventually the Jews, through famine and captivity, are on the verge of redemption through God’s ordination and plan through Moses.[5]  It is through Moses that we learn the proper posture of worship when God says, “remove your shoes, for you are on holy ground.”[6]  The presence of God is holiness, pure and consuming, as we’ve seen from the garden, we are unfit to produce affection toward God and we should approach Him in no way except by humility, repentance and fear.

Through Moses, God gives the law, which establishes the concrete visible teacher that will govern the entire world for eternity.  The Law of God is God’s revealed worth, His mandate and His rule or measure of the universe.  God is worshipped in fear at Mt. Sinai and all the people trembled and begged to hear no more of the word of God and shrunk back from Moses when he appeared.  Though they heard the voice, saw the fire and clouds and had seen God do miraculous things for them, the Israelites fell to the whims of their flesh and worshipped other gods.  Because of this, God destroyed many of them and as they continued to grumble, God delayed His promise and killed generations of unbelieving and restless souls with a forty-year burden of wandering.

It was through this wandering period that God began to bring the hearts of the people back to Him and it was then where He established the worship in the Tabernacle, preparing the way for the Temple in Jerusalem.  God established a great order of worship.  He required blood, awe and reverence.  God remanded the people away from Him and only allowed the priests to mediate after coming to Him with blood for their own sins.  This worship primarily dealt with His great holiness and an impending fear of judgment against all things unclean.  This is seen clearly when Uzzah touches the Arc of the Covenant to prevent it from hitting the ground to realize that God saw the ground as clean, but the hands and hearts of man as vile.  Therefore Uzzah died as an example of when sin confronts God.  This worship all pointed to God’s worth, His justice and His grace.

Even in the temple, God declared mercy toward men when in the holy of holies; the priest would meet God at the mercy seat with blood.  This very picture is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the true mercy seat, where God meets man with blood, His own.  It seemed as though all God was looking for was sacrifice and to the Old Testament believer, they understood the essence of God’s character and knew that death was the penalty for wrongly approaching Him.  They also looked forward to the day of rest and redemption through Messiah, when God would be with man, Emmanuel!

Though there is thousands of ways to trace worship in the Old Testament, we can see the reality of God’s worship through the sin and repentance of the kings, the oversight of the judges and the proclamation of the prophets.  In the end, the entirety of worship always came back to God’s perfect and eternal word.  His voice among mankind to remind them of who He was and what He expected.  This was more than humanity could bare and no living man could ever truly worship God in truth, for no living man would be able to stand justly before God as sinless.  All humanity continually worshipped God through the lens of radical corruption from sin.  All mankind worshipped God in action through repentance, sacrifice and covenant, but they worshipped God in fear, still very apart from Him.

New Testament Principles for Worship

In the beginning moments of the New Testament, there is life brewing over in an abundant way, reaching through the centuries to bring to reality what God has promised from the beginning.  Matthew records a time where the Old Testament days are long and lonely, where Israel is removed from her glory and the worship of God has been tainted with the effects of Hellenization and in some sense, there might have been a mundane ritual to worship.

Never the less, the people of God are still praying, singing, sacrificing and hoping to be heard.  God is worshipped through the prayers of His people, through their continued Old Covenant faith and longing to be delivered.  Now, that deliverance has come.  The entire writing of the New Testament exclaims the glory of God in the flesh is here, Jesus is coming and has arrived for the world to see and behold and in believe!  Walking through every book of the bible would be an impossible task, but for our lessons here, we will engage in several ways in which the saints of old worshipped and then the reality of the church’s birth and how that changed worship forever.

The Gospel Era

In the gospels we can see worship in many ways.  First, the people are praying.  They are praying for their own needs and desires, such as Elizabeth and Zachariah, but they are also praying for God to bring freedom to them.  Israel’s physical captivity was very akin to their spiritual depravity.  Scripture shows us that Gabriel confronts Zachariah and the child that he has been praying for is going to be born.  Out of disbelief, God strikes him mute and deaf and then visiting Elizabeth, she believes God.  The miracle of John’s birth causes Jerusalem to worship God and also to follow suit from their former way, to fear Him as seen in Luke chapter 2.

All the people have their minds and hearts turned to what God might do with the life of John the Baptist and yet they miss the reality of who he was born to proclaim, the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.  Jesus birth into this world shows a change in worship.  First, it brings envy and idolatry and bitterness from His people and brings laud from pagans from the East.  This paradigm shift greatly influences tension between Jesus and the Jews.  This tension will play out until the resurrection and is continuing today.  Jesus is worshipped by those who did not know Him before, were not expecting Him and were not “like” Him by birth and when Jesus begins His earthly ministry, He answers the prophetic prelude by miracle after miracle and teaching the word of God with power and truth.

Jesus’ ministry baffles the Jews and in their heart, they grow colder toward Him and in His own words, they grow colder toward God.  Jesus proclaims Himself as God and the fullness of God in the flesh among them.  Jesus declares that He is the end of all prophecy and the culmination of history.  Jesus preaches repentance and forgives others of their sins as He continually proves Himself divine by healing and brings Lazarus back from the dead.  Jesus says that He is the temple, He is the bread of life and He is the living water.  He continually gives grace to the humble and accepts worship from the uncircumcised of the region who proclaim in worship and testimony, “I have met a man who has told me everything I have ever done!”  Jesus brings the temple to reality and the blood to life by being the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of not just Jews, but the world.  This changes everything when He purposefully lays down His life for His sheep because He is the Good Shepherd and not a thief or wolf.  He loves the sheep and the Father loves Him.

Jesus Life & Death

Jesus life fulfilled the Old Covenant perfectly, the Law and the Prophets bore witness to Him and now He was there, with His people who turned Him away and put His sheep out of the temple when they worshipped Him.  As the Jews had worshipped God in the festivals of the Old Testament, Jesus arrives as the Passover Feast to declare Himself the Passover Lamb.  Jesus brings worship from afar and places it on Himself declaring that all worship indeed belongs to Him for He is worthy but yet Jesus does not take the glory, but gives it to the Father and reveals that worshipping Him is worshipping God.

In John chapter four, as Christ saves the women from Sychar, she learns that it is not the worship in buildings and with sacrifices that matters, but that all of that pointed toward Him and He was Messiah!  No longer would anyone have to worship in a place, but they would worship in spirit and in truth.  Jesus not only redefined worship, He displayed proper worship by attending synagogue, praying and practicing righteousness perfectly as He was intended to do by the will of the Father.  Jesus worshipped ultimately by showing His love for His sheep and layed His life down for the glory of the Father.  Jesus life and death displayed the righteousness of God so that the world might know God and worship Him.

Righteousness of God

Jesus life displayed the righteousness of God as a daily act of worship through Holy living.  Jesus was not apart from temptation, but He was perfectly sinless and thus the holy command of God was fulfilled in His perfect life as a fully human man that was also fully God.  The God-man, Jesus Christ, empowered God’s pleasure toward a man, giving an example of God’s holiness as a life of true worship.  Jesus’ death on the cross also displayed God’s righteousness, as He, the perfect God-man, became the perfect Lamb that satisfied God’s wrath against mankind.  God then could justly forgive us who had no means or options for forgiveness without Christ.  This changed the face of worship forever, for by faith we receive God’s declaration of righteousness because He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.  This worship in the New Testament radically moved in the hearts and lives of all who were being saved and their affections for this world began to die and be replaced with affection for Christ, His word and His people.

In the end, all of creation will worship God in one way or another.  For the saints, we will marvel forever in the presence of Jesus who is our eternal lamb, high priest and brother.  We will stand in awe as God puts forth His judgment on wickedness and all those who spurned Christ.  We will celebrate with Joy as the Christ serves us at His marriage supper.  What a God we have that we sin against Him and He serves us by becoming like us, being tempted, remaining holy, dying and facing judgment and serving us as we worship Him.

Application of Worship To Daily Living

Though much can truly be said about how to worship, more often people get caught up on the ins and outs of liturgy and the practice of worship.  We find Jesus ending the ways of Judaism and establishing a New Covenant, one of true worship where no one would ever be bound to traditions, precepts, legal demands and the like, but a new a right mindset of worship that recalls God’s unmerited favor and produces spontaneous, supernatural affection.  This worship is alive and active in the hearts, minds and souls of believers and thus our lives will reflect the power of the Gospel of which we are not ashamed.

Belief

One of the primary ways our daily lives are living examples of worship is by our faith.  Without faith it is impossible to please God, therefore, we must continually exercise our faith in Christ’s work and God’s promises in every area of our lives.  The fact that we have courage in Christ will be an act of worship.  This includes all the good and bad times of every season of life.  Personally, as we preach to ourselves, and relationally as we share with others, we are to continue steadfast in our faith and hold fast to the confession of our hope, which is in Christ alone.  Our faith goes beyond just everyday situations, but the depths of the worldviews and how the attack the very nature of the gospel.  When we stand for truth, we are standing for God’s name and He receives worship.

Prayer

Prayer is not only a good discipline, but also an act of worship.  It’s worship first because it is relational intimacy with God and secondly, it shows our dependency upon Him.  Without prayer, it is difficult to truly say one is exercising faith.  Just recently I was reminded that when we do not pray to God about the smallest of things, it means that we think we don’t need Him with those things.  What a statement!  Jesus prayed, so should we.

Study

Most of the battle of sin is fought in the mind.  The mind that is transformed is the mind that is focused on and meditates on the word of God.  This mind is one that considers God and His ways, and then plans his day.  Scripture teaches that the righteous live by faith, but how does a righteous man walk by faith if he doesn’t study to show himself approved.  Workmen must work in the word; they must continually set the word in front of them.  In our church we have a challenge that is ongoing:  Bathe in the Word – this is the place where we should always be, bathing and soaking the scriptures and allowing them to sink deep into our souls.  Battle with the Word – This is the challenge that many people try to avoid.  But if the word is alive as Hebrews 4:12 says, then it will cut us a little, it will mold us a little and it will cause us some pain.  But where the word cuts, the word also heals.  We must do war and the word, in both hands, is our sword.  Finally, we challenge our people to Breath Out the Word – this requires bathing and battling, because if we don’t have the word in us and are not being changed by God’s power, then we surely cannot breathe it out into the lives of those around us.  Scripture is the means through which God gives grace to His children.  The saint that is not a student of the word, is a student of the world.  Better yet, he is a product of the world.

Service 

As we exercise our faith through study and prayer, we will see our daily lives worship through service to others.  Jesus teaches that the world will know that we are His when they see our love for each other.  Do we really love each other?  Do we have a calling to assist those in need?  If not, then something is wrong with our worship.  A true worshipper looks after the needs and interests of others above his own, especially for the needs of his siblings in Christ

All Things For His Glory

In the end, we are to do all things for the glory of God.  The Westminster Catechism begins by answering the question, “What is the chief end of man?” with “giving glory to God and enjoying Him forever.  As scripture surely teaches this throughout, then are we doing all that we do with gratitude, thanksgiving and worship because He is the reason for it all?  Do we work for His glory, sing for His glory and long to reveal His glory to others?  As the church we are to display His glory to all the cosmos (Eph 3:10) and do so to the praise of His glory.

Principles of Worship

Worship is a never ending learning and leaning toward God and His greatness and glory.  It is an opportunity to have the greatest joy that the world could ever know and have such joy that it become impossible to explain or express.  The fullness of worshipping God is peeling back the eternal layers of His worth without knowing what you will find but being surprised that you have seen this before, just not this deeply.  Worship is first and foremost a gift, a part of God’s gracious favor that He places in a new heart in place of a dead one so that His children can sure see Him in His splendor and those who see surely adore.

Worship comes in many waves and forms.  Worship comes from knowing you belong to God, knowing that He loves you, knowing that He could destroy you and realizing that He doesn’t.  Worship comes from having peace to know that He won’t.  Worship is realized in intimacy with His Word, intimacy in prayer and intimacy with His people.  The church worships privately and corporately but will always be one body, united in the Gospel of Jesus.  Worship devours selfishness and pride and brings down the biggest of egos while bringing the fullness of joy to the deepest of depressed.

Worship is never ending and for the children of God, this is a reason to worship even more.  It’s more than music and more than services, it’s life eternal, it’s knowing God and having satisfaction in Him through Christ.  Worship is not seeking after God, but knowing He has sought you.  Worship delivers us to the throne of God while we are minutes away from rebellion, worship steers the ships of our hearts and safely brings us to the shores of the Almighty.  God is worship and He alone is supremely worthy of affection.  Worship can be stale and lose hope if its object is not eternal and living.

We hosted this panel in California and Dr.s Dalcour and Downing gives a wonderful exposition on this text.  Please watch and listen several times.

TRANSCRIPT

What John 3:16 Really Says

“Dr. Downing”

A literal translation

For So Loved God the World, the verb is in the emphatic position, so as His son, I mean His only begotten One He gave…”  That’s restrictive attributive, a form of emphasis, “In order that every single one without exception…”  It’s not whosoever, as being indefinite, it’s “pas ho pisteuon eis auton” it’s every single one without exception, “…constantly exercising faith in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

And “pisteuon eis” is a technical term in New Testament Greek it was current in profane or just in the koinai (common) spoken by the people it meant “UTTER UNRESERVED COMMITMENT TO.”  And so when the first men went out, the Apostles went out to preach and they said believe in or believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved there was no easy believism there was no decisionism, they were calling for total commitment, the response of the whole man to the whole Christ.

The term world is what I want to comment on, let’s put it in the context.  This is something that in a proof text Christianity, very dangerous, we always look at the context.  Who was our Lord talking to?  He was talking to Nicodemus.  Nicodemus was a Jew, he was a Pharisee, he was a member of the Sanhedrin.  He was, in this conversation, all through John chapter 3 Jesus tells him about being born “anothen” from above, and Nicodemus doesn’t understand it at all.  And Jesus asks, “Are you not the teacher of Israel and these things you do not know?”  That’s straight from the Greek New Testament. The teacher, “ho didaskalos tau Israel.”  [kai out ginoskeis] “ho tauta”, and these things you do not know?

Nicodemus was steeped in his Pharisee tradition.  Judaism, not the bible, taught that God was not interested in “quote”, the Kosmos; the world, the Gentiles; as well as the Jew.  [The Jews thought that] God had one thought about the world, He was saving the Jews, delivering the Jews; they were His people.  His only thought toward the world was, judgment!  Note our Lord’s answer, Nicodemus doesn’t understand, our Lord says, going to the Old Testament, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.  Now Jesus has reached a point of contact with Nicodemus.  In order that every single one believing in Him should not perish but have eternal life for so loved God, “ton kosmon”, the world.  What a shock to Nicodemus that God love goes out to the gentiles as we as the Jews, Nicodemus was shocked at this.  God sent His son and the emphasis of John 3:16 is a personal intense and persevering faith.  For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world.  See He’s getting against Nicodemus’ Judaism and his tradition.  “But that the world through Him might be saved”; salvation going out to the gentiles.  So that’s just an opening comment on the term world in a redemptive context.

“Dr. Dalcour”

It’s interesting dealing with John 3:16 that anyone I think that takes John 3:16 out of its context of course is going to get any interpretation they want.  The same with 2 Peter 3:9.  It’s a beautiful passage in the Greek, actually from 14 to 17, it’s a beautiful passage in the Greek.  And also we have a participle; it’s not just to believe, it’s “the believing ones” literally, it is a participle there.  And the question is what is the object of ALL?  It’s the participle, the ones doing the action.  The believing ones.  And also this, “God loved the world sooooooooo much” how distorted that is when people take John 3:16 distorts God’s love because the actual word in John 3:16 translated so much is “houtos” literally means “to this extent” or “in this manner”.  God loved the “kosmos” in this manner, that all the believing one, everyone believing.  Who’s that?  That’s us, the church.

Everyone believing shall have eternal life and shall not perish.  But in 17, which everyone negates to read, they don’t read 15, they don’t read 17 or 18 and hence they only wrench out John 3:16.  In 17 we have something very interesting and also as rightly pointed out Jesus frequently presented correctives to His audience, He taught in such a way to correct false notions.  In fact that’s why many authors use the word world because a common Jew thought that salvation was to whom?  The Jews.  So to correct that you’ll see authors use the word “kosmos” to show not just Jews; Jews and Gentiles.

And in fact, the term “kosmos” is probably used about a dozen times.  It can mean the world system, it can mean the world of believers, it can mean the world of non-believers.  IT can mean the Earth.  It all depends on the context.  And here in John 3:16 it’s interesting, He starts out in 15 with the serpent and Moses lifted up the serpent. Well, who is the healing for?  Was it to a particular people? Yes, it was to the Jews.  The ones that got bitten by the snake, they were to look upon the very thing that bit them.  They would have never chosen that as their source of healing.  We would’ve never chosen God’s Son as our source of healing.  It was very particular.  And then the same phrase is used that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish” and in 17, “for God did not send into the world to judge the world BUT THAT.  Here we have an “adversative” conjunction.  Not for the purpose of X but for the result of Y or the FULFILLMENT of Y.  BUT THAT the world might be saved and we don’t want to look at that MIGHT there gramatically as some kind of possibility.  It follows a subjective tense.  ”I will go to the printer or I may or might make some copies.”

It’s just Greek grammar.  So we have a adversative conjunction.  He sent the son into the world not to judge but in order that or BUT THAT, the world might be saved through Him.  So if you can take world to mean every single person you have to deal with 17 that says He’s going to save the world.  Again,  if you hold to your position to an Armenian or Pelagius position, you cannot escape a doctrine of universalistic theology as people like Carlton Pearson and others actually teach.  Because they take these things literally.

I don’t have to; I can allow the text to read for itself.  I don’t have to read in the view because when folks start reading into the text, then again, you can make any doctrine you want happen.  So I think John 3:16 is a beautiful promise for the believers a corrective to Nicodemus and a beautiful promise for security for the believers.

GREEK TEXT John 3:14-18

14Καὶ καθὼς Μωϋσῆς ὕψωσεν τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτωςὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου,
15 ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ἐν αὐτῷ ἔχῃζωὴν αἰώνιον.
16 οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν υἱὸντὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλʼ ἔχῃζωὴν αἰώνιον.
17 οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν υἱὸν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἵνακρίνῃ τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλʼ ἵνα σωθῇ ὁ κόσμος διʼ αὐτοῦ.
18 ὁ πιστεύων εἰςαὐτὸν οὐ κρίνεται· ὁ δὲ μὴ πιστεύων ἤδη κέκριται, ὅτι μὴ πεπίστευκεν εἰςτὸ ὄνομα τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ.

Are You Born Again?

This is one of life’s most important questions. Jesus Christ said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

It is not enough to reply, “I belong to the church; I suppose I’m a Christian.” Thousands of nominal Christians show none of the signs of being born again which the Scriptures have given us—many listed in the First Epistle of John.

No Habitual Sinning

First of all, John wrote: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin” (1 John 3:9). “Whosoever is born of God sinneth not” (5:18).

A person who has been born again, or regenerated, does not habitually commit sin. He no longer sins with his heart and will and whole inclination. There was probably a time when he did not think about whether his actions were sinful or not, and he did not always feel grieved after doing evil. There was no quarrel between him and sin; they were friends. But the true Christian hates sin, flees from it, fights against it, considers it his greatest plague, resents the burden of its presence, mourns when he falls under its influence, and longs to be completely delivered from it. Sin no longer pleases him; it has become a horrible thing which he hates. However, he cannot eliminate its presence within him.

If he said that he had no sin, he would be lying (1 John 1:8). But he can say that he hates sin and that the great desire of his soul is not to commit sin at all. He cannot prevent bad thoughts from entering his mind, or shortcomings, omissions, and defects from appearing in both his words and his actions. He knows that “in many things we offend all” (James 3:2). But he can truly say, in the sight of God, that these things cause him grief and sorrow, and that his whole nature does not consent to them. What would the apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Believing in Christ

Second, John wrote: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1).

A man who is born again, or regenerated, believes that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour who can pardon his soul, that He is the divine Person appointed by God the Father for this very purpose, and beside Him there is no Saviour at all. In himself he sees nothing but unworthiness. But he has full confidence in Christ, and trusting in Him, he believes that his sins are all forgiven. He believes that, for the sake of Christ’s finished work and death on the Cross, he is reckoned righteous in God’s sight, and he may look forward to death and judgment without alarm (Romans 4:20-5:1; 8:1).

He may have fears and doubts. He may sometimes tell you that he feels as if he had no faith at all. But ask him if he is willing to trust in anything instead of Christ, and see what he will say. Ask him if he will rest his hope of eternal life on his own goodness, his own works, his prayers, his minister, or his church, and listen to his reply. What would the apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Practicing Righteousness

Third, John wrote: “Every one that doeth righteousness is born of him” (1 John 2:29).

The man who is born again, or regenerated, is a holy man. He endeavors to live according to God’s will, to do the things that please God and to avoid the things that God hates. He wishes to continually look to Christ as his example as well as his Saviour, and to prove himself to be Christ’s friend by doing whatever He commands. He knows he is not perfect. He is painfully aware of his indwelling corruption. He finds an evil principle within himself that is constantly warring against grace and trying to draw him away from God. But he does not consent to it, though he cannot prevent its presence.   Though he may sometimes feel so low that he questions whether or not he is a Christian at all, he will be able to say with John Newton, “I am not what I ought to be; I am not what I want to be; I am not what I hope to be in another world—but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.” What would the apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Loving Other Christians

Fourth, John wrote: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14).

A man who is born again has a special love for all true disciples of Christ. Like his Father in heaven, he loves all men with a great general love, but he has a special love for those who share his faith in Christ. Like his Lord and Saviour, he loves the worst of sinners and could weep over them; but he has a peculiar love for those who are believers. He is never so much at home as when he is in their company.

He feels they are all members of the same family. They are his fellow soldiers, fighting against the same enemy. They are his fellow travelers, journeying along the same road. He understands them, and they understand him. They may be very different from himself in many ways—in rank, in station and in wealth. But that does not matter. They are his Father’s sons and daughters and he cannot help loving them. What would the apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Overcoming the World

Fifth, John wrote: “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4).

A man who is born again does not use the world’s opinion as his standard of right and wrong. He does not mind going against the world’s ways, ideas, and customs. What men think or say no longer concerns him. He overcomes the love of the world. He finds no pleasure in things which seem to bring happiness to most people. To him they seem foolish and unworthy of an immortal being.

He loves God’s praise more than man’s praise. He fears offending God more than offending man. It is unimportant to him whether he is blamed or praised; his first aim is to please God. What would the apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Keeping Oneself Pure

Sixth, John wrote: “He that is begotten of God keepeth himself’ (1 John 5:18).

A man who is born again is careful of his own soul. He tries not only to avoid sin but also to avoid everything which may lead to it. He is careful about the company he keeps. He knows that evil communications corrupt the heart, and that evil is more catching than good, just as disease is more infectious than health. He is careful about the use of his time; his chief desire is to spend it profitable.

He desires to live like a soldier in an enemy country—to wear his armor continually and to be prepared for temptation. He is diligent to be a watchful, humble, prayerful man. What would the apostle say about you? Are you born again?

The Test

These are the six great marks of a born again Christian.

There is a vast difference in the depth and distinctness of these marks in different people. In some they are faint and hardly noticeable. In others they are bold, plain, and unmistakable, so anyone may read them. Some of these marks are more visible than others in each individual. Seldom are all equally evident in any one person.

But still, after every allowance, here we find boldly painted six marks of being born of God.

How should we react to these things? We can logically come to only one conclusion—only those who are born again have these six characteristics, and those who do not have these marks are not born again. This seems to be the conclusion to which the apostle intended us to come.

Do you have these characteristics?

Are you born again?

This book is one that moves me to the core with the gospel. It is informative and solid in describing substitutionary atonement to children. I just bought a couple more as it is listed on the $5 Friday.

Get your Ligonier $5 Friday Items

Summary

With The Prince’s Poison Cup, Dr. R. C. Sproul continues his series of books designed to present deep biblical truths to children on their own level. In this work, he focuses in on the atonement to show that Jesus had to endure the curse of sin in order to redeem His people from their spiritual death.

When Ella gets sick and has to take yucky medicine, she wonders why something that will help her get well has to taste so bad. When she puts the question to Grandpa, he tells her the story of a great King and His subjects who enjoyed wonderful times together—until the people rebelled against the King and drank from a forbidden well. To their horror, they found that the beautiful water in the well made their hearts turn to stone. To reclaim His people, the King asks His Son, the Prince, to drink from a well of horrid poison. The poison will surely kill the Prince—but He is willing to drink it to please His Father and help His people.

Richly illustrated, The Prince’s Poison Cup will help children appreciate the great love of God for His people and the awful price Jesus had to pay because of sin. A “For Parents” section provides assistance in unfolding the biblical elements of the story.

I would take the half our and watch this video showing a relationship between the holocaust thinking and justification of Nazi Germany and the current “freedom” and “legal” abortion system in America.

Caveat: Please go HERE and contemplate the gospel. We hold to a sovereign grace that enables a man, woman or child to repent and believe. This is not something that man can do on his own, it is by grace, not of works.

This was sent to me today by a dear friend who is in the middle of a battle over sin in the local church and the elder’s office and command to deal with sin.  The problem stems from a misunderstanding of “democracy” which only moves under the teaching of scripture, and “rule” that the scripture does holistically.

I pray this article will give some insight on the role and rule of elders in the life of the church.

Of the three special offices in the church, that of the ruling elder represents Christ as king. Nations that have a king customarily speak of him as “His Majesty.” And anyone at all familiar with Holy Scriptures knows that it, too, associates much majesty, dignity, honor and glory with kingship. Small wonder that the glory of the Christian church is reflected brightly in the office of the ruling elder.

Its Momentous Duties

The New Testament has two names for ruling elders. Sometimes they are called presbyters, which simply means older men or elders; at other times they are called bishops, which means overseers. It is significant that these are two names for the same men. Nowadays the term bishop is ordinarily used to denominate a clergyman who stands above other clergyman in both dignity and authority. But such is not at all the Biblical usage of that term. When Paul, on his way to Jerusalem at the conclusion of his third missionary journey, arrived at Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the presbyters of the church (Acts 20:17). When they had come, he spoke to them and said: “Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops” (Acts 20:28, ASV). It is clear that according to Scripture every presbyter is a bishop. And that is a way of saying that the work of the elder is to oversee the church.

Usually church members regard ruling elders less highly than ministers. In so doing they are not altogether mistaken, for it is true that a special dignity attaches to the ministerial office in virtue of the fact that the minister, being both a teaching and a ruling elder, holds two offices in one, which two offices take up, or ought to take up, all his time. On the other hand, there is great danger that the dignity of the ruling elder’s office in comparison with that of the minister’s office will be underestimated. Read the rest of the article here.

May God be glorified in His grace for His people!

James

Also: Elders Do Rule the Church

We have been preaching a conference on the true picture of a biblically healthy church. Last night the topic on the table was evangelism. I pray the word of the Lord would shine into your heart. Be blessed.

In the last three years the elders of FBCN have been under constant attack by a small minority within the church who feel that the body only has to submit when they are in agreement with the eldership.  I felt that it would be good to review the role and rule of the elder and consider John MacArthur’s thoughts on the matter to be very truthful and biblically based.

I pray that you might grow in your understanding of God’s desire for the church.

The following is adapted from the Grace Church Distinctive on Biblical Eldership and is posted fully below:

Biblically, the focal point of all church leadership is the elder. An elder is one of a plurality of biblically qualified men who jointly shepherd and oversee a local body of believers. The word translated “elder” is used nearly twenty times in Acts and the epistles in reference to this unique group of leaders who have responsibility for overseeing the people of God.

The Office of Elder

As numerous passages in the New Testament indicate, the words “elder” (presbuteros), “overseer” (episkopos), and “pastor” (poimen) all refer to the same office. In other words, overseers and pastors are not distinct from elders; the terms are simply different ways of identifying the same people. The qualifications for an overseer (episkopos) in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and those for an elder (presbuteros) in Titus 1:6-9 are unmistakably parallel. In fact, in Titus 1, Paul uses both terms to refer to the same man (presbuteros in v. 5 and episkopos in v. 7).

All three terms are used interchangeably in Acts 20. In verse 17, Paul assembles all the elders (presbuteros) of the church of Ephesus to give them his farewell message. In verse 28 he says, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [episkopos], to shepherd [poimaino] the church of God.” First Peter 5:1-2 brings all three terms together as well. Peter writes, “Therefore, I exhort the elders [presbuteros] among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd [poimaino] the flock of God among you, exercising oversight [episkopeo] not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God.” The different terms, then, indicate various features of ministry, not varying levels of authority or separate offices, as some churches espouse.

A Plurality of Elders

The consistent pattern throughout the New Testament is that each local body of believers is shepherded by a plurality of God-ordained elders. Simply stated, this is the only pattern for church leadership given in the New Testament. Nowhere in Scripture does one find a local assembly ruled by majority opinion or by a single pastor.

The Apostle Paul left Titus in Crete and instructed him to “appoint elders in every city” (Titus 1:5). James instructed his readers to “call for the elders of the church” to pray for those who are sick (James 5:14). When Paul and Barnabas were in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, they “appointed elders for them in every church” (Acts 14:23). In Paul’s first epistle to Timothy, the apostle referred to “the elders who rule well” at the church at Ephesus (1 Tim. 5:17; see also Acts 20:17, where Paul addresses “the elders of the church” at Ephesus). The book of Acts indicates that there were “elders” at the church in Jerusalem (Acts 11:30; 15:2, 4; 21:18).

Again and again, reference is made to a plurality of elders in each of the various churches. In fact, every place in the New Testament where the term presbuteros (“elder”) is used it is plural, except where the apostle John uses it of himself in 2 and 3 John and where Peter uses it of himself in 1 Peter 5:1. Nowhere in the New Testament is there a reference to a one-pastor congregation. It may be that each elder in the city had an individual group in which he had specific oversight. But the church was seen as one church, and decisions were made by a collective process and in reference to the whole, not the individual parts.

In other passages, reference is made to a plurality of elders even though the word presbuteros itself is not used. In the opening greeting of his epistle to the Philippians, Paul refers to the “overseers [plural of episkopos] and deacons” at the church of Philippi (Phil. 1:2). In Acts 20:28, Paul warned the elders of the church of Ephesus, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which God has made you overseers [plural of episkopos]” (Acts 20:28). The writer of Hebrews called his readers to obey and submit to the “leaders” who kept watch over their souls (Heb. 13:17). Paul exhorted his Thessalonian readers to “appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction” (1 Thess. 5:12)—a clear reference to the overseers in the Thessalonian assembly.
Much can be said for the benefits of leadership made up of a plurality of godly men. Their combined counsel and wisdom helps assure that decisions are not self-willed or self-serving to a single individual (cf. Prov. 11:14). If there is division among the elders in making decisions, all the elders should study, pray, and seek the will of God together until consensus is achieved. In this way, the unity and harmony that the Lord desires for the church will begin with those individuals he has appointed to shepherd His flock.

The Qualifications of Elders

The character and effectiveness of any church is directly related to the quality of its leadership. That’s why Scripture stresses the importance of qualified church leadership and delineates specific standards for evaluating those who would serve in that sacred position.

The qualifications for elders are found in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-8. According to these passages, an elder must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money, not fond of sordid gain, a good manager of his household, one who has his children under control with dignity, not a new convert, one who has a good reputation outside the church, self-controlled, sensible, able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict, above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, loving what is good, just, and devout.

The single, overarching qualification of which the rest are supportive is that he is to be “above reproach.” That is, he must be a leader who cannot be accused of anything sinful because he has a sustained reputation for blamelessness. An elder is to be above reproach in his marital life, his social life, his business life, and his spiritual life. In this way, he is to be a model of godliness so he can legitimately call the congregation to follow his example (Phil. 3:17). All the other qualifications, except perhaps teaching and management skills, only amplify that idea.

In addition, the office of elder is limited to men. First Timothy 2:11-12 says, “Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” In the church, women are to be under the authority of the elders, excluded from teaching men or holding positions of authority over them.

The Functions of Elders

As the apostolic era came to a close, the office of elder emerged as the highest level of local church leadership. Thus, it carried a great amount of responsibility. There was no higher court of appeal and no greater resource to understand the mind and heart of God (as revealed in the Scriptures) with regard to issues in the church.

The primary responsibility of an elder is to serve as a manager and caretaker of the church (1 Tim. 3:5). That involves a number of specific duties. As spiritual overseers of the flock, elders are to determine church policy (Acts 15:22); oversee the church (Acts 20:28); ordain others (1 Tim. 4:4); rule, teach, and preach (1 Tim. 5:17; cf. 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:2); exhort and refute (Titus 1:9); and act as shepherds, setting an example for all (1 Pet. 5:1-3). Those responsibilities put elders at the core of the New Testament church’s work.

Because of its heritage of democratic values and its long history of congregational church government, modern American evangelicalism often views the concept of elder rule with suspicion. The clear teaching of Scripture, however, demonstrates that the biblical norm for church leadership is a plurality of God-ordained elders, and only by following this biblical pattern will the church maximize its fruitfulness to the glory of God.