A Lifestyle of Gratitude

Posted on November 21, 2023 by RC

It is a sure sign that we are sinners that we tend to be more concerned about what we do than what we are. That is, our guilt or peace oftentimes is the fruit of our own judgment of how often we commit a known sin, less often grounded in what we think and how we feel. I may hate my brother, but if I can keep myself from killing him, well, how bad could I be?

In Romans 1 Paul is setting about the business of explaining the universal guilt of men before God. There he answers the telling question, “What about the innocent native in Africa who knows nothing of Christ?” by affirming that all men everywhere both know who God is, and reject that knowledge. Before we have done anything we stand guilty, if only because our eyes tell us there is a God and our hearts hate that truth. Paul then, however, in describing the universal sinful condition of all men outside of Christ adds this condemnation— “neither were they grateful.”

If it is true that all men exist— were made to glorify God—our gratitude failure is not simply a failure of manners, akin to forgetting to write a thank-you card for a gift. Instead it is like adultery, like murder, like cosmic rebellion. How so? Well, a failure to be grateful is grounded in the conviction that we are due better than what we have been given. We are all born with an expectation of a certain level of comfort, a certain level of fulfillment, a certain level of pleasure. When these exceed our expectations we believe all is right with the world. We have received our due. When they fall below our expectations, however, we grumble, we complain, we howl. We scratch our heads thinking something is wrong with the universe.

Something is wrong with the universe— us. The lost are, well, lost. They have not been changed. They do not have the Holy Spirit. They are on their own. But we complain just like them. We have the same set of expectations, and so mimic their grumbling. We, because we are worldly, look at the world and our place in it just like the world.
Gratitude, however, isn’t the fruit of happiness, but its root. When we give thanks, when we look at the world and our place in it realistically, remembering what we are due in ourselves, what we have, and all that we have been promised in Christ, we are astonished, overwhelmed. And therefore overjoyed.

I have with me a family that love me, and their Lord. I have friends who love me, and their Lord. I have work that I love, that serves the Lord. I have a church where our Lord and His Word are preached. Most important of all, I am beloved of the Father. How could I ever even begin to think “It isn’t enough”? And, when I fail, my Father forgives me, His Spirit works in me, and I get better. Saint, thanksgiving isn’t a holiday to be observed, but a lifestyle to be practiced. Give thanks. And when you are done, do it again.

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Romans Study Tonight- Finishing Ch. 8

Posted on November 20, 2023 by RC

Tonight we continue our look at the monumental, towering book of Romans. All are welcome to our home at 7 est, or you may join us for dinner at 6:15. We will also stream the study at Facebook, RC-Lisa Sproul. We hope you’ll join us.

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What should we be doing to better protect unborn babies?

Posted on November 20, 2023 by RC

For fifty years Christians have, with waxing and waning fervor, fought to see unborn children protected from parents and doctors that would take their lives. During that time we have seen sixty million babies’ lives snuffed out, on purpose, within the law, in public. It is a living horror. From a practical standpoint it is also a profound frustration. We have tried myriad strategies. At first we thought learned articles, on ethics, biology, genetics would turn the tide. It did nothing.

We tried blocking access to the killing centers with our own bodies, and it didn’t help. A few men took the law into their own hands. We tried creating lobbying groups which in turn adopted the incremental approach. This not only didn’t help us but gave us the bizarre circumstance where Christians not only voted for pro-aborts with exceptions, but called them pro-life. Every Republican candidate between Reagan and Trump publicly affirmed his commitment to protecting the legal “right” to kill babies conceived by rape or incest.

We’ve tried service, opening hundreds of crisis pregnancy centers around the country. There we taught abstinence, until that kept the clientele away. We gave away food, clothing, furniture, pregnancy tests and that brought them in, time after time. We then gave them a window in the womb, thinking ultrasounds would change their minds. It doesn’t work.

I’m very much in favor of political action. It is the state’s responsibility to protect the lives of the innocent. I’m very much in favor of prophetic calls from the church to decry the blood on our hands. I’m very much in favor of service to the needy. No woman is more a widow than the one being pressured to kill her baby by the man who should be protecting them both, no child more an orphan than the one whose parents pay to have it murdered.

All of these “strategies,” however, amount to negotiating with terrorists. They treat abortion not as the wanton murder of our most fragile citizens, but as a political issue. Nothing will change until those who know what abortion is start treating it like it is. It is something every politician should be willing to lose his seat over, every Christian willing to lose his neighbor over, every doctor willing to lose his license over, every pastor willing to lose his pulpit over.

In short, the first thing we need to do is move toward treating the horror as what it is, a horror. Preach the gospel to ourselves, and pray to the God of heaven because we’ve found ourselves living in a nation of not just baby killers, but killers of our own babies. Preach the gospel to the gathered saints and pray to our Redeemer because we’ve found ourselves in a land where we Christians are part and parcel of the horror, one sixth of the killers, while the rest if only because we treat it as normal. Preach the gospel to and pray for those beguiled by Moloch. Preach in our congregations, our common spaces, and outside the doors of their temples. Preach that Jesus knows our wickedness, and yet died for all who would turn to Him.

Is it enough? No, only the One we preach is enough.

Posted in 10 Commandments, abortion, Ask RC, Big Eva, church, ethics, evangelism, grace, politics, preaching, RC Sproul JR, repentance, sexual confusion | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

When Pigs Fly

Posted on November 17, 2023 by RC

We Protestants tend to have something of a love/hate relationship with Thomas Aquinas. On the one hand, as Protestants, at least we who are Reformed, we value theological brilliance. We admire deeply the mind of Thomas, perhaps even dreaming that had he lived in our day, he surely would have been one of us. On the other hand, as Protestants we, well, protest. That is to say, that brilliant mind was likewise noticed and put to use by Rome. Thomas was a brilliant theologian for the Church of Rome. Brilliant we love—Church of Rome, not so much.

We could spend some time arguing about how good or how bad Thomas’ theology was, over whether old Aquinas should be forgot. Decades ago the equally brilliant Dr. John Gerstner, at my request, argued that Thomas’ theology was essentially Protestant. Perhaps so. I love and admire the man (or rather men, for the same principle applies to our good Dr. Gerstner) for an altogether better reason. It is because we are a proud people that we rejoice in brilliant minds. What truly commends Thomas, however, was not his brilliant mind but his humble heart.

That heart is brought front and center in one legendary story about Thomas during his student days. The story begins with Thomas entering a classroom. The professor is not yet there, but most of the students are. They are all, however, by the window, craning their necks with excitement. Thomas asks what they are looking at so intently. “Thomas, come quickly,” the students respond, “there are pigs—FLYING!” Thomas rushes to the window, only to be met by the uproarious laughter of his fellow students. As the laughter dies down, Thomas gently but potently exposes their sin by saying simply, “I would rather believe that pigs could fly than that my friends would lie to me.”
We can, if we are imbued with the spirit of the age, mock such a trusting attitude. We can scorn such credulity. We can even baptize our cynicism with supporting biblical texts. “Come on now, Thomas. Don’t you know we’re to be harmless as doves, but as wise as serpents?” (Matt. 10:16).

Or, we can see it for what it is—an expression of that godly character which made Thomas a great man. We can see it as that which we should be most zealous to emulate in his life.

Another great and brilliant man of God taught me this when I was a young student. I was a sophomore in high school and deeply and profoundly sophomoric. That is, I thought myself wise, and invested time and energy in cultivating that image. I dressed in black. I listened to ponderous lyrics from esoteric rock bands. I wrote morbid poetry about walls and masks and worms. My father gave me in one fell swoop a rebuke and a challenge. He said to me, “Son, the cheapest way to develop the reputation as an intellectual is to adopt the posture of a cynic.”

What I want is not a reputation as either an intellectual or a cynic. What I want is a reputation for following our Lord Jesus. What I want is a simplicity that cares not a whit about reputation at all. What I want is a guilelessness in my own heart that is so grounded that I expect nothing but guilelessness in my fellow believers. What I want is not to be known as a great theologian and a great man of God, but to be known by God as a humble child of His. All of which means, in short, that what I want is to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.

In the end, our battles for reputation are battles to build and to expand our own kingdoms. We want to be the smartest guy in the room. Then we want to be the smartest guy in the church. Then we want to be the smartest guy we know. We want to be king of Smart-avia. Even if we don’t worry about what we will eat, or what we will wear, as those to whom Jesus spoke did, we do worry about what people will think, or worse—that they won’t think of us at all.

The world tells us this is how our life will have meaning. This is how we can have significance. The world tells us that pigs are ever and always earthbound. But Jesus calls us to believe Him. He tells us that if we will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, then we will receive all we could ever want or need. He tells us that if we will delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart. The question isn’t whether we are smart enough to understand what He has said. The question is whether we are humble enough to submit to what He has said.

I suspect that when Thomas went on to his reward, he did not cast before the Lord that crown that was his reputation for theological and apologetic brilliance. I suspect that he threw that out long before He got there. Instead the crown he cast before that glassy sea was something valuable, the glory of his humility.

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Devils and Demos

Posted on November 16, 2023 by RC

Legend has it that as the Constitutional Convention adjourned that a woman questioned Benjamin Franklin, “Sir, what kind of government have you given us?” The old curmudgeon quipped, “A republic, if you can keep it.” It is not a good sign that for the last three score and some years we have used as common parlance to describe our system, “democracy.” It is mildly sloppy, but not intentionally insidious to treat “republic” and “democracy” as synonyms. Being pedantic on the differences, however, can prove helpful in promoting truth, justice and the American way.

A republic is a government of law. Res, Latin for law and publica, that which stands in the place of the people, means that the law is that which governs, rather than the government itself. Under a republic the guiding principles exist prior to those called to protect and defend. This is why our founding documents acknowledge that our rights are not granted by the state but by God and why our Constitution is structured more to restrict the central government than the people. This is why the Constitution includes the Bill of Rights.

A democracy, on the other hand, is a government by the demos, the people of the nation. In a democracy the will of the majority determines the law. While again the word might be used loosely and technically incorrectly to describe a republic, it’s actual meaning is rule by the people. Under a democracy, if 51% of the people believe the other 49% cannot own guns, or should be taxed at a rate of 100%, or have no right to live, such is what the law will do.

You may think that majorities would not do that, and you would be wrong. I will provide three examples. Most recently we have the government in Gaza. Gaza is not, contrary to leftist propaganda, an occupied territory. It is a nation that held democratic elections which elected Hamas, a terrorist organization that has in turn used those who voted them into office as human shields.

The second example is like unto it. Part of the language used to raise public support for war in Iran under the younger Bush administration was that we would be “spreading democracy” into the region. When Hussein was toppled, and US forces had control over the nation, we waited years before allowing democratic elections. Why? Because the people would have voted for bad rulers. The bizarre result is that we conquered a nation, overthrew its ruler and refused to allow elections, all in the name of “spreading democracy.”

The third example is mildly more complex. There was a government that was duly elected in a complicated parliamentarian system that used propaganda and threats to expand its power base. It all started, however, with free elections. The party was known as the National Socialist Worker’s Party, and the nation was Germany. The standard bearer for the party that year was Adolph Hitler. Hitler was democratically elected, and from there made himself Fuehrer.

The will of the people is often wrong. There is nothing in the least sacred about it. What is sacred is the will of God, who commands of the state that they rule justly, and be His ministry of justice. If we mean by “democracy” republican government, yea and amen. If we mean what it actually means, majority government, it’s folly to be rejected.

Posted in ABCs of Theology, abortion, covid-19, ethics, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, philosophy, politics, RC Sproul JR | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sacred Marriage, Job’s Latter Days; More Dead in Ohio & More

Posted on November 15, 2023 by RC

This Week’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

Posted in 10 Commandments, abortion, Biblical Doctrines, church, ethics, In the Beginning, Jesus Changes Everything, Lisa Sproul, Month of Sundays, politics, RC Sproul JR, Sacred Marriage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sacred Marriage, Job’s Latter Days; More Dead in Ohio & More

Sibling Rivalries

Posted on November 14, 2023 by RC

There are people who preach a false gospel of prosperity. There are people who are bought by the blood of Christ who believe wrongly that God wants us all to be healthy and wealthy. There are people who teach a false gospel that salvation comes when we cooperate with God and become good. There are people who are bought by the blood of Christ who believe wrongly that they repented out of an island of righteousness in themselves. There are people who falsely divide the world into two kinds of people, wicked sinners and people of color. There are people who are bought by the blood of Christ who believe wrongly that colorblindness is a bad thing.

Then there are the people that can’t tell these people apart, and who wrongly believe that we have peace with God if we trust in Christ, reject the idea that God wants us all healthy and wealthy, reject any notion that we cooperate with God in our salvation and reject any kind of awareness of ongoing racial issues. The Judaizing heresy, which taught in the first century that we have peace with God if we trust in Christ and obey the ceremonial law, didn’t go away with the Jerusalem Council which condemned it. We, however, continue to flirt with it.

We all agree in principle, all proclaim with our lips, this well-known mantra, “In essentials, unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” Where we disagree, and thus lose sight of charity, is in which things are essential and which things are not. The broad evangelical church tends to have a rather narrow view of the essentials. The cranky Reformed wing tends to have a rather broad view. The trouble gets worse, however, because instead of learning from our brothers we lean farther off our side of the horse.

The solution? To repent and believe the gospel. Repenting means owning our own sins, acknowledging that we have weaknesses, that even our valiant efforts to keep the gospel itself pure from intrusions can unintentionally bring intrusions. We repent such that we know that however bad it might be to believe God wants us all healthy and wealthy, I believe things that are just as bad. We repent of our own propensity of wrongly thinking our right thinking makes us better than those who live more faithful lives than we do while espousing less biblical theology than we do.

We also, however, believe the gospel. That is, we rejoice to know that God’s grace extends to sinners that are as far away from perfection as me. When we believe the gospel and start to get hot under the collar because a professing believer has said, or done X, we not only remember that if X is actually wrong, it is covered by the blood of the Lamb, but remember that we have said or done Y which is just as bad as X. We believe the gospel as we rejoice that He has reconciled all manner of sinners to Himself. We believe the gospel when we are able to see our brothers and sisters with whom we disagree on secondary matters as beloved of the Father, just as we are. Not outside the camp. Not on the outer limits of the camp. But encamped in the heart of the Father.

Posted in "race", Apostles' Creed, beauty, Biblical Doctrines, Big Eva, church, communion, friends, friendship, grace, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, RC Sproul JR, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

No Romans Study Tonight. Back Next Week, DV

Posted on November 13, 2023 by RC
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Are some Christians better than others?

Posted on November 13, 2023 by RC

Most assuredly. Who could doubt it? Each of us is born again from different places, having received different kinds and levels of common grace. The thief on the cross likely had a lot more to learn about obedience to God’s will than Isaac would have. Each of us progresses at different speeds toward what we are supposed to be. None of us arrives at perfection until we pass through the veil. Which means, in the end, that we all started in different places, at different times, run at different speeds and all come short until each of us dies and crosses the finish line. The Bible speaks of the more mature believers being called to correct the less mature. The seven churches Jesus addressed in Revelation were likewise addressed all as believers, but some receiving praise and rebuke, others only praise and one only rebuke.

The real question is, does it matter? And the real answer is, yes, and no. It matters because we are commanded to run the race set before us. It matters because our progress honors the Lord who redeemed us, blesses those around us and moves us further out of the not yet, and into the already. That is, as we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” we recognize that our own obedience, His will being done, furthers the coming of the kingdom. Finally, our growth in godliness is an evidence for the glorious truth that we are His children.

How then does it not matter? It doesn’t matter when we use our growth to boast against others, or our slow growth to wallow in frustration and despair. All of us are so distant from the goal that the relative “lead” one believer might have over another vanishes into insignificance. The saintliest believer boasting about his or her growth in comparison to the least saintly believer is like the world’s tallest man boasting to the world’s shortest man that he is closer to the sun. It may be true, but not so you can tell.

When we boast in our relative merits we are in grave danger of denigrating the righteousness of Christ by which we are accounted righteous. We are in danger of revealing just how far we have to go. Like the disciples arguing over who will get the best seat in heaven, the one arguing most strenuously is likely to be the one with the worst seat. When we mourn in our relative lack of merits, we are in grave danger of denigrating the righteousness of Christ by which we are accounted righteous. We’re in danger of missing just how far He has already taken us. Either way, when we compare ourselves with ourselves we have already missed the point.

Finally, while some Christians have progressed toward glorification more than others, we’re fools indeed if we think we have the wisdom to tell which are which. I’ve learned through my own life that many that I’d give high scores for theological integrity earn low scores on humility. Some who have high scores on zeal earn middling scores on knowledge. There are simply too many different ways we all sin, many of which others can’t see, to casually assume we should be a part of the rating team. Humility, gratitude, compassion and joy, these are the kinds of virtues I know I need most, and which should make me slow to judge my brothers.

Posted in Ask RC, assurance, Biblical Doctrines, church, grace, RC Sproul JR | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Trust and Obey

Posted on November 10, 2023 by RC

The KISS principle—Keep It Simple, Stupid—is itself a rather simple principle. It argues that when we find ourselves entangled in complex and complicated arguments, chances are we have already left the proper playing field. While, for instance, the gospel is a glory that can be studied and expounded upon for a lifetime of lifetimes, we nevertheless confess that something has gone wrong if we cannot rejoice in our salvation simply by confessing, “Lord be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus said that the man who prayed that way went home justified (Luke 18:14).

The same is true after our souls are saved. Our forgiveness, our justification, our adoption all flow out of a glorious but simple truth that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Our sanctification, however, our calling to grow in grace and wisdom, to put to death the old man, to become more like Jesus—this is simple too. There is no great and deep secret—we are called to trust and obey.

This not only describes our sanctification, but as the old hymn points out, this describes the only way to be happy in Jesus. That is, the key to having a good life is profoundly simple. Now there have been many who complained about the bestselling book Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen that it was way too simple, that it lacked substance or heft, that it was the spiritual equivalent of a spool of cotton candy. I haven’t read the book, but I suspect my concern would be just the opposite. I’m not opposed to having a good life. I wish it for my children, for my friends, even for everyone who reads this article. So I am not opposed to advice on how to have a good life. I am opposed to bad advice.

The key to living a good life is abundantly simple. According to our Maker, what we must do if we want things to go well for us in the land He has given us, is to honor our fathers and mothers. This is the first command with a promise (Eph. 6:2–3). The promise is that it will go well for us in the land.

The world tells us that the key to a good life is a good education. Do well in school and you will get into a competitive college. Do well there and you will get into a competitive graduate school. Do well there and you will get a good, high-paying job. Then you will be able to afford a house in a neighborhood with good schools so that your children can do just what you did, and your grandchildren after them. I call this hell’s hamster wheel.

God’s plan is so much more plain, so much more simple. Which is likely why we don’t believe it. We are offended by simplicity. In our pride, we like to believe that anything worth having must be terribly difficult to get, and terribly difficult to figure out how to get. We would rather go it alone and have it go poorly for us in the land than embrace the simple truth that we just need to honor those God has placed in authority over us.

Or is that the real rub? Is our objection not the simplicity of the rule, but the rule itself? That is, do we object to God’s promise that it will go well for us in the land if we submit to those in authority over us because we don’t want to submit to those in authority over us?

The devil, before his fall, lived a rather spectacular life. He threw it all away because he didn’t want to be ruled. Adam and Eve lived in a literal paradise, the land God had given them. All they had to do to stay there forever was submit to their Father. They threw it all away. And we are their children. Is this not the very essence of what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount? What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness but to pursue obedience to our heavenly Father with a single minded passion? Does He not tell us to set aside our worries about all those things we think will give us a good life and to give ourselves to seeking His righteousness? The simple question is, do we trust our Father? Do we believe that His law is a burden to submit to, or a map to joy?

Of course there are selfish husbands. There are sinful parents. There are faithless elders. There are corrupt civil leaders. All of these, however, existed when our giving, sinless, faithful, pure Father promised us it would go well for us if we would submit to those in authority over us. He not only knows best, but He controls all things. He, after all, has the whole world in His hands.

There is no need to toss and turn all night wondering what you should do differently to make a better life. Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. Submit to those in authority over you: “Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and you may live long in the land’” (Eph. 6:1–3). Keep it simple, and be wise. It will go well for you.

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