The Nature Of Indwelling Sin

Recently we have talked a great deal on Sunday mornings about our game plan, that is, our mission and how we go about it. We have compared it to athletic competition, more specifically making our way around a baseball diamond. Yet, we are not the first ones to use such metaphors. For example, the author of Hebrews, after taking us on a tour through the magnificent “hall of faith” in chapter eleven and setting before us many examples of saints who went before us and walked by faith as they gave witness to God, called us to the following (12:1-2):

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Here we not only discover a biblical sports illustration, we are also taught that sin hinders us from carrying out God’s mission. Now, we might be tempted to think sin is not that big a deal. Yet, we must keep in mind that sin is one of the reasons why God the Father had to send God the Son to live, die, and be raised in the place of sinners (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 3:8). What is more, we magnify God’s gracious work in us as we put his new life in us on display. Yet, when we live no differently than we did before Christ (when we sin), we cloud that work in us.

Since this is the case, I want to take a few weeks in this blog and talk about how we view sin, how we deal with temptation, and how we put to death sin (or as Hebrews 12:1 puts it, “lay aside every…sin which clings so closely”).

In order to carry out this discussion I want to share with you some great teaching out of a book I read years ago and just recently re-read this past month. It is a book titled Sin And Temptation: The Challenge Of Personal Godliness that was put together by James M. Houston. What Houston did was to compile the teaching of the 17^th century British Puritan author and teacher, John Owen, on these subjects. Owen is notorious for being very difficult to read, even though to tackle his writings is always worth the effort. Houston helps us in the task by updating Owen’s English and editing his lengthy prose—bringing it down to bite-sized chunks. What I want to do is to summarize that abridged teaching to benefit all of us.

Part 1 of this book (titled “Indwelling Sin In The Believer”) comes out of the gate in the first chapter by addressing “The Nature Of Indwelling Sin.” Here are some key points Owen makes about this subject.

• ·         If we have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, though we are a new person who can follow him, live for the glory of God, and say, “No,” to sin, nevertheless sin still dwells in us. Paul writes in Romans 7:20: “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” Paul’s point, in context, seems to be that this tendency not to carry out the will of God perfectly in dependence upon him to his glory (sin) is still present in the Christian. It is no longer the king of us, as it once was (see Romans 6:14), but it is still an insurgent who can carry out terrorists plots in our hearts. Therefore, we must be on guard. 
• ·         One of the times we will see indwelling sin in us to the greatest degree is when we want to do good, yet, somehow we still manage also to want to do evil and this latter impulse, warring against the former (James 4:1),  is what we follow. Paul writes in Romans 7:21: “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (emphasis added) Again, we must remember we live in this in between sphere: We have already been transformed, but we have not yet been fully perfected. So, we live differently, with a new king (Jesus), but we are still very much capable of sinning. Therefore, we must be on guard.
• ·         The origin of this sin is in the heart (Matthew 15:19). Therefore, we must guard our desires, our thoughts, and our will. This can only be done by God’s Spirit working through God’s Word in response to prayer and usually among God’s people.
• ·         Because sin still indwells the heart, our heart is deceitful (Jer. 17:9). We must beware of how easily we lie to self, saying, “All is well.” “I am not doing anything wrong.” “I don’t need to apologize,” etc., etc. And these are the very opposite of what is true!
• ·         Our need to battle this indwelling sin will never be over until we die or Christ returns. This is why Paul tells us we must continually be killing sin or it will continually be killing us (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5)!
• ·         Ah, but where is our hope found against indwelling sin? It is in Jesus Christ! Consider what Paul writes in Romans 7:24-25: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Amen!

Church Membership And Church Discipline: So What?

On July 13 of this year one of our elders, Chris Kuehn, preached a sermon titled “What Is Biblical Membership?” I followed up that sermon with a two part treatment here in my blog titled, “The Chief Membership Objection Answered” (see July 28 and August 3). Now, this morning (October 5) I preached on James 5:19-20 and sought to complete the picture of what it is to be a member of the church and why our relationship to each other in our growth and perseverance is essential.

All this teaching about the church, church membership, and church discipline (our pursuit of one another when we are straying), not to mention our series on conflict out of James 3-4, caps almost a year-long discussion on these topics in our congregation. It was just about one year ago that I gave two books to each of our elders (one on church membership and one on church discipline) and asked them to read and be ready to discuss them in our annual February retreat. Our desire is to be the most Christ-like, Bible-soaked, gracious, faithful overseers of this congregation we can be—a group of shepherds guiding us through what it means to be the church, God’s gospel community that proclaims his excellencies in the world, and what it means to be God’s people with each other.

With all this biblical foundation in place, what I now want to do is set forth some simple action points. In other words, I want to suggest some ways that each of us can respond as faithful members of Christ’s body who are helping each other grow and who are confirming (or not) each other’s profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

(1) We as elders must do our best never to exercise the kind of church discipline that removes family or membership privileges while there is also personal conflict or disagreement with the elders on the part of the person(s) under consideration. This is a recipe for sin and disaster. What we must first do is seek to work out the conflict as much as possible. Once that is done or at least been attempted, then and only then should we pursue that kind of discipline, if necessary, and as a last result.

(2) We as elders, Bible Fellowship leaders, teachers, and any other leaders in the congregation must be committed not to solve conflict for everyone. Instead, our role is to equip all of us to deal with conflict and possible unrepentant sin in ways that are solid, gracious, and always in line with the Bible. This means we all learn to approach such matters with gentleness and the purpose of building up all involved (Eph. 4:29-32; 2 Tim. 2:24-26).

(3) All of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, that is, members of his body, and who are part of the Minden E. Free Church, should submit to King Jesus and to each other in such a way we are responsible to each other in our discipleship. In other words, we should pursue formal membership and we should pursue close disciplemaking relationships with at least a few people.

(4) We should all resolve to love each other in our Bible Fellowships and Ironman/woman teams enough to pray for one another, help each other grow, pursue one another when straying, and approach each other graciously and honestly in conflict. 

(5) What number four demands is that we commit to growing as people who can speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). Remember, Jesus does not promise blessing to the peacefakers or the peacetakers, but instead to the peacemakers (Mt. 5:9).

(6) Finally, let’s remember that our mission will be enhanced or hurt by whether or not we love one another and whether or not we are unified (John 13:34-35; 17:20-23). So, let’s pray for love and unity in our church and also remember each of us is responsible for their preservation.

I sense that the best days of the Minden E. Free Church are ahead of us and about to blossom. Yet, it will only be if we stand together as his community, his family, his people. May it ever be so!

Living In the Already/Not Yet

Have you ever been taught something by parents, grandparents, a teacher, or a mentor they believed to be really important, but you weren’t all that impressed? You thought (if not actually said), “Yeah, yeah, I got it! No biggie!”  This happened with me.

Exactly three decades ago I began my studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. It was while I was there that New Testament professors talked about the “already/not yet” principle that permeates the New Testament. Their point was this: The New Testament at its core communicates that the End-times promises God made to his people in the Old Testament have already arrived in Jesus Christ, but they are not yet fully here and in place. It is a simple enough principle, one to which it is easy to respond, “Yeah, yeah, I got it.” And certainly that is how I replied, but I was not all that impressed with its importance.

That has all changed after thirty years of studying the Bible intensely and also seeking to be a student of human nature—not the least of which is my own nature and my own fight with sin. I now embrace this reality as explaining a tension with which I (and we) better live every moment until we either die or Jesus Christ returns. If we forget one part of it, we find our self at great risk. For example, if we emphasize the not yet to the exclusion of the already, we may conclude that we will experience all God’s promises and most of his resources only someday in the future. This will leave us with little hope for now. What is more, it might give us an overly pessimistic bent about world events now—thinking God is doing little presently. On the other hand, if we emphasize the already to the exclusion of the not yet, we may become overly optimistic about what we can now do and place ourselves at the peril of the remaining moral corruption in us, as well as a deceiving enemy that wants nothing more than to destroy us.

Consider some of the ways the already/not yet principle brings comfort, hope, balance, wisdom, and much needed sobriety:

·     (1) God's saving reign, also known as his kingdom, has already partially arrived in Jesus Christ (Mk. 1:14-15). However, it has not yet full arrived (Zech. 14:9; Mt. 6:10; 15:24-28). To remember both helps us have hope now in the midst of world chaos. God, in Christ, is carrying out his salvation purpose in the world, he is in control, he is orchestrating all things together for the good of his people, and he is bring many under his saving reign and blessings. Yet, not all are part of that kingdom and so great evil still is present. We are encouraged, but also still earnestly await “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

·   (2) We have already been betrothed to our Beloved and so our future eternal communion with our Savior and Bridegroom bleeds in on our experience more and more as we grow in him (Eph. 5:32). Yet, we have not yet consummated our full eternal communion and bond with him (Rev. 21:1-2). Because of this, we experience sweet fellowship with him and find our hearts desiring him. Yet, we must be careful since we are still prone to run after other lovers (James 4:1-4; 1 John 2:15-17; 5:21).

·  (3) God’s end-times community (the New Covenant Church) has already come into existence—displaying a foretaste of what it will be like to live in perfect Christ-accomplished and Spirit-empowered fellowship as his people (Eph. 2:11-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10). However, this community has not fully and perfectly come into existence. We still await a day when we will love each other perfectly, without sin and hurt, a day when we will enjoy this community perfectly (see Revelation 21-22). As such, we grasp the importance of the Church and would never dare seek to follow Jesus apart from each other—appreciating the help and support we have in such a society (Acts 20:28; 1 Thes. 5:14-15; Heb. 3:12-14; 10:24-25). After all, we are the embassy, the outpost of the kingdom in this hostile world. At the same time, we know that even in this body there will be hurt, pain, and disappointment since we all still stumble in so many ways (James 3:2-12). So, we find great comfort, but do not have overly inflated expectations.

·     (4) Jesus Christ has already defeated Satan and his works so he cannot deceive and keep in darkness to the extent that he once did (Mt. 12:29; 2 Pt. 2:4; 1 Jn. 3:8; Jude 6; Rev. 12:8-9; 20:1-3). Yet, he has not yet been fully vanquished (Mt. 25:41; Rev. 20:14-15). What this means is that we can find strength and comfort in Jesus Christ that we might stand against Satan and his evil powers (Eph. 6:10), but we dare not take him lightly. Instead, we must actively resist him (James 4:7-8) and do this in the armor we have in Christ, never forgetting we are in a serious battle (Eph. 6:11-18).

·    (5) Because of Jesus Christ’s saving work that has been accomplished for and applied to us, already we have been saved from the penalty of sin (John 3:16; 5:24; Rom. 8:1), we have been saved from its dominion  and are being saved from its power (Rom. 6:1-14). However, we have not yet been saved from the presence of sin (Rom. 7:17; 1 John 1:8; Rev. 21:1-8). What this means is that the moral corruption we have inherited from Adam (this tendency to be our own god, to ignore our Savior, and to trust in and love anything and anyone above and beyond him) is no longer the king over our soul, our heart, and our actions. Instead, Christ and his grace reign over us. Sin does not have to dominate totally who we are and what we do. Nevertheless, this corruption, this sin, does still remain in us as an insurgent that carries out its very destructive terrorist campaigns in our mind, affections, will, and behavior.

·     (6) Related to the previous point, we can say that the future new age has already bled in on our lives so that already all who are in Jesus Christ are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). However, we have not yet become the perfectly new creation who is able always to do the will of the Father without sin. That still awaits a future day (cf. Rom. 8:30; 1 John 3:1-2).

There is more we could say. However, I think you get the point of how this brings a rich perspective that should bring hope and encouragement, at the same time it prevents us from expecting from self or each other too much. It moves us to rest in our Savior so much now but also to expect an even greater deliverance and reward for the future. Though we will experience his blessings now in Christ, the blessings we have in him now are only a foretaste of what someday we will have!

So, don’t think this teaching is a ho-hum doctrine. It is one of those biblical realities that keep us on our feet and going forward as we live in this time in-between the two comings of our Lord, in this already/not yet period!

The Decision To Limit The Number Of Cubbies

Recently the leaders of our pre-school group known as Cubbies in our AWANA children’s ministry made the decision to put a cap on the number of children who can be part of that age level this year. This decision was made after a lot of agonizing and it was done primarily for one reason: space restrictions.

In a time when most small town churches and their ministries are in decline, having a growing AWANA ministry that is busting at the seams is a good problem to have. Nevertheless, I know some are concerned about this decision. So, in this post I want to address those who are concerned with some brief thoughts…

·         Though I wish this decision did not have to be made, I support those who made it. They were pressed to the limit last year. I want to give the freedom to those on the front lines actually doing the work to make those decisions—as much as we possibly can.

·         The church values young children and also children’s ministry. We know how important it is to reach out to young children and expose them to the gospel as soon as possible. Those commitments have not changed.

·         Many preschools, schools and other kinds of children’s ministries have to set limits on the numbers of children who can participate due to space and staffing limitations. It does not in any way suggest we don’t care about those children or those children’s families who may be turned away beyond the cap. Please join me in praying that we can keep significant connections to any preschoolers and families who have to be turned away this year and can bring them back in next year.

·         Because we are in the process of planning to expand our facility, this cap should be a temporary cap.

·         Speaking of our building expansion, this is one of the many bits of evidence that we are now at a place of desperately needing to expand—not for luxury purposes, but for ministry purposes.

·         I want to thank all of our congregation for your patience during this time. We have a wonderful AWANA volunteer staff and leadership who all are doing a fantastic job in space that is now too small. We are praying that will change soon.

·         Please keep our AWANA ministry and other ministries in prayer as we “ramp up” for a new year of ministry.

The Chief Membership Objection Answered, Part 2

In my last post I began to address the most common objection that Christians level toward official church membership:  The New Testament Church itself did not have such a process. I gave the first part of the response to that objection--namely that all which church membership comprises was found in the New Testament Church as essentials to spiritual health and growth.

I ended that post by acknowledging that some will still say, "But if the New Testament Church could carry out these principles apart from membership, we can too." I responded to that idea by highlighting the difference between us and the New Testament Church:  They faced the threat of outward persecution and we do not. That is the main difference that leads to our needing formal membership.

I want to come back to that thought in this post and elaborate upon it.

A Persecuted Church Has Less Need For Formal Membership

I am indebted to Jonathan Leeman for this truth. Leeman has written and taught extensively on the subject of church membership recently. He made the point that when Christians in a country or a region of a country are being persecuted or facing the possibility of persecution, it becomes very difficult for people to profess faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. In such an environment the threat of persecution itself tends to become the instrument of clarity for knowing who is in and who is out. For example, if a person in such a place professes faith in Jesus Christ and is baptized, now they run the risk of being ostracized by family, imprisoned, or killed. This tends to cut down on the likelihood that a person will profess faith just because others have or in some flippant way. It increases the likelihood that a higher percentage of professions will be real. The exact opposite is true in lands like ours where we do not face such prices for our faith. That is one of the reasons our churches are wise to have formal membership processes.

In Acts 5:13 we read: “None of the rest (that is, people not currently part of the church) dared join them (other believers), but the people held them in high esteem.” People of Jerusalem knew that Jewish leaders had threatened excommunication from the synagogue for confessing Jesus as Christ (John 9:22) and that openly following him could bring persecution (Acts 4:1-22). As such, no one had the boldness to trust in Jesus and join the other believers. This exemplifies exactly Leeman’s point. Yet, we go on to read in Acts 5:14 that “more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of men and women.” This could only be the case because God was sovereignly calling them, regenerating them, and giving them true faith in Christ. 

In other words, a clear demarcation between believer and unbeliever was set up. No one wanted to join themselves with the church, unless they had truly repented and trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior. In such a climate there are not as many false conversions.  The membership process is designed to help function in a similar way, at least when it comes to helping a person know whether or not they are truly saved and are truly willing to submit to being and making disciples in the church.

But All Of This Can Be True Of Me Without Being A Member

I have known a handful of people both in Fort Collins and here in Minden who are committed to Christ, to the church, we have known they are “part of us,” but they still are not members officially. Those people would say, “All of this can be true of me without membership.” I would answer them in this way, “Yes, most of it can be true. However, you cannot vote and there are some ministries in which you cannot serve.” I would also say, "Though you might be able to fulfill many of these principles apart from membership, most people will not. What is more, in our day and time it is not wise for the reasons mentioned above for a congregation not to have official membership and for a truly committed follower of Jesus Christ not to submit themselves to membership in a church. So, even if there are some exceptions, that is, some who can be committed and fulfill most of what membership involves without being members, it is still best that Christians submit to the membership process and do it for the good and health of the whole church."

I encourage all of us who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who are a regular part of the Minden Evangelical Free Church to submit to the official membership and accountability of the church. I encourage all of us who are members to remember the promises, the covenant, you have made to Christ and this church and carry them out to the best of your ability and by his grace. If you need a copy of that covenant, please contact me and I will get one to you.