Ligonier Ministries Blog
Ligonier Ministries

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The Heart Restored
As we consider the history of God’s people in the Old Testament, we do not observe a people who served the Lord faithfully. The people of Israel did not demonstrate their love for God with all their hearts. Even some of the great heroes of Israel manifested the depths of depravity in their lives. Nevertheless, it is through our careful study of Israel’s past that we find great comfort. With spiritually discerning minds, we have been given the ability to understand the way in which God’s redemption of His people has been displayed throughout history. As such, we possess insight into the unfolding drama of redemption, from the beginning of life itself to the very end when death itself is conquered. It is for no small reason that God’s record of His people is replete with stories of failure and renewal. For it is in the history of redemption that the patient God of Israel restores His people time after time, demonstrating His enduring love and faithfulness. Despite their lawlessness and rebellion, the people of God in the Old Testament were repeatedly brought to repentance by the kindness of God and were always renewed in their sweet communion with Him. This common theme of restoration is perhaps best illustrated in the life of David who was the son of Jesse, the shepherd of Bethlehem, the defender of the kingdom of God, the king of Israel, the adulterer, the deceiver, and the murderer. In the biblical portrait of David, we observe a man whose heart was broken by his sin and healed by his Lord. Upon the occasion of David’s anointing, we recall the words of God to Samuel concerning David’s older brother Eliab: > Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. (1 Sam. 16:7) The boldness and sheer magnificence of these words demand that we hearken to the words of Samuel when he proclaimed to Saul that “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart…to be prince over his people” (1 Sam. 13:14). David was a man after God’s own heart, not because the heart of David was pure. Rather, he was a man after God’s own heart precisely because he understood that his heart was not pure, and for that reason he hid the Word of God in his heart so that he might not sin against the Lord and so that he might love the Lord with all his heart, coram Deo. -
From Hard Pressed to Hope
Christians are those who have faith in Christ. We all aspire to possess a faith that is strong and enduring. The reality, however, is that faith is not a constant thing. Our faith wavers between moments of supreme exultation and trying times that push us to the rim of despair. Doubt flashes danger lights at us and threatens our peace. Rare is the saint who has a tranquil spirit in all seasons. Suffering is one of the most significant challenges to any believer’s faith. When pain, grief, persecution, or other forms of suffering strike, we find ourselves caught off guard, confused, and full of questions. Suffering can strain faith to the limits. Paul wrote poignantly about his own struggles in times of distress: > We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Cor. 4:8–10) The Apostle said he was “hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed.” He made no attempt to mask his pain in a fraudulent piety. The Christian is not a Stoic. Neither does he flee into a fantasy world that denies the reality of suffering. Paul freely admitted the pressure he experienced. We all know what it means to be hard pressed. We use the word pressure to describe tense moments in our lives. Troubles in our jobs, troubles in our marriages, and troubles in our relationships can mount up and attack our spirits. If we add the tragic death of a loved one or the difficulty of a prolonged illness to these daily pressures, we feel the pain of being hard pressed all the more. To be hard pressed is to feel as if we are used automobiles that have been consigned to the junk heap and put in a metal compactor. To be hard pressed is to feel a massive weight that threatens to crush us. When we experience severe heartbreak, we may be inclined to say, “I’m crushed.” But this is hyperbole. We may feel crushed; we may even come close to being crushed. But the bold declaration of the apostle is that we are not crushed. We speak of “the straw that breaks the camel’s back.” I once heard this expression used while attending a Weight Watchers gathering. At the initial meeting for orientation, everyone was given several items, including a food guide, a daily chart for recording what we consumed, an exercise booklet, and a drinking straw. As we neared the end of the meeting and the instructions for the program were completed, the instructor asked, “What made you decide to join Weight Watchers?” Several members of the group volunteered answers. Each person had a different reason: some had seen themselves in recent photographs and couldn’t stand the sight; some had had to purchase clothes one size larger; and some had been told by their doctors to lose weight. After this discussion, the instructor held up a drinking straw. “This is your last straw,” she said. “This straw represents the reason you decided to join the program. Take it home and put it in a prominent position. Tape it to the refrigerator. When you falter in your desire to lose weight, look at it. Let it serve to remind you of why you are here.” I doubt a camel’s back has ever been broken by a drinking straw. The metaphor had its origin in the Middle East, where camels are still used as beasts of burden. The camel is expected to carry straw that is harvested. There is a limit to how much straw a camel can carry. Every camel’s back has a breaking point. The difference between a tolerable burden and one that crushes may be a single piece of straw. I don’t know how much straw a camel can carry. I don’t know how heavy a burden I can carry. We all have a tendency, however, to suppose that we can carry far less than we actually can. “My Burden Is Light” There have been times in my life when I have uttered foolish prayers. When I have been hard pressed, I have cried out to God: “This much and no more, Lord. I can’t handle another setback. One more straw and I’m finished.” It seems that every time I pray like that God puts a fresh load on my back. It is as if He answers my prayer by saying, “Don’t tell Me how much you can bear.” God knows our limits far better than we do. In one respect, we are very much like camels. When the camel’s load is heavy, he doesn’t ask his master for more weight. His knees get a bit wobbly and he groans beneath the burden, but he can take on more before his back will break. The promise of God is not that He will never give us more weight than we want to carry. The promise of God is that He will never put more on us than we can bear. Note that Paul did not say, “We are lightly pressed on every side.” He said that we are hard pressed. At first glance, these words seem in direct conflict with the promises of Christ. Jesus said: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28–30). It does not always seem to me that the burden Christ gives us is light. With these words, it almost seems as if Jesus approaches us under false pretenses. But His words are true. He does give rest to those who are heavy laden. The words easy and light are relative terms. Easy is relative to a standard of difficulty. Light is relative to a standard of heaviness. What is difficult to bear without Christ is made far more bearable with Christ. What is a heavy burden to carry alone becomes a far lighter burden to carry with His help. It is precisely the presence and help of Christ in times of suffering that makes it possible for us to stand up under pressure. It was because of Christ that Paul could triumphantly declare that though he was hard pressed, he was not crushed. We may feel like junked automobiles in a metal compactor, but Christ stands as a shield to prevent the pressure that comes upon us from crushing us entirely. To suffer without Christ is to risk being totally and completely crushed. I’ve often wondered how people cope with the trials of life without the strength found in Him. His presence and comfort are so vital that I’m not surprised when unbelievers accuse Christians of using religion as a crutch. We remember Karl Marx’s charge that “religion is the opiate of the people.” He was referring to opium, a narcotic used for dulling the effects of pain. Others have charged that religion is a bromide used by the weak in times of trouble. Several years ago, I had knee surgery. During my recuperation, I used crutches. I used them because I needed them. Likewise, years earlier I was in the hospital for another operation. After surgery, I was given painkilling drugs every four hours. I recall watching the clock during the fourth hour, eagerly awaiting the moment when I could push the call button for the nurse to get another dose. I was grateful for the painkillers, just as I was grateful for my crutches years later. I am far more grateful for Christ. It is no shame to call on Him for help in times of trouble. It is His delight to minister to us in our time of pain. There is no scandal in the mercy of God to the afflicted. He is like a Father who pities His children and moves to comfort them when they are hurting. To suffer without the comfort of God is no virtue. To lean upon His comfort is no vice, contrary to Marx. -
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Reforming Soteriology in the Sixteenth Century
The rediscovery of the biblical doctrine of salvation in the sixteenth century did not occur all at once. Initially, the early Reformers rediscovered the biblical meaning of the word justification. They realized that it meant “to declare righteous” rather than “to make righteous.” This led them to realize that the instrumental cause of justification was not baptism, but faith alone. In other words, the first thing the Reformers discovered was that the late medieval church had a distorted understanding of the solution to man’s great problem. Over time, as they worked through the text of Scripture and compared its teaching with that of the Roman Catholic Church, they were able to discover that Rome had a distorted understanding of the solution because Rome had a distorted understanding of the problem. Rome’s soteriology, or doctrine of salvation (the solution), had developed in the way it had because of the way Rome understood the result of Adam’s sin (the problem). As we observed in the previous article, the Roman Catholic Church taught that when Adam fell, he lost a superadded gift of justifying/sanctifying grace. In this view, Adam and his posterity needed to regain that grace in order to be re-elevated to the supernatural order of being. In their view, this is accomplished through the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. As they studied Scripture, the Reformers realized that the Roman Catholic doctrine of man’s fall did not do full justice to the text. They came to understand that, in the fall, man did not merely lose a gift of superadded grace with little or no harm done to his nature. Instead, as the Westminster Confession of Faith would later express, in the fall > they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body. (WCF 6.2) The theological term that would later come to describe this fallen state is total depravity. It is important to note again that whatever one believes to be the problem will dictate one’s understanding of the solution (soteriology). Pelagius’ doctrine of salvation is what it is because of his understanding of the problem. Rome’s doctrine of salvation is what it is because of its understanding of the problem. The salvation of a dead man and the salvation of a wounded man require completely different means. The Reformed churches explained God’s solution to man’s problem in terms of the covenant that God made between Himself and man. The Westminster Confession of Faith offers one of the clearest statements of this biblical doctrine of salvation. What follows is taken largely from this confession. Readers are encouraged to find a copy containing the biblical proof texts and carefully work through all of them. As the Westminster Confession of Faith explains, before the fall, God made a covenant with Adam “wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience” (WCF 7.2). Significantly, and in contrast to the teaching of Rome, Adam had the power and ability to obey the law prior to the fall (WCF 4.2; 19.1). Furthermore, original righteousness was part of his nature, created as it was in the image of God (WCF 4.2; 6.2). It was not, as the Roman Catholic Church taught, a superadded gift added to his nature. Because of man’s fall, he is no longer able to obey the law perfectly and thus no longer able to fulfill the terms of the first covenant. God, therefore, > was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein he freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe. (WCF 7.3) The only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, was ordained from all eternity to be the one Mediator between God and man (WCF 8.1). He was ordained to save His people, those whom God, out of His free grace and love, chose in Christ “before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will” (WCF 3.5). > The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience, and sacrifice of himself, which he, through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of his Father; and purchased, not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto him. (WCF 8.5) The purchased redemption is applied by Christ to all the elect throughout history (WCF 8.8). Because fallen man is in a state of sin and death, and not merely wounded or sick, he is unable to do anything to receive the purchased redemption on his own. God, therefore, effectually calls the elect out of death just as Christ called Lazarus out of the tomb. He regenerates them, giving them spiritual life and drawing them to Jesus Christ (WCF 10.1). Those whom God calls, He freely justifies. They are justified, or declared righteous, not on the basis of any works of their own, but on the grounds of the imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith alone (WCF 11.1; 14.2). Those who are effectually called and justified are also sanctified throughout their life: > The dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified; and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. (WCF 13.1; see also16.1–7) Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the Reformed churches also taught that > They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. (WCF 17.1) In our next article, we will look at the way in which some Reformed theologians in the Netherlands became dissatisfied with Reformed confessional theology and began to move that theology back in the direction of Rome. We will also look at the Reformed church’s response at the Synod of Dordt. -
Love’s Attributes
In the early seventeenth century, Archbishop Ussher of Ireland desired to visit the home of a Presbyterian minister to see whether what he had heard about the man’s personal godliness was true. Ussher arrived at the pastor’s home disguised as a poor beggar. He was welcomed inside, where the wife was catechizing the household. She asked the unexpected visitor how many commandments there were. When he answered, “Eleven,” she thought him a very ignorant man and asked him nothing more, but she fed him and sent him to bed. The minister discovered Ussher’s ruse later that night and asked him to preach the next morning. So Ussher, now cleaned up and dressed so that the wife did not recognize him, entered the pulpit. He preached on what he said might be considered “the eleventh commandment,” namely, John 13:34: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another” (KJV here and throughout). The minister’s wife was astonished that the beggar had turned into a preacher, and that she had misjudged him so terribly and not shown him more love. What is love? How do you know if you are keeping Christ’s commandment to love your Christian brothers and sisters? How does a loving person treat others? Popular media often present love as feelings of attraction and pleasure, but such feelings rise and fall like mercury in a thermometer. We need love that is less like a thermometer and more like a thermostat — controlling our reactions rather than being controlled by them. Others speak of love as non-judgmental, unconditional acceptance, derived from the psychological concept of unconditional positive regard. But this overly-simplistic approach is confusing and leaves us powerless in the face of malice and evil. How do you unconditionally and non-judgmentally accept a terrorist or a serial killer? Many Christians today believe that the key Greek words for love in the New Testament, agapē and the related verb agapaō, denote not a feeling but an act of the will to do good to others at our own expense. But this idea cannot be based on the different words for love in the Greek, since the agapē word-group can mean all sorts of things in different contexts. Furthermore, an emotionless concept of love leaves us uncertain what to do with our feelings. It also fails to grapple with the deep, often hidden motivations that drive our choices. So where can we find a true description of love? The Apostle Paul has given us an excellent description of it in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7. Paul extols love (KJV: “charity,” from the Latin caritas) as “a more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31)—superior to the spiritual gifts (chap.12) and absolutely necessary for a life of any value when weighed in the scales of God (1 Cor. 13:1–3). Verses 4–7 display the beauty of love’s attributes and activities. They are not so much a definition of love’s essence as a description of love’s fruits; they show us how love motivates certain actions or behaviors and militates against others. The description begins with patience and ends with endurance (vv. 4, 7). Love shows its true colors in how it responds to trials, suffering, and evil. The greatest display of love is Christ’s crucifixion. Paul wrote in Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The Paul who said that he knew nothing but “Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2) clearly thought much about Christ’s love. John highlights the love that lay at the root of Christ’s willingness to die for us when he says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Love shows its excellence in various ways. Jonathan Edwards wrote, “Love is an active principle” (Works 8:301). Positively, love exercises patience and shows kindness (1 Cor. 13:4). Love just keeps doing good. To serve the needs of others and glorify God, a loving person will persevere even in the face of unpleasantness or difficulties. Love wills to pay back pain with kindness, returning good for evil. Christian love reflects the image of God, the One who is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6). Negatively, love does not envy (1 Cor. 13:4). Love restrains selfish jealousy because it has learned to say no to self and delights to see others prosper. It does not boast and is not puffed up (v. 4). These qualities show that love is a humble virtue. Love inspires a preoccupation with God and other people, and it undercuts a preoccupation with ourselves. Jonathan Edwards wrote that “everyone who loves God loves him as God. . . . If we love God as infinitely superior to us, then love is exercised in us as infinite inferiors and therefore is an humble love” (Works 8:245). Love does not behave indecently (1 Cor. 13:5). The Greek verb translated “to behave indecently” means to act in defiance of standards, resulting in disgrace. Love inspires a person to do what is honorable before God and men (Rom. 12:17b; 2 Cor. 8:21). This statement disqualifies any antinomian view of love; love extends to God’s law (Ps. 119:97) and strives to fulfill it (Rom. 13:8–10). Love does not seek personal advancement (1 Cor. 13:5), but it impels us to seek God’s glory and our neighbor’s good. Love turns us into servants (Phil. 2). It is not irritable and does not reckon the wrong (v. 5). To be irritable is to be easily provoked to anger (Acts 17:16), but love controls anger. To forgive is not to keep accounts of wrongs—love delights not to count people’s sins against them (Rom. 4; 2 Cor. 5:19). Love does not rejoice in injustice, but it rejoices in the truth (1 Cor. 13:6). Love is jubilant whenever it encounters righteousness and faithfulness. Yet love grieves over news that someone has fallen into sin and paid a heavy price for it; thus, love does not regard such news as a tasty morsel for gossip. Such love does good, even to enemies. Verse 6 rebukes the idol of relativistic tolerance that often passes for love in our culture; sincere love includes hatred for evil (Rom. 12:9). The greatest display of God’s love was also the greatest demonstration of His righteousness, as His Son satisfied God’s justice by bearing the penalty for our sins (Rom. 3:25–26). So 1 Corinthians 13:6 corrects the popular Christian notion that love has nothing to do with feelings. Love has strong feelings against sin and for righteousness. In the last four actions or habits attributed to love (v. 7), the repeated “all” should not be read as an absolute or unqualified universal. These verses must be read in the context of the New Testament. When Paul uses the word all, he means, respectively, that love bears all burdens that we must bear as crosses, believes all things that we ought to believe as Christians, hopes for all things that we are to look for according to God’s promise, and endures all the trials we must undergo for Christ’s sake. Thus, love inspires these four actions in a consistent fashion. Love possesses the strength to persevere in the midst of difficulty; in every circumstance, love goes on believing and hoping. The triad of faith, hope, and love appears many times in Scripture. As Christians love God, their hearts rejoice in His faithful love for them, which confirms their faith and keeps their hopes alive. Edwards said that love is “the life and soul of a practical faith,” that which gives faith its vitality and productivity (Works 8:139, 330–31). Love is “the most essential ingredient in faith and hope” (8:327). Here we find Paul’s description of love’s persistent activity in a sinful and suffering world. Love is a verb. Yet love must be more than outward actions; its essence resides in the heart’s motives. What drives it? It cannot be selfish ambition, for love is not arrogant and does not seek its own things. Neither can love be powered by an immediate pleasure in the one beloved; otherwise, love would not be patient and kind with fallen people. What, then, drives love? The text gives us two clues. Its joy is in truth, that is, the righteousness and faithfulness of God. Thus, love rejoices in God’s love as revealed in Christ. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Its perseverance is intertwined with faith and hope, that is, in looking to Christ and trusting in God’s Word. Edwards said that love arises from a “sight or sense of God’s excellency” (Works 8:333). Therefore, we conclude that love is God-originated, Godfocused, and God-driven. “God is love” (1 John 4:8b). We are never deeper in communion with God than when we walk in authentic love. How beautiful, then, are the attributes and activities of love.