At present, we are working with the light of truth presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer from his book True Spirituality where we are discussing the basic considerations of the Christian life, or true Christianity.

I have found it extremely helpful that when a man has accepted Christ as his Savior, he should bow his head and say “Thank you” to the God who is there—“Thank you for the completed work”.  Undoubtedly men have been saved and have gone away not consciously saying ‘Thank you’ but how wonderful it is when a man has seen himself as a sinner, and has understood his lostness, for that man to have accepted Christ as his Savior and then to have bowed his head consciously to say ‘Thank you’ for a work that is absolute and complete.  It is usually when the newly-born one thanks God that the assurance comes, that he comes to rest in certainty and in peace.   

It is the same in restoration.  There is a continuing parallel here.  If we have sinned, it is wonderful consciously to say, “Thank you for a completed work,” after we have brought that specific sin under the finished work of Christ.  While not absolutely necessary for restoration, the conscious giving of thanks brings assurance and peace.  We say ‘Thank you’ for work completed upon the cross, which is sufficient for a completely restored relationship.  This is not on the basis of my emotions, any more than in my justification.  The basis is the finished work of Christ in history and the objective promises of God in the written Word.  If I believe him, and if I believe what he has taught me about the sufficiency of the work of Christ for restoration, I can have assurance, no matter how black the blot has been.  This is the Christian reality of salvation from one’s conscience. 

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

At present, we are working with the light of truth presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer from his book True Spirituality where we are discussing the basic considerations of the Christian life, or true Christianity.

In our study, we have seen earlier that there is a parallel between justification and sanctification, that is, between becoming a Christian and living a Christian life.  The first step in justification is that I must acknowledge that I am a sinner, that I am justly under the wrath of God, and that I cannot save myself.  The first step in living the true Christin life is that I must acknowledge that I cannot live the Christian life in my own strength or in my own goodness.  The first step of restoration after I have sinned is in exactly the same line:  I must acknowledge that my specific sin is sin.  There are not three different principles; there is one principle in these three places, because we are dealing with the same God and basically the same problem.  But neither in becoming a Christian, nor in fruit-bearing as a Christian, is the first step enough on its own.  In each of the three situations, I must then raise the hands of faith for God’s gift in that place.  And when I, a Christian, have sinned, it is only the finished work of Jesus Christ in space, time, and history, back there on Calvary’s cross, that is enough.  It is only the blood of Jesus Christ that is enough to cleanse my sin as a Christian, and it is only upon the basis of the blood of Christ that the spot is removed.  I must bring the specific sin under the blood of Jesus Christ, by faith.  So it is the same thing again; here is the active passivity which we have already discussed.  We cannot do it of ourselves, but neither are we sticks or stones.  God has made us in his own image, and he will always deal with us on that ground and in that relationship.   

Now just as in the conscious area of sanctification as a whole, so here in restoration; everything rests upon the reality of the fact that the blood of Christ has meaning in our present life, and restoration takes place as we, in faith, act upon that fact in specific cases of sin.  After we become a Christian we must learn the reality of the meaning of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, in our present life, and consciously begin to act on it.  We must have knowledge and practice of the availability of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in the present meaning of our life.  The reality of it rests upon the knowledge of what Christ has purchase for us—not only in taking us to heaven, but in the present life—and then begin to act upon this in moment-by-moment faith. 

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

Continuing with the context:  Seeking to understand God’s loving chastisement of His children’s sins….in the last post we ended with — He chastises us for a purpose.  It is not only to bring righteousness into my life, but it is also that I might have that ‘peaceable fruit of righteousness’ (Hebrews 12:9-11)—that these things being dealt with, I may be at peace.  That is God’s loving care. 

But there is a condition to it.  Those who have this peaceable fruit of righteousness are those who are exercised by God’s chastening: in other words, learning what he is teaching them in the midst of it.  God the Father’s chastening is to cause us to acknowledge that a specific sin is sin; his hand can grow increasingly heavy until we come to acknowledge that it is sin and stop trying to get out from under it through fancy terms, blaming it on other people or excusing it in some way.  Do we want a restored relationship?  We may have it, as children of God.  We may have a restored relationship any moment, but we are not ready for it until we are willing to call specific sin sin.   

And the emphasis Is on specific sin.  It will not do just to say, ‘I sinned.’  There must be a willingness to call my specific sin sin.  I must take my place in the Garden of Gethsemane with Christ. There Christ is speaking as a true man, and he speaks the absolute reverse of Adam and Eve in the Garden of the Fall, when he says, ‘Not my will, but thine be done.’  I, too, must say with meaningfulness, ‘Not my will, but thine be done,’ at the point of that specific sin; not just a general statement, ‘I want your will,’ but ‘I want your will in reference to this thing that I acknowledge to be sin.’ 

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.     1 John 1:6 ESV 

There is no such thing as to continue deliberately to walk in darkness and to have an open fellowship with him who is only light and holiness.  This is simply not possible.   

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. 1 John 2:16 ESV 

Here is something that is the antithesis not only to god’s external law, but of his character and what he is.  How can we say we have fellowship with him if we deliberately walk in that which is the antithesis of himself. 

So we must say, ‘Not my will, but thine be done.”  And as I say this in reference to this specific sin, I am once again the creature before God; I am in the place for which I was made.  As a child of the Fall, self is crucified again, for there can be no resurrection without the crucifixion.  We have seen that the order of the Christian life is plain:  there can be no restitution without repentance and confession directly to God.  In the unity of the teaching of Scripture, this is exactly what one would expect if one begins with the central biblical teaching that God really exists.  He is a personal-infinite God, and he has a character.  He is holy.  This is not some strange thing pulled in from a peripheral point; it stands at the very heart of the matter.  If this is what God is, the God who exists, and if I have become his child, should one not expect that when I have sinned, when I have done that which is the antithesis of his character, I must go back to him as a person and say I am sorry?  He is not just a doctrine, or an abstraction; he is a person who is there.  We must go honestly before God who knows our whole being, and we must say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned.’  There must be real sorrow for the sin that I know.  And this is how our loving Heavenly Father has designed for us to remain in fellowship with Him and to have peace.  We listen to his voice, wherein the Holy Spirit tugs on our heart and tells us where we are in sin and we respond by going to our Father and confessing what we are experiencing, the specifics of it, and we ask for not only his forgiveness, but for his intervention and supernatural help.  And because he truly is our Father and we truly are his children, he will forgive, and he will help.  Amazing love, Amazing Father.    

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

Friends:  If you have the occasion to read or share the Christmas Story today …maybe consider using this version taken from the Bible, from the Gospels of Luke and John, the Epistle of 1^st John, and the Book of Hebrews.  It is presented from the New Living Testament translation.  (The idea of framing the story in this manner came to me this week in the morning devotional studies from my friend and pastor, David Niednagel). 

The Gospel of Luke, from chapter 2  (the record that He came, the announcement from Heaven) 

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.  This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.  And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.  He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. 

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.  She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. 

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” 

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.  After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.  All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.  The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. 

The Gospel of John, from chapter 1 (John establishes for us that ‘Jesus’, is Creator of all things, who was with God the Father from the beginning, that ‘He’ is the Son of God and He came down from heaven to redeem us and bring us into God’s family)  

In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.   

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.  John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. 

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. 

And in 1^st John, from chapter 1 (John further proclaims Jesus as the Son of God, that Jesus is ‘eternal life’ to us and for us and to know and accept this will make our joy in this life full). 

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.  This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us.  We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 

And in Hebrews, from chapter 2 (the writer of Hebrews tells us why Jesus had to put-on human skin and be born in the manger at Bethlehem)   

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.  Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. 

And ‘this’ is the reason for the season.  He came to save us!  Emanuel…God became one of us so that He could be with us now and for eternity.   

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.   ESV

Words are sounds and/or symbols that communicate meaning. One small word can communicate much. For instance “Fire!”, or “Help”, etc. Words are not “living”, but they surely are important. Imagine a person born blind and deaf who has no concept of communication. God is a communicating God. He made us in His image so that we can know Him and relate to Him. 

Isa 9 says He came into this world to people living in darkness, to bring light. God the Son is the Creator of the universe, and He “became flesh” as the greatest communicator (and communication) ever on earth, and brought Light and Life. I’m not sure whether we have to have light in order to have life, or whether we have to have life in order to have light, but Jesus brought both, “in the fullness of time”. The awesome Creator God became personal, bringing life and light to individuals. Not everyone received God’s communication – His Word, but some did, and to them He gave the right/privilege of entering that communication like a child with a Father.

Father, I would not be able to know You if the Lord Jesus had not come as perfect communication from You. Thank You that He brought Life and Light! I love being alive and able to walk in the Light – understanding and delighting in YOU, and all that You have made. And not only to see with my physical eyes, but to understand eternal truth with the eyes of my heart! What a blessed reminder Christmas is of these glorious gifts! May I always choose to walk in the light, enjoying You, and using all my communication ability to bring others into a relationship of light and life with You also.  Amen

(This is a devotional from earlier in this week from my friend and pastor of 47 yrs, David Niednagel)

At present, we are working with the light of truth presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer from his book True Spirituality where we are discussing the basic considerations of the Christian life, or true Christianity.

Continued…..The ‘way back’ …restoring fellowship with God…. 

And the first step of the way back is not new either.  No man is justified, no man becomes a Christian, until he acknowledges he is a sinner and acknowledges his need for a Savior.  And 1 John 1:4-9 makes it plain that the first step in the restoration of the Christian after he has sinned is to admit to God that what he has done is sin.  He must not excuse it; he must not call it by another name; he must not blame it on somebody else; he must not call it less than sin.  He must be sorry for it.   

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, (and that light is not just a general illumination; it is clearly his holiness), we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (a present cleansing).   If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:4-9 ESV 

This is the gentle dealing of God with his children after we have fallen.  This is the purpose of God’s chastisement of the Christian; it is to cause us to acknowledge that the specific sin is sin.   

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?  “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Hebrews 12:5-8 ESV 

If we have sin in our lives, and we go on, and God does not put his hand in loving chastisement upon us, then we are not children of God.  God loves us too much for that.  He loves us tremendously. He loves us as his adopted children. 

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Hebrews 12:9-11 

He does all this for a purpose. It is not only to bring righteousness int my life, but it is also that I might have that ‘peaceful fruit of righteousness’—that these things being dealt with, I may be a peace.  That is God’s loving care.  (to be continued 😊) 

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

At present, we are working with the light of truth presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer from his book True Spirituality where we are discussing the basic considerations of the Christian life, or true Christianity.

So continuing…. Let us say now that I have been living in the light of what God has been giving us and provides for us in this present life.  As a ‘new creation’…having truly experienced what Jesus identified to Nicodemus as being ‘born again’…as a literal child of God, I have been practicing the reality of true spirituality, as Christ has purchased it for us.  And then sin reenters.  For some reason my moment-by-moment belief in God falters—a fondness for some specific sin has caused me at that point not to draw in faith upon the fact of a restored relationship with the Trinity.  The reality of the practice of true spirituality suddenly slips from me.  I look up some morning, some afternoon, some night—and something is gone, something I have known: my quietness and my peace are gone.  It is not that I am lost again, because justification is once for all.  But as far as man can see, or even I myself, at this point there is no exhibition of the victory of Christ upon the cross.  Looking at me at this point, men would see no demonstration that God’s creation of moral rational creatures is not a complete failure, or even that God exists.  Because God still holds me fast, I do not have the separation of lostness, but I do have the separation from my Father in the parent-child relationship.  And I remember what I had.  

At this point a question must arise: Is there a way back?  Or is it like a fine Bavarian porcelain cup, dropped on a tile floor so that it is smashed and beyond repair? 

Thank God, the gospel includes this.  The Bible is always realistic; it is not romantic, but deals with realism—with what I am.  There is a way back, and the basis of the way back is nothing new to us.  The basis is again the blood of Christ, the finished work of the Lamb of God: the once-for-all completed work of Christ upon the cross, in space, time, and history.  (tomorrow we will continue with ‘the steps to the way back’). 

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

At present, we are working with the light of truth presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer from his book True Spirituality where we are discussing the basic considerations of the Christian life, or true Christianity.

Continuing yesterday’s final thoughts……It is only as we consciously bring each victory to ‘His’ feet, and keep it there as we think of it—and especially as we speak of it—that we can avoid the pride of that victory, which can be worse than the sin over which we claim to have had the victory.  The greater the victory, the greater the need of placing it consciously (and as we speak of it, vocally) at his feet. 

Yesterday we said that there are two false attitudes against which we must stand, and not just one.  The second is just as mistaken as the first.  

In the Westminster Catechism there is the emphasis that we sin daily in thought, word, and deed.  This is not wrong, but it can be distorted by our sinful hearts into something which is exceedingly wrong.  As we teach our children that we sin daily in thought, word, and deed, we must be very careful to warn them of the danger of thinking that they can look lightly or abstractly at sin in their lives.  If I count on Christ’s victory for my entrance to heaven, will I deny him the glory he would gain in victories won, in me and through me, in my present life?  If I look to Jesus Christ and his victory on the cross for my entrance into a future heaven, dare I deny to him what that victory should produce in the battles of the present life—the battles before men and angels and the supernatural world?  

The Bible makes a clear distinction between temptation and sin.  Christ was tempted in every point like as we are, yet, the Bible says with great emphasis, he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).  Consequently, there is a difference between temptation and sin, and the Bible says that just because we are tempted does not mean that we must follow through in that temptation and fall into sin.  

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 1:13 ESV. 

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:3-4 ESV 

It is not we who overcome the world in our own strength.  We do not have a power plant inside ourselves that can overcome the world.  The overcoming is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we have already seen.  There can be a victory, a practical victory, if we raise the empty hands of faith moment by moment and accept the gift.  “This is the victory that has overcome the world.”  God has promised, and the Bible has said, that there is a way to escape temptation. By God’s grace we should want that escape. 

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

At present, we are working with the light of truth presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer from his book True Spirituality where we are discussing the basic considerations of the Christian life, or true Christianity.

The next chapter…Freedom From Conscience – Part 1

(The next couple of days are a tad ‘heavy’…so bare down and work through it…😊)

Let’s consider the question of freedom from my conscience. (defining conscience as awareness of internal and external existence.) There are two attitudes which the Word of God and the study of church history warn us against if we are to avoid mistakes.  The first one is perfectionism, as it has been called theologically.  This is the teaching that a Christian can be perfect in this life.  This view falls into two areas.  The first is the teaching sincerely held by many, that at a certain point in a man’s life there comes come second blessing, after which he never sins again.  The early Wesley taught this—not the later Wesley, for he began to see that this could not be consistently held.  But there is another form of perfectionism, which holds that we may know perfection for the moment.  As we have seen, it is true that our lives are lived on a moment-by-moment basis; this view talks of a moment-by-moment total moral ‘victory.’   

So the question arises whether we could expect to have perfection, either totally or even for this one moment.  And I would suggest that such an expression simply gets us caught in a swamp, in which we have endless discussions concerning some abstract idea of complete victory, even in this one moment.  The phrase that often is used is that we can have freedom from ‘all known sin.’  But I feel that as we consider first the Word of God and then human experience, we must understand that there is a problem in the word ‘known,’ and also a problem in the word ‘conscious,’ if we talk of ‘conscious’ sin.  The problem is using either or both of these words is the fact that since the fall, man has habitually fooled himself.  We fool ourselves deep inside our subconscious and unconscious nature.   

The more the Holy Spirit puts his finger on my life and goes down deep into my life, the more I understand that there are deep wells to my nature.  Modern psychology has dealt with these under the terms unconscious and subconscious, and though the philosophy behind modern psychology is often fundamentally wrong, surely it is right in pointing out that we are more than merely that which is on the surface.  We are like the iceberg; one-tenth above and nine-tenths below.  It is a very, very simple thing to fool ourselves, and that is why we must question this word ‘known.’  If I say I can have freedom from all ‘known sin, surely I must acknowledge the meaningfulness of the question:  What do I know?  Until I can describe what I know, I cannot go on meaningfully to ask whether I can have freedom from ‘known’ sin.  As the Holy Spirit has wrestled with me down through the years, more and more I am aware of the depths of my own nature, and the depths of the results of that awful fall in the Garden of Eden.  Man is separated from himself.   

Now we must understand, too, in the framework of the Scripture, that since the Fall everything is under the covenant of grace.  The covenant of works is destroyed by the deliberate, free, unconditioned choice of Adam and Eve.  In its place, by the grace of God, with the promises begun in Genesis 3:15, a man was immediately given the promise of the work of the Messiah, coming in the future.  Thus from the time of the Fall onwards, everything rests upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, not upon ourselves, not in ourselves.  Hence if there is any real victory in my life, it must not be thought of as my victory or my perfection.  Such a notion does not fit the scriptural picture of man or God’s dealing with us since man has sinned.  It is not my victory, it is always Christ’s victory; it is never my work or holiness, it is always Christ’s work and Christ’s holiness.  When I begin to think and to grow in the idea of my victory, there is really no true victory.  To the extent that I am thinking about my sanctification, there is no real sanctification.  I must see it always as Jesus Christ’s.   (con’t tomorrow) 

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc