simul iustus et peccator

I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

--Romans 7:15-8:2 The Message

Some days are just like that, aren't they?

Song in My Heart This Pentecost

Holy Spirit, light divine,
Dawn upon this soul of mine;
Let your word dispel the night,
Wake my spirit, clear my sight.

Holy Spirit, grace divine,
Cleanse this sinful heart of mine;
In your mercy look on me,
From sin’s bondage set me free.

Holy Spirit, truth divine,
Shine upon these eyes of mine;
Send your radiance from above,
Let me know my Savior’s love.

Holy Spirit, power divine,
Fortify this will of mine;
Bend it to your own pure will,
All my life with graces fill.

Holy Spirit, peace divine,
Still this restless heart of mine;
Speak to calm the tossing sea,
Stayed in your tranquility.

Holy Spirit, all divine,
Dwell within this self of mine;
I your temple pure would be
Now and for eternity.

Andrew Reed, 1817

Life and Death Lessons

My mom passed away last week. Though I saw the end coming as her health rapidly deteriorated these last couple of months, I really wasn't ready to lose her yet.

At her funeral something about her dawned on me as the pastor spoke about Mom's life: My mom was not very religious, but my mom was very faithful.

And I realized that the way Mom lived her life personified faith, not religion. I think for the first time I understood, really understood, the difference, and I was so comforted.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

- John 10:27-28

Piety?

The most important virtue of the Proverbs 31 woman is found in verse 30:

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

This is the only attribute that matters, the rest are meaningless if the woman doesn't first and foremost fear & love the Lord.

Technically, I'm Not Blogging...

...I'm cutting & pasting. :-)

Some things are worth repeating. And this is one of those things.

For neither you nor I could ever know anything of Christ, or believe on Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and appropriate it to us. Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, to which we could not attain of ourselves. --Luther's Large Catechism, The Apostles' Creed, Article III, #38 & #39

Our Trespasses

Did you hear about the gay man (Bradley Fowler) who is suing two Bible publishing houses because the use of the word "homosexual" has caused him emotional harm? Here's a link: Man sues Zondervan to change anti-gay reference in Bible.

I don't think his lawsuit will amount to anything, partly because many older versions of the Bible have used the word "homosexual", including my 1952 NRSV. Using the word was not unique to these publishers. Also, the author is out of town. :-)

The passage that has caused Mr. Fowler's pain is 1 Corinthians 6:9, which reads (I'm including verse 10 as well - from the ESV):

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

But wait, there's more. And I really really really wish someone would have read this part to Mr. Fowler too (verse 11):

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

First there is the law (verses 9 & 10), and then there is the gospel (verse 11). Let's not have one without the other. In Christ Jesus we are washed, sanctified & justified by the Holy Spirit. You, me, and Mr. Fowler.

I came across a great definition of forgiveness I'd like to share with you, and all the hurting Mr. Fowler's of the world. From Susan's Pendulum:

Absolution
A grieved heart pours out her struggle with sin and pain.

The typical Christian response: Try harder to be good. God will help you.

A better response, more typical among Lutherans than the previous line: Jesus forgives you your sin. Go and sin no more.

A very good response: I forgive you all your sin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The sweetest response: Jesus says, "I know your sin and your rebellion. That's why I spread out my arms on the cross for you. Your sin is why I came and suffered to save you, because I wanted to make you my own. I chose you. I baptized you. I joined you to Myself. I will hang onto you until I bring you to My heaven."

Getting into the Spirit of things

Inspired by Pentecost - a comparative look at the work of the Holy Spirit...

Roman Catholic - ...to the Holy Ghost we attribute the operations of grace and the sanctification of souls, and in particular spiritual gifts and fruits, because He proceeds from the Father and the Son as Their mutual love and is called in Holy Writ the goodness and the charity of God. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are of two kinds: the first are specially intended for the sanctification of the person who receives them; the second, more properly called charismata, are extraordinary favours granted for the help of another, favours, too, which do not sanctify by themselves, and may even be separated from sanctifying grace. Those of the first class are accounted seven in number, as enumerated by Isaias (11:2-3), where the prophet sees and describes them in the Messias. They are the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety (godliness), and fear of the Lord. - Catholic Encyclopedia

Anabaptist/Mennonite - ... The Holy Spirit in His relation to the believer effects regeneration, assures of salvation, guides into truth, activates the conscience, purifies the heart, comforts, produces love, and gives power and joy in service ... The Anabaptists never identified the Holy Spirit with reason, or with emotion, or with the conscience, resisting the positions of rationalism and mysticism, but declared the Holy Spirit to be objective reality, revealing Himself to the believer in the Gospel ... In His relation to the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit was not considered to be a separate and independent "inner light" or "inner Word" whose authority might contradict and supersede the "written Word" as spiritualists taught. Anabaptists held that the Holy Spirit as the true author of Scripture is also the true interpreter of Scripture who does not contradict Himself...Considering the disparate origins of the movement it is not surprising to note that there is not only one Anabaptist view of the Holy Spirit. However, on the main points there was remarkable agreement. Throughout Anabaptism there was a profound conviction that the Spirit was at the center of Christian experience enabling the follower of Christ to rise above legalism to the transforming life of joyful obedience... - Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online

Pentecostal - The Holy Ghost is not a third person in the Godhead, but rather the Spirit of God (the Creator), the Spirit of the resurrected Christ. The Holy Ghost comes to dwell in the hearts and lives of everyone who believes and obeys the gospel, as the comforter, Sustainer, and keeper (John 14:16-26; Romans 8:9-11). - United Pentecostal Church International, Apostles' Doctrine

[BTW My brother, Bryce, is a KJV-only Oneness Pentecostal - I found this link through his church's website.]

Assembly of God - All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.... This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth...With the baptism in the Holy Spirit come such experiences as: an overflowing fullness of the Spirit; a deepened reverence for God; an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work; and a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost...The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance....The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues, but is different in purpose and use...
Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God. The Scriptures teach a life of "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to obey the command: "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by the faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit. - General Council of Assemblies of God, Statement of Fundamental Truths

Baptist - We believe that the Holy Spirit has always been at work in the world, sharing in the work of creation, awakening faith in the remnant of God’s people, performing signs and
wonders, giving triumphs in battle, empowering the preaching of prophets and inspiring the writing of Scripture. Yet, when Christ had made atonement for sin, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, He inaugurated a new era of the Spirit by pouring out the promise of the Father on His Church. We believe that the newness of this era is marked by the unprecedented mission of the Spirit to glorify the crucified and risen Christ. This He does by giving the disciples of Jesus greater power to preach the gospel of the glory of Christ, by opening the hearts of hearers that they might see Christ and believe, by revealing the beauty of Christ in His Word and transforming His people from glory to glory, by manifesting Himself in spiritual gifts (being sovereignly free to dispense, as he wills, all the gifts of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10) for the upbuilding of the body of Christ and the confirmation of His Word, by calling all the nations into the sway of the gospel of Christ, and, in all this, thus fulfilling the New Covenant promise to create and preserve a purified people for the everlasting habitation of God. - Bethlehem Baptist Church, Elder Affirmation of Faith [a church in my area]

Candy (Non-denominational Fundamentalist) - When a person really gets saved/born again, then the very Holy Spirit of God Himself indwells that new creature in Christ. Suddenly this person is given gifts from the Holy Spirit. Often one of those gifts is the gift of discernment - to discern true evil from true good. - Keeping the Home, "Lord, Lord!" - Christians who aren't. What are you?

Via this comparison, it appears Candy's view of the work of the Holy Spirit is most closely aligned with that of the Pentecostals (although Candy does believe in the Trinity). She hasn't written very much regarding the work of the Spirit -- perhaps it is something she should read more about.