Thanks Be to God by Knox Chamblin

I read an article in the March Tabletalk that really struck me with how wonderful the Lord's grace is and how good He has been to me. Dr. Chamblin captures some awesome points and opens up to some areas of sin he has struggled with and how graceful God has dealt with him.

Thanks Be to God by Knox Chamblin

In December 2008, I turned seventy-three. Invited by Tabletalk to address younger generations “on matters pertinent to the faith,” I thought of Psalm 71, the prayer of an elderly man. Says verse 18: “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” I seek to do so now. Wisdom: “O God, from my youth you have taught me” (Ps. 71:17a). “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (90:12). For an ancient Hebrew, heart had rational, emotional, and volitional dimensions. So one way to love God with all one’s heart was to love him with all one’s mind (Matt. 22:37). I urge you, whatever your calling, to commit yourself to the serious study of the Holy Scriptures. When I taught at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS), reading an assigned exposition sometimes left me wondering: “If this student believes the Bible is God’s infallible Word, why has he expended so little effort to mine its treasures?” While writing a commentary on the gospel of Matthew in recent years, I was acutely aware of the need for both utter dependence on God and unrelenting discipline: these are like the two wings of an aircraft, both essential for flight (Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace, chap. 8). The crucial dimension of the heart is the will. Failure to do the truth shows that I have not grasped the truth (James 1:22; 1 John 3:18). Colossians 1:9–10 teaches that believers are given “spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord”; and that by “bearing fruit in every good work” they will be “increasing in the knowledge of God.” “All right knowledge of God is born of obedience” (John Calvin, Institutes, 1.6.2). Warfare: “O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!” (Ps. 71:12). Galatians 5:16–26 describes conflict between “the flesh” and “the Spirit.” “Flesh” here is not a part of the person, but the whole person viewed in a certain way — in rebellion against God. “The Spirit” is not the human spirit (which itself produces “works of the flesh”) but the Holy Spirit of God. By means of the fifteen “works of the flesh” (vv. 19–21), sin (the power behind the flesh) assaults God’s people. The eight traits at the heart of the list — “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy” — all spring from competitive pride, the foremost of the seven deadly sins (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, chap. 8). Pride and its offspring rob me of love, joy, and peace (Gal. 5:22). I can now see that pride assailed me throughout my teaching career. At Belhaven College and at RTS, I always taught with people who were better at doing what I did best! In face of their superior gifts and attainments there was always the threat of jealousy, rivalry, and envy. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (v. 16). Over the years I have come to see that the nine qualities of 5:22–23 are weapons from the Spirit to combat the flesh. Especially potent against pride is love (Greek agapē) — love that “does not envy or boast” (1 Cor. 13:4), that esteems others more highly than oneself (Phil. 2:1–3). In the face of pride, the Spirit also granted me joy — in praying with colleagues, in valuing all that they taught me, in knowing them to be skilled comrades-in-arms against a common foe (Eph. 6:10–20), in recalling how they discouraged me from taking myself too seriously. Worship: “My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day” (Ps. 71:8). I give thanks to God the Father. He fashioned me in His own image, and surrounded me with the wonders of His creation. He has granted me seventy-three years of life. He disclosed the glory of His Son to me. He drew me out of darkness into light, out of death into life. When I willfully disobey, He disciplines me — as gently as possible, as sternly as necessary! I shudder to think what course my life would have taken had it not been for the heavenly Father’s patience, mercy, and love to His stubborn and wayward child. I give thanks to God the Son. He loved me, and He went to the cross to save me from the sins that enslaved me, to crucify the record of guilt that the demonic powers used against me (Col. 2:13–15). He is my wisdom, my righteousness, my holiness and my redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). I now have a far more radical view of human wickedness and personal sin than before. For this very reason, I have a far more radical view of grace: what was long an important concept is now a preeminent reality. I give thanks to God the Holy Spirit. He has enlightened me to understand the Bible and has enabled me to teach. He has armed me for battle against the flesh; and He has slowly been cultivating in my life such qualities as love, joy, peace, and patience. I well know my natural bent to selfishness, gloom, anxiety, and impatience; so when my heart is moved to love God or another person, I know the Holy Spirit has been at work. For your own worship, I recommend a 30-day notebook. For each day, include (besides names of persons for whom to pray) a biblical psalm and a hymn of praise. You have a Bible. You may need a hymnbook: buy one, don’t take it from the church pew! “My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed” (Ps. 71:23).

Dr. Knox Chamblin is professor emeritus of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. In addition to teaching Sunday school, he also participates in conferences and foreign missions.

In order to promote the unity and growth of the body of Christ, Generation to Generation endeavors to provide the wisdom of elders to younger readers and convey what young Christians need to hear as they mature in the Christian faith.

© Tabletalk magazine

ESV Study Bible Calfskin giveaway

David Porter is giving away a ESV Study Bible in Calfskin at Boomer in the Pew Blog, check it out.

J. Gresham Machen: A Forgotten Libertarian

What a great article from 1993 in The Freeman written by Daniel F. Walker about J. Gresham Machen's commitment to liberty as well as the historic Christian faith. I found this thanks to Contemporary Calvinist.

Meet J. Gresham Machen, a leading conservative Christian theologian who led the battle for historic Christianity early in this century.

Machen is often overlooked today, except by those familiar with the world of Reformed Protestant Theology. Such books of his as The Origins of Paul’s Religion and The Virgin Birth of Christ (“monuments to careful historical research and argumentation,” according to historian George Mars-den) are periodically reprinted, as is his classic Christianity and Liberalism, a defense of historic Christianity against theological unbelief. CONTINUE TO ARTICLE

Qualities of a good listener

This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19 (NASB95)

Here is a good post by Gavin Ortlund on the qualities of a good listener.
Link

J. Gresham Machen on Public Schools

So I'm reading along in Christianity and Liberalism, by J. Gresham Machen last night and I come to a very interesting section in the introduction about the public schools in America. This is so profound and so prophetic and I just had to post it.

"A public school system if it means the providing of free education for those who desire it, is a noteworthy and beneficent achievement of modern times; but when once it becomes monopolistic it is the most perfect instrument of tyranny which has yet been devised. Freedom of thought in the middle ages was combated by the Inquisition, but the modern method is far more effective. Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state, force them to attend schools where the mind is filled with materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist."

Louis Berkhof on the Natures of Christ

Our church has been studying the Heidelberg Catechism on Sunday evenings. This week while looking at Lord's Day 6 and the two natures of Christ I thought I would dig a little deeper and see what much greater minds than mine have written on this topic. Here is a quote from Louis Berkhof in his Systematic Theology book that I think is terrific.

"From the earliest times, and more particularly since the Council of Chalcedon, the Church confessed the doctrine of the two natures of Christ. The Council did not solve the problem presented by a person who was at once human and divine, but only sought to ward off some of the solutions which were offered and were clearly recognized as erroneous. And the Church accepted the doctrine of the two natures in one person, not because it had a complete understanding of the mystery, but because it clearly saw in it a mystery revealed by the Word of God. It was and remained ever since for the Church an article of faith, far beyond human comprehension."

Pg 315, Section B

A.W. Pink, God's Sovereign Election

Here is the Grace Gem for today which is a wonderful explanation of election by A.W. Pink (1886-1952).

God's sovereign election

"Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works, but by Him who calls--she was told, 'The older will serve the younger.' Just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved--but Esau I hated.'" Romans 9:10-13

Jacob supplies us with the clearest and most unmistakable illustration of God's sovereign election to be met with in all the Bible. The case of Jacob gives the most emphatic refutation to the theory that God's choice is dependent upon something in the creature--something either actual or foreseen--and shows that the eternal election of certain individuals unto salvation--is due to no worthiness in the subjects--but results solely from God's sovereign grace. The case of Jacob proves conclusively, that God's choice is . . .
entirely sovereign,
wholly gratuitous, and
based upon nothing but His own good pleasure.

The God of Scripture then, is the God who chooses one--and passes by another. He is the One who exercises and exhibits His own sovereign will. He is one who shows Himself to be the Most High God, ruling in heaven and earth and disposing of His creatures according to His own eternal purpose. He is the One who singles out the most unlikely and unworthy objects--to be fashioned into vessels of glory. Yet, He is the One who necessarily always acts in harmony with His own divine perfections.

Election is not as some have supposed--harsh and unjust--but is a most merciful provision on the part of God. Had He not from the beginning, chosen SOME to salvation--ALL would have perished! Had he not before the foundation of the world chosen certain ones to be conformed to the image of His Son--the death of Christ would have been in vain, so far as the human race is concerned!

Reduced to its simplest terms, ELECTION means that God chose me--before I chose Him. Our Lord said, "You have not chosen Me--but I have chosen you." (John 15:16) We love Him--because He first loved us. Election means that before I was born, yes, before the foundation of the world--I was chosen in Christ and predestined unto a place in God's family! Election means that we believed--because He made us willing in the day of His power. Election then,
strips the creature of all merit,
removes all ground of boasting,
strikes us helpless in the dust,
and ascribes all the glory to God!