"God Has Forgiven You" Church Sign

By Justin Edwards

"God Has Forgiven You" were the words of a church sign I passed by in March on the way to our weekly evangelism outreach at UNC-Charlotte.  As I drove passed the sign, I could hardly believe what I read, so I made a U-turn to make sure I read it correctly.  As you can see in the picture, my eyes did not deceive me.

I had never heard of Metropolitan Community Church of Charlotte or its parent organization, The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. With a church sign that read, "God has forgiven you", and seeing the term "universal", my initial thoughts were that it was some kind of Christian Universalist organization. I did not, however, expect to learn what I did through research, but more on that later.

Obviously, what struck me the most was that a church had the audacity to suggest that God has forgiven every person who would read this church sign, which would logically extend to all of humanity.  How do they know this is true?  Certainly, they do not, as Scripture is clear that God has only forgiven those who are by grace covered by the blood of Jesus Christ through faith (Ephesians 2:1-10).  While the leaders of this church are no doubt sincere in their desire to comfort people, they are deceived and they are deceiving (2 Timothy 3:13), and sadly for them, they are mere slaves to their father the devil (John 8:44).

It is true that God has a common love for mankind (John 3:16), just as He shows common mercy (Psalm 145:9) and common grace to the world (Titus 2:11).  In fact, it is common love, mercy, and grace that people live by every day, lest they be judged immediately and receive the just penalty for their sin (Romans 2:5).  Moreover, this common grace and mercy restrains men and women from being as evil as they could possibly be. Otherwise, we would all be much worse than Hitler.  It is also by this common grace that people are able to act in righteous ways, thus performing good deeds and being kind and charitable to their neighbor (Romans 2:14).  We as humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), so we are like Him mentally, socially, and morally, although sin has corrupted our created likeness of Him (Romans 5:12).

But this common love, grace, and mercy does not equal forgiveness for all people. It is only a specific love (1 John 4:9-10; Romans 5:8; John 10:11; 1 John 3:16), a specific grace (John 6:37, 39, 44, 65; 17:2), and a specific mercy (John 1:12-13; Romans 9:15-18; Ephesians 2:4-5) that leads individuals to repent from their sin and turn to God through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:36).  So while God's love is unconditional toward mankind, forgiveness from God is conditional upon faith and repentance (Acts 3:19; 17:30; 20:21; Mark 1:15).

Upon my research into Metropolitan Community Church, I immediately discovered this church is more than seemingly a Christian Universalist organization, but it is primarily a church for homosexuals and their allies. From the Charlotte church's page What Is MCC?, they state:

Refusing to accept that God did not love lesbian and gay people, Reverend Troy
Perry founded Metropolitan Community Church on October 6, 1968 when 12
brave lesbian and gay Christians met for worship in Rev. Perry's living room in Los Angeles, California. Today, there are thousands of worshippers in hundreds of Metropolitan Community Churches found all over the world.

MCC Charlotte, founded in 1980, continues to share the Good News of God's
transformational love and acceptance with everyone, including those of every
ability, race, creed, gender, age, national origin, lifestyle, sexual orientation or
tradition.

As one might expect, the rest of the Charlotte church's website is absent of anything resembling the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no mention of the holiness of God, nor mention of His righteousness, His justice, or His wrath.  In respect to these aforementioned attributes of God, there is no mention of His grace, mercy, love, or kindness toward sinners.  And as there is no mention of sin anywhere on the website, there is no mention of the wages of sin - eternal hell.  Instead of proclaiming Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2) and the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16), Metropolitan Community Church of Charlotte preaches a social justice jesus who embraces all people into the family of God, especially unrepentant homosexuals.  This false gospel preached by MCC is, unfortunately, only "loving" people to eternal hell, and these false teachers will experience severe judgment should they not repent from their destructive heresies (Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Peter 2; Jude 1).

The truth is, God has commanded all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30) from their lifestyle of sin.  Just as He has commanded the repentance of drunkards, fornicators and adulterers, so to He commands the repentance of homosexuals:

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 [or women], 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

If you are reading this article as a practicing homosexual and perhaps one who is a member of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, this message has not been written to espouse hate or bigotry or intolerance.  I want you to know the Truth that is found in Christ Jesus, the biblical Jesus who is not preached in churches such as this Metropolitan organization.  Because God is holy, He hates sin, and He demands perfection from any who would enter the kingdom of heaven.  This righteousness that He demands of all men cannot be found within us, but only through the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. By grace through faith, God can pronounce the sinner not guilty and forgive their sins through the righteousness of Christ.

If you believe that God forgives people by just overlooking their sin, then you are deceiving yourself.  I do not have to tell you that homosexuality is a destructive lifestyle. It is as destructive as any sinful lifestyle, and this sin has you enslaved to the god of this world (John 8:34; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1-3).  But in Jesus Christ, the biblical Jesus, there is Life!  In Him there is true freedom (John 8:36; 2 Corinthians 3:17), and if you cry out to God to deliver you from this lifestyle, confessing your sin before Him out of a contrite heart (2 Corinthians 7:10; Psalm 51:17), seeking to be covered by His precious blood, He will save you from your sin, from spiritual death, and the torment of His just and holy wrath (Romans 10:9-10, 13; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Colossians 2:13).

It is no coincidence that you discovered this article.  If God is drawing you into His grace and out from the clutches of sin, then don't wait another minute. Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).

The following video excerpt shows that salvation is just as possible for homosexuals as any other sinner who recognizes himself as such (Mark 2:17).  David has been set free from his sin and has become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and God can do the same for you if you just cry out to Him. You can see the video in its entirety here:  Jesus Christ Saved Me from 27 Years of Homosexuality.

So has God forgiven you?  I pray that He has or will, but it will only be by the grace of God alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.  It will only be because you have been born again (John 3:3-5).  You can learn more about this here:  Eternal Life

For additional resources for homosexuality rooted in the love and grace of Christ, please see:

Rodgers Christian Counseling

Exodus Global Alliance

Stephen Bennett Ministries

What Is Wrong with NON-Lordship Salvation? - Part 5

By Justin Edwards

Had it been possible for you to have had salvation without sanctification, it would have been a curse to you instead of a blessing. If such a thing were possible, I cannot conceive of a more lamentable condition than for a man to have the happiness of salvation without the holiness of it; happily, it is not possible. - C.H. Spurgeon

Lordship salvation is one of the most hotly debated topics in the evangelical church today. The dividing line is generally made along the lines of monergism and synergism, which house the set of beliefs of Calvinism and Arminianism, respectively.

Monergism is the biblical view that regeneration (our being born again) is the work of God alone. There is nothing that we do to add to this work of the Holy Spirit, lest we be contributors to our salvation. Therefore, because our rebirth into new creations is a work of God alone, God alone may get the credit for our salvation, thus making no room for anyone to boast (Ephesians 2:9).

Synergism, on the other hand, is the non-biblical view that man's will cooperates with God's will in the work of regeneration. It assumes that God's sovereign work of redemption is ultimately limited by man's sovereignty of his own "free will". Therefore, man can boast in his salvation as having done something (believing by his own will and ability). This view posits that God wants to save all but can't, and he wants to make them holy but can't.

Simply put, monergism declares salvation is for the glory of God alone (Soli Deo Gloria), while synergism puts man in a position to share the glory with God.

With this basic foundation laid, we can now move forward into the doctrine of sanctification and its relationship with justification in this series titled, What Is Wrong with NON-Lordship Salvation?

Part 5 - Sanctification

In his article posted at Bible Prophecy Blog titled What Is Wrong with Lordship Salvation?, Dr. Andy Woods of Sugar Land Bible Church argues that lordship salvation proponents - that is, biblical Gospel proponents - blur the lines of justification with sanctification. In his fourth argument, Dr. Woods wrongly suggests,

Fourth, Lordship Salvation confuses sanctification with justification. 

To be clear, justification is the judicial decision of God to declare sinners not guilty in His holy courtroom.  Because of the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ, which is to say He is the only righteous man to walk the earth having perfectly kept the Law of God, He was fit to be a substitute on our behalf to atone for our sins against God (2 Corinthians 5:21). The theological term for the unblemished Lamb of God taking our punishment for us is substitutionary atonement (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18). When sinners turn to God in repentant faith, having trusted in the Person and finished work of  Christ alone, they are immediately declared righteous before the throne of God (Romans 3:21-26). This righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ whereby God looks at the saved sinner as though perfect in His eyes because they are clothed by Christ's righteousness having been justified freely by His grace. This is justification and it comes by faith alone (Romans 5:1).

Sanctification means to be set apart, to be made holy. When we are justified by faith, we are immediately sanctified positionally (1 Corinthians 6:11). This means we are set apart by God as a holy new creation born of Himself (1 John 5:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17), having been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:14, 22; 1 John 1:7). This positional sanctification means we have been eternally separated unto God as a holy people (1 Corinthians 1:30; Hebrews 10:10, 14).

Neither justification or sanctification can occur without regeneration. As mentioned in Part 2, sinners are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). They can no more make themselves alive or raise themselves from the dead than Lazarus could have raised himself from the dead (John 11:43-44). Jesus called the dead man Lazarus to come forth, and he did. So it is with every sinner who is spiritually dead, who cannot possibly please God (Romans 8:7), who cannot discern the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14), that must be called forth from the spiritual grave by the voice of the Son of God (John 5:25). Without Jesus calling sinners forth, they cannot be made alive (Ephesians 2:5), and every single sinner He specifically calls forth, will hear and live. This is the authority given to Him by the Father (John 17:2). When Jesus calls us forth and the Holy Spirit makes us alive, this is what it means to be born again (John 3:3-8).  And as we can see in John 1:12-13, being born again is not something we do by a decision to choose God and believe:

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

and it is according to the mercy of God:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, - 1 Peter 1:3-5

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. - Titus 3:5

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”  - John 6:63-65

It is important to explain each of these elements of salvation (regeneration, justification, and sanctification) because it becomes clear that salvation is a work of God alone for His glory alone (Ephesians 1:3-14). We can no more choose or cause ourselves to be born again than a baby can choose or cause himself to be born from his mother's womb.  We can no more choose to become adopted children of God than orphaned babies can choose their adoptive parents.  This is therefore imperative to understand when deconstructing a position such as Dr. Andy Woods' position against lordship salvation.

When Dr. Woods makes the unbiblical claim:

After coming to Christ, God issues another call for His children to pursue practical sanctification or discipleship, 

he does so with a synergistic understanding of Scripture.  What Dr. Woods means by practical sanctification, at least in the biblical sense, is the working out of our positional sanctification into every day holiness.  But Dr. Woods considers such practical sanctification an option for the professing believer and not necessarily something that is guaranteed to follow justification.  This is what we know from Scripture:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. - Philippians 2:12-13

There are some who take verse 12 to mean we must work to keep our salvation, but that is not what the text is saying at all.  Looking to verse 13, we see that it is God who is working His good pleasure through us according to His will.  Paul is telling us to be submitted to the will of God and yield to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit.  Our sanctification is a cooperative effort with the Holy Spirit to fulfill God's will for our lives - our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8) - and the works we do are the works God has predestined us to work (Ephesians 2:10). Most assuredly, these plans of God (His will for us) cannot be stopped:

“I know that you can do all things,and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." - Job 42:2

So to assert as Dr. Woods that sanctification or discipleship is second-tier Christianity or an optional second calling of God for us to become practically righteous and holy is to fundamentally misunderstand that

he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. - Philippians 1:6

and that Jesus is

the founder and perfecter of our faith... - Hebrews 12:2

Even Dr. Woods at some level understands this by his contradictory Position Statement #6 that "...salvation in Christ will result in a changed life (2 Cor. 5:17, 1 Cor. 6:11)."  Why?  Because God is the author of our faith and He is the perfecter of our faith, which is to say He makes us alive to hear the Gospel to respond in repentant faith to be conformed to the image of Christ to finally be glorified with Him in heaven (Romans 8:29-30).

Moving along to the remainder of Dr. Woods' argument, he tells us concerning discipleship:

For example, those whom Christ called to be His disciples, like Peter, were already believers (Matt 16:24-25). We see the same salvation pattern at work through Old Testament Israel. First, the nation was redeemed through the Passover Lamb and then, sometime later, the nation was put under the Mosaic Law for purposes of sanctification (Exod 19:1ff). Thus, submission to Christ's Lordship is prerequisite for this second step of sanctification rather than for the initial step of justification. Therefore, the Scripture teaches Lordship Sanctification rather than Lordship Salvation. Lordship Salvation confuses this two-step approach by reading the principles for sanctification back into what is required for justification. In other words, what is the result of salvation mistakenly becomes the initial requirement for salvation. This mistake is tantamount to putting the cart before the horse.

Hogwash, Dr. Woods! Every born again Christian is a disciple from spiritual birth!  The very goal of evangelism is to go out and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).  There were many people following Christ at the time He gave the call to be disciples (believers). The crowd had gotten so large (Luke 14:25) that Jesus turned to them and said,

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple...So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. - Luke 14:26-27, 33

Not everyone in the crowd is a believer.  In fact, 85% of Americans profess the Christian faith, but how many of them actually live as though they are disciples of Christ?  A mere profession of faith is absolutely worthless in spiritual matters. The one who has not counted the cost to follow after Christ with what has been revealed to them, yielding to His Lordship, cannot be His disciple. This is why Jesus actually upped the ante because He knew there were many just following the crowd.

Just as it was then, there are many today who follow the crowd through their easy-believism because of empty promises of a temporally rich life, to buy fire insurance, to add Jesus as a fad or accessory, to be part of a "church" social club, or any other number of reasons that church or religion might appeal to them. But these people could care less about pursuing holiness, loving God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength through obedience, and following Christ at all costs. These are those who Scripture refers as living as enemies of the cross, whose god is there belly, and who have their minds set on earthly things (Philippians 3:18-19).  These are false disciples who consider the cost of discipleship too high and are not willing to follow Christ (John 6:66).

This, therefore, is the biblical view of sanctification:

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. - 1 John 3:2-3

Do you see that?  Because we are children of the Most High, we will purify ourselves as He is pure.  We are being transformed into the glory of the Lord by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18), which means we will increasingly manifest the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The spirit He has given us is one of love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7), enabling us to become holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:14-16), holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

It is with these promises that we see there is no gap between justification and practical sanctification. The same God who works grace in us to believe is the same God whose grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldliness (Titus 2:11-14).  Lost people are carnal people, and when they are consumed by the grace of God, they are promised to become increasingly less carnal as they increasingly become more holy. That is why carnality as a stagnant state for the Christian is a myth, and it is why Dr. Woods' argument that there are second level Christians who have yielded to "Lordship Sanctification" is blasphemous to the sovereignty and reputation of God Almighty.

From the moment of salvation, God continues to work His salvation in us through the new desires He has planted in our hearts (Psalm 37:4; Ezekiel 36:25-27). And just as the grave clothes were removed from Lazarus giving him freedom to walk in newness of life, our spiritual grave clothes will be removed as we obey the Lord Jesus Christ to put off the old self and walk in newness of life:

But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self,  which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. - Ephesians 4:20-24

This takes us into the final argument from Dr. Woods against lordship salvation, which he suggests destroys the assurance of salvation for the born again believer. Having thus covered saving faith, biblical repentance, the myth of the continuously carnal Christian, and God's work of sanctification in this article, it will become clear why it is so important to examine oneself whether we are truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5) by studying Scripture to ascertain biblical assurance of salvation. Please then continue to Part 6.

In the meantime, I invite you to add the following message from Paul Washer to your mp3 player as he preaches on true conversion: Paul Washer: True Gospel - Conversion

Sanctification is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration. He who is born again and made a new creature receives a new nature and a new principle and always lives a new life. A regeneration, which a man can have and yet live carelessly in sin or worldliness, is a regeneration invented by uninspired theologians, but never mentioned in Scripture. - J.C. Ryle

Are You Born Again?

By J.C. Ryle

This is one of the most important questions in religion. Jesus Christ says, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"-John 3:3.

Are you born again? It is not enough to reply, "I belong to the church; and I suppose I am." Thousands of nominal Christians have none of the marks and signs of being born again which the Scripture has given us.

Would you like to know the marks and signs of being born again? Give me your attention, and I will show them to you out of the first epistle of John.

First of all, John says, "Whoever is born of God does not commit sin;" and again, "Whoever is born of God sins not."-I John 3:9; 5:18. A man born again, or regenerate, does not commit sin as a habit. He no longer sins with his heart and will and whole inclination, as an unregenerate man does. There was probably a time when he did not think whether his actions were sinful or not, and never felt grieved after doing evil. There was no quarrel between him and sin; they were friends. Now he hates sin, flees from it, fights against it, counts it his greatest plague, groans under the burden of its presence, mourns when he falls under its influence, and longs to be delivered from it altogether. In one word, sin no longer pleases him, nor is even a matter of indifference; it has become the abominable thing which he hates. He cannot prevent its dwelling within him. If he said he had no sin, there would be no truth in him (I John 1:8). But he can say that he cordially abhors it, and the great desire of his soul is not to commit sin at all. He cannot prevent bad thoughts arising within him, and short-comings, omissions, and defects appearing, both in his words and actions. He knew, as James says that "In many things we offend all" (James 3:2). But he can say truly, and as in the sight of God, that things are a daily grief and sorrow to him, and that his whole nature does not consent unto them.

I place this mark before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Secondly, John says, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God"-I John 5:1.

A man born again, or regenerate, then, believes that Jesus Christ is the only Savior by whom his soul can be pardoned; that He is the divine person appointed by God the Father for this very purpose, and that beside Him there is no Savior at all. In himself he sees nothing but unworthiness, but in Christ he sees ground for the fullest confidence, and trusting in Him he believes that his sins are all forgiven. He believes that for the sake of Christ's finished work and death upon the cross, he is reckoned righteous in God's sight, and may look forward to death and judgment without alarm. He may have his fears and doubts. He may sometimes tell you he feels as if he had not faith at all. But ask him whether he will rest his hopes of eternal life on his own goodness, his own amendments, his prayers, his minister, or his church, and see what he will reply. Ask him whether he will give up Christ, and place his confidence in any other way of religion. Depend upon it, he would say that though he does feel weak and bad, he would not give up Christ for all the world. Depend upon it, he would say he found preciousness in Christ, a suitableness to his own soul in Christ, that he found nowhere else, and that he must cling to him.

I place this mark before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Thirdly, John says, "Every one that does righteousness is born of Him"-I John 2:29.

The man born again, or regenerate, then is, a holy man. He endeavors to live according to God's will, to do the things that please God, to avoid the things that God hates. His aim and desire is to love God with heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love his neighbor as himself. His wish is to be continually looking to Christ as his example as well as his Savior, and to show himself Christ's friend by doing whatever Christ commands. No doubt he is not perfect. None will tell you that sooner than himself. He groans under the burden of indwelling corruption cleaving to him. He finds an evil principle within him constantly warring against Grace, and trying to draw him away from God. But he does not consent to it, though he cannot prevent its presence. In spite of all shortcomings, the average bent and bias of his way is holy-his doings are holy, his tastes holy, and his habits holy. In spite of all this swerving and turning aside, like a ship beating up against a contrary wind, the general course of his life is in one direction-toward God and for God. And though he may sometimes fell so low that he questions whether he is a Christian at all, he will generally be able to say with old John Newton, "I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be in another world, but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the Grace of God I am what I am."

I place this mark also before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Fourthly, John says, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren"-I John 3:14.

A man born again, or regenerate, then, has a special love for all true disciples of Christ. Like his Father in heaven, he loves all men with a great general love, but he has a special love for those who are of one mind with himself. Like his Lord and Savior, he loves the worst of sinners, and could weep over them; but he has a peculiar love for those who are believers. He is never so much at home as when he is in their company. He is never so happy as when he is among the saints and the excellent of the earth. Others may value learning, or cleverness, or agreeableness, or riches or rank, in the society they choose. The regenerate man values Grace. Those who have most Grace, and are most like Christ, are those he most loves. He feels that they are members of the same family with himself. He feels that they are his fellow-soldiers, warring against the same enemy. He feels that they are his fellow-travelers, journeying along the same road. He understands them, and they understand him. He and they may be very different in many ways-in rank, in station, in wealth. What matter? They are Jesus Christ's people. They are his Father's sons and daughters. Then he cannot help loving them.

I place this mark also before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Fifthly, John says, "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world"-I John 5:4.

A man born again, or regenerate, does not make the world's opinion his rule of right and wrong. He does not mind going against the stream of the world's way, notions and customs. "What man will say?" is no longer a turning-point with him. He overcomes the love of the world. He finds no pleasure in things which most around him call happiness. He cannot enjoy their enjoyments: they weary him: they appear to him vain, unprofitable, and unworthy of an immortal being. He overcomes the fear of the world. He is content to do many things which all around him think unnecessary, to say the least. They blame him: it does not move him. They ridicule him: he does not give way. He loves the praise of God more than the praise of men. He fears offending Him more than giving offense to man. He has counted the cost. It is a small thing with him no whether he is blamed or praised. He is no longer the servant of fashion and custom. To please the world is quite a secondary consideration with him. His first aim is to please God.

I place this mark also before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Sixthly, John says, "He that is begotten of God keeps himself"-I John 5:18.

A man born again, or regenerate, is very careful of his own soul. He endeavors not only to keep clear of sin, but also to keep clear of everything which may lead to it. He is careful about the company he keeps. He feels that evil communications corrupt the heart, and that evil is for more catching than good, just as disease is more infectious than health. He is careful about the employment of his time: his chief desire about it is to spend it profitably. He is careful about the friendships he forms: it is not enough for him that people are kind and amiable and good-natured; all this is very well; but will they do good to his soul? He is careful over his own daily habits and behavior: he tries to recollect that his own heart is deceitful, the world full of wickedness, and the devil always laboring to do him harm; and, therefore, he would sincerely be always on his guard. He desires to live like a solider in an enemy's country, to wear his armor continually, and to be prepared for temptation. He finds by experience that his soul is ever among enemies, and he studies to be watchful, humble, and prayerful man.

I place this mark also before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born again?

Such are the six great marks of being born again. Let every one who has gone so far with me, read them over with attention, and lay them to heart.

I know there is a vast difference in the depth and distinctness of these marks in different people. In some they are faint, dim, feeble, and hardly to be discerned. In others they are bold, sharp, clear, plain, and unmistakable, so that any one may read them. Some of these marks are more visible in some, and others are more visible in others. It seldom happens that all are equally manifest in one and the same soul. All this I am quite ready to allow.

But still after every allowance, here we find boldly painted six marks of being born of God. Here is an inspired Apostle writing one of the last general epistles to the Church of Christ, telling us that a man born of God, Does not commit sin, Believes that Jesus is the Christ, Does righteousness, Loves the brethren, Overcomes the world, and Keeps himself. I ask the reader to observe all this.

Now what shall we say to these things? What they can say who hold that regeneration is only an admission to outward church privileges, I am sure I do not know. For myself I say boldly, I can only come to one conclusion. That conclusion is, that only those people are born again who have these six marks about them; and that all men and women who have not these marks, are not born again. And I firmly believe that this is the conclusion to which the Apostle wished us to come.

Reader, have you these marks? Are you born again?

(HT: O Christian Articles)

Blessed Purity

By Justin Edwards

I have been meaning to listen to Dr. Steven Lawson's message from the 2009 Resolved Conference, "Blessed Purity", for quite some time now, but just last week finally got around to do so - and I'm so thankful I did. Over the last several months I have had the opportunity to read and listen to some great messages on the Beatitudes of Matthew 5, but I must say this may be the most important I have heard to date.  By the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see the spiritual evolution from the broken sinner to the sanctified saint. While Dr. Lawson goes through each beatitude with fine exegetical precision, his focus of this message is the 6th beatitude in Matthew 5:8,

  Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

We must understand it is only the pure in heart who will see God. It is only they who will enter through the Narrow Gate, it is only they who will enter into the King's court, and it is only they who will inherit eternal life. Those who bear the religious facade, whose repentance is superficial and rooted in worldly sorrow, whose hands are unclean and whose hearts are impure, not only will they not see God, but they will face His everlasting wrath should they die with hearts of stone. Are you the former or latter?

Dr. Lawson begins with the four spiritual laws by which we may be saved and are found in verses3-6. Matthew 5:3,

  Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Only those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy before a Holy God will enter the kingdom of heaven. We must realize we have broken the Law of God and fall short of His perfect standard. There is no one righteous and it is only by the perfect righteousness of Christ Jesus that we may be justified before God. Jesus only came to save sinners, therefore it is only those recognize themselves as such who may be saved.

Matthew 5:4,

  Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.

Only those who are broken and sorrow over their sin will be comforted by the grace of a merciful God. But this is not just any sorrow as we see in 2 Corinthians 7:10,

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

It is godly sorrow, the kind of sorrow that pierces the soul for offending God, that leads to the Peace that passes all understanding. Understanding and grieving over the depths of our sin produces in us the desire to put on the yoke of Christ, which, though this yoke be easy, leads us to walk in practical righteousness. These then, are the meek of Matthew 5:5:

  Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.

Only those who humbly submit their lives to the Master shall inherit the earth. These who grieve over their sin and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ are in a right position to be instructed, directed, and guided by the One leading them in the Shepherd's yoke. They are gentle and lowly in heart and yield themselves to the authority of King Jesus. As they surrender themselves to this King, they hunger and thirst for the King's righteousness. Matthew 5:6,

  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.

The lowly, poor and broken spirit cry out to the only righteousness that will clothe them perfection. While our righteous works are but filthy rags, the righteousness of Christ is faultless and is the Rock by which we must build our foundation. The righteousness of Christ is the narrow gate we must each pass through, and those whose pride pave the way through the broad gate of self-righteousness and idolatry (creating a god in their own image) will only find destruction through its passage.

Those who pass through the narrow gate by the sovereign grace of God will continue to be poor in spirit, they will continue to weep when they sin against God, they will continue to be meek, and they will continue to thirst for the righteousness of Christ. Not only that, but they will continue to be pure in heart as God continues to set them further apart from the world. The moment we are justified by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit begins a work in us that He will see to completion. This work is the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit through sanctification. Those who undergo this refinement by fire are the pure in heart, and they are most blessed for they will see God.

The heart is our very soul and the most important thing in us before God. I challenge you to conduct a word-search of "heart" to see just how often it is referred to in Scripture.  Our heart is where our motives, affections, and will reside. It is where we resolve to work in step with the Holy Spirit to be conformed to the likeness of Christ.  When God sets us apart by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, He calls us to continue to separate ourselves from the world (1 John 2:15) and present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him (Romans 12:1). In reference to a pure heart, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22,

Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

A pure heart is only possible by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4-5,

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, ⁵ not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

 
In Titus 2:11-12 we see the grace of God that brings salvation teaches

...us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age...

1 John 3:3 tells us,

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Those with pure hearts have been washed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. They have been covered by the grace of God that brings forth saving faith, which results in the pursuit of godliness, righteousness, faith, love, and peace. In short, God's work of justification must yield His work of sanctification. Only those with pure hearts will be sanctified, and only those who are sanctified will see God.

I cannot possibly share all of my notes from Dr. Steven Lawson's message here due to length. But you will find an outline of the remainder of Dr. Lawson's message below where he hones in on the heart:

1. Priority of the heart
2. Purity of the heart
3. Problem of the heart
4. Purifying of the heart
     a.Wash in the Word (Psalm 119:11, Ephesians 5:26)
     b. Bathe in the blood (Psalm 51:2, 1 John 1:9)
     c. Submit to Spirit (Romans 1:4, 2 Corinthians 3:18)
     d. Pray for purity (Job 14:4, Psalm 51:7, 10)
     e. Run with the righteous (Proverbs 13:20, 1 Corinthians 15:33)
5. Privilege of the heart
     a. We see God in creation (Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1-4)
     b. We see God in providence (Romans 8:28)
     c. We see God in Scripture
     d. We see God in Christ (John 14:9-10)
     e. One day we will see God face to face (Revelation 22:4)

What is the condition of your heart?  Do you continue to justify your sins against God? Do you continue to live a lifestyle that is totally contrary to the nature of God? Do you love the world? Does sin have dominion over you? Are you proud? Do you have need of nothing? If asked about your spiritual condition, would you say, "I'm ok, don't worry about me"? Dear friend, it is only those who habitually confess and repent of their sin, who hate the things God hates and love the things He loves, who love His Word and His Church, who are not controlled by their flesh nor slaves of sin, who have humbled themselves before the Lord and donned the yoke of Jesus Christ, who have been justified by the righteousness of Christ and purified by His Spirit - only these will see God.

You will never see God if your heart is still one of stone. You will never see God if your heart is impure and your hands unclean. You must have a heart of flesh, and you must be poor in spirit, you must be broken over your sin, you must be meek, and you must hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You can only be these things if you have been given eyes to see and ears to hear. No amount of outward religious activities or deeds will make you pure. Purity only comes from the inward work of the Holy Spirit. You must be washed - you must be born again! Cry out to God and plead with Him to save you and He will!

Don't you want to see God? He will not only save you from His wrath, but He will save you from your sins. You must be set apart. You must be pure. Turn to Him today and be healed so you can see Him face to face.

Dr. Lawson's message, Blessed Purity, can be viewed in the video below or downloaded for your mp3 player here: Blessed Purity mp3

  Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
         Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
         Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
         Nor sworn deceitfully. - Psalm 24:3-4

Sanctification - The Christian Grows in Grace

By J.I. Packer (from Concise Theology)

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?...And that is what some of you were. 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" (1 Cor. 6:9, 11).

Sanctification, says the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q.35), is "the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness." The concept is not of sin being totally eradicated (that is to claim too much) or merely counteracted (that is to say too little), but of a divinely wrought character change freeing us from sinful habits and forming in us Christlike affections, dispositions, and virtues.

Sanctification is an ongoing transformation within a maintained consecration, and it engenders real righteousness within the frame of relational holiness. Relational sanctification, the state of being permanently set apart for God, flows from the cross, where God through Christ purchased and claimed us for himself (Acts 20:28; 26:18; Heb. 10:10). Moral renovation, whereby we are increasingly changed from what we once were, flows from the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13; 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 6:11, 19-20; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:22-24; 1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 13:20-21). God calls his children to sanctity and graciously gives what he commands (1 Thess. 4:4; 5:23).

Regeneration is birth; sanctification is growth. In regeneration, God implants desires that were not there before: desire for God, for holiness, and for the hallowing and glorifying of God's name in this world; desire to pray, worship, love, serve, honor, and please God; desire to show love and bring benefit to others. In sanctification, the Holy Spirit "works in you to will and to act" according to God's purpose; what he does is prompt you to "work out your salvation" (i.e., express it in action) by fulfilling these new desires (Phil. 2:12-13). Christians become increasingly Christlike as the moral profile of Jesus (the "fruit of the Spirit") is progressively formed in them (2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 4:19; 5:22-25). Paul's use of glory in 2 Corinthians 3:18 shows that for him sanctification of character is glorification begun. Then the physical transformation that gives us a body like Christ's, one that will match our totally transformed character and be a perfect means of expressing it, will be glorification completed (Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Cor. 15:49-53).

Regeneration was a momentary monergistic act of quickening the spiritually dead. As such, it was God's work alone. Sanctification, however, is in one sense synergistic - it is an ongoing cooperative process in which regenerate persons, alive to God and freed from sin's dominion (Rom. 6:11, 14-18), are required to exert themselves in sustained obedience. God's method of sanctification is neither activism (self-reliant activity) nor apathy (God-reliant passivity), but God-dependent effort (2 Cor. 7:1; Phil. 3:10-14; Heb. 12:14). Knowing that without Christ's enabling we can do nothing, morally speaking, as we should, and that he is ready to strengthen us for all that we have to do (Phil. 4:13), we "stay put" (remain, abide) in Christ, asking for his help constantly - and we receive it (Col. 1:11; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2 Tim. 1:7; 2:1).

The standard to which God's work of sanctifying his saints is directed is his own revealed moral law, as expounded and modeled by Christ himself. Christ's love, humility, and patience under pressure are to be consciously imitated (Eph. 5:2; Phil. 2:5-11; 1 Pet. 2:21), for a Christlike spirit and attitude are part of what law-keeping involves.

Believers find within themselves contrary urgings. The Spirit sustains their regenerate desires and purposes; their fallen, Adamic instincts (the "flesh") which, though dethroned, are not yet destroyed, constantly distract them from doing God's will and allure them along paths that lead to death (Gal. 5:16-17; James 1:14-15). To clarify the relationship between the law and sin, Paul analyzes in a personal and dramatic way the sense of impotence for complete law-keeping, and the enslavement to behavior one dislikes, that the Spirit-flesh tension produces (Rom. 7:14-25). This conflict and frustration will be with Christians as long as they are in the body. Yet by watching and praying against temptation, and cultivating opposite virtues, they may through the Spirit's help "mortify" (i.e., drain the life out of, weaken as a means of killing) particular bad habits, and in that sense more and more die unto sin (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5). They will experience many particular deliverances and victories in their unending battle with sin, while never being exposed to temptations that are impossible to resist (1 Cor. 10:13).

(HT: Monergism)