Discipleship

The planned evangelistic encounter

A friend and I have been going through Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J I Packer. This study has taken me to the place where I am thinking in terms of a “planned evangelistic encounter” as the way to regularly be engaged in witnessing for Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8) and to be an active “fisher of men” (Matt. 4:19). The following are notes as they appear on my working page.

The gospel has complexity (astute quote from Packer in chapter 3). This means that the evangelist must plan in advance what portion of the full gospel he is going to present in the evangelistic encounter.

THE PLANNED EVANGELISTIC ENCOUNTER

In the “entire gospel,” there are many complex ideas to communicate to the other person (God, sin, fallen man, judgment, Jesus Christ, death on a cross, resurrection, repentance, forgiveness of sins, heaven and hell, eternity, guilt, born again, the church, etc.). Because it is impossible to communicate this information in a short time or in a single sitting, I am proposing that the one who is “sowing seeds” (Matt. 13:3ff) and who is “fishing for men” (Matt. 4:19) on a regular, intentional basis (shouldn’t this be every disciple of Jesus?) should develop a “planned encounter” containing a “desired message.” That is, I am proposing that the evangelist plans the evangelistic encounter from initial contact through disengagement so that:

The evangelist’s DESIRED MESSAGE is clearly communicated.
The hearer has been given a clear opportunity to respond to the message.
The hearer’s response can be evaluated.
The hearer has been given a “next step” which they can pursue if they so desire (this would most appropriately be information about our church that was consistent with the evangelist’s message).
The overall encounter can be evaluated and improved.

THE DESIRED MESSAGE

Note that the DESIRED MESSAGE must be drawn from the gospel message as communicated in the New Testament. Therefore, in this sense, the DESIRED MESSAGE is the most constrained portion of the evangelistic encounter. This message is the heart and soul of the encounter. Indeed, it is the entire reason for the encounter. The other variables and components (see below) that make up the evangelistic encounter are largely up to the personality and creativity of the evangelist and are, therefore, not tightly constrained. For these variables, there is no right or wrong. There is no eternal truth at stake. But the DESIRED MESSAGE portion of the encounter is not like that. This gospel message contains essential truth that must be understood and believed for the hearer to be delivered from the wrath to come. For this message, the evangelist is accountable to the Lord (Romans 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 1:23-24; 2:2; 15:1-2; 2 Cor. 4:7; Gal. 1:8,9; 2 Tim. 1:14).

THE COMPONENTS OF THE ENCOUNTER

Here are the components of the evangelistic encounter that should be planned.

Venue. Where will this encounter take place? In a park? On a plane? On a street corner? At the beach? At work? In a café? Homeless shelter? Food pantry?
Hearer. Whom do you envision as your hearer, the one who will hear your DESIRED MESSAGE? Having your hearer in view can help you anticipate roadblocks to your DESIRED MESSAGE.
What is the means of engagement or initial contact? This is an important part of the encounter to consider. How do you plan to gain the person’s attention so they will even listen to you? How directly do you move to your message? You are in control of this part of the encounter. How do you move from stranger to person worth listening to? Thought-provoking question? “What is your opinion” on something related to the gospel or to Jesus? Short opinion survey that leads to the DESIRED MESSAGE?
DESIRED MESSAGE. What is the good-news gospel message you are going to proclaim? The message must contain enough information to point to Jesus, to His death and resurrection and His offer of salvation and eternal life for all who turn from their sin and trust in Him. Remember, this is the main purpose of the encounter. The evangelist should aim to proclaim the DESIRED MESSAGE in every evangelistic encounter, whether that is done fluently and according to plan or done awkwardly. It is the message that has the power to save (Romans 1:16) and so it is the message that must be communicated.
Interaction and reaction to the message. How will you continue the conversation after the message is proclaimed? How will you seek a clear response from the hearer? What follow-up questions will you ask? What reactions might you anticipate?
Disengagement and end the conversation. At some point, either the evangelist or the hearer will seek to disengage from the conversation. The aim here is to make sure that the contact is not wasted. Prolong the conversation until you believe you have been heard and the hearer has given you an acceptable response. When it is time to disengage, do so graciously and be sure to hand out a deliverable that gives the hearer a follow-up opportunity, like information about a local church with service times and church address. It would be appropriate to include a gospel tract with the follow-up information.

BRAINSTORMING. Planning and developing ideas for these evangelistic encounters would very profitably be done in brainstorming sessions, where six to ten disciples from the church gathered on a Saturday morning for training and brainstorming workshops.

The next post related to this topic will focus on the contents and the delivery of the DESIRED MESSAGE.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 5/1/2023 #645

Evangelism study – Is sin a part of gospel proclamation? Part 1

POST OVERVIEW. A study of Acts assessing whether the sin of the hearers was a part of the gospel message proclaimed by the apostles. (There will be a subsequent study of the epistles to see if the gospel proclaimed includes a portion directed at the sin of those the evangelist is attempting to convert.) This is part 1 of the Acts investigation.

EVANGELISM AND SIN

As David Bell and I were carefully going through Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, the excellent book by J I Packer that examines the task of evangelism from a theological point of view, we came to the third chapter of the book that talks in detail about what constitutes the actual message itself. That is, what is the content of the gospel message we are to proclaim? Packer states that the message of the gospel is a message about God, about sin, and about Jesus Christ, and then the hearers are summoned to faith and repentance. Packer’s four points are very similar to those of another influential evangelism book by Greg Gilbert called What Is the Gospel? In his book, Gilbert speaks of God, man, Christ, and response. In my experience, this is very typical of conservative instruction books on evangelism and it seems true to the message we should proclaim. It makes sense and holds to what I believe the apostles proclaimed. So, David and I were ready to discuss the details of how we could present this gospel message about God, about sin (or about man and his sin), and about Jesus to an audience and compel them to believe in Jesus and repent of their sin.

But we encountered a problem as we began to look at the book of Acts. The book of Acts is THE biblical book on evangelism. It is the disciple’s instruction manual for gospel proclamation, since it gives us the only examples in the Bible of people who heard and responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The context of Acts is a context like our own, meaning that the gospel proclamation in Acts is done by ordinary men and women and occurs after Pentecost (coming of the Holy Spirit) and before Jesus’ return. The preaching of the gospel in Acts is done in obedience to Christ’s Great Commission given in Matt. 28:19-20, which is exactly the same commission that we must obey. Since all this is true of Acts, I am convinced that our evangelism and gospel proclamation is to be patterned after what we see in Acts. This book of Holy-Spirit inspired Scripture is given to Jesus’ church as the instruction manual for the gospel and our evangelism must be constrained by what we find there.

And here is where we began to experience some tension. David began by saying that, as he examined Paul’s sermon on the Areopagus in Athens from Acts 17, he became aware that Paul barely mentioned sin at all. David said that he became uncomfortable the more he looked at the passage and saw that Paul almost avoided mentioning sin. Yes, he does say that “God is now declaring that all people should repent” (17:30), which hints at sin, and that “God will judge the world” (17:31), which could be understood as alluding to the punishment of sin, but as far as boldly telling these pagan philosophers that they are in peril of going to hell forever because of their sin, there is not a suggestion. So, as we discussed this and pored over the text, it became apparent that the gospel Paul proclaimed in Athens was very light on sin.

At that point, I commented to David that the other sermons and gospel proclamations in Acts might reveal the same thing. That is, as we studied the sermons and gospel proclamations in the book of Acts, we might find that the apostolic proclamations include little to nothing about sin or sins. We might find that the gospel according to the apostles, the gospel that was “fully preached from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum” (Rom. 15:19) and that saw Gentiles by the thousands come to saving faith in Jesus, included very little about sin. And if that was the case, what would we do with our evangelism books and methods that carried a large portion of teaching about sin? This investigation into Acts and what the apostles preached about sin had suddenly turned into a high-stakes event that could seriously shake up our evangelism.

THE INVESTIGATION ITSELF

Here, then, is what I am proposing as my approach to this project.

Go through Acts and identify all occasions when the gospel is intentionally preached. List those occurrences by passage.
Examine the text of these occurrences and note any explicit or implicit mentioning of sin.
Summarize the findings and draw preliminary conclusions.

The next post in this series will give the listing of the gospel passages in Acts and will begin the examination of these passages.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 4/21/2023 #643

A settled response to the experience of fear

POST OVERVIEW. This is an idea that I found from writing I did on September 27, 2016, about the experience of fear and how I determined to respond to those feelings.

The Bible commands us to “fear not” many, many times. Yet, as a fallen human being, I have found that my natural response to many situations is still to instinctively fear and to feel the threat. There is a feeling in the bottom of my stomach or a tightness in the chest that tells me that whatever has just occurred has caused me to fear. Since the Bible commands me to fear not, I must confess that my fear is sin. Therefore, it is incumbent on me, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus who desires obedience, to develop a response to these feelings of fear.

Here is my settled , intentional response to fear and anxiety:

Recognize and acknowledge the feeling of fear. I become conscious of the fact that I am fearing something.
Identify the fear. What is it I fear? Be as specific and concrete as possible and go as deep as necessary to find the cause of the fear.
Confess the fear to the Lord, while acknowledging that fear is not faith and, therefore, agreeing with the Lord that fear is sin. “Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
Refuse to be fearful anymore by casting the fear or the anxiety onto the Lord. (See 1 Peter 5:7).
Pray specifically about the fear using the Word of God. Explicitly declare to the Lord that I have this fear and request that the Lord would act on my behalf to remove the fear. “Be anxious for nothing” (Phil. 4:6-7). Restrict the things that I allow my mind to dwell on (Psalm 131).
Consciously and explicitly leave the fear with the Lord and willfully forget the fear. By faith forget the fear and turn to godly activities and thoughts.

Finally, if there is something practical that I can do to address the cause of the fear or if there is some action that I can take to combat the fear, then it is my responsibility to take that action.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 4/11/2023 #640

How have you impacted the kingdom of God?

This post is simply a series of questions that seek to evaluate the disciple’s fruit and his impact. Are you bearing fruit or producing good works (Eph. 2:10) for the Kingdom? What will be your legacy?

REGARDING SATAN’S AWARENESS OF THE DISCIPLE’S ACTIVITY

Does your name get mentioned in Satan’s war room?
Does Satan even know your name?
Are you a target for Satan’s attack? (Consider Job 1, 2)
Do your prayers frighten Satan? By their frequency? By their power?
Is your witness for Jesus something that Satan feels compelled to silence?
Are you on Satan’s radar screen?
Are you on Satan’s “10 Most Wanted” list?
Does Satan consider you dangerous to his cause?
If you died today, would Satan breathe a sigh of relief or would he not notice?
Does your witness for Jesus keep Satan up at night?

GENERAL KINGDOM WORK, FRUIT, AND LEGACY

If you died right now, would the cause of Christ on earth be lessened?
What kingdom work are you planning for the future?
What kingdom work are you currently executing (i.e., it is on your calendar)?
Will your efforts for Christ bear thirty, sixty, a hundred fold? (Matthew 13:8)
Would those seeking to persecute followers of Jesus be able to find you?
If Jesus gave you two talents at your conversion, what would you show Him when He returned/when He asked for an accounting (Matthew 25:14-30)?
Are there people who have heard the name of Jesus because of you?
How is the kingdom of God different because you have lived?
Is heaven well acquainted with your voice because of your prayers?

The point of these questions is to emphasize that the disciple has been called to bear fruit for the Kingdom (John 15:5, 8, 16).

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.” – Jesus Christ in John 15:8

The disciple’s goal is to be useful to the Master (2 Tim. 2:21). How will your life bear fruit for Jesus? How will you be useful to the Master?

What questions would you add to this list?

Soli Deo gloria rmb 4/10/2023 #639

The authority of the Bible for doctrine and practice

¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Lord has graciously given His people His book, the Bible, so that His people can know Him better, so that we can understand all that He has done through the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, and so that we can know how to glorify Him on earth. One of the Bible’s strongest statements about the authority of the Bible is given in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, quoted above. The features of the Word that I want to consider in this article are that all Scripture is useful for teaching and for correction.

STRANGERS IN THE EARTH. The Bible also says that we are strangers in the earth. “I am a stranger in the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me” (Psalm 119:19). The psalmist is making a statement about the condition of all mankind. We are strangers in the earth, in that we are born with no sense of direction, no strong means of survival, no significant control, and no real defense against the threats around us. We are strangers surrounded by strangers. Where are we going to find a trustworthy guide to help us through this minefield? The psalmist’s solution is to cry out to the LORD, “Do not hide Your commandments from me.” As a stranger here surrounded by hostiles, the psalmist asks God to give him His Word. God’s Word is what he needs, and so do we.

As we come into the world directionless, purposelessness, and defenseless, so the believer comes to Christ “conviction-less.” What I mean is that the new believer has no convictions about doctrinal truth or about practices within the church or about fellowship with other believers. This is one reason why it is very important for the new believer to become immersed in the Bible as quickly as possible so that they can begin building doctrinal foundations.

MATURITY MEANS BUILDING CONVICTIONS

Part of growing from a new believer to a mature disciple involves fashioning biblical doctrines and practices into immovable convictions. In my own experience, when I came to Christ, I was worshiping the Lord in a large Baptist church in north Atlanta. This church was Arminian in their soteriology and was Dispensational in their eschatology. Since I came to Christ with no doctrinal foundation at all, I, too, became nominally Arminian and Dispensational simply by osmosis. But as time went on, and as I read through the Bible and studied its passages carefully, the nominal leanings that I had adopted from my pastor’s sermons were replaced with bedrock convictions bought with a firm grasp on the Word. I am now Calvinist in my soteriology and biblical in my eschatology. If there is to be sustained growth in the disciple’s walk with Jesus, it is necessary that the disciple move beyond mere adoption of the ideas of others to having convictions about what the word of the living God teaches.

Let me talk a little more about this idea of discerning and intentionally replacing erroneous ideas. The disciple of Jesus is a man or woman of one book. For the disciple, the Bible is the uncontested authority for all matters of doctrine and practice. All doctrinal and theological statements and ideas and claims should come from and may be tested by the word of God. Every doctrinal or theological statement or claim should be supported by the plain teaching of the Bible. Any teaching or theology of pastor or parent or priest or presbytery or parish or pope or professor must be crushed to dust and swept away if it cannot be readily defended from Scripture.

Therefore, it is the duty of the disciple, for the health of his own soul, to examine the doctrines he is being taught and the practices in which he engages inside the crucible of God’s word to be sure he is drinking pure milk (1 Peter 2:2) and not a diluted or tainted or even poisoned substitute. If, upon examination, the disciple discovers that a dearly beloved doctrine that he has cherished since childhood is in conflict with the teaching of the Bible, his necessary course of action is to slay that beloved doctrine and replace it with biblical teaching. The erroneous teaching must be treated as Deut. 13:6-11 treats the suggestion to serve false gods. That dearly beloved teaching that you learned on your mother’s knee, that you now know to be wrong, must be put to death without hesitation and without pity.

DANGERS OF TOLERATING ERROR

There are dangers to your soul from knowing that your doctrine or practice is in conflict with biblical teaching and yet persisting in it for subjective reasons.

The first danger of not rejecting and replacing this non-biblical doctrine or practice is that you will quickly grow to ignore your Bible altogether. When you tolerate known error in something small, it soon becomes easy to tolerate something bigger and more significant. It turns out that, when it comes to biblical truth, there is no such thing as a small thing. If God put that “thing” in His Word, he expects it to be obeyed, and it is a big deal when someone tolerates something else. Tolerating a “small thing” means the Bible is not the uncontested authority. Your behavior and your tolerating of the error have made clear that something else has more authority than the Word. And that is a huge problem. Now there is a rivalry (Matthew 6:24). Soon you will resent your Bible interfering with your life and eventually you will close your Bible and go do what you want to do. Tolerating any known error or conflict with biblical truth will cause your convictions to vanish like smoke. Therefore, reject any known error.

The second danger of not rejecting known error and replacing it with biblical truth is that you have a “form of godliness (religion), although you have denied its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). Man-made ideas and compromises are impotent and adopting man-made rules and teaching will evacuate all power from your faith. God’s Word is “a hammer that shatters a rock” (Jeremiah 23:29), but man-made substitutes have no power at all. If your church clings to error, you should leave the church. It is better to leave a church than to forfeit biblical truth. You can find another church, but once you surrender your allegiance to the absolute truth of the Bible, you will be forever at sea without rudder or compass. There is no other Word of God. What the Bible says is true and it may be trusted. Indeed, it must be trusted. If you are unwilling to examine doctrine and practice by the blazing light of the Scripture and then conform errant doctrines and practices to those demanded by the Word of God, then your Bible will soon be of no practical use to you and you will have a man-made religion.

CONVICTIONS. The disciple of Jesus must be continually purging man-made practices and made-up doctrines as he earnestly develops biblical convictions that cannot be shaken.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 4/10/2023 #638

Hebrews: An introduction and an overview

POST OVERVIEW. This article gives an introduction to the letter of Hebrews with thoughts about the author’s purposes, the recipients, the author and the date of writing.

FORM OF A SERMON. The letter to the Hebrews takes the form of a sermon from the displaced pastor to his congregation.

TWO DIFFERENT PURPOSES FOR THE LETTER

The author preaches his sermon with two different purposes.

ENCOURAGED BY CHRIST AND OTHER BELIEVERS. His first purpose is to encourage the genuine believer and to urge that believer to persevere by faith in the face of persecution. The author’s primary means of encouraging the true believers in his flock is to present Jesus Christ in all His glory and majesty as the model we are to follow. The author also spurs his flock on by reminding them of others from the past who have persevered and who have remained steadfast despite great difficulty and suffering. We can press on and not shrink back because we have “a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us” (12:1).

APPLICATION – As we read about the glory of Jesus Christ, about His holiness and His power and His sinlessness and His sacrifice on the cross, true believers should take heart that we have such a High Priest (7:25) and, knowing that Jesus is our substitute, we should resolve to not shrink back but press on to maturity and persevere to the end.

DO NOT COME SHORT. But there is a second purpose in this epistle that is manifested in the warning passages which characterize this letter. The author is intent on warning the pretender, the one who is blending in with the believing crowd while still holding back from real faith in Jesus. These people are probably not aware themselves that they are unsaved. After all, they are doing the same things that the rest of the congregation does, so why would they not also be saved? But the author’s warnings are intended to make clear that it is possible to come short of salvation. It is possible to drift away, to go through all the motions and then fall away because you never, by faith, trusted in Jesus Christ. The issue is not to check off all the religious boxes and have all the “Christian experiences,” but the critical issue is to come to Christ by faith. With all your heart, mind, and strength, believe in the Lord Jesus without reservation. The author warns that anything short of that is an eternity away from salvation.

APPLICATION – In much the same way that we read 1 John, so we read Hebrews and examine our own profession of faith in light of the warning passages. “Do I exhibit any of the danger signs about which the author is warning us here?” Therefore, when we encounter a warning text, we compare our faith to the warning and see if there are any similarities. We should allow the text of holy Scripture to warn us away from the disastrous consequences of a formal false “faith” that falls short of salvation. We, therefore, put our faith in the balances and allow the Scriptures to determine its saving weight.

SUMMARY. Thus the author writes to his beloved congregation to encourage genuine believers to remain steadfast in their faith in the face of opposition and to warn those who are relying on their religious performance and on their association with the faith community as evidence of true salvation that they must place all their trust in Jesus Christ.

This overview will serve as a good template for understanding the individual sections of the letter. The author is either encouraging the perseverance of genuine believers or he is urging the pretenders to come all the way to faith in Christ, and he is using the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as his means of accomplishing both.

OTHER INTRODUCTORY DETAILS

AUTHOR. We do not know the author of this letter. Before canonicity was fully established, Paul was given as the author in order to justify the letter’s inclusion in the canon, but once the epistle was universally accepted as canonical, the need for Pauline authorship was removed. Thus, modern translations simply refer to it as the letter to the Hebrews.

Apollos seems to be the most likely author of this sermon. All the quotes are from the LXX (Septuagint), which was written in Alexandria, and Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria. We know that Apollos was “mighty in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24). He was also an eloquent man (18:24), which would seem to suggest he was a good orator who would have been a strong preacher of sermons. Based on the breadth of quotes used in the letter, the author of Hebrews obviously had a comprehensive knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. He also uses the most complex Greek in the New Testament, indicating the author was a very eloquent man. Although Paul is not the author of Hebrews, it is evident that Paul’s person and ministry influenced the author, which would also fit Apollos (1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4, 5, 6, 22; 16:12; Titus 3:13). The author was well-acquainted with Timothy (Hebrews 13:23) and so was a well-known figure in the early Christian church, particularly in Asia Minor and Achaia. One of the most likely reasons that the author did not identify himself is that he needed no introduction. Those who were reading the letter immediately knew who he was, so he just went right into his sermon. All of these are clues that the author may very well have been Apollos.

AUDIENCE. The original recipients are also unknown. The audience did know Timothy (Hebrews 13:23), so they almost certainly knew Paul. The letter is referred to as “the letter to the Hebrews,” but it is inconclusive that the original recipients were Hebrews (Jewish). There is no mention in the letter of circumcision, of ceremonial foods, of the Law, or of Jews and Gentiles, so there is nothing here that we would expect in a distinctively Jewish letter.

Some have suggested that the author’s teaching about the tabernacle and the elements of the Day of Atonement are things that only the Jews would understand, but I would counter that with the fact that pastors today teach the Old Testament Law to Gentiles in order to help all believers know the Scriptures and know the glory of Christ in His fulfillment of the Old Testament types. In other words, that the author teaches how Christ fulfilled the foreshadows of the Day of Atonement reveals almost nothing about the audience.

My best guess is that the original recipients were located far away from Jerusalem and were probably mostly Gentiles. Maybe in Ephesus or Corinth?

DATE. The letter was probably written in the early 70’s AD. Since Paul is not mentioned in the letter, then I assume that Paul was dead by now. If he is not dead, he is far removed from this congregation. But Timothy is alive and is apparently in a leadership position. Nothing is mentioned about the destruction of Jerusalem, but Jerusalem is not mentioned in the New Testament unless someone is going to that city or is coming from that city.

The next post will use our template to give a preview of the letters contents.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 3/30/2023 #637

Vanquishing perfectionism

POST OVERVIEW. A post about the sin of perfectionism and a strategy for vanquishing it and removing it from your life.

I must have been under the burden of perfectionism long before I realized it, but that seems to usually be the case with these types of sins. The attitudes of my parents, particularly my father’s demands for performance, and my own personality definitely predisposed me to perfectionism, and it is likely that I had been a perfectionist for decades before I finally recognized my disease when I was in my forties.

But regardless of the reasons, I finally realized that I was a victim of perfectionism. My demand for perfect performance manifested itself in my being critical of the efforts, the performance, and the accomplishments of others, and in my being especially hard on myself for constantly falling short of the elusive “perfect” outcomes that I imagined for myself.

DEFINITION. I should try to define what I mean by “perfectionism.” This is the tendency to view all outcomes as binary, as either perfection or failure. All performance is to be evaluated on that absolute scale, as either perfect or literally as a failure. In extreme cases, even excellence is unacceptable since the goal was perfection.

This demon of perfectionism, this poison root, produces evil fruit.

There is constant sense of discontent and disappointment because NOTHING ever meets the requirement of perfection.
Indecision and second-guessing are produced because there is no choice without problems and there is no perfect alternative.
A tendency to judge everything and compare all people and all actions and all performance against an imaginary “perfect” ideal and then to criticize when the ideal is not achieved.
Seeing people’s faults and shortcomings, rather than seeing their strengths and their good qualities.

The purpose of this article is to help those who are perfectionists, like me, to develop a strategy for getting free of this sin and for reaching that place where grace replaces law in how you view your own performance and the performance of others.

ADMIT AND CONFESS. The first step is to recognize that you are a perfectionist and to confess that this is a sinful behavior. Perfectionism assumes that I am capable of perfect performance and that all I need to do to achieve perfection is work harder. Thus perfectionism is works based and performance based and denies my fallenness and denies my need for a perfect God who will have mercy on my sin and my failure. So, confession of perfectionism must mark the first step of the deliverance strategy. Confess your sin to God (Psalm 32:5), but also confess your sin to others (James 5:16). Just taking this first step will begin to loosen perfectionism’s grip and will also bring others into the battle against it.

STRATEGY FOR REPENTANCE. Battling perfectionism requires a two-pronged approach of earnest repenting prayer for deliverance coupled with an aggressive action plan. Prayer is necessary for making the necessary changes. Any serious strategy must involve crying out to God for His help. But the perfectionist must also resolve to act. You must change your behavior so that the enemy will be defeated.

SUGGESTED PRAYER. “O God, I long to be delivered from this evil trait. Holy Spirit, I ask You to change me and to change my mind, to transform me so that this characteristic of perfectionism and its devastating effects are removed from my life.” (Verses to pray through: Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 10:5; Eph. 4:22-24, 29, 32; remember Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23; Galatians 2:21)

ACTION PLAN. Here are some suggested steps for an action plan.

Develop the habit of thanking God often. Wake up every day thanking God.
Make it a rule to never criticize other people’s efforts. Instead, give other people compliments. Never, ever ridicule others!
Never speak with cynicism or sarcasm (Eph. 4:29).
Stop grumbling and complaining (Phil. 2:14).
Before you begin to judge someone’s effort, remember that all God requires of His people is their best effort.
When tempted to judge others, remember Romans 14:4 – “Who are you to judge the servant of another?” This verse is quite profound. Think about it.
Strive to be kind and tender-hearted to other people (Eph. 4:32). This world has enough pain without me adding to it with my unwarranted demands for perfection.
Encourage all sincere effort, regardless of the results.
Before you begin some project or task, have clearly defined, realistic expectations of outcomes. “Clearly defined” because this provides a goal for the effort and prevents an open-ended comparison with some vague “perfection;” “realistic” because a realistic expectation can often be achieved.
Celebrate and praise all accomplishment.
This world is fallen and only Jesus Christ is perfect. Accept this as an undeniable, theological fact and live like this is a fact.
God required perfection of His Son, Jesus Christ, so that He could be a perfect sinless sacrifice for sinners. Because Jesus Christ is perfect, I don’t need to be and neither does anyone else.
See people as amazing, complex creations of God who need to know the savior. My mission is to reflect Christ so that others can know Him, not to judge others until they meet my performance criteria.
Determine to face challenges with my best efforts and with fervent prayer and trust the Lord for the outcome. He is sovereign over all things.

With this strategy of prayer and action, and with perseverance (Romans 15:4-5; Hebrews 12:1), the sharp sin of perfectionism may be vanquished and removed from your life.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 3/24/2023 #636

Satan will be cast out (John 12:31-32; Rev. 20:2-3)

POST OVERVIEW. A study of John 12:31-32 (“Satan will be cast out”) and the relation of those verses to Satan being thrown into the abyss for the thousand years in Revelation 20:2-3.

Recently, during my preparation for a Bible study of the gospel of John, I observed that Jesus declared, “The ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). As I considered this section of Scripture, I began to see a connection between these verses and Revelation 20:1-3, when Satan is thrown into the abyss by “the angel” (Jesus) at the start of the thousand years. This post is a study of those connections.

REVIEW OF THE INTERPRETATION OF REVELATION 20:1-3

In other posts on this site and in my book, The Last Act of the Drama, I have presented my interpretation of Revelation 20:1-3, a passage about the binding of Satan and the inauguration of the thousand years. In this passage, Christ (“the angel”) “bound Satan for a thousand years and he threw him into the abyss, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer.” I maintain that this binding of Satan occurs during Christ’s ascension to heaven (Acts 1:9; Rev. 5:6ff) at the very beginning of the gospel age so that the church can accomplish its commission to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19-20) without Satan’s interference. Satan is thrown into the abyss so that he cannot hinder the gospel advance and the church then rides out into the world (Rev. 6:1-2) proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

The passage in Rev. 20, therefore, presents Christ restraining Satan during the thousand years (church age) so that the gospel can be proclaimed to the Gentiles (“the nations”) without Satan’s hindrance.

A PARALLEL TEXT IN JOHN 12:31-32

Now we turn our attention to our study text in John 12:31-32. In John 12:31, Jesus says that Satan “will be cast out.” Clearly implied here is that Satan will be cast out of this world, since “of this world” appears twice in John 12:31. Also apparent in this verse is that Jesus will be the one who will cast Satan out.

Now, as we consider what Jesus says here in John 12:31, we must ask some questions. First, what does it mean for Satan to be “cast out?” Does it mean that he is completely eliminated or does it mean something less absolute? And second, we must ask, “When did this happen?” When did Jesus cast Satan out of this world? Or was Jesus just speaking figuratively about casting Satan out?

Before we answer these questions, however, we should also notice that the results of John 12:32 are connected to the events of John 12:31. That is, the “lifting up” of Jesus and the “drawing all men to Myself” in 12:32 are dependent upon or derived from the “ruler of this world being cast out” in 12:31. A closer examination of these two verses reveals that the casting out of the ruler of this world (Satan) enables or facilitates the drawing of all men to Jesus. In other words, Christ casts Satan out (12:31) so that the preaching of the gospel (“Jesus is lifted up”) will draw men to Jesus from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (12:32) without Satan’s interference.

“CAST OUT.” In this context, then, “cast out” (John 12:31) should be understood to mean “taken off the playing field” or “removed from being an obstacle to the gospel and to the salvation of the nations.” “Cast out” does not mean complete elimination or destruction but is better understood as “limiting or restraining his activity.” If this understanding of “cast out” is accurate, then “cast out” in John 12:31 is virtually identical in meaning to binding Satan and throwing him into the abyss we see in Rev. 20:2-3. In fact, at this point we can say that binding Satan and throwing him in the abyss (Rev. 20:2-3) was the means that the Lord Jesus used to cast Satan out (John 12:31).

SUMMARY

In John 12:31-32 Jesus is speaking prophetically and His prophecy spoken there is fulfilled in Rev. 20:1-3. Both these passages are teaching that Christ restrains Satan’s activities and abilities during the thousand years so that Satan cannot hinder (“deceive”) the nations (Gentiles) from being drawn to Jesus.

Christ has declared, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18) and He has also commissioned His church as those who will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). By restraining Satan for the thousand years, Christ makes certain that His church will accomplish their task.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 3/22/2023 #634

Evaluating the case for evolution – Part 1 (Hebrews 11:3)

POST OVERVIEW. The first in a series of posts evaluating the case for evolution from the perspective of a biblical creationist.

EXPLORING THE EVIDENCE, ASKING THE QUESTIONS

In these posts, I will be attempting to objectively explore the fundamental ideas of evolution and then to examine the validity and credibility of these ideas. My purpose for this exercise is to set up the situation where a person like me who holds to a biblical view of creation can examine the case for evolution and see if the evidence for evolution is persuasive. In this exploration, I will also be asking questions of the evolutionist to prompt dialog.

I will begin presenting a small piece of evidence that supports biblical creation. In Hebrews 11:3, the Bible speaks directly to the means by which God created the universe.

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Here in this verse the Bible states that God created what is seen out of that which is unseen. This means that God created our universe out of nothing, ex nihilo. God used just the power and authority of His word to bring the universe into being.

The teaching of this verse separates those who, by faith, believe the Bible to be the word of God from those who, lacking faith, do not. This verse drives us back to the very start of the Scriptures, to the first words of Genesis when creation is being described and requires us to make a decision. Do we believe that God created the worlds out of that which did not exist or do we think that some form of evolution was responsible for all we see in the creation? The answer to this question reveals whether you have saving faith or you lack it.

Of course, the evolutionist readily admits he does not have faith in God and does not believe the Bible, but we will see that this verse presents a problem for him, nevertheless.

THE PROBLEM OF ORIGINAL MATERIAL

While the proponent of evolution can reject the biblical explanation about God’s creation, he cannot avoid the problem of original material. Why do I say that? I say that because of the very nature of and definition of evolution. Evolution always begins with what already exists and modifies it. Evolution always starts with an existing species and then somehow conceives of an “improvement” in that species to make it more fit to survive. The theory of evolution describes a process whereby existing species improve. Thus evolution requires existing material. For evolution to operate, there must be something already existing that can be evolved. This means that the proponents of evolution must address the issue of origin. What is the source of the original material that was originally subject to “improvement”?

Even if it could be shown that the existence of the breathtaking variety of animals and birds and fish and plants and rocks and mountains and trees on our planet and the spectacular beauty of the uncountable stars in the heavens is the result of an evolutionary process (see below), those who promote evolution must still answer the question of original material. And simply saying, “The big bang,” does not answer the question, but merely throws it into the realm of myth.

THE NATURE OF EVOLUTION’S ABILITIES

As we consider “evolution” more deeply, we see that the nature of evolution itself is mysterious. For example, to make the theory of evolution function, proponents of the theory give to evolution a personality and a will that results in a purpose. It seems that evolution’s one purpose in life is to improve flawed species and make them better able to survive. According to the experts, evolution has been doing this for hundreds of millions or billions of years. To equip evolution for its vital role in our universe, it has also been given the remarkable ability to detect design flaws in any creature in any corner of the earth. And evolution never sleeps. Wherever there is a “design flaw” in any living creature, plant or animal, anywhere on the seven continents, there evolution will be found, working tirelessly over millions of years if necessary to ultimately “create” an improved species. And evolution does all this without any intelligent input from anything outside of itself. What I mean is that evolution appears to do all its remarkable work perpetually and as if by instinct. Evolution just does what it does automatically, spontaneously, perpetually, and independently. This seems like a stretch to me.

THE NATURE OF EVOLUTION’S IMPROVEMENTS

Equally curious to me are the “improvements” that evolution makes. According to proponents, evolution is responsible for all the spectacular variety of plant and animal life we see displayed in every corner of the globe. Birds, fish, mammals, insects of all types, trees, plants, grasses, bacteria. Everywhere we see life in all its infinite diversity, there we know that evolution has been at work.

An example of this concept at work requires that at some point in time and for some unknown reason, evolution “decided” that some species of fish was flawed or needed to be improved so that it could become a bird. And so evolution began the process of making incremental changes (“improvements”) over millions of years such that a male and a female of this species of fish would eventually shed their scales and the gills needed for breathing in water, and would abandon the sources of food that they ate as fish, and would emerge from the ocean waves with hollow bones and feather-covered wings with the ability to fly and to make nests and to lay eggs and to breathe air and to eat an entirely new diet of food that just happened to be available right at the place where they emerged from the water.

This seems like a stretch to me. There does not seems to be any evidence to support this sort of evolution ever taking place, nor does this process seem to be possible. But the other question would be, “Why would this ever happen?” In our example, the fish species was functioning and surviving perfectly well before they “evolved.” They had food to survive, they reproduced, they did all they needed to do to live out their days. Why would the fish need to be changed into birds? How would their becoming birds be an improvement? More than that, how would the seismic changes in these fish be sustained over the thousands of generations needed to change a fish to a bird, since at each change, there would need to be a male and a female of the intermediate fish-bird species to keep it going? Again, it seems to be a stretch.

SUMMARY. So far, we have presented three ideas that threaten the credibility of evolution: the origin of matter, evolution’s abilities, and evolution’s improvements. I will continue this examination of evolution in the next post by asking some questions of the evolutionist.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 3/20/2023 #633

The disciple learns obedience (Hebrews 5:8)

POST OVERVIEW. An article on how we as disciples can learn obedience and thus have victory over persistent sins. These ideas will be included in my future book on discipleship.

Obedience is one of the most fundamental characteristics of the disciple of Jesus. In fact, to profess to follow Jesus as His disciple and to be disobedient to His commands is impossible. The disciple cannot continue in sin (Romans 6:2). Jesus makes it clear that to be His disciple is to be obedient to His commands (John 15:14). And these are just the very tip of the iceberg. It is without question that a disciple of Jesus will be obedient to Jesus.

But regarding obedience we find that Jesus not only demands obedience from His disciples, but Jesus also learned obedience. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Yes, the incarnate Son of God learned obedience. Of course, Jesus sinlessly and perfectly learned obedience. He obeyed without ever once uttering a word or having a thought that was not perfectly in accord with His Father’s will. At no moment was there ever the least element of disobedience from the Lord Jesus. But Jesus was called to fulfill His mission by “being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8), and so He had to learn perfect obedience to atone for our sin.

In this post, I want to show that the disciple of Jesus must likewise learn obedience.

FOUR GROWTH AREAS

Before the year is out, I hope to write a book on the subject of discipleship and obedience will certainly occupy a prominent place in that work. In discipleship, the goal is growth in Christlikeness, and that involves growth in four areas.

KNOWLEDGE. Obedience is only possible after knowledge of God’s commands is obtained, so knowledge is primary. The primary and authoritative source of the disciple’s knowledge is the word of God, the Bible.
OBEDIENCE. When man’s will joyfully does what God commands. When knowledge of God’s commands results in doing what God commands. When the Spirit-given desire to please God is fulfilled by willful, joyful acts.
HOLINESS. When persistent, ongoing obedience has begun to transform the heart and mind of the disciple such that their presence exudes godly behavior.
USEFULNESS. When the disciple performs good works (Eph. 2:10) which edify other believers and which bear fruit for the kingdom of God.

Here, we are going to focus on the area of obedience.

Obedience is usually measurable. “Here is the command. It applies to you. Are you doing what the command says? Yes or no.” Obedience grows as knowledge of God’s commands grows. The more commands you know, the more you can obey. Therefore, the disciple must spend much time in the Word learning what he is expected to obey.

But obedience also grows as we learn to obey. Let’s consider an example. In Matthew 6:25, the Lord gives the command, “Stop being worried.” Now let’s assume that a newly converted disciple who is in the habit of worrying and being anxious reads Matthew 6 and discovers this command. Now the disciple has gained the knowledge of this command from his King and now knows that worrying is a sin. Since worrying is a sin, the disciple should obey and stop worrying. But despite the knowledge of sin and despite the disciple’s desire to obey God, what may occur is that the disciple continues to experience worry and anxiety. That is, the professing disciple of Jesus continues in disobedience. What is going on here? For Paul says in Romans 6:2, “How will we who died to sin (were saved) still live in it?” It is a rhetorical question that demands the answer, “We cannot continue in sin if we are a disciple of Jesus!” So, how do we explain this situation where a professing disciple is not seeing victory over this sin of worry?

THE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO OBEY

First, ongoing sin is always a serious concern in the church of Jesus Christ and any situation of ongoing disobedience needs to be addressed. Also, we should acknowledge that there are several possible explanations for this, including the possibility that this person is not genuinely converted and therefore is unable to repent of their sin. But there is also the possibility that this is a genuine disciple of Jesus who has never learned obedience. That is, this disciple has not learned how to vanquish the sin so that he can obey. What I am suggesting is that, for sins that are deeply ingrained or that are difficult to identify by individual acts, obedience may be delayed because the disciple needs to be coached or discipled in their obedience.

To illustrate this, let’s go back to the person who is disobedient with regard to anxiety and worry, and this disciple knows that it is sinful. The first necessary ingredient is the disciple’s own desire for victory over the sin and his desire to walk in obedience. Assuming there is an earnest desire for obedience, the first step would be for the disciple to confess his sin and acknowledge his sin to God (Psalm 32:5) and to others (James 5:16) and thus bring the sin out into the light (1 John 1:7). “Yes, Lord, and yes, brothers, I know this is sin and I hate this sin.” Just this obedient confession of the sin will drain the sin of at least some of its power.

Next, the disciple learns from the Puritan, Thomas Watson, by reading his book Doctrine of Repentance and discovering the power of genuine repentance and putting that power to work against his worry. Additionally, the disciple develops a specific strategy for “fleeing” the sin of worry and anxiety when his “anxious thoughts multiply within him” (Psalm 94:19). So, when he begins to feel anxious or worried, he responds with his strategy. He consciously, willfully turns his mind until it is fixed either on an obedient action or on a God-breathed truth. For me, since I want to keep my strategy as simple as possible, my defense strategy consists in executing an obedient action. So I think, “Rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16). Then I spend the next five minutes reading Psalm 148, out loud if possible, and praising the Lord for all the good things He has given me and has done for me. And the sin that was trying to insinuate itself into my mind and cause me to disobey is expelled.

The point that I am making is that the local church should be aware of the need to instruct especially newer believers in the path of repentance so that they can see victory and learn obedience.

It is extremely discouraging, even depressing, and even eventually faith-threatening for the disciple of Jesus to continue long in “unwilful disobedience,” to long engage in what the disciple knows to be sin while his earnest longing with heart and soul is to be rid of the sin and to be obedient. The ideas presented in this article should help in training disciples how to learn obedience.

Soli Deo gloria rmb 3/17/2023 #632

Roy's Reflections

Musings and thoughts on biblical themes