Brad Werner’s Posterous

Galatians 5:13-14.
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature[a]; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 

What will cause us to desire to lay out our lives for the needs of others? By knowing that God put His only Son to death to serve sinners by making it possible to have a relationship with Him. The love that we receive from Christ, despite the fact that we don't deserve it, is the same love we are to give to others. Especially when we feel they don’t deserve it and the last thing we want to do is act lovingly toward them.

But we are so quick to consider ourselves before we consider the needs of others. Someone said, “You’ll know how much of servant you are by how you react when someone treats you like one.” When God’s grace is working on us and in us, it will also work itself out through us. The internal renewal of our minds and hearts creates an external propulsion that moves us out in love and service to others.

Grasping the external propulsion of God’s grace is crucial to our understanding of mission. It means that mission is not a duty (something we “should do”) but a natural overflow of the gospel’s work inside us. If you aren’t motivated to love, serve, and speak the gospel to people, the answer isn’t to “just do it.” The answer is to examine your heart, repent of sin, and discern where your unbelief is short-circuiting the natural outward movement of the gospel. As the gospel renews your heart, it will also renew your desire to move out in faith into the relationships and opportunities God places in your path. In other words, the gospel is not just the answer to your internal sins, struggles, and heart idols. It is also the answer to your failure to love others, engage the culture, and live missionally. If the gospel is renewing you internally, it will also be propelling you externally. 

We take out cue from the God who, from a heart of love, was motivated to move toward us when we did not deserve it.

Paul London from Sudan Interior Mission once shared this story: Where …I minister in Africa the strongest man of the tribe is the chief. You might think this is because the chief must wear a very large headdress and heavy ceremonial robes, but there are other reasons, as you shall soon see.

Water is very scarce where these people live, so they have to dig deep wells. These are not wells as we know them—with brick walls, a pulley, and a bucket a the end of a rope. The African people sink a narrow well shaft as much as 100 feet into the ground. Even though the well is deep, the ground water of that dry land seeps very slowly into it and there is never a drop to waste. If the water were too easy to reach, the people might not use it sparingly, or an enemy might steal the next day’s supply at night. So, the tribesmen cut alternating slits into the wall of the well all the way down to the water. By alternating his weight from one leg to the other, a man can use these slits as steps to walk down the shaft to the water. Only the largest, strongest men can make the arduous climb down the well and back up again with a full water skin for the whole tribe.

One day a man carrying water out of the shaft fell and broke his leg. He lay at the bottom of the well. No one dared to help because no one had the strength to make the climb carrying another injured man. The chief was summoned. When he saw the plight of the injured man, he doffed his massive headdress and discarded his ceremonial robe. Then the chief climbed down into the well, took the weight of the injured man on himself, and brought the man to safety. The chief did what no one else could do.

This is what Jesus did for us. He served us by coming down to rescue us by taking the weight of our sin on himself. He put aside his heavenly honors, just as the chief put aside his headdress and robe, in order to save us. When the chief took off the headdress and robe was he any less the chief? Of course not. And when Jesus laid aside His heavenly honors he was no less God.

Material adapted from A Gospel Centered Life by World Harvest Mission

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Martin Luther opened the Reformation by nailing “The Ninety-Five Theses” to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral. The very first of the theses was: “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ...willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” On the surface this looks a little bleak! Luther seems to be saying Christians will never be making much progress. But of course that wasn’t Luther’s point at all. He was saying that repentance is the way we make progress in the Christian life. Indeed, pervasive, all-of- life-repentance is the best sign that we are growing deeply and rapidly into the character of Jesus.

The transformation of repentance.

It is important to consider how the gospel affects and transforms the act of repentance. In ‘religion’ the purpose of repentance is basically to keep God happy so he will continue to bless you and answer your prayers. This means that ‘religious repentance’ is a) selfish, b) self-righteous, c) and bitter all the way to the bottom. But in the gospel the purpose of repentance is to repeatedly tap into the joy of our union with Christ in order to weaken our need to do anything contrary to God’s heart.

‘Religious’ repentance is selfish.

In religion we only are sorry for sin because of its consequences to us. It will bring us punishment - and we want to avoid that. So we repent. But the gospel tells us that sin can’t ultimately bring us into condemnation (Rom 8:1.) Its heinousness is therefore what it does to God-it displeases and dishonors him. Thus in religion, repentance is self-centered; the gospel makes it God-centered. In religion we are mainly sorry for the consequences of sin, but in the gospel we are sorry for the sin itself.

Furthermore, ‘religious’ repentance is self-righteous. Repentance can easily become a form of ‘atoning’ for the sin. Religious repentance often becomes a form of self-flagellation in which we convince God (and ourselves) that we are so truly miserable and regretful that we deserve to be forgiven. In the gospel, however, we know that Jesus suffered and was miserable for our sin. We do not have to make ourselves suffer in order to merit forgiveness. We simply receive the forgiveness earned by Christ. (1 John 1:8) says that God forgives us because he is ‘just.’ That is a remarkable statement. It would be unjust of God to ever deny us forgiveness, because Jesus earned our acceptance! In religion we earn our forgiveness with our repentance, but in the gospel we just receive it.

Last, religious repentance is “bitter all the way down.” In religion our only hope is to live a good enough life for God to bless us. Therefore every instance of sin and repentance is traumatic, unnatural, and horribly threatening. Only under great duress does a religious person admit they have sinned-because their only hope is their moral goodness. But in the gospel the knowledge of our acceptance in Christ makes it easier to admit we are flawed (because we know we won’t be cast off if we confess the true depths of our sinfulness.) Our hope is in Christ’s righteousness, not our own-so it is not so traumatic to admit our weaknesses and lapses. In religion we repent less and less often. But the more accepted and loved in the gospel we feel the more and more often we will be repenting. And though of course there is always some bitterness in any repentance, in the gospel there is ultimately a sweetness. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. The more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more you able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions of your sin. The sin under all other sins is a lack of joy in Christ.

The disciplines of gospel-repentance.

If you clearly understand these two different ways to go about repentance, then (and only then!) you can profit greatly from a regular and exacting discipline of self-examination and repentance. I’ve found that the practices of the 18th century Methodist leaders George Whitefield and John Wesley have been helpful to me here. In a January 9, 1738, letter to a friend, George Whitefield laid out an order for regular repentance. (He ordinarily did his inventory at night.) He wrote: God give me a deep humility and a burning love, a well-guided zeal and a single eye, and then let men and devils do their worst!” Here is one way to use this order in gospel-grounded repentance.

Deep humility (vs. pride) 
Have I looked down on anyone? Have I been too stung by criticism? Have I felt snubbed and ignored?

 Repent like this: Consider the free grace of Jesus until I sense a) decreasing disdain (since I am a sinner too), b) decreasing pain over criticism (since I should not value human approval over God’s love.) In light of his grace I can let go of the need to keep up a good image-it is too great a burden and now unnecessary. Consider free grace until I experience grateful, restful joy.

Burning love (vs. indifference) 
Have I spoken or thought unkindly of anyone? Am I justifying myself by caricaturing (in my mind) someone else? Have I been impatient and irritable? Have I been self-absorbed and indifferent and inattentive to people?

 Repent like this: Consider the free grace of Jesus until there is a) no coldness or unkindness (think of the sacrificial love of Christ for you), b) no impatience (think of his patience with you), and c) no indifference. Consider free grace until I show warmth and affection. God was infinitely patient and attentive to me, out of grace.

Wise courage (vs. anxiety) 
Have I avoided people or tasks that I know I should face? Have I been anxious and worried? Have I failed to be circumspect or have I been rash and impulsive?

 Repent like this: Consider the free grace of Jesus until there is a) no cowardly avoidance of hard things (since Jesus faced evil for me), b) no anxious or rash behavior (since Jesus’ death proves God cares and will watch over me). It takes pride to be anxious - I am not wise enough to know how my life should go. Consider free grace until I experience calm thoughtfulness and strategic boldness.

Godly motivations (a ‘single eye’) 
Am I doing what I am doing for God’s glory and the good of others or am I being driven by fears, need for approval, love of comfort and ease, need for control, hunger for acclaim and power, or the ‘fear of man?’ Am I looking at anyone with envy? Am I giving in to any of even the first motions of lust or gluttony? Am I spending my time on urgent things rather than important things because of these inordinate desires?

 Repent like this: How does Jesus provide for me what I am looking for in these other things? Pray: “O Lord Jesus, make me happy enough in you to avoid sin and wise enough in you to avoid danger, that I may always do what is right in your sight, in your name I pray, Amen.”

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Psalm 51:1-5,10,15 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  3 For I know my transgression and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.  5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

V.10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

V.15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

We all have both great dignity and great depravity.  Francis Schaefer described us as "glorious ruins".  I've heard human beings also described as “beautiful messes”.  While we reflect God, every part of us has been ruined, or tainted by mankind's fall into sin.  But there is wonderful hope for us because God continues to work with us through every aspect of our personality to make us more like His Son.  Through the dramatic use of story God confronts David at the core of his being and uses guilt to give David a repentance that brings new life.

Denial and rationalization as old as the human conscience.  Have you ever felt that no matter you try to occupy your mind, you can't get away from what you have done...that no matter which direction you turn, your sin is always before you?

The life of King David provides some hope for us.  Before David became King, King Saul tried to kill him out of jealousy.  David hid in the wilderness with brave soldiers to protect him.  One of them was Uriah the Hittite.  

David later became King and the Nation of Israel came under attack.  David sent his armies out to war, but he remained in Jerusalem for some reason.  A beautiful woman bathing catches his eye.  He finds out that she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite - one of the men willing to risk his life to protect David.  This news does not deter him.  He sends for her, has an affair with her and she becomes pregnant.  David ultimately kills Uriah to cover up his sin.

Humanly and psychologically speaking David should have never come out of this mess in his right mind. 

But in verse 15 we see David pray "O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare you praise."   How can this be?  Because David knew how to respond to our great rescuing God in the midst of guilt and shame.  He knew the difference between regret and repentance. 

II Cor. 7:10 says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." 

Because God is holy and we are sinful, repentance is the only way to move toward God.  

Psalm 51

V.1 David pleads for mercy: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

V.2 He asks God to wash away all his sin and cleanse him.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  Why?  

V.3 Incredible regret: For I know my transgression and my sin is always before me.  

Have you ever felt that no matter you try to occupy your mind, you can't get away from what you have done - that no matter which direction you turn, your sin is always before you.  The sad fact is that so many people stay right there and think that they have really repented.  But regret and  repentance are not the same thing. We've all felt guilty and said the things in the first 3 verses. But guilt will only crush us spiritually if we don't understand the difference between repentance and regret. It's the difference between salvation and death.  

V.4 Key to repentance: Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

David knew that the root of his disobedience was rebellion against God.  He believed God didn’t have his best interest at heart.  We need to remember that sin is not done in the abstract.  It is not merely the breaking of a law.  It is a personal attack on the law giver and it hurts God.  It is saying, "I am more wise and loving toward myself than God."  This was the primary sin which enabled David to sin against Uriah and Bathsheba. 

Regret 

Focuses on how you've messed up, (the adultery, the murder, the lie).  It is aggravated self-pity.  You hate yourself in the middle of regret.  We say things like, “What a fool, how could I have done this?” " This was one of my best friends, everyone will know, my life is ruined, my relationships with my family are in shambles.”  It is a circular pattern of beating yourself up.

Repentance

We realize that sin is first of all against God.  In repentance we begin to believe in the goodness of God and trust in His character once again.  We look up and away from ourselves and say to God: "Against you and you only have I sinned."  We have rejected the mercy and goodness of God in our attitude and my actions.  If we repent we'll start to find that goodness again.  We realize, "My life isn't over."  

The person in remorse hates himself.  

The person in repentance hates the sin and what it's done to God's heart.  

The person in regret runs from God, wants to get as far away from God as possible. 

The person in repentance runs toward God.  Do you see the difference?   

V.5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

We can’t fix ourselves, though it is often the first thing we try to do.  David thought he could fix his guilt by killing Uriah to cover his tracks.  

But the problem isn't that we committed a certain sin. The problem is that we are sinners.   

V.10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

David prays, “Create in me a pure heart, O God."  God promises to bring new life to you.  He will weave the story of His redemption through our sinful, broken lives.  He promises to work all things to our good and His glory.

Through the line of King David would ultimately come King Jesus.

The contrast between these two kings is stark:

One king was anointed to be the Lord's conqueror and he defeated the Lord's enemies. 

The other King was anointed to conquer the hearts of men. 

One king covered up his shame through deceit and murder. 

The other King hung naked on a cross to remove our shame.

One king killed someone to cover up his sin.

The other King died to forgive our sin.

This king, on the cross, bore the guilt and the shame of King David's sins of adultery and murder and he bore yours and mine as well. If you handle your guilt and shame by creating your own story, you'll never know the freedom of guilt forgiven.  But if you'll allow your guilt and shame to push you toward God He will author a new story of rebirth and redemption far beyond your wildest dreams.  

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So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

The Bible is full of commands, prohibitions, and expectations. Non-Christians object to Christianity because it seems like “just a bunch of rules and regulations.” And even faithful Christians struggle to understand how the law of God and the gospel of God relate to each other. After all, if we are reconciled to God by grace and not by works, does it really matter whether we obey or not?

Most people have a sense that they are somehow not measuring up.  So we give the law a power it was never meant to have – the power to change us.  We get on a religious treadmill of trying so hard and believing - "The better I am as a person the more God loves me."   You know, if I’m a really good person, God loves me a lot.  But if I fall back a little bit God doesn’t love me as much. 

In a nutshell, here’s how God designed it to work: the law drives us to the gospel and the gospel frees us to obey the law. Realizing all that God expects of us should drive us in despair to Christ. And once we are united with Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit causes us to delight in God’s law and gives us power to obey it. In his commentary on Romans, Martin Luther summarized it this way: 

“The law, rightly understood and thoroughly comprehended, does nothing more than remind us of our sin and slay us by it, and make us liable to eternal wrath...The law is not kept by man’s own power, but solely through Christ who pours the Holy Spirit into our hearts. To fulfill the law...is to do its works with pleasure and love...[which are] put into the heart by the Holy Ghost.”*

Truly fulfilling the law (rules) means obeying God out of pleasure and love and not out of guilt and fear.

How do we become the kind of people who love God and delight in his law? Answer: through the gospel!

But the problem comes because we confuse the law and the gospel all the time and we try to make the law our Savior.  But the law has no power to do what it’s describing.  The law gives directions, describes what righteousness looks like, God’s character but not power to get us there

Don’t confuse the map with the destination.  There is a difference between the map and the vehicle to get us to the destination.  You can see the route to Denver on the map (that's the law describing the destination) but you have to get in the car or the plane (that's be power to get there).  The law is like the map but we can’t confuse it with the vehicle with power to get us to the destination - the Gospel.

First, it is through the gospel that we become aware of our disobedience to God’s law. The first step of the gospel journey is to become aware that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and that our disobedience to God’s law places us under his curse. 

Second, it is through the gospel that God is willing to forgive us if we turn to Jesus and are justified—declared “not guilty” in God’s sight—by faith in him. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that...through Christ Jesus...by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (Gal. 3:13–14). Jesus has both atoned for our imperfection and attained our perfection through his work on the cross. The law no longer stands in judgment over us. In biblical language, we are no longer “under the law” (Rom. 6:14).

Third, it is through the gospel that God sends his indwelling Holy Spirit into us, transforming our hearts and enabling us to truly love God and others. As a result of our justification by faith, “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us” (Rom. 5:5). We commonly read the phrase “the love of God” in this verse as God’s love for us. But contextually and linguistically this phrase also has the sense of “love from God” or “love for God.” Because God loves us, He has poured into our hearts his own capacity to love and delight in himself. 

A true Christian obeys God’s law, then, not out of obligation or duty, but out of love, for “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10). 

Our Heavenly Father loves us and protects us not the law.  What a relief it is when we see Christ as the end of the sstruggle for righteousness since he not only fulfilled the law for u, but was cursed for us as well.  He has not only attained our perfection but atoned for our imperfection.  There is nothing more to struggle about, for He has done all for us and God asks nothing now but our repentance and faith.

The onlyway to get rid of sin is to admit  it!  Why is this so hard? Sureluy because it means letting go of our own righteousness, which is the very thing we do not like doing.  Yet how can we we have Christ’s perfect robe of righteousness if we insist on keeping our own?

Jesus is our perfect righteousness.  When we come to Him we need no other. 

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Jer. 17:9-10 

9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."

The gospel is nothing less than “the power of God” (Rom. 1:16).
It is the means of our salvation and transformation.
It delivers us from sin’s penalty and power.
The gospel is what makes us right with God (justification) and it is also what frees us to become more like Jesus (sanctification). The gospel changes everything!

The starting point of the Christian life (conversion) comes when I first become aware of the gap between God’s holiness and my sinfulness.
When I am converted, I trust and hope in Jesus, who has done what I could never do: he has bridged the gap between my sinfulness and God’s holiness. He has taken God’s holy wrath toward my sin upon himself.

At conversion I have a limited view of God’s holiness and of my sin.
The more I grow in my Christian life, the more I grow in my awareness (not less) of God’s holiness and of my flesh and sinfulness.

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Vienna's high society tolerated him despite his repulsive appearance, not to mention his unruly manners. He frequently caused "unpleasant scenes" where he would excitedly call people cheats - or worse - in public. One of his students described him this way: “(He) was most awkward and bungling in his behavior; his clumsy movements lacked all grace. He never learned to dance in time with the music.” His name was Ludwig Von Beethoven. 

Like the contrast between Beethoven's creative musical genius and his lack of social grace, I am often frustrated by the fact that I seem to be two different people. I am often as awkward relationally as Beethoven was physically. Bungling, cold hearted, angry, stubborn, selfish - all of these words can be used to describe me at times in my relationships with other people and with God. I know that God loves me, yet I don't always love God or others very well. I have tasted the grace of God and yet I still sin. So there is tension.

This is one aspect of the “already but not yet” reality of the Christian faith. The Holy Spirit is with us we have His comfort and the power of the age to come. Yet we are still not completely free from things like lust, anger, heart attacks, cancer and death. We have the first fruits of the spirit but we continue to long for complete redemption. Paul describes this in terms of "groaning" - "…we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." Because of the deposit of the Holy Spirit, we have the sure hope that one day we will be completely free and whole.

No, in this life, Beethoven couldn't dance. But as believers in Jesus Christ you and I will dance one day. We will be made completely whole and we will dance the dance of the redeemed.

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Do you ever think your life should be different than it is? You know, if you just had another degree, or another $200 a month, or a little better break at the office, then things would be OK.  Why do we always think things should be better than they are?  One explanation is that we are living in the reality of the "between" time. We live between the birth and the second coming of Christ. Theologians have called this the age of “the already but not yet”. The Apostle Paul describes the longing that believers feel in these days in terms of "groaning". (Rom. 8:23) 

When my dad was alive, I groaned for him. He had a heart-attack in 1987 that he survived; but, his heart stopped beating long enough that he had severe brain damage. After this, he was a completely different person and I groaned that I had lost the dad I had known all my life. I groaned that Lilian, my wife, would never know my dad’s bright personality and that he would never completely know her; that he would never fully comprehend God's call on my life; (my becoming a pastor would have meant the world to him), that he would never know my children. I groaned for my dad to be restored.

Scripture gives me hope that there will come a day when I will groan no more, "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shout for joy…" (Is. 35:5-6) What an astounding thought! One day my dad will have a glorified body with tremendous strength and agility. If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, God will one day restore your physical body. No more migraines, no more back pain and no more arthritis. In your glorified state you will be without defect. Put in your mind's eye a picture of the most disabled or paralyzed person you know sky diving or doing gymnastics - literally doing cart wheels for joy. Can you let yourself feel the absolute open mouthed, breath taking wonder of this thought?

I think my dad groaned too. Several years after his heart-attack my aunt and uncle celebrated 50 years of marriage. After dinner, the music started to play. As some began to dance I saw something I will never forget. My cousin Debbie was dancing...with my dad! My cousin smiled encouragement into his eyes and held both of his hands as my dad tried to move in rhythm to the music. A couple of times he got so excited he lifted one of his feet off the ground! My dad’s condition caused him to be fearful of every footstep he took. But in this moment, he was responding to the music with confidence and freedom. I believe his dance was evidence that he was groaning with deep hope that one day he will be brand new.

There is another wedding celebration which will happen at the final consummation of all things - the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This is the marriage of the Lamb, who is Jesus, to us, his bride, the church. Jesus will return and draw his bride to himself. The loving communion that we were meant to have with God will be reestablished, never to be broken again. There will be a matchless celebration, eating and drinking and unbelievable intimacy with God. God will rejoice over the bride He gave His life for. His love will cover and redeem all of her defects. On that day, my dad will dance, beautifully.

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