R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 17

$5 Friday (And More): Augustine, Jonathan Edwards, & Faith

It’s time for our weekly $5 Friday sale. This week’s resources include such topics as Augustine, Jonathan Edwards, faith, Christianity, church history, Calvinism, and more.

Plus, several bonus resources are also available for more than $5. These have been significantly discounted from their original price. This week’s bonus resources include:

Augustine of Hippo by Simonetta Carr, Hardcover book $18 $12 Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R.C. Sproul, Paperback book $18 $10 Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen, Paperback book $15 $10 Jonathan Edwards by Simonetta Carr, Hardcover book $18 $10 A Survey of Church History, Part 3 A.D. 1500-1620 with W. Robert Godfrey, CD $31 $10And More

Sale runs through 12:01 a.m.–11:59 p.m. Friday ET.

View Today's $5 Friday Sale Items

 

The Importance of Catechizing Our Children

Here’s an excerpt from The Importance of Catechizing Our Children, David McWilliams' contribution to the April issue of Tabletalk:

One essential way of rearing our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4) so that they can hide the truth of God in their hearts is by the old tried and proven means of catechizing. Here are four arguments for faithfully catechizing our small children and youth.

First, catechizing is good pedagogy. Modern educational theory looks askance on rote learning, but our children must have data with which to think. True, not every catechized child will remember it all in adulthood. However, rote memory of Scripture and catechism early in life becomes the intellectual and spiritual building material of a strong Christian life. Princeton theologian and New Testament scholar J. Gresham Machen credited his lifelong love for and commitment to the Reformed faith to learning the Bible and catechism on Sunday afternoons at his mother’s knee. Machen might not have understood the significance of learning the catechism and the kings of Israel by rote at ten years of age, but the fruit of his mother’s tender instruction helped provide the church with an extraordinarily faithful and devout defender of the faith.

Continue reading The Importance of Catechizing Our Children, or begin receiving Tabletalk magazine by signing up for a free 3-month trial.

 

Teaching Worldwide in Many Languages

The truths of the Christian faith are reaching more and more people around the globe as Dr. Sproul’s teaching is being dubbed in major world languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, and Farsi. These dubbed videos are recorded purely in the language of the intended audience, and they are produced in high quality to stand the test of time.

Our desire is to build up growing Christians with trustworthy biblical teaching—to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Thanks to a special grant from the Love in Action Foundation, your financial gifts in support of Ligonier’s global outreach will be extended even further, allowing resources from Dr. R.C. Sproul and the Ligonier Teaching Fellows to be translated into many of the world’s most spoken languages.

Recently, three more teaching series by Dr. Sproul were added to our Chinese-dedicated website—Loved by God, What Did Jesus Do?: Understanding the Work of Christ, and The Parables of Jesus. Now, nine Chinese-dubbed teaching series are available to watch or download, with more releases planned during the year.

Our Spanish YouTube channel and website host numerous video teaching series, including The Holiness of God, Chosen by God, and What Is Reformed Theology?, some of Dr. Sproul’s most popular and enduring series.

Ligonier is now making dubbed video content available in Arabic for the first time. The initial series available are The Holiness of God, Chosen by God, Loved by God, and Luther and the Reformation.

Our ongoing Farsi translation project is currently dubbing the sixty-episode series Foundations: An Overview of Systematic Theology. These lectures are broadcast in Iran and surrounding countries during primetime watching hours via satellite TV.

You can make a difference. Through the faithful support of our donors, we are positioned to expand our video dubbing work into many other languages in the near future, including Hindi, Indonesian, and French. When completed, these dubbed video teaching series can be used on a variety of different platforms. We aim to increase access to Ligonier Connect, Ligonier’s worldwide discipleship community, allowing millions of people to grow with fellow students, learn from trusted teachers, use flexible tools, and explore great content. Work has already begun on the Spanish platform.

Hindi Outreach

Ligonier’s dedicated Hindi outreach was launched in recent weeks to serve the church in India. About 600 million people speak Hindi, making it one of the world’s five most-spoken languages. There are tens of millions of professing Christians in India, but there is little access to faithful biblical resources. Our dedicated Hindi website features newly translated articles each week, and they are being shared widely via the Ligonier Hindi Facebook page, which already has 14,000 followers. Book translation projects are also underway and will be shared online and in print to equip church leaders and Hindi-speaking Christians.

Portuguese Reformation Study Bible

This summer sees the much-anticipated launch of the Reformation Study Bible in Portuguese. This landmark project, co-published with Fiel Ministries in Brazil, will bring this unique study Bible, containing over 1.1 million words of faithful commentary, in Portuguese for the first time. This release promises to make a widespread impact, not only in the growing number of Protestant churches in Brazil, but in Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa and beyond.

Arabic Outreach and French Outreach

Work is also underway on the Arabic edition and the French edition of the Reformation Study Bible. The latest books by R.C. Sproul to be published in Arabic are Everyone’s a Theologian and Surprised by Suffering, which are being distributed to pastors in the Middle East and North Africa.

The first French edition of Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul was released this month. This classic work by Dr. Sproul, which sets out God’s sovereignty in salvation, is available free of charge on our dedicated French website in digital format. French translations of titles from the Crucial Questions series are also being published, with What Is the Lord’s Supper? and Are These the Last Days? already available.

Children's Titles

Dr. Sproul’s children’s books continued to be translated and published in many different languages—including Hungarian for the first time. Now, The Priest With Dirty Clothes has been released in Hungary, and the Spanish edition of The Donkey Who Carried a King is available, joining The Priest with Dirty Clothes and The Prince’s Poison Cup.

Ligonier’s varied and much-needed international outreach relies on your prayers and generous support. Please consider donating to this global gospel outreach today.

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Does Prayer Change God’s Mind?

Does prayer make any difference? Does it really change anything? Someone once asked me that question, only in a slightly different manner: "Does prayer change God's mind?" My answer brought storms of protest. I said simply, "No." Now, if the person had asked me, "Does prayer change things?" I would have answered, "Of course!"

The Bible says there are certain things God has decreed from all eternity. Those things will inevitably come to pass. If you were to pray individually or if you and I were to join forces in prayer or if all the Christians of the world were to pray collectively, it would not change what God, in His hidden counsel, has determined to do. If we decided to pray for Jesus not to return, He still would return. You might ask, though, "Doesn't the Bible say that if two or three agree on anything, they'll get it?" Yes, it does, but that passage is talking about church discipline, not prayer requests. So we must take all the biblical teaching on prayer into account and not isolate one passage from the rest. We must approach the matter in light of the whole of Scripture, resisting an atomistic reading. Again, you might ask, "Doesn't the Bible say from time to time that God repents?" Yes, the Old Testament certainly says so. The book of Jonah tells us that God "repented of " the judgment He had planned for the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:10, KJV). In using the concept of repentance here, the Bible is describing God, who is Spirit, in what theologians call "anthropomorphic" language. Obviously the Bible does not mean that God repented in the way we would repent; otherwise, we could rightly assume that God had sinned and therefore would need a savior Himself. What it clearly means is that God removed the threat of judgment from the people. The Hebrew word nacham, translated "repent" in the King James Version, means "comforted" or "eased" in this case. God was comforted and felt at ease that the people had turned from their sin, and therefore He revoked the sentence of judgment He had imposed.

When God hangs His sword of judgment over people's heads, and they repent and He then withholds His judgment, has He really changed His mind? The mind of God does not change for God does not change. Things change, and they change according to His sovereign will, which He exercises through secondary means and secondary activities. The prayer of His people is one of the means He uses to bring things to pass in this world. So if you ask me whether prayer changes things, I answer with an unhesitating "Yes!"

It is impossible to know how much of human history reflects God's immediate intervention and how much reveals God working through human agents. Calvin's favorite example of this was the book of Job. The Sabeans and the Chaldeans had taken Job's donkeys and camels. Why? Because Satan had stirred their hearts to do so. But why? Because Satan had received permission from God to test Job's faithfulness in any way he so desired, short of taking Job's life. Why had God agreed to such a thing? For three reasons: (1) to silence the slander of Satan; (2) to vindicate Himself; and (3) to vindicate Job from the slander of Satan. All of these reasons are perfectly righteous justifications for God's actions.

By contrast, Satan's purpose in stirring up these two groups was to cause Job to blaspheme God—an altogether wicked motive. But we notice that Satan did not do something supernatural to accomplish his ends. He chose human agents—the Sabeans and Chaldeans, who were evil by nature—to steal Job's animals. The Sabeans and Chaldeans were known for their thievery and murderous way of life. Their will was involved, but there was no coercion; God's purpose was accomplished through their wicked actions.

The Sabeans and Chaldeans were free to choose, but for them, as for us, freedom always means freedom within limits. We must not, however, confuse human freedom and human autonomy. There will always be a conflict between divine sovereignty and human autonomy. There is never a conflict between divine sovereignty and human freedom. The Bible says that man is free, but he is not an autonomous law unto himself.

Suppose the Sabeans and Chaldeans had prayed, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." I'm absolutely certain that Job's animals still would have been stolen, but not necessarily by the Sabeans and Chaldeans. God might have chosen toanswer their prayer, but He would have used some other agent to steal Job's animals. There is freedom within limits, and within those limits, our prayers can change things. The Scriptures tell us that Elijah, through prayer, kept the rain from falling. He was not dissuaded from praying by his understanding of divine sovereignty.

No human being has ever had a more profound understanding of divine sovereignty than Jesus. No man ever prayed more fiercely or more effectively. Even in Gethsemane, He requested an option, a different way. When the request was denied, He bowed to the Father's will. The very reason we pray is because of God's sovereignty, because we believe that God has it within His power to order things according to His purpose. That is what sovereignty is all about—ordering things according to God's purpose. So then, does prayer change God's mind? No. Does prayer change things? Yes, of course. The promise of the Scriptures is that "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:16). The problem is that we are not all that righteous. What prayer most often changes is the wickedness and the hardness of our own hearts. That alone would be reason enough to pray, even if none of the other reasons were valid or true.

In a sermon titled "The Most High, a Prayer-Hearing God," Jonathan Edwards gave two reasons why God requires prayer:

With respect to God, prayer is but a sensible acknowledgement of our dependence on him to his glory. As he hath made all things for his own glory, so he will be glorified and acknowledged by his creatures; and it is fit that he should require this of those who would be subjects of his mercy . . . [it] is a suitable acknowledgement of our dependence on the power and mercy of God for that which we need, and but a suitable honor paid to the great Author and Fountain of all good.

With respect to ourselves, God requires prayer of us . . . Fervent prayer many ways tends to prepare the heart. Hereby is excited a sense of our need . . . whereby the mind is more prepared to prize [his mercy] . . . Our prayer to God may excite in us a suitable sense and consideration of our dependence on God for the mercy we ask, and a suitable exercise of faith in God's sufficiency, so that we may be prepared to glorify his name when the mercy is received. (The Works of Jonathan Edwards [Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1974], 2:116)

All that God does is for His glory first and for our benefit second. We pray because God commands us to pray, because it glorifies Him, and because it benefits us.

See also:

If God Is Sovereign, Why Pray?Does Prayer Change God’s Mind?

This excerpt is taken from R.C. Sproul's Crucial Questions booklet Does Prayer Change Things?. Download more free ebooks in the Crucial Questions series here.

Ask Ligonier with Stephen Nichols, April 2021

On Tuesday, April 27, Dr. Stephen Nichols joined us as a special guest on our Ask Ligonier team to answer your biblical and theological questions live online. As the author of R.C. Sproul: A Life, he also answered questions about Dr. Sproul’s life and ministry.

Dr. Nichols is president of Reformation Bible College and chief academic officer for Ligonier Ministries. He is author of more than twenty books, including Beyond the 95 Theses, A Time for Confidence, and R.C. Sproul: A Life.

This special online event was streamed live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also watch a recording of the event below.

 

The Legacy of Luther

Here’s an excerpt from The Legacy of Luther, Keith Mathison's contribution to the April issue of Tabletalk:

In 1978, Michael H. Hart published a book titled The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. Any book like this will cause enormous debate by its very nature, and I myself strongly disagree with some of the author’s conclusions. For example, he places Jesus in third place—after Muhammad and Isaac Newton—and I cannot help but wonder if the author has ever considered why the publication date of his book is 1978 and not 1408 or 335. Our dates themselves are oriented by the years of Christ’s life. Muhammad and Newton were influential figures in history; Jesus is the Lord of history. But I digress.

The author ranks Martin Luther at number twenty-five on his list. I’m not going to quibble with the specific ranking because, aside from the ranking of Jesus on this list, I’m not sure it is possible to quantify influence with anything close to precision. I mention this book, however, because it does include Luther among the twenty-five most influential persons in all of history, and to be included in the top twenty-five out of several billion is quite an accomplishment. It means that Luther’s influence in history is obvious to all observers. Luther’s life and work significantly affected European history, the German language, the church, and theology, among other things. This article will look specifically at Luther’s theological legacy with a focus on the doctrines of justification sola fide and sola Scriptura.

Continue reading The Legacy of Luther, or begin receiving Tabletalk magazine by signing up for a free 3-month trial.

 

Ask Ligonier with Stephen Nichols: Live Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, watch as Dr. Stephen Nichols joins us as a special guest on our Ask Ligonier team to answer your biblical and theological questions live online. As the author of R.C. Sproul: A Life, he will also be answering questions about Dr. Sproul’s life and ministry.

Dr. Nichols is president of Reformation Bible College and chief academic officer for Ligonier Ministries. He is author of more than twenty books, including Beyond the 95 Theses, A Time for Confidence, and R.C. Sproul: A Life.

Simply tweet us your questions by using the hashtag #AskLigonier or leave them as comments or messages on our Facebook page. This special online event will be streamed live below, or you can watch on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

 

This Week Only: Save Up to 50% on Study Bibles

The Reformation Study Bible equips growing Christians to go deeper into God’s Word with trusted commentary that is accessible to every reader. This week only, save up to 50% on this trusted resource.

Edited by Dr. R.C. Sproul, this study Bible is packed with verse-by-verse notes, theological articles, and much more to help readers understand Scripture as a whole. Save 50%, just in time for Mother’s Day.

Looking for a more portable version? The Condensed Edition features the best of this commentary in a smaller format. It’s a popular gift for young graduates. Save 35% on this edition.

For a limited time, the Spanish edition of the Reformation Study Bible is also 35% off. Shop by May 1 and save.

With Mother’s Day and school graduations on the horizon, why not save on a gift that can help your loved ones grow in God’s Word for many years to come? Order yours today while supplies last.

View this week’s sale items

 

How Important Is God’s Covenant with Adam When It Comes to Our Salvation?

While Adam failed to keep the covenant, Jesus has fulfilled it perfectly on our behalf. From one of our Ask Ligonier events, W. Robert Godfrey reveals how God’s covenant with Adam helps us understand our redemption in Christ.

When you have biblical and theological questions, just ask Ligonier.

Read the Transcript

 

How to Mortify Sin

The aftermath of a conversation can change the way we later think of its significance.

My friend — a younger minister — sat down with me at the end of a conference in his church and said: "Before we retire tonight, just take me through the steps that are involved in helping someone mortify sin." We sat talking about this for a little longer and then went to bed, hopefully he was feeling as blessed as I did by our conversation. I still wonder whether he was asking his question as a pastor or simply for himself — or both. 

How would you best answer his question? The first thing to do is: Turn to the Scriptures. Yes, turn to John Owen (never a bad idea!), or to some other counselor dead or alive. But remember that we have not been left only to good human resources in this area. We need to be taught from "the mouth of God" so that the principles we are learning to apply carry with them both the authority of God and the promise of God to make them work. 

Several passages come to mind for study: Romans 8:13; Romans 13:8–14 (Augustine's text); 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1; Ephesians 4:17–5:21; Colossians 3:1–17; 1 Peter 4:1–11; 1 John 2:28–3:11. Significantly, only two of these passages contain the verb "mortify" ("put to death"). Equally significantly, the context of each of these passages is broader than the single exhortation to put sin to death. As we shall see, this is an observation that turns out to be of considerable importance.

Of these passages, Colossians 3:1–17 is probably the best place for us to begin. 

Here were relatively young Christians. They have had a wonderful experience of conversion to Christ from paganism. They had entered a gloriously new and liberating world of grace. Perhaps — if we may read between the lines — they had felt for a while as if they had been delivered, not only from sin's penalty but almost from its influence — so marvelous was their new freedom. But then, of course, sin reared its ugly head again. Having experienced the "already" of grace they were now discovering the painful "not yet" of ongoing sanctification. Sounds familiar! 

But as in our evangelical sub-culture of quick fixes for long-term problems, unless the Colossians had a firm grasp of Gospel principles, they were now at risk! For just at this point young Christians can be relatively easy prey to false teachers with new promises of a higher spiritual life. That was what Paul feared (Col. 2:8, 16). Holiness-producing methods were now in vogue (Col. 2:21–22) — and they seemed to be deeply spiritual, just the thing for earnest young believers. But, in fact, "they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh" (Col. 2:23). Not new methods, but only an understanding of how the Gospel works, can provide an adequate foundation and pattern for dealing with sin. This is the theme of Colossians 3:1–17.

Paul gives us the pattern and rhythm we need. Like Olympic long jumpers, we will not succeed unless we go back from the point of action to a point from which we can gain energy for the strenuous effort of dealing with sin. How, then, does Paul teach us to do this?

First of all, Paul underlines how important it is for us to be familiar with our new identity in Christ (3:1–4). How often when we fail spiritually we lament that we forgot who we really are — Christ's. We have a new identity. We are no longer "in Adam," but "in Christ"; no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit; no longer dominated by the old creation but living in the new (Rom. 5:12–21; 8:9; 2 Cor. 5:17). Paul takes time to expound this. We have died with Christ (Col. 3:3; we have even been buried with Christ, 2:12); we have been raised with Him (3:1), and our life is hidden with Him (3:3). Indeed, so united to Christ are we that Christ will not appear in glory without us (3:4). 

Failure to deal with the presence of sin can often be traced back to spiritual amnesia, forgetfulness of our new, true, real identity. As a believer I am someone who has been delivered from the dominion of sin and who therefore is free and motivated to fight against the remnants of sin's army in my heart. 

Principle number one, then, is: Know, rest in, think through, and act upon your new identity — you are in Christ.

Second, Paul goes on to expose the workings of sin in every area of our lives (Col. 3:5–11). If we are to deal with sin biblically, we must not make the mistake of thinking that we can limit our attack to only one area of failure in our lives. All sin must be dealt with. Thus Paul ranges through the manifestation of sin in private life (v. 5), everyday public life (v. 8), and church life (vv. 9–11; "one another," "here," that is, in the church fellowship). The challenge in mortification is akin to the challenge in dieting (itself a form of mortification!): once we begin we discover that there are all kinds of reasons we are overweight. We are really dealing with ourselves, not simply with calorie control. I am the problem, not the potato chips! Mortifying sin is a whole-of-life change.

Third, Paul's exposition provides us with practical guidance for mortifying sin. Sometimes it seems as if Paul gives exhortations ("Put to death…," 3:5) without giving "practical" help to answer our "how to?" questions. Often today, Christians go to Paul to tell them what to do and then to the local Christian bookstore to discover how to do it! Why this bifurcation? Probably because we do not linger long enough over what Paul is saying. We do not sink our thinking deeply into the Scriptures. For, characteristically, whenever Paul issues an exhortation he surrounds it with hints as to how we are to put it into practice. 

This is certainly true here. Notice how this passage helps to answer our "how to?" questions.

1. Learn to admit sin for what it really is. Call a spade a spade — call it "sexual immorality," not "I'm being tempted a little"; call it "impurity," not "I'm struggling with my thought life"; call it "evil desire, which is idolatry," not "I think I need to order my priorities a bit better." This pattern runs right through this whole section. How powerfully this unmasks self-deceit — and helps us to unmask sin lurking in the hidden corners of our hearts!  

2. See sin for what your sin really is in God's presence. "On account of these the wrath of God is coming" (3:6). The masters of the spiritual life spoke of dragging our lusts (kicking and screaming, though they be) to the cross, to a wrath-bearing Christ. My sin leads to — not lasting pleasure — but holy divine displeasure. See the true nature of your sin in the light of its punishment. Too easily do we think that sin is less serious in Christians than it is in non-believers: "It's forgiven, isn't it?" Not if we continue in it (1 John 3:9)! Take a heaven's-eye view of sin and feel the shame of that in which you once walked (Col. 3:7; see also Rom. 6:21).

3. Recognize the inconsistency of your sin. You put off the "old man," and have put on the "new man" (3:9–10). You are no longer the "old man." The identity you had "in Adam" is gone. The old man was "crucified with him [Christ] in order that the body of sin [probably "life in the body dominated by sin"] might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Rom. 6:6). New men live new lives. Anything less than this is a contradiction of who I am "in Christ."

4. Put sin to death (Col. 3:5). It is as "simple" as that. Refuse it, starve it, and reject it. You cannot "mortify" sin without the pain of the kill. There is no other way!

But notice that Paul sets this in a very important, broader context. The negative task of putting sin to death will not be accomplished in isolation from the positive call of the Gospel to "put on" the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14). Paul spells this out in Colossians 3:12–17. Sweeping the house clean simply leaves us open to a further invasion of sin. But when we understand the "glorious exchange" principle of the Gospel of grace, then we will begin to make some real advance in holiness. As sinful desires and habits are not only rejected, but exchanged for Christ-like graces (3:12) and actions (3:13); as we are clothed in Christ's character and His graces are held together by love (v. 14), not only in our private life but also in the church fellowship (vv. 12–16), Christ's name and glory are manifested and exalted in and among us (3:17).

These are some of the things my friend and I talked about that memorable evening. We did not have an opportunity later to ask each other, "How are you going?" for it was our last conversation. He died some months later. I have often wondered how the months in between went in his life. But the earnest personal and pastoral concern in his question still echoes in my mind. They have a similar effect to the one Charles Simeon said he felt from the eyes of his much-loved portrait of the great Henry Martyn: "Don't trifle!"

This article was originally published in Tabletalk Magazine.