R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 497

13 Things I Need to Get Better At in 2013

I've never been a huge fan of resolutions, though I have long been a fan of sanctification. Somehow moving from recognizing a weakness to formalizing a commitment to fight it seems mildly artificial. Not so artificial, however, that I am not about to get dangerously close to making resolutions in the following. These are areas I know I need to improve on. Perhaps they might match some of your own.

13. I need to get back to reading before going to sleep. I love my iPhone. I love the music, the games, the connection to the interwebs. It should not, however, be the last thing I look at or hold before I go to sleep each night. Books are better.

12. I need to cultivate a deeper humility. Which, of course, is another way of saying that my need is for grace, for God gives grace to the humble. I am persuaded that sanctification is less about sinning less, more about owning our sin more.

11. I need to sing with less shame. Singing is not a strength of mine. My voice is at best plain, at worst annoying. But it is not selfishness to note that when we sing the praises of God two things separate what we are doing from a performance for our neighbors. First, of course, is that God is our audience. He is able to sanctify my voice. Second, however, is that singing changes me. The more I give myself to the music of the ages the more I am overcome with the glory of God.

10. I need to straighten up my virtual desktop. I write, a lot. And most of it just goes into one massive documents folder. Which makes stuff rather hard to find. I suspect those who didn't file well before the digital age, like me, don't do much better now.

9. I need to eat more fruits and veggies.

8. I need to embarrass and bore my children by constantly reminding them that I love them. If there were ever an ever-present truth that ought not to go unspoken, this is it.

7. I need to be more friendly. I have always been profoundly shy. My wife quietly, unobtrusively kept this weakness in me somewhat at bay. Without her my days are a constant battle against constant retreat. I need to exercise and thus build up my social stamina before I end up elected the head of Hermits R Us.

6. I need to express my appreciation for my friends, clearly and specifically. When I receive praise, "Liked your article" I am surprised and grateful. When, however, I receive praise like this, "I especially liked the way you…" I start singing and dancing like I'm on Broadway. I suspect my friends are much the same.

5. I need to get over being bald. I know there's nothing I can do. I try to shrug it off. But I still spend far too much time (which is any time at all) wishing I had my hair back.

4. I need to remember to bend down when speaking to my, and other's littles. Such a little thing reaps such a harvest. It communicates genuine interest, acknowledging the personhood of the one speaking. And the rewards are amazing- everything from smiles to hugs.

3. I need to pray more often. We all tend to measure our praying powers based on duration, regularity and intensity. Was I able to pray for an hour each morning? Was I focused and not gathering wool? It may well be more important and more effective if we pray constantly. Brief thank-yous for "ordinary" blessings, quick supplications when others come to mind, regular acknowledgments of our sin, urgent exclamations of praise.

2. I need better to practice a judgment of charity. We are going to end up disagreeing with one another. What is far worse, however, is that we will often determine that the person on the other side of our debate takes his position because he is wobbly, worldly, wanton or wicked. When maybe he's just wrong. Or maybe I am.

1. I need to be grateful. The maker of heaven and earth, through the agony of the cross, has not only forgiven me, but adopted me. I have the pearl of great price. I am a son to God. I am being remade into the image of the Son. And everything that is brought my way is brought for my good and His glory. My Lord has already overcome the world. I must be of good cheer.

And as a bonus—I need to become more quick to repent. For it is rather likely that in 365 days I will, after searching long and hard through my files, repeat this piece.

13 Things I Need to Get Better At in 2013 was originally published at RCSproulJr.com

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.

$5 Friday: Eschatology, Suffering, & Apologetics

Fill your MP3 player and eBook reader during today's digital only $5 Friday sale.

This week's digital resources cover such topics as eschatology, suffering, apologetics, theology, the prophets, John's Gospel, the five solas, and more.

Sale runs through 12:01 a.m. — 11:59 p.m. Friday EST.

View today's $5 Friday sale items.

A Charitable Reaction

Here's an excerpt from A Charitable Reaction, R.C. Sproul's contribution to the January issue of Tabletalk.

Has anyone ever said something unkind to you or about you? I think we all have had that experience. Becoming victims of slander or malicious gossip can be difficult to bear. However, God calls us to exhibit a very specific kind of response in such circumstances.

Years ago, I received a letter from a friend who is a pastor at a church in California. In it, the pastor included a copy of an article that had appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Although the article included a photo of him standing in his church and holding his Bible, it was basically a vicious personal attack against him.

Continue reading A Charitable Reaction online or learn more about the digital edition of Tabletalk.

Best of 2012: Ligonier Blog

To mark the beginning of 2013, we've gone back and collected some of the most popular blog posts from the past year.

TULIP and Reformed Theology by R.C. Sproul

"The Reformed faith involves many other elements of theological and ecclesiastical confession. However, these are the five controversial points of Reformed theology, and they are the ones that are popularly seen as distinctive to this particular confession."

3 Simple Ways to Encourage Your Pastor by R.C. Sproul Jr.

"Most of us, most of the time, love our pastor, and are grateful for him. Few of us, however, understand that he needs encouragement... Here are three simple ideas."

Calvinism & Enjoyable Christian Experience by Sinclair Ferguson

"Calvinism—at least in its consistent forms—has never been merely cerebral. The history of Reformed Christianity is also the story of the highest order of spiritual experience."

What is the Rapture? by R.C. Sproul

"The rapture is the miraculous transportation of all living Christians to heaven at the return of Jesus. There is a lot of misinformation about this event..."

10 Books (and One Letter) Every New Calvinist Needs to Read by Keith Mathison

"I offer here a suggested reading list for those who are new to the Reformed faith and who wish to know where to begin in their studies."

4 Responses to the Challenge of Same-Sex Unions by Albert Mohler

"We are facing a true moral inversion — a system of moral understandings turned upside down. Where homosexuality was even recently condemned by the society, now it is considered a sin to believe that homosexuality is wrong in any way."

Top Ten R.C. Sproul Lectures by Robert Rothwell

"One of the great joys of writing the daily studies for Tabletalk and performing various other editorial tasks is that I must regularly listen to the teaching series that Ligonier Ministries has produced."

4 Disturbing Trends in the Contemporary Church by Michael Horton

"According to several studies, American evangelicals generally do not know what they believe and why they believe it... Here are a few of the disturbing trends that need to be checked and reformed in contemporary church life."

Principles for Voting by R.C. Sproul

"When you enter the voting booth, don't leave your Christianity in the parking lot. And be bold to speak on these issues, even if it means somebody picks up a rock and throws it in your head."

The Secret to Spurgeon's Evangelistic Ministry by Steven Lawson

"Charles Spurgeon believed that if he was to be used effectively in evangelism, he must have a comprehensive knowledge of the Scriptures."

John Calvin's 4 Rules of Prayer by Joel Beeke

"For John Calvin, prayer cannot be accomplished without discipline. He writes, 'Unless we fix certain hours in the day for prayer, it easily slips from our memory.'"

Thank you for your support as you've read and shared our posts with family and friends. We look forward, Lord willing, to another edifying and God glorifying year in 2013 on the Ligonier Blog.

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, January 2013

The January edition of Tabletalk is out. This issue features articles examining the biblical call to Christians to develop and exercise the skills of listening well, meditating deeply, and thinking carefully in every area of life. These virtues have been increasingly ignored over the past few decades, particularly as our culture strives to increase our busyness and distraction. The Word of God, most notably the book of Proverbs, exhorts God's people to cultivate the disciplines of deliberate and careful listening, meditating, and thinking, beginning with His Word and applying these virtues in the family, the church, and the world.

Contributors include R.C. Sproul along with Eric Watkins, Tedd Tripp, Jonathan Leeman, Gene Edward Veith, Matthew Miller, R.C. Sproul Jr., Gerrit Scott Dawson, Douglas F. Kelly, Justin Taylor and D.A. Carson.

We do not post all of the feature articles or the daily devotionals from the issue, so you'll have to subscribe to get those. But for now, here are links to several free columns and articles from this month:

A Charitable Reaction by R.C. Sproul
Recovering Lost Disciplines by Burk Parsons
The Silence of the Lambs by R.C. Sproul Jr.
Listening and the Pastor by Matthew Miller
Theology and Doxology by Gerrit Scott Dawson
The Value of Confessions by Douglas Kelly
Christ and the Academy: An Interview with D.A. Carson
Doubt-Killing Promises by Justin Taylor

If you have not yet subscribed to Tabletalk, now is the perfect time. Your print subscription also gives you free access to the digital edition of Tabletalk. For those living in the U.S. and Canada it's only $23 for a year, and $20 to renew. You save even more if you get a 2- or 3-year subscription (as little as $1.36 per issue). We offer special discounts for churches or businesses who want multiple copies of each issue.

Get your subscription to Tabletalk today by calling one of Ligonier Ministries' resource consultants at 800-435-4343 or by subscribing online.

Abortion — 1¢ eBook Sale

To mark the 40th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 we are offering you the eBook edition of R.C. Sproul's Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue for only 1¢. Get it now from the Ligonier Store.

"I've written over 70 books. The book that had the shortest shelf life of all of my books was my book on the case against abortion. I talked to pastor after pastor and sought to understand why they weren't using this material (for which we also made a video series). They told me, "Well, we agree with it but we can't do it in our church." And I said, "Why?" They responded: "It will split the congregation." And I said, "So be it!" A million and a half unborn babies are slaughtered wantonly in the United States of America every year in the name of women's rights. If I know anything about the character of God after forty years of study, I know that God hates abortion." —R.C. Sproul

In Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue, Dr. R.C. Sproul provides well-considered and compassionate answers to the difficult questions that attend termination of pregnancy. Dr. Sproul strives for a factual, well-reasoned approach informed by careful biblical scholarship. He considers both sides of this issue in terms of biblical teaching, civil law, and natural law.

"This is an important book for all Christians interested in bringing their beliefs to bear upon the world around them. Abortion is one of the most critical issues of our day, and R. C. Sproul looks at it through the lenses of theology, philosophy, and reason. This book is refreshingly free of hyperbole, and yet does not compromise the truth."

—Jim Daly
President, Focus on the Family
Colorado Springs, Colorado

"R. C. Sproul covers the issues candidly and objectively—without the emotion and demagoguery that so often pervade the abortion debate. You are the jury; you decide the verdict."

—John MacArthur
Pastor-teacher, Grace Community Church
Sun Valley, California

Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue is currently on sale for 1¢ as an ePub in the Ligonier Store. Offer expires January 31, 2013.

5 Ways to Pray for Your Pastor in 2013

Just the other day I received a letter in the mail from a medical doctor whom I have never met before. Having told me how he had benefited from some of my sermons and articles, he went on to tell me, "I pray for you. I will be able to do so on a very regular basis now and trust that you will be helped and strengthened in your ministry and family." This was an enormous comfort and encouragement to me. Contrary to what some might suppose, ministers of the gospel desperately need the prayers of the saints. One of my seminary professors used to tell the student body, "Pastors have a bull's eye on their back and footprints up their chest." This is quite an appropriate description of the hardships that God's servants are called to endure for the sake of the gospel. The flaming arrows of the evil one are persistently being shot at pastors. In addition, the world is eager to run them over at any opportunity. This is, sadly, also a reality with regard to some in the church.

With so much opposition and difficulty within and without, pastors constantly need the people of God to be praying for them. The shepherd needs the prayers of the sheep as much as they need his prayers. He also is one of Christ's sheep, and is susceptible to the same weaknesses. While there are many things one could pray for pastors, here are five straightforward Scriptural categories:

1. Pray for their spiritual protection from the world, the flesh and the Devil.

Whether it was Moses' sinful anger leading to his striking of the rock (Num. 20:7-12), David's adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11), or Simon Peter's denial of the Lord (Matt. 26:69-75) and practical denial of justification by faith alone (Gal. 2:11-21), ministers are faced with the reality of the weakness of the flesh, the assaults of the world and the rage of the devil (see this article). There have been a plethora of ministers who have fallen into sinful practices in the history of the church and so brought disgrace to the name of Christ. Since Satan has ministers of the gospel (and their families) locked in his sight—and since God's honor is at stake in a heightened sense with any public ministry of the word, members of the church should pray that their pastor and their pastor's family would not fall prey to the world, the flesh, or the Devil.

2. Pray for their deliverance from the physical attacks of the world and the Devil.

While under prison guard in Rome, the apostle Paul encouraged the believers in Philippi to pray for his release when he wrote, "I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:19). (See also 2 Cor. 1:9-11).

When Herod imprisoned Simon Peter we learn that "constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church" (Acts 12:5). After an exodus-like deliverance from prison, Luke tells us that Peter showed up at the home where the disciples were continuing to pray for his deliverance. This is yet another example of the minister being delivered from harm due, in part, to the prayers of the saints.

3. Pray for doors to be opened to them for the spread of the gospel.

In his letter to the Colossians Paul asked the church to be praying "that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains" (Col. 4:3). The success of the spread of the gospel is dependant in part on the prayers of the people of God. In this way, the church shares in the gospel ministry with the pastor. Though he is not the only one in the body who is called to spread the word, he has a unique calling to "do the work of an evangelist." The saints help him fulfill this work by praying that the Lord would open doors "for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ."

4. Pray that they might have boldness and power to preach the gospel.

In addition to praying for open doors for the ministry of the word, the people of God should pray that ministers would have Spirit-wrought boldness. When writing to the church in Ephesus, the apostle Paul asked them to pray for him "that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel" (Eph. 6:19). There is a well-known story of several college students going to visit the Metropolitan Tabernacle in order to hear Charles Spurgeon preach. As the story goes, Spurgeon met them at the door and offered to show them around. At one point he asked if they wanted to see the church's heater plant (boiler room). He took them downstairs where they saw hundreds of people praying for God's blessings on the service and on Spurgeon's preaching. The gathering of the people of God to pray for the ministry of the word is what he called "the heating plant!" Believers can help ministers by praying that they would be given boldness and power in preaching the gospel.

5. Pray that they might have a spirit of wisdom and understanding.

One of the most pressing needs for a minister of the gospel is that he would be given the necessary wisdom to counsel, to know when to confront, to mediate and to discern the particular pastoral needs of a congregation. This is an all-encompassing and a recurring need. The minister is daily faced with particular challenges for which he desperately needs the wisdom of Christ. It is said of Jesus that "the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, and of counsel and might" was upon Him (Is. 11:2). The servants of Christ need that same Spirit. Much harm is done to the church as a whole if the minister does not proceed with the wisdom commensurate to the challenges with which he is faced. Those who benefit from this wisdom can help the minister by calling down this divine blessing from heaven upon him.

Twitter Highlights (12/30/12)

Here are highlights from our various Twitter accounts over the past week.

...no one is born a Christian...A physical birth, no matter how significant the lineage in human terms, is not enough. —R.C. Sproul

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) December 27, 2012

Whenever [Jonathan] Edwards saw sin in another person, he took inventory on his own soul to search for the same iniquity. —Steven Lawson

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) December 28, 2012

The law was once our foe when it came to our justification.…But now the law is our friend when it comes to our sanctification (Hyde).

— Tabletalk Magazine (@Tabletalk) December 28, 2012

The Arminian view...makes the final decision for our salvation rest upon a human choice not upon a divine action. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) December 28, 2012

There's still time in 2012 to help support the outreach of @ligonier: ligm.in/WYUUoO

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) December 28, 2012

A just and holy God is never required to love a rebellious creation to the extent of extending mercy to it. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) December 29, 2012

Heart knowledge does not lack head knowledge, but head knowledge may lack heart knowledge. —Joel Beeke ligm.in/J5XhZN

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) December 29, 2012

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:

Ligonier Ministries | Ligonier Academy | Ligonier Connect | RefNet
Reformation Bible College | Reformation Trust | Tabletalk Magazine

Reflections on Newtown: In Adam All Sin

Once again the American people, Christian and non-Christian alike find themselves rightly mourning a terrible tragedy while foolishly asking "How could this happen?" The left is at best hinting and at worst demanding further or complete gun control. The right is at best arguing to arm teachers and at worst insisting on better government tracking of the mentally ill. Everyone is looking for systemic sources and institutional solutions, because we don't know who we are. We want to blame guns, drugs, video games, anything but the real cause—our darkened and evil hearts.

The gospel truth is that changing policies won't change anything. We can't educate, legislate, pontificate murder away, because when the lectures, the laws, the sermons end, there we are. We cannot wash it away, because under all the filth and grime is just us, filth and grime. Adam Lanza gunned down the principal, his mother, the little children, himself, every one of his victims because he hates God and His image bearer, man. Which is true of every man, outside the grace of God.

The bereavement over Adam Lanza's sin makes perfect sense. The surprise over it does not. When we rightly affirm, "There but for the grace of God go I," when we have enough self-awareness to know that there is no sin we are not perfectly capable of committing on our own, we are not merely saying "God keeps this from happening." We are also affirming that the GRACE of God keeps this from happening. When we understand how wicked we are in ourselves we come to understand that each of us, indeed the little children who died, wake up each morning under a just death sentence from God most high. The surprising thing isn't that so many were killed, but that any were spared. Because each of us, each and every one of us, is the kind of person that would kill strangers, our mothers, little school children. Those who are hoping Adam is burning in hell are right, he deserves it. As do we all.

We want to believe that Adam Lanza is a bizarre anomaly, his rampage a freak occurrence. But the truth is on the very day Adam took so many lives, there were in cities across the country three thousand mothers who did not race to their children fearing they were in danger, but instead took their children to an assassin. The next day three thousand more mothers, having heard the news from Newtown, carried their babies to town that they might be exterminated. And the rest of us, if we gave those three thousand murders a thought at all, never stopped to ask, "How could this happen?" It was just normal.

Which is just what it is, normal. We are child killers. We are murderers. We, each one of us, would if we could, climb up to heaven and kill God Himself. Since we can't, however, our bloodlust is satisfied by snuffing out the lives of His littlest image bearers.

The answer is Jesus. We need Him not just so little children won't be murdered, but so that we won't be murderers of little children. In Adam, we are all murderers. In the Second Adam, we are made alive. May we be given the grace to tell the world as our Lord did before us—Repent, lest you likewise perish.

In Adam All Sin was originally published at RCSproulJr.com