R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 92

The Parable of the Tenants

Here’s an excerpt from The Parable of the Tenants, Charles K. Telfer's contribution to the February issue of Tabletalk:

No man was braver than our Lord Jesus. Right to their face and at the risk of His life, He exposed the evil intentions of the self-engrossed leaders of the people of God in His generation. Ironically, our passage ends with these chief priests seeking to arrest Him (Matt. 21:45–46), thereby practicing precisely the kind of hard-hearted grasping that Jesus condemned in the story. Jesus’ strong actions (driving vendors from the temple) and words of coming judgment (the neighboring stories of the cursing of the fig tree and the parables of the two sons and the wedding feast) are weapons in the battle against the religious establishment He had been fighting since He entered Jerusalem.

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Should Christians Study Philosophy?

Logic and critical reasoning are important elements of our thinking, especially when it comes to thinking about our faith. From one of our Ask R.C. events, R.C. Sproul discusses several benefits of studying philosophy.

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The Problem of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a problem for many people due to their misunderstanding of what forgiveness involves and confusion about what forgiveness really is. Part of the issue is that sometimes we are unable to distinguish between forgiveness and feeling forgiven. Sometimes our feelings can get out of sync with the reality of forgiveness.

Once a man came to talk to me about feeling greatly distressed because of his guilt. He said that he had committed a particular sin and had prayed and prayed about it but hadn’t received any relief. He wanted to know what he had to do to experience God’s forgiveness. But since he had confessed his sin and begged God to forgive him, I told him that he needed to ask God to forgive him for a different sin—the sin of arrogance. God says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). When we don’t believe that God has in fact forgiven us when we have confessed our sin, we are calling into question His faithfulness. We are saying that God’s promise cannot be trusted. That is supreme arrogance, so we need to ask God’s forgiveness for our refusing to believe His promise.

There is more to this problem of forgiveness. When we sin, one of the most difficult things for us is accepting free, gracious, merciful forgiveness. We are creatures of pride. We think that God’s forgiveness is fine for other people, but when we do something wrong, we want to make up for it. However, this is absolutely impossible for anyone to do. God requires perfect holiness. Once perfection is lost, we cannot regain it. We are debtors with a debt we cannot pay. This is difficult for us to accept because we want to be able to pay our own way. It’s because of our pride and arrogance, both fruits of our sinfulness, that we refuse to accept the forgiveness of God.

Back to the distinction between forgiveness and feeling forgiven: forgiveness is objective but the feeling of forgiveness is subjective. I can feel forgiven but not be forgiven because I haven’t repented. I can excuse myself when God has not excused me, and that false feeling of forgiveness can lead me astray. But I can also not feel forgiven even when I actually have been forgiven. If God declares that a person is forgiven, that person is in fact forgiven. Our lack of feeling forgiven does not negate the reality of what God has done.

What is the authority in our lives? Our feelings, which are subjective, or the Word of God, which is objective truth? The Christian must live practically each day by the Word of God rather than by his feelings. The issue of forgiveness is not whether we feel forgiven, but whether we have repented. If we confess our sin and ask God for forgiveness through Christ, we can be assured that He forgives us.

Sometimes we don’t forgive ourselves even though God has forgiven us. But who are we to refuse to forgive one whom God has forgiven? What makes us so wicked that God’s forgiveness is not enough to cover our sin? In effect, we’re saying that we’re so evil that even the grace of God can’t help us. No, we’re so proud that we refuse God’s grace.

Now let’s look at what forgiveness is. The Bible teaches that when God forgives us, He forgets our sins. This doesn’t mean He erases them from His memory. It means that He doesn’t hold them against us anymore.

How many times has someone told you that he has forgiven a sin you committed against him, and then, the next time you have a fight, he brings up what you did the last time? That person has, in a sense, rescinded his forgiveness. God doesn’t do that. If I am pardoned by God, it is settled and is never to be brought up again. God puts those sins aside and will never speak of them. However, we often reopen old wounds. We allow them to disturb the relationship. If I have forgiven someone, I should never again mention that sin. Forgiveness means not bringing it up.

There is another issue to look at, and that is our obligation to forgive others who sin against us. If such people confess their sin and repent, it is our moral obligation to forgive. However, if they don’t repent, we are not required to forgive. We may forgive, as Jesus did for those who killed Him (Luke 23:34). But in doing that, Jesus didn’t command that we must always forgive those who don’t repent. You can go to those who have wronged you and tell them they have offended you (see Matt. 18:15). If they repent, you have won them. But you are not called to forgive if they don’t repent. You are not allowed to be bitter or vindictive. You have to be loving, caring, concerned, and compassionate, but you don’t have to forgive. You can still talk about it and seek public vindication.

Here is one last problem related to forgiveness that we deal with often as elders in Christ’s church. A husband or wife commits adultery, repents deeply, and then asks his or her spouse for forgiveness. In such a situation, the offended spouse must forgive the guilty partner. However, that spouse is not obligated to stay married to that partner. The Bible makes a provision for the dissolution of a marriage in the event of adultery. The person is required to treat the repentant person as a brother or sister in Christ but not as a spouse.

Another example is a man stealing from us fifty times in our office and repenting each time. We must forgive him, but we can ask for restitution. We don’t have to keep him in our employ, but we must still treat him as a brother in Christ. This situation is an important practical application of the concept of forgiveness. We can have forgiveness and restored relationships, but that does not necessarily mean there are no lasting consequences for our sin.

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

The Enlightenment

In this brief clip from his teaching series A Survey of Church History, W. Robert Godfrey examines how some sought to reconcile the Christian faith with modern thought.

Transcript

In 1695, for example, the great political thinker John Locke wrote a work entitled The Reasonableness of Christianity. In that, he was claiming to defend Christianity, but also to talk about how reason can lead us to many of the conclusions that Christianity comes to. Those reasonable parts of Christianity can unite us all on a political as well as a cultural level. He was responded to in the next year by John Toland, a deist who wrote a work in 1696 titled Christianity Not Mysterious. There, he was basically arguing that the really important part of Christianity is the part we could learn by reason without revelation, that we don't really need revelation, we don't really need the Bible, but Christianity in its principles is so humane and so reasonable that we can come to those principles largely on our own. What we see happening here is a movement away from biblical religion in the direction of a kind of humanism, a kind of appeal to humanity and increasingly moving towards the notion that man is the measure of all things, that it's human beings, without revelation from God, who can arrive at the fundamental ethics that need to bind us all together. There was continuing debate as to the value of the Bible. Some people said it's valuable but not necessary, or it's necessary to fill in some aspects of religion, but not necessary for the foundations of society. A whole new world of discourse is taking place, and it would lead on in the 18th century to a movement that has been known to history as the Enlightenment.

Can I Listen to Sermons Every Day Instead of Studying God’s Word?

Listening to sermons and podcasts should supplement our reading of Scripture, not replace it. From one of our Ask Ligonier events, H.B. Charles Jr. instructs all Christians, no matter how knowledgeable we are, to prioritize time in God’s Word.

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Is Jesus Knocking at the Heart of the Unbeliever?

We have all heard evangelists quote from Revelation: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). Usually the evangelist applies this text as an appeal to the unconverted, saying: "Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. If you open the door, then He will come in." In the original saying, however, Jesus directed His remarks to the church. It was not an evangelistic appeal.

So what? The point is that seeking is something that unbelievers do not do on their own. The unbeliever will not seek. The unbeliever will not knock. Seeking is the business of believers. Jonathan Edwards said, "The seeking of the Kingdom of God is the chief business of the Christian life." Seeking is the result of faith, not the cause of it.

When we are converted to Christ, we use language of discovery to express our conversion. We speak of finding Christ. We may have bumper stickers that read, "I Found It." These statements are indeed true. The irony is this: Once we have found Christ it is not the end of our seeking but the beginning. Usually, when we find what we are looking for, it signals the end of our searching. But when we "find" Christ, it is the beginning of our search.

The Christian life begins at conversion; it does not end where it begins. It grows; it moves from faith to faith, from grace to grace, from life to life. This movement of growth is prodded by continual seeking after God.

In your spiritual walk, are you moving from faith to faith, from grace to grace, from life to life? Are you continually seeking after God?

$5 Friday (And More): Providence, The Great Commission, Anxiety, & More

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Not Merely Out Of, But According To

God provides strength to His children in Christ, not merely "out of," but "according to" the power that is at work within them. In this brief clip, H.B. Charles Jr. considers Romans 8:9.

Transcript:

Romans 8:9, the (b) part of that verse says that whoever "does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him." But when you trust Christ for salvation, God the Holy Spirit immediately takes up residence and He lives within us to give us the strength we need to do God's will. And it's "according to" power. I like that. It's "according to," not just "out of," but it's "according to." Some celebrity goes into a restaurant and leaves a thousand-dollar tip, and it shows up on a tabloid blog site as something big. But it's no big thing for a millionaire to give a thousand-dollar tip "out of" his or her wealth. But there are billionaires who are dedicated to giving away half their wealth for education and medical research. They're not giving "out of" their riches. They're giving "according to" their riches. This is how God provides strength to His children in Christ: not merely "out of," but "according to" the power that is at work within us. I know it doesn't feel that way sometimes, right? And you say, "If this 'exceedingly abundantly above' power is work within me, I sure don't feel it," to which I say, "Good!" The promise here is not that you will feel strong. In fact, I suggest to you that it is a good thing when we feel weak. When we feel strong, we are prone to act as if we are self-sufficient. The weaker we feel, the more we lean on Him. Even when we don't feel strong, we have the assurance of God's words, that this power is still real and available and sufficient. One writer said, "It is as gentle as the development of the dewdrop, as imperceptible as the growth of a tree, but as lasting as the throne of God." Even when you don't feel it, this strength is available. Isn't that what Paul affirms in another place, in 2 Corinthians, when he received this thorn in the flesh? He prayed about it, because he concluded that he could not serve the Lord with this debilitating weakness, only to have God tell him, "My grace is sufficient for you," 2 Corinthians 12:9, "and My strength is perfected in your weakness."

Ask Ligonier: A New Podcast Providing Trustworthy Answers to Your Questions

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The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Here’s an excerpt from The Parable of the Dishonest Manager, David E. Briones' contribution to the February issue of Tabletalk:

Our parable begins with a “certain rich man” who has a “manager” or “steward” (Greek oikonomos; Luke 16:1). An oikonomos in the ancient world was a trusted servant who doled out the goods of his master to his clients and kept an honest record of those who owed his master. However, this steward is dishonest. His master receives an accusation that the steward is “wasting his possessions” (v. 1). Without hesitation, the master calls on him to submit his accounts. He’s fired. The steward immediately wonders what he will do. He’s too weak to dig and too proud to beg (v. 3). But then, initial panic gives way to wisdom. He approaches all his master’s debtors, asks them what they owe, and then tells them to rewrite their contracts.

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