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January 28 - February 19, 2019
What God gave to Israel for life became for them a catalyst of condemnation and death.
The stone not only represents the immutable nature of the law, but it also represents the nature of the hearts to which God gave it.
Though it was given to all of them, it was never in many of them.
This is why the prophet Ezekiel looked forward to the day when the Holy Spirit would replace these unmovable hearts of stone with hearts of responsive flesh.
What God promised through the new covenant is now a living reality in the true church of Jesus Christ.
It is unsound hermeneutically and extremely dangerous to use the almost constant rebellion of Israel to justify the near constant rebellion of the so-called carnal Christian and the professing church.
The rampant rebellion in much of Western evangelicalism is not because the new covenant is no better than the old is or because it shares some of the same weaknesses. On the contrary, apathy, materialism, and rebellion have occurred because many who profess Christ are not really of Christ, and much of what is called the church is not the true, living church at all.
“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deut. 5:29).
To make a people for Himself out of a fallen and morally corrupt humanity would require nothing short of a miracle equal to the creation of the universe.
Their unity is not in having the same blood as Abraham but in possessing the same faith; they believe God’s testimony regarding His Son, and it is reckoned to them as righteousness.
They are a new people who desire God and delight in His law, not because they come from better stock than the nation of Israel but because the Holy Spirit has recreated them.
Self-proclaimed prophets rail at the church for her supposed abominations and call her everything from Sodom and Gomorra to a wayward prostitute. However, all their accusations are simply not true. They are the result of a singular theological error: they do not have a biblical understanding of the church. Therefore, they accuse the true church for the atrocities committed by those who identify themselves with the church but have no part with her or her Savior.
A person’s confession of faith in Christ is proven false by his misdeeds.18 The same is true of an ecclesiastical organization’s claim to be the true church. As Jesus declared, “A tree is known by its fruit” (Matt. 12:33).
The Old Testament references to the new covenant clearly promise that God would make for Himself a devout people from Jew and Gentile alike, a people who would reverence Him and walk in obedience.
Even though they may profess some allegiance to Christ, they are not Christian in their doctrine, ethics, or manner of living. Therefore, to assume that they represent the church is absurd, and to draw conclusions about the church based upon their opinions and practices is equally absurd.
Often a type of immorality exists within the so-called church that does not exist even among unbelievers; there are disgraceful things of which we cannot even speak without contaminating ourselves.20 However, these things are not the common practice of the true bride of Christ but are the deeds of wolves in sheep’s clothing and of tares that grow together with the wheat.
However, no one should use such hard language against the true church, the bride of Christ.
Though we must tell her of her sin, we must never forget whom we are addressing and to whom she belongs.
First, the vast number of carnal people who identify themselves with the church is the result of the unbiblical gospel preached from most evangelical pulpits. As has been stated throughout this book, we have taken the gospel of Jesus Christ and reduced it to a few creedal statements that a person is called to accept.
We rarely mention the radical depravity of man and the heinous nature of his sin or expound it to wound the conscience. We have replaced the call to repentance and faith with the repetition of a prayer.
just wow! May the LORD have mercy!
vast number of carnal people who identify with the church comes from our low view of conversion. The understanding of regeneration has nearly been lost, and the term born again has come to mean “making a decision for Christ” and “praying the sinner’s prayer.” Furthermore, many believe that a person can be truly born again and yet live his entire life in worldliness.
Preachers rarely proclaim the apostolic message that demanded that people “should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20).
The strength of their message was founded upon their belief that the gospel was the power of God not only to deliver a person from the condemnation of sin, but also from its dominion.
The same must occur today if we are ever to see revival and reformation.
In Whitefield’s day, carnal people found assurance in their baptism and confirmation. In our day, the same kind of carnal people find their assurance in the apparent sincerity of a decision they once made and a prayer they once prayed.
The erroneous, but prevailing theory of the day is that church must look as much like the world as possible in order to be relevant and reach people for Christ. Thus, we change our look, our services, and our focus. We become interested in things that interest carnal people so that they will become interested in us. This is a grave error.
The most common argument used against church discipline is that it is unloving and judgmental. In rebuttal, we merely need to point to the teachings of our Lord, who commanded such a practice. If we are unloving in obeying the command, was He unloving in giving it?
We must submit to the lordship of Christ and care for the church in accordance with His Word.
God has ordained to create for Himself a people that will claim Him as their God.
every living member of His covenant community would have a real, intimate knowledge of His person and will, from the most uneducated in the most primitive tribe to the greatest scholars and churchmen of history.
A PRACTICAL APPLICATION
This real, personal knowledge of God and His will is a distinguishing mark of the true church and will be an ongoing reality in the life of every true believer.
We forget that Christ says that His sheep hear His voice, and they follow Him.
Therefore, it is more biblical to suppose that many of those who profess Christ within the evangelical community are not true sheep.
Although all Christians stand in need of discipleship, and the work of sanctification is never fully accomplished in this life, there will be a notable difference in the true Christian’s knowledge of God and his submission to that knowledge.
They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. —Jeremiah 32:38–39
By His sovereign grace, He has separated them from the rest of humanity and made them His treasured possession.
we must realize that much of the so-called division in Christianity is the result of the often forgotten truth that not every person who professes Christ is truly Christian, and not every religious organization that calls itself a church is truly a church.
If there is not, then their very profession of faith should be called into question.
and yet we must be careful to recognize that God is at work in the matter.
God uses these false prophets to draw out the unbelieving and unregenerate from among His people so that their poison might not spring up and defile many.
What a stunning thought
is not surprising that first-century Christians and their enemies commonly called Christianity “the Way.”
Jesus Christ is not only our Savior, but He is also our example.
We are not only to believe in Him, but we are also to follow Him, imitate Him, and be conformed to Him in thought, word, and deed.39 For this reason, the apostle John writes, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6).
If a person’s beliefs and manner of living contrast with what is true in varying degrees of all genuine Christians, then he should be concerned and question whether he is in the faith.
It is clear that the fear of the Lord is not a common virtue among many professing evangelicals or evangelical churches. Its scarcity is a warning sign that all is not well.
The absence of the fear of the Lord is often a sign that the people remain in an unregenerate or unconverted state.
fact, one of the great evidences that a person is truly a Christian will be the spiritual good that flows from him to those around him, especially those closest to him, such as a spouse or children. The same may be said of the collective church.
We have learned of three vital characteristics of God’s new covenant people: first, those who are truly Christians will possess one heart and unite in their affections for God and for one another. Second, they will possess one way or a singularity of purpose and conduct: they will be followers of Jesus Christ. Third, they will be marked by a genuine fear of the Lord, which will result in their own blessing and the blessing of those after them.
However, the most frightening thing about many of the individuals and churches that identify with evangelicalism is not that they struggle against sin, but that they do not struggle at all.
