Self-deception about Sin is a Narcotic

In his brief theology of sin, Not The Way It's Supposed To Be, Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. states that his goal is to renew our knowledge of the persistent reality of sin "that used to evoke in us fear, hatred, and grief."
Fear.
Hatred.
Grief.
Do these words describe your reaction to sin?
They should.

Plantinga goes on to lament and warn us:

Many of us have lost this knowledge, and we ought to regret the loss. For slippage in our consciousness of sin, like most fashionable follies, may be pleasant, but it is also devastating. Self-deception about our sin is a narcotic, a tranquilizing and disorienting suppression of our spiritual central nervous system. What's devastating about it is that when we lack an ear for wrong notes in our lives, we cannot play right ones or even recognize them in the performances of others. Eventually we make ourselves religiously so unmusical that we miss both the exposition and recapitulation of the main themes God plays in human life. The music of creation and the still greater music of grace whistle right through our skulls, causing no catch of breath and leaving no residue. Moral beauty begins to bore us. The idea that the human race needs a Saviour sounds quaint.
(Page xiii, emphasis added)

I often remind myself of the two theological pillars that hold up my worldview:
1) The holiness of God, and
2) The sinfulness of man.

In our Bibles we see both. And they feed off of one another.
The more holy I see my God, the more sinful I see myself.
The more sinful I see myself, the more gracious I see my God.
As the chasm grows wider between my sinful self and my holy God, the need for grace grows greater.
And grace is greater, because Christ is greater. Grace is great, because it comes through Christ.

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Romans 5:20-21 ESV, emphasis added)

So, do we need to heed Plantinga's warning and overcome the self-deception about sin? Must we really train our ears to hear the wrong notes (sin) in our lives? Absolutely. Perhaps the puritan Thomas Watson could sum it up best, "'Til sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet."

These are my Favorite Verses

A repost in memory of Mamaw, who went to Heaven 2 years ago today. On a cool Tuesday morning almost thirteen years ago, I received this envelope in my post office box in Guy, Arkansas. 

The postmark reads October 14, 1997 as best I can tell.  Thirteen years. Our 3rd child, Anna, would be born 7 years later, to the day.

The letter was from my Mamaw.  It wasn't a surprise to me, in fact I had requested it from her not long before receiving it.  She had asked me at some point if I would preach her funeral service when she died.  I agreed to the great privilege and asked her to share with me any favorite Bible verses.  She sent this letter to fulfill my request.

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;  my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

[2] Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
John [11]:25
Jesus wept.


If Jesus wept when he was sad; then it's ok for any one to cry, when you are sad.


Last:
To my children and grandchildren; I ask you to remember one of the commandments; that you love one another as I have always loved you. [John 13:34]


Aaron you can add to or take off any of this you want to.  These are my favorite verses.  Maybe you know some that would be more [appropriate] to say.
Just don't leave off the last.


Love you
Mamaw

Well, Mamaw wasn't a Bible scholar, but she couldn't have chosen a better selection of passages than she did.  She went to Heaven last Tuesday, May 25.  She had requested a graveside service only and of course, I honored her other request by preaching during the service.  I was able to mention every one of these verses as well as preach through much of Psalm 23.  Click here to read my sermon notes.  These notes contain more than an outline, but they're not quite a manuscript.
What the letter above says to me more than anything is that Mamaw was a woman who was prepared - in more ways than one - to die.  Her soul was right with God, her sins were forgiven, her home was Heaven, and she was ready.  For the past several years on many occasions as we would talk on the phone, Heaven would become the conversation topic.
Now she's there.  Now she's well.  Now she is resting... in peace.
Now these verses have become a glorious reality as she enjoys the presence of her King.

Other posts about Mamaw here.

Genesis Three: The Seed-Plot of the Bible

There is a trend today - even among otherwise solid evangelicals - to deny the literal interpretation of the Genesis account of creation, even to deny a historical Adam and Eve. Kevin DeYoung has some good thoughts on this slippery slope here. If we begin to question (though we may not outright deny) the very first chapters of our Bible, we immediately have some very big problems on our hands. Pastor John MacArthur rightly warns us, "If Genesis 1-3 doesn't tell us the truth, why should we believe anything else in the Bible?.. how can we be certain about anything else the Bible says?" (The Battle for the Beginning, Page 29.)
So, are there any important theological truths in these first pages of Holy Scripture? I'd say so; particularly in Genesis chapter three.

The third chapter in Genesis is one of the most important in all the Word of God. What has often been said of Genesis as a whole is peculiarly true of this chapter: it is the "seed-plot of the Bible." Here are the foundations upon which rest many of the cardinal doctrines of our faith. Here we trace back to their source many of the rivers of divine truth. Here commences the great drama which is being enacted on the stage of human history, and which well-nigh six thousand years has not yet completed.

• Here we find the Divine explanation of the present fallen and ruined condition of our race. 
• Here we learn of the subtle devices of our enemy, the Devil. 
• Here we behold the utter powerlessness of man to walk in the path of righteousness when divine grace is withheld from him. 
• Here we discover the spiritual effects of sin- man seeking to flee from God. 
• Here we discern the attitude of God toward the guilty sinner. 
• Here we mark the universal tendency of human nature to cover its own moral shame by a device of man's own handiwork. 
• Here we are taught of the gracious provision which God has made to meet our great need. 
• Here begins that marvelous stream of prophecy which runs all through the Holy Scriptures. 
• Here we learn that man cannot approach God except through a mediator.

A.W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis (Emphasis added)
Purchase at Amazon here.

Whence Comes This Wickedness to Man?

Excerpt from The Battle for the Beginning, by John MacArthur:

Philosophers struggle to explain the origin of evil. One thing is certain: God is not its author, creator, or efficient cause. Everything He created was good. Evil was no part of His creation.

Who then created evil? No one. Evil is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. It is not a created thing. It is simply a want of moral perfection in moral agents who were originally created sinless. Evil has no existence apart from fallen creatures.

How could creatures made sinless fall into sin? John Calvin dealt with that very question:

Fruit Follows Faith

I always appreciate help in further understanding the relationship between faith and works. The Scriptures are clear that we are not saved BY our good works (Ephesians 2:8-9) but they are just as clear that we are saved UNTO good works (Ephesians 2:10).
While discussing the need for practical preaching - i.e., that both doctrine and duty should be preached - Charles Bridges, in his book, The Christian Ministry, argues that preaching doctrine doesn't deny one's practical obligations to that doctrine. He uses an argument from Bishop George Horne:

How we can be said to deny the existence of moral duties, because we preach faith, the root from whence they spring, I know not; unless he that plants a vine, does by that action deny the existence of grapes. The fruit receives its goodness from the tree, not the tree from the fruit, which does not make the tree good, but shows it to be so. So works receive all their goodness from faith, not faith from works; which do not themselves justify, but show a prior justification of the soul that produces them.
(p. 267)

Here's how I've outlined Hornes' thoughts:

The accusation:
We deny the necessity of works (fruit) because we preach faith.

The argument:
If you plant a vine, do you deny the existence of grapes?

The analogy:
Fruit receives its goodness from the tree (not the tree from the fruit).
Fruit does not make the tree good, but rather shows that the tree is good.

The answer:
Likewise, good works receive their goodness from faith (not faith by works)
Good works do not justify a man, but rather show that a man is already justified.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV, emphasis added)

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
(James 2:18 ESV, emphasis added)