What is our conception of God? Where do we get our conception of God from? These are important questions to ask yourself because too often we end up with a conception about God that is based on our own psychological history. It is not uncommon for people to form beliefs about God based on their relationship to their earthly fathers. Maybe your father was distant. This would incline you to think that God is a distant being. Maybe your father was harsh and demanding. This would incline you to think that God is harsh and legalistic. Your relationship to your father does in fact influence how you think about God.

This should be no surprise. God has set the world up in this way and this shows the importance of being a good father. But of course we live in a fallen world and fathers are not perfect. This is one of the reasons God gave us his Word. He gave it to us to correct our false beliefs about Him that we may have inherited from our upbringing. Pastoral counseling so often consists of clearing up false beliefs about God that so frequently are rooted in the counselees experience with his or her father. One frequent area is in the assurance of God’s favor towards the counselee.

Since the Reformation, numerous book shave been written that deal with this issue of assurance. One such book I have been reading is called The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes. I recently came across a wonderful quote that I wanted to share with you. He writes, There are those who go on in all courses of life on this pretence, that it would be useless to go to Christ, because their lives have been so bad; whereas, as soon as we look to heaven, all encouragements are ready to meet us and draw us forward. Among others, this is one allurement, that Christ is ready to welcome us and lead us further. None are damned in the church but those that are determined to be, including those who persist in having hard thoughts of Christ, that they may have some show of reason to fetch contentment from other things, as that unprofitable servant (Matt. 25:30) who would needs take up the opinion that his master was a hard man, thereby to flatter himself in his unfruitful ways, in not improving the talent which he had.

— Michael Preciado

Last week I made the point that we are not to live our lives by trying to peer into the secret will of God. Instead we are to live by the revealed will of God found in the Bible. Yet I also pointed out that the Bible does not directly address every situation of life. This means that we must live by wisdom in those cases. David R. Jackson has a help section on wisdom in his Book Crying Out for Vindication: The Gospel According to Job. Below is a quote from this book.

“Wisdom is the skill of godly living. It is the product of training in godliness. The Bible compares this to the training of a tradesman (Ex. 31:1-11; 1 Cor. 3:9-10), the master craftsman. The writer of Proverbs noted (22:29), “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.” Wisdom is about being able to do things at a high level of sophistication. Whereas knowledge lays the basis for wisdom, wisdom is happening when knowledge is applied without having to think about it. It is like the difference between merely knowing what to do to drive a car, and actually being able to drive through city traffic without being aware of the process of driving. It has become second nature.

Wisdom is knowledge plus practice across a range of experience. Jesus is presented to us in the New Testament as the personification of wisdom, not only in his innocence but particularly in his ability to handle his enemies. Presented with impossible choices, Jesus turns the tables on his opponents and hangs them on the horns of their own arguments (Matt.
22:15-33; Mark 12:1-12). Those who attempted to ambush Jesus found themselves ambushed and that publicly…

The speed and smoothness of Jesus’ repartee was not just for his amusement. Those who follow him are rightly called “disciples.” Today the word for “disciple” carries religious connotations. The word we translate as “disciple” was simply an ordinary term for “student” or an “apprentice.” Jesus’ disciples were there to learn his skills because he came to end our ignorance and foolishness and give us back the wisdom Adam lost.”

—Michael Preciado

What is God’s will for your life? Many people have anxiety about discovering God’s will for their life because this idea is fraught with ambiguity. What does it mean to “find God’s will for your life?” What is God’s will? The Bible makes an important distinction with regard to God’s will. “The secret things belong to the LORD our
God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deu 29:29).

Based on texts like this, theologians have distinguished between the “hidden will” of God and the “revealed will” of God. The “hidden will” of God includes His decree concerning whatsoever comes to pass. From creation, to the end of the world and on into eternity, God planned everything. That plan is so vast and complex that the human mind cannot comprehend it. The “revealed will” of God is what God has told us to do in the Bible. It includes everything God wants us to know concerning His will.

So what is God’s will for your life? If you are asking with regard to God’s “hidden will” the answer is “you won’t know until it happens.” If you are asking with regard to His “revealed will” the answer is “do what the Bible says.” In other words, you should not concern yourself with God’s “hidden will” but only with His “revealed will.” In fact, the text we just read commands us not to concern ourselves with His “hidden will.” That is for God.

His “revealed will” is for us. If you want to know God’s will for your life, you must look for it in the Bible. But you may object, “The Bible doesn’t answer every question in my life.” Who am I to marry? What job am I to take? Etc. Philip Cary in his book Good news for Anxious Christians answers this question, “there is only wisdom, the heart’s intelligent skill of discerning good decisions from bad one. This is a skill, not a method—not a formula you can apply to particular situations simply by following the rules, but a habit of the heart you have to develop through long experience of your own, which includes making mistakes from time to time. The concept of wisdom is what every method for “finding God’s will” leaves out of the decision making process. It’s left out precisely because the project of “finding God’s will” is an attempt to guarantee you won’t make a mistake. All such guarantees are falsehoods, attempts to short-circuit the hard work of acquiring wisdom.” Wisdom helps you answer the questions the bible does not directly address.

—-Michael Preciado

Many in our day think that they are victims of their circumstances. Things just happen to them and they have no control. This is often applied to our emotional life. You may have heard it said that we cannot help the way we feel. We just find ourselves with the attitudes and thoughts that we have. The Apostle James takes great issue with this. Listen to what he says,
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:1-3). The word “count” in Greek means “to think, regard, consider.” This verb is in the imperative which means that it is a command. James is commanding us to think about our trials in a certain way. We are to “count” or “regard” them as joy. This means that James believes we can control our emotions and attitudes. How are we to do this? He gives us two reasons in these verses. First, by having an eternal perspective. In verse 1 he compares Christians to Israel in the dispersion. At the time of the dispersion, the Israelites were away from the Promised Land. The Promised Land was typological of heaven. Thus when James addresses Christians with the words “to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion,” he is saying that we, like Israel are sojourning in a foreign land.
We are not yet living in the land of heaven, but we are making our way there. Realizing this enables us to “count it all joy” because we know that this life is temporary and our eternal reward in heaven is far greater than the sufferings of this life. Yet we must discipline ourselves to interpret our trials through this perspective. Doing so enables us to “count it all joy.”
Another reason we can “count it all joy” is because God has a purpose in the trials of our lives. James says this in verse 3, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” God has a reason for everything that happens in this world. He has a reason for why you are suffering and he has a reason for why you are not suffering. Having a view to God’s providence is another way in which we can “count it all joy” in the midst of adversity. God often times does not tell us the exact reason why we are suffering, but he does give us a
general reason right here. It is to produce steadfastness in us. The word translated “steadfastness” means “endurance” or “perseverance.” Realizing that God has a purpose to our trials enables us to “count it all joy.”

—Michael Precaido

I have heard that Nelson Rockefeller was once asked, “How much money does it take to make a person happy?” His response was, “just a little bit more.” This captures the predicament of the fallen human heart. We are tempted to think that we will be content with just a little bit more than what we have. Of course there is nothing wrong with wanting more. What is wrong is
thinking that your circumstances “having more” is what makes you content. The Apostle Paul knew better and he instructs us to know better as well. He writes in Philippians 4:10-13, 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

There are four things to learn about contentment in this passage. First, contentment is attainable. It is not true that you have to walk around this world without a contented heart. Paul says that it is attainable, but not in a passive manner. You can’t just sit around and wait for it to happen to you. Instead, you must learn contentment. This is the second thing to learn from this passage. Notice that Paul says that he has learned in whatever situation he was in to be content (v.11). The fact that he learned it meant that he wasn’t passively waiting around
for it to happen to him. The third thing to learn from this passage is that contentment is not dependent upon circumstances. In verse 12, Paul says that he knows how to be content “in any and every circumstance.” Fourth, contentment is learned in dependence upon God in Jesus Christ. In verse 13 Paul says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This verse is often quoted out of context as if it meant that you could win a sporting event or a business deal through God who strengthens you. However, the context is speaking about the art of learning contentment. It shows us that contentment is only learned through a relationship to God in Jesus Christ. It is through the communication of the life of Christ (through the Word and sacraments) that the human soul is vivified and strengthened to contentment.

—Michael Preciado

This week we have the privilege of witnessing the ordination of a deacon to office. A few words about the nature of this office are in order. Our Book of Church Order (BCO) describes a deacon as follows “The office is one of sympathy and service…” This office is also an example of how everyone in the congregation is called to behave. The BCO says “it expresses also the communion of saints, especially in their helping one another in time of need.” Though the official office of deacon is for men of particular qualifications (1 Tim. 3:8-13), all Christians are to follow the example of sympathy and service.

The word “deacon” in Greek actually means “servant.” Thus the BCO captures the essence of the office with the words “sympathy and service.” The word “sympathy” is important also. The deacon is not to serve in just any manner, but he is to serve with sympathy. In other words, the deacon is to manifest a generous and merciful spirit. They are to model the generosity of Christ and develop this in the congregation, “It is their duty to develop the grace of liberality in the members of the church” (BCO 9-2).

These points in the BCO are helpful for the congregation to guide them in determining who is qualified for this office and who is qualified to remain in this office. After all, the congregation is to freely elect these people (Act 6:5). Therefore the congregation is to hold the deacons accountable to the standard of generosity. What does it mean to be generous or sympathetic? It basically means to model the love of Christ. The love of Christ is clearly spelled out for us in God’s Law. Paul says, 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal 5:14)

Paul is saying that love or sympathy or generosity is defined for us by the commandments found in God’s law. This means that when a deacon (and by extension all Christians) makes a decision, it should always be based on the Scriptures. If a deacon finds himself without a sound Biblical argument in support of a decision, he is to refrain from that decision and seek Biblical counsel from the elders, particularly the pastor. This is why the BCO says that “the pastor shall be an advisory member” of the deacon board (BCO 9-4). All of this is to say that the
deacon is to model the humility of Christ, “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,” (Mat 20:26-28).

—-Michael Preciado

“You must understand the bad news before you can understand the good news.” This statement is important to come to grips with if we are going to appreciate our need for the Gospel. Our culture has uncritically adopted the belief that man is basically good. We hear this expressed in various ways. “He has a good heart” is a common expression or “he means well” is another. The assumption is that even though something bad was done, it did not spring from evil motives because man is basically good. Another way our culture expresses this belief
is when we assign external causes to bad behavior. This was expressed nicely in the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

Consider the following scene “What possible reason could I have for cooperating with you?” asked Lecter. “Curiosity,” says Officer Starling. “About what?” “About why you’re here. About what happened to you.” “Nothing happened to me, Officer Starling. I happened. You can’t reduce me to a set of influences. You’ve given up good and evil for behaviorism, Officer Starling…Nothing is ever anybody’s fault. Look at me, officer starling. Can you say I’m evil? Am I evil, Officer Starling?” This fictitious exchange exposes our cultures problem. We have rejected the doctrine of original sin. When people engage in bad behavior the root cause is not the inherited guilt and corruption of fallen Adam, but some other reason. We do everything to avoid concluding that we are sinful. Yet the Bible teaches that we are not basically good.

The Apostle Paul writes, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 ”Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14″Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15″Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16in their paths are ruin and misery, 17and the way of peace they have not known.” 18″There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom 3:10-18) This is not a description limited to the murderous Hannibal Lecter types. It is a description of every human being. Man has a sinful nature and until this is understood, the Gospel will make no sense. If man is basically good, then what need do we have for a savior? If man has a sinful nature from which sinful thoughts, feelings and actions come forth, then we obviously do need a savior. We may not be as bad as a Hitler or some other villain. We will always come out looking good when we compare ourselves with others. But God doesn’t compare us with others. He compares us with His holy Law. Only in this light will we see our need for the Gospel. But of course our culture would never allow an honest comparison with God’s law. Hopefully you will.

—Michael Preciad

The phrase “the humiliation of Christ” refers to the fact that Jesus lowered himself to be our savior. On Christmas we celebrate one aspect of his humiliation of Christ, namely his conception and birth. The Westminster Larger Catechism covers this topic in question and answer 47. It asks “How did Christ humble himself in his conception and birth?” The answer is that “Christ humbled himself in his conception and birth, in that, being from all eternity the Son of God, in the bosom of the Father, he was pleased in the fullness of time to become the son of man, made of a woman of low estate, and to be born of her; with divers circumstances of more ordinary abasement.” There are three truths here for us to ponder during this Christmas season.

The first is that Christ, who became man, was from all eternity the Son of God. The Gospel of John teaches this in chapter 1:1,14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The second is that Christ, in the fullness of time, became man and was born as an infant. Paul writes in Galatians 4:4, “ 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law”

The third is that our savior was born of a woman of low estate, and with circumstances of more than ordinary abasement. We see this taught in Luke 2:1-7, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. This is what we celebrate on Christmas. Merry Christmas!

—Michael Preciad

The Bible uses many images to communicate the relationship Christ has to His church. One of them is that of a bride and his bridegroom. In his book Good News for Anxious Christians: 10 Practical Things You Don’t Have to Do, Philip Cary uses this image to describe the importance of preaching Christ for living the Christian life. He writes,“Think of it this way; we who believe in Christ belong to him like a bride waiting for her bridegroom. He is on his way to us, and our whole life is a preparation for his arrival. And we want to be a good bride, pleasing him in everything we do. So what can we hear that will help prepare us for his coming? You could give us sermons about how to be a good bride, but that gets tedious very quickly. This
is not because we don’t want to be a good bride, but because we don’t want to hear about ourselves all the time—we’d rather hear about our beloved!

And here is the secret most pastors don’t get: the best way to help this bride get prepared for her Beloved is precisely to tell her about the Beloved, not herself. If you take up her time telling her how to be a good bride, she’ll get bored and fidgety, or maybe anxious, wondering “Am I really good enough for him?” But if you tell her about her Beloved, his beauty and glory, the result is quite different. You raise her hopes and inflame her desires, and her love for him is renewed.

Love feeds on news of the Beloved. That’s how to reach people’s hearts. What really helps us live the Christian life is to learn about Jesus Christ, hear what he has done, and be reminded of his coming again. Above all, what we want is to know him, to understand who he is, to learn how he has come from the father and sends us his Spirit. This is love, after all: it’s about our Beloved, not about us. And that’s the first and most important thing our Bridegroom wants from us: that we love God with our whole heart and mind and soul and strength. That’s
why it’s the preaching of the gospel, telling the story of Christ the beloved Son of God, that really changes us in the depths of our hearts.”

—Michael Preciado

Christmas is a time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a celebration of the incarnation. In the incarnation, the person of God the Son took to himself a complete human nature. The Church at the council of Chalcedon (451 AD) expressed the incarnation with the formula that Jesus is one person with two natures. He had a complete Divine nature which made Him equal to the other two persons of the Trinity and he had a complete human nature which made him just as human as we are. His person comes from being God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. The unity of the two natures is found in the person of the Son. The Son unites the divine nature and the human nature.

This is basic Chalcedonian and Reformed Christology. But the Chalcedonian Creed uses a word with regard to Mary that makes some Christians uncomfortable. It is the word ‘Theotokos’ or ‘Mother of God.’ Many Protestants consider Mary being called the Mother of God to be heresy, but the irony is that the word was used to defend orthodoxy. By the use of this word, the church sought to defend orthodoxy against the heresy of Nestorianism. Nestorianism was the idea that the two natures of Christ were in fact two persons. Nestorius objected to the title ‘Mother of God’ applied to Mary and wanted to use the title ‘Christ bearer’ instead. He wanted to communicate that Mary was only the bearer of the human nature of Christ.

The Church rightly rejected this as heresy because it separated the two natures of Christ. As a defense of orthodoxy, the Church called Mary the ‘Mother of God’ not because they believed that Mary created God the Son, or because they believed that Mary should be worshiped, but because they believed that in the incarnation, God the Son united himself to a human nature. In the incarnation, the human nature of Christ was not separated from the Divine person of the Son. To say that Mary only bore the human nature of Christ was to separate the Divine person from the human nature. So, by the title ‘Mother of God’ the church taught that there was no separation of the human nature from the Divine person. Mary, in fact carried the Divine person of the Son of God in her womb. And yet that Divine person of the Son was present everywhere. This is a great mystery, but to not acknowledge Mary as the Mother of God is to separate the Divine person from the human nature. Protestants should not be afraid to call Mary the Mother of God because it teaches us the fullness and wonder of the incarnation.

—Michael Preciado

One of my all time favorite books was written by a man named Jeremiah Burroughs. The book is called The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. As you can guess, it is a book about contentment. How do we Christians become content? This is certainly a lost art. I rarely hear this topic discussed and yet the Apostle Paul sets this up as an example to all of us in Philippians 4:11 “I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.” There are two lessons to be learned from this passage (1) contentment is possible regardless of your circumstances. . . “in whatever state.” (2) Contentment is learned. It does not just happen to you, you need to put forth effort (in the power of the Holy Spirit of course, but effort nonetheless).

So how do we learn contentment in whatever state we are in? Well that’s what the 228 pages of the book explain. Obviously I can’t go into all the contents of the book here, but I do want to share a lesson I have learned (and struggle to implement) in my life. Often times, when we are discontent, it is because we are thinking about our particular situation in a certain way. We are dissatisfied with our situation in life and wish we could change it. In fact, if we were honest, we are really telling God he is doing something wrong! What we have done is interpret our situation in a negative light towards God. Now Burroughs has a great remedy for this. Here is what he says

I beseech you to observe this. . .Make a good interpretation of God’s ways towards you. If any good interpretation can be made of God’s ways towards you, make it. You think it much if you have a friend who always makes bad interpretations of your ways towards him; you would take that badly. . . Thus, when affliction befalls you, many good senses may be made of God’s works towards you. You should think thus. . .

Burroughs then goes on to give examples of good interpretations of God’s ways towards us. The point is, our discontent has a lot to do with how we interpret our circumstances. The life of faith, resting on the Word of God, will recognize that God is good and our interpretations of His actions towards us should be seen in that light. Part of our sanctification has to do with viewing our circumstances through the Word of God. Let me encourage you to view them in the way Burroughs would have us. Make a good interpretation!

—Michael Preciado

After Thanksgiving we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Many Christian traditions call this period of time “Advent.” This period begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The word “Advent” means “coming” or “arrival.” It is a reference to the coming of Israel’s long awaited Messiah, Jesus Christ. This Messiah would bring the kingdom of God and save his people from their sins. This Advent period calls our attention to the first advent or coming of Jesus. The beginning point of that advent is the incarnation.
The incarnation refers to the fact that the second person of the Holy Trinity (God the Son), took to himself a fully human nature.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this clearly in Philippians 2:6-8 “6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” The first advent of Jesus began when he united himself to human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. We often speak of the virgin birth (which is good), but we should also consider that it was a virgin conception. What we celebrate at Christmas is the birth of the eternal Son of God united to a fully human nature.

But it is important to remember that this is only the beginning of the first advent. As the Scriptures say, Jesus will grow from infancy to adulthood. Over the course of this time he will perfectly obey God’s law and earn a righteous status for those who have faith in him. He will end his first advent by dying on the cross and rising from the dead, thus paying the penalty for the sins of those that trust in him. After his resurrection he ascends into heaven in order to sit at the right hand of the Father on his heavenly throne. From here he has been gathering his elect across the globe throughout the centuries.

Once the full number of the elect are gathered, he will get off of his throne and begin his second advent. Yet this Second Advent will be in judgment. In his First Advent he began as a helpless baby in order to grow up and make his way to the cross as a victim. In his Second Advent he will return to judge the world as a victor.

—Michael Preciado

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:8-10).

One important question that all Christians deal with concerns the relationship between faith and works. In the above passage, the Apostle Paul very clearly teaches us that we are saved or made right with God by grace through faith. Our works have nothing to do with being saved. This is why he emphatically says “this is not your own doing” and it is “not a result of works.” That is very clear. But notice what Paul goes on to say in verse 10 “we are created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Good works must be a part of the Christian’s life. How do we clearly state the relationship between faith and works?

The Protestant Reformation taught us that we are saved or justified by faith alone. But the faith that saves is never alone. Genuine saving faith is not a mere professed faith. Instead genuine saving faith is necessarily accompanied by good works. Now those good works are not perfect but they are present. When God saves us by grace, he also changes our hearts so that we have desires to serve Him and do his will. Those desires are also never perfect, but they are present.

The desires of the new heart want to please God by studying His Word, coming to church and worshiping Him, fellowshipping with other Christians and obeying the other commandments that God has given. What happens when a person professes faith but does not have any of these desires? James tells us that that person does not have genuine faith. 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (Jam 2:17). James is not saying that you are saved by any of your works, but he is saying that if you have genuine faith you will have desires to please God and actions (however imperfect) of obedience. So the relationship between faith and works is as follows: faith alone makes you and keeps you right with God, yet that faith is necessarily accompanied by new desires to obey God however flawed those desires are.

—Michael Preciado

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning‟ (Psalm 30:5). These are some wonderfully comforting words from the Holy Scriptures. One of our great Bible teachers, John Calvin, has some interesting comments on what this means. He writes,
The psalmist does not simply mean that affliction would be only for one night, but if the darkness of adversity should fall upon the people of God, as it were, in the evening, or at the setting of the sun, light would soon arise upon them to comfort their sorrow stricken spirits. David’s instruction amounts to this: If we were not too headstrong, we would acknowledge that the Lord, even when he appears to overwhelm us for a time with the darkness of affliction, always—in his own time—ministers matter for joy, just as the morning arises after the night.

Paul also exhorts Christians to “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil.4:4). Even in the darkness of adversity we are to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoicing does not mean wearing a smile always, or singing, upon awakening, “O what a beautiful morning!” Joy is a quiet gladness of heart as one contemplates the goodness of God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ. It is a joy that comes from faith (Phil.1:25) and it is given by the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).

It follows from this that true joy is only had by believers. Only the Christian, who is familiar with Christ and his Word, can know how to interpret adversity correctly. Apart from a Biblical world view, adversity has no apparent purpose, no rational reason and leads to despair. The life of faith is the life that believes in Jesus Christ and struggles to interpret all of life through what Jesus has declared in the Bible.

—Michael Preciado

Commenting on 1 Peter 1:22 “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart” — Edmund Clowney wrote these words: “Love and truth, so often set at odds in contemporary Christianity, are bound together by Peter. Clearly, Peter requires love for fellow Christians as the great mark of true holiness. He is not satisfied with tolerance or acceptance, far less with formalized distance. He will have love, sincere love, without pretence or hypocrisy. (In the New Testament, “unhypocritical” always describes love.) But even sincerity is not enough: our love must be “deep” and intense. Peter uses a word that means “stretched” or “strained”. The same term describes the earnestness of Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane.

The deep, heartfelt love that Peter urges is in no way artificial. It is the brotherly love that unites the family of God. Paul says to the church of Thessalonica, “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.” How can such love be commanded? Peter writes to people divided by the jealousies and hatreds of their past; some where Jews, some Gentiles. To blind them in family love Peter directs them to the one source. The love that binds the redeemed flows from the love of the Redeemer. Christian love is the love of grace, the love of compassion. For such love to appear, the pride and selfishness of our alienation from God must be swept away. They must be replaced by a heart made new with the motives of grace. Peter shows how both needs are to be met. It is the word of God, the good news of the gospel, that is the means both of our new birth and of our nurture in holiness. Because God’s love is the source of ours, the message of his love is what kindles ours.

Christian love may be demonstrated by a hug, a holy kiss, or a helping hand, but Christian love cannot be transmitted that way. Christian love is born as Christians are born: through the truth of the gospel. That which clears away the malice… deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of the old lifestyle is the cleansing of our souls through obedience to God’s truth. Peter addresses those who already know that cleansing; they experience true brotherly love because they have purified themselves by obeying the truth” (1:22) He exhorts them to deepen and strengthen a love they already have. In the same way, Paul urges the Thessalonians to love “more and more” as God has taught them.” –Eric Pilson

The last Sunday of October is celebrated as Reformation Day. On this day we look back and remember that great movement of God where he reformed his church. What was the Reformation about? At the heart of the Reformation were two key principles, often called the formal and material principles of the Reformation. The formal principle is called Sola Scriptura or Scripture Alone. The material principle is called Sola Fide or Faith Alone. In contemporary Protestant churches, these two principles are either forgotten or ignored. Yet these two principles define the basic parameters of Protestantism. It would be helpful for us to refresh our memories.

What do we mean by Sola Scriptura? This principle means that the Bible and the Bible alone is the only infallible authority in the church. This principle was a return to biblical and early church practice. Over the centuries unbiblical practices and dogmas were introduced into the church and defended by appealing to other infallible authorities besides the Bible. The Pope, the church councils and tradition were seen as equally infallible with the Scriptures. This allowed for corruption in the church. Sola Scriptura freed man’s consciences to be bound only by what the Bible says. This was not a disparaging of church tradition but a “critical revering” of it. Those things in church tradition that lined up with the Bible were kept and those that didn’t were not.

What do we mean by Sola Fide? This means that we are acceptable to God or justified, not by being good or producing good works, but through faith alone in Christ alone. This was a return to the Biblical teaching on salvation from the legalism of the Roman Catholic Church. They taught, and still teach, that you are justified by faith plus works. Sola Fide does not mean that Christians don’t have to be obedient to God, it means that we are not acceptable to God by our obedience. We are acceptable to God by faith alone and then out of gratitude, we seek to obey our Father in heaven. But that obedience is not the basis for our acceptance, it is the result of already being accepted.

The reformers return to these two Biblical principles is what we are to remember and continue to practice.

—Michael Preciado

I am sure many of you have heard the accusation that Christianity is intolerant. What do people mean when they say that? For the most part, I don’t think they know what they mean or at least they are unable to state what they mean clearly. D.A. Carson has tried to clarify what people mean when they say this. He says that “tolerance” means that you must not say that anybody is wrong. This would mean that “intolerance” occurs whenever you say or imply that someone is wrong, especially with regards to religion. On this definition, our Lord is profoundly intolerant. Listen to what he says in the Gospel of John. 1″Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:1-6)

How intolerant! Jesus is saying that faith in him is the only way to go to heaven. This means that every other religion or philosophy that does not agree with Jesus is wrong. Assuming the above definition of “tolerance,” Christianity must be judged intolerant! And those who make this accusation often do it with an air of intellectual and moral superiority. “You poor ignorant and morally underdeveloped Christians,” is the attitude communicated. But is this understanding of “tolerance” tolerant? Carson makes an interesting point concerning this. He says that this view of “tolerance” is in fact “intolerant”. This is subtle but devastating. He points out that the one thing that is not tolerated is the view that this view of tolerance is wrong. You see, to hold this view of tolerance is to be intolerant of those who disagree with this view of tolerance. To hold this view of tolerance is to hold that other views of tolerance are wrong. Well, isn’t this exactly what it means to be intolerant? It sure is, on their own definition. So those who hold this view are the ones that are intolerant. In apologetic discussion, it is important to point this out.

—Michael Preciado

Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 9 Article 5 says, “God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified; and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may by their sins fall under God’s Fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.” In accordance with the Bible our confession of faith gives us the helpful category of fatherly displeasure.‟

Last week we saw that God declares us righteous when we believe in Jesus. This declaration is called justification. The Bible tells us that those who are justified (declared righteous in God‟s court) can never lose that justification. After all we were not justified by being good so how can we lose it by doing something bad? “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Rom 4:5). Being justified by faith, God also adopts us into his family. “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Gal 3:26). God treats believers as family members. He is now our heavenly Father. Like a good earthly father, God does not throw us out of his family when we do something wrong. He still loves us and cares for us and we are still declared righteous because of Jesus. Yet we can accrue God’s fatherly displeasure. Like our earthly fathers, God disciplines us when we refuse to repent of our sins. Of course we commit sins every day and we should regularly pray for forgiveness.

The confession does not so much have those sins in mind as the ones committed in stubborn unrepentance. Much like when King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered (2 Samuel 11 & 12). David, for a time, refused to repent of this and ask God for forgiveness. The result of this was God‟s fatherly displeasure. This displeasure motivated God to discipline him. Yet God did not throw David out of the family and send him to hell. No, he disciplined him and eventually brought him to repentance through the prophet Nathan. Yet in the midst of his unrepentance, David had no right to be assured of his salvation. God took this away in order to discipline him. This is why David prayed that God would restore the joy of his salvation. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Psalms 51:12).

—Michael Preciado