Preparation to Justification

In his book, The God Who Justifies, James White includes a stellar (rather lengthy) quotation from James Buchanan:
The best preparation for the study of this doctrine [justification] is neither great intellectual ability, nor much scholastic learning, but a conscience impressed with a sense of our actual condition as sinners in the sight of god. A deep conviction of sin is the one thing needful in such an inquiry, a conviction of the fact of sin, as an awful reality in our own personal experience, of the power of sin, as an inveterate evil cleaving to us continually, and having its roots deep in the innermost recesses of our hearts, and of the guilt of sin, past as well as present, as an offence against God, which, once committed, can never cease to be true of us individually, and which, however, He may be pleased to deal with it, has deserved His wrath and righteous condemnation. Without some such conviction of sin, we may speculate on this, as on any other, part of divine truth, and bring all the resources of our intellect and learning to bear upon it, but can have no suitable sense of our actual danger, and no serious desire for deliverance from it. To study the subject with advantage, we must have a heartfelt interest in it, as one that bears directly on the salvation of our own should; and this interest can only be felt in proportion as we realize our guilt, and misery, and danger, as transgressors of God's Law. The Law is still, as it was to the Jewish Church, "a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith"; and the Law must be applied to the conscience, so as to quicken and arouse it, before we can feel our need of salvation, or make any serious effort to attain it. It is the convinced, and not the careless, sinner, who alone will lay to heart, with some sense of its real meaning and momentous importance, the solemn question: "How shall a man be just with God?" But more than this. As, without some heartfelt conviction of sin, we could have no feeling of personal interest in the doctrine of Justification, such as is necessary to command our serious attention in the study of it, so we should be scarcely capable of understanding, in their full scriptural meaning, the terms in which it is proposed to us, or the testimonies by which alone it can be established. The doctrine of Salvation, which is taught by the Gospel, presupposes the doctrine of Sin, which is taught by the Law; and the two together constitute the sum and substance of God's revealed truth. They are distinct, and even different, from each other; but they are so related that, while there may be some knowledge of sin without any knowledge of salvation there can be no knowledge of salvation without some knowledge of sin. As this is true of the general doctrine of Salvation, which includes deliverance from the power, as well as from the punishment of sin, so it is equally true of each of its constituent parts, the special doctrines of Justification and Sanctification, with this only difference, that, in the one case, we must have some knowledge of sin, in its legal aspect, as guilt already incurred, in the other, of sin, in its spiritual aspect as an inveterate inherent depravity.

Be innocent in what is evil

I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. Romans 16:14.
How can such a pithy statement be so convicting. This verse seems so contrary to how I've lived my entire life. It completely goes against my nature. I can't remember a single time in my life when I could honestly say that I wanted to be truly innocent in what is evil and wise in what is good.
Why is it so difficult? Because even Christians seem to attach some form of respect to someone who appears to be schooled in worldly matters. The person who has the radically transforming conversion story generally holds more appeal than the person who grew up in church. Maybe because its wonderful to see how the Lord transforms lives; however, I would argue that in many cases it has more to do with a greater interest in the pre-converted state of that person. All that aside (I feel I'm digressing) my main point is that its hard to be interested in becoming wise in things holy and good when we could be learning about evil. Evil saturates society at every level and often disguises itself as appealing, or good. Movies are the obvious example. There's a pressure to be "seasonably movied" in order to participate in brainless conversations about the latest theater releases. Too bad there's not the same kind of pressure to be schooled in what is good. Unfortunately it goes against the grain. If someone is attempting to be wholly devoted to being wise in what is good they are labeled as a legalistic, narrow-minded, straight-laced, prude (or something of the sort). This endeavor excludes them from many clicks, conversations, and social gatherings, sadly even among Christians.
Thankfully, life is just a sliver of time compared to eternity, and eternity is what truly matters. Where will you spend eternity? The question lends itself to the pursuit of good things. The eyes of God penetrate to the heart, and He who tells us to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil, will be the final judge.

The Canons of Scripture

This fact, the more I learn the more I realize how little I really know, seems to be coming more and more evident to me. After a discussion with a Catholic friend at work yesterday I was left considerably shaken and unsure about my confidence in the canons of scripture. After spending some time with Grudem's Systematic Theology, my shakenness has subsided and the ameliorating effect proved so impressionable that I felt the need to share.
After discussing our differing views of justification (among other things) my Catholic friend's default conclusion goes as follows: "Well your Bible's different then mine." Much to my shame, my ignorance revealed itself in the silence that followed his statement. (After some reading throughout the day I've come to realize that the Catholic Bible is simply a different translation of the 66 books of my Bible, as well as some writings from the Apocrypha.) After challenging him on why he puts stock in his Bible as being wholly divinely inspired, I realized that I could not even answer my own question about my own Bible (without circular reasoning).
Thankfully, Wayne Grudem greatly aided me in my endeavor to answer the question. The question plaguing me was, "Why are other ancient writings (such as the Apocrypha) not included in the canons of scripture?" Grudem answers with four points: (1) They do not claim for themselves the same kind of authority as the Old Testament writings. Verses all throughout the Old Testament attest to being divinely inspired: Exodus 17:14; I Samuel 10:25; I Chronicles 29:29; Jeremiah 30:2. (2) They were not regarded as God's words by the Jewish people from whom they originated. (3) They were not considered to be Scripture by Jesus or the New Testament authors. Grudem writes, "According to one count, Jesus and the New testament authors quote various parts of the Old Testament scriptures as divinely authoritative over 295 times, but not once do they cite any statement from the books of the Apocrypha or any other writings as having divine authority." (4) They contain teaching inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. He quotes E. J. Young who writes, "Ecclesiasticus teaches that the giving of alms makes atonement for sin (3:30). In Baruch it is said that God hears the prayers of the dead (3:4), and in 1 Maccabees there are historical and geographical errors."
Grudem concludes by saying, "with regard to the canon of the Old Testament, Christians today should have no worry that anything needed has been left out or that anything that is not God's words has been included." These words have provided a great deal of comfort to me and though I don't have every answer needed to silence the critics, I do feel a greater confidence in the canonicity of the Bible. Pray for me as I continue to try to be a witness to my co-worker.

Meditation

The practice of meditation, sadly, fails to occupy much of my time. Not voodoo meditation, but the kind of meditation where one spends time thinking about a verse in the Bible, or an attribute of God. The Psalmist seems to be constantly reminding his reader of how much he focuses on God, and how much he dwells on His attributes. But how often do I do it? To my shame, it remains difficult for me to think for longer than five minutes on something without being distracted. The real tragedy lies in the tremendous benefit I'm missing out on. Accompanying a Godly life is a consistent time of meditation on Scripture. How else will someone become more like God if they don't spend time thinking about Him. The more someone meditates on God's word, the more their thought life and actions will be shaped by it.
John Owen poses a question to his reader (I don't have the exact quote): What is your default thought life like? Or, what do you think about when you're not thinking about what you're thinking about? I can't really convey the embarrassment I felt when I thought about the answer to that question. My default thought life is so mundane and trivial it fails to measure up to anything that could even be labeled noteworthy. After I manage to beat down my conviction the legitimate follow-up question is how to cure the problem. The diagnosis is clear: my thought life is shallow. The cure however is something that will continue to be a lifetime struggle: a consistent daily meditation on scripture. Hopefully, by God's grace, as time goes on, I will find myself continually engaging my mind with holy thoughts.

The Sanctifying Work of Tribulation

Romans 5:3-5
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
According to this verse we are supposed to exult in tribulation because it brings about perseverance, which in turn brings about hope. How will it bring hope? We can't always be feeling good. Emotions will move at random and often feel as if they are taking control. Sometimes I don't feel like a Christian, and sometimes I feel like God doesn't care about me. However, thanks be to God that the truth of His word remains, regardless of my feelings. His truth does not depend on my emotional status. I believe the hope spoken of here is meant for us to look back on our lives and remember the past tribulations that God allowed us to persevere through. If we weren't Christians we would have fallen away during those hard times; however, because God glorifies that which He justifies (Romans 8:30), we can rest assured in the hope that carried us through past tribulation. Often the present seems daunting and depressing; however, God's faithfulness remains as strong as ever yesterday, today, and forever, regardless of how one might feel.
Matthew Henry writes:
Tribulation worketh patience, not in and of itself, but the powerful grace of god working in and with the tribulation. It proves, and by proving improves, patience, as parts and gifts increase by exercise. It is not the efficient cause, but yields the occasion, as steel is hardened by the fire. See how God brings meat out of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong. That which worketh patience is matter of joy; for patience does us more good than tribulations can do us hurt. Tribulation in itself worketh impatience; but, as it is sanctified to the saints, it worketh patience.

The Blessings of Christ's Kingly Office for Us:

A good way to ease back into blogging after a month of neglecting. Calvin usually has good thoughts and these are especially edifying to dwell on (it's also fun to put up different pictures of him).
That the strength and utility of the kingdom of Christ cannot, as we have said, be fully perceived without recognizing it as spiritual, is sufficiently apparent, even from this, that having during the whole course of our lives to war under the cross, our condition here is bitter and wretched. What then would it avail us to be ranged under the government of a heavenly King, if its benefits were not realized beyond the present earthly life? We must, therefore, know that the happiness which is promised to us in Christ does not consist in external advantages—such as leading a joyful and tranquil life, abounding in wealth, being secure against all injury, and having an affluence of delights, such as the flesh is wont to long for—but properly belongs to the heavenly life. As in the world the prosperous and desirable condition of a people consists partly in the abundance of temporal good and domestic peace, and partly in the strong protection which gives security against external violence; so Christ also enriches his people with all things necessary to the eternal salvation of their souls and fortifies them with courage to stand unassailable by all the attacks of spiritual foes. Whence we infer, that he reigns more for us than for himself, and that both within us and without us; that being replenished, in so far as God knows to be expedient, with the gifts of the Spirit, of which we are naturally destitute, we may feel from their first fruits, that we are truly united to God for perfect blessedness; and then trusting to the power of the same Spirit, may not doubt that we shall always be victorious against the devil, the world, and every thing that can do us harm. To this effect was our Savior’s reply to the Pharisees, “The kingdom of God is within you.” “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,” (Luke 17:21, 22). It is probable that on his declaring himself to be that King under whom the highest blessing of God was to be expected, they had in derision asked him to produce his insignia. But to prevent those who were already more than enough inclined to the earth from dwelling on its pomp, he bids them enter into their consciences, for “the kingdom of God” is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,” (Rom. 14:17). These words briefly teach what the kingdom of Christ bestows upon us. Not being earthly or carnal, and so subject to corruption, but spiritual, it raises us even to eternal life, so that we can patiently live at present under toil, hunger, cold, contempt, disgrace, and other annoyances; contented with this, that our King will never abandon us, but will supply our necessities until our warfare is ended, and we are called to triumph: such being the nature of his kingdom, that he communicates to us whatever he received of his Father. Since then he arms and equips us by his power, adorns us with splendor and magnificence, enriches us with wealth, we here find most abundant cause of glorying, and also are inspired with boldness, so that we can contend intrepidly with the devil, sin, and death. In fine, clothed with his righteousness, we can bravely surmount all the insults of the world: and as he replenishes us liberally with his gifts, so we can in our turn bring forth fruit unto his glory.

The law is a mirror.
Calvin demonstrates a very succinct way of looking at a function of the law. This quote could also be phrased: "the law is the only mirror," or, "the law is the perfect mirror." There remains an easy possibility for sinners to use other sinners as their own personal mirrors. They compare themselves with people they know, or know of. Unfortunately this means they are using a dirty mirror. They are comparing dirty sheets with dirty sheets. The law of God stands as the only true mirror and standard of morality. One can easily see the defects in other individuals, and as a result, fail to see the defects in themselves. Many of the people traversing through life are bound for Hell with the false belief that they measure up to the required standard of morality to make it to Heaven. This proves the importance that individuals see sin in its utter ugliness. The only way one begins to grasp the depravity of man comes through the law of God. The Scripture teaches that we do not even come close to measuring up. In realization of this reality, we must fly to Christ. We must look at the law, see our sinfulness, and cling, as ones life depends on it, to Christ (Galatians 3:15-25). Christ: the only one who perfectly kept the law, who also died as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of His people. God sees those who are saved through the perfect blood of His son. Those who are not saved, however, are under the wrath of God, and the only thing they have to offer is their own works, which viewed in relation to the law of God, are filthy, defiled, and stained with sin. The only hope in life rests in the hope of the cross of Jesus.