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Attaining Reflexive Purity

“And, indeed, this is already sin, to desire those things which the law of God forbids.”—Augustine, The City of God

Scripture tells us that sexual desire is controllable and is not to be released indiscriminately toward just anyone. This truth is in direct contrast with our culture. God asks us to control not only our sexual activity but our sexual desire as well, arousing it only within the context of marriage. This guideline also flows directly from the fact that God has created the sexual relationship between a man and a woman as a [reflection] of Christ’s relationship with the church.

Sexual immorality is harmful to our well-being.

When we are firmly convinced that sexual immorality is harmful to our well-being, it loses its grip on us and does not awaken within us sexual desire. Though we are fallen people for whom such conviction comes with great difficulty, it can indeed come. Such conviction takes great faith, but it grows as we embrace the unseen reality of Christ above and beyond what seems so immediately satisfying. We must by faith grasp firmly, and with deep conviction, the truths of God.

  • Do we really believe the path of the adulteress leads to death (Prov. 7:10, 27)?
  • That God will judge the sexually immoral who do not repent (Heb. 13:4; Rev. 21:8)?
  • And that no sexual satisfaction exists apart from living out the image of Christ’s union to his bride?

We must know Christ before we can have faith in his commands.

Yet we will never become convinced of the truth of Christ until we are deeply united to the person of Christ. We must know Christ himself—his heart, his character—before we can have faith in his commands. We must not just believe that his ways are best; we must know that his ways are best. Such knowledge comes only through our personal experience with Christ himself. And such experience comes from our deep spiritual union with him via his Holy Spirit.

Ultimately, as we participate in the unseen reality of Christ, experiencing his very presence in our lives day to day, we grow in our convictions that his claims are in fact true, that his ways are indeed the best ways, and that nothing can satisfy apart from him.

Do we believe it is possible for a man to see a beautiful woman, perhaps dressed inappropriately, perhaps even attempting to seduce him, yet not desire her in his heart or be sexually aroused? Are we merely victims of our circumstances, needing to hide from the world lest we encounter anything that would force us to lust?

We must be firmly convinced that it is indeed possible to control and harness our desires, not merely our actions. To be sure, sexual desire is not controlled in the same manner we control our arms and legs; more than just a mere decision of the will is required. But we do control our sexual desire indirectly through what we believe about the reality of Christ, sexual immorality, and the truth of God. As we become absolutely convinced in our hearts and souls that God’s ways are indeed the best ways, we will master our sexual desire.

It is possible to become for reflexively pure.

Our bodies respond only in accordance with our convictions, and how we spontaneously react to life’s circumstances will reveal what we believe. Just as it is possible to become a more spontaneously patient driver and a more instinctively gracious believer in Christ, so too it is possible to become more reflexively pure in our inadvertent encounters with the opposite sex.

Things to think about:

  • Do you trust that Christ’s ways are best?
  • Are you seeking satisfaction from anything apart from Christ?
  • Do you let yourself off the hook too easily by blaming your sinful desires on physiology?
  • Are you trusting in the sanctifying power of the Spirit or your own will to overcome sinful desires?
  • What are you next steps towards attaining “reflexive purity?”

Content modified from Sex, Dating, and Relationships by Gerald Hiestand and Jay Thomas.

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February 14, 2012 | Posted in: Dating and Singleness,Purity,Pursuit of Holiness,Sexual Immorality | Author: Ted Cockle @ 9:07 am | 0 Comments »

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Treasured Words on the Altar of the Urgent

What goes through your mind as it hits the pillow each night? Are you able to say with Job, “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12), or is our closed Bible on the altar of the urgent?

If we’re honest with ourselves, often, in the craziness of life, instead of treasuring and applying more Scripture to a heart that needs it we shy away from time in the Word.

In the prelude of For the Love of God, D.A. Carson offers the following observation:

The challenge [of reading our Bibles] has become increasingly severe in recent years, owing to several factors. All of us must confront the regular sins of laziness or lack of discipline, sins of the flesh, and of the pride of life. But there are additional pressures. The sheer pace of life affords us many excuses for sacrificing the important on the altar of the urgent. The constant sensory input from all sides is gently addictive—we become used to being entertained and diverted, and it is difficult to carve out the space and silence necessary for serious and thoughtful reading of Scripture. More seriously yet, the rising biblical illiteracy in Western culture means that the Bible is increasingly a closed book, even to many Christians. As the culture drifts away from its former rootedness in a Judeo-Christian understanding of God, history, truth, right and wrong, purpose, judgment, forgiveness, and community, so the Bible seems stranger and stranger. For precisely the same reason, it becomes all the more urgent to read it and reread it, so that at least confessing Christians preserve the heritage and outlook of a mind shaped and informed by holy Scripture.

This, then, ought to be our response: we are to read systematically and repeatedly from the Word of God so that we might rejoice in Scripture. When we do, we remove God’s Word from the altar of the urgent and rightly call its contents, “treasured.”

If you’re struggling to get into the word, here are some ideas to give you the jump start you may need to dive back in:

  • It’s not to late to start up on a Bible reading plan. (You can even have them sent directly to your email or synced with your iCal).
  • Gather a group of friends from church and start reading the Bible out loud together.
  • Find a prayer partner and pray through Scripture together on a weekly basis.
  • Read through some of the Old Testament narratives. Sometimes the narrative genre is a bit easier to jump into.

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February 1, 2012 | Posted in: Prayer,Sanctification/Growth,The Bible | Author: Ted Cockle @ 9:32 am | 0 Comments »

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Wake Up! Thoughts on Wilson’s Book + a Giveaway

Gospel Wakefulness was one of our favorite 2011 books – but you don’t have to take our word for it:

“This book is indeed one of the best books I have read this year. In fact, it is going in my top 5 list of books for 2011. I highly recommend this book.” – Chris

“I recommend reading Gospel Wakefulness because  it will surprise you at times and perhaps even shock you with the Gospel, but it will not disappoint you. Reading Gospel Wakefulness will be a breath of fresh air for those who have been in the Church their entire lives and are tired of playing games with God.” —Dave

“I would encourage anyone who embraces the Gospel of Christ to read this book. It will help you fall in love with the Gospel again and help you learn how to live your life in the Gospel. Also, pastors and other church leaders, this is a book that you must read. It will help you be awakened to the Gospel again which will allow you to lead your church with the Gospel as first priority.” – Austin

“I echo the sentiment of Matt Chandler when he says of this book, “My eyes filled with tears and my heart flooded with joy on numerous occasions…God used this book to strengthen and dare I say re-stimulate the sufficiency of the Christ and His gospel in my own heart.  Through reading this book I began to ache for more of Christ.  My heart was truly stirred…At every turn you see Wilson pointing to Jesus and saying “Behold”.  Eventually, it’s gonna click and we’ll catch glimpses—beautiful, brilliant, radiant glimpses—of the beauty of Christ.  Eventually we’ll simply become fixated.” – Mike

“Occasionally I read a book that does more than inform or inspire. Sometimes I read a book that stirs me. A book that hits me in the solar plexus of my soul, and Gospel Wakefulness is such a book.” – Alvin Reid

Gospel Wakefulness was also featured on many “Best of 2011″ lists. Here are a few:

  • Trevin Wax: “Anyone hungry and thirsty for righteousness will be refreshed by the invigorating streams of truth that flow from Gospel Wakefulness. Jared Wilson wants us to delight in the gospel to the point that sin becomes bitter and Christ becomes our supreme treasure…“
  • Aaron Armstrong: “Wilson’s exuberant passion for the gospel is on full display and will leave you further amazed at the grace of God in Christ.”
  • Nick Rynerson: Jared Wilson’s newest book, Gospel Wakefulness is one of the most theologically rich, passionate, well written things that I have read in a long time. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly, highly recommend it.
  • Steve Kroeker – “This was the book I was most anticipating in 2011 and it did not disappoint…Favourite book I read in 2011.”
  • Justin Buzzard – “Now I have better words to explain what started happening to me in my early 20s. Read Wilson’s book and Tullian’s book (Jesus + Nothing = Everything) together. A gospel double-decker.”
  • Todd Gragg – “Wow!  From the first page to the last Wilson never lets up with the Gospel, and I am thankful for that.  I am closing out this year by reading this book for a second time this week.  I imagine I will read it many many more times in the coming years.”

We’d love to give you a copy of Gospel Wakefulness. Simply tweet one of the quotes below and we’ll randomly select winners on 2/3/12.

Tweets:

  • Flavorless salt is only good for walking over. Nobody flocks to a dimly lit city. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Those who find themselves utterly captivated by the gospel can hardly be entertained by anything else. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Gospel wakefulness means treasuring Christ more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • To honestly proclaim the greatness of Christ requires honestly confessing the bankruptcy of our own souls. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Our flesh wants to be rid of guilt, not sin. But gospel-wakened people want to be free of sin itself. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Is a storm raging? Jesus walks on it. Jesus commands it. Jesus rests in it. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Brokenness is non-negotiable for gospel wakefulness, but so is joy. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • If we ground our hopes for sanctification in our own obedience, we will rush headlong into despair. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
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January 31, 2012 | Posted in: Spiritual Growth,The Gospel | Author: Lindsay Tully @ 10:16 am | 0 Comments »

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Praying in Response to God’s Word

by Nigel Benyon and Andrew Sach from Dig Deeper: Tools for Understanding God’s Word

Sometimes people say that prayer is a two-way conversation, where God speaks to us and we speak to God. But the Bible never uses the word “prayer” in this way. Prayer is simply when we talk to God.

Others think of reading the Bible as a conversation, in which God speaks to us, and we bring our own meanings to the text so that in some sense we find a voice, too. That’s not right, either.
We have a conversation when we hear God speak to us in the Bible and then we speak to him in prayer.

There’s a vivid description of that dynamic in Nehemiah 8–9. For seven days Ezra the scribe read the words of the Law of God (part of the Old Testament) to the people. As they heard God speaking to them, the people were deeply moved to sadness and to joy; there were tears as well as rejoicing and great feasting. And in response to what they heard, they poured out their hearts in prayer to God.

In our churches, though, the things that we share “for prayer” at the end of an evening’s Bible study are often completely unrelated to the passage we’ve been studying. While it’s true that nothing is too small to bring before our heavenly Father, it’s a shame when the tiny things—the health of someone’s neighbor’s dog, for instance—take over, and we forget the amazing truths that God has been speaking to us minutes before.

Get into the habit of praying these kinds of prayers:

  • “Sorry for X, which your Word has shown to be wrong in my life.”
  • “Thank you for Y, which you have shown us this evening.”
  • “Please, by your Spirit, give me power to change Z in response to what you have been saying.”

Learn more about Dig Deeper.

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January 26, 2012 | Posted in: Prayer,Spiritual Growth,The Bible | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:00 am | 0 Comments »

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So You Think You Can Understand God’s Word…

These past couple weeks we’ve been focusing on the importance, the motivation, and strategies for reading and meditating on God’s Word. While it is good to have motivation and strategies in place, they cannot be what we ultimately rely on. Nigel Benyon and Andrew Sach give some helpful insight from their book Dig Deeper: Tools for Understanding God’s Word.

We Can Understand the Word of God Only by the Spirit of God. Consider the following:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him—” these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (1 Cor. 2:9–12).

We need to continually express our dependence on God for a right understanding of him and his ways. He is the one who grants insight (2 Tim. 2:7; Phil. 3:15). And so we must pray. Pray before you open the Bible. Pray when you get stuck and don’t understand. Pray again when you do understand it—say thank you! Pray, pray, pray!

Paul’s point is clear: we need God’s Spirit to understand God’s Word. Given that it was the Spirit who inspired it in the first place, that comes as no surprise. There’s another implication, though: The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). Someone who isn’t a Christian (i.e. the “natural person”) won’t be able fully to understand the Bible, no matter how many qualifications or degrees in theology he or she may have.

So while we may employ strategies to do our part (meditating, praying, using Bible study tools, etc), God is the one enabling us to actually understand. Learn more about Dig Deeper. It’s an excellent resource for Bible study principles.

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January 25, 2012 | Posted in: Prayer,Spiritual Growth,The Bible,The Holy Spirit | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:00 am | 0 Comments »

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