Mark 4: Conversion

What is Conversion?: This is the next in our series of posts of notes from our teaching series on the 9 Marks of a Healthy Church. I can’t think of a better way to introduce this topic than by sharing a story from Thabiti Anyabwile.

“My Friend Curtis possesses a contagious Christian joy. He loves the Lord and is zealous to do evangelism. Curtis’s zeal is marked by a refreshing willingness to “do whatever it takes’ to have someone ‘profess faith in Christ.’

            One day Curtis, with his usual joy, told me of a mutual friend, Kenny, who ‘got born again.’ I was struck by Curtis’s choice of words. Pressing past his excitement, I asked, ‘How do you know he was “born again”?’

            Curtis withdrew slightly, head tilting with the curiosity puppies sometimes display at odd human behavior, ‘What do you mean?’

            ‘Well, how can you be so confident that spiritual rebirth occurred?’

            Relief washed over Curtis’s face and shoulders. ‘Oh. That’s easy. He came down front after the service and prayed to receive Christ—the way lots of people get saved.’

            About a year after my conversation with Curtis, he telephoned, quite concerned. A problem that periodically troubled him was again causing him discomfort—only this time it was our friend Kenny. Curtis told me Kenny began the Christian race well, attending public services, praying fervently, going out with evangelistic teams, and sometimes showing great emotion during public services. ‘The first year was great,’ Curtis reported. But then,’ his voice quieting, ‘Kenny just faded away. It’s like he just petered out…and now he’s having marital problems and considering leaving the faith.’

            Silence occupied the phone line for a moment. Then Curtis asked, ‘Do you think Kenny was ever really saved? How can you tell if someone is born again?” Thabiti Anyabwile, What is a Healthy Church Member?,  p. 47-48.

 Conversion is often thought about in a very superficial way in the church today. Let me try to direct our thinking in a better way. True Christian conversion is a fundamental change that God does in the human heart through the ministry of his Word which produces real and lasting fruit. Let’s consider each of these ideas in turn.

 I.                   Fundamental Change of Heart/Nature/Mind.

• Fact or Fantasy? Do people really change? Is real change possible? “Our secular mindset does not allow for any such hope of change…” Dever, p. 101.
• The Bible says a truly profound change happens in conversion. It is more than taking up a new spiritual hobby or deciding to think and act differently. The kind of change that happens in conversion is described with different terms: Regeneration (Titus 3:5),  New Birth (John 3; 1 Pet. 1:3-9), New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17)

 II.                Cause of Change – How does the great change happen?

• So how are we involved in this great change? Do we do nothing? Do we do everything? Do we do part and God does part? Actually, none of these.
• God works this spiritual life and saving faith in us without our help (monergistic regeneration). We are passive in the work of regeneration but we are active in the working out of the  faith God gives us. In other words, God does everything in relation to saving us. We, on the other hand, by God’s grace fully live out the work of God’s grace within us.
• Jer. 13:23; Ezek. 37:1-10; Acts 9; Titus 3:5-6; Acts 16:14; 11:18; Eph. 2:1-10; Phil. 1:29; 2:12-13

It “is called a ‘creation’ (2 Cor. 5:17) and a ‘resurrection (Col. 2:12), which can admit of no cooperation (synergeian) anymore than they who are created and raised can cooperate in their own creation and resurrection.”[1]

“But wherever the Holy Spirit puts forth his power for regeneration, it removes all obstacles, overcomes all oppositions, and infallibly produces the effect intended.”[2] 

 III.             Instrument of Change.

• The Word of God is the instrument (“means”) that God uses to regenerate his elect, bringing them from spiritual death to spiritual life.
• John 6:63; Rom. 10:17; 1 Thess. 2:13; James 1:18, 21; 1 Pet. 1:23; John 15:3; Acts 19:20; 20:32;

 “It is a matter of supreme importance to maintain that the Word of God is the one and only indispensable means by which the Holy Spirit works faith in the hearts of men. Although this does not mean that the Word always operates in isolation from every other conceivable factor, another factor never serves as a substitute for the Word. At most it is only auxiliary and subsidiary to the Word.”[3]

IV.              Fruit of Change.

• What is the result of God giving a person a new heart? Is it merely mental acceptance (“Sure, I believe that.”) or moral resolve (“I am really determined to be different now.”)?
• A New Heart – The new heart that God gives is characterized by repentance and faith (Mark 1:15; Luke 3:14). New heart has a new disposition with new loves and new loyalties.
• How do I know if my heart has been changed?
  • Am I trusting in the finished work of Christ alone for salvation (John 3:16)?
  • Do I walk in the light (1 John 1:6-7)?
  • Do I love God the Father (1 John 2:15)?
  • Do I love the other Christians in our church (1 John 3:14-15; 18-19; 5:1)?
  • Do I have the testimony of the Spirit that I am a child of God (Rom. 8:15-16; Gal. 4:6; 1 John 3:24b)?
  • Am I persevering in faith (1 John 5:4-5)?

 “The truly changed, truly converted, truly Christian heart can say with John Newton, ‘I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I wish to be. I am not what I hope to be. Yet I can truly say, I am not what I once was. By the grace of God, I am what I am.’” Mark Dever, 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, p. 104.

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[1] Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, II. 15. XI. (p. 545).

 [2] John Owen, “The Nature, Cause, and Means of Regeneration” The Holy Spirit: His Gifts and Power, p. 184

[3] R. B. Kuiper, God-Centered Evangelism, p. 141.

What is the Gospel?–Mark #3

Here is the next posting from our congregational study of What is a Healthy Church. The question, “What is an Evangelical?” and the question, “What is the gospel?” are closely related. Because both questions are being asked today, let me give a little historical perspective as an introduction to this third mark of a healthy church. Church historian, Iain Murray says this:

A Little History:

“‘EVANGELION (that we call the gospel) is a Greek word; and signifieth good, merry and joyful tidings, that maketh a man’s heart glad, and maketh him sing, dance and leap for joy.’[1] So William Tyndale wrote in 1525, and at the same period all who so thought became describes as ‘gospellers’ or, less commonly, as ‘evangelicals’. Over two hundred years later it was the latter term that was to pass into more permanent usage at the time of the ‘Evangelical Revival’. That it did not do so earlier is largely due to the fact that all the churches of the Reformation were ‘of the gospel’ in the creeds and confessions. By the eighteenth century, however, while the profession of the national churches in England and Scotland remained orthodox there were many pulpits from which no gospel was heard and when the evangel was recovered a term was necessary to distinguish its preachers from others: they were the ‘evangelicals’.”[2]

 Evangelical are, to borrow a phrase, “Together For The Gospel.”

What happens when you start mixing up elements of the gospel with other things (Rom. 11:6; Gal. 2:21)? [See Dever, 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, p. 78-79]

It is of utmost importance that we are clear on the gospel. Confusion on the basic content of the gospel has very serious consequences. For instance, Paul says:

“So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.” (Rom. 11:5-7)

Paul argues for an election of pure grace by pointing out that if there was human works, merit, effort or any other thing in us, that served as the basis for God’s choosing of us, then grace would cease to be grace. Grace would be redefined out of existence. If God’s election was based on anything but grace, salvation would be of works. The very idea of grace is redefined when it is viewed as a response to works of any kind.

As Paul says in Galatians 2:21, the death of Christ is meaningless for our salvation, if human works are viewed as helping our right standing before God in any way.

“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Gal. 2:21)

What are the elements of the Gospel?

I.                   God is holy (“The Good News Is Not Simply That God Is Love”).

• It is with great joy that the Christian can say to the non-Christian that “God is love.” But this alone is not the good news. God is holy and righteous and glorious and good and will not tolerate unrighteousness. God is the Creator of all people and all people are accountable to live their lives in obedience to his will.
• Heb. 12:14, 18-29

II.                Mankind is sinful (“The Good News Is Not Simply That We Are Okay”).

• Robert Schuller in the last generation, and Joel Osteen in this generation, regularly de-emphasize sin and actually believe that bold condemnation of sin is contrary to the gospel. For instance, Schuller says “a lack of self-worth is the central core of sin” and because of this what the unsaved need is “a great deal of positive affirmation” before they can begin to embrace the Christian message [Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, p. 48].
• The biblical picture of humanity, apart from God’s saving grace, is very different, however. By nature, we are mentally corrupt and morally deviant. The problem is not that the unsaved person feels guilty. The problem is that he IS guilty, In fact is he is usually far more guilty than he realizes. Apart from God’s grace, a person is totally depraved and under God’s just condemnation. We need a righteousness from God that we cannot muster up in ourselves. We need forgiveness of sins and a new heart through the new birth
• Matt. 8:8; cf. v. 10;
• James 2:10-11; Rom. 3:19-20; 6:23

III.             Jesus suffered God’s wrath in death as our substitute (“The Good News Is Not Simply That Jesus Wants To Be Our Friend”).

•  “The cross is the pulpit of God’s love” – Augustine. The greatness of God’s love is seen most clearly in the sacrificial death of the Son of God in the place of sinners. Jesus died for our sins and rose again that we might have life. The death of Jesus in our place, as our substitute, provides atonement for our sins. God looked at Jesus as though he had our sinful hearts and lived our sinful lives. Because he did this, God can now look at Christians as though we had Christ’s righteous heart and lived his sinless life.
• Mark 10:45; Rom. 5:8-10

IV.              The one who repents of sin and believes in Christ is saved (“The Good News Is Not Simply That We Should Live Right”).

• Cleaning up your act, is not the biblical solution to an immoral life. As sinners, we have violated God’s moral law and blasphemed his moral character. Our efforts to change that will not earn us the benefits of what Christ did for us on the cross. The benefits of Christ’s atonement are received through faith alone. It is faith, not works, that justifies a sinner before God. Saving faith can truly utter the words: “nothing in my hands I bring, only to the cross I cling.”
• It is faith alone that saves, but the faith that saves is never alone. It will always be characterized by a humble repentance. Saving faith is a faith that turns away from sin in shame and turns to God in hope and love.
• Mark 1:15; Acts 3:19-20, 26; 11:21; 16:31; 26:20

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[1] William Tyndale, Doctrinal Treatises (Cambridge: Parker Society, 1848), p. 8.

[2] Iain Murray, Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of the Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000, p. 1.

As we continue our What is a Healthy Church series, based on the book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever, Billy Rosano discusses Mark #2: Biblical Theology.

Biblical Theology – Mark #2

I.      Definition of “Biblical Theology”: As Scott Oliphant remarks, because “there are various forms (and contents) of biblical theology, we should be clear here as to how we are using the phrase.”[1]

 We are using the term with a broad meaning so that it encompasses two things:

1. A method of doing theology.
2. A reference to the content of theology.

 BT as Method [emphasis on historical development] of Theology:

• “Biblical Theology…deals with the process of the self-revelation of God deposited in the Bible.”[2]
• “Biblical theology recognizes that special revelation did not come from God in one mass at one particular time…It came progressively in history throughout ages and generations.”[3] 

 BT as Content [emphasis on continuity within biblical context] of Theology:

• This is the primary emphasis Dever gives in using the term: “One of the chief marks of a healthy church is a biblical understanding of God in His character and His ways with us.” p. 60.
• Biblical theology will pick up on dominant threads of biblical teaching about God and his works:
  • regarding God (creating, holy, faithful, loving, sovereign, triune, etc.)
  • regarding God’s relationship to humans (created, in God’s image, fallen, responsible, etc.)
  • regarding God’s action of redemption (atonement, election, covenant, etc.)
• Biblical theology will understand how these dominant threads fit within the story-line (“meta-narrative”; “macro-story”) of the Bible. The Bible doesn’t give us disembodied doctrine of abstract ideas. It gives us a coherent picture where these various threads are woven into a tapestry of truth about God and his ways.

 Summary: “Biblical theology as a distinct and fruitful study must take seriously both historical progression and theological unity in the Bible.”[4] In this way, Biblical Theology enables the Christian to see both (1) the way the Bible unfolds and also (2) the real similarities that exist in every era of revelation.

 II.      Benefits of Biblical Theology:

• Avoids a “custom-fitted deity”[5] and it protects us from wrong ideas about God.
• We are moved toward a faith that is both informed and strengthened when we see that he is the same God yesterday, today and tomorrow.
• Appreciates that the flow of biblical history helps us to understand God is a covenant keeping God who works all things for good toward his people.
• Insulates/protects the church from doctrinal controversies. Prevents us from focusing too much on “favorite passages” in isolation of others.
• Is necessary to fulfill the great commission (Matt. 28:19-20). We must teach “all things” Jesus commanded rather than merely cycle through a series of familiar or popular topics.

 Summary: Biblical Theology helps keep the main thing the main thing while, at the same time, acknowledging that we are called to be faithful with everything. This biblical balance is crucial. As D. A. Carson says, a misplaced emphasis in the thinking of the church “tends to divert people from things that are forever basic: the truth of the gospel, a living walk with the living God, love for men and women, an eternal perspective, hatred and fear of sin, a passion for holiness, a profound desire to see Christ exalted… I worry when these things are not front and center.”[6]

 III.      Questions To Ask Yourself:

• How well do I know biblical theology? Do I have a satisfactory grasp of major themes and developments in the Bible?
• Could I explain the Bible’s storyline to a new Christian or a non-Christian? Could I tell them how the Bible fits together as a single book?
• How often do I read through the Bible in its entirety? What specific plans could I make to strengthen my knowledge of biblical theology?

 

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[1] K. Scott Oliphant, Reasons For Faith: Philosophy In The Service of Theology, p. 230-31, note 41.

[2] Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old And New Testaments, p. 5.

[3] John Murray, “Systematic Theology,” Collected Writings of John Murray: Studies in Theology, vol. 4, p. 17.

[4] Edmond Clowney, Preaching and Biblical Theology, p. 17; quoted in Sidney Greidanus, The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text, p. 69, note 82.

[5] Thabiti Anyabwile, What is a Healthy Church Member?, p. 28

[6] D. A. Carson, The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism, p.474.