In a fallen world, we sin against others–and we will be sinned against. Sometimes, we are sinned against in ways that are indescribably painful. In today’s episode, Jon and Justin talk about forgiveness. It can be hard to forgive those who wrong us. And, yet, the teaching of the Scripture is clear. We are to forgive those who sin against us, as God in Christ has forgiven us. The guys have a compassionate and pastoral conversation about these matters.
“You know, you wouldn’t take it by yourself someplace. You would take it with the body of Christ because the supper is about our union with Christ and our union with one another. We use the language a lot in our church: ‘We all cling to one another as we cling to Christ.’”
“Is the kingdom of God the greatest desire I have at this moment, or is it my kingdom? Is it my desire at this moment? And can I truly say that I am loving God with all of my heart at the moment in this argument? And I’m definitely loving my spouse sacrificially and unconditionally at this moment?”
“He, who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he’s a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep, but I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold.”
“Here’s what we’re talking about. Remember your baptism. Here you are today; you’re struggling. That’s acknowledged. There was a point in time in your life when you were baptized. You received baptism. It was given to you as a sign of the fact that you’ve been united to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he has you, that your sins are forgiven, and there has been the remission of those in Christ Jesus, and God is going to keep you. As a result of your union with Christ, you will be finally saved. There was a time in your life when that occurred.”
“And then he gets to them looking for – he says, “Your kingdom come.” Now you know what it means – not a second coming. It’s what his whole mission was about: preaching the good news of the kingdom. So every day, we are called to pray that the greatest news the world could ever hear, could ever see, could ever experience, to be set free from sin, to have real peace and real joy and real hope – God bring that!”
In today’s episode, the guys have a conversation about a very sensitive but important topic: sexuality. Over recent years and decades, there have been various approaches to how to handle issues of sexuality in the church. Jon and Justin talk honestly about their concerns regarding crass and crude language that is used to talk about sex–and the abuses of pastoral authority that often occur (e.g., Doug Wilson and Mark Driscoll). The guys also discuss their concerns with purity culture (Joshua Harris comes up here) and the very negative ways sex is portrayed in that kind of setting. There is a better and more biblical approach.
“Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? Even in his servants, he puts no trust and his angels he charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust.”
“This is Philippians 1:29: “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.” It would be very clear and biblical to say that while we live on this earth, in these bodies, it is God’s will that we suffer because we are going to be administering the gospel.”
“The point of your obedience is to help your brother and sister grow in the love of Christ. That’s the point. The whole entire point. This is why he says to consider how to build one another up daily. So James writes a letter to scared, fighting, sin-sick, wandering Christians. And you know how he always brings them back? He grounds them in their faith, and he reminds them of the grace of God.”
“For, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comprehension, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.”
“Jesus gave what we don’t deserve – that’s grace. And then what does first John say? We love because he first loved us.”
Jon and Justin recently had the opportunity to be guests on the Guilt Grace Gratitude podcast. In this episode, two Baptists and two Presbyterians talk about confessionalism and the local church. The conversation is wide-ranging, including: confessions of faith, the objective work of Christ and his sufficiency, the law and the gospel, the ordinary means of grace, the mission of the church and the point of the Lord’s Day gathering, the sacraments, the effects of revivalism and pietism, and much more.
“You will never be considered my enemy again. You will live forever as my beloved child. I will provide you a new home and a new body, and I will always provide for you everything that you need. And while you are in this sinful body and in this sinful world, I promise that nothing you do or that happens to you will ever separate you from my love and my promises to you, not even death.”
“The God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, knew suffering in this life. We read in Hebrews chapter two, that he was perfected by suffering. Sometimes we think and reduce it down to the fact that he suffered in his death, which is certainly true, but he suffered his whole life in that way.”
When someone finds themself in the deepest, darkest – like they are bitter at God. They’re weak in faith. They just feel cold and distant. Do you know what James says? All right. Here’s your list of things you need to do: call the elders…
“God, change my desire so that I desire your will. Hallowed be your name in my life for your glory and my good, for your praise and my joy…”
We’re not taught to read literally every passage of scripture through the lens of Christ and his redemptive work in place of the sinner. I am saying that is how we should read every page of this book: through the lens of Christ’s work in our place…
“Listen, you who are sinning, you can trust in the power of the righteous position you are in.” This is why he says, “Hey, just so you guys know, Elijah had a nature, like ours, weak and sinful, and he prayed, and God heard him…”
I find great hope in the fact that Jesus, in his model prayer, says to us, “Be cognizant of who you’re talking to: ‘Our Father’.” Now, for those of us who’ve been in Christianity, that’s not earth-shattering. When I said, “Our Father,” no one gasped, “How dare he!” But this was not a common practice amongst the Jews, especially of that day…
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