by: John Park, June 1st, 2010
This past Sunday, looking at Mark 13:32-37, I made the point that Jesus Christ is calling us to live each and every single day of our lives with the following mentality: “Today could very well be my last day here on this earth before I stand before a holy and righteous God.”
Jesus, in Mark 13:32-37 essentially says, “Be on guard, keep awake because you don’t know when I’m coming back!” Also, James, in James 4:13-17, admonishes us to not boast about tomorrow because we have absolutely no guarantee that we’ll even live to see tomorrow. Instead, we “ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’ (James 4:15).
For Christians especially, this shouldn’t produce fear in us, but rather a deep joy because, in the end, this is a clear reminder that our good, gracious, and loving master, who paid for our freedom with his blood, is coming back (1 Corinthians 6:20; Mark 13:34-36). And because he’s coming back, we want to do everything to please our master and hear those glorious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21).
And so, this is a clear principle laid out in Scripture: live each day with the mentality that today could very well be the last day on this earth before we stand before a holy and righteous God.
But the question that inevitably comes up, then, is this: “Does that mean that we don’t plan for the future? Is it wrong to plan to go to college; to get a job; have a family; etc?” Simple answer is no.
Though the Bible is clear that we should live our lives with this mentality (mentioned above), the Bible is also clear that we should plan as best as we can. For example, the book of Proverbs is filled with practical advice about planning (e.g. Proverbs 3:29, 12:20, 15:22, 21:5, etc.).
And so the issue, then, isn’t “Do we plan at all?” – because the Bible is clear that we do. But rather, “After I’ve planned, am I living each day with the mentality that says, ‘Today could very well be the last day here on this earth before I stand before a holy and righteous God?’”
In other words, do I plan with the clear understanding that God can call me even before I achieve those plans? If not, then could it be that we’re living not “to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), but for our own?
May we live each day in anticipation of seeing our good, gracious, and loving master – who is infinitely more satisfying than even the biggest dreams that we plan.
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by: John Park, March 15th, 2010
Could it be that the reason we find it so difficult to believe the beautiful gospel of God’s grace over our lives is because we, oftentimes, skip an essential first step – which is to repent and turn from our idols?
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
This issue has prompted me to go back to Tim Keller’s article on Gospel-centered Repentance titled, “All of Life is Repentance.” Here’s an excerpt from that article in which he lays out the difference between “religious repentance” and Gospel repentance.
It is important to consider how the gospel affects and transforms the act of repentance.
In ‘religion’ the purpose of repentance is basically to keep God happy so he will continue to bless you and answer your prayers. This means that ‘religious repentance’ is (1) selfish, (2) self-righteous, (3) and bitter all the way to the bottom.
But in the gospel the purpose of repentance is to repeatedly tap into the joy of our union with Christ in order to weaken our need to do anything contrary to God’s heart.
Here’s the link to the full article (pdf). It’s only two pages, but absolutely packed with what we often need to be reminded of.
May we continually experience the beautiful gospel of God’s grace over our lives in and through repentance.
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by: John Park, March 1st, 2010
Tullian Tchividjian:
The great theologian B. B. Warfield on why the gospel is needed for believers:
There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be trust as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest.
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by: John Park, February 11th, 2010
Much akin to J.D. Greear’s post titled, “How Can I Know I’m Saved?” Luke Stamps wrote an entry on The Gospel Coalition blog titled, “My Christ: Finding Objective Assurance in the Gospel” in which he offers these words:
The ultimate ground of our assurance does not lie inside of us but outside of us—indeed, above us, seated at the right hand of the Father. So, when death and hell tempt us to doubt our salvation or to live in perpetual guilt over forgiven sin, our answer to the enemy’s accusations is never, “My righteousness,” but always, “My Christ.
He also offers a very helpful quote from Martin Luther in his treatise On the Freedom of a Christian. I’m currently reading this in my Medieval/Reformation History class. It has helped me so much in regards to this subject, namely what exactly is faith and what does it mean to live in freedom in light of that faith? I would highly recommend it.
You can read the entire article here.
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by: John Park, February 8th, 2010
Recently came across this post on Vitamin Z. It’s an article by J.D. Greear, the pastor of Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina in which he answers the question: “How Can I Know I’m Saved?” Here’s a quick excerpt from it:
Over the years I have found that an astonishing number of Christians do not possess an assurance of their salvation. They are hopeful, and fairly sure, but still—in times of struggle and doubt, they cannot find that absolute certainty that they belong to God and are safe with Him. This doubt cripples your ability to grow in your love for God, the security that produces radical obedience, and the gratefulness that produces radical generosity.
Many believers are troubled because they can’t “remember” the moment when they first made the decision to trust Jesus. That doesn’t really matter at all. All that matters is that you’re trusting Him as Lord and Savior right now. Think of it like this: I walk into a classroom and sit down in a chair. About halfway through the class you ask me if I ever made a decision to sit in the chair. I say “yes,” and you ask me how I know that I made that decision. I don’t walk you through the decision making process that led me to sit in the chair, reviving the logic and emotions that caused me to take seat. I simply show you that I am currently seated.
Read the rest of the article here. You’ll want to read the conclusion.
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