0 Pondering the Unwillingness to Accept Election/Predestination

For some reason today the question of why some people are so adamantly opposed to the idea of God's electing some to salvation came to mind. I'm not speaking of those who reject Christianity out of hand, or those who have major issues with salvation of only some human beings rather than the whole lot. I'm speaking of those who genuinely love Christ and rest in Him for salvation. For them, the fact that election of only some means God actually has in mind, prior to creation, that some will be born, live, and die, and be condemned (and that he has ordained it as such) - and this is too much for them to take. The picture they have of God does not comport with the idea of His willing election of only some, and His ordination before time that all others will be punished in hell for their sins.

Certainly for these one major problem is that they are set up on the belief that God must give everyone an equal shot at salvation - that it's unfair of God not to equip everyone to accept Christ. I suspect that some bristle at the idea of the "unfairness" of unconditional election, but also agree that without the prior action of God's spirit none will see their need and humbly submit to the Lord. Thus they set up some sort of system in which God grants everyone the eyes to see - and some don't use them, and are therefore lost.

I just got the book shown at above, God's Glory in Salvation Through Judgment, by James M. Hamilton, Jr., and think there may be something in it that is related to why some have issues with the punishment of sinners. That is, I think what such folks have an issue with may be related to the subject matter of the book. It looks like a very good read - a biblical theology centered on the idea that salvation comes to individuals ultimately through judgment. I'm very much looking forward to it - and suggest you might want to pick it up as a new read for the winter.

I suspect that for some the issue is very deeply wrapped up in something of a different problem - that they cannot see God as glorified in the damnation of any. I *think* perhaps the receipt of this book has led me to these thoughts (but I am not certain). That is, my hypothetical objector has no problem agreeing that sin is deadly and deserves punishment - but I wonder if they see God less as a righteous judge justly condemning the sinner, and more as their father, saying "I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to spank you, son." Punishment of sin, to them, would be something God would really rather avoid, and in some sense almost does despite His unwillingness to do it. Certainly for someone approaching the issue with this mindset, the punishment of sinners would not be something that brings God glory. For them, God's glory would come only through redeeming people through Christ. They would seem to be blind to the fact that God is also glorified in judgment and condemnation of the rebel.

There are all sorts of issues with this, of course, but I wonder if I'm onto something....

1 The Lost Art of Seeking Wisdom

Every time I come to Proverbs 1 in my reading of Scripture, I find myself wondering why it is I don't spend more time seeking wisdom from God's Word. The plain teaching of the first few verses of Proverbs is that we who believe must be about this business. The flesh is so weak, though.

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,

to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity;

to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth—

Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

(Proverbs 1:1-7 ESV)

The impact of refusing to seek true wisdom and instruction is evident all around us as the world spins like a sailboat without a rudder... yet we too fall prey to the temptation to just 'go with the flow' and not moor ourselves tightly to the bedrock of Christ and God's Holy Word. Wisdom is to be found as we do so... and it is to be valued above all earthly possessions.

0 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things

From my reading today, from Psalm 107:

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

whom he has redeemed from trouble (Ps. 107:1-2)

We are reminded, as God's redeemed ones, to give thanks for the LORD is good - and his steadfast love endures. In reading this today I was struck by the expansive love of God for His elect, wherein he redeems them from all sorts of trouble... trouble we ourselves get into because of our own sin, or trouble brought about for God's own purposes to call His elect to Himself.

The common theme in all these kinds of people - mentioned in stanzas Ps. 107:4-9, Ps. 107:10-16, Ps. 107:17-22 and Ps. 107:23-32 - is that in the midst of their troubles, they were brought to a point at which

"they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress." (Ps. 107:6, also Ps. 107:13,19,28)

Upon their delivery, then, the Psalmist then calls upon such people to

"thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!" (Ps. 107:8, also Ps. 107:15,21,31)

In the close of this Psalm, after seeing several examples of redemption and the consequent thanksgiving from His people, we have this exhortation, which is good for all of us who have been redeemed by God from our distress to hear:

"Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD." (Ps. 107:43)

If you would be wise, the Psalmist says, attend to what I have said. It is a point of wisdom to recall, to attend to, the redemptive work of the Lord - for in it, we offer him due honor and worship, and find the root of true wisdom - the fear of Jehovah God, God Almighty, who created the world, and has redeemed (and is redeeming) His own from their distress through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Never , Ever, EVER, Think That You're Past the Cross

I am reminded of remarks in Michael Horton's "The Gopsel-Driven Life" as I read (again) Horatius Bonar's wonderful work "The Everlasting Righteousness". Again, and again, Bonar reminds us of the necessity of always having before us the declaration of the completed work of Christ - the gopsel declaration for us who are in Him. Bonar drives this point home in chapter after chapter - that our life indeed, as Horton writes 200 years after his elder brother, must be truly driven by this fact.

Today so frequently as in Bonar's day the gospel is misunderstood as one of those 'elementary things' that Christians who are 'grown up now' needn't refer to it anymore - that gospel message was that which got them into the church, but beyond that, one needs to 'grow up' and get past it. To this, Bonar says,

"You fool! Do you not know that the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ endures forever and that you shall eternally glory in it, if you are saved by it at all?" (p. 33, Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness)

The cross of Christ is symbolic of the glory of the Gospel - the finished work of atonement for Christ's people, and the glorious declaration by God the Father of the acceptance of that sacrifice as He was raised again - and this will be forever our story and song. Bonar's discussion in chapter 4 of The Everlasting Righteousness is grounded in part on the repetition again and again of the motif of the Lamb that was slain throughout the book of Revelation... indicating that indeed, the cry "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" will freover be our cry, into eternity future, and even as we enjoy a foretaste of heaven in the communion of the saints on earth, the church militant.

Bonar has this excellent paragraph which simply stirs the heart up to heights of praise of our Lord and God - and of the Lamb that was slain:

"We are never done with the cross, nor ever shall be. Its wonders will be always new and always fraught with joy. 'The Lamb as it had been slain' will be the theme of our praise above. Why should such a name be given to him in such a book as the Revelation, which in one sense carried us far past the cross, were it not that we shall always realize our connection with its one salvation; we shall always be looking to it even in the midst of the glory; and we shall always be learning from it some new lesson regarding the work of him 'in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace'? What will they who here speak of themselves as being so advanced as to be done with the cross say to being brought face to face with the slain Lamb, in the age of absolute perfection, the age of heavenly glory?" (p. 33, Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness)

This rings SO true with much of the church, liberal and conservative alike. While the liberals often disregard the cross as a messy and primitive thing, and dispense with discussion about it because it's really not something a modern (or postmodern) people need to deal with or even believe in, the conservative church often forgets the need of the gospel to be brought up, discussed, rested upon and gloried in EACH DAY. Let us never, ever think that we're past the cross... may it never be!

0 The Freedom of Wisdom and Discretion

This morning in my reading I ran across the following in Proverbs chapter 3:

21 My son, do not lose sight of these-- keep sound wisdom and discretion, 22 and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. 23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, 26 for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. (Proverbs 3:21-26 ESV)

What wonderful words of comfort these are, as we seek God's guidance through His appointed means - in His Word, we find instruction for our souls; in prayer, we find reliance and dependence as our hearts are attuned to seeking our Father's hand; in worship through the simple means of the preached Word and the Sacraments we are blessed. God promises to communicate to us and with us in these means, and to guide us and sanctify us as we walk in them. Thus fearing God, and seeking His ways, we shall keep sound wisdom and discretion - and in them shall be life, security and peace. It's a simple life, as we look to God for everything and seek to follow Him. We needn't fear, as God is with us and has covenanted with us to be our Rock and Fortress, our Beginning and End. There's no need for fear, for the only one who needs to fear being caught in the terror of the wicked are those who cast off God's bonds and seek to live autonomously, serving themselves rather than God. As we walk in the steps set forth for us, there is absolutely no danger that can overcome us, for we are His sheep. In Him we are FREE.

0 Sodium Chloride

34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 14:34-35, ESV)

A very brief exhortation to restoring meaning and practical visibility to our profession... for what good is our professed faith in Christ if there is no visible manifestation of it? We live in an era in which we are told to keep our faith to ourselves (never mind the fact that the faith of the secular humanist is out there for all to see and its principles, thought patterns, ethical considerations and behavioral standards are assumed to be and promoted as the 'right way' to think and behave in public. Christ presents another way - let us hear, who have ears to hear.

0 Caryl: The Character of an Upright Man

I was struck by a brief paragraph in Caryl's Exposition of Job, in which he is commenting on the first verse of the book:

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. (Job 1:1 ESV)

In the older translations, "blameless" was rendered "perfect". Caryl explains:

"Job himself professed, (Job 9:20) If I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse; he acknowledges, (Job 7:20) I have sinned. The perfection here spoken of is not an absolute, a legal perfection.

For the clearing of the word, we may consider there is a twofold perfection ascribed to the saints in this life. A perfection of justification, and a perfection of sanctification.

The first of these, in a strict sense, is a complete perfection: the saints are complete in Christ, they are perfectly justified, there is not any sin left uncovered, not any guilt left unwashed in the blood of Christ, not the least spot but is taken away. His garment is large enough to cover all our nakedness and deformities. In this respect, they may be called perfect, they are perfectly justified, By one offering Christ has perfected forever them that are sanctified. (Heb. 10.14) (pp. 24-25, Exposition of Job, vol. 1)

Two things about this remark that I think are critical: that the perfection one might speak of - the blamelessness one might describe of a believer - is alien to them. It cannot be absolutely held by the individual, for as Paul writes to the Romans, ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is nobody of whom it may be said, in an absolute sense, "he is perfect". None, that is, except Christ. Those who are in Christ, however, are justified - perfectly complete - perfectly without sin and perfectly righteous, having the righteousness of Christ imputed to them. In this sense, Job, and Abraham before him, and all those who are Abraham's true children, are perfect. This is not a perfection that can be taken away, nor is it one that can be lost in any way. Justification is a declaration of the verdict of the last day, given to us in time and space prior to that day - it is a declaration of righteousness that is ours as we walk and live and breathe on this earth, though we sin, though we fall short daily in our walk with Christ. It is a complete and total absolution, granted through the blood of Christ, by grace, through the Word of God who declares all His children "just". None who are in Christ by faith (and that as the gift of God, Eph. 2:8-10) will ever fall - and none will receive a verdict on the last day different than that that they possess now. This is much convoluted today, and much disputed.... but justification is irrevocable.

Now, after discussing a little the perfection of sanctification, Caryl comes to the paragraph that hit me more directly tonight:

"Or thus, we may say that the perfection here spoken of is the perfection of sincereity. Job was sincere, he was sound at the heart. He did not act a part, or personate Religion, but was a religious person. He was not gilded, but gold. So the word is interpreted. Some render it "Job was a simple man" (not as simple is put for weak and foolish, but as simple is put for plain hearted; one that is not, as the Apostle James phrases it, a double-minded man). Job was a simple-minded man, or a single-minded man, one that had not a heart and a heart. He was not compound, speaking one thing and meaning another, he meant what he spoke, and he would speak his mind. ... So that to be a perfect man, is to be a plain man, one whose heart you may know by his tongue, and read the man's spirit in his actions. Some are such jugglers that you can see little of their spirits in their lives, you can learn little of their minds by their words; Jacob was a plain man, and so was Job; some translate it, "a sound man". It is the same expression that is given of Noah... he was sound, upright-hearted, or perfect with God, Gen. 6:9." (p. 25, Exposition of Job, vol. 1)

One of the things that strikes me in this is the following. If one is secure in his Lord, knowing his salvation is secure - knowing that all that matters is accomplished for him and promised to him, one should be able and willing to fear God rather than man - and to simply be who he is. Dissembling and false pretenses are SO common in society - there is such pressure to conform here, and to play a role there, so that everyone is pleased with you. Why are we such suckers for this kind of pressure? Why is it so easy to fail at this (at least I hope I'm not the only one who does!)? What causes the resolve to simply be who we are... to admit failure, and ask for forgiveness - to walk plainly as those bought by Christ's blood, and knowing Him to be the Way, Truth and Life? We fail, I think, because we forget who we are in Christ.... and that all is in His hands, that though the whole world forsake us, we are still rich in Him and secure in God's family. We fail because we fail to trust in the fulfillment of all things in Christ. We fail because we like to operate on the level of sight rather than the level of faith.

I think one of the reasons this particular passage struck me was that I had read together with this Mark chapter 9, wherein the man whose child suffered demonic convulsions admitted to Christ - was a plain man - that he failed in his trust: "I believe! Help my unbelief!" This is exactly it. The man openly admitted before Christ and the others that his belief was wavering - that he needed Christ's aid, even there, and not just for his boy. Let us all learn to be more like that plain man in all things, for that is the character of an upright man.

0 Caryl: The Central Lessons of Job

In the introductory chapter of Joseph Caryl's Exposition of Job, the author outlines the basic questions answered by the book of Job, and then specifies seven central teachings of the book. The two questions that he argues Job deals with are summarized by Caryl in the following words:

"The main and principal subject of this book is contained (and I may give it to you) in one verse of the 34th Psalm: Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of all. (Ps. 34:19)

Concerning this subject there are two great questions handled and disputed fully and clearly in this book. The first is this, whether it is consistent with the justice and goodness of God to afflict a righteous and sincere person, to strip him naked, to take away all his outward comforts. Or, whether it is consistent with the justice and goodness of God, that it should go ill with those who are good, and that it should go well with those that are evil. This is one great debate, the main question throughout the book. And then secondly, here is another great dispute in reference to the former. Namely, whether we may judge of the righteousness, or unrighteousness, of the sincereity or hypocrisy of any person, by the outward dealings and present dispensations of God towards him. That is a second question here debated." (p. 6, Joseph Caryl, Exposition of Job)

As Caryl notes, the "friends" of Job answer the first question negatively and the second positively... and Job maintains, throughout, the opposite answers. In the answering of these questions, and the discussions and debates between Job and his friends, and then later the dialog between Job and the Lord Himself, we find that we may learn several important lessons, according to our expositor. These, briefly, are:

1. How to handle a cross. When in conflict or affliction, terror or strife, Job teaches us how we are to, with patience and confidence, maintain our composure and dedication to the Lord God by whose decree all situations and circumstances come to pass.
2. All afflictions are ordered by God's providential hand.
3. God is sovereign over all things, to the minutest detail. He has power over us, our possessions, our lives, and we must therefore submit to Him in all things.
4. God afflicts for His purposes only, to accomplish His ends - and sometimes such afflictions are not merely for the purposes of temporal punishment.
5. Our best conditions - the best of our circumstances must always be taken as uncertain and not in any sense guaranteed. We therefore must learn to hold things lightly and yield all to God's wise counsels.
6. True faith is invincible. Faith, according to Ephesians 2:8-10, is the gift of God - and is irrevocable. The faith of the elect will stand trial in the evil day.
7. God NEVER forsakes His own. The elect shall, as noted by Christ in His Good Shepherd discourse, and His High Priestly prayer, never be lost but always retained in the strong hand of God. God is EVER faithful.
8. God's judgments are ALWAYS just, though they be many times completely secret from us. The fact that we cannot understand God's judgments at times does not imply that He is unreasonable, capricious or otherwise inconsistent with His nature as God. We must be content with the judgments of God and always praise Him for His glorious wisdom and might and right to rule over all. (Adapted from pp. 11-13, Joseph Caryl, Exposition of Job)
   

These are valuable lessons, and if I learn but one of them better than I know them today, I will be glad for the efforts to work my way through Caryl's work. I hope my sharing thoughts and reflections on Caryl's Exposition are edifying and thought-provoking to you. Do feel free, as always, to let me know what you think and what Caryl's thoughts bring forth in your mind as you read this blog series. Blessings to you and yours as 2010 dawns in a few days.

0 Caryl: The Word of God and its Fruit

I've decided as 2009 winds to a close to begin a study of Joseph Caryl's Exposition of Job, a mammoth 12-volume commentary recently republished in a very well done facsimile of the 17th century original printing (1644-1666) jointly by Dust and Ashes Publications and Reformation Heritage Books.

I have no fantasies about finishing the work in 2010, although stranger things have happened. What I do want to do, however, is work through it as the Lord sees fit, and blog my thoughts and reflections here as I make my way through this highly regarded work. There are some who find Puritan expositions such as this one cumbersome and exorbitantly verbose - but I honestly believe those who have such an opinion of THIS particular work haven't read it. I can sympathize to some extent with those who might take such a view of John Owen's work on Hebrews (which I've decided I shall be tackling next after this major reading project) but again I'd have to question there whether such criticism is worthy of an audience. In the case of Caryl's work, there is certainly an abundance of words - but they are merely, as Spurgeon wrote, evidence of a "full" exposition, and not one in which words are wasted or ill-spent. Caryl has made his exposition of Job a vehicle for teaching many of the great doctrines of our faith - and so I very much look forward to reading this work and recording my thoughts here. It is a masterpiece - perhaps not of brevity and concise commentary - but of Puritan exposition and teaching. (Note: Given that this is a 17th century facsimile, it is written in very old language. I will very lightly update Caryl's words - though when he quotes Scripture I will leave it alone, unless to make the tiniest of spelling changes to help the reader)

In the first chapter, Caryl makes an important point, one which ought to be kept in mind whenever one approaches the Holy Word of God, but perhaps particularly when one is brought to a more difficult book such as Job. He writes,

"That which God speaks concerning the whole work of Creation, we may speak concerning the whole book of Scripture, It is very good. Solomon observes that wheresoever the wisdom of God spake, it spoke of excellent things. (Prov. 8:6) And David, to quicken our endeavours and excite our diligence to the study of the word, prefers it in worth above thousands of gold and silver, and in sweetness above the honey and the honeycomb. And when he ceases to compare, he begins to admire, Wonderful are thy testimonies. And well may that be called Wonderful, which proceeds from the God of all Wonders. All Scripture is given by divine inspiration, (2 Tim. 3:16) or by inspiration from God; and I need not show you the excellency of any part, when I have but pointed at such an statement concerning the whole.

And therefore the whole Scripture, (whether we respect the majesty of the Author, the height or purity of the matter, the depth or perspicuity of the style, the dignity or variety of occurrences; whether we consider the art of compiling, or the strength of argument) disdains the very mention of comparison, with any other human author whatsoever. So, too, are comparisons within - e.g. book with book, chapter with chapter - dangerous. There is not in this great volume of holy counsel any book or chapter, verse or section, of greater power or authority than any other... we may fully match all Scripture together, and say, all must be received with the same devotion and affection." (pp. 3-4, Vol. 1, Joseph Caryl, Exposition of Job)

With this said, Caryl points his hearers to the fruit he hopes his exposition of (and indeed their study of) this and all Scripture will bring to them:

"Let me beseech you in the name of Christ, to take care for the carrying on of this work a degree further: I mean to translate the sense of Scripture into your lives, and to expound the Word of God by your works, Interpret it by your feet, and teach it by your fingers; (Prov. 6:13) as Solomon speaks in a different sense). That is, let your working and your walkings be Scripture explications... And therefore let the words of Christ by these verbal explications dwell richly in your understandings in all wisdom; and by a practical application, let it be held forth plentifully in your lives in all holiness. Add commentary to commentary, and exposition to exposition: add the comment of works to this comment of words, and an exposition by your lives to this exposition by our labors." (pp. 2-3, Vol. 1, Joseph Caryl, Exposition of Job)

Should this not be on our hearts and minds as we study Scripture in general? Shall it be mere learning - or shall it produce the fruit of righteousness and devotion to God in us? I know I fall woefully short in this - and thanks be to God that the glorious Gospel is indeed true... that Christ has died, is risen, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father - and that I am now righteous in Him. With that, these words from Caryl are a strong exhortation - and convicting indeed as I seek to glorify my Father in Heaven through a life lived in thanksgiving for what He has done.

May the Word of God dwell richly indeed in us - the body of Christ - that God might be glorified on Earth as He is in Heaven.

0 Having Been Brought from Death to Life

From today's reading:

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:1-14 ESV)

The message is simple enough: live as one who has been brought from death to life. Do we really hear this for what it says, though?

It's easy enough to read passages like this and think to onesself, "Sure, I am supposed to stay clear of wickedness - and as long as I'm free from sins of adultery, murder, etc., I'm good before God in this respect." However, the Lord has much more for us than that simplistic and prideful result. What does God mean when He says, through Paul, to live as those who have been brought from death to life?

As I read these words this morning, I spent a little time pondering this question, and realizing that as much as I might know that merely eschewing the truly gross sins of our age is not all God intends for us here, I slip into that mindset quite easily. What I believe we're to find in Christ is true freedom from sin, great and small... freedom truly to rest in our identity as those raised with Christ to the heavenlies, raised with Him in His resurrection, and DEAD to sin. If all we do is satisfy ourselves with avoiding the deadly seven, we're not really experiencing the freedom that we would otherwise experience. Sin in any degree must become something we are prepared at all costs to root out and cast into the fire. It has to become distasteful - rather than becoming something we like to dabble in while simultaneously excusing ourselves for it with a blithe "God understands I'm not perfect yet." Am I calling for us to be spending every second of every day morbidly inspecting ourselves for vestiges of sin? No - but if we truly begin to comprehend the magnitude of the offensiveness of sin in God's eyes, we will - I believe Scripture affirms this - naturally come to a sufficient hatred of sin that even the little things will become distasteful enough to us to cast aside.

We are to live as those whose death penalty has been commuted - whose place at the gallows has been taken by another who did not deserve the punishment we richly deserved. Knowing the righteousness with which God views us in Christ cannot - MAY IT NEVER BE, Paul says - lead to licentiousness. Rather - it must lead us to adopt a new perspective towards God's commandments and towards sin. God's commandments must become ever more lovely to our eyes, and sin ever more distasteful and ugly. We must be driven to our knees in repentance - daily repentance, as Luther cried at the dawn of the Reformation - and driven to seek a righteous path; not to earn salvation, but to joyfully revel in the salvation we have and to please our Heavenly Father who granted us Christ's righteousness and the faith to embrace it for ourselves, relinquishing all worldliness and seeking godliness in everything. From death to life. That is what journey we have been through, and what journey we are on till Christ comes again or takes us home. Let us go forth, therefore, in joy and the peace of the Lord.

0 When Persecution Arises, Pray for Boldness Rather than Deliverance

From today's reading, in Acts 4 -

23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and sthe rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants5 to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:23-31, ESV)

This passage is one that oftentimes I'll go to when discussing the fact of God's foreordination of all things, including the evil acts of men... however, today, what struck me was something that Dr. Richard Bacon reminded us of on Covenant Radio when we interviewed him last week. That is, that our normal response to persecution (however great or small) is to pray to God for deliverance from persecution, relief from the taunts, threats and violent actions of the persecutors, or something similar. However, when the Apostles faced imprisonment and possible death, when they were threatened concerning speaking the name of Christ, they did not pray for such relief. Rather, knowing what they had to do, they prayed for boldness.

Would that we had the spirit of these in the early church when facing persecution - violent or otherwise. Rather than shrinking back and wishing eyebrows weren't raised when we claim God's Word as truth, or Christ as the only way, why not pray for holy boldness to continue speaking truthfully? We know what is true - we know what is good - we know what is our duty. Perhaps we ought to consider more carefully how we ought to pray when faced with the derision of the world and the mocking glances of unbelievers. Let us look to those who have gone before us in order to find out a better way.

0 The Restoration of All Things

From this morning's reading:

18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. (Acts 3:18-21 ESV)

Peter's sermon at Solomon's Portico in Acts 3 includes the curious phrase - "the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of the holy prophets long ago" - which indicates something very important about the coming of Christ after His first advent. There are those today - full preterists, a tiny subset of those who consider themselves Reformed - who argue that the 2nd coming foretold in Scripture occurred in 70AD when the Temple was destroyed. No doubt that event was a judgment on those who rejected Christ...no doubt that much prophecy was fulfilled in that event. How anyone can seriously regard "the restoration of all things" as having been fulfilled in that event is far beyond me.

The context of this statement promising the 'restoring all things' is the context of Old Testament prophecy, which is clear, and can readily be admitted without giving over the argument to the full preterist. The restoration of which the prophets speak is hardly exhausted in the first advent. An example of these is the prophetic words of Isaiah in chapters 65 and 66 of his prophecy... one can only read those passages as fulfilled (especially considering their repetition in 2 Peter and in Revelation) if one has presupposed that all Old Testament prophecy must somehow be fulfilled already in the age of the early church.

Christ, in Acts 3, is said not to return until the time for the restoration of all things is here. The fact that that time of restoration has obviously not yet come should be quite apparent to anyone willing to look at the world in which we live today, at post-Resurrection history from 33 AD to today, and tpo actually look at what Scripture says about that time, rather than trying to satisfy preconceived ideas by fitting Scripture into the mold defined by those preconceived ideas. Christ is still promised to be returning - at the time of restoration of all things, at which all will be put right. God's promises are yea and amen - He is faithful to fulfill ALL that He has promised.

0 Baptism and unbaptism?

From this mornings reading in the plan I'm following:

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-- 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." 25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2:17-29 ESV)

The warnings here from Paul in Romans 2 are surely not merely for the Jew who rested in his circumcision as salvation... let's hear what Paul is saying to the church. A couple of messages I think the Apostle is giving us:

1.Be careful in judging the law-breaking of others, or of thinking of yourself as a guide for the blind - those who need a leading hand. When you know what is right and proper, it is easy to become judgmental about those whom you deem to be less mature in the ways of the Lord, and see yourself as an instructor for them. How easy this trap is to fall into! And, listening to the Apostle, how dreadful is the state of us who go here. When I am tempted to think ill of those professing Christians who struggle with heart (and other) sins - or of the world as the world sits in the swamp of sin the world exists in. My thoughts ought not to go (whether judged rightly or wrongly) to a comparison of their actions with God's Law, but to my own heart and my own actions. Am I guilty of the very thing that I accuse them of? Am I blind to my own violations of God's precepts? Much more profitable are those thoughts than my own judgments of others - and how much harder. It's terribly tempting to draw my eyes off myself and place them on others whom I can tread down in order to feel better about my own failings.

2. Baptism. How often is baptism trusted in - or the 'day of conversion' held up as the thing to trust when one is challenged through circumstances, doubts or otherwise, to think about his or her standing before God? Of what use is baptism if one has no concern about daily repentance and living with a view to serving the Lord each day and walking with Him? Baptism can be every bit as much an outward and useless ceremony as circumcision could be to the Jew of Christ's day and before. Where do we falsely trust in "things" while rejecting the only source and ground of trust? How do I make my baptism unbaptism by walking awry? We must always renew our repentant hearts, and cling to Christ and His Cross alone for salvation - and never place our faith and trust in acts and ceremonies. The temptation to place faith in walking the aisle or being baptized is strong... it's always easy to take the objective mark as the thing to which to cling - and that is a dangerous temptation indeed.

0 Wisdom calls... Who is Answering?

I started a new Bible reading plan today, and today among the passages I read was Proverbs 1, in which the following text appears:

Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;

at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?"

Proverbs 1:20-22 ESV)

Does Wisdom cry aloud today? Certainly it seems to me that today's streets are filled with folly every bit as much, or more, than the streets were in Solomon's day. "How long?"

Whether it's the ridiculous and perverted antics of people on stage at the American Music Awards, or films that people pay $10 that glorify extramarital sex and rebellious living, the world is full of inane behavior and idiotic thought. The question for us, though, is ... where do we fall prey to unwise thinking and sketchy behavior?

Where do we allow culture to drive the church? Where do we blindly accept patterns of dress, standards of humor and interpersonal communication that the world presses on us? Where do we fail in trusting God, so that we are more concerned about how the world views our plain living than we are about living according to God's priorities? Where do we lose heart in standing firm on our beliefs, and on the infallibility and inerrancy of the God-breathed Word?

My reading in Proverbs 1 this morning gave me pause, again, to think anew about ways in which I fail in wisdom and its pursuit. I am encouraged though - for God promises wisdom to those who ask Him, the source of all Wisdom, for it:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5 ESV)

Blessings on all of you this Thanksgiving.

0 Deeper and Deeper

I think sometimes we often sanitize (I'll speak for myself here - *I* often sanitize) the history of the kings of Judah by counting them off: "good king, bad king, bad king, good king, bad king"... and think of "good" vs. "bad" as those who "did what was right in the Lord's eyes" and even "tore down the high places", vs. those who "did NOT do what was right in the eyes of the Lord" and "did NOT tear down the high places". Then there are the middling kings like Azariah (2 Kings 14) and his son Amaziah (2 Kings 15) who "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away." (2 Kings 15:3-4) In any case, I tend to read these histories in sanitized terms wherein what was bad about these kings was that they didn't stop the people from worshipping other gods.

This picture falls apart in 2 Kings 16, when we come to Ahaz - and gets even worse by the time of Manasseh in 2 Kings 18.

Ahaz, by contrast to some of his ancestors in the kingly line, is said positively to have adopted the practices of the people whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel, even to the point of having sacrificed his son. (2 Kings 16:3) As if this weren't wickedness enough, the story is related of his pleas to Tiglath-pileser, the Assyrian king to rescue him from the Syrians, and the subsequent visit with the Assyrian in Damascus upon the defeat of the Syrians. (2 Kings 16:5-11) Upon this visit, Ahaz, apparently wowed by the splendor of the pagan altar at Damascus, instructs Uriah the priest to build a copy at Jerusalem. Ahaz then returns, and shoves the holy altar of God aside, and replaces it with the pagan altar, which Ahaz then proceeded to use for his own sacrificing. The rest of the chapter is then full of descriptions of Ahaz's own desecration of the holy things of God that Israel had been instructed in the Torah to build for the Lord's service.

This despicable man reigned in Judah for about two decades - was succeeded by Hezekiah, and then the even more beastly Manasseh who held pagan worship in the Temple of God, as we read in chapter 21 of 2 Kings.

I had forgotten about how wicked Ahaz's practices were, wherein the holy temple was effectively desecrated by the replacement of those things that God had commanded by instruments of pagan worship. I had forgotten because I think I had sanitized the Judahic kings' practices with the words "bad kings" and "walking in the way of the kings of Israel" rather than thinking of their practices as truly wicked and despicable.

I then take pause to take a look at my own heart... wherein have I replaced the things of God, and thoughts of him with useless things of this world? Let us not look at Judah's sins as though they alone are guilty of setting God aside.

0 Flavel: The Peace of A Clear Conscience

A friend and I have been reading through the Works of John Flavel for a couple of years, despite his still living in Ithaca, NY and our having moved out to Iowa 6 years ago. Thanks be to God for technology that lets us mull over the writings we're reading as though we were at the breakfast table together.

Today's reading included a discussion of the fact that if one desires to be rid of distracting fears and annoyances, one should, as Flavel puts it,

"be careful to maintain the purity of his conscience, and integrity of his ways, in the whole course of his conversation in this world." (p. 304, Volume 5, Works of John Flavel)

At the outset, Flavel writes that fears that we have can often arise out of our own disobedient carriage:

"Look, as fear follows guilt and guile, so peace and quietness follow righteousness and sincerity, Prov. xxviii.1, The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." (p. 304, Volume 5, Works of John Flavel)

Courage for the Christian and suppression of fears comes most readily to those who have no rational reason for worries and doubt - the degree to which we carry ourselves in uprightness, Flavel argues, is deeply connected to the degree to which we will be free of needless, worldly fears. When conscience is clear, we will be naturally much more restful. From what comes a clear conscience? We must first know that in Christ we are held close and justified - righteous by faith, a la Romans 5:1 -

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We must know this, that we are righteous in the eyes of God by the washing with the blood of Christ and the cleansing of our sin - else we cannot possibly have any peace. With this peace, we can pursue lives of integrity without fear because we know that we are righteous in Him, and free to walk, albeit erringly, in an endeavor to glorify Him in our lives. We needn't be fearful of a misstep that is deserving of God's wrath (as all missteps are). We rather are free to serve and love Him as he gives us grace upon grace. As Flavel later quotes, speaking of Paul's comfort and freedom from slavish fears,

"Christians have always found it a spring of courage and comfort, 2 Cor. i.12, 'For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our sonsciences, that in simplicity, and godly sincereity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world.' Their hearts did not reproach them with by-ends in religion: their consciences witnessed that they made not religion a cloak to cover any fleshly design, but were sincere in what they professed: and this enabled them to rejoice in the midst of sufferings." (p. 305, Volume 5, Works of John Flavel)

Flavel offers some helpful suggestions for keeping our consciences clear and avoiding sin that can do damage to our confidence in the Lord and give rise to fears, doubts, and torment of soul. I have found this list, which both encourages and challenges, to be extremely helpful as I stumble along in my inconsistencies. Walking in Christ, knowing I am safe in him, these words are very helpful, for ultimately as a child of God I must and do long to please my Father. Here is this list, in brief, with which I close today.

"1. Over-awe your hearts every day, and in every place, with the eye of God. This walking as before God will keep you upright, Gen. xvii.1. If you so speak and live as those that know God sees you, such will be your uprightness, that you will not care if all the world see you too...

2. Do no action, undertake no design, that you dare not preface with prayer; this is the rule, Phil. iv. 6. Touch not that you dare not pray for a blessing upon; if you dare not pray, dare not to engage; if you cannot spend your prayers before, be confident: shame and guilt will follow after.

3. Be more afraid of grieving God, or wounding conscience, than of displeasing or losing all the friends you have in the world besides...

4. What counsel you would give another, that give yourselves when the case shall be your own...David's judgment was very upright when he judged himself in a remote parable.

5. Be willing to bear the faithful reproofs of your faults from men, as the reproving voice of God; for they are no less when duly administered... it is said of Sir Anthony Cope, that he shamed none so much as himself in his family-prayers, and desired the ministers of his acquaintance not to favor his faults; but tell me, said he, and spare not.

6. Be mindful daily of your dying day, and your great audit-day, and do all with respect to them." (p. 306, Volume 5, Works of John Flavel)

0 Faith and Love Forever Joined

Paul Bayne's excellent exposition of Ephesians continues to bless with its concise formulations of truth - in treating the Apostle's transition from praise to thanksgiving in Ephesians 1:15, Bayne writes this:

"The use of this doctrine [that 'faith and love are never disjoined, but go each in hand one with the other.'] is, to shew how unjustly they slander us as teaching a faith alone without other graces, when we hold, according to the Scripture, that there can be no true faith without love, nor love without true faith; for the first is but a dead carcase, this latter is but blind devotion, neither is pleasing to God. Indeed, we teach that faith justifieth us alone without other graces, not in regard of their presence, but in regard of their co-working with faith to this effect of our justification. It is one thing to say the eye is in the head without other senses, and another thing to say the eye doth see alone, no other sense seeing with it." [p. 88, Paul Bayne, Commentary on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians, Tentmaker Publications]

The Scriptures are plain that faith alone is the instrument by which Christ's righteousness is apprehended - by which we are justified. The presence of other grace-gifts of God is not denied when one argues that we are justified by faith alone. What IS denied is that any other grace has anything to do with the standing of a person before God as righteous or unrighteous. Our works contribute nothing. Our holy attitudes contribute nothing. Our obedience in thought word and deed, in other words, contribute nothing to our standing before God as righteous - for our works are as filthy rags. We are justified in that our trust is in God's promises in Christ and we relinquish all self claims whatsoever - and believe ON Him for salvation. This faith, too, is a gift -we deny that anyone ever conjures up faith to believe on his own, by his own abilities.

Scripture is equally plain that God blesses those He blesses with faith, with other graces as well - perseverance and sanctification, to name two - each of which are found in the justified believer, but NEITHER of which play any role whatsoever in that believer's status as justified. It is slanderous to argue, as some have, that we teach a justification by a faith that has no accompanying graces - that a bare assent is sufficient unto justification.

Interestingly enough, it seems that Paul Bayne in 1618 (when the comments on the first chapter of Ephesians were published) was facing similar opposition to new legalists who wish to join faith and works on the part of the believer in procuring justification.

0 The Prophets of Baal and Lukewarmness

In this morning's reading I came to 1 Kings 18, a familiar chapter, at least in the latter half. In the midst of the chapter, we find this text:

17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" 18 And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." (1 Kings 18:17-19 ESV)

What follows, as you may recall, is the confrontation of Elijah and the prohphets of Baal, where Elijah brings heaps of derision upon the false god Baal to whom the prophets of Baal made pleas to their god to no avail. My focus in contemplating this chapter this morning was not on that episode, however, but on these verses. Ahab, one of the more plainly wicked kings of Israel, is brought to meet Elijah, whose arrival Ahab's house manager Obadiah (not to be confused with the prophet) had announced. "Troubler of Israel" is the moniker with which Ahab addresses Elijah - and Elijah rejects that label in no uncertain terms, turning the tables on the wicked king. How this reminds me of our own times today.

Who is regarded as the troublemaker? Who does the church (writ large) view as the ones who are most troublesome? Is it not the one who follows in Elijah's footsteps and plainly speaks and expounds the Word of the Lord, the full counsel of God? When denominations go downhill as many have who is it that, in the end, is made out to be the bad guy? Who is it that is called "pharisaical" and "persnickety"? Is it not the one who rejects the morphing of the church into the world and the appeasement of worldly opinions, the taking up of humanistic perspectives, and the adoption of practices borrowed from secular entertainment? "Oh, you troublemaker - can't you see we need to change with the times?" "Don't you realize that the Pharisees were just like you, insisting on a strict reading of Scripture?"

As Solomon wrote so frequently in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun.

Following this passage, we find in 1 Kings 18:20-21,

20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." And the people did not answer him a word. (1 Kings 18:20-21 ESV)

In thinking over this and reading the next few verses of 1 Kings 18, I am reminded of Christ's words to the luke-warm church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:15-18.

15 "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. (Revelation 3:15-18 ESV)

"If God be God, then zealously cling to and follow Him and heed His Word!" If you do not believe that, then eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you shall die - and stop pretending a commitment to the God of Scripture! DThe message from Elijah and from Christ is the same. Toss the world aside with its opinions, perspectives and practices, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ and seek to be conformed to His image. Cast off the shackles of expectation that the world places on you, and live simply in His grace, committed fully to His ways and eschewing the priorities the world demands that we uphold. The world looks often at Scripture as a source of bondage, and wholesale commitment to the Lord and His commands as imprisonment and suppression of self.

In Truth, it IS suppression of self. Self-denial is the destruction of the fleshly desires that we carry in us thanks to the first Adam. True liberation of self, unto a holy and Christlike walk, however, is far from bondage - it is freedom, and the only freedom we need or ought to desire or pursue. I'm quite content to be seen as a 'troubler of Israel' if commitment to that true freedom brings such comments.

0 Wisdom to Discern the Need of the Hour

In Colossians 4 today I came to the following pair of verses:

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5-6 ESV)

The thought that struck me upon reading this was the contrast between what it teaches and the notion of a pre-packaged presentation of the Gospel that is often assumed to be the best means of reaching people with the truth of Jesus Christ. Paul writes here that we are to "walk in wisdom" towards those who are not in Christ - we are also to have gracious speech that is to be characterized by that rather mysterious phrase "seasoned with salt", and most importantly to the point I am making, we are to carry ourselves such that we know how we "ought to answer each person".

When a pre-packaged approach is used - the same planned phrases and bullet points being made to each individual to whom Christ is being presented - how can it be said to be a "wise" carriage? I'm reminded as I think of these methods of evangelism of the classic illustration of the vacuum cleaner salesman who sticks his foot in the unsuspecting housewife's door and dumps a load of dirt on her carpet, and then plans to sell her a vacuum cleaner by showing her how easy it is to get that dirt clean. His pre-packaged approach assumes that 1) she won't kick his rear end out of the house, that 2) she'll be so pleased to have the dirt cleaned up that she's willing to listen to his spiel, and that 3) she will be impressed with the speed and effectiveness of his presentation that she'll want to buy the thing. I'm not sure how different the pre-packaged Gospel presentation is than this.

Rather, we are to be wise - and to carry out our discussion of Christ on an individual basis, knowing something about them, and chiefly being able to discern from them what they know, rightly or wrongly, about Christ and their own standing before God. Our training as witnesses for Christ truly needs to be a focus in the generals, and not so much in the specifics... and we must wisely recognize that a pre-packaged approach will simply not work. Everyone is different, everyone's understanding of the world and of their standing before God is different - and people are attracted to different things. The last thing we want to do is shove the contract before them with its multiple bullet points and small print that we don't mention (such as "count the cost!") and expect them to sign up in 5 minutes.

In order to be wise, to be able to "answer each person" in a manner seasoned with salt and full of grace, we need to understand well what the Gospel is exactly. We must understand the human condition before God in light of the covenant headship of Adam and our standing condemned apart from any sin in ourselves - we must understand that we, too, have sinned grievously before God and therefore have compounded our awful standing in condemnation - we must understand that the blood of Christ alone given for His people washes from sin and redeems - we must understand that faith itself is a gift and that however nicely we might package the gospel, some will simply not hear because their ears are plugged tight because of sin - we must understand that our duty is to faithfully proclaim these things, and no more. Success in the effort does NOT hinge upon us, but is determined by whether we've faithfully borne witness to God's truth. Evangelism is a conversation, brought about between a believer and an unbeliever; it takes time; it takes discernment; it will not fit into a pre-packaged mold.

How do we develop skills in discernment and bearing faithful witness? Training programs might be helpful, if they teach the witnesser to eschew the bullet-point gospel and to know the truth and know it well. Developing the means to understand just what it is a person misunderstands about Christ or his state before God is a good first step. When bank tellers are taught to be able to detect counterfeit currency, they are NOT shown examples of counterfeits - but rather, they are given ample opportunity to handle, feel, smell, observe visually THE REAL THING. By knowing the real deal as well as they are capable of, they are able thereby to discern ANY flaw in ANY counterfeit. The same is true for us in bearing witness to Christ and discussing (yes, discussing! Again, real and effective evangelism does not lend itself to "the gospel" being transported on the back of a 3x5 card) His person and work with an unbeliever. We have to be ready to handle any objection, and to truly "give reason for the hope that lies within us". We have to be wise and discerning and be prepared to take the long journey of conversation that a careful witness-bearing requires. If we know the truth well - we shall be prepared to "know how to answer every person" and thus faithfully obey Paul's words to us in Colossians 4.

0 Put to Death What? Sin?

Paul writes in his Epistle to Colossae:

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." (Col. 3:5-10, ESV)

The prescription is relatively straightforward. Why, then, is it so hard for us to accept that we truly are to seek a different life? Certainly the Scriptures make it clear that our justification does not derive from how closely we follow this prescription... but nevertheless we cannot sit back and adopt a licentious attitude about sin - a lack of concern about the pattern of our lives. John, too, in his first epistle makes this point quite clear. John there, and Paul here clearly speak to the expectation that the ways of the world are not to be that which we follow - yet some, it seems, in order not to offend the "seeker" hesitate to say anything concerning renovation of heart and life. Why is that? Have we adopted a "sales" attitude concerning the Christian life?