False Christian teachings, trends….
This post has a video-excerpt of Dr. Carl Trueman speaking on the mortification of sin. The excerpt is the final minutes of part 2 of a 5-part series Trueman was teaching on mortification of sin via the work of John Owen. This excerpt is intended to introduce readers to Dr. Trueman and mortification of sin; and it also emphasized something about the Christian battle against sin that is not generally known in the contemporary church, it is a life-long battle that must be fought.
Twenty-first century evangelicalism has gone as far as to say that the concept of ‘sin’ is irrelevant in this modern age. That is an extreme position, of course; but it seems that most of evangelicalism is far from biblical quality. Biblical preachers and teachers of the faith, speak about the value of knowing God as He has revealed Himself in scripture and of knowing self as God has revealed mankind in the Bible. To have more than a theoretical understanding of oneself, one must have insight into his sin. For example, Jesus’s words in the beatitudes indicate that one must first of all know poverty of spirit after he is born again: poverty of spirit means that one must see that he is spiritually bankrupt and has to depend wholly upon Christ for the righteousness required to enter into heaven. Writings such as by Watkinson in this post, inform about sin and provide useful insights for necessary self-discovery. [See category, Jonathan Edwards, 3 posts about glimpses into his personal spiritual walk, for much more relevant information about self-awareness, observation, etc.]
Charles Leiter preached the message in this post, he was introduced by pastor Paul Washer. I think they met in Peru where Washer still heads Heart Cry missionary organization. Leiter briefly defined and explained God’s wrath. His illustrations were very biblical, relevant and memorable. The 21st century church takes a very unbiblical position regarding sin. This short message will reorient those who wish to be on the right path, that described in the Bible.
Alistair Begg preached this two-part sermon for the New Year, to orient his congregation in accordance with God’s purposes in this world. Sermon series title: Behold Your God He had two points, the message and the mission: those need to be the chief concern of the individual Christian and the church. We are not to listen to some new prophet claiming to have a new, improved message for the church… but commit, recommit to God’s gospel message and its propagation.
Reverend Romesh Prakashpalan preached on 2 Timothy 4:10; based on that text, he explored why Demos apostatized. Simultaneously, he discussed the consequences of Demos’ actions. Questions were presented to listeners to keep them from doing like Demos; consequences were also clarified. The solution is to love the Lord more than one’s life and via prayer seek His help to accomplish that to the saving on you own soul. [Highlight points accompany this 55 minute sermon, for those who don’t have the time to listen.]
This post contains the first few pages of J C Ryle’s book, Holiness; this chapter is about ‘The Fight.’ I pasted in enough of the book to provide the foundational aspects of the fight. A few relevant links are provided at the end of the post, one is to a wonderful reading of The Pilgrim’s Progress
In the 6 minute video of this post, Jeff Mayfield explains chapter 8 of Dane Ortland’s book, Gentle and Lowly. Herein, Christ’s intercession for believers is discussed in terms of Hebrews 7:25. Once a believer realized it is impossible to make himself acceptable to God the Father, he is inclined to solely trust in Christ. This message is very encouraging if you have been struggling and failing in your fight against sin.
I do not say for a moment that holiness shuts out the presence of indwelling sin. No – far from it. It is the greatest misery of a holy man that he carries about with him a body of death (Romans 7:24); that often when he wants to do good, evil is present with him (Romans 7:21); that the old nature is blocking all his movements and, as it were, trying to prevent every step he takes. It is the excellence of a holy man, though, that he is not at peace with indwelling sin, as others are. He hates it, mourns over it, and longs to be free from its company. The work of sanctification within him is like the wall of Jerusalem – the building goes forward even in troublous times (Daniel 9:25).
…I will try, by God’s help, to examine what true holiness is and the reason why it is so needful. Then I will try to point out the only way in which holiness can be attained. I have already approached this subject from a doctrinal side. Let me now try to present it in a more plain and practical point of view. …What, then, is true practical holiness? …Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing with God’s judgment – hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. He who most entirely agrees with God is the one who is the most holy.
The purpose of this post is to provide a biblical definition of sin. I believe this is important because mainstream Christianity focuses on grace, believing they can ignore the Old Testament, sin, hell-fire preaching…. If you have read through the Bible, then you know that they are making up their way as they go along. They are on the wide road that leads to destruction, according to Jesus in Matthew 7. When Jesus opened His ministry in Matthew 4, His first words were, Repent and believe the gospel. To repent of known sin, one must know how to define it first of all….