Category Archives: Gospel Centrality

Belief, Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

The need for new hearts

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“And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today.”
(Deuteronomy 30:6, 8 ESV)

The Israelites problem was their hard, unbelieving hearts.  This is a major focus of Deuteronomy – God is not after mere dutiful obedience, He is after our joyful submission overflowing from grateful hearts.  The people did not have these kinds of hearts because God had not given them believing hearts.  But God, being rich in mercy, promises to give them hearts that obey – new hearts, hearts of flesh rather than hearts of stone.  Only with new hearts are we able to enjoy a covenant relationship with the Creator.

This involves God writing His laws on our hearts which produces relational intimacy (Jeremiah 31:33), and hearts of flesh that allow us to walk in true obedience (Ezekiel 36:26-27).  Those that are truly His are not based on external heritage & race – it is those who have circumcised hearts wrought by the Spirit (Romans 2:25-29 & Colossians 2:11).  Circumcision was an external sign of the covenant, but this was merely an outward picture of the inward reality of our need for circumcised hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16).  Circumcision symbolizes the removal of our stubbornness that prevents us from loving God rightly (which is the first & greatest commandment – see Deuteronomy 6:5).   This is the same as uncircumcised lips that do not speak well (Exodus 6:12) or uncircumcised ears that do not hear well (Jeremiah 6:10).   We are a stiff-necked, rebellious & stubborn people apart from the regenerating, faith depositing grace of God (here).

The book of Deuteronomy readily points out that the people need new hearts – hearts that obey, but this is not something that they can produce on their own – they need God to do it in them (Deuteronomy 30:6, 29:4).  Only those whose hearts have been made new are truly His – external rituals, signs & obedience are not enough; new hearts are required (Jeremiah 4:4 & 9:25-26 & Romans 2:25-29).  Faith springs forth from a regenerated heart.

If you are a Christian, it is not because you prayed a prayer or walked an aisle.  If you are Christian, it is because God graciously determined before He made anything (Ephesians 1:4-6) that He would make your dead heart alive (Ephesians 2:4-6, Colossians 2:3, 1 Peter 3:18).  It is because of His sovereign choosing, not because of you being spiritually attuned to God or seeking after Him.  We don’t seek God (Romans 3:11, 10:3), He seeks us (Luke 15:4-10, 19:10).  When we realize that our best efforts are but filthy rags before a perfectly holy Creator (Isaiah 64:6), we are moved to cry out for mercy.  When we realize that our faith is the result of God’s regenerating work in our hearts, then our hearts begin to overflow with gratitude & appreciation and we worship.  Be thankful today that He chose to regenerate your heart not because of anything that you did, but solely because of His goodness & grace.

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Being okay with your smallness

““You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. And the LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick— the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath— all the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book, and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as they are this day.’” (Deuteronomy 29:16–28 ESV)

Beware lest just one person’s heart turns away and chases other gods and idols.  Apparently, idolatry is contagious.  Pride & hardness of heart will lead a person to the point at which he (or she) says, ““I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.” (Deuteronomy 29:19 ESV).  WOW, what arrogance & pride; I’ll walk in disobedience because I am the master of my own fate, master of my own soul.  God’s response to this outright rebellion is wrath.  He will not sit idly by, while His chosen people mock Him openly!  This is rooted in the justice, holiness & jealousy of God.  He has rights on their souls (and ours) and He had been profoundly merciful & gracious towards His people (and towards us), but there is a point at which He exacts justice because He will not allow His people to tread on His holiness.  Mass destruction of the land will ensue because of the people’s rebellion and their neighbors will want to know why God did such a thing.  The answer:  ““It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 29:25 ESV).  The Christian is safe from these curses because a Substitute obeyed perfectly on our behalf. 

What is ironic is that they had no relationship with these false gods, and yet they chased after them thinking that they would produce soul satisfaction (v25-26).  God is completely involved with His people – He cares & is connected, He is not some distant deity!  He is close!  And yet, created gods which are no gods at all, hold power in the hearts of the people.  God, protect us from chasing created gods thinking that they will satisfy our souls!

Verses 24-28 anticipates the people’s rebellion & idolatry as they break the first commandment and chase after other gods!  Chapter 28 weighed blessings & curses, but now it seems apparent that the author anticipates the people’s rebellion because “the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” (Deuteronomy 29:4 ESV).  These are strong words that show us that apart from God’s divine intervention, we will not be able to obey.  Yes, unless the Spirit regenerates the motivations of your heart, you will not be able to believe & obey.  This is no white knuckled effort, this is dependent grace that glorifies God.

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV).  God has some secrets that He has chosen not to reveal to us and we are going to have to be okay with that.  We are going to have to trust that He is faithful, good & sovereign.  We are going to have to admit that we aren’t unlimited in our understanding & perspective.  This means that even when I don’t fully understand, I’m called to obey.  This is not mechanical obedience; my obedience is rooted in a relationship of trust, not in trying to earn God’s approval because it has already been earned.  I must walk by faith & not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) because my eyes always fail me, for there is a way that seems right to me, but it really leads to death (Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25).  Lord, help me to recognize my limitedness and help me to walk in joyful obedience, trusting in your goodness & grace.

Belief, Faith, Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

God, give us believing hearts

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“And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” (Deuteronomy 29:2–4 ESV)

The Israelites had been witnesses of the loving care, miraculous power & sovereign rule of God and yet they did not have seeing eyes, hearing ears or understanding hearts.  They had wandered in the desert and their clothes & shoes had not worn out, God had defeated kings and given them their land (29:5-9).  Their obedience was designed to flow out of grateful hearts that remembered their God & His faithfulness to them.  It is easy for us to look down on the Israelites for their unbelief – after all they saw God do mighty miracles with their own eyes!  We ought to be careful with our self-righteousness, because unbelief is our problem as well (“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”” (John 6:29 ESV), see also 1 John 3:23).  Jesus alludes to unbelief by using the same analogy of having a hearing problem (Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:9, 12 & 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

Why didn’t the people obey?  Because the Lord had not given them believing hearts.  Unless the Lord opens our eyes, ears & hearts, we will remain blind, deaf & cold towards Him.  God is the one who opens hearts (Acts 16:14), and enables faith by the regenerating power of His Spirit; our only contribution is the sin that makes reconciliation necessary.  One of the major themes of Deuteronomy is Israel’s need for right hearts; it foreshadows the people’s inability to respond rightly to God (Deuteronomy 5:29, 8:17, 9:4).  It looks forward to a day when God would give His people new hearts (10:16, 30:6), which is a theme that is continued throughout the Old Testament (see Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27).

Our greatest need is not more impact, influence, morality or even obedience.  Our greatest need are hearts that truly believe the seemingly impossible promises of God.  The Central Promise of the bible is that a good, perfect, holy & all powerful God would make a way for His rebellious creatures to be reconciled into a relationship with Him.  The staggering implications of this should mark our entire lives.  The more that we understand that we are far more sinful than we first thought, but the gracious sacrifice of God in Christ covers our ongoing apathy & rebellion, the more that we walk in dependent humility.  A deeper, fuller understanding of the gospel shatters self-righteousness which is rooted in our own performance & morality.

Let us abandon our propensity of pretending to be godly, and let us actually pursue godliness.  Let us beg God to give us faith to believe, for we cannot produce this on our own.  God, take our far too small faith & multiply it, we do believe, but help us with our unbelief (Mark (9:21-24); help us to behold you for who you really are and cause us to become more like you (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Deconstructing Religion

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“There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”” (Luke 13:1–5 ESV)

Two seemingly obscure events are mentioned in this text that we find nowhere else in scripture.  In the first event, Pilate had apparently murdered a group of Galileans who were trying to offer sacrifices.  The second event involved what appears to be an accident at the tower of Siloam which was probably part of the wall in Jerusalem near the pool of Siloam.  Jesus, after each event, asks “do you think that they are worse sinners than you are?”

What is He doing?  He is deconstructing the popular idea that accidents, tragedies, sickness & suffering is directly traced to personal sin (see John 9:2).  Our common logic is that bad people get bad things and good people get good things.  Jesus deconstructs that belief with this story.  He presses on us to evaluate if we really are deserving of the good in our lives as we tend to look down on those who are experiencing hardship and travesty in their lives.  This is the same logic that Job’s friends used on him, “Job, you obviously have unrepentant sin in your life or else you would not be suffering like you are.”

We seem hardwired to look down on others who are going through difficult circumstances and reckon (though we’d rarely say it) that they probably deserve it.  Conversely, we think that we deserve to be spared from difficulties because we are pretty good people; we cry “foul” when things go badly, because we didn’t deserve that turn of events!  This belief is cancerous to our souls because when things are good, we become puffed up & self righteous, and when things are difficult we feel condemned (or unfairly treated) and jump on the treadmill of good works to remedy the situation and earn some of God’s blessing & favor.

Jesus shatters this thinking by saying, “no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”  What?  Were those people blatant sinners?  They were no worse than His hearers and no worse than you or me.  Jesus connects this with the broader truth that a final judgement is coming and that we should be prepared.  This is jarring & sobering and should cause deep introspection because not all who proclaim Jesus as Lord are really redeemed (Matthew 7:21-23).

Nothing that you can do will earn God’s favor or affection.  Jesus earned that at the cross when He cried, “It is finished.”  When something is finished there is nothing else that needs to be done.  The beauty of grace is that we get what we do not deserve (and could never earn) based on the performance of Another.  Religion says, “you must work hard to keep the approval of God.”  Grace says, “there is nothing that you can do to keep the approval of God, it was secured at the cross and can never be lost.”

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit, Meditations

Chosen to be trophies of His grace

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16 ESV)

“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19 ESV)

In case you have forgotten, the bible explicitly proclaims from Genesis to Revelation that He chose us, we did not choose Him.  He was the initiator, He was the one that sought us – we did not seek Him.  No one seeks God (Romans 3:11), we were spiritually dead (Genesis 2:17, Ephesians 2:1-10).  This means that if you are a Christian, then you were chosen according to God’s sovereign electing purposes which are mysterious to us.  You were not chosen because you were more spiritually attuned, more moral, had the right upbringing or because of what you would become after God saved you.  You were chosen to be a trophy of His grace.  You were (and still are) undeserving.  When you present yourself as worthy before God, He finds it disgusting (Isaiah 64:6) because you are not and the fact that you are trying to present yourself that way indicates that you have a fundamental misunderstanding of grace.

He foreknew you and predestined (determined before He created anything) you to be conformed into the image of His Son.  He predestined, He called, He justified and He will be faithful to glorify (Romans 8:29-30).  There is nothing about you doing anything in Romans 8:29-30, the emphasis is upon a gracious, saving, adopting God who redeems enemies and adopts them as family.  The more we understand this, the more that we worship God with hearts of gratitude.

A few passages to consider:

  • Deuteronomy 4:37-39 (God loved & chose Abraham & his offspring), 7:6-9 (it is not because we are awesome that He set His saving affections upon us, but because of His love & sovereign choosing), 10:14-15 (God owns everything and yet, He set His heart upon us), 14:2 (the Lord chose you as His treasured possession out of all of the people of the earth)
  • Isaiah 41:8-10, 44:18-20 (God blinds those who worship idols), 48 (God uses Cyrus, a pagan king), 57:18-19 (God creates repentant hearts), 65:1 (sought by those who did not ask for God)
  • Ezekiel 33:11 (God desires that all be saved and finds no joy in those who reject the Gospel)
  • Luke 24:31 (their eyes were opened, and they recognized him)
  • John 3:27 (A person cannot receive one thing unless it is given to him from heaven), 8:47 (those of God hear God), 10:26 (you don’t believe because you aren’t part of Jesus’ flock), 13:18, 15:16 (You did not choose me, I chose you), 15:19 (I chose you out of the world), 18:37
  • Romans 10:20 (Gentiles, who did not seek God found Him)
  • Ephesians 1:4-11, Ephesians 2:1-9 (But God, being rich in mercy, made you alive)
  • Colossians 2:11-15 (He made you alive)
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14 (God chose you to be first fruits)
  • 1 Peter 1:3-5 (He has caused us to be born again)
  • 1 Timothy 2:4 (God desires that all be saved and finds no joy in those who reject the Gospel)
  • 1 John 4:6
Belief, Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

We do not lose heart

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Singular devotion, first affection

““If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.” (Deuteronomy 13:6–11 ESV)

Loving God with our whole heart precedes the closest of human relationships (siblings, children, spouse or friend).  In this passage, if someone close tries to draw their affections & obedience after a false god then they were not to follow them, listen to them, pity them, spare them or conceal them.  This is radical in a culture where high value was placed upon family.  Singular devotion to God comes before family.

Radical measures are again called for when they are called to stone the tempter, and they are called to be the first one to cast the stone!  Imagine casting a stone against your sister, husband, child or best friend.  The standard of God’s holiness is HIGH.  Do we pursue holiness with this fervor today?  Do we aggressively eradicate the idols in our midst today?  

Singular devotion is of such importance that He instructs the people to completely destroy  one of their own cities if it is given over to following other gods (v 12-15).  Are we this violent with the competing affections in our hearts?  Probably not!  God longs to bless His people by showing them His mercy & grace (v 17-18).  But, the people must obey God – obedience starts with loving the Lord with all of our hearts and not having any other gods. 

They were never able to obey out of a heart of love and we persistently fail also.  Thankfully Someone did obey perfectly out of a heart of love.  He not only took our sin, but also gave us His perfect obedience so God continually showers us with mercy & grace.  Thank God for a substitute.  Be thankful that His grip on & delight in you is not contingent upon your grip on & delight in Him.  Your spiritual performance does not direct His love, approval & affection for you; Jesus imputed that to you so you can stop striving!

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

A deceived heart

“Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them” (Deuteronomy 11:16 ESV).

The warning to guard their heart comes back up again (see 8:11-17).  It seems that abundance has a way of drawing the heart away from the Almighty.  In this situation, it is likely that the Israelites would attribute the bountifulness of the land to the Canaanite’s fertility god.  Allowing their heart’s affections to be pulled off of their God and placed upon another will enrage God, Who has been so long suffering & gracious toward a persistently rebellious people.  We aren’t much different today.

The risk of abundance & affluence has always been a danger to authentic faith; the heart looses its wonder with the provisions of God.  It begins to attribute the abundant blessings to something else like hard work, intelligence, education, savvy, etc.  When this happens the heart’s affections are pulled off of God and placed upon something else – something else becomes the object of our worship.  How do we battle this?  We go to the Scriptures to see God and We beg God to show us His sovereign majesty.  We ask Him to imprint our souls with His goodness & faithfulness.  We seek to understand, at a deep heart level, that we are totally undeserving of the unearned affection of the Creator of the universe because our hearts are prone to want His good gifts far more than we want Him.  When we begin to understand and embrace these truths, our hearts will marvel at His goodness & grace towards us.

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Law doesn’t inspire the heart

““You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him” (Deuteronomy 11:18–22 ESV)

The way to avoid our hearts from wandering is to lay up the words of God in our hearts and souls, teaching them to our children and placing practical reminders around us.  This isn’t just the law (or a moral checklist) because the law, on its own, does not inspire the heart.  God is after a heartfelt love for Him.  This has to also include the constant, persistent recalling of God’s goodness, faithfulness & provision to an undeserving people (you & me).  This is a major theme in Deuteronomy – Moses continually unpacks the majestic power & greatness of God and the Israelite’s rebellion & hard heartedness. He anticipates that they will be prone to rob God of His glory by attributing the abundance in their lives to something else – and they did.  We do the same thing today.

Perhaps, we should follow the pattern of intentionally recalling God’s goodness, faithfulness & provision to us despite our persistent hard heartedness toward Him.  We need constant reminding that we are not deserving, but objects of His mercy – not because of anything that we did or will do.  He chose us because He is gracious and is working good, not because we did/do good.