The Puritans (and their admirers, past and present) actually maintained that only one who has come thoroughly to hate sin can turn wholeheartedly from it to Christ. Contrition is necessitated not by the terms of the gospel, which calls us to Christ directly, but by the state of the fallen human heart. God uses the law to pave the way for the gospel by making us see not our only guilt but also the ugliness, nastiness, and repulsiveness of our previous ways, so that we cease to love them; and that sets us free to love Christ when he calls us to follow him into different ways.
– David Wells in Turning To God
Author: Brian
Follower of Jesus, Husband, Dad, Grandpa, and Pastor
Acts Articles – Jesus 03C
In Acts 3, Peter gives us an incredible description of Jesus from many angles. He is the Rejected and Suffering Servant. He is the Holy and Righteous One. He is the Author of Life. Today, I want to briefly consider two more descriptions of Jesus and our response.
First, Jesus is the Prophet Moses Foretold in v22-23. Back in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Moses spoke of another prophet who was to come to whom the people must listen. Peter declares Jesus is the one Moses spoke of. And so we must, as Moses warned, listen to him. Are you listening?
Second, Jesus is the Offspring Who Brings Blessing in v25-26. Back in Genesis 22:18, God had promised Abraham that in his offspring all the families of the world would be blessed. And in Jesus indeed have the nations found great blessing. Peter mentions just some of them in Acts 3:
- Jesus blots out our sin (v19). On the cross he bore our sins that they might be washed away.
- Jesus turns us from our wickedness (v26). He not only removes the penalty for sin, but also the power of sin. Where before we walked in sin, now we follow him.
- Jesus brings time of refreshing (v20). This may refer to the Holy Spirit who now dwells within us. Truly the presence of the Lord refreshes us – a foretaste of the day when we will dwell with God forever.
- Jesus will restore all things (v20-21). One day when Jesus returns, there will be a new heavens and earth without suffering, sin, or death.
Jesus is the Prophet to whom we must listen. And he is the source of many blessings for us to enjoy!
Passion News
Here are a few posts worth considering:
Can Cities Really Block Chick-fil-A? -Michael Foust (via Christianity Today)
Attempts by Chicago and Boston politicians to block the opening of Chick-fil-A restaurants because of the company president’s views on marriage would be unconstitutional and also set a dangerous precedent for other businesses, say several attorneys.
Defining Religious Liberty Down – Ross Douthat (via NY Times)
If you want to fine Catholic hospitals for following Catholic teaching, or prevent Jewish parents from circumcising their sons, or ban Chick-fil-A in Boston, then don’t tell religious people that you respect our freedoms. Say what you really think: that the exercise of our religion threatens all that’s good and decent, and that you’re going to use the levers of power to bend us to your will.
Acts Articles – Jesus 03B
In Acts 3:15, Peter portrays Jesus as the Author of Life. He is the source of life. Again we have this indication that Jesus is God, for of course God is the source of life. He gives physical life, as he gave physical healing to the lame man earlier in Acts 3. He also gives spiritual life; we can find spiritual healing in him. Let’s apply this truth to ourselves today.
Jesus gives us life. He gives us spiritual life, abundant life, eternal life. As Jesus makes clear in John 17:3, eternal life is knowing the Father and His Son. Eternal life is to have a relationship with God. This is what makes us different from the rest of the world. We have a real relationship with our Creator. The rest of the world is spiritually dead – separated from God. But Jesus gives us spiritual life, a relationship with himself.
What a privilege! The more we grasp this truth, the more we ought to cultivate this relationship. We should want to grow in this relationship. God has given us a book to know him better. And we can speak to him at any time. Jesus has given us life – a relationship with him. Are we cultivating this relationship or squandering it?
Quotes To Ponder
The most important question we can ask about any habit or action or behavior:
Does it contradict the gospel?
– John Piper
An idle life and a holy heart is a contradiction.
– Thomas Brooks
Patience! Patience! You are always in a hurry, but God is not.
– C.H. Spurgeon
He who often thinks of God will have a larger mind
than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe.
– J. I. Packer
Acts Articles – Jesus 03A
In Acts 3:14, Peter portrays Jesus as the Holy and Righteous One.
He is the Righteous One: Once again we find an echo from Isaiah 53, this time verse 11, where the suffering servant is referred to as the righteous one. Other echoes come from Isaiah 32:1, Jeremiah 23:5, and Zechariah 9:9 which all predict that the coming Messiah King will be characterized by righteousness.
He is the Holy One: That Jesus is the holy one suggests that Jesus is to be understood as God, for we see such references to God in Isaiah 40:25, 43:15.
He is the Holy and Righteous One: The title in general speaks of his perfection – he is holy and righteous. This again echoes from Isaiah 53, where verse 9 speaks of the suffering servant having done no violence and having no deceit in his mouth. Peter later will echo Isaiah 53 in I Peter 2:22 where he says Jesus committed no sin, nor was their deceit in his mouth.
So Jesus is the Messianic King. Jesus is God. Jesus is without sin. Two applications for today:
First, Jesus is our King and God to whom we owe our total allegiance and worship. We are to obey him in all things. It doesn’t matter if we feel like it. It doesn’t matter if we want to obey. It doesn’t matter if we think Jesus is right or not. Regardless of our feelings, wants, and thoughts, we must obey. We must submit. And we must worship. Worship includes submission, but then goes further to include praise and honor. We must offer up our praises to our great God. We must live for his glory.
Second, Jesus is our righteousness. He lived a perfect life. We don’t. We fail to give Jesus our total allegiance and worship. But the good news is that his perfect life is attributed or accounted to us. II Corinthians 5:21 speaks of this miraculous exchange where the Suffering Servant bore our sins, and we now bear the righteousness of the Holy and Righteous One. In Christ, we change clothes. He takes my filthy dirty rags upon himself, and he gives me his pure white robe to wear. So now when God looks at us, he doesn’t see our sin, he sees only the perfection of Christ. He sees us righteous. What a glorious truth!
Ministry Moments
Here are two good posts on the fulfilling the Great Commission, plus two posts on leading funerals:
5 Ways Established Churches Should Think Like Plants – Brandon Levering (via The Gospel Coalition) An experienced friend once commented that planting a church is like trying to build a boat from scratch . . . when you’re already in the water. It’s not just all hands on deck—you don’t even have the deck yet to lay hands on. The context of urgency and camaraderie that comes from working so closely together at those early stages often creates a more pervasive culture of service in a church plant.
The Great Commission Is Bigger Than Your Church – Bobby Jamieson (via 9 Marks)
Because each of our churches is engaged in a mission that is bigger than any of them, we should proactively partner with other churches in order to fulfill it.
7 Tips for Preaching a Stranger’s Funeral – Dustin Neeley (via The Gospel Coalition)
Since I am doing ministry in a fallen world, this won’t be my last funeral. It won’t be yours, either, so stay prepared. Your next call could come this afternoon. Are you ready?
How To Lead an Unbeliever’s Funeral – Jared Wilson (via The Gospel Coalition)
No one has ever asked me, “Is my loved one in heaven?” because they all assume he or she is. In these moments I remind myself that I am an invited guest to this family’s mourning. It is better to speak my piece about the true gospel and rely on the Spirit to work the logic internally against mourners’ assumptions than to directly and personally contradict with a “Well, actually” to people who are sorting out their grief and trying to offer comfort.
Passion Points
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
Thirsty – Julie Van Meter
Our physical needs are great. We need water to rain down on our thirsty land. But more than that, we need to go to the well to visit Jesus, where we can drink deeply of the “living water”, and we will never be thirsty again.
Help Me Love What I Ought – Thomas A Kempis (via Trevin Wax)
Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know, To love what I ought to love, To praise what delights you most, To value what is precious in your sight, To hate what is offensive to you.
Worth Weeping For – Kevin DeYoung
If we truly want our hearts to break for things that break the heart of God, we will weep to see the word so badly handled and so boldly broken in our day.
Puddleglum’s Lesson – Chris Brauns
Christians should obey God even when it looks as though obeying him will make our lives more difficult. We must trust God’s word, rather than how we think things will turn out.
Seven Proven Weapons in the Fight for Holiness – John Piper
We all need to have a small arsenal of general promises ready to use whenever fear or craving threaten to lead us astray. Here are a few of my most proven weapons….
Killing Sin Through Personal Prayer – J. I. Packer (via Desiring God)
As blooms of sin break surface and I recognize them, I am called to — indeed deep down in my heart I want to — go into action with this prayer procedure for draining the life out of them. And I think this is a discipline every Christian has to wake up to right at the beginning of the Christian life and continue with as long as we are in this world.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord together with your local church!
Acts Articles – Jesus 03
In Acts 3:13-18, Peter portrays Jesus as the Rejected and Suffering Servant with clear echoes of Isaiah 52-53. He begins in v13 by saying that God glorified his servant Jesus, an echo of Isaiah 52:13 where the servant will be high and lifted up and exalted. Peter goes on to show how Jesus is the rejected servant delivered over to Pilate and denied by the people of Jerusalem, as Isaiah 53:3 depicts Jesus as the rejected servant who is despised and rejected. Peter shows Jesus as the suffering servant in v18, and Isaiah 53:4-8 depicts the suffering of the servant as he stricken, wounded, crushed, oppressed, and afflicted. And so Jesus is the rejected and suffering servant from Isaiah 52-53. Two thoughts for us today:
First, Jesus can identify with our suffering:
Have you been despised? So was Jesus.
Have you been rejected? So was Jesus.
Have you known sorrow and grief? So did Jesus.
Have you been afflicted? So was Jesus.
Have you been wounded? So was Jesus.
Have you been crushed? So was Jesus.
Have you been oppressed? So was Jesus
Have you been stricken? So was Jesus.
Have you suffered? So did Jesus.
Have you known pain? So did Jesus?
And when you face death. Jesus faced it too.
He is not distant, untouched by our infirmities.
He has been there. He knows. He cares.
He endured it all for you. And so now we endure it all for Him.
Second, Jesus bore our sins in our place:
He is the suffering servant who was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for iniquities. The Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all. He died for our sins. The big sins that make us cringe. The small sins we deem insignificant and yet are disgusting in God’s eyes. He bore all of our sins on the cross to remove our guilt so we could go free.
Passion News
It has been awhile since I posted the first Passion News, but there seems to be a lot in the news as of late that should interest or concern those who love God and people. Here are some helpful posts to consider:
Colorado Movie Theatre Shooting:
The True Knight Is Risen – Collin Hansen (via The Gospel Coalition)
Jesus had no illusions about why the nations rage. They rage in their sin, against their God, going so far as to put God in human flesh to death. But such evil plots in vain, because the ascended Jesus promises to return in justice. He will hold his and the Aurora movie theater’s murderers to account. And he will usher in the safety and security of the new heavens and new earth for all who believe in him.
Homosexual Boycott on Chick-fil-A:
Chick-fil-A and the Irony of the Tolerance Police – Denny Burk
Apparently, Christian business owners are no longer allowed to express religious opinions in Boston if they run crosswise with the Mayor’s views on marriage. If that doesn’t send a chill down your spine, I don’t know what will.
Two Lies about Chick-fil-A Perpetuated in the Press – Denny Burk
The President of the company, Dan Cathy, simply expressed his point of view on the issue of marriage—a point of view rooted in his Christian beliefs. And now at least two mayors of America’s two leading cities are saying that they will use their power to punish Chick-fil-a for those views. This is a moral outrage and a violation of the first Amendment to the Constitution. Every American—no matter what your view of gay marriage—should stand against this kind of tyranny.
The Same-Sex Marriage Debate:
Gay Is Not the Next Black – Voddie Baucham (via The Gospel Coalition)
It should be noted that the right to marry is one of the most frequently denied rights we have. People who are already married, 12-year-olds, and people who are too closely related are just a few categories of people routinely and/or categorically denied the right to marry. Hence, the charge that it is wrong to deny any person a “fundamental right” rings hollow. There has always been, and, by necessity, will always be discrimination in marriage laws.
Our Culture’s Moral Reasoning:
The Currency of Conviction – Kevin DeYoung
It’s been remarkable to see the relativists head for the hills in light of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. The moral outrage has been loud and immense (and justified). I’ve heard no one appeal to diversity, multiculturalism, situational histories, or different ways of being…. Which has me wondering why some sins are so obviously scandalous in our culture and others are not. The difference, as best as I can figure it, has to do with victimization.
Religious Organizations and Health Care Coverage:
Co-Belligerency and the First Freedom – Jennifer A. Marshall (via The Gospel Coalition)
Last week Wheaton College joined a lawsuit opposing the Health and Human Services (HHS) Preventative Services mandate, which forces the evangelical school to violate its religious convictions by covering abortion-causing drugs in its employee health plan. Equally noteworthy is the story’s subhead: Wheaton joined the lawsuit with the Catholic University of America (CUA).
Brian J. Mikul 