The Wanderer

UPDATE: LAST DAY! ENTER NOW!

Greetings, sports fans!

Thank you to those who have entered the competition to win a signed copy of Alan Dunn’s book, Gospel Intimacy in a Godly Marriage.  Good to see a little zest in the entries (sportive accusations of cheating included!).

There is still time to enter, so please do – we need at least one more entry to make it truly a competition, and at least two to make it a healthy competition.  The deadline is close of play this coming Monday (Mon 30 Nov) so you have a good three days left in which to make your play.

So, leap across to THE COMPETITION and meet the challenge:

Please identify a particular marriage – either in your own experience or one from church history – which you believe demonstrates true gospel intimacy.  Please briefly explain how this is manifested in the marriage, and what you have learned (e.g. of Christ and his church, the nature of gospel love, how to demonstrate a genuinely Christlike love, etc.) as a result of learning about or observing this marriage.

Please leave answers in the comments section of the original post.

Stuart Olyott has an excellent short article in the December 2009 issue of the Banner of Truth Magazine (information and subscription here – warmly recommended), reflecting on Luther’s retrospective on the progress of the Reformation. Luther said:

I opposed indulgences and all papists, but never by force. I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word: otherwise I did nothing. And then, while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my Philip of Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing: the Word did it all. Had I wanted to start trouble . . . I could have started such a little game at Worms that even the emperor wouldn’t have been safe. But what would it have been? A mug’s game. I did nothing: I left it to the Word.

Stuart is dealing with the error of ‘mediate regeneration’, an error which he perceives gripping a vast swathe of British evangelicalism. (Incidentally, my interest in this article was piqued because I was thinking of preaching on the Spirit’s illuminating work this Lord’s day – I may not, but I should like to soon.) Stuart describes this error in this way:

Mediate regeneration teaches that when the Holy Spirit transforms somebody into a new creature in Christ, he uses an instrument to bring this about. That instrument is the Word—the Holy Scriptures. The work of the Spirit is so intimately connected to his instrument, that we can say that the Word of God actually contains the converting power of the Holy Spirit. If you let the Word loose, you are letting the Holy Spirit loose.

To put it another way: the Spirit, or the principle of new life, is shut up in the Word, just as the life-giving germ is shut up in the dry seed. Just sow the seed and people will get converted! If they don’t, it will be because they have persistently resisted the appeals of God’s Spirit coming to them through that Word. His power is resident in the Word, but that power has been resisted. Where the gospel has little success, there is a human explanation.

So Luther should not have baldly said, “I left it to the Word” because the Word, apart from the Spirit (who is not bound to the word in the way wrongly suggested) accomplishes nothing.

Stuart’s point is that the Spirit works with the word (cum verbo) and not simply through the word (per verbo). While it is and always remains the true Word of the living God, yet without the operation of the Spirit on the heart of the man reading it, it remains as dry as a stick to him. Regeneration is an immediate operation of the Spirit of Christ on the heart of a man making him spiritually alive and aware, and therefore able to comprehend the truth. But the Spirit does not use the truth to accomplish that regeneration; the effect of regeneration is spiritual comprehension of the truth.

Isn’t this splitting hairs? No, says Mr Olyott:

A biblical mind-set ticks completely differently. It goes like this:

• Although the Word can bring a new spiritual life to birth and visibility, it can never bring about the generation of that new life. God himself must do that, by a direct action of his Spirit within the human soul.
• We can preach, teach, persuade and print until we are blue in the face, but nothing will get done unless the Lord himself accompanies the Word. All men and women are spiritually dead, and will remain so for ever, unless the Lord brings them to life.
• It is not enough then to sow the Word, making its meaning plain while we do so. We must have dealings with God, pleading with him to do what only he can do, that is, to work by direct action within people’s souls.

What will be the effect of such a Biblical state of mind?

Where the biblical mind-set rules, you will find preachers who ‘pray through’—men who strive and agonise and prevail in prayer, until the Lord accompanies their preaching in an obvious way.

• Where the biblical mind-set rules, you will find crowded prayer meetings filled with believers who storm the throne of grace, determined that by sheer importunity they will persuade God to accompany the word to be preached.
• Where the biblical mind-set rules, you will find gatherings of Christians beseeching the Lord to pour out his Spirit in awakening power. Of course you will! They understand all too well that no spiritual work will get done anywhere, however much sowing takes place, unless the Lord himself changes rebellious hearts and gives to them spiritual life and appetite.
• But the biblical mind-set does not rule. Most British preachers study more than they pray. Countless believers do not go regularly to church prayer-meetings, or, if they do, fail to plead with God for his blessing upon the preaching. Prayer for revival has almost left us. The error of mediate regeneration is slowly but surely strangling us, and things will go from bad to worse unless we repent.

Stuart is not saying anything new. The 1689 Confession of Faith contains a chapter on the gospel and its gracious extent. The fourth paragraph, in its usual pithy and dense fashion, makes the same point as Stuart, which I give in a slightly modernised format:

The gospel is the only outward [external] means of revealing Christ and saving grace, and, as such, is fully sufficient for this purpose. However, in order that men who are dead in trespasses may be born again, quickened or regenerated, there is also necessary an effectual, insuperable [irresistible] work of the Holy Spirit upon the whole soul to produce in them a new spiritual life.⁸ Without this, no other means will accomplish their conversion unto God.⁹

⁸ Ps 110.3; 1Cor 2.14; Eph 1.19-20  ⁹ Jn 6.44; 2Cor 4.4, 6

I feel the charge of spending more time bending over a commentary than bending my knees in prayer. I see all around me men and women who have heard and are hearing the truth as it is in Jesus without any spiritual comprehension of that truth, and I see the desperate necessity of a direct work of God’s Spirit upon their hearts if they are to believe. They are, many of them, competent, intelligent professionals, some eminent in their spheres, but they cannot see the truth. They never will, unless the Holy Spirit opens their blind eyes.

The story is told of how William Wilberforce once took William Pitt, Britain’s youngest ever Prime Minister, a man of intellectual penetration and brilliance, to hear Richard Cecil, an evangelical minister of the gospel with a reputation for sweetness and clarity. As the brilliant Pitt came out of the church, having heard the gospel plainly and powerfully declared, he blinked in the sunlight. “You know, Wilberforce,” he said, “I have not the slightest idea what that man has been talking about.” What was missing? The blessing of spiritual enlightenment for which Wilberforce had been praying, a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit enabling even the most humanly brilliant of men to grasp the simple truth of the good news in Jesus Christ. Truly, the kingdom advances “’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zec 4.6).

Let us not, then, fall into the sterilising error of mediate regeneration, but pray for the Spirit powerfully and savingly to accompany the Word preached.

W. G. T. Shedd on “Religious Meditation”:

All merely speculative thinking is inquisitive, acute, and wholly destitute of affection for the object.  But all practical thinking is affectionate, sympathetic, and in harmony with the object.  When I meditate upon God because I love him, my reflection is practical.  When I think upon God when I desire to explore him, my thinking is speculative.  None, therefore, but the devout and affectionate mind truly meditates upon God; and all thought upon that Being which is put forth merely to gratify the curiosity and pride of the human understanding forms no part of the Christian habit and practice which we are recommending.

Sermons to the Spiritual Man (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1972), 6

Let our thinking upon God be an ardent and affectionate desire to know him whom we love, and not a mere intellectual exercise of philosophical exploration.

A father’s broken promises are a terrible testimony to the God whose word cannot be broken.

As is plain from the parallels that Scripture draws between God the father and human fathers, children should look at a parent and see their something that mediates and models the character of God.  A child should look at a father’s relationship with a mother and ultimately think, “If that is a faint reflection of the love of Jesus for the church, then that is a Jesus I want as my Saviour.”  The child likewise, from the experience of being fathered, should be drawn to think, “If my father’s love for me is a faint reflection of the heavenly Father’s love for his children, then I want to be a true child of God.”

When we make our children promises, we must underwrite them with a “God willing.”  But we must never give our children an excuse to imagine that God is not true to his promises of blessing or, indeed, his threatening of punishment.  We must never make a promise that we do not have the strictest intention of fulfilling to the best of our strength and ability; we must not make extravagant or vain promises for the fulfilment of which we have no capacity.

As God’s constituted authority and representative and teacher of his truth, if we say that we will be somewhere or do something, barring genuine providential hindrances, we must be there or do it.  If we lay down a condition upon which blessing will follow, that blessing must follow.  If we make plain that there are sanctions that will follow transgression, those sanctions must fall as promised.  Anything less opens the door for a child to doubt, disbelieve, neglect or even scorn the truth of God.  I know men whose word I simply will not take because they have made promises and given assurances that have turned out time and again to be nothing more than airy semi-intention.  Their word is not good.  The word of God is sure.  Pity the child who grows up not knowing that when God or those who communicate his truth and character speak, their words can be relied upon.  Even when we fail because of genuine providential hindrances, we can take the opportunity to remind our children that the power and wisdom of God prevents his ever falling short.

At the same time, I was reminded of a nuance of this.  Returning home recently from a day serving another church, I had a phone call from my oldest son.  He likes to chat with Daddy before he goes to bed if Daddy is somewhere else.  The usual questions: “Where have you been?  What have you been doing?  Where are you now?”  I overhear the muttered encouragements of my wife in the background that it is time for the boy to hit the sack.  Then, the promise: “I will come and see you when I get home and give you a kiss before I go to bed.”

I got back in reasonable time and, as I went up to my own bed, I stopped in on the boys, as I do, and made sure I gave Thing One a goodnight kiss (Thing Two is still in a cot, and covered in snot, so I just looked!).  Well, Thing Two was struggling with his cold and was up repeatedly in the night.  After my wife went a couple of times to calm him, I went to give him a shot of medicine (were the teeth also giving him grief?) at about 4am.  A few moments after getting back to the warmth of the sheets there was the soft padding of Thing One heading for our bedroom.  I glanced at the clock: 0400.  Yoicks!  A voice: “Daddy, you didn’t kiss me goodnight!”

I opened my arms for a high-grade huggle (a quite delicious combination of a hug and a snuggle).  How glad I was that I could say in good conscience, “I did give you a kiss!”  Then a plaintive complaint: “I didn’t feel it.”  A couple of big smooches quickly followed, and a now-happy son curled up in my arms and went to sleep.  After a few minutes I returned him to his own bed.  (Those who like completeness in these things will appreciate knowing that he was back forty minutes later when the storm woke him up, complaining that it was too dark.  I gave up on sleep, got dressed, carried him to his bed, turned the light on, and got on with the day.)

I spoke the truth to my son, and I was able to make good on my promise.  But he did not feel it.  That is not the same as a promise being unfulfilled.  It is worth remembering that our experience of the promises of God may be similar.  God has spoken words to us, given particular assurances, and held out for our future unshakeable promises.  We hear the words, we understand the assurance conceptually, but we do not feel it concretely.  We look at the future, and it seems that the providences of God are pointing counter to his promises.  We wonder whether or not God does love us.  Are the everlasting arms really underneath us?  Is he always with us?  Is he giving us wisdom in response to our desperate cries?  Why do we seem to walk in darkness when we are children of light?

We may not feel what is nonetheless true.  God does kiss us, he showers us with blessings, he encompasses us with deeds that work out his words, but we are not always aware of it.

But God is faithful and true.  He is pleased to bless us in accordance with his promises, whether we immediately and concretely feel it to be so or not.  We have no cause to doubt him, even though we may sometimes go to him with the plaintive cry, “Father, I don’t feel it.”  He is our loving heavenly Father.  At those times he may sweep us into his arms, shower us with kisses, and gently ask, “Do you feel it now?”  Then we can go to sleep.

I am running a competition to win one of five signed copies of Alan Dunn’s book, Gospel Intimacy in a Godly Marriage.  So far, it has failed to rouse much in the way of sporting blood.

Friends, this is a first rate book.  Is it profound?  Yes.  Does it demand thought?  Yes.  Will it let you quickly off the hook?  No.  Will it call you to prayer in repentance over sin and for grace to press on?  Yes.  Will it bring a savour of Christian grace to the marriage of anyone prepared to pray it in and work it out?  Assuredly.  Is it worth having?  Indubitably.

So, please, head over to THE COMPETITION and get your well-oiled typing fingers moving at blistering speeds.  If you want to get thinking immediately, here is the challenge:

Please identify a particular marriage – either in your own experience or one from church history – which you believe demonstrates true gospel intimacy.  Please briefly explain how this is manifested in the marriage, and what you have learned (e.g. of Christ and his church, the nature of gospel love, how to demonstrate a genuinely Christlike love, etc.) as a result of learning about or observing this marriage.

So yoicks and tally-ho, etc.  The deadline is Monday 30 November.  Please leave answers in the comments.

My God is True! Lessons Learned Along Cancer’s Dark Road by Paul D. Wolfe

Banner of Truth, 2009 (168pp, pbk)

The author of this book – a Westminster Seminary student during the period in question – had the script of his life all sketched out.  When he was diagnosed with a form of cancer (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) he was forced to face the fact that God’s script differed radically from his, and was full of unwelcome stage directions and unplanned lines.

Wolfe carries us through three stages of his life with regard to cancer: discovery, endurance, and life.  For each stage he makes experience and truth walk hand in hand, first outlining the history and then peeling back the covers and taking us to the underlying issues.  This provides an excellent and lively balance to the whole book, and enables us to keep pace with Wolfe in his own odyssey.  There is a full-orbed humanity to his writing: no crippling distinctions between the physical and the spiritual here, but both recognised as interacting in the complete identity of the whole man.

The writing is honest and witty.  The book is genuinely funny at many points as Wolfe wryly reflects on his thinking, feeling and doing (or not) as a cancer patient.  It often reads as gallows humour of the kind you find in hospitals and on battlefields, and demands a smile even when potentially morbid.  However, someone at the threshold of this experience, rather than coming through it, looking back on it, or watching from a distance, might find it a touch mordant.  If you give this book to someone who is only just entering into their battle with cancer, bear in mind that they might not be ready for what, to them, might seem somewhat casual or even flippant.

At the same time, the book will call forth abundant tears, whether of painful memory, deep sympathy, or true empathy.  The author is helpfully blunt about the realities of life in a fallen world – false promises and empty hopes, even those offered with sincere and good intentions, are given short shrift.  This clears the ground to face the issues as they are.  Here, Wolfe considers not so much the question of cancer but the fact.  That is, he is less concerned with why he (or anyone else) should suffer in this way, and more concerned with what he and others should think, feel and do in the face of that suffering?  How does one face the fact that God writes the script of all lives, given that even the lives of his children are often inscribed in heavy black lines?

It is here that Wolfe excels.  Simply and clearly he faces those issues with an open Bible and brings the Word of God to bear.  He is magnificent when dealing with the importance of accurate spiritual punctuation: the imagery of exclamation and question marks rightly applied to promises and doubts is profoundly helpful.  He seeks out the genuine and lasting comforts, and is not afraid to face the eternal perspective.  At points, he abounds with helpful practical advice.

Wolfe survived, and his faith in God and grasp on the truth as it is in Jesus was only strengthened by the experience.  Being tested, he came forth as gold (Jb 23.10).  Like most of us, he knows others who have not.  What comes to the fore is not only the reality of the curse of sin and its effects but the reality of hope that is obtained in Jesus Christ.  We both smile and weep at the beauty of the blessings and joys that God can weave out of the darkest threads.

This book is not just for those who are wrestling with cancer, either in their own bodies or in the body of someone they love.  All those who are suffering (especially chronic illnesses) will face similar questions, and find help in the answers that this friend draws from his Bible.  Those who are suffering alongside others, carrying the burdens of caring and serving, will likewise find help here.  Pastors and others who will minister particularly to the soul will find careful and practical guidance for the task.  Alistair Begg writes of this book, “My search is over for the one book to give to someone battling cancer.  This material is exceptional – the most helpful I have read on the subject.”  For clarity, simplicity, brevity, and sincerity in bringing God’s truth to bear on this awful experience, he may well be right.

• Westminster Bookstore
• Monergism Books
• Amazon.co.uk

Westminster Bookstore brings some juicy titbits to our attention:

• This by Van Dam (not the Belgian action star) is a study into the role and function of elders, purporting to trace the office from the OT onwards.
• Anyone wrestling with historical theology, especially as it relates to the 17th century confessions of faith, will no doubt benefit from the perspicuity of Robert Letham on the theology of the Westminster Confession in its historical context.  I have ordered my copy.
• Those who enjoy pondering language and its employment will find food for thought in Vern Poythress’ God-centred study of language.
• Finally, in our image-saturated culture, artist and screenwriter Brian Godawa’s provocative-sounding examination of how story and imagination helps us to know God will doubtless stimulate much debate.

Please read to the end of this interview for an opportunity to win one of five signed copies of Alan Dunn’s book.

Alan Dunn is a good friend, and one of the pastors of the Grace Covenant Baptist Church, Flemington, New Jersey, and has been since the church’s inception in 1985.  He is married to Patricia, and they have three sons and one daughter.  He has recently authored the book Gospel Intimacy in a Godly Marriage: A Pursuit of Godly Romance (Pillar & Ground Publications).  He has previously written a book on masculinity and femininity called Headship in Marriage: In Light of Creation and the Fall.

Alan Dunn in full flow . . . or not?

Gospel intimacy . . . hmmm.  To borrow a phrase: “Is this a kissing book?”

No, and yes.  It is a “wuv, twue wuv” book.  I use the term “intimacy” to speak of the all-inclusive nature of the one-flesh relationship.  Marital intimacy entails a profound knitting of soul.  As we pursue soul intimacy with our spouse, we will inevitably foster physical intimacy as both kinds of intimacy feed into each other.  The book focuses on relational intimacy.  However, sexual intimacy, which is integral to marriage, will emerge from a wholesome relational intimacy.  If you’re asking, “Is this a book about sex?” I would say, “Yes, but it will improve that area of a relationship only as a result of cultivating a deeper intimacy of soul.”

Thank you for the explanation.  That being so, please can you give us a précis of the book?  What can we expect to find?

I’ve attempted to look at marriage in the light of who we are as men and women created in the image of God and as those redeemed by Christ and indwelt by His Spirit.  I consider marriage against the backdrop of the Bible’s large emphases on God, Creation, the Fall, and Redemption.  After I define the couple in terms of creation and redemption, I then consider the greatest challenge to marital intimacy: our sin.  Only the gospel can address the threat that sin poses to our marital intimacy, so we need to learn how to give each other “gospel love.”  We face other challenges to intimacy as well, such as who will take the lead, how to overcome our innate selfishness, how to cultivate wholesome communication patterns, and how to grow more intimate as we age and face the prospect of death.

For whom is this book written?

I believe that couples at every stage of their relationship would benefit from this book.  Since marriage is treated in the context of theology and the issues addressed are fundamental, it will speak to couples of all ages.  The concern of applying the gospel to our marriages is perennial.  When do we outgrow the liability of sinning against each other?  We need to gain competence in giving each other “gospel love” throughout the course of our marriages.  Each stage along the way confronts us with persistent and unprecedented challenges that can only be met by a believing application of the gospel.  So, couples who are contemplating marriage, young, middle-aged and seasoned couples will find help and gain perspective from the book.

The real, well-seasoned Pastor Dunn

I like the idea of a well-seasoned couple – a little salt and pepper, with a few mixed herbs, perhaps?  But, moving on, could or should a single Christian bother with this book?

Admittedly, I wrote the book for Christian couples, but that is not to say that our single brethren would not benefit from it.  Let marriage be held in honour by all (Heb 13:4).  I endeavour to profile marriage with biblical honour which is a concern for all Christians, married or single.  Also, the crux of the book deals with the practical matter of how to love with gospel love.  All of our relationships in the family, the church and elsewhere, are to express gospel dynamics.  Christian singles will find encouragement to love others by seeing how the gospel is to operate within a marriage relationship.

With many books on marriage in the marketplace, even from a Christian perspective, what does yours add that others lack?

I make no claim to know the state of “the marketplace” or what might be the dominant emphases prevalent in books about marriage.  Gospel Intimacy emphasizes the theology of marriage as well as the practical importance of conditioning the marriage relationship with the gospel.  Rather than a “kissing book,” it is more a “thinking book.”  It lays foundations in creation and the gospel and then asks the reader to think through such issues as marital leadership and communication between two believing sinners living in a fallen world.

What does your lovely and longsuffering wife think of the book?

She is lovely, isn’t she?  And, as you well know, she is longsuffering having put up with me for these thirty-two years.  As for the book . . . she appreciates the biblical instruction that undergirds the book, but she is less than enthusiastic about those occasions when I make explicit reference to our marriage.  Yet she understands that it would be unrealistic for a married man to write about marriage and not refer to his own marriage or to his own wife.  She’s longsuffering and realistic – which makes her all the more lovely to me.

Are there particular ways in which discovering and applying these principles has affected you and your marriage?

As many of us, Tricia and I entered marriage with naive expectations, few commendable examples, in a time of rampant confusion regarding gender and marital roles.  The confusion has only gotten worse since we married.  We were forced to delve into our Bibles to ascertain who we were to be as male and female, husband and wife.  We’ve had to make sober assessments of our own upbringing and come to terms with our own sins which have obstructed our growth in intimacy.  Gaining the skills necessary to be honest and to communicate is invaluable.  We have come to know each other more intimately over the years, and we’re still learning how to apply the gospel to our relationship.  Each stage in life presents its own challenges and set of temptations.  But as we learn to live by gospel principles, we are hopeful that, by God’s grace, we can face what is in store for us and find Christ to be ever faithful.

In your experience, are women more likely to read books on marriage?  Given that this book is primarily addressed to husbands, why would you particularly encourage a man to read this book, and what counsel would you give him as he does so?

I think it is true that women are more likely to read books on marriage.  Certainly they are welcome to read this one as well.  I mention in the preface that I write from the vantage point of a man and, in many ways, address male readers.  My approach is “masculine,” if I can be so bold as to assume that there is such a thing as masculinity and femininity.  A godly man is responsible to know and apply biblical definitions to his life and relationships.  As I said, this is a “thinking book,” which considers biblical definitions and seeks to apply them in a number of areas.  I think this approach has biblical warrant since the husband is given the responsibility to lead by loving and by communicating truth.  If the marriage is going to be a demonstration of the gospel, the husband must lead the relationship to that end.  It will not happen by accident.  It will not just happen.  Godly marriages are shaped by couples who are intentionally determined to work together to make their marriage serve Kingdom priorities.  The leadership of the man, his prayers, his example, especially his communication of the truth in love, is indispensible.   It is not surprising to discover that our distinctive masculine sins are those which render us either negligent or abusive as domestic leaders.  It is not surprising to discover that the enticements of our culture align with our vulnerabilities as men and debilitate us as godly leaders.  The only solution is for us to rise up and be men of God and lead our families biblically.  I hope my book will stimulate men to be godly leaders in their homes.

Why gospel intimacy?  Does it have to be a godly marriage?  Could you remove either or both of those adjectives and still have a book to write?

The enemy of relational intimacy is sin.  Only the gospel can rectify the damage sin does to our relationships.  Hence, my advocacy of gospel intimacy: the intimacy obtained by the benefits of the gospel believed and applied to the marriage.  In advocating gospel intimacy I of necessity advocate godly marriages because the gospel is God’s gospel.  The gospel not only brings intimacy with our spouse, but primarily with God, so that in fellowship with Him we and our marriages become godly.  It is only as we learn to love each other with God’s gospel that we protect our relationships from the offensive, deadening, and severing effects of sin.  Sadly, we all know couples and families who live at an emotional distance from each other, who do not respect each other’s integrity, who have little if any spiritual commonality and little if any affectionate delight in each other, in spite of being married and living in the same house.  Were it not for the gospel and the blessings God gives to the godly, I really wouldn’t have a book to write.

You root a right understanding of true marital intimacy in the doctrines of God, creation, the fall and redemption.  How important is this doctrinal foundation to practical godliness in marriage?

These crucial doctrines give us our essential definitions.  God is the foundational essence of reality.  In the beginning, God . . . This is God’s creation.  We are made in His image.  We are fallen sinners.  We have fallen through sin, into death.  Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  If we fail to define ourselves in relation to all of these biblical truths, we will deceive ourselves and discover that our myths are not sufficient to endure the realities of life and the inevitability of death.  These doctrines form the structure of a biblical worldview.  They answer the big questions of who we are, why we’re here, what is wrong with us, and how things can be made right.  All men have a worldview, a set of values which issue forth from what is supreme in their life: their god.  Their god determines their values, and their values determine their choices, and their choices determine how their lives are lived in practical ways.  If a man serves mammon, then he will lead his family according to the values of mammon and he will make choices designed to get as much money as he can.  He will find his identity in his possessions.  His solution to what he senses is wrong in life is to get more money.  He thinks that more wealth will fix his problems.  He will then lead his family into the service of money.  They will learn to make commitments and sacrifices, to form habits and find enjoyment in terms of Dad’s value system of amassing wealth.  His wife and children will follow him as he does what is practically necessary to make as much money as he can.  So too, if Dad’s God is Jesus Christ, then the family will learn the values of the Kingdom and take the practical steps required to uphold the worship of Jesus, to learn the truth as it is in Jesus, to serve others in Jesus’ strength, and to give gospel love to all in Jesus’ name.  Such a life will require the practice of godliness, the devotion of time and money, and the sacrifice of self – for Jesus’ sake.

What do you think are the particular pressures that the Western culture (or, indeed, other cultures) is placing upon gospel intimacy in a godly marriage?  Does your book address these?

When men fail to assume their place as husbands giving loving leadership, two perverse results ensue, and one appears dominant in the West while the other is more evident in the East, although these are only generalizations and both perversions are rampant in both hemispheres.  The first is what I call “the perversion of inversion.”  This twisting of the God-ordained order inverts the roles of the husband and the wife and puts her into the role of leader and puts him into the role of helper.  The result is a marriage that resembles the mother-son relationship.  She inevitably leads as a mother and discovers that she has married her son.  Both soon come to resent the unnatural dynamics of this perversion.  Bitterness and estrangement choke intimacy.  This perversion pervades Western culture.  The other marital deformity, often found in Eastern cultures, is what I call “the perversion of extremes.”  Here the man takes his role as leader to an extreme and becomes a tyrant while the wife takes her duty to submit to an extreme and virtually effaces herself and assumes a diminished role in the home, in some cases even lower than the children.  Against both deformities stands the morally beautiful marriage of two believers who, in the integrity of their respective masculinity and femininity, display and adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.  A godly marriage is a powerful witness to the gospel in the midst of the perversions evident in both the East and the West.

What particular individual sins and shortcomings does your book expose and address?

The central concern addressed by the book is our unbelieving reluctance to put the gospel into practice in our marriages.  If we would triumph over the sin that so easily besets us, we have to exercise a courageous faith that believes that the Spirit can and will actually change us and conform us more and more to Christ.  We must believe that the power of the God who raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us to enable us to break away from past sins, character flaws, deficient parental influences, cultural assumptions and whatever else would prevent us from learning how to replicate Jesus’ relationship to His church in our marriages.   As Christians, our expertise is the gospel.  We should be the best repenters, forgivers, believers, and lovers on the planet.  These are the rudiments of the gospel and our failure to practice these gospel essentials exposes our shameful sin of unbelief.

Does your book have anything to say to a couple in which one or the other party was unconverted, or both were unsaved?  In the light of what you have written, what would you say to them?

Certainly a believer who is married to an unbeliever can find help and encouragement in Gospel Intimacy if only by gaining a more cogent biblical perspective on who they are as married Christians.  The unbelieving spouse may be oblivious to the gospel that is being communicated by the believing spouse, but the Lord may also work through “gospel love” to bring the unbeliever into saving union with Christ.  If an unbelieving couple were to read the book, I would hope that the foundational perspectives on God, Creation and the Fall would draw them to the beauty of what is presented to us in Genesis 2:24-25 and that they would be enabled by the Spirit to see there a picture of Jesus and His Bride, the Church.  Were an unbelieving couple to read the book, I hope they would appreciate my attempts to be honest with the realities of married life and, recognizing that measure of honesty, they would then be receptive to my witness to Christ and the gospel as the only provision for us as sinners.

You make much of genuine forgiveness and repentance in an atmosphere of love as a means of maintaining and restoring a relationship.  Can you briefly spell out the issues for us?  Why is it so important to understand and apply these things in marriage?

If we are going to become intimate with our spouse, we will inevitably encounter our remaining sin.  The sins which we might otherwise conceal in our more superficial relationships will surface in the intimate realism of married life.  Who we truly are becomes evident, and although we truly are believers, we are yet sinners as well.  The more intimate we become with our spouse, the more opportunities there are for sin to erupt and threaten our love.  As married couples, we are always together.  We see each other in ways others don’t.  The true moral quality of our core character becomes obvious.  Both our capacity to love and our capacity to sin are discovered in the crucible of marital intimacy.  We are confronted with our own personal defects and relational weaknesses as the pressure of intimacy brings our remaining sin to the surface.  If we are committed to love our spouse deeply from the heart, we will be compelled to address our own deep-seated heart sins which inevitably emerge from the pressure of intimacy.  A Christian couple must be equipped to address the eruption of sin and not be naive to it.  They must be committed beforehand to love each other with the gospel and to stand together against each other’s sin.  They must be resolved that they will remove the intrusion of sin with gospel tools: repentance, confession, faith in Christ, forgiveness, restoration and maturation in grace.  With a commitment to Christ, our marriages can be used by the Spirit to sanctify us and to display the gospel.

What changes would you hope to see in the marriage of two Christians who began to understand and apply the truths of your book?  What might that look like within the marriage, or to those outside it?

I think we all can sense when we are with a couple whose marriage is vital and loving.  Their love is comforting, pleasant, refreshing.  They generate a climate of peace and joy.  We also know the discomfort of being with a couple who are sniping at each other, being critical and circling around each other at an emotional distance.  You feel as though you’ve entered a place where you do not belong, certainly where you do not want to stay.  The couple are not comfortable with each other and their diseased intimacy makes you uncomfortable as well.  Such a deformed display of love is unattractive, discomforting, and even repulsive.  You’d just rather not be with such couples.  It is unpleasant to be with a couple who are not pleasant with each other.  But when you’re with a couple who love each other, their love emanates and envelops you and your soul is refreshed and renewed by their love.  Back in the eighties, I remember reading about a serial killer, Charles Sobhraj (Serpentine, by Thomas Thompson).  Sobhraj murdered and robbed wealthy travellers in Europe and Asia in the seventies.  At one point, he met an American couple and was seducing them with his charismatic charm, having a meal with them and planning to get himself invited to their hotel room where he would then, as usual, murder and rob them.  But this particular couple in their sixties (I wonder if they were Christians) were so obviously in love, that during the meal, they won the respect of this most hardened killer.  They didn’t have a clue that the “The Serpent” was coiling about them, but in the innocence and beauty of their love, they fended off incarnate evil as Sobhraj uncharacteristically saw them to their room and bade them goodnight.  There is spiritual power in gospel love that does more good than we can ever know this side of Final Judgment.

The last chapter of your book is about death.  Why?

We’re dying.  As a couple moves through the stages of life, encroaching death becomes more evident.  The outer man decays.  My doctor tells me that I’m deteriorating right on schedule.  You confront weakness, sickness and the inevitable separation of death.  One of you will stand next to the graveside of the other.  There is only one thing more powerful than death: our risen Lord Jesus and His conquering love for us.  If we live together, giving His love to each other, sanctifying each other with gospel grace, we are already overcoming death which threatens to sever us because of our sin.  As we experience the victory of the gospel over sin in this life, we taste of the good things to come and fortify our faith to face the inevitable onslaught of death when one of us will be taken to be with Christ and the other will remain in this life for a time.  The life of love and faith will enable us to continue to believe in the victory of the gospel and have an undying hope that, although separated for a time, we will forever be together with the Lord.  We will discover in the resurrection that our godly marriage was used by the Lord to prepare us to take our place in the glorified society of eternal love.  We will discover that our marriage was a preliminary practice for life as the Bride of Christ in a glorified society in which our relationships to all the redeemed will exceed anything we can merely approximate in this age even in the best of marriages.  A godly marriage given to gospel love is an eschatological phenomenon, already tasting of the good things to come and pointing men to eternal glory.  The more we enjoy such love, the more we triumph over death.

Are there any other resources that you would particularly recommend to a couple trying to develop gospel intimacy in a godly marriage?

Over the years I’ve read some very helpful things from Wayne Mack, R. C. Sproul, Jay Adams, Tremper Longman, Martha Peace, and others.  Many people have much to say about marriage and many voices are seeking to fend off the numerous attacks being made on marriage in our culture.  We can certainly benefit from exposing ourselves to the counsel of the wise.  I would urge, however, that we verify that they are, in fact, wise.  I am more receptive to those writers who are determined to instil biblical truth and anchor my mind and practice to Scriptural counsel than those who present arguments based on psychology, sociology, and pragmatism.  I’m confident that biblical doctrine is profoundly practical when it is embraced and pursued in faith and obedience.

How can we get your book?  I looked on Amazon, and – unless you have a lucrative sideline in making sugarcraft flowers – the fruit of your labours is not there.

I just looked on Amazon to verify that I am, in fact, in the sugarcraft flower business.  I was unaware of that and I have no idea what “sugarcraft” might be.  I imagine that that Alan Dunn would be surprised to discover that he has written a book about the gospel and marriage.  It might be just as well for his peace of mind that the book is not listed on Amazon – yet.   Meanwhile the book can be obtained through the publisher: Pillar and Ground Publications, 5510 Tonnelle Ave., North Bergen, NJ, USA 07047-3029 (cris.hist@verizon.net).  The book is also available here from the Trinity Book Service.

Thank you, my friend, for taking the time to write these careful and insightful answers.  I hope that your labours will be a means of investing in multiple marriages for the blessing of godly men and women and all those in connection with them, and the advance of the gospel in every sense.

COMPETITION

I have five signed copies of Alan Dunn’s Gospel Intimacy in a Godly Marriage to give away.  The competition is open to all readers from Europe only.  (Sorry, others – the book is currently more easily available in the US, and the books were given for a competition on this side o‘ the pond.)

I did think of asking why you need this book, with the most persuasive answers obtaining a copy, but then I thought that – under those circumstances – ‘desperate’ would easily become a synonym of ‘persuasive’, and things could get messy, so I canned that idea.

The actual competition is as follows:

Please identify a particular marriage – either in your own experience or one from church history – which you believe demonstrates true gospel intimacy.  Please briefly explain how this is manifested in the marriage, and what you have learned (e.g. of Christ and his church, the nature of gospel love, how to demonstrate a genuinely Christlike love, etc.) as a result of learning about or observing this marriage.

Please leave your suggestions in the comments section of the blog (as they might be a means of encouragement, edification and stimulation to other readers, even if you are geographically ineligible for the competition itself [just put in a line to that effect]).  Although the comment thread will be left open, competition entries must be posted within two calendar weeks of the date of this post (i.e. no later than Monday 30^th November 2009).  Please make sure you enter a valid and current email address with your comment, as I will need this to track you down and obtain your address for posting if you win.

I will then ask Pastor Dunn to read through the comments/entries, and to select five enlightening and encouraging entries that he believes chime with the spirit and intent of his book.  I will send the books out as soon as the selection has been made, and hopefully get them to you in time for Christmas (this would be an excellent book, for example, for couples to read together as the new year begins).

Thank you in advance for your contributions.

My son just fell downstairs.  He was at the top with his hands full when he slipped and rolled to the bottom.  I heard the heavy thuds as he dropped and made it to the bottom of the stairs pretty much as he did.  He was, naturally, shocked and upset, but mercifully unhurt, as far as we can tell.  A few cuddles and an eventual biscuit dried his tears, and he recovered his equanimity (and the cuddly toy that had made the descent with him).  We checked Knuckles (the dog) for bumps, bruises and breaks, and fed him a little biscuit, and found that he was also OK.

It was at this point that I wondered why he was struggling to use his right hand.  Had he, after all, injured himself?  No, one of the reasons why he had fallen was because he was clutching a few copper coins: he could not grab the bar that he usually holds on to properly.  But notice, he made it all the way to the bottom, and through the recovery, without once relinquishing his grip on that which, had he only held it more lightly, might have prevent him falling in the first place.  He was holding it through his descent, and kept his grip upon it to the very end.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mk 8:36-37).

Many men fall with their hands full, and suffer far worse than a few bruises and tears.  There is a fall from which no man recovers, and many descend because they are grasping after the things of this life.  When they reach the bottom, that which they held on to so fiercely is found to be worth nothing at all.  In the final analysis, and counted in the light of eternity, untold millions would be no more than a few coppers if for the sake of holding them we fall, descend and eventually land in hell.  There is a time to let go of the stuff of this life, and get hold of Jesus Christ.

For more counsel on the use of money, Gary Brady posts an excellent review of John Wesley’s attitude to and employment of his wealth.

Words of wisdom from Thomas Watson in The Godly Man’s Picture (33):

A godly man will not go as far as he may, lest he go further than he should.

The Westminster Conference is a little less than a month away. taking place at the Whitefield Memorial Church on Tottenham Court Road, London.  Garry Williams, Don Carson, Stephen Clark, Robert Oliver, Ken Brownell and Bruce Jenkins will be there to titillate and tantalise your theological tastebuds.

To book, download the pdf below (click image) and send in the form to the conference secretary (sorry, no online booking at present).

An interesting overview – historical and theological – of the regulative principle from Jim Domm at the RBS blog.

A daft game for those with a few moments to spare.

Beware, though: they are a bit like the astrological nonsense you can read on the web or in newspapers: a few generic good things, a few generic bad things.  Depending on your disposition, you will probably enjoy the one and despise the other, or neglect the one and go on a guilt trip.  Enjoy!

By the way, if you do this test, by all means drop a note in the comments below to let us know who you are and what you are like, and if your church father’s name bears a spooky similarity to your own.

In his excellent book My God is True: Lessons Learned Along Cancer’s Dark Road (which I hope shortly to review), Paul Wolfe makes some comments about serving and being served.  Although these are made in the context of his suffering cancer, the principles are worth remembering for all who have opportunities to serve or be served:

What stands out about those two examples [of friends who served Paul Wolfe and his wife, Christy, after his diagnosis of cancer] is that, in both cases, those who cared for us did not wait for us to ask them for help.  They came up with concrete proposals and then proactively sought us out to make them a reality.  By their example those friends taught us a valuable lesson: though there are times when ‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do’ is all that can be said, there are other times when a more proactive approach is called for.  Instead of ‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do’, try ‘Let me tell you what I’d like to do to serve you.’  Christy and I learned the value of others offering specific assistance without waiting for those in need to ask for it. . . .

Learn to see beyond earthly similarities and differences within the body and love others for Jesus’ sake.  Do not make the excuse, ‘Well, your church sounds great, but I don’t find mine to be all that loving.’  You don’t?  Well, try this tune: ‘Let there be practical love in the congregation to which I belong . . . and let it begin with me.’  In other words, if you want to encourage tangible service among the members of your church, just do it.

For example, are you the one who is suffering alone, your trials and your needs unknown to others in the church?  It may be that the first step is yours to take.  You may have to go ahead and tell others about your needs before they inquire, and then ask them to help you in concrete ways before they offer.  Remember: your duty – indeed, your privilege – is to let others serve you.  Listen again to the Apostle Paul: ‘Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ’ (Gal. 6:2).  Would you deny your brothers and sisters in Christ the opportunity to fulfil his law?  No, there is nothing heroic, nothing admirable, about shouldering your burdens, silent and solitary, if those burdens are plainly too heavy for you to bear alone.

Or, are you the one who has become aware of the needs of another?  Then do not wait for him to ask for help.  Step up and serve him.  And if someone in your congregation is battling cancer, consider seeking and serving him months after he is diagnosed.  By then he may have faded from people’s minds.  By then the flow of cards and visits and phone calls may have slowed considerably.  That is a great time to show him what God is like, the God who promises never to leave, never to forsake.

In short, there is faithful giving, and there is faithful receiving, too.  Model them both.

Are you in a position to show the grace of serving?  Do not be too lazy, too callous, too dull, too slow, too carnal to do so.

Are you in a position to show the grace of being served?  Do not be too proud, too remote, too arrogant, too stubborn, too ungrateful to do so.

“There is faithful giving, and there is faithful receiving, too.  Model them both.”

In 1839, as now, the British Army was engaged in Afghanistan.  Among them was a young soldier called Henry Havelock, a devoted Christian and an outstanding man of valour.  Struggling up the ranks (he was then a captain), he had recently been promoted aide-de-camp to Sir Willoughby Cotton, and was among “the Army of the Indus” that marched into Afghanistan under General Sir John Keane to accomplish, among other things, the capture of a fort called Ghuznee.  One biographer of Havelock says,

It should be remembered that the strength of Ghuznee was the boast of the Affghans, and that it was the design of Dost Mahomed [who then sat on the throne of Kabul, the Afghan capital) that Afsal Khan and Hyder Khan, having suffered our army to advance a march or two beyond Ghuznee should fall on its rear, while Dost Mahomed himself should give us battle in the front.  (William Owen, The Good Soldier, 72)

In other words, Ghuznee was not expected to fall.  The British Army reached Ghuznee having suffered much affliction by the terrain and the climate, including painful deprivations of food and water on the march toward the fortress.  On their arrival, they discovered that their intelligence had not been of the highest quality and that the fortress, which they were informed was the scene of a retreat by the Afghan forces, was – in Havelock’s words – “now evidently occupied by a numerous garrison, from whose minds nothing seemed to be further removed than thoughts of retreat” (Owen, 74).  The enemy were entrenched in the fortress, and displayed no small skill with their artillery during British reconnaissance.  Havelock sums up the scene in these stirring words:

Ghuznee, one front of which we had thus satisfactorily reconnoitred, certainly far exceeded our expectations, and the tenor of all the reports we had received as regarded the solidity, lofty profile, and state of repair of its walls and citadel; and now we saw that we had at last before us an enterprise worthy of our best efforts.  (Owen, 74-75)

Havelock’s response was the reaction of a principled man of courage.  Constitutionally, most men are cowards; culturally, we are increasingly trained to give up at the sight of obstacles, to capitulate to circumstances, to look for easy options and to circumvent with lazy ease anything that seems to oppose us.  Too often, the church of Christ is crippled by just such a constitutional and cultural cowardice and love of ease.  We see great obstacles before us and our immediate response is to find something easier, to look for a way out or a way round, to find some easier sphere of service, less dangerous and less demanding.

How different was Havelock’s response: “we saw that we had at last before us an enterprise worthy of our best efforts.”  What a lesson this is for those enlisted not in the armies of this world but in the armies of the Lamb.

The Christian faces greater fortresses than Ghuznee.  We are called to pull down “strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2Cor 10.4-5).  The fortified places of men’s minds and hearts are the object of the gospel soldier.  The believer, in the name of Christ Jesus, assaults the very gates of Hades (Mt 16.18) with the intention of rescuing the lost and advancing the kingdom of Christ.  How solid, high and severe are these fortresses, how well-defended, how seemingly insurmountable the obstacles!  The people with whom we have to deal, the service we have to perform, the tasks we have to contemplate all militate against a righteous and rigorous response.

The Christian faces greater foes than the armies of Ghuznee.  “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6.12).  Our primary enemies are not men as such, but the forces of spiritual wickedness who stand ranged against Christ and his people.  Our great Adversary is no mere man, but that Satan whose rage, violence, malice and deceit ought to be bywords, and whose minions partake of all his unholy character and endeavour.  These foes are found within and without.  We are called to defend against them and to assault them, and we know that they will ask and give no quarter in the combat.

But the Christian has a greater Captain than Sir John Keane.  The Captain of our salvation is none other than Emmanuel, the Crown Prince of heaven.  His personal courage cannot be doubted.  His spoils of war are already assured.  His wisdom for strategy and tactics cannot be distrusted.  Not one of his soldiers fights alone, for he is with them in every exhausting assault and every desperate defence.  His honours and triumphs are already writ large, and he will ultimately tread down every foe.

The Christian has a greater cause than the defence of empire or “the Great Game.”  Our King is Christ, and it is his kingdom for which we contend.  His kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, his people would fight as do the servants of this world’s kingdoms, but his kingdom is not from here (Jn 18.26).  It is for his glory and not our own that we fight, for the name of Jesus that we contend, for the good of the needy that we strive, for the bringing in of the otherwise eternally lost into a kingdom that cannot be shaken.  Though now for a little while we have been grieved by various trials,  it is that “the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love” (1Pt 1:6-8).

The Christian has greater weapons than artillery and small arms: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled” (2Cor 10.4-6).  We do not use the world’s weapons to accomplish earthly ends, but the mighty weapons of heaven to accomplish Christ’s purposes.  “Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints – and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph 6.13-20).

All things considered, the Christian faces a greater fight than the Army of the Indus.  Consider the fortresses and foes against which you stand.  There will be difficult days, hard times, and painful occasions.  There will be unlovely people to love, ungrateful people to serve, antagonistic people who will fight against the very medicine that will alone deliver their souls from death.  There will be difficult saints to love and serve, challenges to the church, new vistas to explore, new ground to break, greater wickedness to overcome, greater needs to meet, and in it all great enemies that will come boldly against us or snipe at us from the fringes.

How will we respond?  How will you respond?  Consider your Captain and your cause.  We have before us “an enterprise worthy of our best efforts.”  We should be stirred up by it to great endeavour, not crippled by it into craven fear and retreat.  The day we are in calls not for cowardice and capitulation, but for courage and conviction.  “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  The challenges of the hour will soon be upon us; there will come into our orbit enterprises worthy of our best efforts, and we must take up the divine weaponry and go forth conquering and to conquer in the name of Christ.  Honours are now given to the heroes of this world’s battles.  Our medals and honours will not be the medals and honours of the world, but the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to all who have loved and longed for his appearing (2Tim 4.8).  Now is the time to fight the good fight of faith (1Tim 6.12); when Christ returns in glory, then we will see and enjoy the consummation of his victory and all its spoils.

This book comes highly recommended, and may be of interest to readers of this blog: called CrossTalk: Where Life & Scripture Meet, it deals with the application of the Bible to ordinary life.  I cannot personally recommend it, but it sounds interesting, and has the usual tranche of endorsements from the great and good – a list designed to appeal to every part of the Christian spectrum and so boost sales across the board.  I particularly draw it to your attention because Westminster Bookstore in the US is selling it for only $4.97 (RRP $15.99, so 69% off) for two days only.  If you are interested, bag it quickly.

Most of us like to think that we are good people.  After all, there are so many other people who are much worse than us.  We think we know what is right.  We often want to do what is right, but it is hard to do the right thing.  Why do we do things that we know are wrong?  And why do we feel bad inside when we do things that we know are wrong?  How do we measure goodness?  And how good is good enough?

The Lord God, who made you and takes care of you, has told us what is right and wrong.  One day we will all have to face Him.  He will judge everything that we have done, everything that we have said, and even everything that we have thought.  Jesus said, “Be ready, for the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24, verse 44).  How can you be ready?  Will you be good enough?

Take a moment to read God’s Ten Commandments:

1.  You shall have no other gods before Me.

2.  You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;  you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.  For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3.  You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

4.  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5.  Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

6.  You shall not murder.

7.  You shall not commit adultery.

8.  You shall not steal.

9.  You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

10.  You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.

How do you compare to this standard?  You might think you can make fun of the standard: “I’ve never coveted anybody’s ox or donkey!”  You might think it easy to point to the things that you haven’t done: “I’ve never murdered anyone”.  But Jesus taught that the Ten Commandments go much deeper than we imagine.  They are as much about our thoughts, our hearts, our attitudes, as they are about what we physically do (if you have a Bible, you can find this in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5, verses 17-30).  Jesus said, “whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matthew 5.22) and “whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5.28).

No wonder the Bible teaches that “there is none righteous, no, not one” (the letter to the Romans, chapter 3, verse 10).  We have all broken the Ten Commandments: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3.23).  Is any one of us good enough for God?  No!

But that is not the end of the story.  Why did God write these Ten Commandments if none of us can keep them?  The Bible answers this question.  God says that the Ten Commandments – God’s holy law – is our “tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (the letter to the Galatians, chapter 3, verse 24).

How does Jesus Christ fit in, and what does it mean to be justified by faith?

Jesus fits in because “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians, chapter 4, verse 4).  Jesus Christ, being both God and man, obeyed the law of God perfectly.  He lived according to the law, and is the only man who never broke one of God’s Ten Commandments in his thoughts, words, or deeds.  Read the accounts of His life in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and you cannot find one instance when He sinned: He was never less than perfect in all that He thought, said and did.  But what does that have to do with us?

The Bible teaches that we all have a sinful nature.  After all, nobody needs to be taught how to do wrong things – it is the way we are, and we act in accordance with it.  But the Bible promises that “through one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5.19).  That verse is talking about Jesus, and means that somehow sinners like us can benefit from the perfect and sinless life that Jesus lived.

If we are to face God in judgment and not be damned for our sins – condemned for all the things that break God’s law – then we need the holiness and perfection of Jesus.  This is what it means to be justified: for God to declare us to be right in his sight.  For that we need a perfect righteousness.  How do we get this righteousness?  Through faith in Jesus Christ, his righteousness is put to our account.  Then, “justified by faith, we have peace with God” (Romans 5.1).  Peace with God!  If your conscience tells you that you have done things wrong, and must one day face God, what would you not give to know peace with God?

Don’t try and have peace with God by trying to be better, by trying to keep God’s Ten Commandments better.  We cannot keep God’s law: “No one is justified by the law in the sight of God” (Galatians 3.11).  That sends us to Jesus Christ for the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?”  God’s answer is this: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”  This salvation is “by grace . . . through faith” (Ephesians 2.8).  “By grace”: it is the gift of God, and not something that we can earn or deserve.  “Through faith”: repenting of our sins, and trusting completely and only in Jesus Christ.  He lived the life that we should have lived, but could not.  He died the death that we deserved, being punished by God for the sins of His people.

Examine your life, examine your heart.  Consider the standard of God’s Ten Commandments, and compare yourself to it.  Listen to your conscience.  Then repent of your sin, and ask God to save you through Jesus Christ.

Gardiner Spring’s classic work on The Distinguishing Traits of Christian Character is one of the most careful and discerning short works on the marks of true Christianity.  Clearly standing in the tradition of Edwards’ Religious Affections and Alexander’s Thoughts on Religious Experience it remains an outstanding treatment of those things which in and of themselves are no sure indications of having passed from death to life, and those things which invariably mark, in some degree, a true child of God.

Solid Ground Christian Books have recently republished this title.  It has apparently been edited and updated.  To be frank, that does not always improve some of these classics, and it is to be hoped that – in this instance – the editor has done less harm and more good.  As long as all is intact, this would prove an excellent addition to the library of pastors who do not have their own copy, and a very useful means of men and women examining their own souls to know whether or not they have a true hope of heaven.

For more of Spring, including a brief review of elements of this book, see this post on “What is a true Christian?“

(By the way, Spring is one of those authors of whom – with my limited knowledge – I would presently say, “If he wrote it, you will not suffer by reading it.”)