Theses #5-7, Charles Spurgeon, J I Packer and the International Christian Retail Show
Thesis 5: The works of men are thus not mortal sins (we speak of works that are apparently good), as though they were crimes.
Thesis 6: The works of God (we speak of those that he does through man) are thus not merits, as though they were sinless.
Thesis 7: The works of the righteous would be mortal sins if they would not be feared as mortal sins by the righteous themselves out of pious fear of God.
I've just returned from the 2009 International Christian Retail Show in Denver, Colorado. I was blessed by my publisher, Crossway, to be able to attend and was there talking about my book, "Counsel from the Cross: Connecting Broken People to the Love of Christ." I'm thankful for Crossway and for publishers who are standing for truth.
I'm going to try to be very measured in my remarks about the state of "Christian" publishing in the US. To say that I was grieved, burdened and utterly heartbroken at ICRS would be about right. I won't share everything with you that I saw -- some things you would hardly believe. I will simply say that the gospel of Jesus Christ was (aside from a few notable exceptions) pretty much missing. Not just downplayed. Utterly missing. The primary theme of the convention was what are the 5 steps that one must take in order to gain God's approval and have fun on the beach. Really. If the books that sell well in Christian bookstores are analogous to the spiritual state of the American church, we're back in Rome without all the litergy and deep thought. We're sort of in DisneyRome. Cotton candy purgatory. Luther wasn't writing only for himself and his contemporaries. He was writing for us. Of course, the problem is that we don't think his concerns apply, which, I guess, proves his point.
Rather than becoming rabid about ICRS now -- I was, in fact, very encouraged by a Tweet from John Piper yesterday -- I want to simply copy a few quotes from the book and then close with two other quotes: one from Charles Spurgeon and J I Packer (neither of whom wrote in the 16th century). Then I'm off to the Women Discipling Women conference in Sun Valley.
From our book: "A deadly sin is one that actually separates and seals us off from God. That occurs when the apparent goodness of our works seduces us into putting our trust in them, that is, it occurs when the very goodness of the work is such that it dissuades us from confessing [that our works must be wrought in/by Him and that even (especially?) when I think they're really good I can't trust in them]...the works of the law are used as a defense against the very unconditionality of the gift of grace...Deadly sin lurks in the most pious places." (37)
Most poigntly: "When then are the works of the righteous not mortal sins? When they fear that they are!" (39) And finally, "The point here is that when we have no fear of the Lord and we instead presume to come before the Lord bustling with self-confidence in our own accomplishment, enjoying ourselves in our works, as Luther puts it, our works are deadly sins even if we think they are done with the help of grace. [We must see that they are done by Him, not just that He is "helping us."] For then our works stand between us and God; they usurp the honor belonging to God. This is a transgression of the first commandment. The self sets itself as an idol. Piety is no protection." (42)
Now for the more "modern" theologians -- thanks to Of First Importance for these quotes:
The proud heart of man is very anxious to have a hand in the justification of the soul before God; preparations for Christ are dreamed of, humblings and repentings are trusted in, good works are cried up, natural ability is much vaunted, and by all means the attempt is made to lift up human tools upon the divine altar. It were well if sinners would remember that so far from perfecting the Saviour’s work, their carnal confidences only pollute and dishonor it. The Lord alone must be exalted in the work of atonement, and not a single mark of man’s chisel or hammer will be endured.
There is an inherent blasphemy in seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in His dying moments declared to be finished, or to improve that in which the Lord Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction. Trembling sinner, away with your tools. Fall on your knees in humble supplication. Accept the Lord Jesus to be the altar of your atonement, and rest in Him alone.”
- Charles Spurgeon, Morning by Morning (
“The holiest Christians are not those most concerned about holiness as such, but whose minds and hearts and goals and purposes and love and hope are most fully focused on our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit (
Disney Rome and cotton candy may be the result of shepherds (or perhaps wolves) in churches wearing dunce caps and juggling from the pulpit as they entertain malnourished, sick, and even dying sheep. I would like to think the retail world doesn’t reflect the condition of the American church at large, but that might be a stretch. I like this quote from a Derek Webb song, “the truth is never sexy, so it’s not an easy sell.” Perhaps there’s something to that. And at a show focused on growing businesses, it seems fitting that the wide-road cotton candy junk would follow. In the midst of the show there were a handful of faithful servants of the gospel. For that I’m thankful.
Back to Luther—this concept of cutting ourselves off from grace was a highlight for me in theses 5-7. On pg. 37 it says that (a deadly sin) occurs when the apparent goodness of our works seduces us into putting our trust in them, that is, it occurs when the very goodness of the work is such that it dissuades us from confessing. We are in reality then, not just in theory, sealed off from grace.
Prior to really digging into Luther’s work, I was unaware of the extent to which I’ve been seduced. In earlier seasons of my walk with God, outward sin was shockingly obvious and therefore confession so much more frequent. I actually experienced the cross and grace and dependence on it because I couldn’t even fake pulling off much of anything in my own strength. As sanctification continued, which I think I like confusing with “getting my act together,” the outwardly obvious rebellion has subsided a bit. I’m getting pretty good at what I call the “game-face.” So I’m thankful for Luther and other faithful communicators of the pure gospel calling a spade a spade. Or rather calling the glory story a deadly and seductive addiction. Not that it should lead to self-loathing or defeat, but to the cross and grace. It may be bitter-sweet, but I find joy in such conviction because it is tangible evidence of God’s pursuit of me and his desire for me to delight in his glory...rather than being enslaved to my own.
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Sweet! Angie, you ought to be in Christian publishing...
On one hand, I'm grieving for the state of the church and on the other hand I'm grieving for all the dear Christian bookstore owners who are watching their businesses be made obsolete by internet giants like Amazon. I don't blame them for trying to save their businesses. I'm so sorry for them. I had opportunity to have lunch with a lovely couple who owned a store in Wisconsin (I think). They were trying to stay "upbeat" but I saw the despair in the wife's eyes. I'm sorry that the business they've poured their life into is failing.
On the other hand, though, getting Marie Osmond's autograph isn't the way to try to save your business nor is it what their customers really need -- Not that the dear couple I got to know over lunch would do that. But some did. Many did. The real question that all the purveyors of "Christian" "stuff" in America need to answer is simply this: What do people really need?
And I think we know that answer. People need the incarnation, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection and ascension and reign of Jesus Christ.
So for the struggling publisher or book store owner, the realities of Christ's sharing in their suffering through the incarnation -- after all, very few wanted what he was selling either and yet he responded to those who thought they were in "competition" with him (ha!) with grace and unswerving fidelity to truth, no matter the cost; His substitutionary death in the place of every Christian author, broadcaster, publisher, editor, publicist, bookstore owner is has sold out to the clamoring masses who want to make kings instead of worshipping the King -- being forsaken by His Father, not simply by His customers; His bodily resurrection publishing to all the world his triumph over all the forces of wickedness, sin and death and our complete (yes, complete) assurance of acceptance and welcome with Him at the Father's side; and finally, and oh, so gloriously, his bodily ascension (he's got our flesh in heaven with nail scarred hands!) and sovereign reign: the internet, Amazon and the economy aren't in control of our sales. Jesus Christ, the ever-living, once for all dying, gloriously ascended Savior is overseeing our industry. And even if we are on our way out (at least in the way we do business now), He isn't. His Word will stand forever and He will sustain thosse who are His so that our faith will not fail.
I'm reminded of Luther's, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," "Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, His truth abideth still, HIS KINGDOM IS FOREVER!" Thank God for the pruning that will make us all more fruitful, for His glory.
Thanks again, Angie. Your post was helpful to me.
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Here's a comment from our friend, Michele:
Angie...well said! I'm getting this picture in my mind of anorexic sheep, with pastors dressed like magicians, throwing out candy that will only satisfy the stomach and the taste for a little while, and then bring them crashing down again for that next "fix". "The truth is never sexy, so it's not an easy sell"...how true that is! In my early years of Christianity I would have bought the glory story..actually I did buy it. But it left me unsatisfied. The first book I ever read that made me full (of Christ) and took my eyes off myself was "The Holiness of God" by Sproul. It is only by Gods grace that I read it, and only by Gods grace that I understood it, and only by His grace that I liked it. When I read Elyes blog, my heart was grieved too, because I remember what that self-savior life was like and how frightened I was that I was displeasing Him (or at points in my life, how I didn't care because it was just too hard). I pray, as we go throughout this week, that the Lord will bring this to mind and cause us to pray for wisdom for those buying books, and pray for the authors writing them, that they would be overcome by the glory of our Lord and His work on the cross. Thanks ladies for feeding our hearts with these little blogs!
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"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many." Mt 7:13
The heartbreaking problem with living in a "christian" nation, or Disney Rome, is that cultural, popular, and commercial christianity IS the wide gate and easy way! The narrow gate is the cross.
While it is so sad to see so many lost on the easy road of the theology of glory, it is a comfort to know that God is cleansing his true church. (I offer this blog study group as evidence.)It is also a comfort to me to know that many who get a glory story diet, are still truly God's church, i.e, they have been worked on by the theology of the cross. They may be weak in their understanding and ability to articulate what they may not even know to be true, but I can be right there with them at that.
So theses 5-7 reminded me of a book I read 15 or so years ago by Jerry Bridges: The Discipline of Grace. Bridges discusses how we measure our standing with God by the way we feel - or the kind of day we've had. And we feel our day was good or bad based on how we fulfill our lists of moral or spiritual to-dos. We are all such slaves to ourselves and the way we feel at any moment, aren't we? And how can that be less than our own great pride. I love how Luther drives a spike through the heart of our pride by cutting out even our good spiritual work as utterly sinful!
I will try to insert some links to a 3 part article Paul sent me about the Theology of glory vs. the Theology of the cross. I found them very pertinent to this study and maybe some of you will too. Each article is fairly short.
(Ok, so I do not know how to make these links "live" but if you copy and paste the http and after into your browser you should get there. Sorry!)
Part 1- Moralism and Spirtualism:
http://confessionalouthouse.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/moralism-and-spiritualism-theologies-of-glory-versus-theology-of-the-cross-part-one-3/
Part 2: Moralism:
http://confessionalouthouse.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/theologies-of-glory-versus-theology-of-the-cross-part-two-moralism-3/
Part 3: Spirtualism
http://confessionalouthouse.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/theologies-of-glory-versus-theology-of-the-cross-part-three-spiritualism-3/
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Thanks so much, Anita. It is encouraging, indeed, that the Lord knows and loves His bride, that He calls her "holy and beloved," and that He'll get her where He wants her to be when she's to be there. Thank God for the cross!
Thanks, also, for the links. They were wonderful! Let me encourage all our readers to take the time to soak in more discourse on the theology of the cross. Here's a quote from one of the links:
“Living in a theology of the Cross never makes you any ‘better’ than anyone else. Every day in every way you are not getting better and better. In fact, the preaching of Law and Gospel will not lead you to an awareness of your holiness, but rather to greater awareness of the depth of your sin. As a result, you will develop an ever-increasing faith in and appreciation for the redeeming work of Jesus Christ.”
Love it!
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Someone pointed me to a website today that I had never heard of- monergism.com
I found some good quotes there on this subject: Repenting of our Good Works
[Some people being very moral have] "nothing to do with the business of repentance. They are so good, that they scorn God's offer of mercy. Indeed these are often in the worst condition: these are they who think they need no repentance (Luke 15:7). Their morality undoes them. They make a "savior" of it, and so on this rock they suffer shipwreck. Morality shoots short of heaven. It is only nature refined. A moral man is but old Adam dressed in fine clothes. The king's image counterfeited and stamped upon brass will not go current. The moral person seems to have the image of God—but he is only brass metal, which will never pass for current. Morality is insufficient for salvation. Though the life is moralized, the lust may be unmortified. The heart may be full of pride and atheism. Under the fair leaves of a tree, there may be a worm. I am not saying, repent that you are moral—but that you are no more than moral. Satan entered into the house that had just been swept and garnished (Luke 11:26). This is the emblem of a moral man, who is swept by civility and garnished with common gifts—but is not washed by true repentance. The unclean spirit enters into such a one. If morality were sufficient to salvation, Christ need not have died. The moral man has a fair lamp—but it lacks the oil of grace." Thomas Watson- The Doctrine of Repentance
[Some people end up] "Trusting in their own righteousness. This is a soul-ruining mischief. When men trust in their own righteousness they do indeed reject Christ's. Beloved, you had need be watchful on every hand, for not only your sins—but your duties may undo you. It may be you never thought of this; but so it is, that a man may as certainly perish by his seeming righteousness and supposed graces—as by gross sins; and that is, when a man trusts to these as his righteousness before God, for satisfying His justice, appeasing His wrath, procuring His favor, and obtaining His pardon. This is to put Christ out of office, and make a Savior of our own duties and graces. Beware of this, O professing Christians; you are much in duties—but this one fly will spoil all the ointment. When you have done most and best, be sure to go out of yourselves—to Christ; reckon your own righteousness as filthy rags (Phil 3:9; Isa 64:6)." Joseph Alleine--A Sure Guide to Heaven
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Nice, Kristen. Thanks so much!
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...I just ordered the book and will try to catch up with the reading. Such a great way to enlist help from others (through their input) while getting through literature that's beyond the quick-reads and fast-fixes... Thank you for such a site.
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