The Gospel and The Kingdom

• Abraham Piper posted on the Desiring God Blog “6 Reasons Pastor’s Should Blog.”  I find this article very providential in light of some conclusions that God brought me to over the weekend while thinking strategically about my church.  Worth the read!
• If you know me, you know that I am not in favor or “April Fool’s Day” per se, but I am a big fan of having fun with my friends.  Lifehacker blog presents their Top 10 Harmless Geek Pranks.  My personal favorite….the Blue Screen of Death Screensaver!
• Speaking of stuff that I like…One of these may have to be in my future.  I like fountain pens and the Lamy Safari’s one of my personal favorites.

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For one of my classes at SBTS, I am having to read (or in my case, re-read) J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism. It is a wonderful book and I am gaining much, this my second time through. In the second chapter, entitled “Doctrine,” Machen writes concerning Paul’s seemingly contradictory statements in Philippians and Galatians concerning the proclamation of the gospel:

The difference only concerned the logical - not even, perhaps, the temporal - order of three steps. Paul said that a man (1) first believes on Christ, (2) then is justified before God, (3) then immediately proceeds to keep God’s law. The Judaizers said that a man (1) believes on Christ and (2) keeps the law of God the best he can, and then (3) is justified.

This may seem like splitting hairs to the average person, but at place here is an explicit departure from God’s principles concerning our salvation and the life of the Christian.  We are not justified by believing on Christ AND keeping God’s law the best we can.  However, we are justified by believing on Christ and BECAUSE God granted us this wonderful salvation, we attempt to keep the law out of obedience to His commands and love for Him who saved us.

May we agree with Luther’s principle…We do not become righteous by doing righteous things.  Righteous people do righteous things because they have been made righteous by a righteous God.