Done!

I just finished my last college final today. Graduation is on Saturday, but for all intent and purpose, I'm done with college! It's a strange mixture of excitement, sadness, eagerness, and fear. Excitement that I'm finally done with academics (for the time being), sadness that I'm leaving behind lots of good friends, eagerness to move on to the next stage of life (marriage!), and fear about jobs and stuff like that.

This is the place where fear and faith collides. Pray for me.

A Faithless Seeking

In my Through-The-Bible reading plan, I'm in John 8, and I was bowled over by Jesus' words that I read this morning. In 8:21, He says, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins."  I was shocked.  Do you mean that a person can seek after God and still die in their sins?  That certainly was a shock to my self-assured Calvinist sensibilities.  But then after the Jews objected, Jesus continued in 8:24.  "I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins."

So now he says that people who don't believe Him will die in their sins.  But He just said that seekers will die in their sins.  I always thought that seeking Jesus was a sign of faith.  But apparently not.

There is such a thing as faithless seeking.  You can seek Jesus earnestly and diligently without one drop of true faith.  The people who followed after Jesus in John 6 when He fed the 5,000 were not seeking Him with faith.  "Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.'" (John 6:26-27)  The people were seeking Jesus because He gave them food; they weren't actually interested in Him.

How well this describes so many "seekers" today!  So many people are only interested in seeking Jesus because of what He might be able to give them: a job, money, a spouse, friends, security, a personal sense of spiritual fulfillment or enlightenment.  Jesus is clear in John 6:35- believing Him means coming to Him as thirst-quencher and satisfier, believing that HE is the bread of life.  In other words, seeking Him in order to get something is no faith at all.  True faith means seeking Jesus because you want HIM, and all the glorious fullness of everlasting joy that He is.

Are you seeking Him with faith today?

reading "Future Grace"

I'm in the process of reading "Future Grace" by John Piper, and it is blowing away my worldview.  I'm only about a third of the way through (it's a sizeable 397 pages) but I've already been staggered by the biblical truths he's been laying out.  I've also been surprised by how easy it has been to read; often reading Piper can be slow and heavy going, but this book is very accessible and readable.  

The message of the book can be summarized thus: we've gotten the motivation for our Christian life backwards.  We say we are saved by faith alone (rightly) and that our good works are works of gratitude.  But you will look in vain for any Biblical texts that explicitly tie gratitude to obedience.  Rather than trying to empower obedience by gratitude for past grace, we should look to faith in future grace for that power.  In other words, we need to bank on the promises of God.

For example: anxiety.  How are we supposed to defeat the sin of anxiety in our hearts?  The popular Christian response is that we should look back on all the times God has been faithful to us, and therefore not worry.  Now, that seems like great advice.  Of course, looking back on God's faithfulness and especially back to the cross is helpful and necessary, but only so far as it strengthens our faith for looking forward.  And more importantly, it's not how the Bible talks about dealing with anxiety.  The Bible says things like, "Don't be anxious...for my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)"  "Don't be anxious... because all these things will be added to you as well. (Matt 6:33)"  "Don't be anxious... for no eye has seen a God beside you, who works for those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 64:4)"  "Don't be anxious... for all things work together for good for those who love God. (Rom 8:28)"  Take hold of the promises-- that's where the power to fight sin is found.

The back cover of the book puts it well: "No one sins out of duty.  We sin because we want to.  Sin promises happiness, and we buy the lie.  So how can the root of sin be severed in our lives?  The penalty of sin must be paid by the righteous blood of Christ.  And the power of sin must be broken by banking on the promises of God."

Good stuff.  I've always struggled (and I suspect I'm not alone here) in figuring out how the "good works" of the Christian life tie into the truth that we are saved "by faith alone."  Luther's thing on gratitude seemed to make sense in my head, but not in Scripture.  This book is helping me put them together, and it's revolutionizing everything in the process.  I highly recommend it.