The Fruit of Justification: Victorious Living in the Light of God’s Smile

Some time ago I listened to a Christian mother voice her concerns about  the manner of living of her adult son. The conversation was entirely downbeat until the parent ended by saying, with something of a smile, “Well, at least he has fire insurance.”

It wasn’t until later that I fully understood what that mother was saying. She was suggesting that even though her son gave little evidence of God’s work of grace in his life, he could be confident of his exemption from eternal punishment because he had said the Sinner’s Prayer. I wonder how common that perspective is among Christians today?

Certainly, it was a foreign concept to the Apostle Paul. In the first five verses of Romans 5, he mentions no less than five realities for the person who has been justified, or made right with God. To Paul, justification meant much more than simply not having to fear hell.

In fact, if that was the only thing a person cared about, then Paul might have questioned whether such a soul was truly justified. If the fruits of justification are not evident in a person’s life, he should search his soul to see if he actually is right with God or not.

The reality is that believers are covered by the righteousness of Christ as they trust in him and entrust themselves to him. This changes everything! Sadly, too few Christians are joyfully experiencing the robust benefits of justification. To be more blunt, besides providing “fire insurance,” of what use is the doctrine of justification here and now? Romans 5:1-5 is a great place to begin answering that question as it highlights five “Ps” of justification. Read More »

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Who do you serve?

The words of Christ, “No one can serve two masters” (Matt 6:24) are very well known. Even my little three year old knows this verse. Christ’s words mean that we cannot serve God and worldly possessions. We cannot pursue a life of riches and possessions as an end and God. These two are incompatible. Who do you serve?

I think what’s interesting is that we cannot answer that question without a careful study of the following passage, Matthew 6:25-34. It’s in this passage that Christ calls us not to worry, to consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, and to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first. These are encouraging, hopeful, and very practical things to consider. A separate post of what all of these mean would only scratch the surface of their richness.

However, there is more in this passage. The context of the passage is clued to us with it’s beginning, ‘Therefore.’ Jesus is connecting these two thoughts together. He is connecting ‘you can only serve one master’ with ‘do not worry about your life.’ How do they fit? Worrying about this life reveals that mammon is our master. If we are consumed with anxiety about what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear, what will happen to our jobs, how our pension is crumbling we are revealing that the things of this world are master over us.

The question posed above could be restated, according to Matthew 6:25-34, Do you worry? Jesus is concerned with the kind of concern for the future that issues from a heart that does not find its rest in God. There is a good concern for the future that leads to a good work ethic and careful planning. This is what the Proverbs commend. The wrong concern is when we look out into the future and are overwhelmed with uncertainty that makes us unable to rest in the heavenly love and provision of God our Father.

It might be easy to say that God is the only One we serve. It’s harder to boast about our undivided service to Him when we see that anxiety about life’s necessities reveals that we have split loyalties.

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The Centrality of Worship


The Purpose of Your Life
You were made to worship.  This is unavoidable. God has created you and he calls every person to worship him.  Psalm 96:9 says, “Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!” At any particular point in your life you are either obeying this commandment or you are disobeying and worshipping something else.  If that is true, then understanding who or what you worship is the most important and practical thing in your life.

Since worshiping God is that important it would make sense for us to ask, what is it? Worship is the act of glorifying God in giving honor, adoration, thanks, praise, and service to him.  Since God is our Creator and he has given us every good thing we have or experience, it is clear why we should worship him at all times, above all else.

This call to worship encompasses every aspect of our lives and we are to worship and glorify God in all that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).  In other words, our goal in everything – whether we are eating or drinking, at work or at play – is that God must be first in our hearts.   This is what we will call informal worship.  It is just your personal daily experience of using all God’s gifts as a stepping-stone to draw closer to him.

While God clearly calls us to worship him at all times and in all places, he also calls us to set aside a special time to put off everything just for worshipping him.  This is what we will call formal, or corporate worship.

Formal worship is a gathering of God’s covenant people to hear from and receive grace from him, and for his people to offer themselves as living sacrifices in service to him.  This is the main purpose of the church.  In all other ministries of the church, even something as important as evangelism, drawing people to worship God is the goal. The worship of God, both formally and informally will still be the eternal purpose of the life to come in the new heavens and the new earth. (Revelation 7:15)

This is why meeting weekly on the Lord’s Day for worship is so vital to the life of a Christian.  We see that worshipping and glorifying God is the very purpose of your life, and formal worship is where you encounter God in a special way.  It is then the training ground to learn how to glorify God in everyday life in informal worship.  Corporate worship is where God gathers his people to feed them spiritual food in word and sacrament.  It is a place to be replenished, fed and energized to fight the spiritual battles of the coming week. Formal worship should be seen as a summons to meet with and even feast with the Lord Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord of the Universe.  When put that way, we begin to see that Sunday should be the most important day of the week.

Who is Worthy to Meet the King?
This is great news. God is the king of the universe, and I am talking about having a close, intimate relationship with this King of Kings – for that is what worship really is, it is a description of the way we are to relate to God.  The question should be asked then, can anybody worship God?  The question becomes more pointed when we factor in the fact that not only is God the King and we his subjects, but that we are guilty of high treason and the murder of the King’s Son.

While we were made for God, to worship and love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, we have all gone astray.  We have all replaced God with idols. You’re most likely too enlightened to actually bow down to a literal statue idol, but idolatry is living for anything besides God.  It is offering the worship due only to God, to something else.  Many things can be an idol:  sex, drugs, money, career; even things such as being a moral person, or being a good parent can become idols.  Idolatry is saying to the King, “I want to take your authority and be my own king of my own world.”  So this compounds the problem, because God has issued a sentence to banish idolaters from his kingdom forever.

Let’s ask again, since the Bible puts everybody in the category of idolater (Romans 3:11-12), who is worthy then to worship God and so find true satisfaction and purpose in life?  We see the answer in Revelation 7:9-17 where we get a picture of worship in heaven.  In that passage we get a glimpse of an innumerable multitude worshipping around the throne of God. In verse 13 the question is asked, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” The answer, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.” (Revelation 7:14-15)  The blood of Jesus is the only thing that can atone for and take away hostility that God has toward treasonous idolaters.  This is the answer then – only those who trust Jesus can be friends with and worship the King.  They have been washed in Jesus’ blood therefore they worship him.

For the person that isn’t yet a Christian this answer is vital to understanding how to fulfill the purpose of your life. The first step is to be reconciled to God through the death of Jesus. The Christian, too, always needs to be reminded of the blood of the perfect lamb of God.  The ability to have free access to God is something that many Christians take for granted and the death of Jesus is something that we tend to downplay as we go about our Christian life.  Let me remind you, Christian, that the only reason you can have access to God on a daily basis, and why God is present in your corporate worship, is still and always will be because of the blood of the perfect lamb of God.

The Solution to Your Problems
So I ask, do you have problems in your life?  When you do have problems, where do you go for your solution?  When we aren’t happy or something is wrong in life we think to ourselves, “if only…” How do you fill in the blank?  What are your common “if onlys”?  Where do you go for comfort in times of distress?

In Psalm 27 King David expresses some of his problems and distresses. He says in verse 2 that, “evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh”; in verse 3 he says that “war has arisen against him”.  This isn’t creative writing or a figure of speech, people were literally waging war against David and were trying to kill him.  Few people in America face trials like David is describing here, and fewer still understand the true solution to our problems like David did. So what is David’s solution?  What is David’s “if only” in this time of distress?  This is what verse 4 says:

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.”

David knew that everything would be alright “if only” he could dwell with God and worship him.  Worship was the solution; communion with God was the solution. Unfortunately, when problems arise in our life our first tendency is often to blame or question God, not to desire more of him or to want to worship Him.  We should learn from David and instead of making God our last resort, we must trust and long to worship him at all times.

Job, too, when faced with the destruction of his property and the death of his children knew that even then he must still worship God.  “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’” (Job 1:20-21)

Really then, worship must be central to your life because God must be central.  In good times or in bad times, draw near to God through faith in Jesus and worship him. Worship is your purpose because God is your purpose. Worship is the solution to life’s dilemmas because God is the solution to life’s dilemmas.  So I say with the Psalmist, “Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” (Psalm 95:6-7)

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Pharisees: “Divorce?” Jesus: “Marriage!”

A recent study notes that 33% of Americans who marry will divorce. Regrettably, this statistic is exactly the same among those who profess to be born-again. George Barna, who directed the study, noted that “Americans have grown comfortable with divorce as a natural part of life.” In the interest of perspective, we should realize that this hasn’t always been the case.

In fact, in Jesus’ day the Pharisees thought they could trap Jesus merely by asking about the possibility of divorce (Mark 10:2). Jesus’ powerful answer builds a strong case for marriage as a life-long monogamous commitment. He explains that God allows divorce, as an exception to the rule of marriage, due to hardness of heart (Deuteronomy 24:1). He then goes on to make four points outlining God’s rule of marriage.

Warning: For a culture that has “grown comfortable with divorce,” Jesus’ thoughts may be a bit uncomfortable.

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10,000 Charms

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Here is a recording of an arrangement I wrote for Gospel Worship, the first of three worship CD’s the BBC chapel band recorded. The title was inspired by our reading of Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs. The name of the song is “10,000 charms” – or “Come Ye Sinners.”

You’ll be able to hear some of the simple contemporary folk tunes and sounds we enjoy using at BBC. Theological, musically simple, singable, transgenerational, historically rooted, and musically accompanimental. I’m doing the keyboards and vocals and one of my students, Brielle, is also singing — acoustic guitar, bass and percussion. The human voice is the great instrument of the church. Nothing should shout over it.

by David Harris

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How to be Transfigured


If the Christian life is all about change then an important question is, “How do I change?” The way the New Testament uses the word transfigure sheds some important light on this question. The Greek word is metamorphao from which we get our word metamorphosis. It literally refers to a change in form. Startlingly, it was not only Christ who was transfigured on the mountain (Mark 9:1-13); Christians too are being transfigured. Watch to learn how.

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Sadness and the Scriptures


Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 43

Sadness, and even feeling rejection from God, are struggles that we face as Christians. Although we know that we have joy in God and that, in Christ, God has accepted us as His own children, we wrestle against sin in our hearts so that we don’t always hold these realities before us. In these times there is nothing more encouraging than to see the same struggles in the Psalms. Not only is it encouraging, but it is instructing. We get to listen in on the infallible, inspired prayers of saints who struggled with the same things that we do.

In Psalm 43, the psalmist is wrestling with feeling rejected by God, “For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have You rejected me?” (v.2) He was ‘mourning,’ (v.2) ‘cast down,’ (v.5) and ‘in turmoil.’ (v.5) This came about from the ‘oppression of the enemy.’ (v.2) There was a trial that overtook this psalmist and he was overwhelmed and brought down. What was he going to do? How was he going to revive himself again? We see his answer in verse 3.

“Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy.” (v.3-4) The solution to his melancholy was to come before God. The way he was going to be revived was by coming before his exceeding joy, which was found in worshiping his God. However, he could not approach Him any way he wanted to. He called out that God would send out His truth and lead him to come worship the True God. Read More »

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Thoughts on Reforming Worship


The following thoughts come from the Doctrinal Statement of Grace Baptist Church (Dalton, PA) but should provide food for thought beyond that particular context.

I. We believe that the Word of Christ should dwell richly in the corporate worship services of [our church] . The Word should be prayed, sung, read, and preached. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. So we desire that the Word should also dwell in fullness among His people. When God’s Word fills His people, true religious affections filled with grace and truth will rise to the praise of His glorious grace.

  • Colossians 3:16
  • 1 Timothy 2:11
  • 1 Timothy 4:13
  • Romans 10:17
  • Ephesians 5:19
  • John 1:14
  • Ephesians 3:19
  • Ephesians 1:6

II. We believe that the people of God will learn to love the glory of God as the ministers of God teach them to see and savor the Word of God. God’s self-revelation is found in His Word. The self-love and relativism of our “ungodly” and “unrighteous” culture have negatively affected the church’s corporate worship. A change of audience has occurred. Worship is often shaped more by what people desire than by the nature of God’s self-disclosure found in the Bible. We will be changed only as we discover in the Word what God must be like for our joy in the face of Jesus Christ.

  • Exodus 32:7-10
  • 2 Timothy 3:1-5
  • 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
  • 1 Corinthians 14:26-33

III. We believe that the singing of theologically based and historically informed hymns and songs will free us to rejoice in our God. Unison singing unites us with one voice as we sing with “one accord.” Part singing expresses musically the unity of substance and tri-unity of persons within the Godhead. Part singing reflects the unity of purpose and difference of roles within the congregation. All the music used in our worship services will be measured against the standard of sound doctrine.

  • James 5:13
  • Psalm 149:1
  • Titus 2:1

David Harris is the worship pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Dalton, PA and is a  Professor of Music at Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, PA. He is married to Connie and has three children: Jordan [23] who is married to Angela, Allison [18] and Dylan [16]. Connie and David are also the proud grandparents of a one year old, Calvin David Harris.

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Calvin in the Grip of God’s Goodness


What drove John Calvin to teach the Bible and to preach the Gospel of Christ every single day until his death? Was the leader of the Reformation driven by some narrow theological points? Rather the bedrock of his theology was something very plain and practical. A simple truth separated John Calvin from the world and from worry, and gave him pastoral wisdom like few other men. The great experiential counterweight for the burden of his own sin and for the work of the Reformation was the simple goodness of God. This perfection of God was the single driving force of all Calvin’s devotion. Goodness is the great thing above all things Calvin wants us to know about God

In the Institutes Calvin immediately gives credit to God’s goodness alone. In the very first sentence of the introduction he speaks of God’s “boundless goodness” in giving success to the Institutes for the benefit of the Church of God.

In Book I, Chapter 2 Calvin describes God as “the origin and fountain of all goodness”. He saw goodness as alive in God, but also on the move among men.

Calvin elaborates in Book II Chapter 3: “The goodness of God is so connected with His Godhead, that it is not more necessary to be God than to be good. . . He cannot do evil”. Calvin knew fallen man is sinful. He knew that God alone is good. But he also saw the Bible truth that God is always good. From day one to the day of his passing, Calvin loved God for the perfection and assurance of all His goodness.

In Book I, Chapter 5 Calvin writes, “If it be asked what cause induced Him to create all things at first, and now inclines Him to preserve them, we shall find that there could be no other cause than His own goodness. . . But if this is the only cause, nothing more should be required to draw forth our love towards Him. . .” Such simplicity buttresses the warmest of theology and fosters loving worship towards God.

Calvin sounds the glory of God’s goodness in his commentary on Ephesians 1:12. “There is nothing more His own, in which he desires to be glorified, than His goodness.”

God’s goodness was Calvin’s constant song in all his writings. Calvin could easily have barely mentioned the truth of God’s goodness. He could easily have stressed other Biblical truths or some finely-pitched theological point in place of this theme. Rather he so often spoke of the goodness of God because he saw it so often in the Bible. Look for this theme in all Calvin’s writing, but especially in all the Scriptures.

What drives you and me to keep living the Christian life? May it be the Scripture truth of the goodness of God. Without grasping this most basic truth, all our talk of the God’s sovereignty and salvation will be gray. But when we are in the grip of God’s goodness, then all God’s ways in our lives are vibrant. Then the very real blood of His only Son will be “the good news of Christ” to us and to our hearers, just as it is to God.

Phil Urie is a member of the Hazleton Area Reformed Presbyterian Church in Hazleton, PA (RPCNA). He graduated from Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh in 2000 with a Masters in Theological Studies degree. Phil and his wife, Fran, married in 1982 and they have three grown children. He works as a State Agriculture Inspector in Northeastern PA.

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“God Money” or “God’s Money”


When Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25) let’s be honest about what he’s saying. He’s clearly saying that wealth is a handicap to Christian discipleship. If you are offended at this statement then you’re in good company. So were the disciples (vv. 24,26).

To say that wealth is a handicap to discipleship is not to say it’s a curse or that it’s evil. There are any number of handicaps to discipleship that are not inherently evil (good looks, and a quick tongue come immediately to mind). To say that wealth is a handicap to discipleship is also not to say that it is a necessary barrier to discipleship. God has helped countless people conquer this handicap and has enabled them to use their wealth for the kingdom of God. Nonetheless, wealth is a handicap to discipleship because it so easily becomes an idol.

Why does wealth so easily become an idol? Just consider what it offers. It represents freedom. It gives us independence. It provides security. It helps us maintain an image. It enables us to keep up a particular lifestyle.

Now, what’s wrong with these things? Nothing, exactly. The problem is that these are the very things that the gospel is intended to provide! The gospel gives us freedom from sin. It makes us independent of the opinions of others. It gives us an eternal security. It makes us children of God (which is our image) and it enables us to keep up a particular lifestyle (of self-sacrifice and discipleship). But if we find these things in wealth then wealth replaces the gospel and becomes an idol.

The musical (?) group Nine Inch Nails makes a profound point in singing (?) about “god money.” Even from a non-Christian perspective it’s clear that money is the god that so subtly entices so many to bow down in service before it. The reality is, if you make $2,000 a year or $20,000 a year or $200,000 a year, you might be enslaved by money.  It all depends on how you use it.

When Jesus talks about money in Mark 10 he is making the point that true disciples place nothing ahead of the Lord Jesus. How does this relate specifically to money? In order for money to cease being a handicap to discipleship we must intentionally use it for kingdom purposes. We must be investors and distributors of God’s wealth, not hoarders.

Hoarders use wealth as a God. Investors use wealth as God’s and for his cause.

Let’s be honest, most of us have the “handicap” of wealth. Let’s pray that God would turn this handicap into an asset for his kingdom.

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