Pure Church

If you're a pastor that believes the Bible teaches both (1) the responsibility of man to repent and believe and (2) the sovereignty of God in choosing people unto salvation, you probably spend a lot of time explaining at least one-half of that belief to a number of your congregants. It is a joyful privilege to explain the whole counsel of God, to encourage people in new areas of biblical truth that they might not have seen or understood before.

It's also sometimes disconcerting for people as they learn things they hadn't understood before, things that really alter their understanding of the Scriptures and of God in a major way. The fancy-smancy psychological term for this is cognitive dissonance. Well, in a number of such conversations, it's not cognitive but emotional dissonance. People sometimes see the truth, have an emotional reaction to the truth (not necessarily denying the truth), and decide they don't like it. Patience is required in such cases, as well as helping people understand that an emotional impulse to deny the truth does not come from the Lord. The truth should shape our emotional responses, rather than our emotional responses shaping our acceptance of the truth.

All that to say: it's really helpful to underscore reasons why a particular truth should be cause for rejoicing. Truth is for our joy. And that's true of every truth in Scripture, including God's sovereign choosing of His people.

A few biblical reasons to rejoice in election:

Election ensures that God's purposes stand:
"Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she was told, 'The older will serve the younger'." (Rom. 9:11-12)

Election ensures that our salvation depends on mercy, not ourselves:
"It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy" (Rom. 9:16).

Election maintains the Creator-creature distinction, producing humility:
"One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"' Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" (Rom. 9:19-21)

Election guarantees our good in life and our glorification with Christ:
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he justified; those he justified, he also glorified" (Rom. 8:28-30).

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thes. 2:13-14).

Election ensures blameless justification:
"Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies" (Rom. 8:33).

Election guarantees that God will be worshipped:
"God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel: 'Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me'? And what was God's answer? 'I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace" (Rom. 11:2-5).

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:11-12).

Election establishes grace:
"So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace" (Rom. 11:6).

Election obtains the salvation we seek:
"What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day'." (Rom. 11:7-8).

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thes. 2:13).

Election makes the gifts and calling of God irrevocable:
"As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:28-29).

Election accords with God's plan to make us holy and blameless:
"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Eph. 1:4)

Election expresses itself with the Father's love toward us in adoption:
"In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will..." (Eph. 1:4-5).

Election coincides with the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit:
"To God's elect, strangers in the world... who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood" (1 Pet. 1:1-2).

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thes. 2:13).

Election provides the ground for our perseverance in gospel ministry:
"One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: 'Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.' So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God" (Acts 18:9-11).

"Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory" (2 Tim. 2:10).

Election limits the deception and the destruction of the last days:
"those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them" (Mark 13:19-20).

"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible" (Matthew 24:24).


Rejoice! And again I will say, Rejoice! The truth will make you free!

I'm not sure what people mean when they call someone a "heresy hunter," but I'm pretty sure I'm one. It has to do with my own conversion story. Having been committed to the gross error and idolatry of Islam, when I came to Christ I was perhaps a bit hyper about doctrine and theology. Upon being brought to Christ, I was driven to read sound doctrinal works. I didn't know the term "doctrine" or have a coherent sense of what I was looking for except to know that I wanted to know God. Imagine how my heart jumped when on the first weekday following my conversion, I visited the local Lifeway bookstore, made my way to that shelf or two tucked into the abandoned, dusty corner of the store marked "theology," and purchased two books: J.I. Packer's Knowing God and Lloyd-Jones' three-volume work, Great Doctrines of the Bible.

I had no idea what I was buying, but I've not been the same since purchasing and reading these works. It was a tremendous expression of God's grace to lead me to these men and their work, to start my Christian life in this way. I am thankful, so thankful.

Having known what it is in my own life to believe a lie and to base my life on it, I'm something of a "heresy hunter." Now, by that term, I don't mean I'm the type that searches under every rock for any error however so small to slam the person and the idea with all my might. Neither am I angry and vengeful when it comes to error. But I am seriously concerned with it.

So, there's a certain amount of resonance that's set off in me any time I come across a passage in the Bible warning of false teachers... and there are a lot of such passages. But today I'm taken with Paul's warning not of false teachers "out there" but of the creeping effect of falsehood and laxity "inside" my own thinking and teaching. 1 Timothy 4:16 -- "Keep close watch... on the teaching."

In verses 1-5 Paul warned of such corruption in others who would fall for the deceiving doctrines of demons. There, he warned the young minister that some would turn away from the truth. In verse 16, he warns the young pastor of his own corruption in doctrine. "Keep close watch... on the teaching," on your own doctrine. It's a good charge to all who would be good pastors. How are we to watch our doctrine closely?

Some preliminary suggestions....

1. Make the Scripture central. A good pastor is a man of one book. He knows no higher science than theology, and no richer art than the study of Scripture. The holy Word of God occupies center stage in his thinking. He seeks to drink deeply from the Scripture, and hears Paul's admonition to "learn not to go beyond what is written" (1 Cor. 4:6).

2. Read and re-read good, old books. The old books are still the best books. I don't think that's temporal snobbery (at least I don't mean it to be), or a blanket slight of recent books. But the old books typically offer greater rigor, insight, and depth than most of what's published in our mass-market-oriented publishing industry.

3. Read bad books once in a while. Not regularly or exclusively, but on occasion, a good pastor reads a bad book. He may do this because many of his people are taken with interest in the book, or because the book is creating a stir in the larger church world. He may read such a book to know what the issues are, what's at stake, to better shepherd his people, or to sharpen his own apologetics ministry.

4. Read church history and historical theology. Most of the errors we'll ever see have already been made by someone before us. There's nothing new under the sun... including bad theology. A good pastor helps to innoculate himself from such errors by reading church history and hihstorical theology where these issues are chronicled, debated and resolved by godly men who have gone before us. Reading church history and historical theology is likely a regular part of a good pastor's reading diet.

5. Avoid novelty and fads. It seems that this is where most error starts, with a desire to say something new or innovative. The last place we want to be innovative is in doctrine. When a good pastor comes across something altogether new in his study and reading, he will be pressed with three questions at least: (1) Specifically how does this depart with accepted, established truths of the faith once and for all delivered to the saints? (2) What impact does this idea or doctrine have on other important doctrinal issues? (3) How does this impact the lives of people? Is this impact really worth the dangers or problems associated with the novel interpretation? Paul tells Timothy in verse 7 to avoid irreverent, silly myths; the good pastor will avoid these things as well.

6. Keep learning from solid teachers. What good pastor will ever stop learning? And who can master all there is to know from a Tom Schreiner, Al Mohler, R.C. Sproul, and all your other favorite teachers? A good pastor commits himself to continuing to strengthen his knowledge of the Savior and the faith, and he will make a specific plan for such learning. He may take a seminary course (on campus or online), listen by radio or online, attend good conferences, or join a study group, but he'll keep learning.

7. Be the first to sign the church's statement of faith. Give yourself to upholding and defending it as an accurate summary of the Bible's main teaching. And the moment you waiver in your commitment to an article in the statement, confess it to your fellow elders and leaders for accountability, correction, and discipline if necessary. Cheerfully accept the discipline of the church for serious error in teaching.

8. Develop an instinct for identifying doctrinal softness and drift. In most cases, a good pastor is going to be the "chief theological officer" in the body. Consequently, he'll need to be fairly astute at monitoring his own thoughts and being intellectually rigorous with himself. So a nose for identifying when he's being lazy or sloppy or indifferent theologically is critical. He has to fight against that tendency toward compromise. He must realize that he will not serve his people well if his tendency is to constantly surrender "small plots of theological ground" whenever the fear of man surfaces. He must discern whether people-pleasing tendencies are the habit of his heart and whether that weakens doctrinal resolve. He must know whether he tends to avoid conflict and whether that erodes his fidelity to the truth. He must know when and how pragmatism assumes control of his thinking such that he's tempted to leave off sound doctrine and choose a thing "because it works." He needs a honed instinct for spotting drift and softness in himself and a specific plan for overcoming it.

Here's a stark reality: Nearly every heresy or widespread doctrinal corruption in the church came while some pastor was on the job. He either introduced it or he allowed it into the body. And a significant number of such errors were developed by men who sought what was right in their own eyes and disregarded the great truths of Scripture and the godly wisdom of those gone before us.

Paul's exhortation is the most practical and critically important possible. The good pastor's close watch of his life and doctrine affects the spiritual well-being of his people. By keepig close watch of his life and doctrine, the good pastor "will save both himself and his hearers." May the Lord give us grace to be good and faithful ministers to His people.

"Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers" (I Tim. 4:16).

This is the text the Lord used to stir me at T4G. C.J.'s sermon was a wonderful exhortation to watch our lives as pastor and deserves repeated listening. In fact, you should probably stop reading this post and go ahead to the link and listen (or here to read).

C.J. makes the point that, especially among Reformed types, we're better at watching our doctrine than our lives. I think that's probably correct. But a good pastor wears bi-focals--he sees both his life and his doctrine.

And the two are connected. Right living will not impress Jesus if it's accompany by wrong doctrine, especially on the crucial matters. Right doctrine should lead to right living. It doesn't always do so, but that is evidence that we need our eyes on both. If I could make a sweeping generalization (very sweeping), this might be one shorthand way of distinguishing the primary concerns of historically African-American and White views of Christianity. My white brothers have been rightly concerned with right teaching while at times wholely inadequate in their concern for right living. My kinsmen according to the flesh have been rightly concerned with right living, especially with regard to social ethics and justice, while inadequate in their concern for right doctrine. We need both. And this is partly why I think these two streams of Christian tradition and thought need to be in more intimate conversation. But I digress....

A good pastor watches life and doctrine. He sees the connection and gets it. Some thoughts... nothing new. Just basic reminders.

1. A good pastor surrounds himself with A-quality men who help him in watching his life. Accountability is essential. And not just passive, reactionary "accountability," but searching, probing, initiative-taking accountability. We need people to ask us that tough question that we're avoiding in conversation, to pursue us rather than merely listen to us. We need others with an agenda for our holiness that is at times more zealous than our own agenda for holiness. This accountability should be one place where the following are also carried out.

2. A good pastor maintains a healthy interest, participation in, and love for his family. Not everyone will agree with my application of that principle. It seems to me that the priority in life is God first, family second, and ministry third. I can't make idols of either family or ministry such that they rival my affection for God. And if my affection for the Savior and my obedience to Him are strong, I should display high affection for my family. And I take 1 Timothy 3:4-5 to be prerequisites for ministry, and therefore to establish family as a priority over ministry. So, a good pastor will watch his life by watching the ordering of his priorities when it comes to his family. He will develop the ability and habit of saying "no" to that worthy ministry aim in order to say "yes" to that worthy set of relationships called family.

3. A good pastor keeps close watch on his thought life. He fights against anger, jealousy, censoriousness, lust, and the like. And he works to think about those things that are lovely, true, of good report, etc. Too often we listen to ourselves rather than speak to ourselves. And if we're not careful, what we listen to will be worldly, fleshly, poorly thought out, foolish ideas that lead to wrong conclusions and worldly, fleshly actions. A good pastor watches his life by fighting at the level of thoughts and desires, planting godly seeds and plucking out thorns and weeds before they choke his life.

4. A good pastor protects himself, his family, and his church from sexual immorality and the appearance of evil. A good pastor knows not to make any provision for his flesh or to leave his life open in such a way that invites unwanted attention, advances, or confusion. He doesn't meet or travel alone with women. He is not a shoulder to cry on for vulnerable women. His office is open or within view, avoiding the cloak of secrecy. At least his administrative asistant, and probably his admin. asst. and his wife, are aware of when he is meeting with women and what is generally the nature of the meeting. Speaking of his wife, he actively and joyfully gives himself to his wife in intimacy. He gouges out his eyes, cuts off his arms, and whatever else is necessary to protect himself, his family and his church from immoral acts. And again, he humbly and eagerly involves others in this protection and accountability.

5. A good pastor watches his life for rest and recreation. There should be adequate rest in the calendar and appropriate recreation. And a good pastor invites feedback on both, especially where there are questions about the appropriateness of some recreational pursuit. Eventually, pastors will lose the battle and the war if they don't rest. If Jesus doesn't return soon, and I pray that He would, a life of pastoral ministry will be a long haul and we'd better take care of our physical selves.

Next time, Lord willing, watching our doctrine.