Christ Church (Moscow, ID)

Enjoy session 1 of 4 from the GA22 Women's Seminar: Imagination & the Feminine Art of Culture Building.The last several years Christ Church as tried an experiment in grace and has not charged for the Grace Agenda conference. In keeping with this spirit of grace, we are accepting free will donations at grace graceagenda.com/donate.

Enjoy session 4 of 5 from the GA22 Men's Seminar: Let's Talk About Books.The last several years Christ Church as tried an experiment in grace and has not charged for the Grace Agenda conference. In keeping with this spirit of grace, we are accepting free will donations at grace graceagenda.com/donate.

Laziness is the kind of sin that no one really wants to be seen in. There is your sister coming back from the gym, she’s got bread in the oven and morning devotions complete. Across the room, there you are reclined on the couch eating Cheetos, the blue glaze of your phone illuminating your orange-stained lips and fingers as you scroll with the free hand to your fourth cat video. No one wants a snapshot of that scene posted to the internet. 

INTRODUCTIONThere are three kinds of grief in this passage. The first is Paul’s godly response to the pastoral meltdown at Corinthian. Paul had been entirely “cast down” (v. 6), and this was the troubles out of which the coming of Titus had been the deliverance. Then there is the godly sorrow and grief that follows after sin, and which results in true repentance (v. 10). But the third kind, the sorrow “of the world” leads only to death (v. 10).THE TEXT“Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears . . .” (2 Cor. 7:2–16).SUMMARY OF THE TEXTThe first exhortation here to “receive us” is echoing the earlier summons to open or enlarge their hearts (v. 2). Paul says he has wronged no one, corrupted no one, and defrauded no one (v. 2). This is perhaps an indication of the charges made against him. Paul is not trying to condemn the Corinthians who are on the fence—with all his heart he wants to die and live with them (v. 3) Paul is bold with them because he is overjoyed in them, and filled with comfort (v. 4). We now learn about how torn up Paul was in Macedonia—fears within, quarrels without (v. 5). But Paul was comforted two ways—the first through the coming of Titus (v. 6), and second by the news Titus brought (v. 7). Paul was greatly comforted to learn about the Corinthians “earnest desire,” their “mourning,” and their “fervent mind toward” Paul (v. 7). Although Paul made them sorry with that letter, he did not regret it now (v. 8)—although there were some moments where he did regret it. Their sorrow was just for a season (v. 8)—their sorrow was a fruitful sorrow, not a damaging sorrow (v. 9). For there are two kinds of sorrow and grief—one leads to repentance and salvation, while a worldly sorry just works death (v. 10). He then describes their godly sorrow, the components of which were diligence, clearing themselves, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, and vindication (v. 11). In all this, they went above and beyond. Paul was not aiming at the ringleader in the congregation who had caused the trouble, nor was he defending himself, but rather that they might see his pastoral care for them (v. 12). This is why the news from Titus about how refreshed he was in them was so good (v. 13). When Paul had bragged about the Corinthians to Titus, this was simply the same kind of truth he spoke to them. And they had not embarrassed him (v. 14). And now Titus is warmly attached to that congregation as well (v. 15). Note that this deep affection is not inconsistent with obedience, and fear, and trembling (v. 15). The whole episode has caused Paul to rejoice in all things (v. 16).A MESS IN CORINTH, AND ANOTHER ONE IN MACEDONIAPaul had a meltdown situation in Corinth, which he had sent Titus to deal with by means of a letter. He came to Macedonia, expecting to find Titus there, but he was delayed. But instead of Titus, he found a bad situation there in Macedonia—everywhere he turned he ran into conflict (v. 5).Internally, Paul was beset with fears that all his work might come crashing down. This was a common concern of his—were all those floggings for nothing? Consider Gal. 4:11; 1 Thess. 3:5; and 2 Cor. 11:28–29. IN THE PERSON OF TITUSWhen Titus came, God was the one who comforted Paul (v. 6). Titus was the instrument, and God was the agent. This expression is likely an allusion to Isa. 49:13 in the LXX—where God brings eschatological comfort to His people. The coming of Titus was like that. Christ has a body, and He works good for His people through that body. You are the hands and feet of Christ Himself in the world.SEVENFOLD REPENTANCEThe repentance of the Corinthians before Titus had been a convulsive and dramatic one. They were not at all trying to preserve their dignity, putting things right without ever having to humble themselves. Remember that Paul mentions their obedience, their fear, and their trembling. This is a combination of a felt and very real authority with deep and open affection—the kind that Paul displayed with his enlarged heart.The sevenfold repentance could not be described as being in any way nonchalant. They were diligent, they worked to clear themselves, there was real indignation, they feared, they showed vehement desire, they displayed their zeal, and their hunger for vindication. And notice that Titus accepts all of this kind of behavior, as does Paul.ACTUAL GOOD GRIEFPaul sharply distinguishes godly sorrow from a worldly sorrow. There are two kinds of sorrow. The fact that you did something wrong, and are sorrow about it, does not by itself mean anything. Suppose you did something that was pretty tawdry, and you are humiliated about it. Every time you think about it, your forehead gets hot. You sinned on Monday, and you are sorry on Tuesday. Comes Friday, and you are still gnawing on your sorrow, like a dog with a bone. You are sorry yesterday, sorry today, and sorry tomorrow. At this rate, you are going to die sorry. That kind of sorrow is one of the things that needs to be repented of.The godly sorrow that Paul describes right alongside it is a godly sorrow that “works repentance to salvation.” That salvation, remember, is Christ. Godly sorrow drives you where? Godly sorrow leads straight to Christ. Godly sorrow leads you straight to the place of no regrets (v. 10). The way such a thing could ever be possible is that if all our regrets, and all the sins that produce such regrets, are bundled up together and laid on the shoulders of Christ at the moment when He bowed His head and died.

Text: Hebrews 8

The Apostle John’s teaching here is at once simple and deep. The simplicity isn’t because John was a simpleton; and the depth isn’t a secret knowledge intended only for a scant few. We find here a depth that comes from maturing faith and love. A bride and groom avow their love on their wedding day, but as it is nurtured year upon year, decade upon decade, the depth of that trust and love grows sweeter, truer, lovelier. That, in part, is how Scripture teaches us to understand the doctrine of assurance of grace.

The title of this message is “How to Fight Sin,” but maybe the more complete title would be something like “How to fight that sin that keeps coming back and scaring you.” I’m thinking here about the occasional angry outburst, a significant lustful collapse, drunkenness, or emotional meltdowns. Where do those sins come from and what can be done to actually defeat them?

The Reformation was a recovery of the Gospel of grace. Not by the merit of saints, or the good works which we or others have done, or the penance paid into the coffers, but by the free grace of God are you saved. But in every age, various attempts are made to cloud and obscure and bury this glorious doctrine. It is the church’s duty to proclaim and defend this Glorious Gospel through all ages.

Text: Gal. 2:11–21.

INTRODUCTIONRemember that the point of this epistle is for Paul to defend the authenticity of his ministry. There are three groups involved. There were the false teachers, the agitators that stirred up the trouble. They had initially swayed the whole church, but after Paul’s severe letter, the bulk of the church had come back into their loyalty to Paul. That is the second group. The third group was made of saints in the church who were still rattled, who still had the wobbles. These were the ones that Paul beseeched to “enlarge their hearts.” And in this passage, we get to Paul’s basic “call to action.” We have come to the thing which they must do.THE TEXT“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).DEBRIS CLEANINGBefore summarizing the text, there is an important misunderstanding to get out of the way. In this section, Paul famously says that we are not to be “unequally yoked with unbelievers.” This is regularly applied to marriages and/or business partnership, and while this is a legitimate application, it is not what the text is talking about—and we have to be careful not to lose the original meaning. When Paul tells Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach and frequent ailments (1 Tim. 5:23), he was not trying to refute teetotalism. That is a legitimate application (by extension), but not what Paul was talking about. It is the same here.The original meaning was the summons that Paul was delivering, urging the remaining wobbly Corinthians to make a complete break from the false teachers (whom we will get to know much better in later chapters). For now it will serve to distinguish the wolves from the sheep who have been mauled by wolves. Paul is appealing here to the latter.SUMMARY OF THE TEXTPaul starts with the principle. Do not be in harness together with unbelievers (v. 14). The reason is then given in a series of contrasts. Is there fellowship between righteousness and unrighteousness (v. 14)? Communion between light and darkness (v. 14)? Concord between Christ and Belial (v. 15)? Faith and infidelity (v. 15)? The temple of God with idols (v. 16)?These destructive false teachers want to set up their idols in the Corinthians, saints who were the Temple of God (v. 16). What looks like a solitary quotation from the Old Testament starting in v. 16 is actually a complicated mashup of quotations from about six different places in the Old Testament. The first two are promises of close and intimate fellowship (Lev. 26:11-12; Eze. 37:27). Then came the promise of adoption, and this is taken from four distinct places (2 Sam. 7:14; Is. 52:11; Eze. 20:34; Is. 43:6).Overwhelmingly, the six cited passages are talking about Israel’s restoration to the land, brought out of exile. The Corinthians were the heirs of these spectacular promises and, as such, had an obligation to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of spirit and flesh, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (7:1). That is the call—to break with these sons of Belial.SONS OF BELIAL We can tell that this is the import of this passage from the overall flow of the argument. Dealing with these false teachers is, after all, the theme of the entire letter. But we can also see it in his use of a word like Belial. The word probably means worthlessness, and is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to covenant losers. In other words, we are talking about covenant members who were wicked louts. See, for example, the following: Dt. 13:13; Judg. 19:22; 20:13; 1 Sam. 1:16; 2:12; 10:27; 25:17,25; 30:22; 2 Sam. 20:1; 1 Kings 21:10,13; 2Chron. 13:7. This is precisely what Paul was dealing with at Corinth, and so he asks the rhetorical question—what possible fellowship can there be between Christ and Belial?THE PRESSING NEED FOR MORE CHURCH SPLITSThe “unbelievers” Paul is talking about are his adversaries within the church. These are false brothers. Do not be “yoked with” means do not pal around with, enable, encourage, or otherwise link to these people.The driver of all such splits, however, needs to be holiness. If they pursue holiness in the fear of God, a lot of the separating will take care of itself. Paul is reminding the Corinthians of their identity in Christ. Now, in Christ, what are they? They are the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). They have been made light (2 Cor. 4:6). In Christ, they are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). By direct implication, Paul includes them as being among those who believe (2 Cor. 4:4). They are the Temple of God (2 Cor. 6:16). So the Corinthians are or have each of the characteristics that have no fellowship, communion, concord, part, or agreement with the corruptions offered by the sons of Belial. Those corruptions would unrighteousness, darkness, worthlessness, infidelity, and idolatry. And it is holiness of life that drives all such things away.DISEASED EVANGELICALISMSatan has two basic strategies for attacking the church. He attacks it by persecutions from without, and he attacks it by introducing corruptions from within. The latter has been his tactic of choice in the American church, and it has worked very well for him. The bottom line of all such corruptions is unholiness, and usually with a sexual component. This is why vast swaths of the evangelical church collapsed almost overnight when the challenges of the last two years first appeared.And so the application today should be obvious. Separate from—do not have anything to do with, do not follow, do not fellowship with—the ministries of anyone who is woke, or semi-woke, or is effeminate, or who compromises on theistic evolution, or who makes room for homosexuality as an identity, or who ordains women to be pastors, or who advances any form of critical theory, or who would otherwise invite this generation’s Clown Car Review into the church. Tragically, this list is not limited to mainline liberal churches. Because we did not heed the warnings of the apostle, the evangelical movement is shot through with the cancers of unbelief.But do not just turn away. That is insufficient. Pursue holiness. Pursue righteousness. Pursue Christ.