Category Archives: Books

>The Holiness of God – Chapter Nine-

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“Almost every natural man that hears of hell, 
flatters himself
that he shall escape it”
Jonathan Edwards

Michelangelo Buonarroti ; The Last Judgment (detail 1)
“Transgression speaks to the wicked 
deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God 
before His eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out
and hated.
The words of his mouth are trouble 
and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do g
good.
He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good.
He does not reject evil.”

Psalm 36: 1- 4 (ESV)

The same day I read this chapter in Sproul’s book entitled God in the Hand of Angry Sinners, I read Psalm 36; it is clear that Jonathan Edwards knew these verses, he knew how the wicked is not afraid to try to destroy God, the wicked plots in his his bed how to end with a Holy God.

This is an excellent chapter in which Dr. Sproul leads us through the words of Jonathan Edwards, to see clearly that God is Holy and the wicked wants to destroy Him. He doesn’t want a Holy God.

I see this around me all the time in the country where I live in which more and more people are leaving the Catholic Church to join the Evangelical Church; preachers on TV and on stages with lights and live music are promising miracles, happiness, joy, health, and wealth; they preach love and acceptance in Christ, “come as you are and He will receive you openly” they say; no one hears of a Holy God; and maybe it is because the god they had made for themselves is all love but lacks holiness.

Sproul says it well:

“A loving God who has no wrath is no God. He is an idol of our own making as much as if we carved Him out of stone”

The question that rises is this:

“How can we love a holy God? The simplest answer I can give to this vital question is that we can’t. Loving a Holy God is beyond our moral power. The only kind of God we can love by our sinful nature is an unholy god, an idol made by our own hands. Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds His holy love in our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to change our hearts, we will not love Him. He is the One who takes the initiative to restore our souls. Without Him we can do nothing of righteousness. Without Him we would be doomed to everlasting alienation from His holiness. We can love Him only because He first loved us. To love a Holy God requires grace, grace strong enough to pierce hardened hearts and awaken our morbid souls”

I have heard terrible statements like the one from a woman’s  heart when she was confronted with her sin, “If that is your God, a God who does not understand me, and my situation, then I do not want Him”  This woman still calls herself Christian, she still goes to her church, where a god who understands every one is worshiped.

Another woman who calls herself Christian, said to me once, “I cannot imagine a God who is trapped in a box of rules; “my god” is not like that; my god is a personal god; his love is greater than lots precepts and statutes”

God, the triune God is Holy; and He is bound to His word, because He is the Word and His Word is Holy.

The more I am transformed by His Word, the more I see my need of Him. I am utterly lost without Him.

The best way to end this entry is the same way Dr. Sproul ends this chapter:

“Yet as we grow in our knowledge of Him, we gain a deeper love for His purity and a sense of deeper dependence on His grace. We learn that He is altogether worthy of our adoration. The fruit of our growing love for Him is the increase of reverence for His name. We love Him now because we see his loveliness. we adore Him because we see His majesty. We obey Him now because His Holy Spirit dwells within us.”

Under His shadow,

You can read what others are saying about this chapter at Challies.

Other Posts in this Series:

The Holiness of God -Chapter Eight- Be Holy because I am Holy-
The Holiness of God -Chapter Seven- War and Peace with a Holy God
The Holiness of God -Chapter Six- Holy Justice

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>The Holiness of God – Chapter Eight-

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How do I respond to God’s holiness?

How do I respond when He says, “Becky, be holy because I am Holy”?

The easiest thing to do is be moralistic about it; and start working on the externals only. It is at times easier to say no to a movie or to a certain music than to say no to a habit that seems more “spiritual” but at the end of the day, in the quietness of my bed,  I know it is not what God wants for me.

God justified me when I did not deserve His forgiveness, but He wants me to work on my salvation with fear and trembling every day; Sproul says it well:

“To be spiritual has only one real purpose. it is a means to an end, not the end itself. The goal of all spiritual exercise must be the goal of righteousness. God calls us to be holy. Christ sets the priority of the Christian life: ‘But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’ (Matt. 6:33) The goal is righteousness”

This chapter is one in which we are encouraged  to examine ourselves and see what are we living for; how are we pursuing this goal that God has set before us.

We need to be careful on how we live our lives, on how we journey under His sun every day. Let us not forget that the devil will be trying to deceive even the chosen ones. Maybe we think we are pursuing a holy life when in reality we are just pursuing a moralistic life. We might miss the mark, if we don’t consider our steps and our motives in the light of the Scripture-

In this chapter Sproul also explains about the differences between happiness and pleasure, read his words:

“My sins have not brought me happiness. But my sins have brought me pleasure. I like pleasure. I am still very much attracted to pleasure. Pleasure can be great fun. And not all pleasures are sins. There is much pleasure to be found in righteousness. But the difference is still there. Sn can be pleasurable, but it never brings happiness.
Now if I understand all this why would I ever be tempted to sin? It seems silly that anyone who knows the difference between happiness and pleasure would continue to trade happiness for pleasure. It seems utterly stupid for a person to do something that he knows will rob him happiness. Yet we do it. The mystery of sin is not only that it s wicked and destructive but also that it is so downright stupid”

It is just incredible to read this and be willing to admit that this is our condition -at least mine– . Many times I trade the happiness of serving those around me for the momentary pleasure of doing my own thing. This is indeed a stupid thing to do.

Because God has called me to be holy where I am now, then I must start seeing my home as holy ground, as a sacred place. It is in my daily life, the life I live behind dishes, and books, and math, and cooking, and talking and listening, the place in which I must show myself holy.

Dr. Sproul goes on to explain what does it mean to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1-2) This is a very interesting study of the verse,  so I invite you to read the book to find out all the treasures hidden there! However, I do want to say that I agree with the author:

“It is a tragedy that the matter of nonconformity has been treated by Christians at a shallow level. The simplistic way of non conforming is to see what is in style in our culture and then do the opposite…
The call of nonconformity is a call to a deeper level of righteousness that goes beyond externals. When piety is defined exclusively in terms of externals, the whole point of the apostle’s teaching has been lost. Somehow we have failed to hear Jesus’ words that it is not what goes into a person’s mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of that mouth. We still want to make the kingdom a matter of eating and drinking.
Anyone can avoid dancing or going to the movies. These require no great effort of moral courage. What is difficult is to control the tongue, to act with integrity, to reveal the fruit of the Spirit”

This is my prayer today, I do not want to be conformed to this world; but I long to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. I want to “rigorously pursue the kingdom of God”, to study the Word of God deeply, to “master the Word of God”.

Sanctification is a process but is not a passive one. It is one that requires a real, and “serious level of sacrifice”

“That is the call of excellence we have received. We are not to be like the rest of the world, content to live our lives with a superficial understanding of God. We are to grow dissatisfied with spiritual milk and hunger after spiritual meat”

May His grace abound as we pursue our calling to live a holy life under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

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I am reading this book with a great community of great men and women; read more about this chapter at Challies today.

Related Posts:

The Holiness of God- Chapter Seven -War and Peace with a Holy God-
The Holiness of God – Chapter Six -Holy Justice-

This month we are Celebrating the Incarnation of Our Lord; would you join us?

Celebrating the Incarnation of Our Lord – Part I-

>The Holiness of God – Chapter Seven-

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>I am a homemaker, so as you can imagine, today I am busy preparing a feast to celebrate His goodness, but I just don’t want to skip this post; the book, the group, the conversation has been so rich.

Job Confessing His Presumption to God Who Answers from the Whirlwind; William Blake c. 1804

On this chapter Dr. Sproul takes us to see four different characters in the Bible; Jacob, Job, Habakkuk, and Saul; all of them wrestled with God. God overcame them and they found peace; all of them had questions to ask; all of them dared to raise their voices with questions, none of them got answers, instead they were summoned by God; He asked them some other questions and they could not answer.

I love the way Sproul talks about Job. Once Job found out that he did not have the answers to God’s questions and that God was not answering his questions, what happened?

” …Job was satisfied. even though God gave no answers, Job’s questions were put to rest.He received a higher answer than any direct reply could have provided. God answered Job’s questions not with words but with Himself. As soon as Job saw who God is, Job was satisfied. Seeing the manifestation of God was all that he needed. He was able to leave the details in God’s hands. Once God himself was no longer shrouded in mystery, Job was able to live comfortably with a few unanswered questions. When God appeared, Job was so busy repenting that he did not have time for further challenges. His rage was directed to himself: ‘I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes'”

Maybe questions have already come to your heart.

Maybe they will come in the near future.

What do we do with those questions?

Do we raise our fists trying to fight against God?

I just read, with tears,  the words of a young man who grew up in a an Evangelical Church, he tweeted: “I have decided to be an atheist because I have many questions and God has too many secrets”

Let our words be few; lest He turns towards us not to give us answers but to ask us questions which we will not be able to answer.

It is He who asks.

It is us who must learn to be quiet and be satisfied with the silence; It is us who must learn to trust in His Sovereign hand orchestrating every event in our lives, and so live comfortably with few unanswered questions.

We have heard people say that they are keeping a journal with many questions they plan to ask God one day in Heaven, let me share with you these words that  Persis, who has been tried by fire  once wrote:

“I am still pondering God’s greatness in His creation. I have so many questions that I would like to ask the Lord about the universe, creation, the fall of man… But when I’m in heaven, I wonder if I will even remember them. At that time, being in the presence of God will be enough. I’m thankful that I can look forward to that day.”

Let this words be our comfort, no matter how big our questions might be, if we fear the Lord, we should know that He is beyond and above all those questions we have, and one day, when we see Him face to face, all those questions will be like vapor, like shadows; His glory will be sufficient, and we will be in peace.

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Today I am grateful, because even though God is too wonderful for me to comprehend, and His holiness is beyond my reach, He has opened my eyes to see a glimpse of His glory and has given me the promise that I will behold Him face to face one day, and I will be satisfied, I will long for nothing no more.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

 

>The Holiness of God – Chapter Six-

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I don’t know where to start this entry.

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This is an amazing chapter, through the reading of every page my eyes were opened and I understood more about God’s GRACE! For this I am thankful today. I want to draw nearer to His Grace every day, and yet, while reading this chapter I realized I know so little of it; so I come quietly, almost in tiptoes, and with trembling hands I type words here, because I don’t want to forget what I have learned. Come quietly and read along…

 When Sproul explains us why God consumed with fire from Heaven the lives of Nadab and Abihu when they they offered a “strange fire before the Lord”; and why God struck down Uzzah when he touched the ark of God, and why God commanded his people to kill all the inhabitants of Canaan, the author is clear none of these men, women and children were innocent.

“There is a reason why we are offended, indeed angered, by the story of Uzzah and the story of Nadab and Abihu. We find these things difficult to stomach because we don’t understand four vitally important biblical concepts: holiness, justice, sin and grace. We don’t understand what it means to be holy. We don’t understand what justice is. We don’t understand what sin is. We don’t understand what grace is”

We simple expect God to be always merciful, and when He is just we just don’t like it.

“God does not always act with justice. Sometimes he acts with mercy. Mercy is not justice, but it also is not injustice. Injustice violates righteousness. Mercy manifests kindness and grace and does no violence to righteousness. Mercy manifests kindness and grace and does no violence righteosness. We may see nonjustice in God, which is mercy, but we never see injustice in God”

We are sinners, I am a sinner. The Bible says that the “souls who sins is the one who will die” (Ezek. 18:4)

Why am I breathing right now?

Why I haven’t been consumed?

Why God chose me to give me life when I only deserved death?

Why did God give me Grace when I only deserved His Holy justice?

This is the real mystery.

This is where we, the children of God, must make a stop and worship Him. It is only when we fully understand what holiness and sin and justice mean, that we can truly begin to understand the meaning of Grace.

Grace is always undeserved.

It is always undeserved.

Always.

Grace and justice, holiness and sin met in one place two thousand year ago on the Cross.

“The most violent expression of God’s wrath and justice is seen in the Cross. If ever a person had room to complain of injustice, it was Jesus. He was the only innocent man ever punished by God. If we stagger at the wrath of God, let us stagger at the Cross. Here is where our astonishment should be focused. If we have a cause for moral outrage, let it be directed at Golgotha.”

It is here, on the Cross also, where we see that God’s Grace is not infinite. Sproul reminds us, and I a thankful for that, that “God sets limits to His patience and forbearance. He warns us over and over again that someday the ax will fall and His judgment will be poured out”

Let us learn to remain silent, just as Aaron remained silent when we see God’s Holy Justice.

Let us be amazed by His amazing Grace, and His amazing Holy Justice.

You can read more thoughtful comments about this chapter at Challies. Tim invited us to read together this book, and it has been a great thing to do, with such an incredible group of readers.

Related posts:

The Holiness of God – The Insanity of Luther-
The Holiness of God -The Trauma of Holiness-
The Holiness of God – The Fearful Mystery-
The Holiness of God – Holy, Holy, Holy-
The Holiness of God – The holy Grail-

>Advent Begins November 28

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>My husband and I decided to start celebrating the Advent few years ago. It was certainly not an easy decision; we really wanted to do it, but living in a Catholic country where these kind of traditions have always been associated by Evangelicals with paganism and idolatry was not easy.  We prayed, we marked the calendar, and our family was blessed indeed!

Noël Piper says about Advent,

“For four weeks, it’s as if we’re re-enacting, remembering the thousands of years God’s people were anticipating and longing for the coming of God’s salvation, for Jesus. That’s what advent means—coming. Even God’s men who foretold the grace that was to come didn’t know “what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating.” They were waiting, but they didn’t know what God’s salvation would look like.” (source) 

Today, as the time approaches I want to suggest to you several resources that have been a blessing in our home as we wait, as we sit around the Family Table and read about His glorious coming.

The Innkeeper, by John Piper

we have not read this, maybe this year we will use it…

Another book I found that looks great is this, The Christ of Christmas; have you read it?

 

Buy here.

Update:
I am sorry friends! I forgot to include this CD earlier. (It is one of my favorites!)

Buy it here (it is on sale right now!)

More Christmas music can be found here.

Do you have any other books, sermons, or music you would like to suggest us for this season? 

We would love to hear about them!

 Today I am grateful because we can treasure God in our traditions!

Remember that we will be celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord at Daily On My Way to Heaven,  you are invited to join us! Link to your blog post every Wednesday on December; tell us how do you keep a Jesus centered Christmas.

>The Holiness of God – Chapter Five-

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Chapter Five. The Insanity of Luther
“Let God be God”
Martin Luther

I really enjoyed this chapter in which Dr. Sproul takes us to Germany, where the seems-insane-monk, Martin  Luther, lived.

Are we surprised that people call us seem-insane-Christians today? We should not. The world abhors those who pursue the Holiness of God. And I have learned through this book that if we are to call ourselves Christians, we should, then, long to pursue God’s holiness.

Isaiah, Peter, the disciples, Martin Luther, all started their journey to heaven at the same place: on their knees before a Holy God.

Today so many are being deceived by the teachings of men; now it seems that you don’t have to be undone before the Holy One to start your journey to heaven; it seems that you all need to do is try to do your best, just as the rich man that approached Jesus.

“And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” Luke 18:12-24

He thought he could come whenever he wanted, standing on his own merits, before the Holy One. Little he knew. I like the way Sproul says it:

“Imagine the arrogance or the ignorance of the man”

But there is always, at least, “one thing” that impedes us to approach the Holy One.

“When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.” Luke 18: 22- 24

I want to examine my heart, how do I approach the Holy One? How do I come before Him? Yes, I know, I am a Reformed Christian, I love doctrine, the Five Solas, and TULIP, but truly, how do I approach God? I am proud that I am not walking as others, “enjoying the bliss of ignorance”?

Dr. Sproul compares the response of this rich man with Luther’s response  like this:

“When Jesus met another young man centuries later, He did not have to go through an elaborate object lesson to help the man understand his sin. He never said to Luther, “One thing you lack.” Luther already knew he the demands of a pure holy God, and it was driving him crazy”

We don’t need to go crazy, but we certainly need to be undone.

Isn’t this the right place to start?

Read what other have to say about this great chapter at Challies, where we are Reading the Classics Together.

Today I am thankful for the Reformation in History and the reformation in my own history; without it, I would be walking today away from Jesus, deceived by my own acts of “righteousness”.

The Holiness of God -Chapter Four-
The Holiness of God -Chapter Three-