The Moral Must Repent

“Repentance is necessary for civil persons. These have no visible spots on them. They are free from gross sin, and one would think they had nothing to do with the business of repentance. They are so good that they scorn a psalm of mercy. Indeed these are often in the worst condition: these are they who need no repentance (Luke 15:7). Their civility undoes them. They make a Christ of it, and so on this shelf they suffer shipwreck. Morality shoots short of heaven. It is only nature refined. A moral man is but old Adam dressed in fine clothes. The king’s image counterfeited and stamped upon brass will not go current. The civil person seems to have the image of God, but he is only brass metal, which will never pass for current. Civility is insufficient for salvation. Though the life be moralized, the lust may be unmortified. The heart may be full of pride and atheism. Under the fair leaves of a tree there may be a worm. I am not saying, repent that your are civil, but that you are no more than civil. Satan entered into the house that had just been swept and garnished (Luke 11:26). This is the emblem of a moral man, who is swept by civility and garnished with common gifts, but is not washed by true repentance. The unclean spirit enters into such a one. If civility were sufficient to salvation, Christ need not have died. The civilian has a fair lamp, but it lacks the oil of grace.”

— Thomas Watson, The Doctrine of Repentance

Order Thomas Watson's "The Doctrine of Repentance" here

Idle of the Heart

I continue to find young men who are frustrated at their stage in life in part because of a lack of clarity about their calling, or a lack of opportunity to do what they really want to do.  This frustration leads many to become idle. Inactive if not aimless. And this leads many to become jobless (or nearly so) while becoming overly dependent on others (parents, friends, credit cards). If you find yourself at this stage I would like to address you, my friends. No, I'm not going to lecture you about your motives, growing up, or prolonged adolescence, though such things might be issues for you to deal with. I only want to remind you of three truths than can change how you understand and experience this time in your life.

This time is hard, and it is easy to conclude there is little to no value in these days of uncertainty and disappointment. While you are figuring out (or waiting to do) what you are called to do vocationally, know this: you are called by God to work hard now, to share with others, and to love your neighbor...

Read the rest at Christianity.com

The Way of Keeping Your Heart

One of the 10 most important books I have read outside of Scripture is John Flavel's, Keeping the Heart. I have greatly benefitted from it personally, and the truths within have come to mark much of my teaching and preaching. Flavel, interacting with Prov. 4:23, defines keeping the heart as "the diligent and constant use of all holy means to preserve the soul from sin, and maintain its sweet and free communion with God."

In my previous post I warned against the danger of neglecting the heart, particularly as it relates to knowing our own corruptions and weaknesses. The author of Hebrews warns us of this danger as well when he wrote, 

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

— Hebrews 3:12-13

Notice what Hebrews is teaching us. Not just the danger of neglecting the heart, but also the means of protecting it. "exhort one another." This is not generic encouragement or try-harder coaching. This is gospel application to one another's hearts. This is pressing Scripture into each others' lives. Of all of the "holy means" we have to keep the heart none is more important than Scripture.

We don't talk about "Scripture" being useful today like we used to. We use the word "gospel" a lot without much further direction. But merely saying "gospel" is not enough. In fact the degree to which anyone can be "gospel-centered" is largely determined by his Bible-fluency. I'm not talking about getting the 10 commandments in the right order, or knowing what was created on which day in Genesis 1. I mean that keeping the heart (guarding against the danger of sin, but also cultivating love for and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ--see John 15) is a gospel issue, and the gospel can only be known in God's word.

So, as we think about this practically, "How can I keep the heart?", the word Scripture will be central. Below are three Scripture-driven ways of keeping the heart.

Let the Word of God Expose You

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13, ESV)

If you can read the Bible without coming away feeling the conviction of God over your sin and your desperate need for daily grace you are reading without receiving. Whether we are reading about the character and work of God or his laws and commands, we should be struck with both his holiness and his our unholiness, his purity and our impurity, his provision and our great need.

In other words part of keeping your heart is seeing, owning, and repenting of your sin daily. You will not guard your heart against the danger of sin if you do not recognize both its presence and its damaging influence. Look to God's word to expose the darkness in you, and this will lead you to the next, and vitally connected, way of keeping the heart.

Let The Word of God Rescue You

"Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21, ESV)

Of course Jesus saves. By his life, death, and resurrection we who believe are counted as fully righteous, we are fully forgiven, and we are being progressively transformed into his image. But the knowledge of Jesus only comes by the word of God, and in that God's word rescues us.

To say that we must let the word of God rescue us means that we must daily believe on this Christ that has been revealed who alone atones for our sins, conquers our enemies, and puts us at peace with our Maker. We must read God's word with the aim of deepening our dependence on Christ while distancing ourselves from pseudo-saviors like self, morality, success, or knowledge.

We really keep our hearts when we look to the One who promises to keep our souls (Jn. 17:15; Ps. 121:7).

Let the Word of God Guide You

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

The word of God reveals his will (law) to us and consequently exposes our guilt. In doing this it shows us our need for redemption, and by the work of the Spirit through the ministry of the word we believe in Christ who rescues us from our guilt. But if this is all we do with God's law we have stopped short of God's intention.

God hasn't told us what he desires of us only to show us we can't do it. In Jesus Christ we are rescued from our lawlessness unto a life of godliness. "[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:14) And he has given us his word that we would be "equipped  for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16, 17)

Our hope before God is not our performance, but the righteousness of God imputed to us through faith in Jesus (Phil 3:8, 9). And yet there a safe keeping of the heart  to be found in allowing God's word to guide us in the "normative" use of God's law. His word, his law, remains a rule for Godly living and by his Spirit he empowers us to do what he commands. (Ez. 36:26, 27)

One way we keep our hearts is by letting the word of God guide us, or lead us, in godliness. 

“If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

— 1 Timothy 4:6-10, ESV

May we, by the grace of God and the ministry of the word, seek the preservation of our souls from sin, while maintaining sweet and free communion with our great God and Savior.

My Wife's Recommended Reads

We had a great Mother's Day today: worshipping with our church family, lunch with the my extended family at my grandmother's, and play time back our our house. At the moment I'm sitting outside watching the kids run around and climb trees. I just asked my wife, Jen (the greatest woman I know, and the mother of our four children), what are some books she would encourage other women to read. Here are a few off the top of her head, including a few she recently read.

Female Piety by John Angell James (online for free)

The Two Fears by Chris Poblete

A Mother's Heart by Jean Flemming

The Prodigal God by Tim Keller

The Surprising Grace of Disappointment by John Koessler

Gospel Powered Parenting by William P Farley

Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchavidjian

Best Video of the Week

I love this couple. You need to watch it all. Easily the best video of the week. Probably of the month. 

The Danger of Heart Neglect

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! 
(Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

How well do you know your heart? I'm not talking about your feelings, but your deepest motives, desires, corruptions, and idols. It is not as simple as some might think. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9) The heart is tricky, even for the Christian. For though we have been given a new heart that beats with love for God, corruption remains. 

“Though every part of the man is renewed, there is no part of him perfectly renewed... Although, in regeneration, there is a heavenly light let into the mind, there is still some darkness there. Though the will is renewed, it is not perfectly renewed, there is still some of the old inclination to sin remaining. ”

— Thomas Boston, The Human Nature In Its Fourfold State

The human heart (even your heart, Christian) is a mess and needs to be watched, guarded, and kept. It is too easy to focus on our behavior while leaving the heart behind. And one part of the work of guarding your heart means knowing it, or clearly seeing your inner weaknesses and root sins. Ah, but you think you know your heart. Are you sure? 

“Job thought he knew his heart—but affliction came and he found he did not. David thought he knew his heart—but he learned by bitter experience how woefully he was mistaken. Peter thought he knew his heart, and in a short time he was repenting in tears. Oh, pray, beloved, if you love your souls, for some insight into your own corruption; the truest saints of God do never quite discover the exceeding sinfulness of that old man which is in them.”

— J.C. Ryle, A Bad Heart

There is real danger when we neglect our hearts by remaining ignorant and insensitive to our corruption. By not examining ourselves, uncovering sin, repenting, and trusting Christ daily we can expect the pain of three heart conditions.

More Sin

One way we neglect the heart is by dealing with our sin on the level of doing instead of being. Addressing your behavior without addressing the heart will lead to a sanctification as thin as a Christian t-shirt. In fact, by neglecting the heart you leave yourself exposed to the sticky and spreading nature of sin. "Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." (James 1:15, ESV) Sin that remains unchecked will gain ground in your life. And to check it means to hit it at the heart level.

Less Joy

A neglected heart will not grieved by its sin. It grows a kind of callous that leaves it numb. This not only leads to the spread of sin, but also to a lack of joy. The deepest joy to be found is in the Savior who rescues us from our sin and guilt and welcomes us into his presence and Kingdom. Such joy is lost when we continue in sin unchecked. "Restore to me the joy of your salvation,and uphold me with a willing spirit." (Psalm 51:12, ESV) David lost the joy of the Lord and his salvation after neglecting his heart. The turning point was seeing and sensing the depths of his own sin and returning to God in humble repentance.

Weak Love

When we neglect our hearts we lose sight of how sinful we really are. Not were, but are. This not only leads to pride, but it also weakens our love for our Savior because we no longer see just what we have been rescued from, and how vast and unending is his grace toward us. It is the one who knows how much he has been forgiven that loves deeply. "He who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Lk. 7:36-50) The one who begins to understand the depths and dangers of his sin will swell with love for Jesus who laid down his own life to save the ungodly.

Do not neglect your heart. But keep it. "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." (Proverbs 4:23, ESV)

In a follow-up post I will offer some general and specific counsel on how we can know and keep our hearts.

Artwork - album cover for Soul Embraced: This is My Blood