Old Erich Proverb - Laws

If nature is run by orderly laws, it implies Someone who made those laws.

A Voice from the Past - Calvin

Nor by the remission of sins does the Lord only once for all elect and admit us into the Church, but by the same means he preserves and defends us in it. For what would it avail us to receive a pardon of which we were afterwards to have no use? That the mercy of the Lord would be in vain and delusive if only granted once, all the godly can bear witness; for there is none who is not conscious, during his whole life, of many infirmities which stand in need of divine mercy.

John Calvin, 1509-1564, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter 1, 21 (translated by Henry Beveridge, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1973, Volume II, p. 298)

To what extent does God preserve us despite our sin? How should this affect how we live?

Overprotection

It is the job of a shepherd to protect his flock. But he needs to be careful of how he tries to protect them. It is possible, in our effort to protect people, to make them too dependent on the leadership.

The ancient church was besieged by those with contrary teachings. It was also a poor and persecuted church, often made up of uneducated people. How then do you protect them from false teachings? They were told to listen to their bishops. (Bishops then were what pastors are now.) But the false teachers had their leaders too; how do you know which bishop is right? It was pointed out that Jesus had taught the apostles and they, in turn, had taught those after them. Now if someone comes out of nowhere, claiming they have the correct teaching, who are you going to believe, the church descended from the apostles or this upstart? Those who said this were good men trying to protect the flock. And it makes sense, as one principle to consider. But over time it became a magic talisman: the church organization that can trace its descent to the apostles cannot err. This allowed the established church to drift away from the truth without anyone being able to question it. And when the church organization became corrupt, there was no easy way to correct it. It took the Protestant Reformation to break away from this kind of thinking.

It is important to protect people, but the best way to protect them is to help them to understand the issues for themselves. We live in an era that is becoming increasingly hostile to historic Christianity. The idea that we can protect people by somehow insulating them from the world around them is long past. That people should let their leaders do their thinking for them was always wrong but is fast becoming unworkable. There are too many other voices out there that want to influence them. We need to help people understand what we believe and why we believe it. Now there is a danger in this. If we teach people to think, they might not end up not thinking like we do. Now I would much rather someone disagreed with me on the details but understood why they believed what they believed than have anyone agree with everything I held just because I held it. And if teaching someone to think through the basic teachings of the Christian faith causes them to reject those teachings, then those never had that deep a hold on them in the first place. Now I do believe in the importance of good Christian teachers. But the job of a teacher is to pass on what that teacher knows, not hoard it. We should teach people to understand things for themselves and not trust some magic talisman. 

 

Thrice Holy God - A Song

Thrice Holy God by Seraphs Adored
by Mike Erich
to the tune of “There Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (Carol)

Thrice holy God by seraphs adored,
What could there be in me?
That could merit Your great love,
That I Your face might see.
My righteous deeds are filthy rags;
I have not one good thing.
By law condemned and self accused,
I’ve no defense to bring.

My works cannot my sin erase
Nor I my guilt allay.
But there is One who bore Your wrath
And took my sin away.
He by His blood has washed me of
All  my sin and stain.
In conquering sin, He conquered death,
And I with Him shall reign.

So not by my own righteous deeds,
Though numerous as the sand;
But only Christ’s own righteousness
Can meet Your law’s demand.
I stand clothed in the righteousness
Found only in God’s Son,
And this is Your own righteousness,
For He and You are one.

Now I still sin in thought and deed
And often break Your word.
I do not do the things I wish
But disobey my Lord.
While I am still defiled by sin
My comfort still is this:
I shall conquer death and hell
Though Jesus’ righteousness.

Thrice holy God by seraphs adored,
One day You’ll send Your Son.
Then mourning, sorrow, death and pain
Will be forever done.
Then I shall stand before Your throne,
Whom sin cannot behold,
And be absolved through Jesus’ blood,
More precious than all gold.

(Should anyone wish to use this song, permission is granted, provided it is not altered or sold or performed for monetary gain without the author's prior agreement.)  

Helping Ourselves

We live in society saturated in the idea of self-help. We have self-help books to help us do everything from losing weight to being better communicators. There may occasionally be some wisdom in these programs. But this is not what Christianity is. Instead, it is about how to deal with the fact that, at the most basic level, we cannot help ourselves. Scripture says that when we were sinners (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9) and unable to help ourselves (John 15:5; Romans 7:14; 8:8), Christ came to rescue us (Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 1:21-23). Therefore, He offers us salvation through faith in Him (Romans 4:4,5; Philippians 3:9; Acts 16:31). But there is a temptation, in the current atmosphere, to turn this into a self-help message. If we just follow the right procedures, we will be a better person.

The problem with self-help methods is that either they seem to work or they do not. If they do not, they can lead to discouragement and constantly looking from one self-help method to another, hoping to find one that really works. This can end up devouring large amounts of time and money and effort, often to end up feeling like a hopeless failure if nothing works. Or if we end up thinking the methods work, then we become proud and complacent. At least until something happens to spoil the illusion or another problem comes up, and then it is back to looking for a new self-help method. And given we are fallen people in a world under a curse, something usually does happen to spoil the illusion. But Scripture teaches us that in the most basic area, there is no way we can help ourselves, but we must trust in the work of another.

For I am convinced that it is only when we are forgiven by God (Romans 8:31:-39; John 3:16-18; Ephesians 1:1-14) and have become His child (Romans 8:14-17; John 1:12,13; 1 Peter 1:3-9), that we can begin to have an honest assessment of ourselves (Romans 12:3; Philippians 3:12-16; Proverbs 28:13).  It is only when we see ourselves as we really are that we can see what needs to be done to fix the things that need to be fixed. And it is only then that we can evaluate what things may be useful to fix them. Then we can look at our self-help culture and decide what parts, if any, might actually be useful. But if we start in self-help, we will be mired in frustration.   

A Touch of Humor - Safe Refuge

What is the Christian's duty to the poor and the oppressed? How should we carry it out?

Old Erich Proverb - Society

The individual does not exist for the benefit of society; society exists for the benefit of the individuals in it.