I’ve been working my way through the duties and sins found in deeply mining the Ten Commandments as discussed in the Westminster Larger Catechism. Mike’s post below is appropriate to the topic.
We had a guest speaker at our church yesterday and he spoke on:
Luke 9:23-26 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
He didn’t actually speak on v26.
26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.
Paul talks about being ashamed…
Romans 1:16-23 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
It was a good message, and he spoke clearly about how we can’t do this of our own selves. His point developed how one who is willing to be dead to Christ will be able to participate in a lot of socially good works, cleaning up parks, running food banks, etc, and present a pattern of good to those outside the church. He ended with the idea that this is the way to spread the good news and make disciples. All that is a good expression of our love as Christians which is so true. But the side of Mike’s post below that focuses on our being dead to our sins and the sins around us just wasn’t emphasized, so after visiting pastor’s the message I left feeling guilty of not doing enough good works, but not being convicted of all my sins as Paul says.
1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Mike wrote:
“…the genuine Christian has died to sin through the regenerative work of God in the heart. They are not perfect nor will they ever be in this life, however, they are new creations in Christ. This is sanctification. Justification at salvation is a declaration of righteousness while sanctification is the work of God in which He changes the believer over time so that they will be drawn from sin into holiness. They are saved and changed by God forever and now they are able to walk in newness of life.
The only way to break this for the believer is to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. This is not something an immature believer can do consistently. Even the more mature believers struggle with this at times.
However, if we do fight the good fight to mortify our sin then we will not present our members to whatever sin our flesh desires. Instead, we actively pursue its death. We do this prayerfully, immersed in God’s Word often on our knees before the throne of grace.
My own thoughts….
If left to ourselves we would never be able to even come to God nor walk in holiness. Our nature of original sin we inherited and our personal sins would prevent us, even if we had the desire to follow God. Only God’s sovereign will, mercy and Grace makes this at all possible.
Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The example of the rich young ruler confirms that is not possible.
Only God can make us righteous in Christ and grow us in holiness.
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
We have lost so much visibility to our sin condition in the last almost 400 years since the Westminster Standards were written to summarize the Bible’s teaching on this.
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Rainbow Trout 