Gene Veith on the Grace vs holiness debate

Gene Veith is one of my favorite writers. He is a Lutheran who writes a lot about Christian worldview and contemporary social issues.  Today, he addresses a recent question apparently posed by Christianity Today about whether Americans need the message of grace or a call to holiness.  His thoughts are worth considering.

He writes,"...it is strange, in Lutheran eyes, to talk about 'holiness' simply in behavioral terms.   It is also strange to talk about 'grace' as an abstract quality without mentioning Christ, the Cross, or the tangible 'means of grace,' which gets us back to 'holiness.'

"Good works? Of course!  But these grow out of both grace and holiness.  Both have to do with God’s gifts and what God bestows through Christ.  How can they be set against each other?"

Book Review: The Hole in Our Holiness

I like Kevin DeYoung and so I pre-ordered his latest book, The Hole in Our Holiness (2012).  DeYoung issues a stern warning to Christians who ignore the pursuit of holiness for whatever reason they may cite.  He writes, "No matter what you profess, if you show disregard for Christ by giving yourself over to sin--impenitently and habitually--then heaven is not your home" (p. 14).  He goes on to suggest that the pursuit of holiness, or obedience to God, is at the heart of the Great Commission.  He further seems to caution against the stream of the current "gospel centered"movement that says that if we truly understand the gospel, we will by extension grow in holiness represented by writers like Tullian Tchvidjian, Michael Horton, Paul Tripp (and I would say Martin Luther).  Some of his caution is appropriate, I believe, to avoid antinomianism (lawlessness).

Someday, I want to read a book like this and feel hopeful.  Too often, the message in books like this is that 1) growth in holiness is a part of the Christian life, 2) BUT you are truly justified by faith alone, 3) BUT keep the rules, and 4) IF you are not, maybe you are not really a Christian.  It is hard to feel like I am measuring up to God's requirements  after reading a book like this (here's a hint: I'm not, which is why I am fully dependent upon the blood of Christ). 

On the whole, I do think this is a good book.  I do think that Christians must consider whether they are truly pursuing righteousness.  I do think that good trees bear good fruit.  I do believe in progressive sanctification, particularly as described by David Powlison (which DeYoung talks about later in the book).  His chapter, "Saints and Sexual Immorality", is particularly good.  I wish I had read it, and lived it out, before I married.  I am glad that I read it now.   So is his discussion of union with Christ.  These two topics are worth the price of the book.

Still, though I believe that the pursuit of holiness is absolutely essential to the Christian life, I agree with the guys at the White Horse Inn that we must understand that before understanding our responsibilities (imperatives), we must first understand what Christ has done for us (indicatives) and continue to go back to the cross again and again when we are unsure.  I would recommend this book, but perhaps encourage you to read it alongside something by Tullian Tchvidjian (e.g., Surprised by Grace) and pray for grace and growth in holiness. 

Book Review: The Holiness of God

A lot of evangelicals today, I think, understand the humanity of God.  They talk about God's love and grace and compassion, but too often, it is an unbalanced view.  A full understanding of grace, you see, is impossible without a big view of God's holiness. 

In this critical volume, RC Sproul addresses the oft-neglected topic of The Holiness of God (1985/1998). Early on, Sproul makes the point that the only characteristic of God that is  referred to in triplicate (the trisagion) is his holiness.  This grammatical approach is designed to demonstrate the ultimacy of this trait.  God is all-holy.  Story after story in the Bible demonstrate the absolute dread of people when they first encounter the holiness of God.  There is none of the casualness about his glory seen among today's evangelicals.  If you read Isaiah 6, you will not come away with an image of someone who considers God his "buddy" as we see today.  Jesus does call us his friends, but unless we have a balanced view of his holiness, his otherness, we will diminish who he is. 

On page 124, Sproul writes, "In two decades of teaching theology, I have had countless students ask why God doesn't save everybody. Only once did a student come to me and say 'there is something I can't figure out. Why did God redeem me?"  That one student had a glimpse of God's holiness. Too many of us feel entitled to grace, which completely misses the point. 

If you do not have an appropriate sense of God's holiness, read Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4.  Then come and read this book. 

A slow bumpy ride

Here are some things I have been thinking about today, after a short interaction on Facebook (I love you all who were engaged and I appreciate the push back).

"My problem is sin" I heard someone on the radio say today. I found myself nodding in agreement. How could I not? I am a man mired in sin.  Psalm 51:3 says, "for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me." This is my favorite psalm. I read it often. Today I wrote it, word for word, in my journal.

There is just one answer to sin. Jesus Christ. In fact, Romans 5:6 tells us that "Christ died for the ungodly." Though my problem is sin, Christ died for me, bearing the penalty I deserve. Further, the salvation I have accepted is available to anyone who believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth (Romans 10:9). Anyone can be free.  What does it mean to believe in your heart? I think it means an acknowledgement that you are hopelessly sinful and that you know Christ is the only hope for redemption. This is truly available to anyone.

In the Great Commission (Matthew 28), Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that he commanded.  Well, now what does that mean? Yes, we are saved by grace, praise be to God! It is available to anyone who will accept the free gift.

Yet Jesus tells us to make disciples and teach them to obey him.  What are Christ's disciples to obey? It's important to note that salvation is free, but also to note that God desires for us to be sanctified, to be made holy (1 Thessalonians 4:3).  He saves us while we are in the muck, but he doesn't want to leave us there.  As a Christian, I believe God asks me in the Great Commission not only to tell people about the good news of Jesus Christ, but also to show them what being a follower of Christ involves. 

Often, amongst evangelicals, holiness is an unpopular concept.  We like salvation, but we don't like submission.  As a Christian, I want people to see that God not only wants to save you, he wants to make you holy and that means accepting him as Lord. 

If you truly believe him in your heart, he will make sure this happens. It may be quick, but more than likely, it will be a slow, bumpy ride for most of us. 

Staring at the sun

If, at midday, we either look down to the ground, or on surrounding objects which lie open to our view, we think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but when we look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which did excellently well for the earth, is instantly so dazzled and confounded by the refulgence, as to oblige us to confess that our acuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when applied to the sun. Thus, too, it happens in estimating our spiritual qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect on what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness, will become polluted with the greatest iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom, will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy, will be condemned as the most miserable impotence. So far are those qualities in us, which seem most perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity.

-John Calvin, Institutes, 1:38-39

Eyes around and within

Sometimes as I read through the 10 chapters in the Grant Horner plan, certain themes or words stand out. Today, the word "eyes" showed up in 5 of the 10 chapters.

In Matthew 20, Jesus was again being followed by a large crowd of people as he often was. Two blind men called out to him, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" He turned to them and asked what they wanted him to do. They said, "let our eyes be opened" and he took pity upon them, restoring their sight (Matthew 20:29-34). After reading this first passage, I was reflecting that, as a believer, Christ has done this for me as well. He has given me eyes to see him.

In Revelation 4, there are 4 living creatures in the throne room of God. It says that they are "full of eyes in front and behind" (Rev 4:6) and "full of eyes around and within" (Rev 4:8).  As I was meditating on this passage, I was wondering to myself, what was God revealing to John when he showed him these many-eyed creatures surrounding the throne of heaven? I suspect that these creatures were given many eyes to behold the infinite majesty of God.  Later in verse 8, we discover that these creatures, night and day, cry out in praise to God, "holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come."  These created beings were presumably also created to see and what they saw drove them to cry out in praise of the Glorious One. 

In a final passage (Daniel 5), King Belshazzar was partying with his friends. He called for the vessels from the Jewish temple to be brought in so that he and his lovers might drink from them. In Daniel 5:4, it says, "They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone." Just then, however, a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall, terrifying the king. No one could read the message. They lacked the eyes to see.  Daniel was called in. He told the king that God punished the pride of his father Nebuchadnezzar, yet Belshazzar refused to live in remembrance of what happened to his dad. He was proud and idolatrous. Like his father, Belshezzar refused to honor the God who held his breath in his hands.  He refused to give glory to the one to whom all glory was due. He refused to open his eyes. 

Every day, we live in a world surrounded by blind people. We serve the gods and gold and silver, and celebrity, and fame, and sex. Pray that God would open the eyes of unbelievers and that he would open ours ever wider to behold his glory. 

Daily Reading: Matthew 20, Numbers 23, 1 Corinthians 7, Revelation 4, Song of Solomon 6, Psalm 145, Proverbs 26, 1 Chronicles 27, Daniel 5, Acts 5

Are your ears itching?

If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," he would be the preacher for his people!-Micah 2:11  

When I read this verse during my quiet time this morning, I was reminded of Beer Church.  Yes, beer church is a real thing--they celebrate, perhaps even worship, beer.  You can even become ordained by Beer Church--I have a friend who has his ordination through this organization.  According to the prophet Micah, it is no wonder that something akin to Beer Church has taken off.  When overindulgence is promoted as acceptable or even righteous, people will gladly respond.

Sadly, many churches are much more insidious.  2 Timothy 4:3 reads, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions."  The largest church in America teaches that God's primary goal in your life is to make you rich, healthy, and happy and people flock to him.  One of the fastest growing "churches" in the United States is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Mormonism.  They promote the idea that you can become deity.  They sooth itching ears by preaching lies and people follow.

It seems to me that itching ears are one of the most unfortunate problems associated with postmodernism.  People assume that truth is relative. People assume that whatever you believe is true--just don't impose your beliefs upon anyone else.  It is no wonder that churches that teach truth from the Scriptures, addressing God's holiness and wrath as well as his love and mercy, are so criticized by modern culture.  People don't want to hear that they are sinful.  They do not want to hear that God hates sin and punishes sinners eternally apart from Christ.  They want to continue to believe what their parents, their schools, and the media have told them all along--that no matter what, they are good people and that they deserve always to be above the national average with regard to happiness, income, and image. When pastors tell them what they don't want to hear, they just leave rather than continuing to wrestle for the truth. 

There is absolute truth. There is a God.  He is holy.  We are separated from Him because we are unrighteous. But there is hope. Jesus Christ. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

Find a church that preaches truth--absolute truth, Scriptural truth--the truth of Jesus Christ. 

Waves of Conviction

Yesterday, I posted a comment on Facebook that generated a fair amount of response. Essentially, I pointed out that I believe the Superbowl can reveal one of the greatest idolatries in America today.  There was some good back and forth dialog and it ended peaceably. This morning, a good friend challenged my post and subsequent responses as seemingly antagonistic and judgmental.  Because he is a man whom I have asked to speak into my life and whom I trust greatly, I have been thinking and praying a lot about my response today.  God, as He so often is, has been faithful in showing Himself as well.  When I apologized this morning, I joked that you might laugh if you saw how many readings seemed to have relevance today.  Since they have continued to accumulate, I thought I would share them briefly.  Even if you don't see a clear link, I have...all day long. 

The first came from a reading in Proverbs 30:12-14: "There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth. There are those—how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift! There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives." I fight with this tendency every day. Yesterday, I didn't fight it very well. 

Second, a post called "the Jesus Juke" by Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like came up in my reader.  Acuff addresses the tendency among some believers to take something mundane and turn it into a statement about our faith, or our lack thereof.  I did that yesterday.  I am sure I do it more often. 

Third, a post at Ligonier entitled "What about Me and My Weeds?" showed up.  The author points out that it is a good thing to be "aghast" at sins, but that the ones best dealt with are the ones closest to home.  He concludes, "I am a child of the Father, in union with the Son, and indwelt by the Spirit. I have been born again unto good works. I am a new creation, and so my sins, rather than being small by comparison, dwarf the peccadillos of the damned. I haven’t been given much, but have been given everything. And so everything is required of me. I, as a Reformed person, am the worst of the lot. I would rather spend my time debating about the place of good works in the life of the Christian, than cultivating good works in my life. I would rather hone my “worldview” than see the log that is in my own eye. I think sanctification is a doctrine, rather than a calling. And I am more interested in having my mind renewed than in being transformed. I would rather look down my nose at piety than I would seek it out.


"Lord have mercy on me, a sinner, and teach me my sin."

Fourth, there has been an interesting dialog about Gospel grace and the pursuit of holiness that stemmed from a Christianity Today article.  Justin Taylor provided a useful summary of the "debate."  In the penultimate paragraph, Taylor cites Dane Ortlund, "For the regenerate, holiness has taken on a strangely attractive hue, for God is now our loving Father, not our wrathful judge. We now delight in the law in a way we never did (never could) before. But the law itself remains impotent to generate this holiness. The law can guide us, but not propel us. It is a steering wheel, not an engine."  Holiness is our calling as Christians, but it is only through grace that we have any hope. 


Fifth, Jared Wilson shared the following, "When I see people weary or hardened under the brutal weight of religious hyper-spirituality, I am saddened that they do not know the freedom of the gospel of grace. And when I see people indulging in the hedonistic excess of license, I am saddened that they do not know the freedom of the gospel of grace. Legalism and license are separate categories. But they are in the same category of Departure from the Gospel. Neither cures the other, but the gospel cures both."

Sixth, Serena Woods at Grace is for Sinners has a beautifully penned essay on grace.  She writes, "I could talk about self-control, rightly so. I could talk about doing the right thing and what my conservative opinions of a Christian life should look like. I may even get a lot of encouragement from other well-meaning do-gooders. We could have our own club, totally separate from ‘the world’ and draw the shades to our heart while we enjoy how Christian we are. Meanwhile, we suffocate a fallen sister because our lives don’t offer hope, they offer moral standards. You know you’re sending the wrong message if one of your members leaves the group when they make a moral mistake.


"God set up grace so that He would never lose anyone. Set your life up that way, too."

I suspect I will continue to learn this lesson for the rest of my life. Understanding the call to holiness with my utter inability remains a mystery to me.  I don't yet see how much responsibility is mine and how much is God's in my sanctification, though the more I understand grace, the more convinced I am that not only was my salvation secured by the blood of Christ, but my sanctification too.  I come back to loving God and loving others as my base responsibility, and today, that is hard enough. 
"O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8KJV)

What Ever Happened to Holiness?

Kevin DeYoung wrote a great essay about holiness.  We talk a lot about salvation, but not a lot about sanctification in our lives. 

He wrote, 'I find it telling that you can find plenty of young Christians today who are really excited about justice and serving in their communities. You can find Christians fired up about evangelism. You can find lots of Generation XYZ believers passionate about precise theology. Yes and amen to all that. But where are the Christians known for their zeal for holiness? Where is the corresponding passion for honoring Christ with Christlike obedience? We need more Christian leaders on our campuses, in our cities, in our seminaries who will say with Paul, 'Look carefully then how you walk'? (Eph. 5:15)."

Read the whole thing here.

Joy Grows in Holiness

I recently finished Jerry Bridges' book, The Pursuit of Holiness, which is one of the best books I have read and certainly the best on the topic of holiness.  Briefly, Bridges exhorts believers to seek holy, disciplined lives.  Consequently, I have been thinking about holiness, not so much in terms of reading my Bible more, or praying more, or doing spiritual things; rather, I have been examining the sin in my life and considering what it says about my holiness.  Holiness is not an addition of Godly things to my life, or a subtraction of worldly things from my life, but rather a transformation of my life to look more like Christ.

The book has had somewhat of an unexpected effect upon me, I confess, as I think about my sin.  I have struggled with too many sins of the flesh to count, but one that consistently rises to the surface is gluttony.  I am either looking forward to my next binge, or eating in an over-controlled way.  Neither gluttony, nor overcontrol, represent godliness because in each instance, food remains the focus.  In fact, I am increasingly realizing that my obedience is not an issue regarding food at all--it is, I suppose, related to breaking the first commandment (Exodus 20:3). 

A surprising gift, I have discovered is that, with obedience comes joy.  Not only joy in pleasing the Father, but enjoyment of His good gifts as well.  Last night, we enjoyed a simple dinner of soup, bread, and cinnamon-chocolate dessert bread with good friends.  The flavor was amazing, yet I felt little desire to overeat. 

I am slowly realizing that obedience to Christ is great gain and with it comes a profound joy, not only in Christ, but also in His creation. 

Choose Your Words Carefully

awe-an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful.

awesome-inspiring awe.

As a child of the 80's, I am quick to pronounce something awesome.

• "Wow, that was an awesome cheeseburger."
• "Jason, here is the paperwork you requested." "Awesome"
• "Honey, the kids and I are ready to leave." "Awesome."

Unfortunately, as a culture, I think we have stripped many words and concepts of their power. Something that is awesome is exceedingly powerful and overwhelming--never a description for a cheeseburger. It is a description for God. In the past when people said they served an awesome God, it meant something. Now, believers and unbelievers alike yawn, shrug their shoulders, and move on.

During the past week, I have sought to stop saying "awesome" unless I am talking about God. Let us choose our words carefully and not lose sight of He who is truly awesome.

The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.--Zephaniah 2:11

Positions of worship

Recently at church, we were singing a popular worship song that included the lines:

We stand and lift up our hands, for the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship him now, how great how awesome is He.

People often lift their hands as they sing this song (and many other worship songs). Admittedly, it may difficult to continue to sing a lively worship number while genuflecting, but I cannot recall the last time when I saw someone bow down in [a Protestant] church, even during prayer. I suppose I personally don't bow down for fear of embarrassment.

Throughout both Testaments, there is evidence of both raising hands (Psalm 63:4, Psalm 141:2, Lamentations 3:41) and bowing low (Isaiah 51:14, Psalm 95:6), but what I find interesting is what the two positions suggest. From my perspective, in our society at least, raising hands suggests an offering of loving praise whereas bowing low suggests a brokenness of spirit--an acknowledgement of unworthiness--such as we see from the tax collector in Luke 18 who averted his eyes from heaven.

I believe that both positions can demonstrate worship, but to me, happily singing "we bow down and worship him now" seems out of place. The song is joyful, bowing down is contrite. They don't easily fit together.

As we worship God individually and corporately, let us not forget the One we worship is perfectly holy and worthy of our fear (Isaiah 6, Revelation 15). I think that too often we lose sight of His glory in our worship and it simply becomes about singing happy songs to Jesus. God loves us and He sent His son to die for us, but He is also glorious.

John knew this better than anyone. He was the "beloved" disciple (John 21) and wrote effusively about the love of Christ but when he encountered Christ in his Glory, he "fell at as His feet as if dead" (Revelation 1:12-18). For John, it was no stretch to see Christ as both perfectly loving and deserving of fear. We should seek the same.

Phillipians 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

A "better" God?

I read an interesting article from the Washington Times over my lunch hour today entitled "On Seeking a 'Better' God." The premise of the article, as I read it, was that twenty-somethings today often favor atheism because 1) they don't like the Christian God they see and 2) in many ways, feel morally superior to God because they see Him as vengeful and vindictive.

As I drove back to Eau Claire, thoughts raced through my head. I wondered to myself, "how could anyone adopt such an egregious, heretical view of God, to the point where they feel that they are better than Him?" Below, I fleshed out two possible reasons why I think today's young people adopt this dangerous viewpoint, fully acknowledging that there are likely other contributing problems as well (e.g., moral relativism, poor theological & philosophical education).

First, I believe that young people today do not understand God's holiness. God is utterly and completely without sin; He is perfect. As sinful beings, we could not even stand in His presence. Consider again Isaiah 6:5 "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” This chosen prophet was filled with dread having simply gazed upon perfection--God's holiness. Isaiah did not respond in this way because God was vindictive or because God was morally inferior, he responded because he was, in an instant, tormented with his own utter depravity. Even a whisper of imperfection (i.e., sin) falls far short of God's magnificence, or as Romans 3:23 reads, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." As imperfect beings, we all miss the target and deserve separation from God. This is not malicious or vindictive, this is justice. Furthermore, God fairly applies the same standard to every human.

This leads to my second point. Today's 20-somethings were raised by a generation of parents who were probably more influenced by modern psychology than they were by their church. They grew up in a child-centered culture that promoted self-esteem and well-being. They were regularly fed a diet of "you're OK just the way you are" or "you can do anything you want to do" without any call to discipline and responsibility. They received this message from their parents, their friends, their teachers, and from television. Because they grew up believing that they were something spectacular, to even speak of their sin, much less their depravity, is unthinkable. As they matured became adults, they adopted worldviews that reinforced their sense of excellence and self-importance. When confronted with the God of the Bible, they simply reject Him saying, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, I'm better than God." They then become atheists, without ever pondering what it actually means to come to the conclusion that there is no God.

Unfortunately, by rejecting God out of a sense of their own self worth and God's perceived inferiority, these young people prematurely miss out on God's grace, demonstrated through Jesus's sacrifice. Even when they do learn of Christ's crucifixion, they reject Him as a fool because to accept Him would involve a) admitting that they are not perfect and b) that God is. We don't need to seek a better God, we need to seek a better understanding of our sinfulness and the only way to life--Jesus Christ.

John 1:12-- But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

(To be fair, I later discovered one of these points fleshed out by Skye Jethani, but I decided to proceed with my analysis anyway, but included his for consideration. It is worth the read).

HT: Zach