March 30, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories:
C.J.'s most recent messages have been posted online. One is a sermon, the other a conference message to church planters. Both can be found here:
When Someone Doubts (Jude 22)
March 20, 2011
Covenant Fellowship Church (Glen Mills, PA)
Listen here.
Download here.
Profile of a Church Planter (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)
March 25, 2011
Plant Conference (Glen Mills, PA)
Listen here.
Download here.
In his message to church planters, C.J. quoted two lengthy excerpts that are reproduced here.
Charles Spurgeon (source: sermon no. 2447):
I have always felt, in my own mind, that it was one of the clearest proofs that I had God’s forgiveness of my many sins, when I was trusted to preach the gospel.
I should think that, if a prodigal came back to his father, the old gentleman would kiss him, and receive him, and rejoice greatly over him; but the next Saturday, the market-day, the old gentleman would say, 'I cannot send young William to market; that would be putting temptation in his way. Here, John, you have always been with me; go to market, and buy and sell for me, for all that I have is thine. William, you stay at home with me.' He might not let him see all that he meant, but he would say to himself, 'Dear boy, he is hardly fit for that great trust; I love him, but still I hardly dare trust him as much as that.'
But see what my Lord did with me; when I came home to him as a poor prodigal, he said, 'Here is my gospel, I will entrust you with it; go and preach it.' I bless his name that I have not preached anything else, and I do not mean to begin to do so.
Then the Lord said to me, 'I will trust you with those people at Waterbeach, at New Park Street, at the Surrey Gardens, and at the Tabernacle. Go and see what you can do to bring them to heaven.' I do long to see souls saved as one great result of my ministry. But what an instance of my Lord’s love it is that he thus trusts me!
That was one of the things that made Paul hold up his hands in astonishment; he said that he had been put in trust with the gospel, and he could not make it out. He was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, yet he was put in trust with the gospel.
D.A. Carson (source: message, "Is the Culture Shaping Us or Are We Shaping the Culture?"):
If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of things I emphasize again and again and again and again. That had better be the gospel.
If the gospel—even when you are orthodox—becomes something which you primarily assume, but what you are excited about is what you are doing in some sort of social reconstruction, you will be teaching the people that you influence that the gospel really isn’t all that important. You won’t be saying that—you won’t even mean that—but that’s what you will be teaching. And then you are only half a generation away from losing the gospel.
Make sure that in your own practice and excitement, what you talk about, what you think about, what you pray over, what you exude confidence over, joy over, what you are enthusiastic about is Jesus, the gospel, the cross. And out of that framework, by all means, let the transformed life flow.
March 25, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton | Pastoral ministry
March was an important month in the life of John Newton but not because of basketball. It was on March 21, 1748, that Newton and his ship encountered a massive storm on the open sea. It was the day he nearly drowned.
His survival was a miracle and Newton knew it. That terrifying experience awakened Newton to the wretchedness of his sin and began a process that would result in his eventual conversion.
God had saved a wretch, saved him first from the raging seas and then from God’s own righteous wrath. Each year on March 21 Newton celebrated God’s kindness, a practice he maintained for the remaining 59 years of his life.
For the six years following his near drowning at sea, Newton was an eagerly growing Christian but he was also, according to one biographer, a “solitary Christian,” trying to figure out the Christian life on his own. [1] That solitary experience ended during his final voyage in a most unlikely place: a four-week stop in the Caribbean islands. There he met another ship captain, Captain Alexander Clunie, an older man and a mature Christian. Clunie discipled Newton and later introduced him to a pastor and a church family in London.
Clunie and Newton, with a shared life at sea and a shared interest in the Savior, remained “inseparable soul mates” for the remainder of their lives. [2] It was to Captain Clunie that Newton turned to express the challenges and pressures of pastoral ministry, which brings me to the point of today’s blog post.
In a letter dated July 26, 1776, Newton writes the following in a letter to him:
How fast the weeks return! We are again upon the eve of a sabbath. May the Lord give us much of his own Spirit on his own day. I trust I have a remembrance in your prayers. I need them much: my service is great.
It is, indeed, no small thing to stand between God and the people, to divide the word of truth aright, to give every one portion, to withstand the counter tides of opposition and popularity, and to press those truths upon others, the power of which, I, at times, feel so little of in my own soul. A cold, corrupt heart is uncomfortable company in the pulpit.
Yet in the midst of all my fears and unworthiness, I am enabled to cleave to the promise, and to rely on the power of the great Redeemer. I know I am engaged in the cause against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. If He died and rose again, if He ever lives to make intercession, there must be safety under the shadow of his wings: there would I lie.
In his name I would lift up my banner; in his strength I would go forth, do what He enables me, then take shame to myself that I can do no better, and put my hand upon my mouth, confessing that I am dust and ashes—less than the least of all his mercies.
Those honest words from Newton offer a glimpse into the struggle of a pastor’s soul.
Pastors…
- face a relentless repetition of pastoral responsibilities that come each week and culminate on Sunday
- struggle to rightly divide Scripture with every sermon
- strive to withstand the temptations that accompany opposition
- struggle against the temptations that accompany popularity and success
- earnestly long to see the truth of the gospel affect cold hearts
- themselves face the reality that they often carry a cold heart of their own into the pulpit with them
In this brief letter we see a glimpse of the pastoral task. It’s a glimpse that should humble us, make us thankful to God for the pastors who serve our souls each week, and remind us to pray for them.
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Primary source letter: Letters of John Newton (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth: 1869, 2007), 60–61. Secondary sources: [1] Jonathan Aitken, John Newton (Crossway, 2008), 123. [2] Ibid, 124.
Rob Bell, 40, is an author and the pastor of a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, reported to have 10,000 attendees each week. Over the years Bell’s writings and teachings have attracted a number of theological inquiries, too. But no previous controversy compares to the recent firestorm over his new book Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. The book has sparked a new discussion about universalism, exclusivism, the love of God, the gospel, and the nature of heaven and hell.
Love Wins was released on Tuesday as the fourth most popular book on Amazon.com. But although the book is new, the controversy around the book has been developing for a while.
This is not another review of the book. In this post I’ll briefly explain the history of the debate, explain why it matters, and point you to an important panel discussion scheduled for this afrternoon.
The Debate So Far
The most recent controversy around Bell began on February 23rd when Bell and his publisher released this promotional video for Love Wins, which prompted Justin Taylor to ask whether Rob Bell was a universalist. (According to theologian J.I. Packer, a universalist “believes that every human being whom God has created or will create will finally come to enjoy the everlasting salvation into which Christians enter here and now,” a belief that is motivated by “revolt against mainstream belief in endless punishment in hell for some people.”) Taylor’s post generated over 1,500 comments in response, many of them heated.
Denny Burk, the dean of Boyce College, followed with a more detailed analysis of the message of the short video and arrived at the same disturbing conclusion. But was the criticism premature, given the book was still unpublished? Kevin DeYoung said no, and added a number of other discerning thoughts to the whole debate.
Albert Mohler jumped into the discussion to write that Bell’s promo video “can only be described as universalism." At this point the debate gained national news coverage from CNN, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Good Morning America, and others.
On March 8, CNN reported that Zondervan, the publisher of four of Bell’s previous books, had refused to publish Love Wins because, in their words, “This proposal doesn’t fit in with our mission." Love Wins was published by HarperCollins.
So what about the book itself? Is Bell really a universalist?
Reviews and direct quotes from Love Wins began surfacing online last week. On Wednesday the first quotes from an advance copy of the book verified the theological suspicions. Bell's theological commitment to universalism was apparent even from the opening pages.
Other reviews soon followed.
On Monday DeYoung published an excellent, thorough, and devastating review of the book. He writes, “There was a lot of discussion about whether Bell is or is not a Christian universalist. After reading the book, I see no reason why the label does not fit.” DeYoung’s review raised a number of other concerns and made clear that Bell’s book was actually worse than expected.
So what’s at stake? DeYoung writes, “If Bell is right, then historic orthodoxy is toxic and terrible. But if the traditional view of heaven and hell are right, Bell is blaspheming.” The stakes are high because the gospel is at stake, DeYoung says. Later in his review he writes:
Bell categorically rejects any notion of penal substitution. It simply does not work in his system or with his view of God. “Let’s be very clear, then,” Bell states, “we do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescues us from death, sin, and destruction. God is the rescuer” (182). I see no place in Bell’s theology for Christ the curse-bearer (Gal. 3:13), or Christ wounded for our transgressions and crushed by God for our iniquities (Isa. 53:5, 10), no place for the Son of Man who gave his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), no place for the Savior who was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21), no place for the sorrowful suffering Servant who drank the bitter cup of God’s wrath for our sake (Mark 14:36).
“The theology is heterodox,” DeYoung concludes. “The history is inaccurate. The impact on souls is devastating. And the use of Scripture is indefensible. Worst of all, Love Wins demeans the cross and misrepresents God’s character.”
Download DeYoung’s 21-page review as a PDF here: “God Is Still Holy and What You Learned in Sunday School Is Still True: A Review of “Love Wins.” (Two days later he contributed a few additional thoughts on the debate.)
Also on Monday, Burk contributed an eleven-page chapter-by-chapter book review.
On Tuesday, Russell Moore responded with a pointed and provocatively titled blog post: “The Blood-Drained Gospel of Rob Bell.”
On Wednesday morning Albert Mohler published his own review titled “We Have Seen All This Before: Rob Bell and the (Re)Emergence of Liberal Theology.” He writes,
H. Richard Niebuhr famously once distilled liberal theology into this sentence: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”
Yes, we have read this book before. With Love Wins, Rob Bell moves solidly within the world of Protestant Liberalism. His message is a liberalism arriving late on the scene.
Mark Galli, senior managing editor of Christianity Today, agrees.
Meanwhile on Monday night, Bell’s book tour landed in New York City, where he answered questions before a live audience. It’s no stretch to say that his answers were quite evasive. Bell insisted that he is not a universalist and that he is an evangelical. “Do I think that I am Evangelical orthodox to the bone? Yes,” he said without hesitation.
On Tuesday morning Bell was interviewed by Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos and the book publicity tour steamed ahead, even bumping into MSNBC’s Martin Bashir who straightaway told Bell, “You’re creating a Christian message that’s warm, kind, and popular for contemporary culture.” (Incidentally, Bashir voiced more criticism of Bell's book two days later.)
The tour and the debate continue on.
Future Responses
In addition to the written responses, two important panels have been planned.
Early in the debate, The Gospel Coalition promptly added a panel discussion at their national conference in Chicago that will begin at 7:30 a.m. CST on Thursday, April 14. The event will open with teaching from Don Carson, followed by a panel with Carson, DeYoung, Tim Keller, Crawford Loritts, and Stephen Um.
Today (March 17), from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. EST, Southern Seminary is hosting a panel discussion featuring Albert Mohler, Justin Taylor, Russell Moore, and Denny Burk. Video will be live streamed at sbts.edu, or if you’re in the area, you can attend the event in Heritage Hall. [Update: Recordings of the panel are now avaliable here: video, audio.]
Who Cares?
So why should we care about this debate in the first place?
“There are a number of reasons this is important,” C.J. Mahaney says. “First, removing the doctrine of God's eternal punishment undermines multiple texts of Scripture. It also undermines the holiness and justice of God. Ultimately it undermines the Savior’s redemptive work on our behalf! So this couldn't be a more serious matter. These severe theological errors are not new with Rob Bell, and they are not uncommon throughout church history. But now these theological errors have been adopted by a man of influence and published publicly and broadly. Sadly, given the scope of his platform, these errors are sure to influence many people. This is a moment for pastors to take note, and to humbly and courageously contend for the faith (Jude 3–4).”
This is not the first time Bell’s theology has raised concerns. Three years ago a previous debate led C.J. to write and post some reflections on biblical discernment, why pastors should be concerned with Bell, and how to pray for him. That post remains remarkably relevant three years later.
For Further Study
In conclusion, here are a few other resources that surfaced (or re-surfaced) in the recent debate.
The first is a book published by Zondervan in 2004: Hell under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment. It includes valuable contributions by Mohler, Greg Beale, Sinclair Ferguson, Douglas Moo, J.I. Packer, Robert Yarbrough, and others. Most helpful is how this book addresses important questions about eternal judgment with clear exegesis of Scripture.
Also, it’s worth noting a trio of messages by Sinclair Ferguson titled "Universalism and the Reality of Eternal Punishment."
Ligon Duncan’s new article “Speaking Seriously and Sensitively about Hell” is valuable tool for preachers.
And don’t miss DeYoung’s recent blog post “To Hell with Hell” on why we need the doctrine of eternal punishment.
March 11, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton
Those who lived in the eighteenth century were familiar with sickness and death. For Newton this was especially the case. On his various journeys across the Atlantic Ocean he often witnessed sickness and death along the way. Some sailors washed out to sea during storms, and others died from the sicknesses carried in filthy ships. So many sailors died at sea, in fact, that port cities were often depleted of their men who were required to compensate for the losses at sea. Looking back on his sailing days, Newton estimated that 1,500 British sailors died each year on the seas. The deaths among the slaves who were hauled as cargo were even higher. It really was a miracle that Newton himself survived life on the sea.
But tragedy did strike close to home for Newton. His mother died when he was 7 years old, and his father tragically drowned when he was 25. He later watched his adopted daughter die during a prolonged two-year struggle against tuberculosis. Eventually Newton’s wife—his best friend—passed away, leaving him 17 years of widowed life. He was no stranger to tragedy and sickness.
For Newton, the world was a hospital. “What is the world at large,” he asked, “but a more extensive and diversified scene of wretchedness, where phrenzy and despair, anxiety, pain, want, and death, have their respective wards filled with patients.”* His preaching was intended to prepare people for the harsh realities of sickness, suffering, and death.
But this preemptive care didn’t stop Newton from ministering in the hospitals. As a faithful pastor Newton visited the sick and dying in his community. The hospital became something of a school for him where he could learn the true weightiness of his theology.
In a letter dated March 10, 1774, to his esteemed friend William Legge, the second Earl of Dartmouth, Newton explained that he had recently spent a six-week stretch investing several hours of each day in the hospital caring for souls. In the letter Newton recounted one meeting with a sick young woman. The memory of the hospital encounter was etched so deep into Newton's memory that he recalled it years later.
Permit me, my Lord, to relate, upon this occasion, some things which exceedingly struck me in the conversation I had with a young woman whom I visited in her last illness about two years ago.
She was a sober, prudent person, of plain sense, could read her Bible, but had read little besides. Her knowledge of the world was nearly confined to the parish; for I suppose she was seldom, if ever, twelve miles from home in her life. She had known the gospel about seven years before the Lord visited her with a lingering consumption [tuberculosis], which at length removed her to a better world.
A few days before her death, I had been praying by her bedside, and in my prayer I thanked the Lord that he gave her now to see that she had not followed cunningly-devised fables [Ephesians 4:14]. When I had finished, she repeated that word, “No,” she said “not cunningly-devised fables; these are realities indeed. I feel their truth, I feel their comfort. Oh! tell my friends, tell my acquaintances, tell enquiring souls, tell poor sinners, tell all the daughters of Jerusalem (alluding to Song of Solomon 5:16 from which she had just before desired me to preach at her funeral), what Jesus has done for my soul. Tell them, that now in the time of need I find him my beloved and my friend, and as such I commend him to them.”
She then fixed her eyes steadfastly upon me, and proceeded, as well as I can recollect, as follows. “Sir, you are highly favored in being called to preach the gospel. I have often heard you with pleasure; but [only when] you come into my situation, and have death and eternity full in your view, will it be possible for you to conceive the vast weight and importance of the truths you declare.”
Until we are faced with eternity it is too easy to take preaching for granted, to treat sermons lightly, to so quickly forget them like yesterday’s newspaper.
Yet it was here, beside the bed of a dying young woman in a hospital room and in other situations just like it, that Newton learned the true worth and weight of biblical preaching.
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Primary sources: The Works of John Newton (London: 1820), 1:479–480. Letters of John Newton (Edinburgh; Banner of Truth: 1869, 2007), 100–101. Secondary source: * Works, 6:164.
March 10, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Encouragement | Speech
“Who needs a book about affirming others? For starters, I do—and I suspect you do too. Too many of us use most of our words each day for criticizing and complaining. My friend Sam Crabtree, on the other hand, is a practitioner of affirmation. To meet him is to be encouraged. His words, both in person and in these pages, are thoughtful, intentional, and full of gratefulness. If you find that your communication lacks encouragement, if you want to grow in affirming others, if you plan to say any words at all today—please read this book!”
-C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries
February 25, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton
If you are familiar with the television show American Idol you know Simon Cowell, the judge famous for his bluntness, biting criticisms, and blatant insults. In the presence of Simon, grown men and women sing with passion, reaching out to grasp pop-recording stardom. But if they fail to meet his standards, many of those same men and women walk off the stage in tears or anger. They walk back into the real world carrying the shards of a shattered dream. Simon has that effect on people, and he is the man who comes to mind when I read Newton’s letter about how some Christians listen to sermons.
Last week we looked at a portion of this letter as we considered how to respond when our pastor preaches a “sermon dud.” A little later in that same letter, Newton explains how Christians should listen to sermons, and how they should not listen to sermons.
First, Newton explains how we should listen to sermons. We should at all times listen with active biblical discernment:
As a hearer, you have a right to try all doctrines by the word of God; and it is your duty so to do. Faithful ministers will remind you of this: they will not wish to hold you in an implicit and blind obedience to what they say, upon their own authority, nor desire that you should follow them farther than they have the Scripture for their warrant. They would not be lords over your conscience, but helpers of your joy. Prize this Gospel liberty, which sets you free from the doctrines and commandments of men; but do not abuse it to the purposes of pride and self.
Well said.
Then Newton explains how we should not listen to sermons:
There are hearers who make themselves, and not the Scripture, the standard of their judgment. They attend not so much to be instructed, as to pass their sentence. To them, the pulpit is the bar at which the minister stands to take his trial before them; a bar at which few escape censure, from judges at once so severe and inconsistent.
In these few words Newton offers counsel that is biblically wise, balanced, and ready for us to practice on Sunday. At all times we should pray for our pastor and encourage him. At all times we should listen to sermons with discernment. And at some times it may even be appropriate to give our pastor feedback to help him grow.
But we should never listen to sermons with our proverbial arms crossed, as if our pastor were preaching on the American Idol stage, seeking to win the approval of autonomous judges.
Yet this is exactly what happens when hearers base their conclusions about a sermon on personal preference rather than biblical authenticity, writes Newton. To appraise a sermon as a self-appointed judge is simply an inappropriate posture for the listener. However, to eagerly anticipate a sermon and to listen with biblical discernment is a posture of noble worth (Acts 17:11).
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Source letter: John Newton, Works of John Newton (London: 1820), 1:224-225.
February 18, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton
Each week thousands of sermons are preached in churches. Some of those sermons will be excellent, many of them will be good, and a few of them will stretch the definition of the word “sermon.” But predictably, there will be a number of good and godly pastors who on a given week stand at the pulpit and deliver—well, how shall we say this?—a sermon dud.
John Newton may or may not have preached many duds, but he did put some thought into how we should respond after we hear one.
After addressing the danger of false teaching in one letter (“Error is like poison; the subtlety, quickness, and force of its operation is often amazing”), Newton changes gears to address how we respond to faithful preachers who deliver the occasional dud.
So how should we respond?
When you hear a Gospel sermon, and it is not in all respects to your satisfaction, be not too hasty to lay the whole blame upon the preacher.
Wait. Huh? Blame sharing?
Newton continues:
The Lord’s ministers have not much to say in their own behalf. They feel (it is to be hoped) their own weakness and defects, and the greatness and difficulty of their work. They are conscious that their warmest endeavors to proclaim the Savior’s glory are too cold, and their most importunate addresses to the consciences of men are too faint: and sometimes they are burdened with such discouragements, that even their enemies would pity them if they knew their case.
Do you pity your pastor? Think about the struggles and the sacrifices and the challenges your pastor faces on a regular basis. The demands of pastoral ministry and preaching are great. And on top of the demands, in many cases the pastor carries within himself a greater desire to serve you than he has the gifts to make it happen. This chronic disappointment is a terrible weight upon the soul of a faithful pastor. Perhaps here Newton is writing out of personal experience.
At this point in the letter Newton characteristically turns the table on his reader.
Indeed, they have much to be ashamed of; but it will be more useful for you, who are a hearer, to consider whether the fault may not possibly be in yourself.
He explains:
Perhaps you thought too highly of the man, and expected too much from him.
Perhaps you thought too meanly of him, and expected too little.
In the former case, the Lord justly disappointed you; in the latter, you received according to your faith.
Perhaps you neglected to pray for him; and then, though he might be useful to others, it is not at all strange that he was not so to you.
Or possibly you have indulged a trifling spirit, and brought a dearth [lack] and deadness upon your own soul; for which you had not been duly humbled, and the Lord chose that time to rebuke you.
Strong and helpful words from Newton.
When we hear a sermon dud, what should we remember?
- Our pastor is weak and sinful, and it’s quite likely that he is already aware of this without our help.
- Our pastor carries a heavy burden for the flock, and there is nothing he wants more than to serve the souls in his church (including you).
- Our pastor benefits from our realistic expectations. We should neither puff him up as a celebrity and expect too much, nor diminish him and his gifts and expect too little.
- Our pastor needs our earnest attention and eager hearts on Sunday. How can we be surprised that we gain so little, when our hearts arrive at church so dull and easily distracted?
- Our pastor must have our prayers. We should appear at church having already prayed that God will bless the sermon and affect hearts with the gospel.
Sermons duds are inevitable, but they are not the sole responsibility of the pastor.
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Source letter: John Newton, Works of John Newton (London: 1820), 1:224.
February 11, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton
Christians have a long list of daily priorities. Two of the most important priorities are voiced in these two questions:
- How do I focus my life on God’s priorities in the midst of such a busy and complex life?
- How do I grow in demonstrating deeper love to others in the midst of what is often a very self-centered life?
On the surface, these questions may seem unrelated, but for John Newton simplicity and sincerity were indivisible.
For Newton, these two topics merge in the Apostle Paul’s proclamation: “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God” (2 Cor. 1:12).
From this passage Newton coined an important axiom for the Christian life: vertical simplicity in our relationship with God leads to horizontal sincerity in our relationships with others.
Let me explain how he makes this connection.
Vertical Simplicity
To be simple is to be single-minded, to have one aim, no hidden agendas, and no selfish ambition. Simplicity is another word for “pure devotion,” and it is evidenced by a fear of God in all of life (2 Corinthians 11:3, Colossians 3:22).
The simple heart is revealed in two ways: simplicity of intention and simplicity of dependence.
The Christian seeks to live with simplicity of intention. By this Newton means that the Christian has “but one leading aim,” and it is this: “to yield ourselves to him [God], so as to place our happiness in his favor, and to make his glory and will the ultimate scope of all our actions.” The Christian can (and should) peer through the busyness and fog of life with the single aim of pleasing God in all things. This is simplicity of intention.
Secondly, the Christian seeks to live with simplicity of dependence. This is a “faith in the power and promises of God” that “inspires a noble simplicity, and casts every care upon him, who is able and has engaged to support and provide.” This simple-hearted dependence is the fruit of the gospel in the heart.
The true simplicity, which is the honor and strength of a believer, is the effect of a spiritual perception of the truths of the Gospel. It arises from, and bears a proportion to, the sense we have of our own unworthiness, the power and grace of Christ, and the greatness of our obligations to him. So far as our knowledge of these things is vital and experimental, it will make us simple-hearted.
As we look to our own spiritual weaknesses, our obligations to God, our desperate need for the grace of God and the gospel, we begin to see our dependence. This need brings us to wholehearted trust in God. This is what it means to live in simplicity before God.
Simplicity is forever. This single aim—to live eternally for God’s glory, and to live in full dependence upon him—is what draws together all the Christians on earth, all the Christians in glory, and all the angels in heaven, into a unified chorus of eternal praise to the Savior (Revelation 5:6–14).* And it’s a simplicity we need for today.
Horizontal Sincerity
But what about the other question, the one about displaying genuine love toward one another? The ability to love with sincerity is bound up with a life of simplicity. Newton writes, “I need not take time to prove, that the effect of simplicity will be sincerity.” Of course not. Simplicity in our aim (glorifying God alone) will influence our treatment of others.
Their behavior will be all of a piece, because they have but one design. They will speak the truth in love, observe a strict punctuality in their dealings, and do unto others they would others should do unto them; because these things are essential to their great aim of glorifying and enjoying their Lord.
This explains why for Newton, vertical simplicity in our relationship with God leads to horizontal sincerity in our relationships with others. The outward expression of sincere love hinges upon our simplicity before God. Or to put it another way, the drive behind our love for others is a singular life purpose to live for God’s glory.
May God give us more of this simple-hearted dependence upon the gospel, that we may more and more echo Paul’s words. May we strive to live as single-minded Christians who honor God by loving and serving others from a heart of sincerity.
Note: As an aside, this same theme rings in the missional motives of Jonathan Edwards. To read more about how vertical simplicity creates a horizontal compassion for the lost, see John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad! (Baker, 2010), chapter 6: “A Passion for God’s Supremacy and Compassion for Man’s Soul: Jonathan Edwards on the Unity of Motives for World Missions.”
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Primary source letter: John Newton, Works of John Newton (London: 1820), 1:298–304. Secondary reference: *Works, 4:571.
February 4, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton
Rev. Joshua Symonds (1739–1788) was the pastor of a church in Bedford, England who suffered from frequent afflictions, temptations, and what we might call depression—“family cares and severe bodily affliction sometimes cast a gloom over his spirit and led him to take desponding views of himself” [1]. Symonds’s despondency and sense of personal worthlessness engrossed his life, which is made clear in the letters he exchanged with his friend John Newton.
Symonds was aware of his own depravity and spiritual barrenness. But the bigger problem in Symonds’s life was not in thinking too lowly of himself, but in thinking too lowly of the Savior. He was sliding into legalism. He was aware of his own sinfulness, but unable to appreciate the all-sufficiency of the Savior.
Writes Newton,
You say, you find it hard to believe it compatible with the divine purity to embrace or employ such a monster as yourself. You express not only a low opinion of yourself, which is right, but too low an opinion of the person, work, and promises of the Redeemer; which is certainly wrong.
And therein is the danger of understanding total depravity without understanding the sufficiency of the Savior.
Satan’s School of Humility
So what went wrong in his friend’s thinking?
According to Newton, Symonds had been duped in Satan’s “school of humility,” where humility is twisted and distorted into prideful self-loathing that pushes the Savior away.
Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. He sometimes offers to teach us humility; but though I wish to be humble, I desire not to learn in this school. His premises perhaps are true, that we are vile, wretched creatures—but he then draws abominable conclusions from them; and would teach us, that, therefore, we ought to question either the power, or the willingness, or the faithfulness of Christ.
Indeed, though our complaints are good, so far as they spring from a dislike of sin; yet, when we come to examine them closely, there is often so much self-will, self-righteousness, unbelief, pride, and impatience mingled with them, that they are little better than the worst evils we can complain of.
Tim Keller quotes and explains the significance of Newton's words in his forthcoming book King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus. Keller writes,
There are two ways to fail to let Jesus be your Savior. One is by being too proud, having a superiority complex—not to accept his challenge. But the other is through an inferiority complex—being so self-absorbed that you say, “I’m just so awful that God can’t love me.” That is, not to accept his offer.
And that is how Satan turns humility into false humility, false humility into despondency, and despondency into an inferiority complex that pushes away the gospel.
Looking Directly to Jesus
Newton was keenly aware that at the root of Symonds’s problems were his small thoughts about the Savior. Symonds was tempted to see himself as unworthy of the gospel, the very gospel that invites the most unworthy sinners.
Newton writes,
You have not, you cannot have, anything in the sight of God, but what you derive from the righteousness and atonement of Jesus. If you could keep him more constantly in view, you would be more comfortable. He would be more honored.…Let us pray that we may be enabled to follow the apostle’s, or rather the Lord’s command by him, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice [Philippians 4:4]. We have little to rejoice in ourselves, but we have right and reason to rejoice in him.
And in a later letter Newton writes,
The best evidence of faith is shutting our eyes equally upon our defects and our graces, and looking directly to Jesus as clothed with authority and power to save to the uttermost....Plead the Apostle’s argument (Romans 8:31–39) before the Lord and against Satan. [2]
We find no eternal hope within ourselves. Revisiting personal depravity is not the solution. Revisiting past periods of spiritual strength is not the solution. Prolonged introspection is not the solution. The solution is to look outside of ourselves, and to gaze again and again at the all-sufficient Savior who welcomes sinners, forgives sinners, and saves sinners to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).
In other words, Christ is powerful to save, he is faithful to save, and he is willing to save even the most “monstrous” of sinners.
Conclusion
Rev. Joshua Symonds died at the age of 49. His life was difficult, but in his last days he wrote that the Savior “filled him with a steady, constant peace, and sometimes with unutterable joy and transport” [3].
There can be little doubt that his joy-filled confidence in the Savior at the end of his life was deeply shaped by the caring wisdom that he read in the letters penned by his friend John Newton.
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Primary source letter: John Newton, Works of John Newton (London: 1820), 6:185–187. Secondary sources: [1] Letters of John Newton (Edinburgh; Banner of Truth: 1869/2007), 167. [2] Letters, 173. [3] Letters, 168.
Bible scholar Stephen Dempster writes that “although the Bible is a coherent Story, it is a sprawling one, a sort of ramshackle narrative with many stops and starts, dead ends and detours, and any number of high and low points.” To be sure, the Bible is a coherent Story, but a Story that can prove difficult to follow for many readers (myself included!).
For those of us who need help—or just a reminder—here’s the message of the Bible in 6 minutes, 240 words, 240 pages, or 1 sentence. Your choice.
What's the message of the Bible in 6 minutes?
Don Carson is a scholar who for many years has devoted his life and ministry to helping Christians better perceive the unity of the Bible’s progressive storyline. He provides a brilliant summary of the Bible in this 6-minute video:
Speaking of Dr. Carson, he will again be joining us for the Next 2011 conference in Orlando (May 28-31). This year’s conference theme is Christian worldview, and Carson is a leading Christian scholar on the topic.
What's the message of the Bible in 240 words?
Similarly, Carson articulated the gospel within the broader scope of the biblical storyline in 240 words in his contribution in the book For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present and Future. Carson writes the following summary:
God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image-bearers. Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath.
But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects.
In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them—an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is repent and trust Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel (Romans 10:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17).
What's the message of the Bible in 240 pages?
Last year Carson released a 240-page book to answer this question. The book is titled The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story. In it Carson expands and explores the various themes introduced in the 6-minute video and excerpt above. The book is a reliable guide for any reader seeking to better grasp the Bible’s major storyline, and was developed from a series of messages Carson delivered in Minneapolis. Those message videos are now available for purchase as a set of DVDs, and the video and audio recordings are available online for free here. A study guide is also available for leaders of group discussions. It’s worth checking out.
What's the message of the Bible in one sentence?
Recently on his blog, Dane Ortlund asked this (rather daring) question to several pastors and Bible scholars. He received numerous responses, and posted them online. Here's a sampling:
Mark Dever:
God has made promises to bring His people to Himself and He is fulfilling them all through Christ.
Kevin DeYoung (who will also be speaking at Next 2011):
A holy God sends his righteous Son to die for unrighteous sinners so we can be holy and live happily with God forever.
John Frame:
God glorifies himself in the redemption of sinners.
Grant Osborne:
God created mankind in order to love them, but we all rejected his love, so God sent His Son to bear our sins on the cross in order that by believing in His sacrificial atonement, we might have life.
Leland Ryken:
The message of the Bible is twofold: to show how people can be saved from their sins through faith in Christ's atonement AND how to live all of life as a follower of God.
Tom Schreiner:
God reigns over all things for his glory, but we will only enjoy his saving reign in the new heavens and the new earth if we repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the crucified and risen Lord and who gave himself on the cross for our salvation.
Ray Ortlund’s response makes sense in light of his book God’s Unfaithful Wife:
The Lover of our souls won't let the romance die, but is rekindling it forever.
So there you have it: the message of the Bible in 6 minutes, 240 words, 240 pages, and 1 sentence.