Discipline…

Posted on by kevinjandt

discipline

What a distasteful subject is the topic of church discipline, does anyone like correction?

Well that depends…

It depends upon the condition of your heart.

Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days. – Proverbs 19:20

Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool. – Proverbs 17:10

A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, nor will he go to the wise. – Proverbs 15:12

How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. – Proverbs 16:16

He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. – Proverbs 13:20

What else must I do to convince you that God’s word is what we must use to gain wisdom? What else matters, and as the verse states above this is better than gold and should be chosen over silver.

God has not left us to stumble around in the dark without counsel. He has spoken on the matter of church discipline and has given the church direction. The scriptures are not silent on this subject, but the bigger questions are these…are we willing to listen, are we willing to heed the counsel?

Jesus clearly and perfectly lays out the formula. The church is to follow the example and sin must be dealt with in the church, or the church becomes polluted.

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” – Matthew 18:15-17

This is pretty clear isn’t it?

What is the purpose of this; can we see what Jesus desires in this instruction? He desires restoration. The goal is to bring the one in sin to a place of understanding their sin; a place of brokenness over their sin, so they can be restored to their brother.

This is being lived out in the life of the church that I attend. My wife, my eldest daughter and I are members and we dearly love the people in our church. It’s heart breaking to see sin in the lives of people. It’s even more heartbreaking to know that unless that sin is forsaken and turned from it will destroy. That’s what Satan does! He came to destroy people and he does it in the most sinister and deceitful ways possible.

Others in my church love this man and below is a letter that was written as the church is telling this man of his sin. It is our hope and our desire that this will restore the man to a right relationship with God.

It is our desire that if he is a brother, he will confess his sin and forsake his sin, if he is not a brother that he will repent and believe in Jesus Christ as his only hope for salvation. I post this that he will be ashamed of his sin and that others might read it, be ashamed of their sin, and come to repentance.

This problem is rampant in the “church world”. It’s not a victimless crime. It’s heinous and it’s ugly.

And if they are bound in

fetters,

Held in the cords of affliction,

Then He tells them their work

and their transgressions—

That they have acted defiantly.

He also opens their ear to

instruction,

And commands that they turn

from iniquity.

If they obey and serve Him,

They shall spend their days in

prosperity,

And their years in pleasures.

But if they do not obey,

They shall perish by the sword,

And they shall die without

knowledge. – Job 36:8-12

 

Kevin

 

I know a Man…

 

That he might be broken and ashamed:

On nights when he is angry with his wife, she goes to sleep in their bedroom. Meanwhile he sits in his living room, just a few feet from his bride-only a wall apart-browsing depictions of harlots, picking the ones that please him the most, displaying them on his screen and having sex with them using his self. It feels good to him, helps him to relax, so he does it again or another time. He knows it is sinful, but he isn’t broken by it so he doesn’t repent. It’s not really adultery he says. He won’t tell his wife. He knows it’s wrong but he doesn’t feel saddened over it, so he does it again. His only son sleeps soundly upstairs, unharmed so the man thinks. Yet he does not know God may require the life of the child for sin such as this. He took David’s child for this, yet the man fears God not.

He comes into the sanctuary of God’s people on Sunday’s. He will not open his mouth to sing praises to God. But repent- I think not- he just doesn’t feel like it. He won’t look at the preacher, for he despises that man, sure he led him to Christ, but he’s wronged him since then. I want to ask this man, would you pick up a knife and slit the throat of your son for this preacher who wronged you? Would you slay your son for that man who you think despises and rejects you? Have you forgotten o man that God sees your adultery? That this God sees your lack of praise, lack of love for the saints, sees your lack of time in the word, and yet still shows you His love?

God sends His people to plead with the man, turn, turn from your sin, lest the Lord reject you. This God sees your sin- takes His only son- and slays Him. He drains Jesus’ blood on the wastelands, opens His side and rejects Him; Pours out His wrath and His righteous indignation, upon the perfect lamb, the great I am, don’t you remember? Wasn’t it for your sin? Will you continue to reject Him? Christ died for sins, will you continue to live in them?

Some people confront him on his sin when his conscience overbears him to report it. Repent of it- no- but agree that it’s sinful- yes. I’m just being honest says the man, I can’t turn cause you told me, or I don’t want to deny feelings. Little does he know his flesh is destroying him.  He sees his wife and child, and loves them he thinks, but show them Christ in Him-maybe he will get to that next week.

This man is hardened-stiff necked, his sin spreads and spreads. He lives it, breathes it, chews it, and loves it. Love the saints? No time for that. Preach the Gospel? Who needs it. Serve the body? They don’t deserve it. But I deserve my sin says the man, after all, who are they to tell me it’s sinful? The proverbs warn him. Destruction and calamity await him- will he turn yet from his sin? I think not. He just doesn’t feel it…

You are that man… Repent and turn to Christ and you will be forgiven.

 

 

 

Ordo Salutis and Other Big Sounding Words – Part 2

Posted on by kevinjandt

empty-church-2

I recently was asked to respond to some questions about certain biblical terms that many people will hear that attend church or engage in Christian conversations. Sometimes these seem like such big and overwhelming words, but they are important to understand, not to sound important, but to understand how God works in the lives of His people.

Today I’m continuing to look at some terms you will hear in the church world. It may be very basic for some readers of this blog, but some may hear these terms and wonder if they are biblical or not.

Faith in Jesus – in the Greek language the word faith is pistis.  It also means belief or to be persuaded.  There are many key verses in understanding “saving” faith.  Saving faith will produce fruits in the life of a believer (Matthew 3:8), as opposed to just a shallow or intellectual belief such as James describes in chapter 2 of his epistle.

James 2:19-21 You believe that there is one God.  You do well.  Even the demons believe and tremble!  But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

John 2:23-25 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

Here are two very clear examples of intellectual belief, without a heart change, and the kind of faith that leads to a new life is explicitly defined in Scripture as a gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. 

Faith also comes through the hearing of the word, so God’s word is the mechanism by which one receives faith.

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

It is obviously quite important to understand in the proclamation of the gospel, that the law of God convicts the sinner of his need for forgiveness (second use of the law) and that forgiveness can only come through repentance and faith in Christ, but yet the great mystery is that God gives us the faith to believe.  The man of God must be properly equipped to give the correct message for someone to be truly converted.

Repentance – In Greek – metanoéō: to regret, repent, also to have a change of mind which produces a change of direction.  When God grants repentance, the hearer is able to turn from his wicked ways and embrace a new life which results in a dramatic transformation.  Matthew 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Paul describes a big difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow.  Many people will mourn over their sin, but they mourn because of how it affects them, not that it was sin against a Holy God.   We must also understand that God grants repentance, which is consistent with the entire message of scripture that salvation is from God, 2 Timothy 2:24-26 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Accepting Jesus into my Heart – this is an invention of man and not a biblical concept.  Although from our perspective it seems that we have a role in salvation (responsibility of man), we do not believe that bible supports decisional regeneration.  The verse most people will cite is Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”  However, this is not a call to salvation; it is Jesus speaking to the church and calling them to repent over their lukewarmness and their sin.  If we read all of Revelation 3 it becomes very clear.

The gospel message begins with a presentation of the law, showing a sinner their sin, their need for forgiveness, and Christ as the solution to their problem.  Then given this information a call to repent and turn from their sin and receive Christ in faith.  So the acceptance that is so often heard at large evangelistic campaigns and altar calls at church services, is not a biblical call. It most often involves appeal to emotion, through music and a slick presentation by a gifted speaker, but Paul tells us he did not come to them with persuasive words or excellent speech, but only Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-5) and listen to this in verse 5 …that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

It’s important to take this verse in context, as Peter had given a very convicting sermon and we can see in verse 37 that his message “cut them to the heart”.  This verse also ties in with Baptism, we would not believe that baptism saves, but that Believer Baptism is an external sign that one has been saved, and as Peter calls them to be saved and then be baptized.

See also Acts 8:38, the account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

Backsliding – is a modern concept of the church in the way it is now used.   While true believer’s may have times of spiritual drought in their life, if they are truly converted it is impossible for them to lose their salvation as we looked at with perseverance.  Most people use this term for a child that “received” or “accepted” Christ at a young age and then goes on to live a rebellious, sinful life.  If my parents knew the life I was living as a young man, they would have undoubtedly thought I was backsliding.  The truth is that I was never really converted.  This is why the doctrine of salvation is so important; most people do not understand salvation as the bible describes it.

Just a couple days ago I was having a discussion with my sister-in-law and she told me her daughter “believes” in God.  When I explained belief to her and asked her if her daughter has a new life, the light-bulb came on that her daughter is not really saved.  When we understand we are dealing with only two types of people in the world, either believer’s or non-believer’s we can then discern how to minister to people.    If people are believer’s and are sinning they need to understand the Third Use of the Law, if they are non-believer’s they need the Second Use of the Law, or in short they need the gospel to save their souls.

Soli Deo Gloria!

 

Kevin

 

I have a headache…

Posted on by kevinjandt

distance

For those that are Christians and for those that profess Christianity this is a difficult topic but it’s a topic that affects us all. Let’s look to the Word of God as our source text to examine our lives and hold it up to the microscope of the Scriptures so we may honor God in His institution of marriage.

Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

This discussion begins with God’s design for marriage and married life. It’s really pretty simple. God designed marriage with three primary practical functions and a fourth function which is to mirror the relationship between Christ and the Church; I will not explore the relationship between Christ and the Church in this article, but we will briefly examine the other three purposes.

The first function of marriage is procreation. Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Being fruitful and multiplying beyond two is not very popular today, especially if you get a boy and a girl. In an extreme case if you have two of the same variety, then it’s acceptable to try for the other, but it’s not generally accepted beyond three in our modern society. Has God changed His mind on this subject?  To the contrary, just because pragmatism and worldly thinking has invaded the church does not mean God has not clearly spoken. Be fruitful and multiply… I once heard someone say “if God is going to give you a blessing, why would you refuse it?”

The second function of marriage is companionship. Genesis 1:18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

Wives, God designed you to be a helper to your husband. He should be setting the vision for the family and your role is to help him achieve his vision and carry it out, another unpopular view for marriage in today’s world but no less truthful than it was in the beginning. Wives this should be a joyful opportunity to live out your God given role as a wife and helper.

The third function is sexual union for enjoyment and prevention of immorality. Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

God made them male and female, they fit together, this is obvious, and this is obviously why and how God designed it. God also designed men and women to think differently. It was perfect in the beginning and then sin entered the picture and the whole perfect design was distorted, polluted and infected with sin.

This is what we have today, and that sin has causes struggles and issues inside of God’s design. We clearly see it all around us that sexuality is distorted. We have distortions in all kinds of sexual perversions and deviations. But this was not God’s plan for any of the three reasons above and if you call yourself a Believer you are to live a life that brings glory to God and look different than the rest of the world. Your marriage should reflect Christ and the Church, it should procreate, help, and enjoy.

1 Corinthians 7 gives us a much more microscopic view of the topic of sexual intimacy that is to occur within a marriage. Within this are some sub-categories of the purpose of marriage. It draws husband and wife closer to one another. It’s designed to be a preventative against sexual immorality. And most importantly it teaches us to deny ourselves. When we don’t always “feel” like it, what an opportunity to seek the good of your spouse.

1 Corinthians 7:2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband.

Wives this is a big reason God has ordained intimacy in a marriage. Men are just plain wired differently than you and when you, as a helper, can complete him in this area you have assisted him greatly. Not only are you fulfilling God’s commands but you are also helping to keep him from sin. Have you ever considered it that way? You can be the gate-keeper or the one holding the gate open. This does not relieve your husband of his responsibility to control himself, but you play a big role.

1 Corinthians 7:3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due to her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

At this point things begin to be challenging, so let’s look at this verse carefully. The word render means to give away, to perform, to give (again), to deliver (again), it means it’s not a one-time deal, but to be consistently giving away. Husbands it’s your responsibility to give your wife affection consistently. Affection can mean to grab her hand during the day, or touch her shoulder, communicate with her, but at its root is conjugal.

yoo’-noy-ah – kindness; euphemistically conjugal duty: – benevolence, good will. Husbands you are to render to your wife sexual intimacy.

1 Corinthians 7:4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Try selling this one in today’s society. You will be laughed out of town if you stood on a street corner preaching this verse. Can this really be what Paul meant? No wonder his teaching is so hated and avoided by most “churches”. This means what it says. It’s so plain and obvious, and so rejected by most, even those that call themselves Christians. I understand the unbelieving world will scoff at this verse, I understand it will be rejected by them, but if you are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb are you going to reject clear biblical teachings? This is a big question and one we must answer. God will hold husbands and wives accountable to this standard.

1 Corinthians 7:5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self control.

Quoting from the MacArthur study bible on this verse: the word deprive, Lit. “stop depriving each other!” This command may indicate that this kind of deprivation was going on among believers, perhaps reacting to the gross sexual sins of their past and wanting to leave all that behind.”

In order to bring glory to God, His word tells us the marriage bed is undefiled, yet it’s often treated and understood as something dirty and defiled. We all have past sins that either Christ has forgiven you of or He hasn’t; if He hasn’t then repent and be forgiven.

Be saved!

If He has forgiven you then live like it. Live in His grace and live in His design for marriage. Enjoy what the Lord has offered as a blessing and be grateful for His gifts.

Song of Songs 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—For your love is better than wine.

 

Soli Deo Gloria!

 

Kevin

 

Let us reason together…

Posted on by kevinjandt

original

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” – Isaiah 1:18

I’ve been challenged recently with how I reason with people. I’ve often been harsh and judgmental in my reasoning as I wrote about recently and this often hurts my testimony. It puts up walls and causes people not to hear the message. Yet, sometimes God uses this to grow me and mature me for His purposes. It doesn’t mean I stop learning, but it means that I plan my way and the LORD directs my path. Ultimately He is in control.

What does it mean to reason together?

yaw-kakh’

A primitive root; to be right (that is, correct); reciprocally to argue; causatively to decide, justify or convict: – appoint, argue, chasten, convince, correct (-ion), daysman, dispute, judge, maintain, plead, reason (together), rebuke, reprove (-r), surely, in any wise.

A Christian should be consistently refining and improving in this area of their daily life. Our job is to convict, reprove and to argue, but doesn’t this sound harsh and judgmental? Do we really go around disputing with people all day long?

The idea of reasoning is to present a case, to cognitively persuade someone of the truth; as in court, where the attorneys argue their cases. When I use the term argue I don’t mean what most people think of in terms of an argument, but a back and forth presentation of ideas.   Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:25 that in humility believers are to correct those in opposition.

What are they in opposition to? They are in opposition to the truth correct? Most people and even those that name the name of Christ object to the truth of Scripture. There is a tremendous amount of emotion when most people argue; I’ve certainly been guilty of this more than I care to recall. When we can learn to reason well, our witness is much more powerful and effective.

Reasoning and argument is a gift God has given us. He has given us the ability to “think”. If we can think properly and biblically we stand on firm ground and this should be the basis for our argument.

2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.

Ouch… Do we see what Paul is telling Timothy on how he should pastor a church? He tells him to teach his people how to argue; how to present the truth and be focused on the Lord.

And how do we do this Paul?

2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The directive is crystal clear if we are willing to accept it. And of course if we claim fellowship with Christ we must accept it or we are not truly His. We are to present ourselves approved to God, by rightly understanding Scripture and properly using Scripture in our arguments to convince people if they are in error.

We are to reason with them, gently, not striving and quarreling about useless words, but using God’s word to show them if they are in error.

This is not popular in today’s culture. It’s never been popular, but as we look to Christ as our example we can see that He always challenged people in their sin. His example is perfect and it was always done in love, but we must remember that He was hated for it. In fact so hated they crucified Him. Have you been hated enough for your reasoning they wanted to crucify you? If we argue and reason perfectly as Jesus did, then they will. It’s guaranteed.

2 Timothy 3:10-12 But you have carefully followed by doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions…what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

My sin too often gets in the way of my reasoning for it to be effective, but sometimes I argue well, and by God’s grace I’m growing in this area of my life. As I learn to properly divide Scripture I trust God will use that to grant some repentance. That they just might come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil. Whether they realize it or not they’ve been taken captive by him to do his will.

If you are a Believer and you spend time having discussions with people you must realize they reside in one of two camps. They believe or they don’t believe, and if you care about their eternal soul you will challenge their beliefs with the truth of God’s word.

Let’s learn to reason well; so that we can properly present the gospel of repentance and faith in Christ that some might be saved.

 

Kevin

Fertile Ground

Posted on by kevinjandt

IMG_6931We’ve lived in our home for nearly twenty years now and the one thing I’ve learned is that we don’t always get projects done around our house quickly. Not that we don’t have the best intentions, it’s just that life takes over and the things we’d like to do get put on the back burner.

The west facing wall of our home has been one of those non-priority projects that has take a bit of time to accomplish. We remodeled our basement to create some new rooms a couple years ago to accommodate our growing family and we put in some egress windows. These make the bedrooms legal so we can have two ways of escape in the event of a fire. This requires digging out the ground around the basement wall, cutting holes in the wall and then putting in windows and window wells which keep the dirt back.

We’ve wanted to plant something along this side of the house for years, and we finally, and when I say “we”, I mean Jen and the girls. Okay, mostly Jen, but the girls assisted with the little ones while she was planting them.

We took great care in selecting our new plants and our desire is for them to grow and flourish in the place we picked to plant them. What will determines success depends on many things. We must do our part in order for there to be a chance of success, but we can’t guarantee it, only give them care and nurturing and then trust what we’ve done will be enough.

Do you see the similarity to the gospel and the planting of God’s Word into the hearts of those around you?

I’m primarily thinking of my children in this analogy, but it certainly applies to all we come into contact, and I’m always hopeful someone that reads this will consider themselves and those around them.

In order to increase our “odds” I must take some steps.

Good Soil

We must plant our plants in good soil. Iowa has a lot of clay and around our home is no exception. It’s so hard and sticky, when we dug the holes it was a big job just to keep the shovel on the back hoe clean. It’s very hard soil and it won’t grow plants well without adding top soil and fertilizer.

Matthew 13:8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

If we want to yield a crop, we must plant in good ground. Jesus tells us in the parable of the soils, not all the seed will fall on good ground, so it’s crystal clear that not everyone will receive the word. But if it’s up to us, we must spread good seed (The Word of God), and it must land on good soil. This is not soil that we have prepared, its soil that God has prepared, it’s God that opens hearts to receive His word.

…but we must prepare hearts to receive the word through teaching and proclaiming properly. In the case of my children I prepare their hearts by cultivating it with the Word of God. As a practical example this means sitting with them and opening the Bible, reading it and teaching from it.

This is my responsibility as a father to my children.

Ephesians 6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

If I don’t bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord, I’m provoking them to wrath. Fathers, you are provoking your children to wrath if you don’t bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Have you ever thought of it that way before? [1]

Prepare the soil to receive the good seed, by training and admonishing them, do it today and everyday you have opportunity. Don’t delay, because every day that soil can harden and become more like clay.

Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

It Needs Water

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

If the word is received on good ground and it appears to blossom for a while, that young plant will need watering through reading and study of God’s Word.

Do you know or are you a Christian that doesn’t read and study your Bible? Then you’re not a true Christian, or you are a rebellious one. Jesus tells us you will need this like plants need water to live.

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Pull the Weeds

Weeds choke out and take over. If you don’t, fertilize, water and tend to the care of your lawn, or your garden you will have nothing but weeds. It’s true in this example and it’s true in the hearts of sinful man.

Matthew 13:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

God’s Word is clear and so is the instruction for the Christian. If this doesn’t describe your life, I’d urge you to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Seek his righteousness first, and don’t put off the preparing of that soil.

Kevin

[1] Elder Nick Rolland sermon on Ephesians 6:4