Loving thy neighbour without condoning their sin

Doug Wilson has a great post about how to love our homosexual family, friends and coworkers without celebrating and condoning their sin.  There is a biblically faithful way to love and accept them as people made in God's image without at the same time accepting their sinful lifestyle.  This is a very important topic.  The church (or at least those most often heard in public discourse) seems to divide on this subject along the lines of either avoiding relationships with homosexual folks altogether or accepting their lifestyle wholeheartedly.  In actual fact, neither of these ways is godly love and neither is biblical. 

Here are a couple of quotes from Doug's post that I hope make you want to read the whole thing:

"...taking Scripture with Scripture, we can plainly see that there is a type of interaction with sinners that is not only permissible, but considered as a general pattern in the church, is actually required. In other words, it ought to be normal. There are other instances when Christians should have nothing to do with it."

"This is why wise Christian bakers will never bake a cake for a homosexual wedding reception, and they should always bake a cake for a homosexual’s birthday party. This is why families must not attend a homosexual wedding reception, and why they certainly should attend a homosexual’s birthday party — the one that the evangelical baker made a cake for."

While it is certainly true that biblical truth is always true at all times and in all circumstances, very often the two sides of a particular debate are taking only certain truths and applying them to a situation and the other side is using a different set of passages to justify exactly the opposite actions.  When forming a position on a particular issue, it is important to consider all of the applicable Scripture and the same is true when determining how to live out that truth.  Check out Doug's very wise biblical exposition and application here. 

Planned Parenthood baby body part trade Part 2

There has been another video released showing another conversation with a high level official and doctor with Planned Parenthood discussing the market for "tissue" from abortions.  By tissue, they mean intact  organs, legs, arms, heads, and other body parts.  PP maintains that they are doing this not for profit - nominal fees intended to recover costs with maybe a bit extra, you know, for the time and effort, the extra trouble they have to go to to ensure that they not damage the body parts that they buyers are looking for.  And again, PP says they do this strictly for the benefits of scientific and medical advancement and that the way they do it is all legal.  The legality is certainly one of the issues currently up for debate, but the bigger issue is not the legality according to federal and state laws but rather where this stands according to God's law.  Of course the murder of humans is against God's law whether those humans are inside of the womb or outside.  They are made in the image of God with the inherent dignity that entails.

You can find the second video here at Doug Wilson's blog.  Again, it is not for the faint of heart, but if you are a Christian you better be serious about seeing the practice of government-funded abortion end, and therefore you better not be faint of heart.  And if you missed the first such video, you can see it here along with some thoughtful exhortation.

Kevin DeYoung has some further good thoughts about the abortion battle in light of the current controversy here.

Al Mohler adds his voice here and Russell Moore here and here.

BUT, if you only read one opinion piece on this whole issue, whether you are already convinced abortion is evil or you are as yet undecided, you really ought to read Rosaria Butterfield's thoughts in her article I Thought Planned Parenthood Protected Family Values.  

This issue is bigger than the US.  Planned Parenthood operates in Canada as well, and often not under that name.  And this issue is bigger than PP since many abortions happen in other clinics and in government funded hospitals.  Pray that these recent revelations about the baby body part trade cause many in our culture to wake up and see the abortion industry for what it is - mass murder on a colossal scale (even when there is no harvesting of baby body parts).  And pray that all who are not already aroused to this cause in the church would wake up and pray for the end of abortion.  Also, pray for and work toward the care of those who currently don't see any other option and declare the forgiveness and love in Christ available for those who now regret their past choices to have abortions.  And as many are doing in the US, consider telling your elected officials that you are absolutely opposed to this practice and that you are dead set against any of your tax dollars supporting this type of thing in Canada.

Father, forgive us our tresspasses.  Lead us not into temptation.  Deliver us from evil. 

Planned Parenthood and the baby body part trade

This post links to some pretty disturbing material, but if you care about the fight to end abortion this is a pretty significant breaking story. 

Douglas Wilson has posted on a recent video which was released showing a doctor very high up in the Planned Parenthood organization discussing the trade in baby organs and body parts, harvested, stored, sold and shipped from their clinics (at least in the US).  I consider Doug to be a very reliable source, but I know that there are very credible seeming things on the interweb that sometimes turn out to be a hoax.  I looked into this story on Snopes and there is quite extensive discussion of the story including official and direct statements from both PP and the makers of the video.  Snopes currently has this classified as "Undetermined" and the issue that doesn't seem to be clear is if the PP clinics are harvesting and selling baby body parts legally (because the mothers have signed a donation form to allow their baby's body parts to be sold and used for research, etc.) or illegally.

However, whether this is being done legally or illegally (contrary to US gov't laws that allow only certain practices regarding the retention and use of the body parts of aborted babies), we need to stop and ask our selves what kind of a society do we live in where the mass murder of babies has become an industry and where a private, for profit, organization like Planned Parenthood can mislead women, kill children, and further profit by selling the body parts of the dead babies.  And we also need to not be hoodwinked by the debate over whether this body part trade is operating fully legally or if it is in contravention of law.  The fact is it is pretty disgusting that it is happening at all.  No matter what the laws of the land are, according to God's law taking human life is wicked and trading in persons as though they were commodities is an abomination.

I encourage you to read Wilson's post here.  Be warned, the conversation in the embedded video link is not for the faint of heart, made all the worse by the casual manner of the doctor.  Part of the power of the pro-abortion/pro-choice lobby is their success in hiding what actually goes on in abortion procedures and their white-washing of the industry as if it were a highly regulated aspect of routine medical care.  This type of story really puts the lie to that rhetoric.  May God have mercy on our culture.

Care for some vomit?

Proverbs 26:11 speaks of a person who returns to the same sin habitually being just like a dog that returns to its vomit and eats it.  As a dog owner, I can attest this is a disgusting canine practice, even if it does keep pet food bills down slightly.  This passage calls a person who returns to their sin a fool.  These are jolting words, especially in a politically correct and overly sensitive era like ours, where society has determined the cardinal commandment to be, "Thou shalt not offend".

Tim Challies points out a good post on habitual sin being like returning to your vomit and eating it.  The whole post can be found here.

So, just as you wouldn't want to put vomit on your regular meal rotation, don't keep going back to the same sin again.  Feast instead on God's Word.  After all, we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 

What is the Purpose of Types in Scripture?

The Bible is full of types, and the purpose of said types is a hotly debated issue in biblical interpretation.  Here is a great post by John Piper that supplies one answer (of many right and biblical answers) to the question, what is the purpose (or rather, what are the purposes) of types in Scripture?

Getting all Puritanical

Doug Wilson has a great reminder of the biblical calling of husbands and fathers over at Desiring God.  He points us to the Puritans not as people to idolize but rather to imitate, especially in the functioning of their households. 

Many since their time have disparaged the Puritans - the word "Puritanical" is not a compliment, after all.  However, while not perfect, they were far more biblical than many generations or movements within the church either before or after their time. Much of the good they did and the legacy they left continues to bear fruit, although the church of today has left the orchard in a terrible state of neglect and far over run with weeds and thorns and more than a few goats.  Here's to hoping and praying that the men of the church today recover something of what the Puritans lived out in their marriages, families and homes.  And I pray that this spreads to influence the surrounding culture the way it did in the time of the Puritans.

How do I know?

Kevin DeYoung has a good answer to the question that believers perpetually ask:  How do I know if I am truly a Christian?  His post is here.  Kevin's approach is refreshing because he calls Christians to look to Scripture for criteria rather than looking to themselves.

Many Christians look at themselves to determine whether or not they are truly a believer.  Many Christians think back to their experience of coming to Christ, when they first "made a decision" for Christ.  They try to examine whether or not their decision at the time was genuine, they try to dissect their emotions or their sincerity or their level of knowledge.  Many dig deep down inside themselves and examine their current doubts and struggles with various besetting sins.  They compare their struggles and doubts with all the commands and/or descriptions in Scripture of what a mature and complete Christian ought to be and they attempt to weigh whether or not they measure up.  Some Christians, probably most often those who have since become convinced of the Reformed perspective of things, look back to their original understanding of salvation and what God did for them in Christ and they can doubt if their original experience of coming to Christ was genuine because they didn't understand very much about the doctrines of grace or the way salvation is a work of God and not a joint effort between God and the sinner.

Doesn't Scripture teach us to examine ourselves to test and see if we really are in Christ?  Yes, it does.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!       (2 Cor. 13:5)

Christians are to test themselves, to examine themselves.  But what does this look like?  Well, certainly an item well worth looking at is the fruit one's life is bearing.  Do I manifest fruit and am I living a life in keeping with the gospel?

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel...  (Phil. 1:27)

However, what Christians often do is a form of spiritual naval gazing, or what Douglas Wilson calls "morbid introspection".  This is a process by which the Christian is always looking at themselves, always scrutinizing their own thoughts, desires and doubts.  This seems at first like penitent and humble self examination, but it is really a self-centred practice.  Rather than a humble and helpful growth-inducing discipline, perpetually staring at your heart through a spiritual microscope is really a prideful and self-centered false humility.  This practice places me front and centre.

The true heart of faithful Christian self-examination is not the practice of looking at yourself but of looking to Christ.  When you examine yourself or test yourself, look to see what it is that you are constantly turning to, constantly looking at, constantly trusting in, constantly holding to.  If you are going through a season of doubt or if you are unsure of the genuineness of your faith because of your perpetual struggle with a particular sin, rather than trying to dissect your heart, look to the cross.  Don't trust or doubt based on your feelings of trust or doubt.  Turn your eyes to Christ, your one saviour in this world and your one hope for the world to come.  Don't look at all the sin you still struggle with and place it in a mental scale to see if it outweighs the measure of your faith.  Rather, take that sin and confess it to Christ.  Don't spend all your time examining your inner thoughts and feelings and impressions.  Rather, take this to Christ, place it at his feet, and look to Scripture's promises to you that Jesus has taken your sins, your guilt, your shame, even your doubts, and he has died for them.  Then live in the knowledge that he rose again and sits at the Father's right hand interceding and advocating for you before a Father who knew you and determined to send his own Son to die for you before the world was formed.

The heart of true Christian self-examination is not constantly trying to look inside your own soul but rather looking at your way of life and your doctrine and from that asking yourself, what is it I am really trusting in?  Whatever is inconsistent with a total and complete faith in Christ alone, confess and forsake.  Then turn away from that self-examination and look to Christ.  Rather than dwelling on the state of your own inner thoughts and feelings, dwell in the promises of God to you (Eph. 1:3-14) even as God's Spirit dwells within you.  Rather than trying to test the genuineness of your confession of Christ based on your current feelings, look to what God has said about you in his Word and at your own baptism, where his triune name was placed upon you.  Next time you are tempted to flick on the glaring spotlights of morbid self-examination and point them at your heart, reject your self-centred focus, remind yourself that you don't trust in your self anyway, pray to God to increase your faith, and then go rest in the pleasant shade of the cross. 

Here is Doug Wilson on morbid introspection.