How do we stop loving the darkness?
Many of us know John 3:16, but how many of us know what it says after that?
- ‘Whoever believes in him [God the Father or the Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.’ (John 3:18–21)
This passage shows that man is born loving the darkness; he delights in it. That means, man naturally loves lostness and darkness–that is, he loves his sin. Our hearts are bent that way; we are tainted all the way through.
But how do we ever get from being a person who, deep down inside, loves darkness and hates God, to someone who loves light, who loves God? If our theology doesn’t answer this question clearly from Scripture, we need to change our theology. The answer isn’t free will; it’s not prevenient grace; it’s not some people make better choices than others. The answer is–God.
The Lord is so kind that he actually gives us what we need. In John 3 after the Apostle John records Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, the Apostle also records John the Baptist speaking plainly: ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven’ (John 3:27). How kind of our Lord to give us what we need–grace, gospel, faith, salvation.
He loved us enough to cause our new birth. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…’ (1 Peter 1:3). Truly, what good thing do we have that God has not given us? (See 1 Cor 4:7; Phil 1:29; 2 Tim 2:25.)
The simple fact is, if the Lord hadn’t made sure we would come to his family out of the darkness, we never would have come.
- John 1:5 ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’
- John 6:37 ‘All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.’
- 2 Corinthians 4:6 ‘For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’
- Colossians 1:12–13 ‘giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,’
- Romans 5:5 ‘and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’
We shouldn’t run from these doctrines because they make some people uncomfortable. We rejoice. They bring our hearts comfort; they should cause all Christians to rejoice in God’s kindness and sovereignty. These verses show that God can’t be stopped. They provoke us to praise him.
-GSiV
(GSiV: No Free Will: Bondage; The human will in bondage to sin; Traditionalism/Provisionism;
Lãnh đạo bằng tình yêu, Ông Strauch–part 2
Kết nối tình yêu với công tác lãnh đạo
Hãy nôn nả tìm kiếm tình yêu thương…
1 Cô. 14:1
‘Không hề quá khi nói rằng Kinh Thánh là quyển sách về tình yêu. Câu chuyện Phúc âm “Đức Chúa Tròi yêu thương thế gian, đến nỗi đã ban Con một của Ngài” là câu chuyện tình vĩ đại nhất mọi thời đại. Vì tình yêu thương bao la của Đức Chúa Tròi dành cho chúng ta, nên chúng ta phải hết lòng, hết linh hồn, hết trí và hết sức mà kính mến Giê-hô-va Đức Chúa Tròi, và yêu người lân cận như chính mình (Mác 12:30-31). Dù đúng là đòi hỏi kính mến Đức Chúa Tròi và yêu người lân cận là bổn phận áp dụng cho tất cả các tín hữu thật, nhưng tôi vẫn tập trung sự chú ý của mình vào đề tài tình yêu khi áp dụng cho người lãnh đạo và nhà giáo Cơ Đốc. …’
-Alexander Stauch, Lãnh đạo bằng tình yêu, tr. 7.
(GSiV: để đọc: Becoming more humble; để nghe: Leadership: Alexander Strauch bằng tiếng Việt–part 1)
Our Lord Receives Sinners: Spurgeon
‘This man [Jesus] receives sinners (Luke 15:2), but He does not push any away. We come to Him in weakness and sin, with trembling faith, small knowledge, and slender hope – but He does not cast us out. We come by prayer, and that prayer is broken. We come with confession, and that confession is faulty. We come with praise, and that praise is far short of His merits; yet He receives us. We come diseased, polluted, worn out, and worthless, but He will certainly not cast any of us out. Let us go again today to Him who never casts us out.’
-Charles Spurgeon, Faith’s Checkbook (January 13)
(GSiV: Spurgeon; Key materials on gospel grace )
Cut Satan’s throat with his own sword
‘When the devil tells us we are sinners and therefore damned, we may answer, “Because you say I am a sinner, I will be righteous and saved.” Then the devil will say, “No, you will be damned.” And I will reply, “No, for I fly to Christ, who has given himself for my sins. Satan, you will not prevail against me when you try to terrify me by telling me how great my sins are and try to reduce me to heaviness and despair. On the contrary, when you say I am a sinner, you give me armor and weapons against yourself, so that I can cut your throat with your own sword and tread you under my feet, for Christ died for sinners. My sin is on his shoulders, not mine. So when you say I am a sinner, you do not terrify me but comfort me immeasurably.’
-Martin Luther, commenting on Galatians 1:4
Read more
(GSiV: Luther; Key materials on gospel grace )
Năm Luận Điểm: Ông John Piper–part 12
Chương 3. SỰ BẠI HOẠI HOÀN TOÀN
‘Khi nói về sự bại hoại của loài người, chúng ta ngụ ý về tình trạng tự nhiên của con người khi chưa có bất kỳ ân điển nào mà Đức Chúa Trời dùng để chế ngự hoặc biến đổi họ.
‘Tính triệt để của sự bại hoại đó rõ ràng không có nghĩa là con người làm mọi điều ác mà khả năng mình có thể thực hiện được. Hiển nhiên là con người có khả năng tiến hành nhiều điều ác cho nhau hơn là những gì đã có. Nhưng nếu con người bị chế ngự không thực hiện hành vi tội ác bằng những động cơ không xuất phát từ sự vui lòng đầu phục Đức Chúa Trời, thì ngay cả “đức hạnh” của người ấy đã là xấu xa trong mắt Ngài. Rô-ma 14:23 nói rằng, “điều chi không bởi đức-tin thì điều đó là tội-lỗi.”7 Đây là lời cáo buộc triệt để cho hết thảy “đức hạnh” tự nhiên, không xuất phát từ một tấm lòng hạ mình nương cậy vào ân điển Chúa.’
-John Piper, Năm Luận Điểm: Hướng Đến Một Trải Nghiệm Sâu Nhiệm Hơn về Ân Điển của Đức Chúa Trời, Việt 2020, (Five Points, 2013), tr. 17-18.
E-book of Piper’s, Năm Luận Điểm, now available
(GSiV: The human will in bondage to sin; Mọi sự đều tùy thuộc vào ý chỉ của Chúa: Luther; Election; Atonement; Piper; Eternal security;Salvation)
How not to have critical spirit
‘So what are the strategies that I have found in the Bible and in my own life that might be helpful here not to be a hypercritical or judgmental person? You’d have to ask my wife how successful I’ve been at this, but I’m sure bent on being better.
- ‘1. Recognize your own faults.
- 2. Remember what you’ve been saved from….’
-Ask Pastor John [Piper]
Listen to the whole thing here
(GSiV: Humility; Ray Ortlund; Dane Ortlund; Jerry Bridges; Piper)
Less talent: rewarded for faithfulness
‘So one servant produced more than twice the other. But remarkably, they’re given the same word-for-word commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21, 23).
- [Matthew 25:21–23 (ESV) — His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’]
‘These servants aren’t being rewarded for being good and prosperous or good and productive; they’re rewarded for being good and faithful.’
Read all here
(GSiV: Missions: Success, faithfulness, rapid, deception; Miller: Success, Failure, and Grace)
What guarantees the success of evangelism?
‘This view of the atonement guarantees the success of evangelism. God has a people who will be saved infallibly through the preaching of the Gospel. He has chosen them. Christ has died for them. And the Spirit will regenerate them through the message of salvation. This truth kept Paul going in the face of discouragement at Corinth (Acts 18:9–10), and it will keep us going on in our evangelistic efforts today — not only locally, but globally (Rev. 5:9).’
-Tom Ascol
Read it all here
(GSiV: Evangelism and Calvinism ; Arminianism; Atonement; Election ;
Earning vs effort: grace, justification, and sanctification; Salvation; Piper; TULIP)
Nhu mì và Khiêm nhường, Ông D. Ortlund—Part 5
‘Khi nhìn vào những thánh đồ lớn tuổi đầy rạng rỡ trong hội thánh, bạn nghĩ nhờ đâu họ được như vậy? Đúng, nhờ giáo lý đúng đắn. Vâng lời tuyệt đối, rõ ràng rồi. Chịu khổ mà không chút hoài nghi, chắc chắn là như vậy. Nhưng có lẽ còn có lý do khác nữa, có thể lý do sâu xa nhất là, theo thời gian, với lòng yên mến sâu xa, họ đã bị chinh phục bởi một Cứu Chúa nhu mì. Có lẽ suốt nhiều năm họ nếm biết nỗi kinh ngạc về một Đấng mà chính tội lỗi của họ kéo Ngài đến, thay vì đẩy Ngài ra xa. Có lẽ họ không chỉ biết rằng Chúa Giê-xu yêu họ mà còn cảm nhận được tình yêu ấy.’
-Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (2020) / Nhu Mì và Khiêm Nhường: Tấm Lòng của Đấng Christ Đối Với Tội Nhân và Người Đang Đau Khổ (2022), tr 77.
(GSiV: Taking our miseries to the Lord; Replacing our assumptions with God’s love; Dane Ortlund; Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4)
Bible verses that highlight God’s supremacy
These are just a few of the verses in the Bible that highlight his supremacy.
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Sáng-thế Ký 1:1 Ban đầu Đức Chúa Trời dựng nên trời đất.
Genesis 20:6 “Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.”
Sáng-thế Ký 20:6 Trong cơn chiêm bao, Đức Chúa Trời phán nữa rằng: Ta cũng biết ngươi vì lòng ngay thẳng mà làm điều đó; bởi cớ ấy, ta mới ngăn trở ngươi phạm tội cùng ta, và không cho động đến người đó.
Genesis 41:51 “Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.””
Sáng-thế Ký 41:51 Giô-sép đặt tên đứa đầu lòng là Ma-na-se, vì nói rằng: Ðức Chúa Trời đã làm cho ta quên điều cực nhọc, và cả nhà cha ta.
Read more here
(GSiV: A Few Confessions of Faith in Vietnamese; More Resources)
The crushing obligation to do more
In a recent article by Kevin DeYoung, he writes,
‘I think most Christians hear these urgent calls to do more (or feel them internally already) and learn to live with a low-level guilt that comes from not doing enough. We know we can always pray more and give more and evangelize more, so we get used to living in a state of mild disappointment with ourselves. That’s not how the apostle Paul lived (1 Cor. 4:4), and it’s not how God wants us to live, either (Rom. 12:1–2).’
Keep reading
(GSiV: Jerry Bridges; Resources; Gospel Grace Versus Dead Religion–part 6)
Needy debtors to mercy and grace
The Anglican bishop J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) wisely said,
“Let us not expect too much from our own hearts here below. At our best we shall find in ourselves daily cause for humiliation, and discover that we are needy debtors to mercy and grace every hour. The more light we have, the more we shall see our own imperfection. Sinners we were when we began, sinners we shall find ourselves as we go on: renewed, pardoned, justified – yet sinners to the very last.”
–Holiness
(GSiV: Sanctification; Grace;
Ân điển, chứ không phải những quy tắc / Grace not rules;
Earning vs effort: grace, justification, and sanctification;
QUYỀN NĂNG CAO CẢ CỦA ĐỨC CHÚA TRỜI Ở VIỆT NAM (Ê-phê 1:4-5) 