“This is the secret of being content: to learn and accept that we live daily by God’s unmerited favor given through Christ, and that we can respond to any and every situation by His divine enablement through the Holy Spirit.”
—Jerry Bridges
May 17, 2024
During one session of family worship this week we studied James 1. In this chapter we get a picture of a man asking God for wisdom, but with the caveat of asking in faith with no doubting–“for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6). Put differently if a person asks God for something, but without faith, that person is being driven by something like a natural force as naturally as wind drives the waves of the sea. James offers this instruction because as Christians we are not called to labor by our own, natural power. Rather we are called to live, operate, and relate to God as redeemed, natural people who have been filled with supernatural power.
In our tradition we define faith not simply as acknowledging a fact to be true, but rather trusting in the reality of the thing itself. Our doctrinal standards define saving faith as “receiving and resting” upon Christ. Ergo, we have to understand that as Christians we cannot simply be natural people, even though God made us with natural bodies, natural urges, natural appetites, natural inclinations, etc. Because those things have been tainted by sin entering into the world, that which was very good in the garden has now been very warped. Therefore God’s people cannot be content to labor in any natural power; we are called to be a supernatural people by faith. People of faith who have not only their own natural appetites being sanctified by God’s grace, but also the supernatural power of the living God of the universe dwelling within them because they are receiving and resting on Chris and have been united to him.
This concept of power, faith, and doubt at the end of the day is about allegiance and trust. Who’s power are we trusting in–our own power and ability or the power and ability of our infinite, eternal, and unchangeable God who draws near to us in Christ and fills us with his Spirit? James instructs his readers to ask in faith without doubting because in this context doubting has to do with divided allegiances or trusting in something other than God. It is in this same sense that Jesus says you cannot serve God and money, or later in the letter James saying friendship with the world is enmity with God. The more we learn to trust in our God and his power, the more we are weaned off of trusting in and depending on our own power. When we find ourselves asking in doubt and being driven like wave in the wind, we can simply repent and believe once again that we have been ransomed, redeemed, forgiven, and filled with the very presence of our God through the Holy Spirit.
As we do this we must understand that our calling in the Christian life is not simply to minimize or downplay our own natural power or ability, nor even downplay and minimize our inclination to trust in our own power and ability. Being more aware of our sin doesn’t make our sin go away, and downplaying our sin is akin to sweeping large chunks of dirt and debris under the rug–the living room looks better for a short while, but eventually all the dirty things will make their way into the open. Rather it is to more and more deeply trust in the power and presence of our God in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We can do this by being robustly honest about our sin and tendency to trust in our own power, but at the same time be unswervingly hopeful that God is still at work in us because we have received and are resting on Christ and have been united to him by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. This is the way we will be transformed from one degree of glory to the next, continually sanctified, and grow in grace until we see him with unveiled faces in eternity.
See y’all Sunday,
John D
Announcements
—Study Groups “The Gay Rights Movement Is The New Civil Rights Movement”
This week we will discuss chapter 3 of the Secular Creed “The Gay Rights Movement Is The New Civil Rights Movement” Sunday night our group is meeting at the Downs’s home at 5pm and the Wednesday night group is back at the Harlan’s home at 6:30.
Attached here is a schedule for our groups through May.
— Mercy Camping Trip
Mercy Church is hosting a camping trip Fri to Sat, June 21-22 at the Outflow Campground at Youghiogheny Lake Dam. The planning meeting for the trip will be this Sunday, May 19 after morning worship. If you’re planning to come camping, please try to attend this meeting for important details.
—Songs for Sunday
Here’s what we’re singing this Sunday if you’d like to familiarize yourself with tunes + lyrics!
Across The Lands
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
Psalm 3 (Sing Psalms, to the tune of Before The Throne Of God Above)
Dear Refuge Of My Weary Soul
Revelation Song
Interesting Links
These are some links that I have read recently that I enjoyed, found helpful, made me think, or otherwise did good for my soul/heart/mind.
I Believe In The Holy Spirit
Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Diagnosing the Human Soul
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