Here is one more short post on repentance. You can find the first two here and here. What are some signs that our repentance is bearing Spirit wrought fruit? Or to broaden it out a bit, how do I know I am growing in holiness?

Our love for Jesus is increasing. Jesus and His work become more glorious to us as time passes (Philippians 3:8).

Our hunger for God’s Word is growing (Psalm 19:10, I Peter 2:1-2).

We begin to hate sin because it is sin. We don’t hate it because of the consequences. We don’t hate it because of how it makes us feel. We hate it because it is sin against the God who loved us and gave His Son for us.

We long to be rebuked by those who are righteous and love us (Psalm 141:5).

We look beyond our sinful actions to the sinful desires that produce the action (Matthew 12:34-35).

The fruit of the Spirit is growing in us (Galatians 5:22-26).

We are quicker to forgive (Matthew 18:22-35) and slower to take offense (I Peter 4:8).

We are quicker to ask forgiveness when we have sinned (Matthew 5:23-25).

We are increasingly free from seeking the approval of men and following the traditions of men (Galatians 5:1 Colossians 2:18-23). Our freedom in Christ is becoming more and more a reality.

We are striving to serve those around us (Mark 10:45), especially those closest to us, such as wives, husbands, children, and fellow Christians in our churches (Galatians 6:9-10).

We love God’s people. We love the church. We love to worship with them, fellowship with them, give to them, pray for them, pray with them, weep with them, and rejoice with them (Psalm 122:1). There is no increasing love for Christ without also seeing an increase in our love for His sheep.

There is a noticeable increase in joy and gratitude (Philippians 3:1, 4:4, Colossians 3:17, I Thessalonians 5:16). We become more and more thankful for God’s grace, for the forgiveness of our sins, for Jesus, for the Spirit, for the Scriptures, for the world God has made, for the Church. I am convinced this is one of the key signs a man is leading a life of repentance. Without gratitude and joy I am not convinced that a man is leading a life of repentance.

I am re-reading John Piper’s Brothers We are not Professionals.  I read it in 2011. It is better the second time around. Piper reminds pastors of what ministry is about. There are always voices telling the pastor, “This is important” or “That is important.” We have drifted into pastors as managers, therapists, generally nice guys who give good advice and often take the “pulse” of the congregation to determine what direction to go. In contrast, Piper directs us to the Word, prayer, suffering, preaching, exegesis, theology, missions, and trust in our Savior Jesus Christ. This book re-centers ministers, drawing us away from the edges, the secondary matters, and back to the central concerns of pastoral ministry.

Therefore it is not surprising that Piper has a chapter pleading with pastors to learn Greek and Hebrew. Perhaps no discipline is so neglected in our seminaries and ministries as this one. It is hard to learn and hard to keep up with once we have left an academic setting.  But if God’s Word really is God’s Word. And if this Word is the infallible, absolute, and final authority for all God’s people, including ministers. And if this Word is the power of salvation for all men (Romans 1:16) and the incorruptible seed of salvation which abides forever (I Peter 1:23-25).  And if this Word is able to make men of God [ministers] thoroughly equipped for every good work (II Timothy 3:16-17). Then why would we not learn Greek and Hebrew? Why would we settle for a Hebrew or Greek study Bible, an interlinear, or using Logos?

Here are some of Piper’s thoughts on learning Greek and Hebrew.

What happens to a denomination when a useful knowledge of Greek and Hebrew is not cherished and encouraged for the pastoral office? I don’t mean simply offered and admired. I mean cherished, promoted, and sought.

[When Greek and Hebrew are not used by the pastor he] often contents himself with the general focus or flavor of the text, and his exposition lacks the precision and clarity which excite a congregation with the Word of God. Boring generalities are a curse in many pulpits.

When pastors do not study the Bible in Greek and Hebrew…they, and their churches with them, tend to become second-handers…[which] give us a superficial glow that we are “keeping up” on things…we may impress one another for a while by dropping the name of the latest book we’ve read, but secondhand food will not sustain and deepen our people’s faith and holiness. 

Weakness in Greek and Hebrew also gives rise to exegetical imprecision and carelessness. And exegetical imprecision is the mother of liberal theology.

Where pastors can no longer articulate and defend doctrine by a reasonable and careful appeal to the original meaning of Biblical texts, they will tend to become close-minded traditionalists who clutch their inherited ideas, or open minded pluralists who don’t put much stock in doctrinal formulations. In both cases the succeeding generations will be theologically impoverished and susceptible to error.

We have, by and large, lost the Biblical vision of a pastor as one who is mighty in the Scriptures, apt to teach, competent to confute opponents, and able to penetrate to the unity of the whole counsel of God.

Hundreds of teachers and leaders put the mastery of the Word first with their lips but by their curriculums, conferences, seminars, and personal example, show that it is not foremost. [Emphasis Piper’s]

We need to recover our vision of the pastoral office-which embraces, if nothing else, the passion and power to understand the original revelation of God. We need to pray for the day when pastors can carry their Greek New Testaments to conferences and seminars without being greeted by one-liners…Oh for the day when prayer and grammar will meet each other with great spiritual combustion!

I have taken this task seriously since reading Piper four years ago. I work on Greek every day and Hebrew most days. My Hebrew is not very good, but in ten years it will be. My Greek is getting better day by day. I have translated Matthew, Colossians, I Timothy, II Timothy, and Titus. I am currently working on I Peter.  My Hebrew is restricted to the Psalms right now. Looking back I am ashamed of how much time I lost, how much study I let drain away through lack of discipline and how often I relied on secondary sources instead of the original.

Brothers, I agree with Piper here. If the Word is what we say it is why would we not work at this? Has your Greek and Hebrew gotten rusty? Pick up back up and start again. Have you never learned? Set aside some time to learn. For the congregation, do you consider this important for your pastor? Would you pay to send a pastor for a week long Greek or Hebrew refresher course? Or does that sound like a waste of time? Would your church pay so your pastor could take online courses to learn Greek or Hebrew? Do you think he is proud when he tells you something about the Greek or Hebrew? Or do you view it as a sign of his faithfulness to Christ and His Word?

I doubt that we can see true reformation in our churches without ministers who take this task seriously. We do not have to be experts. But we do need to be progressing. Our love for God’s Word and His people demands it.

I enjoyed Kevin DeYoung’s book, “What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality?” More needs to be said and studied, but the book is a good start for the average Christian who needs a primer on what the Bible teaches on homosexuality. One of the problems in conversations about sodomy is different groups require different tones. DeYoung addresses this in an appendix where he gives various ways of approaching different groups. I wish he had fleshed this out a bit more, maybe giving some examples from real life or some possible scenarios. Still it is helpful.

If we are speaking to cultural elites who despise us and our beliefs, we want to be bold and courageous. 

If we are speaking to strugglers who fight against same-sex attraction, we want to be patient and sympathetic. 

If we are speaking to sufferers who have been mistreated by the church, we want to be winsome and humble.

If we are speaking to shaky Christians who seem ready to compromise the faith for society’s approval, we want to persuasive and persistent.

It we are speaking to those who are living as the Scriptures would not have them live, we want to be straightforward and earnest.

If we are speaking to belligerent Christians who hate or fear persons who identify as gay or lesbian, we want to be clear and corrective.  

The Doctrine of Repentance (Puritan Paperbacks) by Thomas Watson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A really good book on repentance. Uncovers all the false ways we repent, gives a picture of what true repentance looks like, as well as motivations to repent. The only drawback is one can leave feeling like they have never really repented at all. As with most Puritans, they uncover the deceitfulness of our heart, which can leave someone feeling unsure that they are even saved. I am not sure that is such a bad thing. Carl Trueman said when he was in England he had to convince folks they really were Christians. But when he came to America he had the opposite problem. This book is an excellent antidote to the self-assured presumption of many American Christians who think they can follow Jesus without leading a life of repentance.

As an aside, Watson would have been a beast on Twitter. He is one of the most quotable Puritans.

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This post is in the “that is interesting category.” I am reading through John’s Gospel. One theme that I am noticing for the first time is how many times John tells us that many people believed in Jesus.

John 12:42  Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue.

Five times after John 6 we are told that “many” believed in Christ. I am not sure what to make of this. My assumption has been that Christ was rejected by all with even his disciples leaving him on that last night. While he was certainly rejected, John emphasizes that there were still many who trusted in Him as he preached and worked miracles. It makes me wonder if those who called for his blood on Good Friday were from Jerusalem while many around Israel still trusted in Christ.