Audio: ¿Soy realmente un cristiano?

My friend Ernesto Rodriguez has created an audio version of ¿Soy realmente un cristiano?, the Spanish translation of "Am I Really A Christian?"

JTR

Thomas Boston, Am I Really A Christian?

 

A couple of years ago I did this simplification and abridgement of an extract from Thomas Boston's Human Nature In Its Fourfold State that was published by Chapel Library as "Am I Really a Christian?"

Find an inexpensive print version, the audio version, or download a free pdf of this article here. There is also a Spanish version: ¿Soy realmente un cristiano?

JTR

The Vision (7.6.18): Of Man's Free Will in the State of Glory

Note: This devotion was taken from the Sunday afternoon sermon on Sunday, June 24.

This will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good alone in the state of glory only (Second London Baptist Confession 9:5).

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2).

We are reminded here that there will be no sin in heaven. Our inclination to sin will be taken away. The redeemed man in the glorified state will not be able to sin.

Thomas Boston in his classic work Human Nature in Its Fourfold State reflects on this:

The dominion of the saints will be a dominion far exceeding that of the greatest monarch who ever was on earth.  They will be absolute masters over sin, which had the dominion over them.  They will have complete rule over their own spirits; an entire management of all their affections and inclinations, which now create them so much molestation…. (p. 434).

They shall be free from temptation:  Satan can have no access to tempt them any more, by himself or his agents (p. 437).

Boston continues:

Absolute innocence shall then be restored, and every appearance of sin banished from this kingdom.  The guilt of sin, and the reigning power of it are even now taken away in the saints; nevertheless, sin dwells in them (Rom 7:20).  But then it shall be no more in them:  the corrupt nature will be quite removed; the root of bitterness will be plucked up, and no vestiges of it left in their souls:  their nature shall be altogether pure and sinless.  There shall be no darkness in their minds, but the understanding of every saint, when he comes to his kingdom, will be as a globe of pure and unmixed light (pp. 437-438).

Consider the things that you struggle with now, things perhaps that torment your conscience. The believer will one day be completely free from such things.

And this will be “immutably” done (see confession 9:5). Nothing will be able to alter this blessed state. Just as the Lord preserves the saints in the faith in this life, he will preserve their perfect sanctity in glory. And no one will complain that his “free will” has been violated!

Again Boston:

His gracious presence makes a mighty change upon the saints in this world:  His glorious presence in heaven, then, must needs raise their graces to perfection, and elevate their capacities.  The saints experience that the presence of God, now with them in His grace, can make a little heaven of a sort of hell.  How great then must the glory of heaven be, by His presence there in His glory!  If a candle, in some sort, beautifies a cottage or prison, how will the shining sun beautify a palace or paradise! (pp. 450-451).

The glorious presence of God in heaven, will put a glory in the saints themselves (p. 451).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (10.21.16): Healthy Growth in Christ

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).

In last Sunday morning’s sermon on the Christ Hymn (Philippians 2:5-11), I noted that this passage has both a doctrinal bent (teaching who Jesus is as Christ and Lord, v. 11) and an ethical bent (encouraging believers to have the mind of Christ, v. 5). Indeed, it is never enough just to know about Jesus.  That knowledge must produce the fruit of a changed life.

In his classic work Human Nature In Its Fourfold State, Thomas Boston wrote (pp. 301-302):

….there is a peculiar beauty in the true Christian growth, distinguishing it from false growth:  it is universal, regular, proportional.  It is “growing up into him in all things, which is the head” (Eph 4.15).  The growing Christian grows proportionably in all parts of the new man.  Under the kindly influence of the Sun of Righteousness, believers ‘grow up as calves in the stall’ (Mal 4.2).  You would think it a monstrous growth in these creatures if you saw their heads grow, and not their bodies; or it you saw one leg grow, and another not; if all parts do not grow proportionably.  Aye, but such is the growth of many in religion.  They grow like rickety children, who have a big head but a slender body; they get more knowledge into their heads, but not more holiness into their hearts and lives.  They grow very hot outwardly, but very cold inwardly, like men in fit of the ague [fever].  They are more taken up about the externals of religion than formerly, yet as great strangers to the power of godliness as ever….

The branches ingrafted in Christ, growing aright, grow in all the several ways of growth at once.  They grow inward, growing into Christ (Eph 4.15), uniting more closely with Him; and cleaving more firmly to Him, as the Head of influences, which is the spring of all other true Christian growth.

They grow outward in good works, in their life and conversation…..

They grow upward in heavenly-mindedness, and contempt of the world; for their conversation is in heaven (Phil 3.20).

And finally, they grow downward in humility and self-loathing.  The branches of the largest growth in Christ, are, in their own eyes, ‘less than the least of all the saints’ (Eph 3.8); ‘the chief of sinners’ (1 Tim 1.15); ‘more brutish than any man’ (Prov 30.2).  They see that they can do nothing, no, not so much as ‘think any thing, as of themselves’ (2 Cor 3.5):  that they deserve nothing, being ‘not worthy of the least of all the mercies showed unto them’ (Gen 32.10); and that they are nothing (2 Cor 12.11).

May we indeed, experience growth in Christ that is “universal, regular, proportional.”

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Tract Note: Thomas Boston: "Am I Really a Christian?"

A few years ago I modernized and abridged a section on assurance from Thomas Boston's classic Human Nature in Its Fourfold State.

Last year Chapel Library created a tract based on the abridgment.  Hard copies can be ordered at a low cost here and the pdf can be accessed for free here.

My prayer is that this tract might be of spiritual use to its readers.  Here is the introduction for the tract:

Though it would certainly be unkind to give false assurance of salvation to someone who has not been truly converted, it would be equally cruel to withhold comfort and assurance to a weak lamb who suffers with despair over his spiritual state. In his spiritual classic Human Nature in Its Fourfold State, Thomas Boston lists eight "cases" where a true Christian might have spiritual doubts about the authenticity of his faith. Such doubts, Boston notes, "may hinder some persons from the comfortable view of their happy state." Thus, he writes to encourage, comfort, and assure those saints who are burdened with such doubts.

JTR

Thomas Boston on the "balance of the sanctuary"

Note:  I finished reading today the last chapter in Thomas Boston's Human Nature in its Fourfold State (1720) [read online here].  The final chapter is a sober address titled "Hell."  At the close, Boston admonishes the reader to use the "balance of the sanctuary" to weigh his life:

Here is a balance of the sanctuary, by which we may understand the lightness of what is falsely thought weighty; and the weight of some things, by many reckoned to be very light.

Some things seem very weighty, which, weighed in this balance, will be found very light–

(a) Weigh the world, and all that is in it, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and the whole will be found light in the balance of eternity.

Weigh herein all worldly profits, gains, and advantages; and you will quickly see, that a thousand worlds will not compensate for an eternity of woe! 'For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' (Matt 16:26). Weigh the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season, with the fire that is everlasting, and you show yourself to be fools and madmen, to run the hazard of losing the one for the other.

(b) Weigh your afflictions in this balance, and you will find the heaviest of them very light, in respect of the weight of eternal anguish. Impatience under affliction, especially when worldly troubles so embitter men's spirits that they cannot relish the glad tidings of the Gospel, speaks great regardlessness of eternity.

As a small and inconsiderable loss will be very little at heart with him who sees himself in danger of losing his whole estate; so troubles in the world will appear but light to him who has a lively view of eternity. Such a one will stoop and take up his cross, whatever it be, thinking it enough to escape eternal wrath.

(c) Weigh the most difficult and uneasy duties of religion here, and you will no more reckon the yoke of Christ insupportable.

Repentance and bitter mourning for sin, on earth, are very light in comparison of eternal weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth in hell! To wrestle with God in prayer, weeping and making supplication for the blessing in time, is far easier than to lie under the curse through all eternity! Mortification of the most beloved lust is a light thing in comparison with the second death in hell!

(d) Weigh your convictions in this balance. O how heavy do those lie upon many until they get them shaken off! They are not disposed to continue with them, but strive to get clear of them as of a mighty burden. But the worm of a bad conscience will neither die nor sleep in hell, though we may now lull it asleep for a time.

And certainly it is easier to entertain the sharpest convictions in this life, so that they lead us to Christ, than to have them fixed forever in the conscience, and to be in hell totally and finally separated from Him.

But, on the other hand, weigh sin in this balance, and, though now it seems but a light thing to you, you will find it a weight sufficient to turn up an eternal weight of wrath upon you.

Even idle words, vain thoughts, and unprofitable actions, weighed in this balance, and considered as following the sinner into eternity, will each of them be heavier than the sand of the sea! Time idly spent will make a weary eternity!

Now is your seedtime; thoughts, words, and actions, are the seed sown, eternity is the harvest. Though the seed now lies under the clod, disregarded by most men, even the least grain shall spring up at length; and the fruit will be according to the seed (Gal 6:8), 'For he that sows to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, (that is, destruction), but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.'

Weigh in this balance your time and opportunities of grace and salvation, and you will find them very weighty. Precious time and seasons of grace, Sabbaths, communions, prayers, sermons, and the like, are by many, now-a-days made light of; but the day is coming when one of these will be reckoned more valuable than a thousand worlds by those who now have the least value for them! When they are gone forever, and the loss cannot be retrieved, those will see the worth of them who will not now see it.

Evangelism Series (Part Five): Thomas Boston: Ten Ways Ministers Are Like Fishers

 

Note:  This is another post in an ongoing series on Biblical evangelism.  For an archive of past posts, click the "Evangelism Series" label below.
 

In 1773 when Thomas Boston was only 22 years old he wrote a classic little book on evangelism titled The Art of Man Fishing.  It is a meditation on Matthew 4:19 wherein Jesus says to Peter and Andrew, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  I used some quotes from Boston in last Sunday’s sermon on the Lukan parallel passage (Luke 5:1-11).

Boston wrote in a time of declension in the churches of Scotland when the gospel ministry had been neglected by many.  His book presents what we might call an “old school” approach to evangelism (as yet untainted by revivalistic notions).  He sees Biblical evangelism as primarily accomplished through the ministry of the Lord’s servants as they preach the gospel “in the public assemblies of the Lord’s people” and in “private conference.”

In a chapter titled “Ministers are Fishers by Office” Boston presents ten ways in which ministers are like “fishers.”  Here is an abbreviated summary:

They are catchers of the souls of men, set “to open the eyes of the blind, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.”  Preachers of the gospel are fishers, and their work and that of fishers agree in several things.

The design and work of fishers is to catch fish.  This is the work that preachers of the gospel have taken in hand, even to endeavor to bring souls to Christ…..

Their work is a hard work; they are exposed to much cold in the water.  So is the minister’s work.

A storm that will afright others, they will venture on, that they may not lose their fish.  So should preachers of the gospel do.

Fishers catch fish with a net.  So preachers have a net to catch souls with.  This is the everlasting gospel, the word of peace and reconciliation wherewith sinners are caught.

It is compared to a net wherewith fishers catch fish, first, because it is spread out, ready to catch all that will come into it, Isa. 40:1:  “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money, and without price.”  God excludes none from the benefits of the gospel that will not exclude themselves; it is free to all.

Second, because fish are taken unexpectedly by the net, so sinners by the gospel….

Third, as fish sometime come near and touch the net, and yet draw back; so many souls are somewhat affected by the hearing of the gospel yet remain in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity….

Fourth, some fish that have been taken fast hold enough by the net, struggle, and get out again.  So some souls have convictions, and may seem to get caught; but yet alas! they stifle all their convictions, stay in the place of the breaking forth…..

Fifth, all that are taken in the net do make some struggling to get free….

Sixth, yet this struggling will not do with those which the net hold fast enough…..  Indeed God does not convert men to himself against their will, he does not force the soul to receive Christ; but he conquers the will, and it becomes obedient.  He that was unwilling before, is then willing.  O the power of grace!

Seventh, in a net there are many meshes in which the fish are caught.  Such are the invitations made to sinners in the gospel, the sweet promises made to them that will come to Christ…..

Eighth, lest the net be lifted up with the water, and so not fit for taking fish, and the fish slight it and pass under it; there are some pieces of lead put to it to hold it in the water….  So….there must be used some legal terrors and law-threatenings to drive the fish into the net.

Ninth, the meshes must not be over-wide, lest the fish run through it.  So neither must doctrine be general, without particular application, lest thou be no fisher of men…..

Tenth, neither must they be too neat and fine, curiously wrought, lest they hold out the fish….

Fishers observe in what places they should cast their nets, and where they may expect fish….  There are two pools wherein the net should be set:  in the public assemblies of the Lord’s people….  The second place the net is to be set is in private conference…..

The Vision (5/17/12): Am I really a Christian? (Continued)

Am I really a Christian?  Answering Eight Doubts (Continued)

Simplified and Abridged from Thomas Boston

Note:  In his spiritual classic “Human Nature In Its Fourfold State,” the Scottish minister Thomas Boston (1676-1732) lists eight “cases” where a true Christian might have spiritual doubts about the authenticity of his faith.  Here is the eighth and final of the eight doubts:

Eighth Doubt:  The struggles I have are strange or unusual.  I doubt that a child of God has ever faced the kind of providential trials I am facing.

Answer:  Much of what was previously said (see Doubt Seven) applies here also.  Holy Job was assaulted with this temptation (see Job 5:1), but he rejected it and held fast.  The apostle Peter says that Christians may be tempted “to think it strange concerning the fiery trial” (1 Peter 4:12).

Sometimes we travel on paths where we can see the footprints of neither man nor beast.  We cannot conclude from this, however, that no one has ever gone this way before us.  Though you cannot see the footsteps of the flock in the way of your affliction, you must not conclude that you are the first to ever walk that road.  But what if you were the first to walk that way?  Some saint or other must be first in drinking from each bitter cup.  Who are we to question the providential circumstances God has given us?  “Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in great waters; and thy footsteps are not known” (Psalm 77:19).  If the Lord should carry you to heaven by some remote road, so to speak, you would have no reason to complain.  We must learn to allow proper latitude for God’s sovereignty.  Do your duty.  Do not let any difficulty you face hide from you the fact that you are in a state of grace.  As Solomon said, “no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them” (Ecclesiastes 9:1).             

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (5/10/12): Am I really a Christian? (Continued)

Am I really a Christian?  Answering Eight Doubts (Continued)

Simplified and Abridged from Thomas Boston

 

Note:  In his spiritual classic “Human Nature In Its Fourfold State,” the Scottish minister Thomas Boston (1676-1732) lists eight “cases” where a true Christian might have spiritual doubts about the authenticity of his faith.  Here is the seventh of the eight doubts:

Seventh Doubt:  I have never read in the Bible or known about a true child of God who was as tempted or as without God as I am.  Since I do not know of any Christian who has ever been in my condition, I can only conclude that I must not be a believer.

Answer:  This doubt comes from ignorance both of the Bible and of the actual experience of Christians.  Those who have this doubt should try speaking with a mature Christian friend or a godly minister.  Doing this has brought peace to some when they realize that their case is not exceptional and that many Christians have had the same struggle.

The Bible provides many examples of Christians suffering with horrible temptations.  The devil tempted Job to blaspheme (Job 1:11; 2:9).  Asaph was tempted to think religion was vain and to throw it off (Psalm 73:13).  Christ himself was tempted to “cast himself down from a pinnacle of the temple” and “to worship the devil” (Matt 4:6-9).  Many Christians have not only been attacked with temptations, but they have even been overcome by them and fallen into gross sin for a time.  Peter denied Christ, and cursed and swore that he did not know him (Mark 14:71).  Some Christians were compelled to blaspheme under persecution by Paul, before he was converted (Acts 26:10-11).

Many Christians can bear witness to their own sad personal experiences in this area.  They have suffered very great temptations which have astonished their spirits, made their bodies tremble, and made them sick to their stomachs.  Satan’s fiery darts can cause great damage.  It takes great diligence to extinguish them or to block them with the shield of faith (Eph 6:16).    Sometimes Satan throws so many fire-balls at our house that all we can do is constantly run back and forth to extinguish them.  We must remember, however, that it is not a sin merely to be tempted.  It is sin only when we consent to the temptation.  If one is tempted to sin but does not consent to the temptation, he can no more be accused of that sin than a chaste man can be charged with fathering a child out of wedlock.

Suppose you go to a mature Christian friend or minister and share your problem, but they say they have never known anyone exactly in your condition.    You still should not think that your case is exceptional.  You certainly should not give up hope!    Even a mature Christian or godly minister cannot know every difficulty a child of God might face.  Some have had struggles known only to God and their own consciences.  Though Scripture provides directions for every condition a believer might be in, it does not exhaustively list every struggle a Christian might face.  Though you cannot find your specific case in the Bible, bring your case to the Bible, and you will find a remedy.  Do not worry with trying to find out if anyone has ever been in your condition.  Strive instead to apply Christ to your condition.  Christ has a remedy for all diseases.  Even if you found a true Christian who was tempted in the same way you are what would that prove?  Your situations would not be exactly the same in every way.  Consider the human face.  In some ways, every human face is the same.  Each has the same features.  At the same time, every face is also different and can be distinguished from all others.

Conclusion:  If you see the marks of Biblical regeneration in your life, you should conclude that you are in the state of grace.  This is true even if you are struggling with temptations that are unique to you (which is not very likely).                       

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (5/3/12): Am I really a Christian? (Continued)

Am I really a Christian?  Answering Eight Doubts (Continued)

Simplified and Abridged from Thomas Boston

Note:  In his spiritual classic “Human Nature In Its Fourfold State,” the Scottish minister Thomas Boston (1676-1732) lists eight “cases” where a true Christian might have spiritual doubts about the authenticity of his faith.  Here is the sixth of the eight doubts:

Sixth Doubt:  My life falls so far short of the standards of the great saints of the Bible and of the excellent Christians that I personally know.  When I look at them, I can hardly stand to look at myself in comparison.  How can I claim even to be in the same family with such saints?

Answer:  We can indeed see a measure of grace and holiness in this life that we should have but cannot ever reach.  This should humble us.  It should also make us press all the more vigorously toward the mark.  The devil wants weak Christians to be tortured by comparing themselves to strong Christians.  To give in to this temptation would be like a child doubting his relationship to his father, because he is not the same height as his older brother.  It is irrational!  There are saints of various sizes in Christ’s family.  Some are fathers; some are young men; and some are little children (1 John 2:13-14).   

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (4/26/12): Am I really a Christian? (Continued)

Am I really a Christian?  Answering Eight Doubts (Continued)

Simplified and Abridged from Thomas Boston 

Note:  In his spiritual classic “Human Nature In Its Fourfold State,” the Scottish minister Thomas Boston (1676-1732) lists eight “cases” where a true Christian might have spiritual doubts about the authenticity of his faith.  Here is the fifth of the eight doubts:

Fifth Doubt:  Every time I begin to think I can see the marks of grace in me and that I am truly saved, I hear about some hypocrite or apostate, and I am shaken.  Fear comes over me like a storm.  Am I like this kind of person?

Answer:  These sorts of things ought to stir us up.  We ought to examine ourselves seriously and impartially.  Still, we should not always be in a state of suspense about our spiritual state.  You can see the outside of a hypocrite.  You can see his “spiritual” activity and emotions, but you cannot see inside him.  You do not know his heart.

You can only form a judgment of another person based on what you see on the outside.  You would do well to judge others with charity.  Again, you cannot know the secret springs of their actions.  Rather than judging others, you ought to look at your own heart.  You are the only person you can judge with certainty.  You must look at yourself as no one else in the world can do.  You can see things in yourself that you simply cannot see in others.

A hypocrite’s religion may seem far greater than the religion of a sincere believer.  Remember that what is great in the eyes of men is often of little value in God’s sight.  I would rather groan with Paul (Rom 8:6) than shed false tears with Esau, prophesy with Balaam, or have the temporary joy of the shallow-ground hearers.  There is a fire that will judge every man’s work to see “what sort it is” (1 Cor 3:13).  If God does not judge by outward appearance, why do you?  Without special revelation, you cannot know the sincerity of another man’s faith.  But you can know the sincerity of your own faith, without any special revelation.  This is why Peter exhorted the saints “to give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10).  Therefore, the actions of hypocrites and apostates should not disturb you.  The important thing is seriously examining your own spiritual condition.

Here are two ways that the weakest saints excel the “best” hypocrites:

First, the saints deny themselves.  They renounce all confidence in themselves and their works.  They venture their souls completely on God’s plan of salvation through Christ.  They are “poor in spirit” (Matt 5:3).  They are blessed, because they are not offended by Christ (Matt 11:6).  In Philippians 3:3, Paul wrote, “We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

Second, the saints have a real hatred of sin.  They are willing to part with every lust, without exception, and to obey all the Lord’s commands.  “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.”

 Test yourself by these standards.            

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (4/19/12): Am I really a Christian? Answering Eight Doubts (Continued)

Simplified and Abridged from Thomas Boston

Note:  In his spiritual classic “Human Nature In Its Fourfold State,” the Scottish minister Thomas Boston (1676-1732) lists eight “cases” where a true Christian might have spiritual doubts about the authenticity of his faith.  Here is the fourth of the eight doubts:

Fourth Doubt:  I sometimes feel that my love for the things of this world is greater than my love for God.  How then can I call him Father?  Indeed, it sometimes seems that the affections I used to feel for God are gone.  I fear that all the love I ever had for the Lord has only been like a fit and a flash.  I fear I am a hypocrite.

Answer:  It cannot be denied that an overriding love of the world is a certain mark of an unsaved man.  “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15b).

Still, the most active affections are not always the strongest.  A little brook sometimes makes more noise than a mighty river.  The strength of our affections can only be measured by the firmness and steadfastness of the root.  Suppose a person meets with a friend who has been out of the country.  He has not seen this friend for a long time.  His affections for that friend might, in the moment, be stronger than his feelings for his own wife and children.  Would we conclude that he loves his friend more than them?  Surely not!  Even so, though a Christian might in the moment be moved with love for something in this world, this does not mean that he loves it more than God.  Love to God is always more firmly rooted in a believer’s heart than is any worldly enjoyment.

If there is ever a competition between love for God and love for the world, one of the loves will win.  Do you want to understand your spiritual state?  Look into your own heart and lay the two loves in the balance.  See which outweighs the other.  Ask yourself in the sight of God whether you would part with Christ for the sake of anyone or anything in the world.  If you honestly answer that at this command you would cast away what is dearest to you in the world for Christ, then you have no reason to think you love the world more than God.  On the other hand, if you love someone or something in the world more than God, then you are not a believer.  Consider the following two texts:

“He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me” (Matt 10:37).

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother—he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).

From these texts, we can infer that one who is ready to part even with his father and mother for the Lord’s sake loves them less than Him.

 In addition, consider that there are two types of love for Christ:

First, there is an emotional love for Him.  It is like a dart in the heart.  It creates a holy love-sickness in the soul.  It longs to enjoy the beloved.  It is like the longing described in Song of Songs 5:8:  “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him that I am sick of love.”  Or it refers to a fullness of love, as in Song of Songs 2:5:  “Stay with me flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love.”  Such strong feelings are usually found in young converts who “sing in the day of their youth” (Hosea 2:15).  They are sometimes so on fire for the Lord that they are even ready to criticize godly persons who have long been believers just because they do not share the same strong feelings.  They mistakenly think that there is far less religion in the world than there actually is.  When the froth settles below the brim in his own cup, however, such a man finds in himself the same things he once criticized in others.  This should humble him.  It should make him know his daily need for the blood of Christ for forgiveness and the Spirit of Christ for sanctification.  So he grows downward in humiliation, self-loathing, and self-denial.

Second, there is a rational love for Christ.  This love is shown by a serious concern for God’s authority and his commands.  When one has this love, he wants to please God by obeying him, even if he does not feel strong emotions.  “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3).

The emotional love for God does not always continue with you.  If you lack it you have no need to consider yourself a hypocrite as long as you maintain a rational love for Christ.  This is true in the same way that a faithful and loving wife has no need to question her love for her husband just because she does not have the same emotional experience of love for him as when they first married.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (4/12/12): Am I really a Christian? Answering Eight Doubts (Continued)

Am I really a Christian?  Answering Eight Doubts (Continued)

Simplified and Abridged from Thomas Boston

Note:  In his spiritual classic “Human Nature In Its Fourfold State,” the Scottish minister Thomas Boston (1676-1732) lists eight “cases” where a true Christian might have spiritual doubts about the authenticity of his faith.  Here is the third of the eight doubts:

Third Doubt:  I find that my heart has been in more turmoil after I became a Christian than it was before.  Is this consistent with someone who is supposed to have been changed by Christ?

Answer:  There are indeed dreadful cases of persons who appear to have become Christians, but who later renounce the faith and fall into gross and open immorality.  It seems that the devil returns to their hearts with seven spirits worse than himself (cf. Matthew 12:45).  Such persons are in an incredibly dangerous spiritual state.  They risk sinning against the Holy Spirit.  They must repent, before it is too late.

This is not necessarily the case, however, with you.  Corruption can be stirred up in a Christian even more strongly than it was before he became a Christian.  It might appear to you that all the forces of hell have been raised to try to recapture you as an escaped fugitive.  Such stirrings may indeed occur in those truly changed by Christ.  When restraining grace comes up against the corruption in a new believer, it is no wonder that it tries to fight back, “warring against the law of the mind” (Romans 7:23).  Sin will resist all the harder when it knows this new principle is seeking to cast it out.  When the sun shines through a window we see all the dust in the house that we did not see before.  So when the light of grace shines in our lives, we see the corruption inside us that we had not noticed before.  Sin is not quite dead in the believer’s soul.  It is dying a lingering death.  It is being crucified.  No wonder it begins to fight so hard!  It knows it is about to die, so it struggles to live.

Besides all this, the Christian might be faced with more and stronger temptations after his conversion.  Satan has to work harder to try to bring back one who has escaped than he does to guard one who is still a captive. The author of Hebrews says, “After ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions” (Hebrews 10:32).  He then adds, “cast not away your confidence” (v. 35).  Remember that God’s grace is sufficient for you, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Remember how Pharaoh and the Egyptians had the Israelites cornered at the Red Sea, but then God intervened and overthrew them (Exodus 14).

Do not let this doubt destroy the foundation of your trust.  Empty yourself.  Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, and you will be victorious.         

 Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Boston: "Your corrupt heart is like an ant's nest...."

When preaching Sunday in our catechism series on The Sinfulness of Man's State, I used this quote from Thomas Boston in Human Nature in Its Fourfold State:

Your corrupt heart is like an ant's nest, on which, while the stone lies, none of them appear; but take off that stone, and stir them up but with the point of a straw, you will see what a swarm is there, and how lively they be.  Just such a sight would your heart afford you, did the Lord but withdraw the restraint He has upon it, and suffer Satan to stir it up by temptation (p. 145). 

Thomas Boston on Death

I’ve been reading through Thomas Boston’s spiritual classic, Human Nature in its Fourfold State (first published in 1720; Banner reprint, 1964). The four states are the state of innocence (pre-fallen man), the state of nature (fallen man), the state of grace (regenerate man), and the eternal state. George M. Morrison describes the hold this book had on the people of Scotland when it first appeared:

It was discussed in Edingburgh drawing-rooms. The shepherd read it on the hills. It made its way into the Highland crofts, where stained and tattered copies of the earlier edition may still be found. For more than a hundred years its influence upon the religious life of Scotland was incalculable (pp. 19-20).

He then laments that in his day (1899), however, it was “very little read” (p. 20).

I just started Boston’s discussion of the fourth and final state, the eternal state, which opens with a discussion of death. There is no modern attempt to cover over the realities of mortality. Here are a few (of many, many) vivid quotes that give some idea as to how this book has gripped many through the years:

Why so much care for the body, to the neglect of the concerns of the immortal soul? O be not so anxious for what can only serve your bodies, since, ere long, the clods of cold earth will serve for back and belly too (p. 334).

The finest clothes are but badges of our sin and shame, and in a little time will be exchanged for a winding-sheet, when the body will become a feast for worms (p. 335).

The world is a great inn in the road to eternity to which you are traveling (p. 337).

The worst men can do is to take away that life which we cannot long keep, though all the world should conspire to help us to retain the spirit (p. 337).

Our life in the world is but a short preface to long eternity, and much of the tale is told (p. 338).

We have nothing we can call ours, but the present moment; and that is flying away (p. 339).

Now the flying shadow of our life allows no time for loitering…. Therefore prepare for death (p. 339).