On Gun Control

Newspaper editor: "What's Wrong With the World."
G.K. Chesterton: "Dear sir, regarding your article 'What's Wrong With the World?' - I am."


I will be honest; I will be blunt.

Something I have held to since last November or so is this view of politicians: Democrats are people who think they can fix everything by raising taxes; Republicans are people who think they can fix everything by lowering taxes. While this is not the case for every partisan person, I think it hits close to the human heart.

And it is the human heart I would like to zoom in on in pertinence to the gun control debate. I have shot guns only a few times. I don't carry, but I know many people who do. Honestly, I don't think changing laws about gun control will do anything. Yes, background checks should be conducted. But there is one simple reason that controlling guns fails to control crime:

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

No matter how much the government tries to regulate guns or reduce crime, it will never get to the heart of the issue until it addresses our sin issue. We are fallen creatures bent toward sin. After the Newtown shooting, I had a conversation in which a friend of mine wisely pointed out that the first person born, Cain, was a murderer. It is no surprise, then, what happened. It's God's restraint and mercy that keeps tragedies as such from happening more.

It is true that government exists for the people. Measures should be taken to protect us. But let none of us think for a moment that loosening, tightening, or doing nothing to gun control will improve our situation. Guns are not the problem. I am.

Why Protestants Cannot Side With the Gospel of the Catholic Church

Roman Paganism?

First, please allow me to say that I am not trying to completely bash on the Roman Catholic church. I greatly appreciate its view of abortion, family, and many other social - and even some doctrinal - issues. The quotes I cite below are taken from the book Are We Together? (R.C. Sproul) in which the author states that he is more than happy to side with Catholics when his beliefs and theirs intersect. However, I propose that traditional Protestant beliefs and established Roman Catholic beliefs do not intersect on the sufficiency of Christ in the gospel.

From Mystici Corporis Christi (1943):

Venerable Brethren, may the Virgin Mother of God hear the prayers of Our paternal heart - which are yours also - and obtain for all a true love of the Church - she whose sinless soul was filled with the divine Spirit of Jesus Christ above all other created souls, and who "in the name of the whole human race" gave her consent "for a spiritual marriage between the Son of God and human nature." Within her virginal womb Christ our Lord already bore the exalted title of Head of the Church; in a marvelous birth she brought Him forth as the source of all supernatural life, and presented Him, newly born, as Prophet, King, and Priest to those who, from among Jews and Gentiles, were the first to come to adore Him... It was she, the second Eve, who, free from all sin, original or personal, and always most intimately united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father for all the children of Adam, sin-stained by his unhappy fall, and her mother's rights and mother's love were included in the holocaust... She it was who through her powerful prayers obtained that the Spirit of our Divine Redeemer, already given on the Cross, should be bestowed, accompanied by miraculous gifts, on the newly founded Church at Pentecost... May she, then, the most holy Mother of all the members of Christ, to whose Immaculate Heart We have trustfully consecrated all mankind, and who now reigns in heaven with her Son, her body and soul refulgent with heavenly glory - may she never cease to beg from Him that copious streams of grace may flow from its exalted Head into all the members of the Mystical Body. May she... obtain from God that now at last the Church and all mankind enjoy more peaceful days.

It is not the title "Mother of God" that is the main threat to the true gospel. Sproul rightly points out that, in a sense, because Jesus is God and Mary is Jesus' mother - in that sense, Mary was the mother of Jesus who is God. Or, she was "the one who gives birth to the One who is God" (Jaroslav Pelikan). But let us also remember that Christ's deity was not inherited from Mary, nor was Mary sinless.

Herein begins the divide. Explaining the term Savior in Luke 1:47 as anything but "Savior from sin," Rome holds that Mary was free from original sin and bestowed with a grace no one else born to man has ever had.

But this is not the total extent of the Catholic church's exaltation of Mary. From their standpoint, she is an intercessor and obtainer of Christ's Spirit. Furthermore, she is also hailed as the mother of the church (which, logically speaking, would imply that she is God's wife). She is the recipient of our prayers and the Head of our body.

"Out of hand" would be an understatement. This kind of doctrine leaves Yahweh with a wife and the Church with two heads. It creates two mediators and a premature bodily resurrection. As a result, Christ is removed from His position of sole authority and supremacy and given an equal.

I stress that word sole because this is the heart of the problem in the Roman Church. It is not that they do not accept grace, faith, Christ, Scripture, and God's glory as the basis for our faith and salvation - they merely add to those things. Mary and the apostles are idolized and enshrined. Justification is obtained through Baptism and confirmed through faith working together with works. The Pope is counted as an infallible teacher, a successor to Peter, a modern-day apostle.

Rome has become so infatuated with these things that they have forgotten their first love and have begun to preach a false gospel. They do not regard Christ as sufficient. Let us, however, remember the truths on which Christendom rest:

- Sola fide (Rom. 3:21-31).
- Sola gratia (Rom. 9:14-18; Eph. 1:6).
- Sola Scriptura (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
- Solus Christus (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5).
- Soli Deo gloria (Rom. 11:33-36; Eph. 1:3-14).

Faith, grace, Scripture, Christ, and glory. 

Sufficient.

Enough.

Alone.

Forget the Past - Reach for the Future

My Vision for 2013

Philippians 3:12-16
Not that I have obtained it yet or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which I was also laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;
however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.


Lose weight. Pray more. Read the whole Bible. Get involved. Disciple someone. Share the gospel more. Love God. More, more more. Do this and do that.

At the end of every year, we learn all over again how fickle we creatures are. We see how we've failed. Although we cannot remember what 2012's resolutions were, we make some for 2013 - just to make sure we all do better this year.

I'm not sure there is one resolution I have ever made or have ever heard that did not center on one thing: self-discipline. In fact, by definition a resolution must be dependent on discipline: "I resolve to do this. It is my goal to get it done. I will work toward it and keep myself poised to accomplish it."

So how do we achieve this self-discipline? Perhaps it is best to answer this question before we make any more resolutions because if we unlock this answer we unlock the answer to every resolution hereafter. I think Paul has given us a great statement on priority, discipline, and goals here in Philippians. Let's take advice from God:

1. Realize I am not there yet.
I haven't become perfect - not yet. It's evident I'm failing at X, Y, or Z (in this case, attaining to Jesus' resurrection from the dead). This requires action:

2. Press on.
If it's so important to you, don't give up - ever. This pursuit of obtaining the very resurrection of Christ must be pursued relentlessly. Don't let your failure get you down. Let it push you to do something about it.

3. Keep my purpose in mind.
Why am I pressing on? What is the point of this resolution? Is it truly worth it? If not, give it up. If so, keep pressing.

4. Forget my past.
I have already come to the realization that I'm not there yet. I know I've failed. Sometimes I feel overwhelmingly guilty about it. But no believer has to hold on to his guilt. If there is sin, confess it. And press on. Give up your doubts, discouragements, sins, and fears. Leave them behind. Forget them.

But how do we do this?

5. Reach for the future.
Don't just look forward. Reach. If you want to get somewhere, simply staring at a map will do you no good. You have to follow the trail. Look to the example of Christ and see how the Father and the Holy Spirit preserved Him and kept Him perfect. Think about Heaven. Look to it. And move.

6. Go back to #2.
And repeat. Keep pressing on, never forget your purpose, forget your past, and reach for the future.

This is the definition of perseverance.

My goal in 2013 is not to read a bunch of books, learn to play instruments better, read through the whole Bible, pray for an hour a day, or disciple five people. Yes, those are goals, but it all comes down to this: let go of the shame and guilt of my past, press on toward those gospel-centered goals, keep Christ at the forefront, and take the journey to Heaven step by step.

This isn't a let-go-and-let-God.
It's a let go and move on in God's power.

This is the power of God's word. The LORD graciously provides us with what we need to know to really succeed in the Christian life. By His grace, I will store these memorized verses in my heart with many more this year.

And by His grace I will press on.