All Of Life Is....

From Darrin Patrick - All of Life is Repentance. He's right, of course.

Let me give you a simple description of repentance. When we are giving our hearts to sin, we are turning our backs to God. Repentance is a 180 degree-turn. We turn our backs to sin and give our hearts to God. You will be doing this the rest of your life.

Consider how Martin Luther began his ninety-five theses, which catalyzed the Protestant Reformation: When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance. It’s the ongoing task of the Christian because when you become a Christian, you’re saved from sin’s power (its ultimate control of your heart) and sin’s penalty (its justly deserved eternal judgment), but not its presence (its eradication from your life).

One of the reasons it is so hard for us to deal with our remaining sin is that we think we are on our own. We approach God’s grace more like a bargain. Jesus takes care of two-thirds of the problem (sin’s power and penalty), but we’ve got to take care of our third (it’s presence). We rarely say this out loud, but that’s how we often function.

This mindset is so difficult to overcome because it’s a distortion of truth. We do have to take action against sin’s presence in our life. We’re in a constant battle. All of life is repentance. We’ve got to own our part. But we don’t fight against sin by relying on our own strength. We fight by turning to Jesus—over and over again.

It is Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, that reminds us that sin doesn’t have the upper hand, even when everything in our experience says otherwise. He reminds us that sin does not have as much power over us as we think. He reminds us that the full penalty of sin was paid for on the Cross. And he reminds us that there will be a day when sin’s presence will no longer affect us.

Remembrance is power in the fight against sin. Sin wants you to remember your failure. Repentance is remembering that Jesus’ victory is yours.

Making Stuff Happen

Hat Tip: Vitamin Z

Reformation Day

October 31st is not just "All Hallows' Eve," but also Reformation Day, the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenburg Church door, starting the Protestant Reformation. It's always good to remember what the great reformer Martin Luther actually said and stood for.  Here are his famous words before Emperor Charles and the German Diet in the City of Worms.

"Since then your serene majesty and your lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scripture or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. [He then added in German] Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me! Amen"

May we all stand faithful with him.

Update: Want to read the 95 Theses?  Here they are.

Repenting for the Way We Repent

Interesting post at the blog Forward Progress about Repenting for the Way We Repent

Martin Luther’s first of 95 thesis reads like this: “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ said repent, He meant that the entire lives of believers should be of repentance.”

That’s a big call, but one you find to be true as you grow in Christ. Repentance isn’t a one time thing; it’s a lifestyle. When you’re a child, repenting often meant saying you’re sorry and really meaning it. But as you grow in Christ (and in age), you become more self-aware. And as you do, you start to find some disturbing things in play within you.

You find just how duplicitous your motives can be.

You discover how great is your capacity to deceive yourself.

And, in the case of repentance, you find that often when you repent, you don’t really mean it. You’re sorry for the consequences of the sin, but maybe not the sin itself. Or you make internal excuses for your actions, saying you’re sorry, but all the time justifying what you’ve done.

As our capacity for repentance increases, we find that we might need to repent of the very manner in which we are repenting.

More at the link. He goes on to say that we should not allow this concept to paralyze us with guilt, but rather to preach the gospel to ourselves even while repenting. The blood of Christ covers our sin and our inability ot properly repent of those sins. What a wonderful Savior!

"Martin Luther: In His Own Words" - Free Download

From now until Reformation Day (Oct. 31) , Christianaudio.com is offering free download of the audiobook of Martin Luther: In His Own Words:

It was October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg. Outraged by the church's practice of selling indulgences as a means of forgiveness, Luther wrote the theses in protest. He argued that forgiveness was a gift of God freely given, and the church was wrong to profit from such sales.

Word of Luther's challenge to the church quickly spread through Europe and his Ninety-Five Theses are considered to be the genesis of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that forever changed the church. October 31 is observed by many as Reformation Day, in recognition of Luther's work.

In honor of Martin Luther, we are pleased to offer Martin Luther: In His Own Words as a FREE audiobook download through October 31. This title is a compilation of many of Luther's most important writings, including the Ninety-Five Theses and six other works.

Did I mention that it is FREE?!!!

The Way We Make Spiritual Progress

"Martin Luther set off the Reformation by nailing the 'Ninety-five Theses' to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The very first of the theses stated that 'our Lord and Master Jesus Christ...willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.'

On the surface this looks a little bleak. Luther seems to be saying Christians will never make much progress in life.  That, of course, wasn't Luther's point at all.  He was saying that repentance is the way we make progress in the Christian life.  Indeed, pervasive all-of-life-repentance is the best sign that we are growing deeply and rapidly into the character of Jesus."

    - Tim Keller, Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything, page 28.

(There are gems like this on every page of this book!)

Martin Luther's Seat of Learning

Archaeologists working in Wittenberg, Germany have discovered - "flushed out" as it were- the famous toilet of Martin Luther, according to a report at Discovery Channel :: News

German archaeologists have discovered the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation — a stone toilet on which the constipated Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-Five Theses that launched the creation of Europe's Protestant churches.

Scholars had always known that the 16th-century religious leader suffered from acute constipation and spent hours in contemplation on the toilet seat.

Glad to know we have now uncovered the birthplace of the - ahem - reformation "movement."