A number of weeks ago, Lou Priolo (who many of you have heard on our radio ministry) and I had a lengthy discussion about this which he has aptly and ably put on his blog. With his permission I heartily desire to share it with you for your encouragement and edification. Praise the Lord that His grace is greater than all of our sin. He takes us where we are (Just as I am I come) but He never leaves us where we are as he conforms us to His image and then takes us to be with Him. Praise the Lord for the Glory of His saving and life changing, transforming and disciplining grace.

HLR

http://loupriolobiblicalcounseling.com/

Who among us have not found ourselves confused and overwhelmed at times attempting to understand the circumstances of life while simultaneously pursuing God’s will for our life? Our hearts and minds become overwhelmed in this sin-cursed and broken world as we contemplate life’s challenges and disappointments while battling our ever-present doubts, confusion and fears. We have fully embraced the sovereignty of God and acknowledge the providence of God. We even know the Christ-affirmed Biblical and benevolent promises toward us. Yet, disharmony of a broken world impinging upon us easily produces confusion with hesitancies, doubts with chaos and fears with paralysis. Is there a way to erase sin’s cacophony of confusion and despair and embrace the symphony of God’s grace and mercy enabling us to live confidently for Christ in a broken world?

Many believers are subtly drawn to solving the dilemma of doubts, confusion and fear by “reading the tea leaves” of life’s circumstances. This endeavor is usually pursued in the name of discerning God’s guidance. The reality is, it only furthers our dilemma by consigning us to the vagueness and instability of speculation while detouring us from the stability-giving dynamic of embracing the inerrant and sufficient gift of Divine revelation-God’s Word, by which life’s circumstances can be accurately interpreted.

Simply put, “reading the tea leaves” of life’s circumstances will not dismiss doubts, confusion and fears nor give the knowledge of God’s will for our life. On the contrary, to understand “the secret will of God” for our lives we must know the “revealed will of God” – His Word. God’s Word revealing God’s will gives us the ability to understand life’s circumstances to make God-centered and Kingdom-advancing decisions.

The patriarch Joseph provides a marvelous example of a believer being informed by God’s Word when interpreting and responding to life in a broken world. This man received dreams and visions revealing God’s promise and purpose to place him in a position of power and authority to benefit God’s people as well as others. Yet in the circumstances of life, the very opposite seemed to be the reality. He was betrayed by the conspiracy of his brothers, treated unjustly as a slave by his master Potipher, even though he had been faithful in servitude and resistant to the temptations of Potipher’s wife. Adding to the confusion, he was forsaken by a fellow-prisoner he had comforted. Yet, knowing God’s Word and therefore God’s covenant promises he interpreted the circumstances of life with clarity and confidence instead of despair and discouragement. Joseph not only avoided the despondency of self-pity but he was able to decisively respond to life’s challenges and opportunities ~ whether in the House of Potipher, Pharaoh’s prison or Pharoah’s palace ~ Joseph lived with God-centered consistency and a servant’s heart.  Amazingly, he was even able to comfort his brothers in their fear as they found themselves at his mercy with the words ~ “what you meant for evil God meant for good” ~ the good was referring to the salvation of God’s covenant people as well as God’s common grace overflowing to others in the midst of a Divinely appointed famine judgment.  By knowing God’s Word and His promises, he was liberated to make life decisions embracing the ministry of grace to his brothers instead of personal revenge as they arrived vulnerable and needy. God’s Word positioned him to interpret the Life’s circumstances confidently as the Hand of God’s providence. The result was an effective and God honoring ministry of grace and wisdom. Because he knew God’s Word and that He would fulfill His promises, he interpreted enslavement, unjust treatment and betrayals as God’s will calling him to suffer so that through his suffering, the Lord would bring the blessing of life to His Covenant people and mercy to others.

Even more significantly this short narrative of Joseph’s life points to the greater narrative of Christ’s life. Our Redeemer, willingly submitted to God’s will, humbled Himself to suffer death on a cross that we might have life eternal instead of the Divine judgment of a forever hell. In Christ, the glorious, Divinely-designed pattern of taking the “catastrophe of sin” in a fallen world and accomplishing the “eucatastrophe of redemption” for the world to come is displayed. Dear friends, follow the path of Joseph to Christ and trust Him who defeats the malevolent designs of the evil one. Then, follow the Joseph model of knowing the Word of God to give perspective on life and direction for life in a fallen world.

God’s covenant people are not victims in a broken world; they are victors, walking in the triumph of Christ. Christ-followers are not the overwhelmed, but the over-comers. Informed by God’s inerrant Word, they put life in Biblical perspective, making decisions for life with clarity, confidence and courage.

Eradicating doubt and its hesitancy, removing confusion and it’s chaos, banishing fear and its paralysis, comes not by gazing at the “tea leaves of life” to know God’s “secret” will, but by knowing God’s “revealed” will through His all-sufficient Word. Searching God’s Word and surrendering to God’s Spirit enables Christ-followers to understand and respond to the circumstances of life in a broken world. Doubt is banished by confidence, confusion is replaced by clarity, and fear gives way to courage as we anticipate the expansion of God’s Kingdom in this world and the glory of the King in the world to come.

http://reformedcast.com/2011/11/22/episode-63-from-embers-to-a-flame-12511/

Obviously, I do not delight in the fact of someone’s death but in the opportunity that the death of a believer or an unbeliever opens for communicating the majesty of Christ and the glories of the Gospel while comforting the family and friends and also in presenting salvation by grace to those who are lost yet have come to “pay their respects.” But what about an unbelievers funeral? Believe it or not, I also count this an opportunity to appropriately and truthfully yet compassionately share the Gospel. I am constantly amazed at how wide the door opens for effective Gospel communication at the funeral of an unbeliever.  Clearly, the preacher cannot “preach someone into Heaven” or give false assurances but there is a way to carefully turn everyone’s attention, in such a moment, to the realities of eternity and their need of a Savior. Let’s address the challenge of an unbelievers funeral first.

The first church I pastored was in Miami, Florida . I had moved to an area where I knew no one and the church I pastored was on the verge of closing. (The complete story can be found in the book From Embers to a Flame which gave rise to the From Embers to a Flame Church Revitalization Ministry.) So, I needed to meet people in Miami who needed to know Christ. I employed numerous strategies. One strategy was to offer my services to local funeral homes for anyone who didn’t have a church home and the family needed a minister for the funeral of their loved one. I was aware how challenging this would be but what I didn’t know was how fruitful this strategy would become in harvesting Gospel blessings in the lives of men and women as well as maturing me in the ministry of preaching and leading funerals for unbelievers while caring for their families.

Preaching the Gospel at the funeral for unbelievers… How do you do that? First, you must be committed to doing it. Second, you have to be compassionate while doing it. Why? The implications will be obvious to anyone who listens to what you are thoughtfully yet pointedly saying about the Gospel. The eternal state of the unbeliever who has died is revealed by the truth of the Gospel.  Let’s be clear. We are not called to make eternal pronouncements concerning the soul of their loved one any more than we are allowed to give false assurances concerning their eternal state. Why? Because we do not know their heart and God alone is in the position of knowing their heart and making pronouncements concerning their eternal destination. Furthermore, we do not know if perhaps they had experienced a deathbed conversion. We are to preach the Gospel and direct all in attendance to the realities of their own need of a Savior in light of eternity. The question from some would be, “don’t you have a responsibility to tell them that the unbeliever who died is under the judgment of God?” The answer is, “no.”  We have a responsibility to say that any and all who have not put their trust in Christ are rightly under the judgment of God. The individual’s heart, I do not know. God alone is able and positioned to disclose and declare the condition of their heart and their eternal destination. What I must do is make clear that entrance into eternal life is only through Christ. Because the implications of this are so clear I always try to take the time to comfort the family appropriately and relationally. This must be done with integrity (truth) and thoughtfulness (love). The third thought is simply summed up by stating we cannot give any false assurances nor can we trample upon the grief and fragility of family members by being heavy handed.

So, what about the death of believers? I have a confession to make. It is all that I can do to sit in a funeral service where the preacher begins with sentimental clichés that we somehow think will comfort people.  I have actually heard preachers say, “God has picked a flower which He needed for His bouquet.”  “Don’t think God had anything to do with this.”  “The reason we are here today is because God blinked.” Unfortunately, I’ve heard other such, perhaps well meaning but equally destructive and demoralizing statements. Pastors must, in funerals, preach as they would in any preaching opportunity. We are to “speak the truth in love.” To paraphrase a Puritan divine, “truth without love is barbarity and love without truth is cruelty.”  Here is a practical suggestion to assist in this objective. Always encourage the family members to ask someone who knows the individual well and can testify to their Christianity as well as their lifetime contributions to give a brief eulogy. While the preacher in the sermon certainly desires to mention personal dynamics, relational incidents and anecdotal events, a well given family eulogy allows the preacher to focus upon the Gospel truth of forgiveness because of the Cross and the bodily resurrection because of the risen Christ whom proclaim as our Blessed Hope.  A family eulogy positions the preacher to comfort the family, encourage believers and evangelize any who are lost.

Personal remarks in the sermon are necessary and helpful but remember, all true and lasting comfort comes in the Gospel promises of redemption and resurrection fulfilled in the death and bodily resurrection of Christ. Because Christ is risen the one who has died is “home.” Everyone sitting in the funeral service is not. The question to them is, “Where will your eternity be spent?”  One other practical suggestion.  I love to use the Bible of the one who has gone to be with the Lord. I enjoy searching through it, securing notes from it and noting places in it where they have underlined or written thoughts. Then, I love to use it and let everyone know that I am using it in the funeral.  At the graveside, after the benediction I always place the Bible into the hands of the spouse or closest relative while giving words of personal comfort.

The preeminence of Christ, our Redeemer and the truth of the Gospel with the glorious promise of the resurrection must be simply, thoughtfully and clearly articulated with compassion and conviction. Your challenge is that everyone in attendance has to undergo a paradigm shift. Most of your listeners’ believe their loved one or friend has just gone from “the land of the living” to “the land of the dying”. You must proclaim to them in the power of the Holy Spirit, through the truth of the Gospel based upon the historic reality of the vicarious atonement and victorious resurrection of Christ, that the exact opposite is actually true. They have not left the “land of the living” to go to the” land of the dying;” they have left the” land of the dying” to go to “the land of the living.” As stated by D.L. Moody to a New York journalist concerning the truth of the Gospel and his approaching death in light of declining health, “Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now;”

We have all found ourselves confused and overwhelmed as we attempt to understand the circumstances of life and simultaneously discern God’s will for our life. As we contemplate what has happened or is happening in our lives, and as we consider the decisions yet to be made in the confusion of our lives, doubts and even fear can seemingly overwhelm our hearts and minds in this sin-cursed world. This is even though we have fully embraced the sovereignty of God, and fully acknowledge the providence of God as to His benevolent promises in our lives. The cacophony of a broken world easily produces confusion with its hesitancy, doubt with its chaos, and fear with its paralysis. Then what is it that would enable us to hear the symphony of God’s sovereign grace instead of the cacophony of sin’s despair as we press on, desiring to live effectively for Christ in this world?

Many believers attempt to solve the dilemma of doubts, confusion and fear, and make sense of what is happening around us and to us and how we should respond, by “reading the tea leaves” of life’s circumstances, looking for the hand of God’s providence. But in reality, that only furthers the dilemma by consigning us to the vagueness of speculation while deterring us from the stability-giving dynamic of first embracing the inerrant and sufficient gift of Divine revelation, the Word of God, “which is sufficient to equip the believer for every good work.”

Simply put, we cannot dismiss doubts, confusion and fear by “reading the tea leaves” of life’s circumstances as we attempt to grasp the will of God for our life. To the contrary, we must read the will of God─His Word─to understand and grasp the circumstances of life.

The Genesis Patriarch Joseph provides perhaps no better example of being informed by the Word of God when interpreting and responding to life in a broken world. Here is a man who received dreams revealing his calling to a position of power and authority for the benefit of God’s people and others. Yet in the circumstances of life, he received betrayal at the hands of his brothers, injustice as a slave from his master Potipher, even though he had been faithful and resistant to the temptations of Potipher’s wife, and then forsaken in prison by the fellow-prisoner he had assisted. Yet, knowing God’s Word and the covenant promises to Abraham, he interpreted the circumstances life with clarity and confidence so that he was able to say to his brothers, “what you meant for evil God meant for good,”  in the salvation of the covenant people of God and others in the overflow of God’s common grace. This then freed him to make a life decision to embrace a  ministry of grace to his brothers instead of payback or personal revenge, as they came to him vulnerable and in need. God’s Word had positioned him to understand the circumstances of his life, and then respond to the glory of God as a minister of grace to his brothers while avoiding the emptiness of payback and personal revenge. He had seen that God had called him to suffer so that through that suffering, the Lord would bring life to His Covenant people in the midst of the Divine appointed famine judgment upon the land.

Of course, we readily see how this short narrative in the life of Joseph points to the greater narrative of Christ, who willingly humbled Himself to suffer death on a cross that we might have life eternal instead of the judgment of hell forever. We witness the hand of God’s Sovereign grace implementing the glorious pattern of taking the catastrophe of sin in a fallen world and accomplishing the eucatastrophe of redemption for the world to come. So, follow the tracks of Joseph to Christ to trust Him who brings a grace of glory that is greater than the evil of sin and the designs of the evil one. But also follow the Joseph model as you make sense of life and as you make decisions in life.

God’s covenant people are not victims; His people are victors who live in a broken world, yet walk in the triumph of Christ. Christ-followers are not the overwhelmed, but the overcomers, who informed by God’s inerrant Word are enabled to examine life with wisdom and make decisions for life with clarity, confidence and courage that have a redemptive impact in the lives of others.

The eradication of doubt and its hesitancy, the removal of confusion and its chaos, the banishment of fear and its paralysis, comes not by gazing at the circumstances of life to know God’s will, but by knowing God’s will─His infallible and sufficient Word. We thus can then understand the circumstances of life so that doubt is banished by confidence, confusion is replaced by clarity, and fear gives way to courage.

HLR

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right had is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4

My first thought is just a pastoral observation of thanksgiving to the Lord. The immediate, unhesitating and sacrificial response of our congregation to the call to “love one another” and to reach out to neighbors with ever expanding initiatives has been more than encouraging to me…it has also been instructive. We have enjoyed the privilege of partnering with other churches and organizations but I am reminded once again, nothing can replace the motivating love of Christ for eliciting sensitivity, flexibility, compassion and generosity toward others in need. My pastoral privilege has been to observe it, participate in it and be instructed by it as it has been gloriously manifested and continues to grow though the crisis has passed. I thank the Lord for the many of you who have given of yourself, your resources, and your heart to the many who are still in desperate need of redirecting our hopes to the unshakable Christ and responding to the pressing needs that this devastating phenomena has produced under the hand of a sovereign God who is accomplishing many things in the midst of it all.

My second thought is one of gratitude not only to the Lord but also to you. I am so grateful that you, who served the Lord in meeting the needs of many who were devastated in this disaster did so by pointing them to Christ as you ministered to them. One of my great fears as a Pastor is that we would intentionally or ignorantly violate the principle clearly stated in Scripture that when we do mercy ministry we are not to be like the Pharisees and “blow a trumpet” calling attention to ourselves and/or our organization. I am so grateful that you have done what you have done in a manner purposed to exalt the preeminence of Christ and have not fallen into the trap of exalting ourselves or using the occasion as a commercial to promote our church. I am also grateful that there were no well-meaning but I believe counter-productive t-shirts pointing to our church or ourselves individually but only your words and deeds directing men and women to the love of Christ and the Gospel of Christ. “Your reward is great in Heaven.”

Until then, we will suffer, falter, fail, triumph, confess, repent, obey, trust and be untrustworthy. In a word, we will live as sinners, saved by grace yet, “growing in grace” until Christ returns. Then, we will be delivered into the unalterable glory of the perfections of Christ and most of all we will be with Christ.

Therefore, we cannot dismiss the past nor should we live in the past. The church must learn from the past yet avoid becoming a museum of the past. We must live in the present but not accommodate the present or simply seek to be “trendy.” Finally, we must, by God’s grace seek to change but never wait for the future. This is what Peter means by stating that can “hasten” the coming of the Lord which obviously effects the future future through our faithfulness to the God of the past and our engagement for the Glory of God in the present.

It might be said, “Harry, you are in danger of ‘setting the church back fifty years.’” My reply would be, if that is true then, I have failed. I would actually like to set the church back two thousand years in order for it to land effectively in the challenges of this year and the coming years – backward Christian soldiers to go onward. While I desire to look to the future from the heights of the past works of God, the glorious Word of God, and the triumphant victory of God as well as engaging in the present valley of battle for my God, I must not put my faith in the future, nor the past, nor the present. Instead, my heart’s desire must be to walk the roadmap provided by God in the Scripture into the future which will change the future so that all will hear the claims of Christ and be ready for the coming of Christ. Then, on that day, we will hear from our Savior, “Well done, good and faithful servants” who have served Him consistently from the untimely past and future creating a timely ministry in the present. Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever….He is before time, above time and outside of time as well as beyond time. The answer to relevance is not so much timeliness but Christ, who intentionally makes us both timely and untimely. 

A FINAL THOUGHT…

The Gospel is always “timely” as it declares our deliverance today from the power, penalty and practice of our sins through Christ our Lord. Yet, the Gospel also persistently reveals itself as “untimely” as it insistently points away from “today” to the “tomorrow” when He will deliver us from the presence of our sins to Himself in a New Heavens and a New Earth. Perhaps Isaac Watts sums it up best with the glorious stanza of his hymn of praise… “O God our Help in Ages Past, our Hope for Years to Come.”

Praise God for the Gospel. It was true then, it is true now and it will be true forever. It was relevant and transforming then, it is relevant and transforming now and it will be relevant and transforming until the Day of Forever. Praise God for Christ, who is the Lord of time and does everything on time. Praise God for the timeless message of the Gospel, for the means of grace – preaching, fellowship, prayer, the Sacraments and the glorious “crown jewel” of Christianity, the praise of God in worship. The world considers worship a waste of time but we see it as the greatest use of our time! As one theologian said, “worship is a royal waste of time.” Finally, Praise God for the Holy Spirit who empowers and enables us to live for Christ all the time until the end of time. Come quickly Lord Jesus… HLR

 First of all, to assume that someone in an accountability group is driven by a moralistic approach to Christianity or that accountability groups of necessity produce a self righteous, pharisaical Christianity is in my humble opinion not only unbiblical but arrogant and short-sighted at best. Obviously, I believe Covenantal relationships of accountability are biblical. I am incapable of sharing with you how much my relationship with three men for 28 years has been used by God’s grace to challenge me concerning the sufficiency of the love of Christ and assist me in staying focused on Christ while warning me of the inevitable markers in my life which display my seemingly unstoppable tendency to walk away from Christ. These men and their love for Christ and their love for me has enhanced, encouraged and propelled me in the joys of salvation by grace as well as the call to responsible living for Christ because of grace. These men, who have had a green light to challenge me, an invitation to comfort me, and a heart to encourage me while surrounding me and periodically shaking me, will probably never know on this side of eternity how valuable they have been in my life by insisting upon my pursuit of the preeminence of Christ in every area of life.

 Secondly, accountability groups are simply a mechanism albeit a biblical one. They are only as good as the integrity of their purpose, content and most of all the participants. For those who would use accountability groups for self-righteous legalism then they need to be rebuked. But the problem is not the accountability group. It is the lack of integrity and/or the inappropriate content of the participants. I am fully aware that Satan can take valid mechanisms, such as accountability groups and distort them. Look at what he does to distort Christianity through heretical preaching but I would not dismiss preaching because of the distortions any more than I would dismiss accountability groups and the principle of accountability because of its misuse by some.  By the way, it is intriguing how today’s new found proponents of grace are always warning others against the heresy of legalism but seldom do I hear warnings concerning the heresy of licentiousness. Interestingly, the heresy of antinomianism/licentiousness gets more ink in the New Testament than legalism.  Simply stated, we must forever be diligent in Gospel preaching to blow up the dam of legalism that obstructs “the river of life” while simultaneously cleaning up the creek of licentiousness which would pollute “the river of life.” 

Our accountability group was basically patterned on the covenantal commitment that Jonathan and David employed. Most of all, it is simply rooted in a Biblical concept that along with other such concepts caused me to become a Presbyterian. The “one another passages” such as, “be submissive to one another – admonish one another – rebuke one another – encourage one another” convinced me to become a very practical Presbyterian. I not only believe in the plurality of leadership because I know whenever one leader is above accountability you may receive the blessings of his strengths but you will also receive the curse of his weaknesses. I know my flock needs for me to constantly be aware of the various ways Satan would assault me and ensnare me because he knows if he strikes down the shepherd the “sheep will scatter.” But another significant reason I am a convinced Presbyterian is that it is the only system I have found where every Christian, every church and every family is accountable to someone and therefore enabled to live out organically and organizationally the “one another” passages. Granted, we very seldom employ the Biblical system of being submissive to one another in a consistent, healthy, vibrant and effective manner. But I would not use our imperfections or those who employ the principle of accountability wrongly as assuming that those who desire accountability and who develop a functional system of accountability must be legalistic moralists. Nor would I assume that a covenantal relationship of nurture and accountability of necessity would lead to a moralistic pharisaical Christianity.

Thirdly, I do find it interesting in our glorious day of recapturing the Doctrines of Grace that some grace-enlightened have appointed themselves as the “grace police.” Without being invited they have decided to become an accountability group for others and without knowing the hearts of others, they suspect that those who commit to an accountability group must actually be “closet” legalistic moralists instead of simply desiring Christ-centered nurture, grace-saturated encouragement and discerning accountability. The fact of the matter is they just might hate sin because they know the sinfulness of sin and the effects of sin, not only in their lives, but in the lives of others including their family and those to whom they minister. When I see people serious about hating sin because they love Christ, who first loved them and graciously saved them, I prefer to assume that their hatred of sin is grace-driven not narcissistic. Could it not be they realize Christ has loved them and because He has first loved them, they now love Him? Also, could it not be that because of their love to Him they desire to keep His commandments? In other words, they have been called fully and freely by grace so they now desire to “walk in a manner worthy of their calling.” They are aware that they have a heart prone to wander. Therefore, they are not so arrogant as to dismiss their need of accountability nor the blessing of input from those who love them in Christ and desire to keep them focused on the love of Christ.

I thank God publicly for those committed to warn me of the death traps of sin and who propel me to the joys of loving Christ and “growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ.” I thank God for those who love me enough to warn me against legalism while not allowing me to be drawn into the snares of licentiousness and antinomianism. I know I have that accountability in the formal relationships of family and church but I am also grateful for the opportunity to covenantally commit to my “band of brothers” who take the time to know me and love me enough to be a friend that will wound me even when I don’t know I need it, encourage me when they know I need it, and nurture me to rejoice in the fullness of my life in Christ.  

So, I think I will keep my accountability group as we nurture, encourage admonish, rebuke and exhort one another since these are simply Biblical commandments and I don’t think I have a greater grasp of grace than the Christ who put these relational commandments in His Word. Yes, I think I’ll keep my accountability group because I know in an amazing way God actually uses me in the lives of these men from whom I have learned so much. I think I will keep my accountability group because I know my wife and children as well as my flock desire me to do so and would probably be deeply and rightfully concerned if I was so arrogant as to use the Doctrines of Grace to put myself beyond the need for accountability. I think I’ll keep my accountability group because I have in my life men who will not let me thoughtlessly develop that secret life of licentiousness, nor the legalistic life of moralism, nor the arrogance of thinking that I don’t need accountability as I descend into the ignorance of assuming that it might be a hindrance to my joy and freedom in Christ. I think I’ll keep my accountability group because in it I have men who realize the Bible warns of TWO Gospel errors, not just one. Legalism, yes. But also, licentiousness or antinomianism. They realize there was a reason the Holy Spirit inspired the content of the books of Second Peter, Jude, Hebrews and I John, as well as the needed warnings against legalism in Galatians. I think I’ll keep my accountability group since the freedom I have in Christ is not the absence of accountability but the joy of accountability. I think I’ll keep my accountability group because I know that Satan is subtle, sin is insidious and while sin is always a personal matter in its commission it is never a private matter in its effects. I think I’ll keep my accountability group because I want to love my Savior and I want to hate my sin and my Savior has informed me that I need brothers in my life to accomplish this. I think I’ll keep my accountability group because I want to see Christ and because I know since I have died to sin I don’t want to sign any secret peace treaties with sin. Yes, I think I’ll keep my accountability group and I’ll keep teaching others to employ accountability groups like the one that has blessed me because it is a divinely designed means of grace whereby the Holy Spirit and the Word of God work on me, in me and then, through me.

I guess I am an incurable convinced Presbyterian who has been graciously saved to enjoy the liberty of Christ and now knows the blessing of submission to Christ by pursuing submission and accountability to others…who realizes that the joy of salvation also brings a sober unrelenting call to Holiness of life for the One who saved me…who has a Savior that has done much to save me from my sin, not to make much of me but to free me from sin to make much of Him…who in Christ Jesus desires to “put off the old man” and “put on the new man…” who has known the blessings of being pointed to the joy of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone by “friends who are closer than brothers”…who has been warned of the sinfulness of sin…who by God’s grace will keep seeking the encouragement and nurture of my brothers and sisters to hold me accountable for the glorious joy of desiring to die daily to self and sin and live for Christ who has set me free to be accountable to Him through others.