In this last part of my series on how to love God and your neighbor, I will present a broad outline of why it is we are exempt from mandatory vaccinations as Christians. The basic argument is simple –

Given that mandatory vaccination overrides the magisterial authority of Scripture, as well as the ministerial authority of Logic and the academic and practical disciplines subservient to it, mandatory vaccination violates our religious liberty to worship God with all of our mind and body.

Mandated/forced vaccination hinders us from worshiping God as he has prescribed in his Word. Indeed, it forces us to sin against God. This not only violates our freedom of conscience, and our freedom to exercise religion, but attacks the very substance of Christian living and, therefore, Christianity itself.

This will be a little lengthy, but I feel the need to get into more details on this matter. I pray that you will find this profitable, and be able to utilize it in any way that will edify the body of Christ.

I. The Scope of Sola Scriptura

As the Westminster Confession correctly explains,

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture…1

The scope of the Scriptures’ sufficiency, let us note, is broader than many would like to concede. This is evident from the authors’ use of the universal terms whole and all, as well as by their reference to (a)that which is expressly/explicitly set down in Scripture and (b)that which is necessarily implied by (a). Scripture covers all that is necessary as respects the glorification of God, man’s salvation, the doctrines man must believe, and the day to day actions that man must perform in order to glorify God.

There is nothing hidden from the Word of God, from his verbal/written judgment.2All actions are revealed to be either glorifying to God or not when they are examined in light of the Scriptures’ explicit and implicit teaching. Paul says the same in his second epistle to Timothy, writing –

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.3

All of Scripture is of divine origin and authority. All of Scripture is profitable for making one equipped every good work. No work of the regenerate man is, therefore, excluded from the explicit and implicit teaching of Scripture. All of our works are subordinate to the Word of God, receiving either approval or condemnation from God. Hence, the Westminster theologians go on to explain that –

The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.4

Again, note the universals here – all controversies of religion, all decrees of councils, all opinions of ancient writers, all doctrines of men, and all private spirits – indicating that the Word of God is the supreme judge of all thinking and action.

II. The Definition of “Good Works”

Whatever has been deemed to be a good work, then, must be examined in light of not merely the explicit declarations of God’s Word, but also the implicit teaching necessarily inferred therefrom. When this is done, we see that good works are

…only such as God hath commanded in his holy Word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention.5

That which God requires of men, as revealed in his Word, constitutes what we can legitimately call “good works.” If there are actions that are not commanded by God, or which contradict the explicit and implicit teaching of Scripture as to the nature of godly living, i.e. obedient living that brings glory to God, then those actions do not constitute what we can legitimately call good works.6

III. The Scope of “Good Works”

We have defined what constitutes a good work, and now we must turn to Scripture to understand the scope of that which is covered by the term “good works.” Is it a narrowly defined sphere of activity? Or is it the whole of a man’s life? Well, given that the Westminster Larger Catechism, following the Scriptures, states that “man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever,”7 it is the case that man’s very existence – the entirety of his life – ought to be lived in a manner that brings glory to God. This implies that every act of man is intended by God to be a good work.

Every action of man ought to be performed in good conscience before God, in faith that what is being performed is that which is in accordance with God’s Law, for “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”8 Every action, consequently, must be performed in order to bring God glory. As the apostle Paul tells the Corinthians –

…whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.9

Good works, then, are firstly those which are explicitly stated in the Law of God, the Ten Commandments. Good works, however, also include all the actions of men, covering every aspect of human existence, taken by faith in accordance with the Law of God explicitly stated in Scripture.

The apostle Paul also makes this clear when he tells the Romans the following –

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.10

We are called to firstly have our thinking conformed to God’s Word, and then our bodies (performing those actions which we have, by faith, determined to be in accordance with God’s Law). This conformation, via testing (i.e. reasoning about our thoughts and actions in the world), enables us to discern what thoughts and actions are good before God (i.e. what actions may be performed in accordance with God’s explicitly stated Law).

IV. Daily Individual Worship and Lord’s Day Corporate Worship

It is noteworthy that Paul defines the whole of our bodily existence as “spiritual worship.” While we are called to not forsake the assembling of the local body which meets together for corporate worship on the Lord’s Day,11 we are also called to individually worship God by having our minds and, therefore, thoughts and bodily actions conformed to the Word of God. Our daily activity is, in other words, worship to God, as is our weekly meeting on the Lord’s Day. These two forms of worship are distinct and complementary to one another, not contradictory. We worship God daily, and meet together as a body to worship him on the Lord’s Day.

V. The Individual Temple

The individual body, like the corporate body,12 is identified as the house of God, the physical place where God dwells and governs over man’s thoughts and actions by his Spirit and his Word. Writing to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul explains –

…we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.13

In this passage, Paul repeatedly identifies the believer’s body as the dwelling place of God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit governs over the activities of this house, just as he governs over the activities of the corporate house of God.

The apostle Peter, likewise, identifies his body as a “tent,” or “tabernacle,” in his second epistle. He writes –

…I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.14

Peter H. Davids’ commentary here is very useful:

Rooted in their previous nomadic life (many of the peoples in the Mediterranean had once been nomadic) and the present use of tents as temporary shelters, the image of a tent for this mortal life is found in the OT (Isa 38:12…), but is more common in Hellenistic Judaism. For instance, in Wisd 9:15 we read, “For a perishable body weighs down the soul, and this earthly tent burdens the thoughtful mind,” a clear indication of both the tent = body imagery and body-soul dualism…15

The apostle Paul elsewhere identifies the believer’s body as “a temple of the Holy Spirit.”16 And these all, of course, are following the Lord Jesus Christ’s identification of his own body as The Temple of God.17 While Christ’s body as the Temple of God has a much greater and richer significance than our individual bodies being temples of God, the point of derivation and overlap cannot be ignored. The Son of God tabernacled among men,18 the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily,19 and was given the Spirit without measure.20 We are tent-dwelling sojourners in this world, redeemed sinners in whom the fullness of the God does not dwell bodily, and who do not possess the Holy Spirit without measure, whose flesh lusts against the Spirit as he works to conform us to Christ’s image.21

VII. What This Means for Us

The significance of our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit lies in the fact that they are to be governed by the Holy Spirit as he teaches us from his Word, thereby making us wise and capable of discerning what is the good and perfect will of God. The good and perfect will of God is comprised of those good works which God has ordained for his people,22 and fall under two categories – 1. Good works explicitly commanded by God in his Law, and 2. Works that are judged to be in accordance with God’s Word after prayerful study and reflection on the explicit and implicit teaching of Scripture. And these two categories of good works constitute the whole of our Christian life, rendering all of our daily activities either fulfilled or failed attempts at worship.

Thinking for oneself in light of the Scriptures’ explicit and implicit teaching, in other words, is a daily act of worship in which all Christians must engage. Forcing Christians to act against our consciences, insofar as they are informed by the Word of God, not only violates our freedom of conscience and our God-given right to worship God freely, but also forces us to sin against God. This is an attack on our ability to live in accordance with Scripture and, therefore, an attack on the Christian faith (which addresses all areas of our life) in its entirety.

Consequently, forced vaccination – whether by physical coercion, intellectual and/or emotional manipulation, or government mandates – is something with which we cannot comply, lest we sin against our Lord and Savior by subordinating his Word and Spirit to the words, wishes, and powers of men and their institutions. The Christian system of doctrine teaches us that man’s body is his own possession, a creation meant to be ruled and governed by the Spirit and Word of God. Christians, in particular, are revealed to be temples, places of worship, which must be governed by the Spirit and the Word. The subordination of the Word of God and his Spirit to any authority constitutes a flagrant act of idolatry in which no Christian can, or would want to, participate.

Ultimately, the Christian is free, and must be free, to reflect on all of his actions in light of the revealed Word of God (explicit and implicit). He is free, and must be free, to judge whether or not taking an experimental medication is in accordance with the revealed Word of God (explicit and implicit).

1 Ch. 1, Art. 6.

2 cf. Heb 4:12-14.

3 2nd Tim 3:16-17.

4 WCF, Ch. 1, Art. 10.

5 ibid., Ch. 16, Art. 1.

6 See, Isa 5:20-21; Mark 7:9-13; 1st Tim 1:8-11.

7 WLC, A.1.

8 Rom 14:23b. (emphasis added)

9 1st Cor 10:31. (emphasis added)

10 Rom 12:1-2. (emphasis added)

11 cf. Heb 10:19-25.

12 See 1st Cor 11:17-22 (this is implicit to Paul’s rhetorical question in v.22a), Eph 2:18-20, 1st Tim 3:1-5 & 14-15, 2nd Tim 2:15-21, 1st Pet 2:4-6 & 4:17, Heb 3:1-6 & 10:19-25.

13 2nd Cor 5:1-10.

14 2nd Pet 1:13-14. (emphasis added) [N.B. I’ve used the NKJV rendering here because the ESV does not provide a translation of the original Greek here, but interprets the Greek word as an analogy/metaphor for the body. This interpretation is correct, but it subtly undermines the significance of the original wording. If the body is the Lord’s tabernacle, this ties directly into Peter’s identification of believers as “sojourners” in the present age (cf. 1st Pet 2:11).]

15 The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s, 2006), 194. (emphasis added)

16 1st Cor 6:19-20.

17 See John 2:13-21.

18 cf. John 1:14.

19 cf. Col 1:19-20 & 2:9.

20 cf. John 3:34-35.

21 cf. Gal 5:16-25.

22 cf. Eph 2:10.

On 12/29/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Deuteronomy 11:1-25.

The pastor noted that our society is inundated with screens and a false sense of reality, especially children, at an increasingly alarming rate.

The truth is that the Internet, video games, and media in general are often too much for young impressionable minds to handle, especially without close parental supervision. They’re highly addictive, even for adults, and much of the content is inappropriate for youth. They foster impatience, heighten irritability, fuel tempers, destroy self-control, the list goes on and on:

https://www.frictionlessfamilies.com/technology-in-the-family

https://www.drkardaras.com/research.html

Parents need to wake up and stop overexposing their kids to technology and media. (“The Right Kind of Traitor: A Review of Ed Snowden’s Permanent Record,” https://thorncrownministries.com/blog/2019/10/12/Book-Review-Permanent-Record-by-Ed-Snowden)

This, combined with many couples’ desire for more stuff, requiring both the husband and wife to work and neglect their children, brings misery and disappointment. A mother’s calling and purpose and fulfillment is grounded in the home.

Our circumstances shouldn’t dictate our happiness. The apostle Paul attests to this, that while he was in prison, he wrote to the Philippians:

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. (‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:14-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. ‭‭(Philippians‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

“Miserable Christians” are therefore a contradiction who reflect Milton’s Satan rather than Paul’s admonitions:

Me miserable! which way shall I flie
Infinite wrauth, and infinite despaire?
Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell;

The pastor read from Deuteronomy:

“Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the LORD your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm…but your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did.” ‭‭(Deuteronomy‬ ‭11:1-2‬, 7 NKJV‬‬)

It’s interesting how God said he wasn’t addressing the children in His covenant stipulations. The parents, of course, are charged with instructing their children:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:4ff. ‭NKJV‬‬)

The pastor also encouraged us to write our new year resolutions down, and to remind ourselves of and meditate on them throughout the year. The first step to take for the new year is to remember and rejoice in the God of our salvation, and in His mighty works.

Grow in the Word, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (II Peter‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Be intentional about family worship. Don’t serve God half-heartedly. Be watchful and don’t let the cares of this life hinder your walk with God. “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Luke‬ ‭12:29-31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

New Year Resolutions

1. Sleep!

2. Practice family worship consistently

3. Be punctual

4. “Do all things without complaining and disputing”

5. Read the Bible every day

6. Read good books throughout the year

7. Moderate screen time

8. Evangelize

9. Write consistently

On 12/15/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Romans 10:14-21.

We read the account of Christ’s birth:

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (‭‭Luke‬ ‭2:4-11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

The church must remember her first love—Christ: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (Revelation‬ ‭2:4-5‬ ‭NKJV).

Pastors are called to preach the Word and not be concerned with trends to draw people in. We draw people in with the Truth. On the other extreme, Hyper-Calvinists deny the necessity of preaching the Gospel for men to get saved. But God ordains both the ends and the means, and uses means to achieve His ends:

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans‬ ‭10:14-17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Don’t expect for a voice from Heaven to come down and automatically convert the elect. In fact, the pastor noted that the preaching of God’s Word is the voice from Heaven! The reformers believed that faithful biblical preaching carries the same weight and authority as the Words of God Himself. Here’s Calvin:

The word goeth out of the mouth of God in such a manner that it likewise “goeth out of the mouth” of men; for God does not speak openly from heaven, but employs men as his instruments ….

When a man climbs up into the pulpit, is it so that he may be seen from afar and that he may have a higher place than the rest? No, no! But so that God may speak to us by the mouth of man and be so gracious to us to show himself here among us and will have a mortal man to be his messenger. (Qtd. in Glen Clary, “John Calvin: Servant of the Word of God,” https://reformedforum.org/john-calvin-servant-of-the-word-of-god/)

It’s also common for churches to stray whenever the founders pass away. If a strong biblical plurality of elders is not installed in the church, it’s only a matter of time till they fall away or close down, as some of the very first church plants in the Book of Revelation attest:

When Christ said, “I will build my church, and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it,” he was not speaking of any institutional church. The Gates of Hell have prevailed against thousands of institutional churches in the past two millennia. They have become apostate and in most cases have disappeared. The churches to which Paul wrote his letters—Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Rome, Galatia, Philippi, Colosse—no longer exist as Christian churches. The Gates of Hell prevailed against the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the Lutheran Church. Christ’s church is not be be confused with any visible organization. (John Robbins, “The Church Irrational,” http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=290)

The Apostle Paul lost some of his battles. When Paul preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the synagogues, he was persecuted by the original antichrist, Judaism. We do not know, but tradition says that Paul died a violent death. (Jesus himself was almost murdered on the Sabbath by devout synagogue-going Jews who did not like his sermon; see Luke 4.) Most of the Jews of the first century rejected Christ; only the remnant was saved. The wrath of God, exercised through an unbelieving and unwitting General Titus, ended the apostate Temple cult – the vaunted Second Temple Judaism of the New Perspective on Paul. It was only through the writing of new Scriptures, the divinely inspired New Testament, and the establishment of new institutions – churches to propagate the doctrines of the Scriptures, both Old and New – that the Gospel survived the first century. As a Christian, Paul did not use force (as Saul he had). He lost battles, but he won the war. (Robbins, “Why Heretics Win Battles,” http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=207)

On 11/17/2019 the sermon, “The Christian’s Guide,” preached by elder Albert Hernandez, was based on Psalm 1.

He quotes Ryan Denton:

What Does Man Teach?

1. The Bible Is Not Reliable

But based on what authority is this claim made? Perhaps you say your own. But why assume your authority carries more weight than God’s? You have limited knowledge of every fact in the universe. You are prone to make mistakes. The Bible says your heart “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Perhaps you say the Bible is unreliable because “scholars” told you so. But they also have a limited, mistake-prone understanding of the universe. Not to mention, apart from Christ, they have an axe to grind against God. They are “alienated and hostile in mind” when it comes to God (Colossians 1:21). They passionately desire the Bible to be unreliable and so fabricate ways to twist it to their own agenda and eventual destruction (2 Peter 3:16). Also, who determines which parts are correct and which parts aren’t? The culture? Present feelings? Humans? But these aren’t objective standards, nor are they authoritative. These are all subject to change and are vastly finite in their understanding of the universe. (“The Bible's Apologetic-God Speaks!”, https://www.christinthewild.com/blog/2019/11/14/2zphxrvev3htkp7ft00e084pjxya2e)

The elder refers to Psalm 1 as “the Christian’s Guide,” as many commentators do:

As the book of the Canticles is called the Song of Songs by a Hebraism, it being the most excellent, so this Psalm may not unfitly be entitled, the Psalm of Psalms, for it contains in it the very pith and quintessence of Christianity. What Jerome saith on St. Paul's epistles, the same may I say of this Psalm; it is short as to the composure, but full of length and strength as to the matter. This Psalm carries blessedness in the frontpiece; it begins where we all hope to end: it may well be called a Christian's Guide, for it discovers the quicksands where the wicked sink down in perdition, and the firm ground on which the saints tread to glory. (Thomas Watson's Saints Spiritual Delight, 1660, http://www.biblebb.com/files/SPURGEON/TOD/chstp1.htm)

What does the word blessed mean? “Happy”? It means that and more, explains Spurgeon:

"BLESSED" - see how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction, even as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount! The word translated "blessed" is a very expressive one. The original word is plural, and it is a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom God hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, "Oh, the blessednesses!" and we may well regard it (as Ainsworth does) as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity. May the like benediction rest on us! (http://www.biblebb.com/files/SPURGEON/TOD/chstp1.htm)

Yet there are Christians who suffer from depression, especially those who are prone to introspection. The elder also explained that counsel doesn’t just mean advice, but also a way of thinking, a way of life. It’s a mindset: “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts” (Psalms‬ ‭10:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Planning your life without God, even in your everyday dealings, is one of the patterns of ungodliness and practical atheism: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”” James‬ ‭4:13-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

How mindful are you of the things of God? When you abandon God in your thoughts, you will abandon him in your life. But Christ is the answer, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” I Peter‬ ‭1:18-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.” ‭‭Job‬ ‭23:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The elder admonishes us to pray this for the local church:

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians‬ ‭1:9-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Scripture tells us to love people more and need people less: “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts‬ ‭20:35‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

A good admonition for children too is that there’s a time to play, and a time to pray. Everyone is born in Adam, outside of God, “that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians‬ ‭2:12-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We should meditate on and interpret the Bible holistically. Many don’t reap the benefits from Scripture because they may read but don’t think! It’s not the one who reads the most books or listens to the most sermons, but the one who meditates the most on them:

My brethren, there is nothing more wanting to make Christians grow in grace now-a-days than meditation. Most of you are painfully negligent in this matter. You remind me of a sermon that one of my quaint old friends in the country once preached from that text—"The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting." He told us that many people who would hunt for a sermon, were too lazy to roast it by meditation. They knew not how to put the jack of memory through it, and then to twist it round by meditation before the fire of piety, and so to cook it and make it fit for your soul's food. So it is with many of you after you have caught the sermon: you allow it to run away. How often do you, through lack of meditation, miss the entire purpose for which the sermon was designed. Unless ye meditate upon the truths we declare unto you, ye will gather little sweetness, ye will acquire little profit, and, certainly, ye will be in no wise established therein to your edification. Can you get the honey from the comb until you squeeze it! You may be refreshed by a few words while you listen to the sermon, but it is the meditation afterwards which extracts the honey, and gets the best and most luscious savor therefrom. Meditation, my friends, is a part of the life-blood of every true Christian, and we ought to abound therein. (Charles Spurgeon, “Meditation on God,” http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/2690.htm)

After listening to this quote from Spurgeon and reading his sermon, I fell in love with his writings again:

Do not imagine that the meditative man is necessarily lazy; contrariwise, he lays the best foundation for useful works. He is not the best student who reads the most books, but he who meditates the most upon them; he shall not learn most of divinity who hears the greatest number of sermons, but he who meditates the most devoutly upon what he does hear; nor shall he be so profound a scholar who takes down ponderous volumes one after the other, as he who, reading little by little, precept upon precept, and line upon line, digests what he learns, and assimilates each sentiment to his heart by meditation—receiving the word first into his understanding, and afterwards receiving the spirit of the thing into his own soul. When he reads the letters with his eye it is merely mechanical, but that he may read them to his own heart he retires to meditate. Meditation is thus a very excellent employment; it is not the offspring of listlessness or lethargy but it is a satisfactory mode of employing time, and very remunerative to the spirit.

Meditation really is vital, “the lifeblood of every true Christian.” It convinced me to read Spurgeon daily, his Morning and Evening as well as his sermons:

https://www.monergism.com/sermons-charles-spurgeon-4-vol-800-sermons

The elder closed with an admonition from the London Baptist Confession of 1689:

Chapter 19: Of the Law of God

6. Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them as well as to others, in that as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, hearts, and lives, so as examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against, sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to shew what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse and unallayed rigour thereof. The promises of it likewise shew them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man's doing good and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law and not under grace. (Romans 6:14; Galatians 2:16; Romans 8:1; Romans 10:4; Romans 3:20; Romans 7:7, etc; Romans 6:12-14; 1 Peter 3:8-13; https://www.arbca.com/1689-chapter19)

On 10/6/2019, the sermon, “God’s Everlasting Love, Part 2,” preached by Pastor Joe Rosales, was based on Romans 8:31-39, and continued from Part 1.

The pastor said that if we truly love God, then we would also love His bride, the church. Some claim they don’t need the church to love God. But that’s a lie; we need God’s people, in part so we can fulfill the numerous “one another” commands in Scripture:

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;” Romans‬ ‭12:10‬ ‭NASB‬‬

“Be hospitable to one another without complaint.” 1 Peter‬ ‭4:9‬ ‭NASB‬‬

“Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:11‬ ‭NASB‬‬

“This I command you, that you love one another.” John‬ ‭15:17‬ ‭NASB‬‬

The Christian life, I’ve often said, is not a solo enterprise.

Another excellent point the pastor made is that the gospel is not an invitation, but an effectual call. God’s love and purpose precede the call to repent and believe, just as regeneration precedes faith. Coming to Christ does not ultimately depend on us,

for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls…. So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Romans‬ ‭9:11, 16‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Contrary to advocates of the “well-meant offer,” which leads to contradictory Calvinism, the gospel is issued by God and the apostles first and foremost as a command, not an invitation, for

those who defend the “well-meant offer” are two-faced in that they seek to maintain conflicting aspects of two contradictory and mutually exclusive systems of salvation. While at times “well-meant offer” defenders appear to be Calvinistic in their belief in God’s sovereign election and particular atonement, they also maintain a belief in the universal desire of God for the salvation of those God predestined to perdition; the reprobate. It is this combination of particularism and pluralism, or simply Calvinism and Arminianism that make up the two faces of Janus. (Sean Gerety, “Janus Alive and Well: Dr. R. Scott Clark and the Well-Meant Offer of the Gospel”)

God also “commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts‬ ‭17:30-31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Arminians are similarly inconsistent, though neither are necessarily heretical. “An Arminian may be a truly regenerate Christian,” writes Gordon Clark, “in fact, if he is truly an Arminian and not a Pelagian who happens to belong to an Arminian church, he must be a saved man. But he is not usually, and cannot consistently be assured of his salvation. The places in which his creed differs from our Confession confuse the mind, dilute the Gospel, and impair its proclamation” (quoted in https://www.douglasdouma.com/2016/10/03/gordon-clark-and-the-salvation-of-arminians/).

This also relates to the use of theological labels derived from men in church history, i.e., Calvinism (John Calvin) and Arminianism (Jacobus Arminius). Labels can be used responsibly if they refer primarily to the doctrines they represent, rather than to the men who formulated or taught them, although it is still important to study church history and know who these men are and what they taught. Some prefer to use different labels, such as the Doctrines of Grace, or monergism (salvation is solely God’s work) and synergism (man cooperates with God to be saved). Either way, labels are necessary to make important theological distinctions, because everyone calls themselves Christians nowadays, even Mormons. When used responsibly, labels help to specify more precisely what you mean.

The pastor also touched on the means of sanctification. One of the means God uses is the church—people—to edify and build us up, as ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:11 and numerous other verses attest. In a similar vein Martin Luther said that marriage and family are a school of character. God used my own marriage early on to show me how selfish I was, like a well that draws out and brings to the surface deep-rooted sins that need to be mortified.

The pastor also explained that God uses different personalities to build up His church. Luther was a hammer, bold and aggressive enough to defy the emperor and to write the first principles and manifesto of the Reformation. And Melanchthon was the gentle scholar who smoothed out Luther’s rougher spots. But both men were deeply flawed. Luther never fully bridled his temper, which was so vicious that he condemned fellow Protestants like Zwingli as heretics because they didn’t agree with him on the Lord’s Supper, consequently fracturing the Reformation; and “in Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants, Luther condemned the violence [of the peasant’s revolt] as the devil's work and called for the nobles to put down the rebels like mad dogs.” Towards the end of his life, Luther also became embittered towards the Jews after repeated failed attempts to evangelize them, and reserved some of his most ungodly expressions for them. As for Melanchthon, he

fell out of favor because of his compromises with the Papists and Reformed on matters of ceremonies, Christ’s presence in the Supper, and the role of human will in conversion. With regard to the compromises with the Papists specifically, Bente writes, “The plan of Melanchthon therefore was to yield in things which he regarded as unnecessary in order to maintain the truth and avoid persecution.”[5] Sadly, his sincere efforts at peace and compromise on matters that he considered insignificant ended up compromising the central truth for which he and Luther had fought. The price of peace with the world by waffling on the central article of faith, justification by grace through faith, also meant uncertainty regarding peace with God the Father in heaven. (https://lutheranreformation.org/history/philip-melanchthon/)

The pastor then defined sanctification as progressive conformity to Christ. There is a growing awareness of our sin as we grow in sanctification. But we also grow in holiness and sin less, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians‬ ‭2:13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). When you are truly saved, God regenerates you and “will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel‬ ‭36:26-27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Even so, believers still sin, and should be corrected lovingly unless they stubbornly refuse to repent.

The pastor concluded with Assurance:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Romans‬ ‭8:31-34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Christians have the supreme privilege of knowing God as Father and Christ as Advocate, rather than as Judge. There’s nothing left to prove! Christ has done it all and paid it all on our behalf.

This is the start of my thoughts and reflections on the Lord’s Day. The sermon, “God’s Everlasting Love,” preached by pastor Joe Rosales, was based on Romans 8:28-39.

One of the foci was sanctification. It’s important for believers to understand that what we go through in this life, including suffering, is necessary, not for our justification, but for our sanctification, and ultimately consummates in our glorification. “The reason believers inevitably suffer in this life is so they can be sanctified because they must wait in a fallen world for Christ to return before they are glorified, not because it’s a condition they need to fulfill for their glorification [or justification]” (“When Protestants Err on the Side of Rome, Part II”):

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him….

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body….

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans‬ ‭8:16-17, 23, 28-30‬ ‭NASB‬‬)

Unbelievers, however, have no such consolation, because it can only be found in Christ. “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke‬ ‭13:3‬ ‭NASB‬‬).

A related theme in the passage is election. My pastor gave the best explanation of foreknowledge I’ve heard so far. Divine foreknowledge does not mean, as Arminians claim, that God foresaw those who would believe in the future based on their free will, as if God had no determinative influence on them. Gordon Clark thoroughly refutes this view in God and Evil: The Problem Solved. Rather than mere detached knowledge, foreknowledge signifies an intimate relation, such as when “Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain” (‭‭Genesis‬ ‭4:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). It really means that God foreloved us—He intimately knew and loved us in His mind, even before he created us. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you” (Jeremiah‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭NASB‬‬). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:3-4‬ ‭NASB‬‬). Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism also discusses this in depth.

Another good point the pastor made is that God is not on our side. If He were, He would be sinful and wicked. We therefore need to be on God’s side and get on His terms. Prosperity preaching promotes man-centered self-worship. Our focus must be on glorifying God, not ourselves. Soli Deo Gloria.

Logic also came up. God is logical—God is logic—and thinks according to the laws of logic. A sorites, explains Elihu Carranza, is “a series of propositions in which the predicate of each is the subject of the next.  The conclusion consists of the first subject and the last predicate.  The chain of propositions is arranged in pairs of premises to make explicit the suppressed conclusion, thereby revealing the syllogism.  The validity of the entire chain will depend on the validity of each syllogism in the chain.” The Bible contains many sorites, perhaps most notably:

Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:15-18‬ ‭NASB‬‬)

One final thought is the importance of order in exegetical preaching. It’s good to start the sermon with the Biblical text, and continuously build and preach from the text, and apply the text throughout. There’s so much to unpack from Scripture that it’s important to stay grounded in the passage. When that happens, the entire sermon becomes a cogent sorites, in which concluding exhortations are more relevant and authoritative because they’re closely and intentionally based on the text.

The sermon ended with Philippians 1:6: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Dave Harvey. When Sinners Say “I Do”: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage. Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2007.

The Good

This book has thoughtful research and excellent quotes from writers such as Charles Spurgeon; Thomas Watson; Matthew Henry; and John Owen, Newton, Calvin, Edwards, and Wesley. It's also refreshing how this book explains that a biblical mystery is not something that we can never understand, as Romanists and pietists claim; rather, it is something that God obscured in the Old Testament but reveals or explains in the New. Harvey cites George Knight:

Unbeknownst to the people of Moses' day (it was a "mystery"), marriage was designed by God from the beginning to be a picture or parable of the relationship between Christ and the church. Back when God was planning what marriage would be like, He planned it for this great purpose: it would give a beautiful earthly picture of the relationship that would someday come about between Christ and His church. This was not known to people for many generations, and that is why Paul can call it a "mystery." But now in the New Testament age Paul reveals this mystery, and it is amazing. (qtd. in 27. Italics always in original unless noted otherwise)

Harvey furthermore does a good job of stressing how important it is for believers to solidify a biblical worldview, for no Christian can avoid theology, nor should he want to. "What we believe about God determines the quality of our marriage.... Your theology governs your entire life" (20, 21). Theory always precedes practice. It's great that Harvey emphasizes sound doctrine and the power of the gospel for maintaining a healthy Christian walk and marriage. His treatment of spousal death and difficult situations such as spousal abuse was instructive as well.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the book is too imbalanced to recommend. A major problem is that Harvey has an inadequate view of regeneration. There are two extremes. The first is instant or entire sanctification, or sinless perfection, the belief that Christians are instantly perfected at conversion—or can eventually achieve a state of perfection in this life—and thus no longer sin, so they don't need to grow in holiness and grace every day of their lives. The problem here is an unbiblical view of sin and of the flesh, for believers do still sin, and when sin is not repented of it gets worse and eventually leads to death; and even shows that the person may not be regenerated to begin with.

The second extreme is the belief that Christians are forgiven but don't really change after their conversion. They remain wicked sinners in constant rebellion against God. This view undermines the power of God in our lives, and implies that believers never really mature or grow in holiness, even as they get older and learn more about God. It ignores the Bible's clear teaching about believers becoming a “new creation” with a renewed nature, continuously growing in sanctification and holiness till the day they die.

Harvey leans far towards the second extreme:

We are all the worst of sinners, so anything we do that isn't sin is simply the grace of God at work.... As the worst of sinners...I should be primarily suspicious and regularly suspicious of myself!... [M]y heart has a permanent tendency to oppose God and his ways.... You see, your wicked heart and mine are amazingly similar. They both crave vindication. They want to insist that something else made us sin...something outside of us...beyond our control. Aha—our circumstances!" (43, 64, 70)

The apostle Paul, however, affirms the opposite of what Harvey claims in Romans 7. Believers sin—not because of their circumstances—but because the law of sin, something outside of the believer, works through their flesh: "So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.... Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me" (Rom. 7:17-18, 20). Believers still sin—not because their hearts are wicked—but because their unredeemed bodies can be triggered by sensual, sinful temptations. We must therefore “die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31) because we “have crucified the flesh” (Gal. 5:24). Part of the problem is that Harvey doesn't adequately define what a sinner is. This is all I could find:

Now recall that the Bible has a specific way of describing human beings—as sinners.... We are all in this category together. It's hardly an exclusive club. To accept the designation of "sinner" is to acknowledge who I am in relation to God. It also says who I am not: I am not a neutral actor. By my very nature (which is sinful), I am an offense to God's very nature (which is perfectly holy). So the term "sinner," when used in Scripture, clearly implies there is one (at least one) who is sinned against. (41)

But believers are no longer sinners in relation to God; they are given a new "designation"—saints. A sinner—which is a legal term—is designated a criminal by God for violating His Law “in Adam” (1 Cor. 15:22; cf. Rom. 5:12-21) and for personal sins committed. A saint is a former sinner who has been forgiven by Christ's blood atonement, has a renewed nature, and is being perfected through the Holy Spirit. A saint also becomes legally adopted into the family of God (Gal. 4, Heb. 12), hence God is no longer his Judge, but his Father. When a believer sins it is no longer a legal issue, but a family/domestic issue requiring fatherly correction and discipline instead of condemnation and judgment, for Christ has propitiated the wrath of God that was formerly on the believer. Formerly we were unrighteous wrongdoers, "such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11).

The Sinfully Ugly

It is disappointing, then, that Harvey's most emphatic point throughout the entire book, which is evident in the title itself, is that "by the gospel we understand that, although saved, we remain sinners" (25). I think he stresses this far too much and makes the Bible say what it doesn't, resulting in several doctrinal imbalances. Later Harvey cites 1 Timothy 1:15: "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost."

Harvey claims Paul "is saying, in effect, 'Look, I know my sin. And what I've seen in my own heart is darker and more awful; it's more proud, selfish, and self-exalting; and it's consistently and regularly in rebellion against God than anything I have glimpsed in the heart of anyone else' " (36). But this sounds like a description of an unregenerate, God-hating sinner! For "whoever says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4). How then can a born-again Christian's "heart" be "consistently and regularly in rebellion against God"? Especially when God Himself promises to sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Eze. 36:25-27)

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Col. 2:11-12)

For "even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Cor. 5:16-17; cf. Gal. 6:15). And how can God "give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4) if your heart is perpetually evil, as Harvey claims?

Previously in verses 12-14, Paul writes, "I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." Both before and after verse 15 Paul asserts that he received mercy, and in verse 13 he says that he formerly was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.

1 Timothy 1:15 gave me a hard time. I couldn't understand why Paul would say he is the chief of sinners in the present tense, even though twice in that passage he said he received mercy, past tense. Especially since God also promises that He "will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more" (Jer. 31:34, Heb. 10:17). If God forgives and forgets our sins, why then did Paul call himself the chief of sinners? Then I remembered that "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.... Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.... For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Jas. 4:6, 1 Pet. 5:5, Matt. 5:5, Luke 14:11). Paul therefore was humbling himself. He's saying that without God's grace and Holy Spirit he is the very worst of sinners, "but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me" (1 Cor. 15:10).

Countless verses negate the notion of I'm-just-a-sinner-saved-by-grace: "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God" (Rom. 5:8-9). But wait, there's "more than that": "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation... For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous" (Rom. 5:10-11, 19; bold emphasis always mine). Several other verses clearly distinguish sinners from saints, or the righteous (Psa. 1:5; Prov. 11:31, 13:21-22; Ecc. 9:2, Matt. 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32, 15:7; John 9:31; Rom. 3:7; 1 Pet. 4:18).

Simul justus et peccator, meaning “simultaneously righteous and a sinner,” is a strongly embedded concept in the Reformed tradition in general (see the confessions of eminent believers that A.W. Pink cites in “The Christian in Romans 7,” http://www.chapellibrary.org/book/cirs/christian-in-romans-7,-the) and Lutheranism in particular, which is why I was pleasantly surprised when I saw what John Calvin has to say on the matter:

[F]or as iniquity is abominable to God, so neither can the sinner find grace in his sight, so far as he is and so long as he is regarded as a sinner.... He, on the other hand, is justified who is regarded not as a sinner, but as righteous, and as such stands acquitted at the judgment-seat of God, where all sinners are condemned. As an innocent man, when charged before an impartial judge, who decides according to his innocence, is said to be justified by the judge, as a man is said to be justified by God when, removed from the catalogue of sinners, he has God as the witness and assertor of his righteousness.... [A] man will be justified by faith when, excluded from the righteousness of works, he by faith lays hold of the righteousness of Christ, and clothed in it appears in the sight of God not as a sinner, but as righteous.... We must always return to the axioms that the wrath of God lies upon all men so long as they continue sinners....

When the Lord, therefore, admits him to union, he is said to justify him, because he can neither receive him into favor, nor unite him to himself, without changing his condition from that of a sinner into that of a righteous man. We add that this is done by remission of sins. For if those whom the Lord has reconciled to himself are estimated by works, they will still prove to be in reality sinners, while they ought to be pure and free from sin. It is evident therefore, that the only way in which those whom God embraces are made righteous, is by having their pollutions wiped away by the remission of sins.... But if there is a perpetual and irreconcilable repugnance between righteousness and iniquity, so long as we remain sinners we cannot be completely received. Therefore, in order that all ground of offence may be removed, and he may completely reconcile us to himself, he, by means of the expiation set forth in the death of Christ, abolishes all the evil that is in us, so that we, formerly impure and unclean, now appear in his sight just and holy.... [A]fter the Lord has withdrawn the sinner from the abyss of perdition, and set him apart for himself by means of adoption, having begotten him again and formed him to newness of life, he embraces him as a new creature, and bestows the gifts of his Spirit." (The Institutes of the Christian Religion, III.xi.2, 21; IV.xvii.3, 5)

Calvin rightly recognizes that the Bible uses the term sinner to describe the legal standing of a person in God's court, namely, an unpardoned criminal. Later on, however, he writes:

As God is the fountain of all righteousness, he must necessarily be the enemy and judge of man so long as he is a sinner. Wherefore, the commencement of love is the bestowing of righteousness, as described by Paul: “He has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” (2 Cor. 5:21). He intimates, that by the sacrifice of Christ we obtain free justification, and become pleasing to God, though we are by nature the children of wrath, and by sin estranged from him.... But because believers, while encompassed with mortal flesh, are still sinners, and their good works only begun savor of the corruption of the flesh, God cannot be propitious either to their persons or their works, unless he embraces them more in Christ than in themselves. (Institutes IV.xvii.2, 5)

The Bible clearly teaches that we "were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" (Eph. 2:3). But Calvin seems to mean that believers are still sinners—i.e., believers still sin, not that they are criminals—because we are still "encompassed with mortal flesh," the part of us that has yet to be redeemed. The difference is that a believer is no longer a sinner by nature, not in the same sense that an unforgiven sinner is, because the believer's very nature has been regenerated. So he no longer sins by his inner man, but by the "law of sin that dwells in [his] members" (Rom. 7:23); in other words, by the law of sin working through what's left of his old nature, the “old man”—primarily his physical body. This is why "those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24) by mastering sin (Gen. 4:7), abstaining "from every form of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22), and fasting when necessary (Matt. 6:16 ff.), "for God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness" (1 Thess. 4:7).

The flesh still wars against the Spirit but no longer has dominion over us if we walk by and are led by the Holy Spirit. This is what Paul refers to in Galatians 5 and Romans 7, though Romans 7 primarily refers to Paul’s pre-conversion experience rather than his Christian walk, yet the passage can apply to believers because they still have unredeemed bodies: "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom 7:24-25).

Martin Luther—who supposedly said believers are like snow-covered dung (if anyone finds out where he said that, please let me know)—in his Bondage of the Will wrote:

For if there be nothing by which we are justified but faith only, it is evident that those who are not of faith, are not justified. And if they be not justified, they are sinners. And if they be sinners, they are evil trees and can do nothing but sin and bring forth evil fruit—Wherefore, "Free-will" is nothing but the servant of sin, of death, and of Satan, doing nothing, and being able to do or attempt nothing, but evil! (Sect. 154)

In other words, what we do does not determine who we are; what we do is a reflection of who we already are. But the more an unbeliever sins, the worse he becomes because of the corrosive nature of sin and because "every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit...for what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person" (Matt 7.17, 15.18; cf. 1 Tim. 4). I like how John Robbins puts it in his review of Chuck Colson's Loving God:

You [Colson] write that faith is “not just knowledge, but knowledge acted upon. It is not just belief, but belief lived out—practiced.” This blurring of the distinction between faith and practice is fatal to Christianity, for it makes the conclusion inescapable that we are justified by faith and works. Augustine defined faith as knowledge with assent. So should you. Practice is the result of faith, not part of faith. Faith is the cause; practice is the result. Bonhoeffer’s statement is precise and true: Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes. If a person does not believe, he cannot be obedient, no matter how “good” his behavior is; and if a person believes, he will be obedient, as James says. To put it in more technical language, sanctification is a necessary consequence of justification; and justification is a necessary precedent for sanctification. But justification and sanctification are not the same. To confuse them is to be ignorant of the Gospel. (http://www.trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=187)

I think Harvey should've defined what a sinner is more carefully and not apply it so indiscriminately to born-again believers. I understand that he's trying to make Christians realize that they still sin, and that sin can ruin marriages and lives. But claiming that we are wicked sinners who constantly rebel against God seriously undermines what God has already done for us through Christ's finished work on the cross and continues to do for us through his Spirit. Theology is all about making proper distinctions, and Harvey should strive to be as careful as, for example, John Knox was in the Scots Confession:

Chapter 15: The Perfection of the Law and The Imperfection of Man

We confess and acknowledge that the law of God is most just, equal, holy, and perfect, commanding those things which, when perfectly done, can give life and bring man to eternal felicity; but our nature is so corrupt, weak, and imperfect, that we are never able perfectly to fulfill the works of the law. Even after we are reborn, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth of God is not in us. It is therefore essential for us to lay hold on Christ Jesus, in his righteousness and his atonement, since he is the end and consummation of the Law and since it is by him that we are set at liberty so that the curse of God may not fall upon us, even though we do not fulfill the Law in all points. For as God the Father beholds us in the body of his Son Christ Jesus, he accepts our imperfect obedience as if it were perfect, and covers our works, which are defiled with many stains, with the righteousness of his Son. We do not mean that we are so set at liberty that we owe no obedience to the Law—for we have already acknowledged its place—but we affirm that no man on earth, with the sole exception of Christ Jesus, has given, gives, or shall give in action that obedience to the Law which the Law requires. When we have done all things we must fall down and unfeignedly confess that we are unprofitable servants. Therefore, whoever boasts of the merits of his own works or puts his trust in works of supererogation, boasts of what does not exist, and puts his trust in damnable idolatry. (Qtd. in https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/simuliustus.html)

Oddly enough, Harvey also claims that Jesus never got "irritated or bitter or hostile" (71), even though he detested religious hypocrites like the Scribes and Pharisees, cursed and condemned them almost every time he encountered them (John 8, Matt. 23); and even fashioned a whip to beat money-changers out of the temple (John 2) on more than one occasion, according to some commentators (see Chapter 8 of John MacArthur’s The Jesus You Can’t Ignore). Not to mention that He's coming back "in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thess. 1:8).

His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. (Rev. 19:12ff.)

Other than that the book was ok. I recommend Tommy Nelson's teachings on marriage and the Song of Solomon (http://dbcmedia.org/), Gary Smalley's If Only He Knew, G. Craige Lewis’ teachings on creation roles and fasting (http://www.exministries.com/sermons/atcp-archive/), and Paul Washer's sermon on Romans 6, “Being What You Are: Having Too Low a View of Regeneration” (http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=428082310290).