The Good Portion

  Charity and Its Fruits Lecture VII, part one (This week we continue our discussion of the Jonathan Edwards' classic, Charity and Its Fruits. We have just concluded reading the "Doctrine" portion of Lecture Seven through Roman Numeral One. We will complete the rest of Lecture Seven in next week's reading. The notes below follow Edwards' outline directly, with all direct quotes from the text in italics. My goal is to make each post edifying on its own, even for those who are not reading along with us. I will welcome your questions or comments in the form below.) The Spirit of Charity is an Humble Spirit "Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly." 1 Cor. 13:4,5 In our last reading we learned that Christian love prevents us from envying others what they have. In this lecture we will learn how charity "keeps us from glorying in what we possess ourselves" as well as how it keeps us from behav...

Charity and Its Fruits Lecture VI, part two (This week we continue our discussion of the Jonathan Edwards' classic, Charity and Its Fruits. We have just concluded reading the "Application" portion of Lecture Six. We will continue with the "Doctrine" portion of Lecture Seven in next week's reading. The notes below follow Edwards' outline directly, with all direct quotes from the text in italics. My goal is to make each post edifying on its own, even for those who are not reading along with us. I will welcome your questions or comments in the form below.) Charity is inconsistent with an envious spirit. "Charity envieth not." 1 Cor. 13:4 From last week's reading we learned that envy is the unhappiness or discomfort we feel upon recognizing that someone is superior to us, or better than us in any way. An envious person dislikes more than anything to see someone excel above them, either monetarily, spiritually, aesthetically, or...

Charity and Its Fruits Lecture VI, part one ( This week we continue our discussion of the Jonathan Edwards' classic, Charity and Its Fruits. We have just concluded reading the "Doctrine" portion of Lecture Six. We will continue with the "Application" portion in next week's reading. The notes below follow Edwards' outline directly, with all direct quotes from the text in italics. My goal is to make each post edifying on its own, even for those who are not reading along with us. I will welcome your questions or comments in the form below.)     Charity is inconsistent with an envious spirit. "Charity envieth not." 1 Cor. 13:4 Here we discuss the feelings Christian love will lead us to have regarding the goods, happiness, honor, and comfort of others as compared to our our own. Edward's thesis for today's lesson is this: CHARITY, OR A TRULY CHRISTIAN SPIRIT, IS THE VERY OPPOSITE OF AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT     In explaining this we will dis...

non posse non peccare  translated "not able not to sin" - St. Augustine Martin Luther, reformer of the church and former Augustinian monk put it this way: "[A] man without the Spirit of God does not do evil against his will, under pressure, as though he were taken by the scruff of the neck and dragged into it, like a thief...being dragged off against his will to punishment; but he does it spontaneously and voluntarily.  And this willingness of volition is something which he cannot in his own strength eliminate, restrain or alter.  He goes on willing and desiring to do evil; and if external pressure forces him to act otherwise, nevertheless his will within remains averse to so doing and chafes under such constraint and opposition." Loraine Boettner describes the predicament of fallen man this way: "How can he repent of his sin when he loves it? How can he come to God when he hates Him?" The blindness of the fallen heart does not allow it to see the glory...

 "No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts in on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.  Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he things he has will be taken away." Luke 8:16-18 As Christians we are given to the world as salt and light.  Our lives and our faith are to be lived in the open.  As the saying goes, we should be open books - accessible and with nothing to hide.  When the world looks at our lives the only offense they should see is the offense of the Gospel. The only crime of which we could be convicted should be that of preaching Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected, assuming that ever becomes a crime.  And even that "crime" is one of which we should not be ashamed, but be willing to commit ...

"The purpose of Satan's attacks is to dislodge us from our foundation , which is Jesus Christ.  He will do that if he can.  God's purpose is to settle us on Jesus, and God has arranged things so that the attacks of Satan, rather than unsettling us, actually serve to bond us to that foundation even more firmly than before." - J. M. Boice " More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope..." Romans 5:3-4