Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

If God’s grace were in any measure weak or impotent, then I would exhaust it before the evening. His grace cannot be exhausted. His mercy does not end. His wisdom has no beginning and no end. For He is God. He is God eternal, God immortal, God self-sufficient, God all-powerful.

If I consider Him in all His ways through my own weakness, even in those communicable attributes of God which we reflect in part as His creatures, and seek to understand Him by beginning with my frailty, what utter despair shall seize me before I take my next breath. For a god like me is a god unworthy of worship and merely a little better than myself. My mind cannot conceive of a god worthy of worship. He must reveal Himself as He is.

Yet when He does, it is in me to reject Him or shape Him into what my wicked heart would like Him to be. For in His holiness, His righteousness, His sovereignty, His wisdom, and His power, He terrifies my soul. I cannot stand before Him as one who is completely known, with all I have sought to cover, put out of my mind, or justify in myself exposed fully and perfectly before Him.

Such a God is too terrifying to the finite man born in Adam. It is far more comforting to bring Him low, to make His attributes serve my desires, and to elevate His mercy, grace, and love to a place where His justice, righteousness, and holiness are not satisfied but set aside.

The mind of man is hostile toward such a holy God. We cannot bear it. We cannot tolerate it. We cannot let God be God.

And yet He has set His love upon a people from before the foundation of the world. The Father sent His Son, who entered into the world He created and put on flesh, adding humanity to His deity. He lived the righteous life we could not live, died the death we deserve, rose again on the third day, and now, seated at the right hand of the Father, makes intercession for His own.

At the cross, the full, undiluted wrath of God was poured out upon Jesus. If we can look at the cross and not see the love of God as well as the wrath of God, then we do not see it rightly.

The mind is hostile to the truth and hostile toward God. Yet in His mercy, God calls out His own, and this call is effectual. Through the external call of the Gospel, the Spirit works inwardly, regenerating those who are dead in sin, making them alive in Christ, and they respond in repentance and faith. A new heart He gives them.

And yet we are justified. This is a declaration. It cannot be changed. This must not be confused with sanctification. We are declared righteous by the perfect righteousness of Christ. And yet we are being sanctified. How? By the Word of God.

We must remain in the Word so that our minds may be transformed by the truth. For we are no longer enemies of God, though our minds still battle the remnants of sin and deceit. God has changed our hearts, and He continues to transform our minds through His Word. We learn who He is through right teaching, right study, and therefore the right application of His Word.

To listen to music, teaching, or read books by those who are not doctrinally sound has an effect upon us whether we wish to believe it or not. We cannot worship God rightly if what we consume is shaping our thoughts toward a perversion of the truth, toward a bent that sounds Christian and spiritual but is false and full of serious error.

How important is it that we hear the truth and commit our lives to sound doctrine? There is nothing more important. If we are to know God for who He truly is, and if our hearts are to rejoice and delight in Him, then our minds must be informed and transformed by truth, by sound doctrine.

Do we love God? How are we commanded to love Him? With all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Yet often the mind is abandoned to men’s imaginations while the heart is gratified through the pursuit of feelings and impressions. Men’s faculties become consumed with seeking a god of their own imagining while convincing themselves that they love the God of Scripture.

Many are convinced that if one has received a second baptism of the Spirit, of which Scripture does not teach, then he may now trust what he feels in his heart or what comes to his mind as special revelation exclusive to those who possess a greater anointing. They are deceived.

There are no second-class Christians. If one is born again, he is baptized by the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, sealed by the Spirit, and enjoys the ongoing work of the Spirit within him, whereby he is also being filled by the Spirit.

If we believe there is a special class of Christians who have access to special knowledge through a unique anointing received by a second baptism foreign to Scripture, then we have gone beyond Scripture and have begun to treat what we feel in our hearts and what comes to our minds as possessing authority alongside Scripture. Here many err.

The Spirit is not giving new revelation. Rather, the Spirit works in the hearts of all who are truly regenerate by illuminating the meaning of the text He inspired. The Spirit of God does not work apart from the Word but by means of it.

To separate the Spirit from the Word is to invite deception. The same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures now works through the Scriptures, opening blind eyes to understand, receive, and delight in the truth. He does not lead His people beyond the Word He has given but continually leads them deeper into it.

Many show themselves hostile toward God as He has revealed Himself in His glory and in His governance of the church. Men have their own ideas of who God is, what He is like, and what they believe the church ought to be. They know not God, nor do they worship Him as He is worthy.

Many worship. Many gather together in the name of God. Yet they know Him not, nor do they worship Him rightly, for their minds are not transformed by the Word so as to see Him as He has revealed Himself and to worship Him according to His appointed order. Rather, they worship Him as they imagine Him to be, feel Him to be, and think Him to be.

They worship a god fashioned by their own foolish hearts and know not the terror Scripture reveals concerning false worship and idolatry. Such worship soothes the conscience for a time. Yet when they meet the God of Scripture and stand laid bare before Him, they shall find Him holy.

May they then learn of that grace which leads to repentance for all they have done falsely in His name. May they be led to the truth, that they might truly hunger and thirst for righteousness, which is found only in Christ and in His Word.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Oh God of my righteousness, I praise Thee all the day. For in Your Word I find strength, grace, hope, and every assurance and confidence in Christ. And in Your Word I behold the terrifying and fearful judgment of the wicked, that judgment every man deserves. Where else may I fly, and to whom else shall I desire to run, but to that grace which is enough and immeasurable, to my Lord whose righteousness is perfect?

I read of Your judgments and know they are good. Yet to delight in them is also to know that to be judged by them apart from Christ is good and just, a reality many shall endure. Oh God of my righteousness, where else shall I fly? To whom else should I desire to go? You are my God. You are the God who judges righteously. You are the God who has indignation day and night, and this my soul knows is good. You are righteous and holy, and in this my heart praises and rejoices.

And knowing myself more for who I truly am, as Your Word reveals, and knowing who You are as You have made Yourself known, I fly to You and take refuge in the God of my salvation, the Lord my righteousness, my hope, my life, my all. Oh God, should man not repent, You sharpen Your sword, and every man stands justly condemned before You.

Oh God, my God, You are righteous and just, holy and true. You judge in righteousness, and I have none of my own. But You, O God, have clothed me in the perfect righteousness of Another. One worthy. One perfect. One holy. Christ my righteousness.

I will sing with the saints songs of praise to my God, who plucked my life from the destructive path upon which I walked to my own ruin; who called me and loved me before the foundation of the world; who took my place of punishment, bearing the full wrath of God for my sins, and who clothed me in Your own righteousness. You took out my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh.

I can never praise You as You deserve. Let all eternity sing Your praise, for You alone are worthy. My God, my God. God of my righteousness. I praise You alone.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

For often we think the hardened man to be a cruel and dangerous man, only that kind of man whom you do not make eye contact with and do not engage with. And yet Scripture teaches of men whose hearts continue to be hardened in their rebellion against God. They celebrate wickedness, delight in evil, and encourage others to do the same. They suppress truth in unrighteousness and do not want to have God in their minds.

Men of hardened hearts are not always marked by scowling attitudes and a presence that is almost tangibly off-putting, as if they walk about with a warning label attached to their heads.

More often they are very present and actively involved in culture wars, mocking Christians while claiming a morally neutral or more often morally superior position. They welcome professing Christians so long as they abandon the authority of Scripture and are willing to accept others in their sins. I will not say sinful lifestyle choices, as that is merely a manifestation of a far greater issue: their sinful nature, which they love and desire to please, showing themselves enemies of the truth and unwilling to accept, tolerate, or put up with those who love them enough to share the Gospel with them.

Many Christians today know not the dangerous shift over the last several decades whereby men have slowly eroded true evangelism and introduced what the world has said it will be open to, accepting of, and maybe even willing to profess faith in. Modern evangelistic efforts are often identified more by pragmatism, which will never reach a dead heart, but instead appeals to the sinful nature and its desires. Many are reached by pragmatic evangelism, and it has led to many false converts in the church.

The first step was to ask the world what it would be willing to receive. The next step was to change the identity of the church to meet those pragmatic demands of the world. Then the church itself became the primary place for pragmatic evangelism. With sound teaching replaced by messages designed for the world, those who were truly being saved were not growing according to sound doctrine. The result is profound biblical illiteracy within the visible church on such a scale that it would almost seem as if such men had found the perfect way to undo the Reformation within the walls of the visible church itself.

And such men seek not true reform according to the Word of God, but continue on in pursuit of vision casters and church growth gurus for the newest and most effective way to reach the lost. It is almost as if God gave the early church a method and it worked for a while, but He failed to give a method that was sustainable, powerful, and effective for all the church for all time.

Men of hardened hearts mock such shallow Christianity and lump all of it together. The most visible version of what is called Christianity before the eyes of the watching world is made up almost entirely of that which is false, counterfeit, and exactly what Scripture, when set against it, shows to be errant and even heretical.

The church is not a goat farm. It is primarily for the saints, and though the unsaved are welcome, we will not change the church for the lost. And that is just as much for their sake as it is for the sake of Christ’s Name, His bride, and the purity of the Gospel. If we truly love the lost, we will not change the church, the Word, or the Gospel, but will love them in the truth and pray that God may save them.

Hardened hearts are not changed by felt-need, therapeutic messages alongside emotionally manipulative music and dark lights, as well as other pragmatic methods that attract and please the sinful nature. Such methods produce many false converts who identify themselves with Christ and His bride while having no part in Him or with her.

Men of hardened hearts are those in rebellion against God, and many of them are in pulpits and pews thinking themselves right with God and yet are now far worse enemies of His than before someone invited them to their church where they heard a watered-down, man-centered version of the Gospel. Why invite them instead of sharing the Gospel with them? Because many in the church know not how to share the Gospel and place their confidence in an invitation so that the lost may come and “experience God” through dark lights and emotionally manipulative music that makes them feel seen by God, only then to hear the pastor preach a message designed to feel personal and as though God is speaking directly to them. That was the design and intent after all.

Church is no longer for the saints and for the worship of God. It has become about a personal encounter, personal experience, and personal word so that the lost man can feel as though God sees him and has simply been waiting for him to accept Him into his heart. This is why so many will say, “If you would just come to my church, then you would believe because you would have an experience.” The Gospel becomes limited to their church where everything has been designed around the lost man, what appeals to his sinful nature, what attracts him, and what will give him an experience he will never forget.

That hardened sinner may break and cry, having a real experience that he believes to be God. And he will ask Jesus into his heart. Yet he is now worse than before he entered. His heart, moved by an experience, continues to sit under those dark lights and man-centered messages craving another experience and hearing messages that make him feel special and as though God needs him or else He cannot do what He has planned to do. His heart, still hardened, is now learning language that sounds Christian but places him in a new category within Scripture. He is a false convert, and he will do more damage than ever he had before.

Hardened hearts are not impossible to reach if God is truly sovereign in salvation. And He is! Therefore we trust not in men’s newest schemes and devices, nor do we prostitute Christ’s bride to win the world. The church is for the saints to gather together in worship to God according to the means and order He has set. She learns and grows, and as she is scattered she evangelizes the lost.

The church is not the primary place of evangelism. Our homes are. Workplaces are. Communities are. The Gospel needs no gimmicks or schemes of men in order to be effective. God’s Word is powerful and effective and needs only to be proclaimed faithfully and with genuine love and concern for every soul. Not manipulating hearts, but proclaiming truth whereby the Spirit works and regenerates men dead in sin.

Men of hardened hearts are those in our lives whom we love and those we pass by each day who are growing not in grace but ever more hardened toward God. When they hear the Gospel it will not always result in the way we so desire, and sometimes their hearts will be hardened even more as they hear it. This must not lead us to change the message in an effort to reach their hearts. We must trust God with the results and examine our own hearts before dealing with so precious a soul.

Do we love them? Do we care for their soul? If so, we will not employ methods that appeal to their sinful nature, knowing it for what it is. But we will trust the God who saves and be faithful messengers with real love and concern for the lost, proclaiming the message He has given us and trusting the Spirit to work in regeneration.

Friend, we can trust God with hardened hearts. Did we not find His grace and mercy sufficient in our own?

Written by: April J. Buchanan

A man left to himself may come to ruin, for the inward corruption of the fall brings forth what it will when unrestrained. One man, burdened by inward thoughts of darkness, comes to see himself as worthless and without hope. He lingers there, and his thoughts become destructive. Another man, convinced of his own strength and sufficiency, sets his mind upon the things of this world and finds his joy within them. In seasons of ease he is satisfied, and in seasons of trouble he labors to restore what will again bring him pleasure. His decisions in business, health, relationships, and civic life are shaped by what most secures his temporal happiness.

The man consumed by misery is often despised by others, regarded as a burden to society, weak and unprofitable. Meanwhile, the man of confidence in himself is praised. He speaks of his contributions, his goodness, his service in religion, in public life, and in acts of charity. His thoughts are high concerning himself, and so he concludes that he is good because of what he does. In his own eyes, little more is required.

Yet the one who has fallen into despair believes himself closer to truth, thinking he has seen the vanity of all things. Having examined himself and found no worth, he refuses comfort, unable to reconcile any hope with what he believes himself to be. And yet even here, he does not step outside himself; he still judges by inward reasoning rather than by the testimony of God.

Thus both are deceived by hearts not rightly measured. Neither has been weighed against the perfect standard of God. Both are measuring themselves by comparison with men or by their own inward reasoning. Neither has been brought low before the holiness of God, where true knowledge of the self is given and mercy in Christ is revealed.

One exalts himself through accomplishment; the other collapses inward through unbelieving despair. Yet both remain centered upon themselves. Both turn inward rather than upward. Both stand, in different forms, as an offense to God, whose holiness exposes every false measure and whose truth alone defines what man is.

For though sin has corrupted all through Adam’s fall, God remains sovereign over all, governing all things according to His holy will and purpose. And only when life is found in Him does anything cease to be meaningless.

The soul that trusts in itself, whether in pride or in despair, remains outside the knowledge of grace. For the issue is not the presence of sorrow or confidence, but the absence of truth applied by God to the heart through His Word.

Apart from the revelation of Scripture, man does not see himself rightly, nor does he see God rightly.

But when a man is brought low before the holiness of God, both false confidence and unbelieving despair are broken. He discovers that he is worse than his despair had shown and more guilty than his pride had admitted. Yet he also discovers that grace in Christ is greater than both.

There he turns in repentance and faith, not by his own resolve alone, but as the Spirit of God grants life through the Word, uniting him to Christ. In this union, Christ is not only the object of hope but the source of new life itself.

From that point forward, the Christian life becomes a daily mortification of remaining corruption, carried out not in self-reliance but by the Spirit working in the believer. When sin rises, whether in pride or in despair, it is met not with trust in the flesh but with repentance and renewed dependence upon grace already given.

For the one who belongs to God learns this continually: his weakness is real, his heart is unsteady, and his thoughts are prone to both pride and despair. Therefore he sets his mind upon the Word of God, abiding there. And as he does, he is sanctified by truth, upheld by grace, and preserved by the power of God.

And though he is weak, Christ is strong.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Some of our greatest sorrows and deepest troubles are not external, though we are often quick to ascribe them as such, but are self-inflicted. Many are eager to blame circumstances, other people, or providence itself, while seldom stopping to look rightly at their own hearts. And if a man continually determines that his troubles are always the fault of something outside himself, never learning to examine himself truthfully before God, he will continue in the very patterns that bring misery upon his own life, and his heart shall grow hardened all the more.

There are many doctrines that teach a man to obsess over external enemies by means not taught in Scripture. If a man can be made busy seeing a demon behind every bush, believing all his troubles to be caused by some external force, or imagining himself constantly opposed because of something supposedly wonderful within him, then such a man may become puffed up in his perception of himself while never becoming acquainted with the grace of God in true sanctification. He may never behold the beauty of God rightly, for he thinks himself so important that threats must surely surround him because of who he is.

Men naturally gravitate toward doctrines that are pleasing to the wicked and deceived heart. Broken and wounded men often seek refuge among those who know not true humility nor grace wrought deeply within, but rather among those who take the broken and leave them worse than they were before.

If God’s Word be not central and set plainly and rightly before the hearts of men, they shall never be wounded rightly nor healed truly. Instead, the wounds they bring, making themselves victims, are treated with a poison disguised as medicine. Slowly they die from it, yet become so intoxicated with its pleasures, promises, and praises that they no longer see themselves rightly and despise the very words that warn them.

It is impossible to grow in godliness, holiness, and that which is truly good and ordered if we first do not have Christ, and if we then do not continue looking into His perfect Word so as to see ourselves rightly. We must be humbled by the truth, repent of our sins, and be conformed more and more into the image of Christ as we desire to be like Him.

Oftentimes many professing Christians wish to be free from sin and its consequences, yet do not wish to reckon with the man who sows so much of the pain, sorrow, trouble, and disorder within his own life. But if we see ourselves rightly, we shall find enough corruption of our own to mourn over, a man needing to die daily, and a Savior all the more gracious and wonderful.

Dear saint, while there are indeed external threats, false teachers, wolves, temptations, and spiritual dangers of which Scripture warns and which must be dealt with biblically, our greatest danger remains within our own hearts. We must therefore attend daily to those gracious means God has appointed to keep us seeing Him rightly and ourselves rightly.

Providence is not against us. It is the beautiful outworking of God’s sovereign will in all things. Often our troubles are not external. They are our own doing, for which we must take responsibility, repent, and walk in truth.

“The heart knows its own bitterness” (Proverbs 14:10). And if sin, pride, self-will, and bitterness are not daily crucified, so that the exceeding beauty and truth of God’s Word may have its proper work within a tender and humbled heart, then that man shall continue in misery until he is humbled beneath the weight of his own waywardness. Either he shall be brought low and taught to forsake himself, or it shall be revealed that he was never born again at all, but merely clothed in the language and outward appearance of a faith he never truly possessed within.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Be joyful, a command not forced, but that which is wrought within by the gracious work of God. How can the saint be joyful? Is he able? Yes. As he attends to the means of grace, what is unnatural to the flesh becomes the visible work of God within. The man who walks in these means finds his joy in the Lord, whatever his circumstances.

Such things are not natural to us. We are not born content, joyful, or marked by genuine love and affection that glorifies God for one another. These are evidences of grace at work in the man who has been born again.

How might this church have rejoiced upon the reception of this letter? I know not. I am certain that they rejoiced much.

Joy becomes a burden to the heart that is commanded to rejoice apart from the gracious means of God, where joy is spoken of but not defined biblically or received as the fruit of grace. The command itself feels heavy to the flesh that is concerned only with its own interests. But such commands are not burdensome to those in whom God is at work, whose love is increasing more and more. In them, obedience becomes delight, and duty becomes joy.

This church was near to the heart of Paul. Philippians is not primarily a letter of rebuke. They were not marked by serious disorder or corruption. While Paul does warn them against external threats of false teaching, especially Judaizing influence, they are not a church characterized by internal doctrinal breakdown. They were a church that had faithfully helped Paul in the furtherance of the Gospel from the first day until even as he wrote this letter. And when they lacked opportunity to help, it was not because they cared not for him or withdrew themselves from his needs, but because they simply lacked opportunity. As soon as they were able, they supported him and helped him in his need.

In this letter, Paul’s love for them and their love for Paul is evident. He wrote to encourage them even while he was in chains. He wrote to assure them that even in his imprisonment, the work of Christ was not hindered but advancing. He wrote to share with them his joy in what God was doing.

It is one thing for a church to send money in aid and support of another, yet never pray for them again, never truly consider them in their labor, but merely feel satisfied in what they have done through monetary giving. This was not so with these precious saints. They cared for Paul and for the work of the Gospel. And when they heard of his chains, Paul wrote to encourage them that the work of the Lord had not been chained, but rather that his imprisonment had turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel.

This mutual love, affection, concern for one another, and devotion to the work of the Gospel is beautiful to read. And it is right that it stirs the affections. But those affections are not an end in themselves; they are meant to be formed by truth and directed toward Christ. This is what the church looks like when she is concerned not only with her own interests, but with the interests of her Lord, His bride, and the work of the Gospel.

Is the letter this simple? Yes. Is it far more? Yes. Do we behold in it some of the most beautiful revelation of Christ, especially in Philippians 2, where we are given one of the clearest displays of Christ taking on flesh? Yes. And in the passage where the warning exists against external corrupting doctrines, we also find some of the most piercing contrast between the righteousness of man and the righteousness of Christ.

There Paul, once confident in his own standing under the Law, counts all things as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. What once defined him, his lineage, his zeal, his righteousness according to the Law, he now considers loss and even refuse compared to Christ. This passage is not merely a warning against false teaching and worthless righteousness, but a necessary contrast that reveals what we truly are in ourselves and magnifies the perfect righteousness of Christ, which is received through faith.

This little epistle is not demanding joy, it produces it as the Spirit uses it in the hearts of God’s people as they read it, enter into it, and come out of it being formed by its truth. Whatever circumstance we are in, if we are Christ focused, Gospel driven, and unified in the work of the Gospel and in love for one another, then we rejoice when we hear of what God is doing, wherever we are and whatever our circumstance may be, for the sake of the Gospel.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Scripture is so much bigger and so much smaller than the sentimental and superficial eye may see. To look upon the text with ever increasing delight in its riches that reveal the beauty and glory of God is far different from approaching it merely for a word, a motivational message, validation of one’s own bias, to tear down an opponent, or for sentimental and mystical means. Such a man will never know its power and beauty. He has not beheld it, shall not behold it, and cannot begin to comprehend or appreciate its richness.

That man who begins to search its depths finds no end, and yet finds beauty incomprehensible, while the Spirit reveals more and more of its glory the deeper he goes into the text. And though he goes so deep, he often returns again to its surface only to discover endless beauties he did not see before. Now those depths have made richer the beauty at the surface. The deeper he goes, the more beautiful the surface becomes.

The longer he abides in its abundant riches, the more rightly he sees himself and thinks himself no better than the man who has just been born again. For he, like him, has experienced new life as a gift. Though he may possess that by which he may encourage the new saint in his way, teaching him in the truth, they stand upon equal footing before a holy God, justified by faith alone in Christ alone. What a gift.

Oh, no man can truly comprehend it. The heart oft takes flight, tears sting the eyes, and joy swallows up sorrows as the mind thinks upon such mercy, such grace, such wisdom, such power: that God would save enemies of such holiness, regenerate them, and declare them justified by the perfect life and death of Another, the only One worthy and able to save them, Christ Jesus, truly God, who took upon Himself the form of a servant, adding flesh to His deity, living the righteous life we could not live, and dying the death we deserve, willingly doing so for the glory of God.

How can it be that the heart forgets such benefits, such beauty, such grace, such mercy? It attendeth not to that sweet counsel of the Lord by searching deeply into His Word and oft finding riches even upon its surface. God’s Word is never bitter, though the heart may grow bitter. It is the rich bread upon which every dear saint finds his delight. He daily partakes of it, and the soul is satisfied.

The Spirit works in the man for whom the daily partaking of the Word is not mere duty or superficial reading, but delight upon which he meditates day and night. The heart and mind, the will and emotions, all are being transformed according to the will of God. Such is the man whose desires are increasingly conformed to the will of God through the Word, and therefore he prays according to that will. His delight is in the Word of God, and his desire is that the will of God be done.

What good plans might there be but that which God has ordained and shall surely come to pass? In whom shall the saint trust for his care, his needs, and his desires, but the One who does all things well? Let the heart abide in the Word of God and the mind meditate day and night, such that the saint is set in watchfulness to behold the good that God has ordained. For He can do nothing but that which is right, good, holy, and just.

And in His mercy and grace, they contend not against His other perfections. Rather, the wonder is this: that God’s grace is abundant and His justice fully satisfied in Christ toward all who trust in Him. Even in His discipline upon His children, they shall find mercy and grace. They shall not despise it, but be humbled under it, lest they should be found illegitimate. All God does is good.

In the rising and setting of each new day, eternity itself testifies: before anything existed, God. The Triune God, in need of nothing and no one, created. There was no longing in Him, nothing incomplete or lacking. God created to display His glory and His power.

If at the beginning it is settled in the heart of man that God created because something in Him was lacking, or because He desired companionship, then before Genesis 1 we have already stumbled. “In the beginning God.” Yes. And “in the beginning God created,” not from need, but for His own glory.

The fall of man came as no surprise to God. He is not a weak deity imagined by the minds of men. He has revealed Himself in creation, wherein all may behold His glory and ascribe to Him the glory due His name. And He has given us His Word, that there we may behold His glory in a way we shall never exhaust.

The dead hear the external call through His Word, and as the Spirit works, many hear the effectual call whereby men are saved. God’s Word is not mere letters rearranged to tell stories from the perspectives of men. It is the Word of God, His self-revelation for every generation. It is living and powerful, and no man has ever exhausted its depths or fully searched its surface. Yet every man who studies God’s Word with delight, seeking truth with a humble heart and mind before it, finds grace wrought afresh within him through these gracious means.

Dear saint, delight in the Word of God and meditate upon it day and night.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Bountiful in much, a man may boast and yet find little delight, for his heart is not satisfied. Men have acquired the world’s wisdom, power, wealth, successes, and praises only to discover that it is all worthless. It cannot satisfy the heart of man.

The heart is wicked and deceitful, promising delight where it cannot be found. And the poor man thinks within himself, “If only I had such opportunities, then I too would be happy.” Oh, these miserable souls, knowing not the lies of the evil one nor the deceitfulness of their own hearts. Their delight, their meditations in the night, and their dreaming during the day are fixed upon that which they will never attain.

One man finds himself at the pinnacle and sees what the poor man cannot: it is not what he expected.

Yet the poor man still dreams and despises the rich man, believing him to possess what he himself will never attain. Meanwhile, the man of worldly wisdom, wealth, and power discovers the emptiness of it all. As beauty fades, health diminishes, and the pleasures that once delighted him begin to mock him, those delicacies once enjoyed now become bitter to him. The heart grows hardened through the lies and temporal pleasures of this world.

This wicked man does not find grace beautiful. He would rather taste death and be swallowed up in it, despising God for taking from him what he most loved, for these things could never bring the joy he desired. Yet he would not have Christ, whose worth surpasses all.

For all the good a man may do and all the legacy he may leave behind, in the end it shall all be burned up and found to be nothing, worthless before a holy God who neither regards his works nor counts his service as any good apart from Christ. What remains to other men may serve them for a little while in this life, but if in the end it is found worthless before God, then what is it worth to you, O man, to spend your life storing up wrath for the day of wrath, that your soul should perish and all your works be consumed by fire?

For the little a man has in Christ is far greater than the immeasurable worldly wisdom, wealth, and power another man leaves behind in the world.

One man, to the neglect of his own soul, labors for what is temporal. He acquires much and leaves much behind. Another man finds nothing of greater value than to know Christ and to live in obedience to Him. What he possesses may account for little in the eyes of the world, yet what he has is precious to him, for he now sees rightly what once he did not. He has Christ.

And that his soul prospers in every way as he walks in obedience to God. Whether his works are esteemed by men or despised by them, they honor the Lord. What else, O man, do you need? Christ is enough. Be content in Him. Delight yourself in Him.

For what is despised and pitied by men may yet be pleasing in the sight of God: your obedience, your trust, your faithfulness unto Him. And what fruit shall come of it you do not know. That belongs to the Lord. It shall not be burned with fire.

Your soul shall be saved, and in your obedience your works shall glorify Him, for they are His. You are His. Delight yourself in Him.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

There are those who create a “safe place” for questions and for “testing” beliefs. They are open and welcoming. They are friendly and have some “convictions” formed by their testing, yet they are often marked by an openness to being challenged and “corrected.” When you come out of bad theology and are fearful to enter another place where convictions are strong and unyielding, formed by the Word, tested, approved, sound, and proclaimed with authority, you may find yourself more comfortable in a place where you can test everything.

This place is often apologetics from a biblical worldview that encourages testing everything using Scripture and learning how to give a defense for what you believe. I use all that language in the beginning firmly and positively because as you grow in testing your beliefs against Scripture, this place often becomes less convincing and eventually a place that must be outgrown. A place that sets itself up as safe for testing beliefs and ideas against Scripture can, over time, reveal itself as a place where few real convictions are ever formed from Scripture itself.

As much as it sets itself in opposition to progressive Christianity that is open, inclusive, and welcoming of questions and different beliefs based on subjective experiences and ideas, with Scripture treated as merely another helpful tool rather than authoritative and sufficient, this increasingly popular apologetic world often has its own dangers as well. It is not all bad. There are some there who hold firm convictions based on the authority of Scripture. Yet this newer apologetic culture often feels compelled to remain perpetually “open.” Its foundation becomes the idea that one could always be wrong and must always remain willing to be shown otherwise. At first this sounds humble and careful. Yet if we never arrive at firm convictions grounded in Scripture, we become like those tossed to and fro.

When beliefs like evolution are introduced into the Christian worldview, when doctrines such as annihilationism are treated as acceptable possibilities within Christian orthodoxy, and when popular apologists insist they remain open to multiple positions on such matters, many begin to view foundational doctrines of the faith as matters of little importance.

There is a tendency in this world to stand outside of Scripture and never truly land in settled conviction based upon it, but instead to remain perpetually open, appearing humble, careful, and concerned for truth, yet never actually formed by it, convinced of it, changed by it, or able to proclaim it and let it speak. Scripture becomes something continually examined by man rather than unleashed as authoritative, powerful, transformative, and able to humble sinners and lead them into truth.

Apologetics have their rightful place in the Christian life, but if they become a world unto themselves they can become dangerous. Every Christian should be encouraged and strengthened in learning how to test beliefs and defend them according to what Scripture says and means. Yet many today are entering a world of apologetics where there is constant learning, engagement with competing worldviews, and increasingly blurred lines. What presents itself as wise, discerning, and impenetrable begins revealing susceptibility to deception through persuasive arguments, exposing a lack of settled conviction grounded in Scripture and a lack of being shaped by sound doctrine.

Apologetics are not inherently bad. It is biblical. They are good and useful in their proper place. Yet if we are not careful, we can create a place that sounds safe and open, welcoming every idea for examination, where regenerate and unregenerate alike gather in such a way that over time many who once appeared discerning begin themselves to be shaped by the very worldviews they once opposed. They begin mixing truth with error. They begin questioning doctrines long held within the Christian faith and biblical worldview. They cannot easily be pinned down as denying these doctrines because they remain “open.” They neither clearly reject foundational truths nor openly affirm what opposes them. Yet how can one truly defend convictions he himself remains unconvinced of them? And how can the heart and mind be shaped by sound doctrine while remaining perpetually open to error?

If one creates a safe place for testing beliefs, welcomes all ideas, encourages every man in his own way, and says he believes what he believes yet could always be convinced otherwise, not from humble submission to Scripture but from an unwillingness to arrive at settled conviction, he is not a safe guide. He is unstable. He is always studying yet never anchored. He holds positions only so long as they appear convincing, remaining perpetually open to abandoning them should something else appear more persuasive.

Friend, if our studying, testing, and searching of Scripture are not done in humility, with a sincere desire for truth, with minds and hearts convinced, shaped, and submitted to it, but instead from a posture that continually stands outside of Scripture and weighs it against competing worldviews to determine what sounds best to us, then how are we different from the world?

We must come to Scripture in pursuit of truth. The world of apologetics is often a mixed bag, and mixtures rarely end well. We do not purify error by mingling with it. We are called to proclaim the truth, not merely as participants in a battle of ideas, but with conviction of the truth and love for those in error, while also understanding our own weakness and susceptibility to deception.

Much of the apologetic world is not truly “safe.” It presents itself as a proper foundation where competing worldviews are challenged and Christians maintain fellowship despite disagreements. Politics have entered this arena as well, and even foundational doctrines are now regularly treated as open questions. There is a massive difference between testing and perpetual questioning. One goes to Scripture seeking truth and stands firmly in what it says. The other remains perpetually unconvinced, always “open” to being persuaded otherwise.

When I came out of bad theology, I found refuge among many apologists. I learned much from them about why we can trust our Bibles, how to test what is being said, how to recognize fallacious arguments, and similar helpful tools. Yet what I did not learn from them was settled conviction grounded in Scripture. I learned how to ask questions and conduct research, but I did not learn how to truly study my Bible or grow in sound doctrine.

Their tools and methods helped me learn not to blindly believe whatever I was taught simply because someone claimed authority, anointing, or special revelation. Yet they did not teach me how to rightly handle Scripture itself or how to grow in sound doctrine through its faithful exposition.

Then I found discernment ministries. These ministries helped me learn how to test sermons and teachings against what Scripture actually says. In different ways they helped expose how deeply deceived I had been and how blindly I had followed false teachers for so long. I learned that I had formed an entirely wrong way of hearing God and reading my Bible. It was deeply humbling as I listened to sharp and often well deserved rebukes that once described me as well. Yet even as I learned discernment and how to test all things, I still needed faithful exposition of Scripture itself in order to truly know what I was testing everything against.

Then came the pastors I had always been warned about, men said to be dull, dry, lifeless, lacking the Spirit, Pharisaical, or possessing a “religious spirit.” I began listening to them.

I approached their teaching ready to test everything against Scripture. I was ready to apply everything I had learned about discernment and testing. What I found instead were men opening the Scriptures in a way I had never encountered before. Nothing was obscured. The text itself was laid open plainly so that every man’s teaching could be examined in its light. These men were not claiming new revelation. They simply opened the text and let it speak.

All those years I thought I was “hearing God,” yet as these men preached verse by verse and book by book, I heard the voice of God in Scripture more clearly than I ever had before. My heart and mind were being changed and shaped by the Word itself. I did not abandon discernment under their teaching. Rather, applying what I had learned drove me deeper into Scripture, where I beheld the beauty and glory of God more clearly than ever before. There I encountered the true work of the Holy Spirit. There my love for God, His Word, His people, and His Gospel grew. I began to love the true voice of God in Scripture, the very voice I had once learned to silence and obscure.

As years have passed and I have spent more time under sound teaching, learning and testing all things so that my beliefs are anchored in Scripture, I remain grateful for apologetics in the life of believers, that we may give a defense for what we believe. I am grateful for faithful discernment ministries that help many learn to test all things according to sound doctrine. Yet most of all I am grateful to God for faithful pastors who preach the Word, warn against error, and whose ministry is not fragmented into isolated categories because under the authority of Scripture they rightly divide the Word of God and in doing so faithfully accomplish it all.

I find the most faithful work to which every believer should be pointed is that of sound churches, healthy churches being formed through the faithful exposition of biblically qualified elders. Find a doctrinally sound church and join it.

Grace and peace, dear precious saints.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

When we misunderstand perseverance, much like when we confuse justification and sanctification, men once again begin to trust in works or merit alongside faith in order to complete the race and stand before God.

Yet Scripture makes clear that it is He who began a good work in us, and it is He who will complete what He has begun.

This does not mean we sit back and do nothing. Rather, it means that from beginning to end salvation is all of grace. And if it is all of grace, then even our good works, our sanctification, our obedience, our repentance, our overcoming, and our finishing well are evidences of grace at work within us, empowering us to obey, to walk worthy of the calling, to repent, to believe, to overcome, and to finish well.

These things are not works we accomplish so that we may keep ourselves saved. To think this way is to add something to what Christ has done. It suggests that His work is good but incomplete, sufficient to begin salvation but insufficient to bring His people safely to the end.

This does not mean that perseverance occurs apart from the means God has ordained. God preserves His people through His Word, through prayer, through repentance, through the ordinary means of grace, and through the Spirit’s continual work in them. Yet even these are gifts of grace and not grounds for boasting.

We are justified by faith in Christ. We who are in Christ are declared righteous before God. We are righteous by the righteousness of Another. We are righteous in Christ.

We are positionally sanctified, and we are progressively being sanctified. We must be careful not to confuse these truths. When we feel unworthy, when we feel the weight of our sins, and when we wrestle with assurance, we ought indeed to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. Yet if we are in Christ, then we are justified. We have been declared righteous. It is a forensic declaration. We cannot become more or less righteous before God, for the righteousness of Christ is perfect.

This must not be confused with progressive sanctification. As we hear God’s Word, grow in knowledge, and mature in faith, we are being conformed more and more into the image of Christ by the gracious work of God within us. This adds nothing to our justification and takes nothing away from it. Rather, sanctification is evidence that our justification is real. God has declared us righteous in Christ, and He is sanctifying us accordingly, conforming us to the image of His Son.

We feel our sin more deeply now and become increasingly sensitive to it as we mature in the faith because we know Him, love Him, and long to put off these sinful bodies and be with Him. Yet we remain here for the glory of God.

That we finish well is no cause for boasting, as though we had contributed something to our salvation. From beginning to end it is all of grace. Our sanctification and glorification are as much works of divine grace as our justification. Our faith, our repentance, our daily dying to self, our growth in holiness, our putting off the deeds of the flesh and putting on what is holy and pleasing to God, our overcoming, and even our breathing our last in Christ are all of grace.

If at any point we begin to think of perseverance as our own efforts added to faith in order to keep ourselves saved, then we must return to the reality of our once dead hearts and remember that our beginning in Christ was entirely a work of grace. So it has always been, and so it will be to the end.

The man who believes he began in Christ by his own power, imagining faith to be something naturally existing within himself rather than a gift of grace, will always be unstable and fearful. He will constantly seek something to reassure himself that God still loves him. He will not deal honestly with his remaining sin, nor will he behold the beauty of the Word that sanctifies him, because he lives in fear that he may yet lose his salvation. He needs the Gospel. It is possible he has not begun well and neither shall it be possible for him to end well.

He disciplines himself, not from the freedom of grace, but from fear. He strives after holiness, not as one being transformed by looking into the perfect law of liberty and being conformed to Christ, but as one attempting to preserve himself. Such a man will often live either in pride or despair.

Yet the believer who understands grace rightly does not become careless toward holiness. Rather, he fights sin all the more because he loves Christ, because he has been set free, and because the Spirit of God is at work within him conforming him to the image of the Son.

If he were to read men like Martin Luther, he might come to see more clearly what kind of man he is, seeing in Luther something of his own striving. A man who disciplined his body, labored after holiness, and sought righteousness before God, yet found it impossible to attain. From there he came to know a grace he had not known, sufficient for all of life. A righteousness imputed through faith in Christ, whereby he is justified. The same grace also empowers godliness in Him. There can be no assurance or comfort in continuing where one has not begun well.

Many men are exhausted professors of faith, laboring endlessly to sustain what they have never truly understood: grace that not only brings life to dead hearts, but grace that results in faith and repentance, whereby men are justified, are being sanctified, and will one day be glorified.

For Christ, who began a good work in His people, will complete it. It is His power at work in those who belong to Him. He will not fail.

And if men fall away finally, they do not prove that faith has failed or that Christ has failed, for He cannot fail. Rather, they reveal that their faith was never genuine.

But where men persevere, that perseverance is the ongoing effect of God’s preserving grace working through faith, and it will be evidenced in sanctification, demonstrating that what has been declared about them in justification is true, and that it is God Himself who began and who will finish the work He began.

He has promised. He is faithful. It is all of grace.