Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

When an atheist seeks to be consistent in his arguments and refuses to wrestle against his conscience and the law of God written upon his heart, he will eventually expose the inability of his worldview to account for the morality he knows to be true.

The atheist seeks to argue for a morality that is entirely independent from God. He makes the creature the ultimate standard by which right and wrong are determined, often appealing to what individuals or societies have come to regard as good or evil. Yet what one society declares acceptable, another may declare evil. One society may approve of cannibalism while another condemns it. One may approve of rape while another condemns it. If morality is ultimately determined by the creature, upon what objective foundation can one society declare another truly wrong?

The atheist has no objective standard within atheism by which he may ultimately stand. His moral judgments are ever changing as societies and individuals change. Laws may be just or unjust, but if God is excluded from the equation, what objective standard remains by which justice and injustice may finally be determined? The atheist may know that a law is unjust, but he must still account for the standard by which he calls it unjust.

The consistent atheist cannot borrow from the biblical worldview to answer that question. He cannot appeal to the law of God written upon the hearts of men, nor can he appeal to the fact that men will one day be judged by God. No. If he is going to reason consistently within his atheistic worldview, he cannot bring God into the equation. He must account for his belief in right and wrong without appealing to God as the ultimate foundation for objective moral obligation.

But the problem remains. He knows that some things are truly evil. He knows that some things ought never to be done, regardless of what a society may approve. He knows this because the law of God is written upon the heart of man. He may deny the God who gave the law, but he cannot escape the moral knowledge God has given him.

This is part of the great folly of atheism. Man, in his refusal to acknowledge God, declares himself wise while suppressing the very truth he cannot escape. He reasons as though he can stand independently of God, while the very faculty by which he reasons is a gift from God. The heart that refuses to consider God in its reasoning is not neutral toward Him. It is in rebellion against Him.

Yet we must never forget that the atheist is not beyond the reach of God’s grace. Can an atheist be saved? Yes. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The atheist is no different from any other sinner in his need. He does not need merely better arguments. He needs Christ. The same grace that saves the religious man saves the atheist. Salvation belongs to the Lord.

The inconsistent atheist struggles when confronted with questions that expose these contradictions. His atheistic logic may lead him in one direction, while the moral law written upon his heart tells him something entirely different. When pressed to follow his own reasoning to its logical conclusion, he finds himself wrestling against conclusions he knows are evil. He then attempts to reconcile two opposing foundations, his atheistic worldview and the moral reality that is consistent with a biblical worldview. He cannot. His struggle only reveals the inconsistency.

Many recognize the folly of the atheist but fail to see how many within the church have bought the lie. They may reject atheism while embracing ideas that are just as opposed to the truth of Scripture. They may speak of spiritual warfare while abandoning the very foundation upon which the battle must be fought.

The battle is for truth.

The Christian, however, stands upon a firm foundation, Scripture. We need not be shaken when men seek to expose supposed inconsistencies in our faith. There may be questions we cannot answer. There may be objections for which we do not immediately have a response. But our inability to answer every question does not make the foundation upon which we stand any less solid.

And this is precisely why, when challenged, the world will often seek to persuade the Christian to reason from somewhere other than Scripture. The Christian must not surrender his foundation in an attempt to satisfy the demands of sinful men. There is nothing deficient in the Word of God. The problem is that sinful men hate the truth, and the truth exposes what they would rather conceal.

The Christian who places one foot upon the firm foundation of Scripture and the other upon the shifting ground of worldly reasoning has already begun to lose his footing. The world will gladly draw him farther away from Scripture, lead him into arguments built upon its own assumptions, and then mock him for standing upon the very foundation he was persuaded to abandon.

Many who think themselves to be fighting the enemy through strange practices are not waging the battle Scripture commands us to fight. They have mistaken spectacle for spiritual warfare and counterfeit power for the power of God. They may believe they are defeating Satan and his minions, yet they have abandoned the very foundation upon which they are called to stand. They are no threat to the enemy when they have surrendered the truth.

There is a battle. It is a battle for truth. And many in the church have already conceded. They have abandoned their true foundation and no longer know how to stand in the truth or proclaim it. They busy themselves with supposed spiritual warfare while neglecting the very truth by which the enemy is exposed and the church is strengthened.

There is indeed real spiritual warfare, but much of what the world sees and mocks as spiritual warfare bears little resemblance to the biblical reality. Spiritual warfare is not found in the spectacle and strange practices so often associated with it. The enemy seeks to deceive, distort, and suppress the truth of God. The battle is real, and the Christian must stand in the truth.

Dear saint, do not do it. There is nothing wrong with using sound arguments. There is nothing wrong with answering objections carefully and thoughtfully. We may reason from evidence, history, morality, and the world around us, but we must never surrender Scripture as our ultimate foundation and authority. If an argument is true, it will ultimately agree with the truth of Scripture. If an argument requires you to step away from Scripture in order to make Christianity acceptable to the world, it is not an argument worth standing upon.

Stand upon the Word. The world may mock you for it. Let them. You are not the fool for trusting the foundation God has given you. And if you must be considered a fool in the eyes of the world, then be a fool for Christ.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Dead means dead.

Men are spiritually dead in sin. It is an impossible thing for the carnal mind to grasp and take hold of the reality of all the faculties of man dead in sin, enslaved to sin, corrupted by sin. The heart arises in immediate protest against such a charge. The weight of that reality means there is no hope within himself of changing himself. It means that his good does not outweigh his bad. It means his works can’t save him. It means he is not as good as he thinks he is. It means the words of other men who lift his spirits on the bad days and tell him he’s a good man and everyone makes mistakes can’t help him. But it’s not this truth alone that crushes him under the weight and reality of where he stands before God. (Ephesians 2:1–3; Romans 3:10–18; Romans 8:7)

We must understand the words good and sin. If there is no God, then there is no objective moral right or wrong, and there is no holy or perfect law by which we have broken and there is no sin. Every man may then do what is right in his own eyes. If there is no God, then there is no perfect law that reveals what sinners we are, and if there is no such law, then there is no need for the Gospel, for again, if there is no God, then there’s no Christ, and if no Christ, there’s no hope, no salvation. (Romans 3:19–20; Romans 7:7; 1 Corinthians 15:17)

This is what wicked men think to find refuge in. They want Christian morality over and against other religious morality as if they think it is better for a culture, but they want it so much as it may not impose on their sins or call them to repentance and faith in Christ. They want Christian morality so long as it continues to provide some semblance of normalcy and reflects some semblance of objective truth and so long as it allows for safety and comfort. They want safety in their sins and comfort in their sins. They want some semblance of normalcy and not the extreme perversions of the world forced on them whereby they must call evil good. (Romans 1:18–25; John 3:19–20)

The law is written on our hearts. Even their desire for some semblance of normalcy and their rejection of being forced to call what is false true is a reflection of the imago Dei. It is the law written on their hearts, testifying to what is true and not wanting to submit their minds to delusion. (Romans 2:14–15)

They have already deceived their own souls. But they have standards. They think themselves better than they are. Their standards are not so based and depraved as other men. They will not be forced to give up what is evidentially true and be forced to call falsehood true, for they recognize that doing so is not only to abandon morality but to give up their minds to falsehood, and how far might they be made to go? It is not holding on to truth for the glory of God and because they love truth. No! They hold on for fear of what it may cost them. Many such as these simply do not care if such men who love falsehood and love perversion live as such. They will not stand in their way. To each man his own morality and pleasure so long as he does not force it upon another. (Romans 1:21–25; James 1:22)

Men love their pleasures, their false perception of their own perceived inherent goodness, and their own understanding of a god that they can satisfy or, if it pleases them better, to put God out of their minds and suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. Men are content to live amid depravity and moral degradation so long as laws reflect their own perceived inherent goodness. Men are content to live alongside moral degradation so long as it does not interrupt their way of life or influence those they love into a morality they consider offensive to their own. (Romans 1:18, 28–32; 2 Timothy 3:1–4)

Every man has his own standard of goodness, and it is that which he perceives to reflect his own inherent goodness. When men fall according to their own standard, they simply change it or do good in order to seek to appease their own conscience that accuses them and to satisfy God if they are willing to think of Him at all. (Romans 2:14–16; Luke 18:9–14)

The problem with Scripture rightly proclaimed is that men must hear the truth that crushes all men’s lofty-minded thinking of their own perceived inherent goodness. No man escapes perfect holiness revealing that there are none good. Not one. There are none righteous. All have sinned, and all have fallen short of the glory of God. The truth reveals that every man is dead in sin. Every man has broken God’s laws. There is none who does good. Not one. And the penalty for sin is death. (Romans 3:10–23; Ephesians 2:1; Romans 6:23)

How can this be? Is God not love? How can He judge men perfectly when to do so would be to the destruction of every man? God is holy. He is perfect. He is just. He is righteous. He is good. If men hear, “God is not mad at you. He loves you. He wants good for you,” as the invitation to be made right with God, then they fail to hear the truth of who God is and the terror that is so. The beauty and glory of God revealed in Christ to all who repent and believe in Him is diminished. Men think less of God because He is presented as being so smitten with them. (Romans 2:4–8; Hebrews 10:31; 1 John 4:8–10)

It is a cruel lie to tell one dead in sin that God is not mad at him. Scripture says that God is angry with the wicked every day. It is to diminish the glory of God in all His perfections. Such men set the love of God against His justice, righteousness, goodness, and holiness. Such men deceive their own souls and the souls of many who cannot bear to hear the weight and reality of the holiness of God that reveals their own sinfulness, and they find not His grace and mercy exceedingly beautiful. (Romans 1:18; Hebrews 10:26–31)

The reality is that God is holy. He is just. He is righteous. He is perfect. He is good. The goodness of God is not what men want to diminish it to. Goodness is a terror to men who are not good. It reveals how sinful we are. Only God is good. We are not good. When we hear the truth of who God is, we no longer cling to our wicked standards or perceived inherent goodness. We are faced with the reality of our own sins before a holy God. (Mark 10:18; Romans 3:19–20)

Where can we go? There’s nowhere to hide from God. But God has made a way that all who would come to Him shall be saved. God is both just and the justifier of wicked men. How can He be just and justify wicked men? Christ! (John 6:37; Romans 3:23–26)

The beauty and glory of God in His grace and mercy toward wicked men has been demonstrated simultaneously with His justice and righteousness in Christ alone. Jesus, being truly God and truly man, born of a virgin, took on flesh and lived the righteous life we could not and died the death, paying the penalty for wicked men, bearing the full wrath of God for sinful men, then rose three days later and now is seated at the right hand of the Father. (John 1:1, 14; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4; Hebrews 10:12)

These are not mere words we learn intellectually and give feigned praise to a deity that took our place and now we can live as we so desire. As if God is satisfied and so we can be free to live as we so desire. No! God is holy! The work of salvation is the Triune work of God. The Father planned salvation, the Son secured redemption, and the Spirit applies that efficacious work of salvation. (Ephesians 1:3–14; Titus 3:4–7)

Spiritually dead men who clothe themselves in the language of religion and claim a relationship with God have no place with Him but in the lake of fire that does not go out. They have deceived their own souls. No man may enter but by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. (Matthew 7:21–23; Revelation 20:11–15; Ephesians 2:8–9)

The Gospel is for every man. Christ has come into the world to save sinners. He has borne the wrath of God and lived the righteous life we could not. His righteousness is sufficient for all who believe, and His substitutionary death actually secures the salvation of all for whom He died. The Gospel is proclaimed to every man, everywhere, with the command to repent and believe. He commands every man everywhere to repent, turn from your sins, agree with God concerning your sins before holiness, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of your souls. (1 Timothy 1:15; Acts 17:30–31; Acts 16:31; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Salvation is not merely being freed from guilt, shame, and a conscience that ever accuses, but reconciliation to a holy God. It is a holy God reconciling sinful men to Himself, whereby in Christ we who were once dead in sin have been made alive in Christ and given new desires, new affections that glorify God. We are given power that enables us to live and walk in the truth according to His grace at work in us, according to the Spirit at work in us. It is Spirit-empowered living. We are given new desires for His Word and fellowship with the saints and a genuine love for the lost, desiring that they may hear the Gospel so that they may be saved. (2 Corinthians 5:17–21; Ephesians 2:4–10; Galatians 5:16, 22–25; Philippians 2:12–13)

We who have been reconciled to God in Christ are compelled to proclaim the Gospel of salvation so that all men may be reconciled to God. It is the power of God that men may hear and believe. For many hear and do not hear. Many think themselves good with God. Many know not the reality of their own depravity, their own deadness, and the beauty and glory of God revealed in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:18–20; Romans 1:16; Romans 10:13–17)

Oh man, come and hear while the day of salvation still rises upon you. Turn and believe, for mercy remains. But the day shall come when all that abides eternally upon sinful men is the holy wrath of God, and there is no mercy, no grace for such men. (2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 10:26–31)

Come and hear. Come and see. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God demonstrates His justice as Christ willingly bore the wrath of God for sinners, so that He is both just and justifies ungodly men. Today is the day of salvation. (Romans 3:25–26; Acts 16:31; 2 Corinthians 6:2)

Men once dead in sin may, in Christ, be made alive. (Ephesians 2:1–5; Colossians 2:13)

Written by: April J. Buchanan

They come because they are broken, seeking, searching for something that will help with the pain, the anguish, the panic, the overwhelming and consuming darkness. The last place they have ever wanted to be is in the church among all those perfect people. They are desperate. They have tried everything else. If this does not work, they do not know what else there is.

Many come to churches that promise experiences, claim to hear God speaking to them all the time, claim to have encounters with God, and claim to be able to do deliverance and set people free through encounters and power spoken and flowing from those with special anointing, authority, and power.

The music begins and it drops their guard because it is not much different than a concert, and they are encouraged to seek personal encounters and to come experience God. They feel something, but they are not sure if it is real for them because these people just do not know who they are and what they have done and been through. But they do feel something.

Then the pastor takes to the pulpit and he cracks jokes, lightens the mood, and tells many personal stories. His message is very motivational and inspiring. He claims God gave him that message and that someone there needs that word from God. Could it be? Could God have really spoken to that pastor and given him that message for them? The pastor gives a message that speaks right to the brokenness of that man. It feels personal. While it is somewhat vague, there are certainly parts that feel like they were just for him. He begins to allow himself to think that maybe God really does see him and maybe God really does care for him and maybe He will help him.

Then there is a call to worship and prayer and to seek God personally. He does. But he is still unsure.

Then the pastor pauses and says that God is wanting to do something special for someone today and gives some specific and vague words. He then invites anyone who feels like God has been dealing with their heart to come forward.

He hesitates. He wants to come forward, but he is not sure it is him.

The pastor says, “Do not wait. Do not doubt. If God is dealing with you, come forward now so you do not miss out on what you came for and what He is ready to do for you today.”

He wants so badly to come forward. Could it be? He leans forward, but he is scared to go because what if it is not for him? His heart is going forward but his feet are like lead.

The pastor offers one last call and encourages “prayer warriors” to pray and, if they see someone struggling, to take their hand and bring them forward.

People around him begin raising their hands and shaking and speaking gibberish, and he begins to really feel something. He cannot stand there a second longer. He feels like something is pushing him out of his seat and drawing him forward, though no one is touching him. He wonders if that is God. Maybe God is drawing him forward.

He goes. He is crying. He is concerned that maybe it is not for him, as much as he wants it to be and needs this so badly.

The pastor walks along the front of all who have come forward. Catchers gather behind them. The pastor calls prayer warriors to gather around them and invite the Holy Spirit and stir up the atmosphere so the Holy Spirit will move among them. The pastor says, “Do you feel that? That is God. He is here.”

The singers sing louder. The worshippers worship louder. There is shouting, weeping, shaking, people speaking some kind of gibberish, and the intensity rises. Something must be about to happen. This is it. This is what he needed. He wants whatever God is about to do. He needs whatever this is. He wants to believe that God loves him and will accept him and help him out of this dark place.

The pastor begins speaking over different people and they shake and fall back. As the pastor moves toward him, he feels an intensity and heat rise within him. He is crying now. He is shaking now. He wants whatever that is. The pastor comes to him and speaks a word over him that feels so personal, as though God has not cast him away and as though God truly does see him and cares for him. He is overwhelmed. He is sobbing now.

The pastor leans in to his ear and whispers to him a personal word. Then he leans back and says, “That is it. That is the power of God all over you. God has highlighted you. He sees your hurt, and He is going to use you mightily. Surrender. Surrender to Him now. Do not hold back.” The man begins to shake harder and cry harder.

The pastor asks if he has ever spoken in tongues. The man says no.

He says, “Well, today is your day.”

He leads him to begin to speak whatever comes to his tongue, even if it sounds foolish. After a few promptings, he does. The pastor says, “That is it. He has got it. He has just received the baptism in the Spirit. Come on, church. Celebrate.”

Singing and dancing and shouting ensue.

The pastor comes back to him and speaks another word over him, and he feels so special. God has highlighted him. God has come to him. The pastor says, “Today God has set you apart. He is all over you.” The man weeps all the more.

The pastor invites prayer warriors to pray harder and musicians to play certain keys and all to join in singing repetitive lyrics so as to invite the Spirit’s work and to witness what He is doing. He then raises his hand over the man’s head. The anticipation in him and all around building. The man remembers how others went down following this same movement, and he wants it. He wants to feel that kind of power from God and that kind of love from God. He feels a rush within him. He weeps. Then the pastor speaks with power. The next thing the man knows, he is gently lowered to the ground by catchers. He is weeping and smiling and praising God.

Later, when he feels like he should get up, he does and is love bombed by many eager to make him feel welcome. His experience has helped validate their own beliefs as their highs have become lows and they have been struggling. They needed his experience to reignite their own.

He had such a different understanding of church and Christians. He will be back for this. This is not what he expected at all. He does feel lighter. He feels like he is on a high, and he does not want to come down from it. He is all in. He needs to maintain that high. He wants everyone to “come experience what God is doing in that place.”

And this is why so many sincere, hurting people become convinced they have encountered God when, in reality, they have encountered something else. They are not necessarily insincere. They are hurting people who desperately long to know that God sees them, loves them, and has not abandoned them. They interpret what they have experienced as the work of God because that is exactly what they have been told they are experiencing. They are led into experiences and not to the true and saving Gospel.

Many broken people go looking and find what promises encounters, experiences, and deliverance, and they find many churches offering counterfeits. Everything was built around them having an experience.

The true work of the Spirit is ordinarily by means of the Gospel rightly proclaimed and the Word of God faithfully opened and exposited. He works through the means He Himself has appointed. Do men have true experiences by such means? Yes. But they are not the superficial and counterfeit experiences of so many today.

The Holy Spirit works in the hearts of men by the Word rightly proclaimed, and men who come broken may hear the true and saving Gospel and be made alive in Christ, whereby they experience true deliverance, true power, and true regeneration. They may or may not weep. They may or may not feel something in that moment. But where the Spirit works in regeneration, He brings life, hope, and peace. There will be evidence.

Such men may not be able to look on a calendar and point to an experience to mark the day they were saved. But they may, in time, be able to say, “Over these last months I have come to hear the Gospel, believe, repent, and I can see the evidence of God’s grace and mercy whereby He has saved me and He is working in me. He has delivered me, and He has saved me. What more could I ask? I want to know Him more, so I shall continue to study His Word and know Him as He has made Himself known to men. And when I am weak, I shall remember Christ, who He is and what He has done. He is enough. I will trust not in feelings, impressions, or experiences, but in Christ who is faithful and has promised in His Word. I will trust in Him and Him alone. For the truth remains when all else is so fleeting.”

Christ, my Lord, my God, my Savior. My hope and my salvation. To Him be the glory, the honor, and the praise. Evermore. Evermore.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

There are those who, upon hearing that a church is deeply committed to sound doctrine, immediately assume it must be legalistic or pharisaical. Others assume that if a church is centered on the Word of God and committed to sound doctrine, it must not believe in the work of the Holy Spirit and therefore must be spiritually dead. Both are false assumptions.

The Holy Spirit works through the Word He inspired. Where the Word is faithfully proclaimed, the Spirit is at work. Where there is sound doctrine, there is sound doxology and a right understanding of the Holy Spirit. A high view of Scripture necessarily produces a high view of the Spirit, for it refuses to attribute to Him what He has not revealed of Himself. The genuine work of the Spirit is never divorced from the truth He inspired.

Such thinking is often the result of reactionary extremes. One extreme reacts against another until both drift away from the beauty and glory of God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. Yet doctrine and theology are not extremist language. When rightly understood and faithfully handled, they are beautiful because they reveal the character, purposes, and glory of God.

Extremist movements often arise among those who have heard the truth rightly proclaimed, not because the truth is lacking, but because they become dissatisfied with the simplicity and sufficiency of God’s Word and with trusting the genuine work of the Holy Spirit. They go beyond what is written, adding to or distorting what God has said. In turn, others react against those excesses by running to the opposite extreme. Though the errors differ, both are equally reactionary because both have departed from the steady foundation of Scripture.

The truth itself, however, has never changed. It remains steadfast, immutable, trustworthy, and reliable in every generation. We must be careful not to equate what is pure, holy, and faithful with the excesses of those who have misused it. In rejecting one error, we must not embrace another simply because it appears to be its opposite.

Our beliefs must continually be reformed according to the Word of God. We are called to test everything by Scripture, not by our experiences, our preferences, or the failures of others. God’s Word has proven itself faithful and trustworthy in every age.

We must also guard against reacting to the world or even to errors within the church by swinging to another extreme. It is possible to build entire systems of belief by isolating passages of Scripture in order to justify our own reactions rather than allowing the whole counsel of God to shape our understanding.

Instead, we must return again and again to the Scriptures, seeking to understand what God has said, what He means, and how His truth ought to be rightly applied. If we approach the Bible looking for verses to support our reactions to the errors around us, rather than submitting ourselves to what God has spoken, we are no better than those whose errors we oppose.

Scripture alone is the sure foundation of truth. It does not react to the changing winds of culture or controversy. It does not sway with the opinions of men. It stands firm because it is the very Word of God. Therefore, we can trust every word He has spoken.

Written by April J. Buchanan

All sexual immorality is sin. It is a violation of God’s holy law. It attacks the very design God has created and established for good and that reflects His holiness. When sinful men give themselves over to sinful desires, as those who are dead in sin do, they suppress the truth that reveals the beauty and glory of God in His creation and in His revealed law. This is evidenced in a culture that celebrates sexual immorality. Worse still is when the church compromises.

While there are extremes that burden the consciences of men and women with rules like the rabbis and Pharisees of the New Testament era, going beyond what was written in an attempt to keep men from falling, there is additionally another extreme in the church today. Little by little, truth is eroded as the church conforms to the patterns of the world. One extreme adds to God’s Word; the other diminishes it. Both fail to honor the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.

When we proclaim the gospel to the unregenerate, we do not always need to identify every individual sin, yet neither should we neglect doing so when it serves to awaken the conscience. Scripture bears witness that every person is a sinner before a holy God. No one stands justified before Him by his own righteousness.

We have all broken God’s law. Scripture teaches that whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at one point is guilty of all. God’s holiness is so perfect that even one transgression leaves us condemned before Him. Therefore, we proclaim what God’s Word declares of every person: we are sinners and lawbreakers before our Creator.

The gospel begins with the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the reality of the fall. We are born with a sinful nature and willingly commit sin. Therefore, there is no hope of salvation apart from the grace and mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ. The good news is that God saves all who repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for the salvation of their souls.

Sexual immorality has been pervasive throughout human history. It marked the ancient world, the culture of the New Testament era, and it remains prevalent today. Even among the Pharisees, God’s law was distorted. They taught that a man could divorce his wife for nearly any reason — she burnt his meal or if she spoke a negative word against his mother were examples of justifications they gave for him to divorce his wife —, but Christ exposed the corruption of their teaching. He revealed the true perfection of God’s law and uncovered the sinful condition of the human heart, showing that our outward actions flow from inward corruption. In doing so, He demonstrated that every one of us stands condemned apart from Him.

Fornication, adultery, lust, pornography, and every form of sexual immorality are violations of God’s perfect law. No particular sin is uniquely damning in the sense that it alone leaves a person guilty before God, for all sin is an offense against His holiness and brings guilt and condemnation. Scripture is nevertheless clear that there are varying degrees of guilt and punishment. Yet every sinner, regardless of the particular sins he has committed, stands in need of the same Savior.

Sexual immorality is sinful because God Himself has defined and established His good boundaries for sexuality, covenant, and union. He has called these things holy and good, and to violate what He has established and commanded is sin. Neither these sins nor any other can leave us righteous before Him through our own works. The world does not define what is good or holy. God does. We may feel that we have the right to our autonomy and to determine what is best for ourselves, but to do so in violation of what God has established and commanded, and to willfully do what He has condemned, is sin.

We cannot appeal to our own feelings of identity or happiness as justifiable reasons for breaking God’s law. Sexual immorality may produce temporary happiness and pleasure, but its consequences are beyond our control. It can bring destruction to homes and communities, contribute to the moral corruption of nations, and eventually influence laws and institutions to conform to the sinful desires of men. What begins with the rejection of God’s design does not remain confined to the individual. Sin spreads, and when a culture celebrates what God has forbidden, the consequences are far-reaching.

The man who appeals to his own goodness while remaining in rebellion against God’s design for sex and the covenant union of one man and one woman for life does not understand the reality of his own sinfulness before a holy God. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. God therefore commands all people everywhere to repent and believe in His Son. There is grace and mercy for all who truly repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls.

When the church, those who have been called out of darkness and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, begins to call good what God calls sin, or affirms and celebrates what He forbids, she misrepresents both Christ and His gospel. She obscures God’s holiness before those who are dead in their trespasses and sins. The law is good. It cannot save, but it faithfully reveals our guilt and our desperate need for a Savior.

The beauty of the gospel is seen most clearly when we rightly understand the law. Christ came and fulfilled the righteousness we could never attain. He lived the perfect life we failed to live and died the death we deserved. On the cross, He bore the wrath due to sinners, becoming our substitute. He rose again in victory over sin and death and now reigns as Lord and King. Through faith in Him alone, sinners are reconciled to God and clothed in His perfect righteousness.

The world will continue to call evil good and good evil because it is spiritually dead. This should not surprise us. What is grievous is when the church follows the world by altering God’s law. Once sin is redefined, the gospel itself is inevitably distorted. If sin is no longer recognized as sin, repentance loses its meaning, the cross loses its necessity, and grace loses its glory.

Yet when the church faithfully calls sin what God calls sin, she is not withholding hope. She is proclaiming it. Only then can she faithfully announce the good news that Christ came into the world to save sinners. The law exposes our disease. The gospel reveals the only cure.

If we truly love the lost, we will not change God’s law in an attempt to make sinners more comfortable. To do so offers false peace while leaving souls in danger. Genuine love speaks the truth. It calls sinners to repentance while extending the free offer of the gospel to all who will come to Christ in faith.

We must love every person because each bears the image of God. We must speak with humility because we ourselves were once dead in sin. Yet we must also proclaim without compromise that salvation is found in Christ alone. There is forgiveness for every repentant sinner, cleansing for every guilty conscience, and reconciliation with God through the perfect life, atoning death, and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ. To Him alone belongs all the glory.

Loving the sinner does not mean celebrating or affirming what God calls sin. True love calls sinners to repentance and faith in Christ for the salvation of their souls. It does not require us to withdraw from the world or isolate ourselves from those who need the gospel, as some take to extremes. But it does require faithfulness to God’s Word.

Loving the lost does not mean disinviting them from our table or separating ourselves entirely from them. Rather, it means welcoming opportunities to show them kindness, speak the truth, and point them to Christ. We do not celebrate sin, but neither do we withhold love from sinners. We demonstrate genuine love through both kindness and truth.

The church must hold fast to the goodness of God’s law, faithfully proclaim the gospel, and love every person as one made in the image of God, while refusing to celebrate or affirm what God has forbidden. Christian love does not compromise truth, nor does faithfulness require isolation. We can love sinners without compromising the truth, welcome the lost without affirming their rebellion, and hold firmly to God’s Word while extending the mercy of Christ.

Our hope is not found in redefining sin, but in the Savior who forgives and redeems sinners. Christ alone is the hope of salvation for all who repent and trust in Him.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

The beauty and grace of God, known and felt, understood and embraced, are a comfort to the soul in every age and every stage of life. Yet such tenderness and compassion, such peace and comfort, are not known merely when we see that all is working well according to God’s kind providence. He rules and reigns no less over those seasons in which His providence feels like abandonment.

The soul cries, “O God, my God, where are You? Do You not see my troubles or hear my cries?” Yet, like the psalmist, it is called to remember the Lord and find comfort, not first in changing circumstances, but in who He is.

I can think of nothing sweeter, more wonderful, or more steadfast as a foundation and a comfort to the soul than the truth known and believed concerning the character of God. Nothing.

When all is well with our soul, and it seems God is working all things according to His wise and kind providence, while trials appear but distant memories, the heart rightly rejoices in His mercies and delights in His goodness. But when those sorrows become familiar once again, and a new day dawns with troubles of its own, known to God though unforeseen by His children, we often discover remaining weakness within ourselves. The soul sinks beneath the weight of fresh burdens. Yet it is then that truth proves itself an unshakable foundation.

The remembrance of the God who is ever faithful steadies the heart. No trial may touch our lives apart from His sovereign hand. If He has permitted it, then it is subject to Him. Though the soul may feel such heaviness that continuing seems more than it can bear, and though God may seem distant, only the foolish man makes his feelings the measure of reality. The saint has learned the folly of resting upon feelings, for his God is faithful.
Whatever God does is right and good. Whatever He permits, He governs. He hears the cries of His people. These truths remain true whether we feel them to be true or not.

O despairing soul, remember the Lord. Go to the psalms and hear the cries of the saints who poured out their hearts before God. Open the Holy Scriptures and behold His unwavering faithfulness throughout every generation. Remember the Lord.

And in your days of peace and blessing, do not take His mercies for granted. Do not imagine them to be your own earning. Tomorrow may dawn with troubles, yet your God remains sovereign still. He is worthy of your praise in the daylight as in the night, in the cold as in the warmth, in seasons of longing as in seasons of rejoicing, in days of want as in days of abundance.

Look to Him. He is your great reward. If you belong to Christ, He has redeemed your soul. He rules and reigns over all things. Call upon Him when you are confident He hears you, and call upon Him still when your soul is cast down and you cannot sense His nearness. Cast yourself upon His mercy even when you cannot feel His kindness, for He can do you no evil.

Look to Christ. When the new day finally dawns and the troubles have passed away, you will discover that He was faithful all along. Though you could not always perceive His hand, He was accomplishing in you something far greater than anything you endured.

Trust Him, dear one. He is faithful, and He is worthy.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

To what, O soul, do you find beautiful? Christ? And how have you counseled yourself in who He is? Have you imagined Him as your heart desires and contented yourself according to doctrines and promises that lead you away from that most wonderful Lord? Is His Word beautiful, and are His promises better than what your heart has devised? Have you found Him wonderful? Has the oppression without exposed your heart as loving a Christ of your own making, a Christ you so quickly abandon in times of trouble?

Has your heart delighted in delusion and worked to uphold that which you have claimed to be true, and yet it is most evident that what you have claimed about Him is your own sinful heart’s delusions? Oh, how deceitful is the heart of man, which knows not that true and gracious work within. Has the heart drunk of its own bitterness, and the Christ which it has come to profess is not perfect and His work incomplete, so that this heart must add its own merit through suffering in order to earn its own way?

What doctrine delights the soul? That derived from its own secret and wicked chambers and dressed in spiritual rags that bear a semblance of being white until set against that Word which reveals its cheap imitation? Has that which is without or within governed and led the heart astray by its own willingness?

Oh Christ. Christ. What Christ has delighted the soul? Is He the God of Scripture or that which has been imagined in the mind of man?

Sweet counsel, bitter counsel of the soul. Meditations of imagination to which that spiritual and unbiblical heart delights. And yet there is Christ, beautiful and wonderful to that soul for which no other may contend.

Yet the Lord does not leave His people to the counsel of their own hearts. He brings them again and again to Himself, revealing what is false and establishing what is true, until the soul learns to rest not in what it has imagined, but in Christ as He has revealed Himself.

No matter how wicked and oppressive those things are externally, or how deep the wounds to the afflicted soul, the strength and comfort, the hope and assurance that the saint has in Christ cannot be overthrown. That man who has set his hope upon Christ and knows Him for who He truly is has not a heart defeated by what he endures, but a confidence that though he may be weak, he is strengthened by that gracious work within. He sets his mind upon the truth of who God is, and once again he is encouraged.

That man whose God is the God of Scripture, upon whom he has fixed every hope and assurance, may find strength and encouragement no matter what he endures. He speaks not to his own heart false hope, false assurances, false promises, and then claims them as his own, determining that if his heart has admired such things then they must have been placed there by God, and thus his heart leads him off into ruin while doing so in God’s name.

Oh no. Bitter and wicked heart. That heart which delights in misery to its own pleasure or embraces desires that delude the soul. That saint who has learned how to speak to his own heart does so according to the truth of who God is and what He has said as He meant it in His Word. That saint fears not that what he has said God would do will make him a liar and deceiver. No, that saint is not speaking imaginations of his own heart. He has counseled his heart according to God’s Word and therein finds every promise to be true.

The burden is not on him to see it come to pass. That is for God. He is to believe what the Lord has said, walk in it, and be comforted that no matter what he may endure in life, he has Christ, whom he shall find to be greater than every earthly delight.

Christ when he rises. Christ when he labors. Christ when he errs and repents. Christ when he struggles. Christ in the day. Christ in the night. Christ to lead him home.

For as many reasons as his heart finds to be dissatisfied, frustrated, tormented, boastful, proud, or arrogant, so much the more does he find Christ beautiful, and in his heart that which remains is placed under the authority and sanctifying power of the Word and work of the Spirit.

He submits himself to the Word, seeking that beautiful work within whereby he is sanctified and whereby he beholds the beauty and glory of Christ, so that when he hears any word spoken contrary to the truth, or when his own heart entertains that which is contrary, he may immediately resist and rebuke every contrary thought and hold firm to the truth, setting his heart and mind thereupon.

Christ. He has Christ.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

How then do you walk, dear saint? Do you walk as one who trusts the Lord, believing that He who declares you righteous by His own righteousness imputed to you has spoken truly in every promise? Is He who began a good work in you powerless to complete it? Is He who is sovereign over all things surprised or dismayed as you are? Where do you turn your eyes, your ears, your heart, your mind?

Oh downcast saint, troubled traveler, fellow pilgrim, if you are His, you may well find in your travels hardships that assault your hope, and as you settle in a place, find yourself comfortable and compromising in your convictions, your soul assaulted by your sins. Dear saint, if you are His, you will err in the way, but He is faithful. He who began a good work in you will see it to completion.

You may find in yourself cause for boasting and then find in yourself cause for despair, but in both you shall be shown that there is nothing in yourself worthy of either. Your mind shall again be informed by truth, and your heart humbled before the One who is faithful. In the day of boasting, set your eyes upon Him. In the day of despair, whether by circumstances without or battles within, set your eyes upon Him. Look to Christ. Remember Him.

For who can ever make it to that Celestial City apart from Him? The greatest threats are not outside but within. For the mind of man, with its many thoughts, and the heart of man, prone to wander, find within themselves troubles, pangs, and loves enough to destroy him in a day were it not for the grace of God. That grace upholds him in the day of adversity without and, much more, in his daily battle within.

Any man who professes Christ and has no struggle within himself against his sin has lost sight of Christ and His Word. Let the man who loves Christ set his eyes upon Him and find that gracious work within effectual and powerful against every foe, without and within.

Let him be careful when assimilation with the culture is no longer good and pleasing to God but instead leads his heart after their idols, their love of self, their hatred toward authority, and their claims to love God while showing themselves His enemy. Dear saint, guard your heart.

For many live as those of whom the Psalmist spoke when the kings of the earth conspired against God and His Anointed. Citizens and aliens alike, having assimilated themselves, devote undivided loyalty to their kings and kingdoms, defending even those “rights” that are contrary to God. They show their allegiance to their own happiness, comforts, prosperity, and protection at any cost.

The child of God in this world, whether alien or citizen, must first show himself a child of God and then, where God has placed him, honor Him there as a good citizen. The alien assimilating himself. The citizen obeying governing authorities as unto the Lord. Yet never so as to disobey God. For then he must stand where God stands and show his allegiance to Him, doing so as one who bears His name and represents Him before men.

Dear fellow pilgrim, your feet may travel far, but your heart and mind are prone to wander much farther. Is your hope anchored in Christ? Is your faith in Him alone? Wherever you are rooted, and wherever your feet may travel, be careful of your heart. If it is in allegiance to Christ, then you will honor Him there.

No matter how much difficulty there is in the world, we find within ourselves our greatest threat and battle. Resist the temptation to wander. Resist the temptation of the world to seek that which promises all your heart desires at the cost of compromising where your feet must firmly be planted.

And there, dear saint, stand firm.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Does your tender heart remain tender under the ever-increasing trials and tribulations of life? Has it found such grace as increases knowledge, strengthens the soul, and, while the heart grows wise, causes it to remain tender? Has knowledge increased alongside love abounding?

Or have the hardships of life and the striving of the soul, having found the exceeding sinfulness of sin and its increasing presence among men, caused the heart once broken for those dead in sin to now regard evangelism as time not well spent in prayer and activity? Has the wickedness of the world, and eyes now beholding sin as wicked and vile as it truly is, caused the heart to grow callous? Is the heart once tender now content to sit back and let God do the saving apart from the appointed means He has ordained, absolving itself of any responsibility to proclaim the Gospel whereby God works in regeneration?

Men well studied and not well lived are a contradiction to the work of grace. For it is grace that increases knowledge, and that not merely intellectual knowledge, but knowledge effectually wrought in the heart, changing the man and increasing his faith in God, whereby his life continues to demonstrate the power of God in him. A man whose life is contrary to increasing knowledge and genuine faith worked out in love is a man who ought to examine himself to see whether he is truly in the faith.

There are many who profess Christ and yet show themselves increasingly boastful and proud in their false doctrines, false beliefs, and false practices. Having their minds fixed in error, they resist the correction of Scripture and remain unwilling to submit their cherished beliefs to the test of God’s Word. Yet knowledge that is merely intellectual is not born of saving faith. True knowledge humbles the heart, exposes pride, and leads men to repentance and faith demonstrated in lives changed and being changed by the truth.

Dear saint, the heart is continually influenced by error. It does not naturally gravitate toward truth. Our bent is toward evil. We must be willing to admit this and put our hearts and minds to the Word, allowing it to straighten our crooked thinking. We must be humbled under its instruction, submitted to its commands, and take heed to its warnings and prohibitions. If we seek only what validates what we already want to believe and what makes us feel good, then we set our hearts on affirming our own errors and our own wickedness.

We do not naturally walk straight. We do not naturally think rightly. We must set our hearts and minds upon the truth, meditate upon it, understand our weaknesses, and discipline ourselves in the way of truth. The more that truth is worked in us, the more our hearts are changed, and the greater the influence of God’s Word becomes in our hearts and minds than the influence of the things we see and hear in the world.

The heart that increases in knowledge is not as ignorant or unstable as it once was. As grace works through knowledge applied to the heart, the saint grows in stability. Though he is more aware of sin’s snares, he is also better equipped to proclaim the Gospel, having gained knowledge that has humbled his heart. He knows the grace that has kept him through every place from which he should never have risen again. His love for God has only increased in the knowledge of who He truly is.

He will neither diminish God’s glory to win the lost nor dismiss anyone as too far gone, for that judgment does not belong to him. His command is to proclaim the Gospel, and he will do so in love for every lost soul. He may be tempted to despair as many reject that external call, but God is faithful, and He will surely save all who come to Him in faith.

If he should draw his last breath never having witnessed one man repent and walk according to that faith, he will guard his heart from despair at the wickedness of men, trusting the God who is sovereign in salvation and glorified in obedience.

Dear saint, we tend to our hearts not by seeking what prompts emotional excitement, but by understanding our weaknesses and looking to Christ and His Word. Set your heart and mind upon His Word. This is not merely a glancing over the text or seeking some comfort from it. It is going into the text so that it may search our hearts and minds, exposing every error and bent within us.

For if we think all our ways are perfect, we are already deceived. Let His Word search me and show me my errors that they may be made straight. Let me never think I have arrived, that I am perfect, that I have no error or bent remaining in me, that all my thoughts are sound and all my ways are right. For when pride takes hold, I shall surely fall.

Dear saint, if we increase in knowledge with hearts that desire truth, we will never exhaust Scripture’s willingness to correct us, straighten us, and lead us forth in righteousness. And when we have been shown that which is straight, sound, and true, let us hold firm convictions according to sound doctrine. It is neither good nor safe to seek a false neutrality that nowhere exists. Where God has spoken, we may stand.

Firm convictions in sound doctrine, where grace abounds, are never apart from genuine love. If grace has its perfect work, it will always show itself in love, and never in opposition to truth. Let both be evident for Christ’s sake.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

“The Lord knows.” “The Lord sees.” “God’s got me.”

Consider the beauty of these words on the lips of those who speak them rightly. How they honor God. How they express trust in His perfect knowledge, His righteous judgment, and His faithful care for His people.

Now consider how often these same words are found on the lips of those who have done what is wicked before God and against others, yet invoke His name in their own defense. How much worse is it for such as these?

The Lord does know. He does see. And He will act righteously.

Be careful of the man who has no fear of calling upon the Lord to defend him in his wickedness. Men who habitually lie often have no fear of God. They readily claim that God knows their hearts and sees the truth, seeking to place themselves in the position of righteousness while portraying those they have wronged as the villains.

Yet God does see.

Liars speak the native tongue of their father, the devil. Their hearts are set upon wickedness and falsehood. Though they invoke God’s name in their defense, He is not with them in their sin. Whether those they have wronged belong to Christ or not, God sees, and He judges righteously.

Unless this truth pierces their hearts and they are brought to genuine repentance and faith, they will continue in their self-justifications, convincing themselves that their evil is good and that God stands with them in it. They may not fear Him now, but they shall.

There is comfort here for the one who has been falsely accused, slandered, or mistreated. The Lord knows. The Lord sees. No lie escapes His notice. No injustice is hidden from His sight. His judgment is perfect, and His righteousness cannot be corrupted.

Yet there is also a warning for us. We must be careful what we say in God’s name, especially as His children. We know Him, and we represent Him before the world. We must not assume that because we belong to Him, we are always right, or that our words, thoughts, motives, and actions are automatically pleasing to Him.

The Lord does not defend our sin because we are His people. He disciplines those whom He loves. Therefore let us be quick to examine ourselves, slow to justify ourselves, and eager to repent where repentance is needed. Let us never presume upon God’s name to defend what He condemns.

The Lord knows. The Lord sees. And that truth is either a comfort or a warning.