My Resolutions for the Present Day
I hope you all enjoyed the 1st installment of "The Adventures of Neil Jackson," but this time I'm gonna switch to a moral serious subject matter. Newsweek did a recent article on the American people's search for spirituality. You can read a section of their findings here. I haven't actually read it yet, because this sort of topic is always coming up from time to time. Yes, people are searching to fulfill their sense of religious longing. But are they searching in vain? I assume that all one's striving to be made wise and morally pure will prove fruitless unless the truth is revealed to them by the One true God. Self-sufficient efforts to appease God are merely self-righteous affirmation of self-gratification. To know God, one must be know by God. As long as people try to define their own standards of righteousness, they will never yield to the will of God revealed in the Bible, nor will they ever experience true repentance of their sin.
Lately, I've been coming to a realization of how far I fall short of holiness. I trust in the power of Jesus Christ alone to satisfy the wrath of God concerning my sin, but I also know that a person who is "born again" by the Holy Spirit must bear spiritual fruit to indicate that he/she has really repented from a life of rebellion against God. Jonathan Edwards (remember him from a few posts back?) was so conscious of his duty to bear fruit that he composed a list of 70+ resolutions in order to help him evaluate whether he was living in sin or living for the glory of God. From what I know of Edwards' life, he was both a genius and somewhat of an obsessed fanatic when it came to discipline. But, nevertheless, though I may be unable to live in a disciplined manner so consistently as he did, I have no excuse not to be inspired by his lofty example.
So, with a tip of the cap to Edwards, I've begun a list of my own resolutions, which I given the working title: "Resolutions for the Present Day." Read over them and let me know if you think I've neglected any essential areas. Perhaps they will persuade you to think about areas of your own life where you consistently fall short of holiness:
1. Resolved, that whatever I do may be done with the intention of bringing glory to God. This resolution applies to both the commands of Scripture that I must joyfully obey and in every area of life that Scripture does not specify.
2. Resolved, to set my affections upon the glory of God revealed most fully in Christ through Scripture. Unless my soul pants for God as the deer pants for the water brooks (Ps 42:1), then my satisfaction in my state as God’s child will be found lacking. My desire to give love and to be loved must flow from my reliance upon the Fount of Every Blessing for my daily bread (Mt 6:11) and living water (Jn 4:10), which springs up to eternal life (Jn 10:13-14).
3. Resolved, that I shall not meditate excessively upon who I am or who I was, but that I shall ever draw encouragement by remembering who I am elected to be. The biblical hope of God’s deliverance and transformation of His people must be most dominant in my mind when my situation is most dire. When I distress over who I think I should be, may God then reveal to me that I should strive to be nothing else than the imitation of Christ, which is made possible by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
4. Resolved, that I shall be a faithful steward of the time God has graciously allowed me to go about achieving His work. To be a wise steward, I acknowledge that I must prioritize according to my given situations. I must not only fulfill my daily duties, but also to be diligent in my personal worship of the Lord, intentionally setting aside time for prayer motivated by Scripture meditation.
5. As one called specifically to be a minister of the gospel, I must rigorously and sacrificially pursue holiness by becoming informed by the Word and then yield to the Holy Spirit. I must turn away from the things that entice me toward both physical and emotional self-gratification to the abominable insult of God’s glory.
(Applications of Resolution #5)
•To daily strengthen the bonds of trust with my family, friends, and potential friends...
for the purpose of our mutual holiness.
for the purpose of our mutual joy.
for the purpose of God being glorified through us both corporately and individually.
•To avoid even the appearance of pornographic images.
•To avoid the even more dangerous temptation of pornographic thoughts.
•To repent whenever I attempt to manipulate another for my own selfish pleasure.
•To avoid adultery in my love for God, so that I might be adequately prepared should God some day bless me with the joyful burden of true love.
6. Resolved, to remember the weight of the fullness of the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20) and to be about making disciples of Him who sent me. As one called specifically to be a minister of the gospel, I must be intentional about seeking out individuals with whom to share the good news of salvation. In addition, I realize that God expects to use me to edify fellow believers in their spiritual maturity.
7. Resolved, to neither divorce my academic progress from my personal worship nor to confuse one for another. My theological and exegetical training enables me to delve deeply into a specific portion of biblical text or doctrine. Thus, by the grace of God, I am more likely to appreciate the fine details that the Spirit inspired to God’s authors than would be discerned from a skimming. One benefit of my personal worship allows me to gain an overview of the whole of Scripture, through a rapid and more diverse searching.
End for now.
I'm sure it won't be too hard to add to this list in the foreseeable future. Sorry if you came here expecting something crazy, but I promise I'll return to my regularly scheduled witticisms soon enough. I just thought some of you might benefit from what God has been teaching me of late.
Lately, I've been coming to a realization of how far I fall short of holiness. I trust in the power of Jesus Christ alone to satisfy the wrath of God concerning my sin, but I also know that a person who is "born again" by the Holy Spirit must bear spiritual fruit to indicate that he/she has really repented from a life of rebellion against God. Jonathan Edwards (remember him from a few posts back?) was so conscious of his duty to bear fruit that he composed a list of 70+ resolutions in order to help him evaluate whether he was living in sin or living for the glory of God. From what I know of Edwards' life, he was both a genius and somewhat of an obsessed fanatic when it came to discipline. But, nevertheless, though I may be unable to live in a disciplined manner so consistently as he did, I have no excuse not to be inspired by his lofty example.
So, with a tip of the cap to Edwards, I've begun a list of my own resolutions, which I given the working title: "Resolutions for the Present Day." Read over them and let me know if you think I've neglected any essential areas. Perhaps they will persuade you to think about areas of your own life where you consistently fall short of holiness:
1. Resolved, that whatever I do may be done with the intention of bringing glory to God. This resolution applies to both the commands of Scripture that I must joyfully obey and in every area of life that Scripture does not specify.
2. Resolved, to set my affections upon the glory of God revealed most fully in Christ through Scripture. Unless my soul pants for God as the deer pants for the water brooks (Ps 42:1), then my satisfaction in my state as God’s child will be found lacking. My desire to give love and to be loved must flow from my reliance upon the Fount of Every Blessing for my daily bread (Mt 6:11) and living water (Jn 4:10), which springs up to eternal life (Jn 10:13-14).
3. Resolved, that I shall not meditate excessively upon who I am or who I was, but that I shall ever draw encouragement by remembering who I am elected to be. The biblical hope of God’s deliverance and transformation of His people must be most dominant in my mind when my situation is most dire. When I distress over who I think I should be, may God then reveal to me that I should strive to be nothing else than the imitation of Christ, which is made possible by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
4. Resolved, that I shall be a faithful steward of the time God has graciously allowed me to go about achieving His work. To be a wise steward, I acknowledge that I must prioritize according to my given situations. I must not only fulfill my daily duties, but also to be diligent in my personal worship of the Lord, intentionally setting aside time for prayer motivated by Scripture meditation.
5. As one called specifically to be a minister of the gospel, I must rigorously and sacrificially pursue holiness by becoming informed by the Word and then yield to the Holy Spirit. I must turn away from the things that entice me toward both physical and emotional self-gratification to the abominable insult of God’s glory.
(Applications of Resolution #5)
•To daily strengthen the bonds of trust with my family, friends, and potential friends...
for the purpose of our mutual holiness.
for the purpose of our mutual joy.
for the purpose of God being glorified through us both corporately and individually.
•To avoid even the appearance of pornographic images.
•To avoid the even more dangerous temptation of pornographic thoughts.
•To repent whenever I attempt to manipulate another for my own selfish pleasure.
•To avoid adultery in my love for God, so that I might be adequately prepared should God some day bless me with the joyful burden of true love.
6. Resolved, to remember the weight of the fullness of the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20) and to be about making disciples of Him who sent me. As one called specifically to be a minister of the gospel, I must be intentional about seeking out individuals with whom to share the good news of salvation. In addition, I realize that God expects to use me to edify fellow believers in their spiritual maturity.
7. Resolved, to neither divorce my academic progress from my personal worship nor to confuse one for another. My theological and exegetical training enables me to delve deeply into a specific portion of biblical text or doctrine. Thus, by the grace of God, I am more likely to appreciate the fine details that the Spirit inspired to God’s authors than would be discerned from a skimming. One benefit of my personal worship allows me to gain an overview of the whole of Scripture, through a rapid and more diverse searching.
End for now.
I'm sure it won't be too hard to add to this list in the foreseeable future. Sorry if you came here expecting something crazy, but I promise I'll return to my regularly scheduled witticisms soon enough. I just thought some of you might benefit from what God has been teaching me of late.