And up through that root will flow the sap of grace, and out onto the branches of your life will come the fruit of a whole new way of talking. If the fruit is rotten as soon as it appears on the branch (as soon as the words come out of the mouth), then the tree is bad. It's not a dirty word. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. That is why these points are sometimes called the doctrines of grace. If my mother had only washed out my mouth with soap, and never prayed and labored to wash out my unloving heart with the gospel of the grace of God, I might today have an antiseptic mouth, but I probably wouldn't be a Christian. There was no moral beauty, no holiness, no love. Sharing your own self with someone means getting close — not just sharing information, but sharing life, sharing space. The issue is not whether our mouth can avoid gross language; the issue is whether our mouth is a means of grace. “The doctrine of the disciplines,” says J.I. This is exactly what Paul does here in verse 29. It is the day when the long battle with sin will be over. Our response to the mercy and grace of God should be to fall on our knees in worship and thanksgiving. Whatever the term, the key is that God has revealed certain channels through which he regularly pours out his favor. All our work is to be a display of grace. He had a broken body, a despairing mind, and a lonely soul. or "Damn right!" Rotten language makes people sick if they are forced to eat it. Often I meet Christians who are in spiritual malaise, holding on to their faith but not advancing it much. The “older,” more mature Christian is giving of their time and energy to intentionally invest in a younger believer. or "Hell, no!" We can only go so deep with Jesus until we start yearning to reach out. And put on the new meek and kind self created by God in his own likeness in righteousness and holiness. How can I give this younger Christian access to my real life in the faith, not some façade I can put on once a week? Question: "What is the definition of grace?" What is this idea behind the words, "evil," "unwholesome," and "corrupt"? He says, "Let no rotten talk come out of your mouth, but ask this: Is my mouth a means of grace? All they ever seemed to laugh at was sexual innuendo. Answer: The gospel message is the good news of God’s grace, so it is important to know what grace is and to constantly seek to get a better view of what grace does in our lives. We might expect Paul to admonish us to clean up our language. Failures to share the gospel with clarity and boldness. In other words, it not only fails to give positive nourishment; it can cause negative harm. or "Christ!" It was ugly. One veteran pastor writes. desiringgod.org In Lutheranism, the Means of Grace are God's instruments by which all spiritual blessing are bestowed upon sinners. It is not what you might expect. Among other things these expressions trivialize things of terrible seriousness. In other words, son, you need to be deeply renewed in the spirit of your mind.". The garment of a rotten mouth must be taken off and thrown into the fire, just like the Ephesians had burned their old books on magic in Acts 19:19. (Titus 2:11-12) Therefore the person who attains to such a life attains to it only by the grace of God, and not in his own strength. When life just doesn’t seem to make sense, or even when it seems void of any meaning at all, what can help us to know our purpose again? You will see your weaknesses and failures and inadequacies like never before, and with God’s help, it will teach you all the more to lean on Jesus. But the Christian question: Am I building the faith of others by what I say? It is not Christian just to stop swearing. The sacraments are mysteries in that we cannot explain fully what God accomplishes through them. "But really!" of what God is like in salvation. With this kind of language people take good things that God has made, and use them like mud to smear on whatever they get upset about. "The “means of grace” that the Bible talks about are His Word (“the word of His grace,” Acts 20:32), His … And so the simplicity, stability, con- fidence, power, and joy of God himself stand behind these means. But such vision is fleshed out in the uncelebrated, often unattractive normalcy of everyday life. It is out of hopeless hearts of discouragement and frustration and anger and bitterness and resentment that all rotten and hurtful language comes. the pursuits that flow from it. How, for example, does the act of sexual relations, created by God as good to be fulfilled in marriage—how does it get translated into a four letter word and carry the meaning of hate and scorn? And if the divine command, "Be holy as I am holy," carries for you the same weight it carried for Moses and Jesus and the apostles, you will simply find that "Holy cow" or holy anything will stick in your throat because it treats something infinitely precious as a trifle. We might expect him to talk about words that are not vulgar or rotten or corrupt, but are pure and wholesome and creative and clear. He is also the flawed and failing discipler’s Great Comfort, who frees us from having to be the perfect discipler. Here there is a place for the Christian’s almost heroic, big-picture, world-changing impulse. Instead of saying, "You don't need dirty language to communicate your intention," he says, "The root issue is whether your intention is love." It's simply a contradiction to believe in the horrible reality of hell and use the word like a punctuation mark for emphasis when talking about sports or politics. David Mathis is executive editor for desiringGod.org and pastor at. It does not strengthen or improve or help. That's fundamental to all vulgarity. All our secular work is to be a display of grace; and all our speech is to be a display of grace. It’s not surprising that we typically think of disciplemaking as one-sided. someone will say, "What's the big deal with saying, 'Shut up,' to your sister? I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:34–37). The same is true of damnation. Piper reveals that there really is no need to choose between duty and delight in the Christian life. 4. It says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.". I think she did right and I have risen up to call her blessed even this past week on her birthday. It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. Words can wound a person very deeply. Can you stand in an "adult" bookstore and look through the window (if there were a window) and be moved by the beauty of a setting sun? Do you see how all-encompassing and how far reaching our Christian faith must be? The seal of the Spirit is the assurance of a secured hope. He is author of. How does this happen? As simple as disciplemaking may sound, it will not be easy, and if you are honest with yourself, it will not be without failure. It marks the death to much, if not all, of our privacy. First, rotten fruit does not nourish. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Neither does rotten language. Preaching isn’t a lecture or even just teaching, but a particular means of grace God uses to challenge and cheer his gathered saints. It is a means of advance. It means being strategic and being social. Fallen man receives all the blessings of salvation out of the eternal fountain of the grace of God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ and through the operation of the Holy Spirit. Referencing Sex and the Body in Vulgar Ways. or "God Almighty!" And so, as Stephen Smallman says, “Our involvement in making disciples will be one of the most significant things we can do for our own growth as disciples” (The Walk, 211). She took me to the bathroom sink, rubbed the bar of soap around in my mouth, and then rinsed it out and made me go to my room. If the so-called ‘means of grace’ are laid out as nothing more than duties, the hinge of sanctification is obligation. Why get so worked up? Disciplemaking is often messy, difficult work. Habits of Grace (PDF) - Desiring God. He gives gifts to undeserving sinners that do not result in their salvation. Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines is a call to hear God’s voice, have his ear, and belong to his body. Now why should my mother wash my mouth out with soap for saying, "Shut up!" What he's talking about are the so-called "means of grace." These are amazing verses about the grace of God in our lives. John Piper: “It is a glorious thing to see that the sovereign God chose me, predestined me, purchased me, raised me from spiritual death and helplessness, gave me faith and adopted me, forgave me for all my sins, justified me, gave me his Holy Spirit.” If the Holy Spirit has been sent to give you hope in God, and instead of hoping in God you fret over your problems and become angry and bitter and resentful, then you grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Most of us do life alone so much more than is necessary. Third, rotten fruit smells bad and makes the atmosphere unpleasant. In good disciplemaking, we can demonstrate for our disciples something Jesus’s disciples never saw in him: how to repent. We’re on a mission to change that. The term for "bad" fruit here is the same word for evil or unwholesome or corrupt in Ephesians 4:29—"Let no evil talk come out of your mouth!" It’s like any pursuit; we get it better as we teach it to others. There is the journey to Jerusalem and the Last Supper together. If the so-called ‘means of grace’ are laid out as nothing more than duties, the hinge of sanctification is obligation. Instead of proposing clean language, he proposes a whole new way of thinking about language. However, disciplemaking is the stuff of Christian fellowship, and every believer, indwelt by God’s Spirit, can be a channel of God’s grace to another. Is your mouth a means of grace? The note we will strike again and again, without any apol- ogy, is that the means of grace, fleshed out in our various habits of grace, are to be for us means of joy in God, and thus means of his glory. It Probably Comes from a Diseased Tree. If Paul says “not only the gospel,” sit up and take notice. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the Envision big, global, many. And the closer sinners get, the more sin comes out. As Robert Coleman says, “One cannot transform a world except as individuals in the world as transformed.”. We bring that one or few in whom we are investing into the process and mess of our sanctification as we are entering theirs. 3. It is Christian to work to have in order to give—to meet needs. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. In our Side by Side event a few weeks ago, we asked our ministry partners to reflect on what motivates, challenges, and encourages them in their efforts to disciple their children. If you don't like what comes out of your mouth, listen carefully this morning, because the apostle Paul is at pains in this text to clean up your mouth from the inside out. The question for your mouth will not merely be the moral question: Am I avoiding dirty words? Living on mission is not only an effect of God’s grace coming to us through the channels of his word, prayer, and fellowship, but it also becomes a means of his grace to us in the Christian life. The overarching claim about this meaning of grace that I want to make is this: it refers to the truth that God, and God alone, is the decisive cause at the bottom of our election, our new birth, our justification and our daily life of faith and obedience. The discipler’s own enjoyment of the means of grace in God’s word, prayer, and fellowship serves to fuel them spiritually for pouring out into others. Mary was full of grace and that means she was full of God’s gifts. THE IDEA OF THE MEANS OF GRACE. And we teach them to observe everything that he has commanded, not what we personally would advise. These were called “the means of grace” by previous generations. Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically “This is an excellent resource for churches and individuals who desire to ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ’, and who desire to anchor their biblical faith in the history of the church.” - Ian Hamilton By not hoping in the day of redemption! What's wrong with saying, "What the hell!" Each gift we have is a grace! Though seemingly normal and routine, the everyday “habits of grace” we cultivate give us access to these God-designed channels through which his love and power flow — including the greatest joy of all: knowing and enjoying Jesus. Essential to thriving in the means of grace is taking ownership of the reality, deep in your soul, that God’s grace comes to you not only despite your effort (justification), but also in your effort (sanctification). It is a great contradiction of who we are as Christians if we say, "God!" 3. We baptize in Jesus’s name, not ours. But what I thank God for more than that my mother was intensely moral is that she was intensely Christian. Disciplemaking is as massive as the Great Commission and as minute as the menial details of everyday life. Am I frightened and anxious and angry about my life, or am I filled and overflowing with hope that the Spirit of God will keep me safe for the day of redemption? Failures in initiating. Am I building up faith into the people who hear?". “Ordinary means of grace-based ministry is ministry that focuses on doing the things God, in the Bible, says are central to the spiritual health and growth of His people, and which aims to see the qualities and priorities of the church reflect biblical norms. It stands for something precious and pure. The third kind of language I think Paul would include in his command not to let any rotten talk come out of your mouth is vulgar references to sex and the human body. It's not swearing. Start small: focus on a few, like Jesus did. We aim to “be with them” (Mark 3:14) to find the kind of effect Jesus had on his men: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. . We need not imitate his perfection in disciplemaking. means of God’s grace. So she taught me the truth of Ephesians 4:22–24: "You must put off your old self-assertive, mean, uncaring self, son, because it is corrupt with deceitful desires. If we think of spoiled or rotten fruit, like Jesus did, four implications come to mind. We typically tip, or lean, one way or the other as we begin the disciplemaking process. It means that a Christian is a person in whom the Holy Spirit of God dwells, and that this Spirit of God seals the believer for the day of redemption. (Which is why marriage can be such a matrix for sanctification as two sinners getting increasingly close.). Grace is an essential part of God’s character. And means of grace are always modest. So she used an unforgettable object lesson. First would be language that takes the name of the Lord in vain. Packer, “is really a restatement and extension of classical Protestant teaching on the means of grace” (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 9). Good disciplers must learn, in reliance on the Spirit, how to deal well with failure. or "My God!" To use Paul's phrase in Ephesians 4:29, it was a "rotten word." Is my mouth a means of grace? The answer is that when I said, "Shut up!" The second kind of language that Paul would call rotten would be language that trivializes terrible realities—like hell and damnation and holiness. He shifts from what we say to why we say it. When life just doesn’t seem to make sense, or even when it seems void of any meaning at all, what can help us to know our purpose again? Such gifts are bestowed by His common grace. The vision is huge — as big as it could be. “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. There has already been one — and he was perfect all the way from the shores of Galilee to the cross of Calvary, where he took our sins and failures. It’s not just friend-to-friend, and it’s not just teacher-to-student. Words can be like the virus that transmits the disease of meanness or vulgarity from parent to child or roommate to roommate or colleague to colleague. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. But not only does going deep with Jesus soon lead us to reach out to others, but also reaching out sends us deeper with him. There is an element of both — the sharing of ordinary life (relationship) and seeking to initiate and make the most of teachable moments (intentionality). But in this case, the means of grace are rightly perceived as gracious gifts and signs that God is at work in us, which increases our joy as we stand on … This is the content, “the deposit” (1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:14) passed from one spiritual generation to the next in disciplemaking. A Christian is a person whose rotten root within has been made new by grace through faith in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Here are four ways, among the many, that discipling others will help your own life, growth, and joy in Christ. But in disciplemaking, we learn to ask, How can we live the Christian life together? to my sister? But in this case, the means of grace are rightly perceived as gracious gifts and signs that God is at work in us, which increases our joy as we stand on the cusp of Christian Isn’t it incredible how elevating our efforts to reach others can be a catalyst for personal growth? When our best dreams shrivel and die, and our best attempts fall short, God is still God and he is still writing a great story for those who love him. to my sister. Those are the four kinds of language I think Paul would include in "rotten talk." (Which, incidentally, is why I would say to Christian women, don't spend two minutes with a man who uses this kind of language: rape and rotten language come from exactly the same root.). And as we do so, new manifestations of sin will be exposed in us, and we’ll find ourselves all the more in need of God’s ongoing grace. Mercy and grace are evident in the salvation that is available through Jesus Christ. Gresham Machen “Grace” is the most important concept in the Bible, Christianity, and the world. In the providence of God, persecution is more than an obstacle to the gospel. The Christian life not only connects our little lives with God’s global purposes, but it also translates the bigness of his mission into the smallness of our daily decisions and actions. The pitiful thing about it was that the nearer they got to the gutter, the more they laughed. How can you make your mouth a means of grace for others when you don't hope in the grace of God for yourself? Few questions are more important. Disciplemaking is the process in which a maturing believer invests himself, for a particular period of time, in one or just a few younger believers, in order to help their growth in the faith — including helping them also to invest in others who will invest in others. Not the power and sovereignty of God in general, but his power and sovereignty in the way he saves people. Jon Bloom, Co-Founder and Board Chair of Desiring God, shared how God uses family discipleship as a means of grace in children, including His use of imperfect fathers.
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