Door to Liberation Guide Questions 2

Guide Questions

6. What is the common approach to fight the ingrained habits of sin? 

7. What do Emmet Fox and Heini Arnold said about will power as a way to fight against ingrained habits of sin? 

8. If will power cannot succeed, then what can help us in our fight against ingrained habits of sin?

9. If freedom from ingrained habits of sin is due to the grace of God, what is the role now of spiritual disciplines? 

10. How do you understand Dietrich Bonhoeffer's expression that "grace is free, but it is not cheap?"

Excerpt from Celebration of Disciplines

The Slavery of Ingrained Habits

We are accustomed to thinking of sin as individual acts of disobedience to God. This is true enough as far as it goes, but Scripture goes much further.* In Romans the apostle Paul frequently refers to sin as a condition that plagues the human race (i.e., Rom. 3:9–18). Sin as a condition works its way out through the “bodily members,” that is, the ingrained habits of the body (Rom. 7:5ff.). And there is no slavery that can compare to the slavery of ingrained habits of sin.

Isaiah 57:20 says, “The wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.” The sea does not need to do anything special to produce mire and dirt; that is the result of its natural motions. This is also true of us when we are under the condition of sin. The natural motions of our lives produce mire and dirt. Sin is part of the internal structure of our lives. No special effort is needed to produce it. No wonder we feel trapped.

Our ordinary method of dealing with ingrained sin is to launch a frontal attack. We rely on our willpower and determination. Whatever may be the issue for us—anger, fear, bitterness, gluttony, pride, lust, substance abuse—we determine never to do it again; we pray against it, fight against it, set our will against it. But the struggle is all in vain, and we find ourselves once again morally bankrupt or, worse yet, so proud of our external righteousness that “whitened sepulchers” is a mild description of our condition. In his excellent little book entitled Freedom from Sinful Thoughts Heini Arnold writes, “We…want to make it quite clear that we cannot free and purify our own heart by exerting our own ‘will.’ ”

In Colossians Paul lists some of the outward forms that people use to control sin: “touch not, taste not, handle not.” He then adds that these things “have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship” (Col. 2:20–23, KJV, [italics added]). “Will worship”—what a telling phrase, and how descriptive of so much of our lives! The moment we feel we can succeed and attain victory over sin by the strength of our will alone is the moment we are worshiping the will. Isn’t it ironic that Paul looks at our most strenuous efforts in the spiritual walk and calls them idolatry, “will worship”?

Willpower will never succeed in dealing with the deeply ingrained habits of sin. Emmet Fox writes, “As soon as you resist mentally any undesirable or unwanted circumstance, you thereby endow it with more power—power which it will use against you, and you will have depleted your own resources to that exact extent.” Heini Arnold concludes, “As long as we think we can save ourselves by our own will power, we will only make the evil in us stronger than ever.” This same truth has been experienced by all the great writers of the devotional life from St. Augustine to St. Francis, from John Calvin to John Wesley, from Teresa of Ávila to Juliana of Norwich.

“Will worship” may produce an outward show of success for a time, but in the cracks and crevices of our lives our deep inner condition will eventually be revealed. Jesus describes this condition when he speaks of the external righteousness of the Pharisees. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…. I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter” (Matt. 12:34–36, [italics added]). You see, by dint of will people can make a good showing for a time, but sooner or later there will come that unguarded moment when the “careless word” will slip out to reveal the true condition of the heart. If we are full of compassion, it will be revealed; if we are full of bitterness, that also will be revealed.

It is not that we plan to be this way. We have no intention of exploding with anger or of parading a sticky arrogance, but when we are with people, what we are comes out. Though we may try with all our might to hide these things, we are betrayed by our eyes, our tongue, our chin, our hands, our whole body language. Willpower has no defense against the careless word, the unguarded moment. The will has the same deficiency as the law—it can deal only with externals. It is incapable of bringing about the necessary transformation of the inner spirit.

The Spiritual Disciplines Open the Door

When we despair of gaining inner transformation through human powers of will and determination, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within us is God’s work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God; it is a grace that is given.

In the book of Romans the apostle Paul goes to great lengths to show that righteousness is a gift of God.* He uses the term thirtyfive times in this epistle and each time insists that righteousness is unattained and unattainable through human effort. One of the clearest statements is Romans 5:17, “…those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness [shall] reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ [italics added].” This teaching, of course, is found not only in Romans but throughout Scripture and stands as one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith.

The moment we grasp this breathtaking insight we are in danger of an error in the opposite direction. We are tempted to believe there is nothing we can do. If all human strivings end in moral bankruptcy (and having tried it, we know it is so), and if righteousness is a gracious gift from God (as the Bible clearly states), then is it not logical to conclude that we must wait for God to come and transform us? Strangely enough, the answer is no. The analysis is correct—human striving is insufficient and righteousness is a gift from God—but the conclusion is faulty. Happily there is something we can do. We do not need to be hung on the horns of the dilemma of either human works or idleness. God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving his grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us.

The apostle Paul says, “he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8). Paul’s analogy is instructive. A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then the natural forces of the earth take over and up comes the grain. This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines—they are a way of sowing to the Spirit. The Disciplines are God’s way of getting us into the ground; they put us where he can work within us and transform us. By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done. They are God’s means of grace. The inner righteousness we seek is not something that is poured on our heads. God has ordained the Disciplines of the spiritual life as the means by which we place ourselves where he can bless us.

In this regard it would be proper to speak of “the path of disciplined grace.” It is “grace” because it is free; it is “disciplined” because there is something for us to do. In The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes it clear that grace is free, but it is not cheap. The grace of God is unearned and unearnable, but if we ever expect to grow in grace, we must pay the price of a consciously chosen course of action which involves both individual and group life. Spiritual growth is the purpose of the Disciplines. 

Source: Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 1997, pp.5 -8

Door to Liberation Guide Questions

Guide Questions:

1. What is the primary spiritual problem today, and what is the remedy?

2. What can help us to attain a deeper kind of life?

3. What are the two misconceptions about spiritual disciplines?

4. What is the primary requirement to qualify in practicing spiritual disciplines?

5. What are the two major difficulties to overcome in practicing spiritual disciplines?

Excerpt from Celebration of Disciplines

I go through life as a transient on his way to eternity, made in the image of God but with that image debased, needing to be taught how to meditate, to worship, to think. —DONALD COGGAN

Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.

The classical Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths. They invite us to explore the inner caverns of the spiritual realm. They urge us to be the answer to a hollow world. John Woolman counsels, “It is good for thee to dwell deep, that thou mayest feel and understand the spirits of people.”

We must not be led to believe that the Disciplines are only for spiritual giants and hence beyond our reach, or only for contemplatives who devote all their time to prayer and meditation. Far from it. God intends the Disciplines of the spiritual life to be for ordinary human beings: people who have jobs, who care for children, who wash dishes and mow lawns. In fact, the Disciplines are best exercised in the midst of our relationships with our husband or wife, our brothers and sisters, our friends and neighbors.

Neither should we think of the Spiritual Disciplines as some dull drudgery aimed at exterminating laughter from the face of the earth. Joy is the keynote of all the Disciplines. The purpose of the Disciplines is liberation from the stifling slavery to selfinterest and fear. When the inner spirit is liberated from all that weighs it down, it can hardly be described as dull drudgery. Singing, dancing, even shouting characterize the Disciplines of the spiritual life.

In one important sense, the Spiritual Disciplines are not hard. We need not be well advanced in matters of theology to practice the Disciplines. Recent converts—for that matter people who have yet to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ—can and should practice them. The primary requirement is a longing after God. “As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God,” writes the psalmist (Ps. 42:1, 2).

Beginners are welcome. I, too, am a beginner, even and especially after a number of years of practicing every Discipline discussed in this book. As Thomas Merton says, “We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners, all our life!”

Psalm 42:7 reads “Deep calls to deep.” Perhaps somewhere in the subterranean chambers of your life you have heard the call to deeper, fuller living. You have become weary of frothy experiences and shallow teaching. Every now and then you have caught glimpses, hints of something more than you have known. Inwardly you long to launch out into the deep.

Those who have heard the distant call deep within and who desire to explore the world of the Spiritual Disciplines are immediately faced with two difficulties. The first is philosophic. The materialistic base of our age has become so pervasive that it has given people grave doubts about their ability to reach beyond the physical world. Many first-rate scientists have passed beyond such doubts, knowing that we cannot be confined to a space-time box. But the average person is influenced by popular science, which is a generation behind the times and is prejudiced against the nonmaterial world.

It is hard to overstate how saturated we are with the mentality of popular science. Meditation, for example, if allowed at all, is not thought of as an encounter between a person and God, but as psychological manipulation. Usually people will tolerate a brief dabbling in the “inward journey,” but then it is time to get on with real business in the real world. We need the courage to move beyond the prejudice of our age and affirm with our best scientists that more than the material world exists. In intellectual honesty, we should be willing to study and explore the spiritual life with all the rigor and determination we would give to any field of research.

The second difficulty is a practical one. We simply do not know how to go about exploring the inward life. This has not always been true. In the first century and earlier, it was not necessary to give instruction on how to “do” the Disciplines of the spiritual life. The Bible called people to such Disciplines as fasting, prayer, worship, and celebration but gave almost no instruction about how to do them. The reason for this is easy to see. Those Disciplines were so frequently practiced and such a part of the general culture that the “how to” was common knowledge. Fasting, for example, was so common that no one had to ask what to eat before a fast, or how to break a fast, or how to avoid dizziness while fasting—everyone already knew.

This is not true of our generation. Today there is an abysmal ignorance of the most simple and practical aspects of nearly all the classic Spiritual Disciplines. Hence, any book written on the subject must provide practical instruction on precisely how we do the Disciplines. One word of caution, however, must be given at the outset: to know the mechanics does not mean that we are practicing the Disciplines. The Spiritual Disciplines are an inward and spiritual reality, and the inner attitude of the heart is far more crucial than the mechanics for coming into the reality of the spiritual life.

In our enthusiasm to practice the Disciplines, we may fail to practice discipline. The life that is pleasing to God is not a series of religious duties. We have only one thing to do, namely, to experience a life of relationship and intimacy with God, “the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).

Source: Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 1997, pp.1-4.

A More Serious Theological Crisis than Dispensationalism Guide Questions

R. C. Sproul is among those who believe in the continuous use of the term "covenant of works". I found two articles written by him about this doctrine. In the first article, he talks about five basic truths concerning the covenant of works. In the second article, he explains the importance of the covenant of works in relation to a serious theological crisis within evangelicalism. 

The five basic truths are about the suitability of the term to describe the relationship between God and Adam as stated in Genesis 2:16-17, the fact that all men are under this covenant and are violators of it by virtue of natural relationship to Adam as the head or representative of humanity, that none is able to comply to its terms except Christ, and that the blessings of Jesus' obedience to this covenant can only be obtained by faith in Him. 

In the second article, before explaining the importance of the covenant of works in relation to a serious soteriological crisis within evangelicalism, R. C. Sproul mentioned first a lesser theological crisis, which is dispensationalism. For Dr. Sproul, dispensationalism is mistaken in its idea of the basic structure of biblical revelation. He finds dispensationalism's diversified view of redemptive history problematic. He believes that the answer to this crisis is found in the unified view of redemptive history offered by covenant theology.

The second crisis is far more serious than dispensationalism for it touches not the history, but the content of redemption. This crisis reminds of the struggle between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in the 16th century. This time it is a crisis within evangelicalism. 

This theological crisis is about the place of Christ's imputation of his perfect obedience upon those who believe in him. In short, it is about the place of imputation in justification. And so this crisis therefore affects one's view of the gospel and salvation. And according to Dr. Sproul, the heart of this crisis is the rejection of the covenant of works. 

Historic covenant theology maintains the distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. The covenant of works refers to Genesis 2:16-17 where we can read the elements of the covenant established by God in relating to Adam, the head or representative of humanity. The covenant of grace refers to Jesus' perfect obedience to the covenant of works and as a result, not only delivers His people from the punishment due to Adam's disobedience, but also inherits blessing to be imputed upon His people. 

Theologically, Christ's perfect obedience is understood in two ways: passive and active. His obedience is described as passive by bearing the punishment of "those who violated not only the law of Moses, but also the law that was imposed in Paradise." These two laws are one and the same. The law in Paradise where theologians got the idea of the covenant of works was republished later in the law of Moses. 

On the other hand, Jesus' active obedience is described as the gaining of the blessing of the covenant of works, which is perferct righteousness that he imputed upon His people. Dr. Sproul captures the important role of the covenant of works in salvation: 

"If we take away the covenant of works, we take away the active obedience of Jesus. If we take away the active obedience of Jesus, we take away the imputation of His righteousness to us. If we take away the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us, we take away justification by faith alone. If we take away justification by faith alone, we take away the Gospel, and we are left in our sins. We are left as the miserable sons of Adam, who can only look forward to feeling the full measure of God’s curse upon us for our own disobedience. It is the obedience of Christ that is the ground of our salvation, both in His passive obedience on the cross and His active obedience in His life. All of this is inseparably related to the biblical understanding of Jesus as the new Adam (Rom. 5:12–20), who succeeded where the original Adam failed, who prevailed where the original Adam lost. There is nothing less than our salvation at stake in this issue."

Guide Questions:

1. What are the five basic truths about the covenant of works?

2. What are the two theological crises within evangelicalism described by Dr. Sproul in his second article?

3. What is the basic mistake of dispensationalism? Distinguish dispensationalism from covenant theology in their views of redemptive history.

4. What is the nature of the second crisis?

5. Distinguish the covenant of works from the covenant of grace.

6. What are the two aspects of Christ's perfect obedience? Define each. 

7. Cite the paragraph from Dr. Sproul that summarizes the important role of the covenant of works in salvation. 

Is the Covenant of Works biblical?

Is the covenant of works biblical? For many western Reformed theologians, this is an old question. But for a young thinker like the blogger, I find time to explore this question only just now.

And so I read several articles on the subject written by Dr. J. Faber, R. C. Sproul, Wayne Grudem, Charles Hodge, Robert L. Dabney, Louis Berkhof, John Murray, and Shane Lems. I realized that these Reformed thinkers are divided on the issue particularly wether its continuous use is really consistent to the teaching of the Bible. 

I am done reading Dr. Faber's article. However, I intend to continue my survey of the subject. And so before I proceed to R. C. Sproul's articles, I want to use as an introduction the article from Monergism, which answered this specific question. 

The article does not deny the absence of the term "covenant of works" to describe God's relationship with Adam in the Garden of Eden. However, the anonymous writer believes that the idea is indeed biblical, and this is for five reasons:

"First, creation itself is portrayed in the scriptures as existing in a covenantal relationship with God (Jeremiah 33:20-26); and if creation in general is established in covenant with God, how much more must the climactic figure of creation, the man created in God's own image, necessarily be in covenant with God from his very creation?"

"Second, the account of man's creation in Genesis very clearly displays all the elements that characterize later covenants."

Third, the existence of a sacrament considered as a covenant sign, the Tree of Life.

Fourth, if the translation of Hosea 6:7 is accepted, it is clearly indicated there that a covenant was made with Adam.

Finally, the most weighty arugument is Romans 5:12-21, which the apostle Paul clearly stated that both Adam and Christ are covenant head or representatives.

Concerning the elements of the covenant, the article identifies four. These are the preamble, stipulations, negative sanction for disobedience, and reward for obedience. 

Those who are stumbled by the use of the term "Covenant of Works," the articles states that they prefer to use other terms like “Covenant of Nature,” “Covenant of Life,” “Covenant of Creation,” and “Covenant of Eden”. 

Guide Questions:

1. In what sense can we say that the "covenant of works" is biblical?

2. Based on the Monergism article, what are the basis for the biblicality of the covenant of works?

3. What are the four elements of the covenant?

4. What other terms prefer by those who dislike the use of the term, "covenant of works"? 

The Seed of the Woman Guide Questions

I will put enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.— Gen. iii. 15. 

Photo Source: http://www.goodsoil.com/projects/100-images

Genesis 3:15 is considered the "first gospel", and within this one verse is contained, as in the bud, the embryo flower, which the Lord hath planted, and not man. It is an epitome of the whole plan of Redemption, and contains truths of the first importance. The prophecy declares there shall be enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent.

We shall do well to consider them in reference to Jesus of Nazareth. The incarnation and birth of Jesus have, by the Evangelists Matthew and Luke, been so fully stated, that none but a strongly prejudiced mind can deny that he was the son of Mary, then a virgin, and that Joseph was only his supposed father, because he married his mother. 

The old serpent, or as he is frequently called , Satan, discovered his enmity towards Jesus from his birth; he stirred up the mind of Herod to destroy the holy child, Jesus, and thus originated the massacre of the infants of Bethlehem. Though disappointed, he personally attempted his destruction , and for forty days and nights did he try the force of his arts to tempt Jesus to sin. And, though foiled, he again resumed the attack, and suggested to the minds of the Scribes and Pharisees, priests and people, to persecute the man "who spake as never man spake." It is said he entered into, i.e. took full possession of, the mind of Judas, who betrayed Jesus, and also acted as guide to those who took him. Was not Satan the ringleader of those who crucified him, in whom his Judges declared, they could find no fault worthy of death?

Let us now behold the opposition displayed by Jesus towards the serpent and his seed. A great part of his life appears to have been spent in casting out and dispossessing devils from the minds and bodies of men; and in rebuking and threatening them, he proved that he came to destroy the power and works of darkness. His was an avowed and constant war, and the devils knew him as their greatest foe, and the destroyer of their power. Although the heel, i.e. the human nature of Jesus, was bruised in the contest, yet , by his death, (in which Satan for the moment appeared triumphant,) he gave a mortal blow to his power and authority, by delivering the captives of the mighty, and the prey of the terrible one. 

The cross, designed to display their scorn and abhorrence, is become the praise and glory of all the children of God, to whom, as unto their Lord and Master, the old serpent and his seed continue to manifest the same spirit of enmity and persecution. Did devils confess Jesus to be the Son of the most high God, and shall not we acknowledge him to be the seed promised at the fall of man, and that he is, at the same time, Mary's son, and the Son of God? 

The prince of the fallen spirits, the old serpent, or Satan, discovered his enmity to the human race in the garden of Eden; the woman was the first whom he deceived by his arts; but it was Jesus, her seed , who, in the after ages of the world, in the garden of Gethsemane, bruised the serpent's head, and at his resurrection, led captivity captive, and will eventually consign to utter darkness and perdition , this foe to God and man. 

Source: Anonymous. Jesus, The Messiah; or, the Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled in the New Testament Scriptures (Kindle Locations 245-273).

Note: The first two paragraphs were rewritten.

Guide Questions

1. How is Genesis 3:15 described in the article? Who is the seed of the woman?

2. Who is the serpent? Identify five instances in the life of Jesus that Satan expressed his enmity.

3. How did Jesus oppose the serpent and finally bruised its head?

4. In what way this truth about Jesus' destruction of the serpent's head affect the way you view your Christian life?

Guide Questions - Unbroken Love from a Broken Heart

Basahin ang artikulong ito at sagutin ang sumusunod na mga katanungan: 

1. Anu-ano ang napansin niyong kaibahan sa tatlong mga bersiyon ng kuwento ng pag-ibig ni Hosea?

2. Paano isinalarawan ni Preston Sprinkle ang pag-ibig ng Diyos?

3. Sa magkanong halaga nabili ni Hosea si Gomer? Ano ang ibig sabihin ng halagang ito?

4. Ano ang tugon ni Hosea sa ginawang panlalait ng mga tao?

5. Ano ang pangunahing mensahe ng aklat ng Hosea ayon kay Preston Sprinkle?

6. Anong bahagi ng kuwento ni Ray c. Stedman ang hindi kapani-paniwala? Sang-ayon ka ba sa kaniyang pagkaunawa sa kahulugan ng pag-ibig?

7. Paano tinapos ni Stedman ang kaniyang kuwento?

8. Ano naman ang binigyan diin ni Richard L. Strauss sa kaniyang bersiyon?

9. Sa inyong palagay, ano ang mga pangunahing dahilan ng paglalayo ng damdamin ng isang mag-asawa?

10. Bilang mag-asawa, ano ang mga bagay-bagay na pareho ang inyong interes? Ano ang maaari mong gawin upang mapagtibay ang inyong relasyon?

11. Paano mo tuluyang maaalis ang pabalik-balik na alaala ng pagkakasalang nagawa sa yo na gumagambala sa iyong matiwasay na pag-iisip?

12. Ano ang mga positibong hakbang na maaari niyong gawin bilang mag-asawa upang hindi na muling maulit pa ang pagkakamali sa nakaraan?

Guide Questions - Apat na mga Layunin ng Pag-aasawa at ng Pamilya

Basahin ang artikulong ito at sagutin ang sumusunod na mga katanungan:

1. Saan hinango ang mga ideya sa artikulo?

2. Anu-ano ang mga apat na dahilan ng higit na kahusayan ng pag-aasawa kaysa sa pamumuhay ng nag-iisa?

3. Ano ang ibig sabihin na ang pag-aasawa ay “lugar-anakan” ng lipunan?

4. Anu-ano ang mga apat na layunin ng pag-aasawa at ng pamilya?

5. Ano ang dalawang kamalian na dapat iwasan ukol sa layuning pagpapadami ng tao?

6. Ipaliwanag sa iyong sariling pagkaunawa ang kahulugan ng layunin na may kinalaman sa pagdami ng “banal na binhi”?

7. Buudin ang sinabi ni Greenham ukol sa magiging resulta ng pagpapabaya sa layuning pagpapadami ng “banal na binhi”.

8. Magbigay ng dalawa o tatlong mga hakbang na dapat gawin ng isang magulang upang maisakatuparan ang layuning nabanggit?

9. Ano ang dalawang kahatulan na mararanasan ng magulang bunga ng kapabayaan na tuparin ang tungkuling itinakda ng tipan ng pagpapamilya?

10. Ayon kay John Flavel, ano ang tatlong mga dahilan bakit kailangang sanayin ang mga anak sa kabanalan?

11. Ayon kay Perkins, ano ang tatlong mga prinsipiyo na ibinigay ng Diyos sa pagganap ng tungkuling ito?

12. Ano ang dalawang kalabisan na dapat iwasan sa pagdisiplina sa mga anak? Paano maiiwasan ang mga kalabisang ito?

13. Ano ang dalawang prinsipiyo na may kinalaman sa pagtatalik?

14. Ipaliwanag sa iyong sariling pananalita ang iyong pagkaunawa sa ikatlong layunin?

15. Anu-ano ang mga praktikal na pagsasabuhay ng pagtuturo ukol sa pagiging Kristiyanong asawa o ama?

16. Ano ang tagubilin ni Thomas Gataker na may kinalaman sa pagsasanay ng anak na babae?

17. Papaano sumamba ang puritanong pamilya?

18. Paano ipinakita ng mga puritano ang kaseryosohan ng pamilyang pagsamba?

19. Paano ipinagdiriwang ng mga puritano ang araw ng Panginoon?

20. Para sa mga puritano, ano ang batong saligan ng pagbabago ng lipunan?