Reform & Revive

First, let me say that the posts made here recently have been amazing. I’m excited to be a part of this and it’s been pretty cool to be in the company of some awesome people who have had some life and heart changing encounters with the living God that words can barely suffice to explain.

Additionally, one thing I have noticed thus far seems to be a certain aversion to the whole concept of “Knowledge” regarding God. It would appear that some of us, including myself, are at times turned off by this idea as it pertains to the great I AM. I should say that there is definitely one sense in which I find this distaste to be justified. No doubt, many of us are familiar with how “Knowledge” of God has been abused and manipulated and often led to the development of cold, dead religion as opposed to the joy and delight that is found in authentic Christianity. Certainly we must seek the latter, reminding ourselves of the caution issued to us by Dr. Wayne Grudem when he said, “The study of theology is not merely an intellectual or mental exercise. It is a study of the living God and of the wonders of all His works in creation and redemption. We cannot study this subject as if our hearts and lives are not involved!”

However, I think we should also be careful not to err too much on the opposite side here, and thus spurn the concept of “Knowledge”, especially when God’s Word itself exhorts us to seek it. Proverbs 9:10 tells us that “Knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Without a right conception of who God is and what God is like, we will inevitably have a flawed perspective on ultimate reality. Moreover, our worship of God will be based on incorrect premises and possibly even lead us into idolatry. This led A.W. Tozer to conclude that, “What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

To be sure, God does not want us to simply analyze Him like we would with DNA. But I think this verse and others serve as a clear call from God to seek to know who He is in all of His divine attributes, to test the limits of our capacity to know and understand Him, and when we ultimately fail, to erupt in worship, adoration, awe, and wonder.

Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul, written after great revelations of knowledge of the Living God: “O the depths of the riches and wisdom and Knowledge of God!” Furthermore, consider this quote from Jonathan Edwards: “The more you have of a rational knowledge of divine things, the more opportunity there will be when the Spirit shall be breathed into your heart, to see the excellency of these things, and to taste the sweetness of them.”

This belief by Edwards and other convictions have for over two decades now motivated John Piper in his crusade to unite the two seemingly opposed wings of Christendom, one divorcing delight from understanding and the other divorcing understanding from delight. I hope that we will seek to accomplish the same here at Reform and Revive. Thus, let us allow each other freedom to write in such a way that expresses love for God from all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, even if it does not necessarily translate into “sweeping prose, poetry and musings” in every post. Nonetheless, let us also unite under Paul’s call to let our souls and hearts be stirred as often as God allows us that grace.

Sola Gratia (”By Grace Alone”),

- Whit

I once heard it said that every faith in the world was an Orthopraxy, where “right practice” made you right before God, whereas Christianity was an Orthodoxy where “right doctrine/belief” did. This is incomplete. Most Protestants know right action is inadequate (Rom 2:6, Gal. 2:16), but most evangelicals are told all the time that what you intellectually assent to as you walk down an aisle is what washes your sin and depravity away into the “light of His wonderful face.” But this is not so (Mat. 7:21, Jam. 2:19). Christianity, rather, is an “Orthoontology,” where your “right state of being” is what makes you acceptable to him. Belief and practice are wholly and ultimately inadequate. It is the nature of the being from which these beliefs and practices flow from that matter.

So what on earth, does this have to do with this site and its vision and passion and focus and drive?

Everything.

Reformed Theology begins with the state of being of man (Total Depravity). It says that what needs to change is that state, and man has neither the desire nor the faculties available to him to change himself. He requires then a sovereign act of a Sovereign God to bring that change about. Reformed Theology then ends with the perseverance of that change. As both practice and surety of beliefs may wax and wane at times, the state of one’s being does not change after God has seized it.

But this has implications far beyond the theology of salvation. It means that Christians must have a passion that spills over from this change of being. It means that we must appeal to the whole man to increase their delight in God. It means this site must move from posts on the “Knowledge” of the Holy, to sweeping prose, poetry and musings. From deep theology that reveals who God is to soul-stirring poetry and meditations flowing from men and women forever impacted by their encounters with this revealed God.

These things go hand in hand. A good friend once told me, “you know? The Theologians of the world should be the ones that weep the most.” Let us weep, friends, as we see this God as He has revealed Himself and then get swept up in the beauty and the mystery that can do nothing but call out praise, adoration, and delight.

Join us for the ride. Reforming the mind, while reviving the heart.

Soli Deo Gloria
“to God alone be the Glory”

–paul

Reform and Revive has officially launched. Many thanks to Ryan Burns of GoingToSeminary.com for all of his help in getting this up and running. Expect upcoming posts explaining the mission and the vision of Reform and Revive; and expect to see the list of contributors begin to grow.

Here’s to seeing this world changed by the Gospel of Christ.

–paul