Richard Lovelace

Appropriating Grace

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Circle of Life (Celtic)

Here is an important reminder and challenge from Richard Lovelace, from his monumental Dynamics of Spiritual Life:

Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives… Many… have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for their justification… drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance… Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons… Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce, defensive assertion of their own righteousness, and defensive criticism of others. They come naturally to hate other cultural styles and other races in order to bolster their own security and discharge their suppressed anger.

This paragraph, surprisingly, caused somewhat of a stir when I posted it on my Facebook page yesterday.  Most appreciated it. Some who expressed appreciation, I wondered if they really understood what Lovelacve was saying.  I hope so.

So, how do we respond if we find ourselves among the majority who are not functionally appropriating the justifying work of Christ?

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Countering Moralism

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

Probably the most difficult obstacle for ministry I face is moralism.  Despite the obvious declining standard in our culture, licentiousness is not the biggest hurdle. Nor is Biblical and theological illiteracy.  Moralism, which substitutes our becoming good in exchange for God’s grace and glory as the essence and goal of Christianity, is a plague that permeates our area, and even our church.  It is an empty promise; an appealing dead end. Yet, because it is so prevalent, and because it is often the message from pulpits of churches deemed successful, not to mention radio airwaves, it passes as being genuine Christianity.

Richard Lovelace offers this explanation worth considering about the importance of countering this counterfeit Christianity with the power of the genuine and pure gospel:

“Moralism, whether it take the form of denunciation or pep talks, can ultimately only create awareness of sin and guilt or manufactured virtues built on will power.  A ministry which leads to genuine sanctification and growth, on the other hand, avoids moralism, first by making clear the deep  rootage of sin-problems in the flesh so that the congregation is not battling these in the dark, and then by showing that every victory over the flesh is won by faith in Christ, laying hold of union with Him in death and resurrection and relying on His Spirit for the power over sin.  Presented in this context, even the demand for sanctification becomes part of the Good News… Ministries which attack only the surface of sin and fail to ground spiritual growth in the believer’s union with Christ produce either self-righteousness or despair, and both of these conditions are inimical to spiritual life.”

Appropriating the Justifying Work of Christ

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives.

Many have so light an apprehension of God’s holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin, that consciously they see little need for justification. Below the surface, however, they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure. Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification….drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity…their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience.

Few start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude.

~ Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life

Gospel Discipling: Gospel & Renewal

/ Dennis Griffith / 12 Comments

Not only is Gospel discipling the very heart of discipleship within churches, it is also the critical issue in the matter of renewal or revival in the church at large.

Dr. Richard Lovelace, in his modern classic work Dynamics of Spiritual Life, asks why the Church must think in terms of what he calls “cyclical renewal” when the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit should allow “continuous renewal”.  As he explains his “primary elements of continuous renewal,” they are summarized in what he calls a “depth presentation of the gospel”.

Lovelace writes:

Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. … Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude.

In order for a pure and lasting work of spiritual renewal to take place within the church, multitudes within it must be led to build their lives on this foundation.

This is another way to speak of gospel discipling, and we are seeing evidence of such quiet but deep renewal in ministries in the United States and in other nations.

***

This is Part 4 of a 5-part series titled Gospel Discipling. This series is taken from an essay by Stephen Smallman, author of Spiritual Birthline and past Executive Director of World Harvest Mission. Some of the content has been edited. 

Thanks also to New City Fellowship of St. Louis, who posted Smallman’s essay on their web page.

To read Parts 1-3 click: Introduction; Romans as Model; Gospel & Adoption

Prophets, Priests, and Kings

/ Dennis Griffith / 3 Comments

An important concept to explore and implement in the ministry of the local church is the reflection of the Offices of Christ: Prophet, Priest, and King.  This is known as Tri-Perspectivalism or Multi-Perspectivalism.  I have written and spoken a little about this, but I am still far more a student than an expert when it comes to the implications.

Richard Lovelace, author of Dynamics of Spiritual Life – a MUST READ for those charges with ministry leadership – offers this insight:

“Our union with the Messiah and his desire to continue his earthly ministry by living his life through us are so strong that we may be said to share his three offices of leadership.  We are priests as we pray for those near us and draw them into the sphere of God’s mercy and blessing.  We are prophets as we hold a biblical straightedge against whatever is crooked around us.  And we are kings as we use whatever powers we have to straighten what is crooked, reshaping whatever falls within the scope of our responsibility until it reflects the order of heaven.”  

Dynamics of the Spiritual Life

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons – much less secure than non-Christians, because they have too much light to rest easily under the constant bulletins they receive from their Christian environment about the holiness of God and the righteousness they are supposed to have.  Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce defensive assertion of their own righteousness and defensive criticism of others… They cling desperately to legal, pharisaical righteousness, but envy, jealousy and other branches on the tree of sin grow out of their fundamental insecurity…

[I]t is often necessary to convince sinners (even sinful Christians) of the grace and love of God toward them, before we can get them to look at their problems.  Then the vision of grace and the sense of God’s forgiving acceptance may actually cure most of the problems.

This may account for Paul’s frequent fusing of justification and sanctification.  

~ Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life