Here are my notes and an audio recording from my sermon on Romans 7:18-25 that I preached on May 24, 2009 at Briarwood Baptist Church. All Bible passages are from the English Standard Version

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Notes

Romans 7:18-25

¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law (principle) that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

We can’t do good

• Romans 7:18, 7:24a
  • 7:18  ”nothing good dwells in me” & ”not the ability to carry it out”
  • 7:24 “Wretched man that I am!”
• Romans 3:10-11
  • None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
  • cited from Psalm 14:1-3 (and Psalm 53:1-3)
    • The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. ²The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. ³ They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
• Reformed Theology refers to the concept of Total Depravity (it’s the T in TULIP). The concept behind Total Depravity is not that we are as bad as we can be, but that we have an inability to do true good.
• True good is that which is done to the glory of God, not the notoriety of self, and is done with joy. Mowing my neighbor’s lawn while he’s on vacation is truly good if, and only if, I don’t expect him to mow mine while I’m out of town AND if I am able to doing it with joy. If I expect reciprocation, or if I mow his lawn grudgingly, then its not truly good act because I am being selfish about it.
• People who do not see God as the ultimate object of all that they do cannot do true good. They can do good (like idea of common grace, Matthew 5:45 “he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous^“)

Even when we want to do good, we don’t

• 7:19 & 7:20
  • 7:19 For I do not do the good I want,
  • 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want,
• When we want to do good, what is the motivation? Can good be done by those without pure motivations and a pure heart?
• Why don’t we? Momentary lapses, don’t know how, old habits
• It takes practice to do good
• One of the most difficult things is when you fail. This can be disheartening, especially for new Christians, who have this new life. They can feel like they haven’t “really” been regenerated because they quickly fall back into their old ways. While that may be the case for some, for others the reason they stumble is that the one who was working to keep them separated from God has redoubled his efforts now that the people have committed to follow Christ. We fail because Satan fights us

We don’t do good because Satan battles us

• 7:19-24
  • 7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
  • 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
  • 7:21 So I find it to be a law (principle) that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
  • 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
  • 7:24 Who will deliver me from this body of death?
• This is a very important point to remember. Often, people think that the reason that they can’t do good is that they aren’t actually a Christian or they’re weak or they’ve spent so much of their life doing wrong that they can’t do right.
• The fact is that Satan is actively battling against you to keep you away from Christ. Satan knows that if he can distract you or shame you or beat you down, that you are less likely to seek refuge and strength in our true comforter, Jesus Christ.
• Talk about current unwillingness to see Satan as active in world

How do we overcome Satan? Our deliverance comes through Jesus Christ our Lord

• How does this deliverance come?
  • We see evidence of a changed heart
  • 7:22 “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,”
  • Reference to Psalm 1:1-2
    • ¹ Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; ² but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
  • I am longer “doing”, which is an external action, but it is central to me “in my inner being”.
  • Note in v22 that my “members” have another law. That which is part of your inner being is more “you” than something on the fringe. Wouldn’t you say that your soul is more uniquely you than your fingers? A change, a newness of life has come
• 7:24 asks “Who will deliver me?” I am unable to deliver myself. Someone with greater power must deliver me, must take the action that saves me from “this body of death”
• 7:25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
• Our first response to the deliverance is thankfulness, being grateful to God, recognizing that only He has the power to deliver us
• We see how God worked through Jesus Christ our Lord. The mediatorial role of Christ is needed. This is the gospel, that God, through Christ, allows us to satisfy the requirements of His righteous law
• Notice use of “serve” in 7:25. Contrast that with “do” in all the other verses
  • The passage starts with “doing”, which is very me-oriented. It ends with us “serving”, which implies there is something or someone in authority over us. That authority must be God. We all serve and make idols out of things. The challenge is to ensure that we are serving God, and not our job, our family, our hobbies, our ministry.
• Look to Romans 8: 1-11
  • ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
• 7:23 vs. 8:2
  • “another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” vs “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death”
• What now dwells within me?
  • 7:18 “nothing good dwells in me”
  • 7:20 “but sin that dwells within me”
  • 7:23 “law of sin that dwells in my members”
  • 8:9 “if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you”
  • 8:10 “But if Christ is in you”
  • 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”
• Glimpse of Trinity in our newness
  • God “who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”
  • We also can have Christ in us (8:10)
• This gets to the heart of the Gospel, God “sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh” (8:3) “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (8:4) and He “will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (8:11)

From the 2008 Acts 29 Chicago Boot Camp. “Mark Dever serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and the president of 9Marks Ministries.”

Listen to the talk here

Notes (very rough)

“Our differences are enough to separate some of my friends—your brothers and sisters in Christ—from you. And perhaps to separate them from me, now that I’m publicly speaking to you. And I don’t want to minimize either the sincerity or the seriousness of some of their concerns (things like: humor, worldliness, pragmatism, authority).

But I perceive some things in common which outweigh our differences—which the Lord Jesus shall soon enough compose between us, either by our maturing, or by His bringing us home. I long to work with those, and count it a privilege to work with those whom My Savior has purchased with His blood, and with whom I share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I perceive that we have in common the knowledge that God is glorified in sinners being reconciled to Him through Christ. This is not taught by other religions, nor clearly by the ancient Christian churches of the East, or by Rome, by liberal Protestant churches, by Mormons, the churches of Christ, or by groups of self-righteous, legalistic, moralistic Christians. And not only do we together affirm the exclusivity of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone—we agree on the sovereignty of God in life and salvation, the regenerate nature of church members, the importance of church membership and discipline, the baptism of believers alone, the priorities of expositional preaching, and evangelism, the importance of authority and a growing appreciation for the significance of complementarianism. These are not slight matters. And they only fire my desire to encourage you and cheer you on, until you cross that finish line that the Lord lays down for us.”

1. Individual Evangelism (Evangelize yourself and teach others to evangelize)

• Churches begin by people sharing the Gospel (Romans 10)
• 1 Peter 3
• Evangelism is the job of ALL CHRISTIANS
• It is assumed in the NT that Christians evangelize
• Why is the persecution in the NT?
  • Because people are being verbal about their life being changed
• Love others as yourself
  • Implicit demand to share the Gospel of Jesus
• Encourage individual evangelism by teaching the Gospel
• During CHBC Membership process, ask “In 60 seconds or less, share the good news of Jesus Christ”
  • Hear them articulate their hope
  • Then help them to clarify how they can articulate and understanding the gospel
• Hardware the Gospel in your church
• Clarify and not confuse the Gospel
  • The Gospel vs. the implications of the Gospel
• Model evangelism for your congregation
• Teach them the Gospel from every part of scripture
• Evangelism is less something you have to strategize and more something that easily flows from you
  

2. Individual Demonstration (Backup your words with your life)

• My life should backup my words (1 Peter 12)
• Our lives have to be different than others
• We must be willing to build and break relationships for the Gospel
• Don’t let your life obscure the Gospel by your actions
• Have your life help explain the Gospel
• This takes time
• As a church grows, it is more difficult to have relationships with non-Christians
• Ask God to lead you to strategic non-Christian relationships
• Check your church calendar to enable congregation to have non-Christian relationships

3. Definition of a Church (Understand what a church is what it is designed to be about)

• Right preaching of the Word of God
• Right administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper
• The Word of God creates, the church holds it up for display through sacraments
• That collection of people who are hearing the word of God, responding to it in their lives, and responding to it through obedience in baptism and the Lord’s Supper
• The faith that we preach is demonstrated through the life of the Church
• The church is Jesus’ evangelism plan
  

4. Centrality of Proclamation (Preach evangelistically)

• What we need in our churches is Gospel-centered preaching
• Include evangelism in how you think about exposition
• Don’t give an exposition without giving people an opportunity to respond to the Gospel
• Imperative verbs of the Bible != moralism
  • They are part of God’s word to us
  • 1 Corinthians 2
• Preach together the Moral Imperatives and the Gospel
• Every sermon equips your congregation for evangelism

5. Our Corporate Witness (Realize that your congregation’s life together makes the audible words visible)

• Not just church planting, but church reform
• Bad churches are not neutral
• They will know we are Christians by our mutual love for one another
• The depth of the church will affect the reach of the church
• There is power in the Gospel
• That which distinguishes us from non-Christians makes us provocative
• Any contextualism which obscures the ascent of the Gospel fails
• We must be clear about the Gospel
• The Gospel enflames the non-Christian to live truly “humanly”
• Paul’s concern that “The Church manifest and display the glory of God”
• God is praised and honored by our actions as we display His character in our lives
• If Jesus is the image of the invisible God, how do we see Him today?
• The point of the incarnation is not solely the physical
• God is made most visible in the lives lived out in the local church

• Keep things off the staff
  • Lay organization
  • Don’t let the church become a cluttered attic with unused programs
• See the Gospel in every text
  • That will enable you to preach the Gospel in every sermon

From The Resurgence 2008 Text and Context Conference

From The Resurgence 2008 Text and Context Conference

(Notes are my own, so forgive any sloppiness)

As presented by C. J. Mahaney at The Resurgence 2008 Text and Context Conference

(the notes are my own, so please forgive any sloppiness or incompleteness)

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 

¹Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

 ²To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

 ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 ⁴I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— ⁶even as⁾ the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— ⁷so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hidden in Plain Site

A compelling example of Cross-centered Pastoral Ministry
Corinthians Church was a piece of work

• Seduced by human wisdom
• Drifted from centrality of cross
• Didn’t want to be distinctive from culture
• Desired approval of wealthy and powerful
• Division within church – 4 factions
• Sexual immorality (Ch 5)
• Lawsuit happy church (Ch 6)
• Desecrating Lord’s Supper (Ch 11)
• 1 Cor 11 “I have no praise for you for your meetings do more harm than good”
• Opposition to Paul

Yet still, Paul says “I give thanks to my God always for you” (1 Cor 1:4)

• Paul’s extraordinary gratefulness and thankfulness for the church
• Attitude and Affection are sustained by a divine perspective of the Corinthian church

You must have a divine perspective for your church

Is our perspective the same as Paul’s divine perspective?

The Divine perspective of the Corinthiand Church is evident in

1.    Paul’s Understanding of the Call of God

1.  
   1. Paul is called to be apostle (v1)
      
   2. Church is called to be set apart (v2)
      
   3. They are called into the fellowship of His Son (v9)
   • Accent Divine Intiative

From The Village Church Preschool Blog. Of critical importance to me as I relate to, and lead, Malachi

Sons.

Good grief.

Bouncing off the walls, can’t pay attention, forget half the things they DO hear, acting like complete monkeys, disobedient, defiant, rebellious.

Sound familiar? If so, you probably have a son. If not, find someone who does and offer to babysit. They need a break.

But let’s look at those attributes again. Perhaps it’s more familiar than we realize. WE don’t pay attention to the Lord, WE are too busy trying to do what pleases us, WE are disobedient, WE are defiant, WE are rebellious. Perhaps the Lord is trying to show us something in our sons?

As we strive to be obedient in our parenting, the very thing we are trying to war against in our sons is exposed in us – a reminder that we, along with this world, suffer from depravity. In Adam, we are all broken and in need of a savior. We would never have chosen Him without His grace and mercy. “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1 : 3b – 5, emphasis added) The Scriptures tell us again and again that it is the grace and mercy of the Lord that gives us faith. Our hope rests in Christ alone.

So how does that look for our sons? Can we put our hope in controlling their behavior and teaching them morality? As Paul would say, by no means! It is only Christ and His work on the cross that can save them from their own wicked hearts. Make no mistake, their hearts are wicked. Do not allow the enemy to whisper lies to you that your children are inherently good and your job is to prevent the evil from penetrating them. They were born sinful, and only the cross of Jesus Christ can set them free.

Teach your boys the truth of Scripture.

It will require immense amounts of your time. Often, it will require more of your time than it will your daughters. The male mind is difficult to penetrate (sorry guys, you know it’s true), and you must invest the time necessary for your boys to process and grasp the truth – “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – “ (Ephesians 2 : 4-5, emphasis added).

Demonstrate manhood for them.

Show them how you love your wife. Teach them how to love and lead. If you don’t know how, find an older man who does and walk with him. Learn from this man so that the ignorance of God’s instruction is not passed to your sons. Walk humbly and fearfully before your God, demonstrating your understanding of His sovereignty and your weakness. Do this where your son can see. Do not try to be superman for your son. This creates prideful sin for you, and idolatrous sin for him. Let him see your brokenness, and let him watch you lay it at the foot of the cross.

We are called to make disciples, and this starts in your home. Point everything back to Christ. Your son will desire to watch you, imitate you, be like you. Point him to Christ. You will be held accountable for these things, do not take that lightly. Your car, your job, your house – these things must take a backseat to loving, leading, teaching.

Pray with your sons.

Demonstrate for them that prayer is not a “wish list” for God, but an opportunity to praise and worship Him, to confess your iniquities, and to thank Him for the gift of His Son. He is worthy of our time, our energy, our money, our thoughts, our lives. Teach your sons this, and then show them.

For many, this will be extremely difficult, but it is worthy labor. Pray that the Lord would strengthen you and give you an extra portion of grace. Pray for humility and for a biblical understanding of what you are called to do. Pray that He would kill in your heart the worldly idea of a man, so that you can freely pursue biblical manhood. Lead your sons to Christ. You plant the seed, you cultivate, you water, but God will take care of the growth. Christ alone. Christ alone. Christ alone.

“I want to be like you, Daddy.”

“Son, Daddy wants to be like Jesus. “

When I went to the 9Marks Weekender and heard about Capital Hill’s children’s ministry, called Praise Factory, Julie and I were really impressed. Praise Factory has now been released online for, almost, free. It’s available at http://www.praisefactory.org

Praise Factory isn’t silly games to tell kids not to lie. It has systematic theology at it’s heart

Systematic theology is (the) organizing principle of each curriculum in the Praise Factory family of curriculum (Teach, Take & Tell, Big Questions and Answers for little people, and The Praise Factory). This organization shows up as 16 big questions and answers that are categories found in systematic theology.

A systematic theology is an ordered study of who God is, who He has made us to be, His plans for us and this world, His work of salvation for His people, and the things of the world to come. It gives children an opportunity to consider the magnificent way that God has ordered all things to His glory; and, equips them with a strong foundation of God’s Truth to grow and live for Him in this world, with an eye of hope and joy towards the next.

Philosophy of Praise Factory

The philosophy behind Praise Factory isn’t putting a big show, but Two Dead Men and a Diamond

Dead Man #1: Martin Luther

The first dead man is Martin Luther. Martin Luther spoke of theology not being just dry, heady stuff, made only for the scholar, but the foundation of how men live and die. Look at your life and see if this is not so: what you think about God, His character, His plans for this world and us; and the things of the world to come affect how you respond to life each day.

This is why children care about theology, too-even if they have never realized it. The lens through which they see and understand their lives and the world around them is also tied to their understanding of God and His plans. God made children-like us-to know Him and understand life through His truth and character.

Kids care about theology, but they also care how they learn theology. That comes to the second dead man: John Bunyan.

Dead Man #2: John Bunyan

John Bunyan spoke of the gates to the heart: the eye gate, the ear gate and such. Kids are full of gates–perhaps far more than John Bunyan had in mind! They are people on the move, both inside and out. They learn by doing, interacting, experiencing, as well as listening. All these provide gates to their minds and their heart. Praise Factory incorporates thoughtful questions and projects into everything from games to crafts to songs and sign language to drama and even story-related snacks. These do not act as filler, but as the actual gate to the heart and mind.

Praise Factory seeks to employ the energy of the children to reach their hearts and minds with God’s truth through these many activities; and not just truth through only one side, but from many facets. And that comes to the diamond.

The Diamond

The Puritans loved to hold up God’s truth and reflect upon it from different perspectives to appreciate the breadth of its beauty and its applications upon our lives, much like holding a diamond up to the light, turning it in your hand and appreciating the beauty of its many facets. In the two preschool curriculum (Teach, Take and Tell and Big Questions and Answers for little people), the children are first shown the basic beauties of the diamond. They see God’s truth is many-sided and yet fits together into God’s One Big Plan of displaying and glorifying Himself in this world in marvelous and merciful ways. In Praise Factory, the elementary school curriculum, the children are invited to explore the greater intricacies of God’s truth. They learn three different truths are presented that reflect upon the same Big Idea concept: one from the Old Testament, the New Testament and church history/missions, in hopes that the children will see different facets of how God has acted faithfully and steadfastly, yet in many different ways throughout the ages.

Two dead men and a diamond! That sums it up!

Praise Factory’s Spiral of Truth

The Praise Factory family of curriculum is based upon a spiral of truth in the form of 16 big questions and answers.

These 16 big questions and answers are major biblical truths, common to a systematic theology and which provide the framework on which all of the concepts learned in all three Praise Factory curriculums hang.

Twelve of these big questions and answers are introduced from the beginning, in the Teach, Take and Tell curriculum for 2’s and 3’s; and then carry on through the other two curriculums (Big Questions and Answers for little people; The Praise Factory) Four additional big questions and answers are added to these in the elementary school curriculum (The Praise Factory).

This looks like a great curriculum.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve been seeking God intently as to what I feel is His call on my life to plant a church in Ann Arbor. One of the steps in that process was finding a new church, which resulted in our home at Grace. Another step in the process is applying to the Acts 29 Network, a church planting network started at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. Part of the application process is submitting a preaching sample. Since I don’t have any recordings from when I preached in Virginia at either Image or to the youth at CRBC, I have been praying for an opportunity to preach.

God answered that prayer last Monday. Pastor Larry Mattis, from Briarwood Baptist Church, called me and asked if I would be available to preach on Sunday, May 24. I visited Briarwood in October 2008 during our search and talked to Pastor Mattis about being called to plant in Ann Arbor. I greatly appreciate this opportunity and am looking forward to presenting God’s word. I’m unsure yet as to the passage I will preach on, but that should be determined in the next day or so.

If anyone out there in blog-land wants to worship God with Julie, Malachi and I through singing, reading the bible, and my very rusty preaching, join us at this Sunday at 11 a.m.  The address is 7950 Warren Road Ann Arbor, MI.

From the 2009 Desiring God National Pastor’s Conference - The Pastor and Evangelism.

His love for the lost, his love for his flock, and his love for God are palpable.

Here’s a great interview with Dever related to evangelism and his book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism which I highly recommend

From Kevin DeYoung’s article in Christian Research Journal as posted on his blog. Summarizes many of the reasons that I’m a Calvinist as well

Young Christians have been drawn to Calvinism not because they were looking for Calvin or an “ism,” but because they were drawn to a vision of a massive, glorious, fall-down-before-Him-as-though-dead kind of God who loves us because He wants to.

The influence of Calvinism is growing because its God is transcendent and its theology is true. In a day when “be better” moralism passes for preaching, self-help banality passes for counseling, and “Jesus is my boyfriend” music passes for worship in some churches, more and more people are finding comfort in a God who is anything but comfortable. The paradox of Calvinism is that we feel better by feeling worse about ourselves, we do more for God by seeing how He’s done everything for us, and we give love away more freely when we discover that we have been saved by free grace.

I’d like to think that we are Calvinists because of what we see in the Bible. We see a God who is holy, independent, and unlike us. We glory in God’s goodness, that He should save miserable offenders, bent toward evil in all our faculties, objects of His just wrath. We rejoice in God’s electing love, which He purposed for us before the ages began. We are grateful for God’s power by which He caused us, without our cooperation, to be born again and enabled us to believe His promises. We take comfort in God’s all-encompassing providence, whereby nothing happens according to chance, but all things—prosperity or poverty, health or sickness, giving or taking away—are sent to us by our loving heavenly Father.

As Calvinists and Christians, we praise God for His mercy, shown to us chiefly on the cross where His Son died, not just to make a way for us to come to Him, but effectually for us such that our sins, our guilt, and our punishment all died in the death of Christ. We find assurance in God’s preserving grace, believing with all our might that nothing—not even ourselves—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We delight in the glory of God and in God’s delight for His own glory, which brings us, on our best days, unspeakable joy, and on all other days, still gives purpose and order to an otherwise confusing and seemingly random world.

What draws people to Reformed theology is the belief that God is the center of the universe and we are not, that we are worse sinners than we imagine and God is a greater Savior than we ever thought possible, that the Lord is our righteousness and the Lord alone is our boast.

The attraction of the New Calvinism is not Calvin, but the God Calvin saw—not some new fad, but something old with new life blowing through it from the Spirit of God.