Know God. Love Others. Live the Gospel.

Chapter 21 of  Knowing God  focuses upon the normal Christian life and how God’s grace works to accomplish it. Two (2) Inaccurate Applications of the Gospel Dr. Packer notes there are two (2) dangerous “inaccurate application[s]” of the gospel that lead to a misunderstanding of what the normal Christian life is: Over-emphasizing the positive aspects of the Christian life leading one to believe the gospel brings a life of ease Over-emphasizing the “rough side” of the Christian life leading one to believe “that Christian living is for the most part grievous and gloomy.” Neither is healthy. But while the latter may lead one to a “surprise” that the Christian life is actually more joyous and pleasant than described, the prior is particularly “cruel” but not because of its motivation, for it is an “evangelical ministry” that is based in the “acceptance of the Bible as God’s Word” with the “aim...to bring people to new birth and from there to lead them on into the fullest possible experience

In chapter 20 of  Knowing God  we hear of how God guides us in knowing and doing His will in our lives. I find this tends to be one of the greatest struggles and perplexing aspects of life for many Christians. God’s Guidance: True and Real Dr. Packer first points out that divine guidance is a true and real thing that rests on two foundational facts: “first, the reality of God’s plan for us; second, the ability of God to communicate with us.” So logically and philosophically it makes sound sense to confidently believe that God does guide us. And as Dr. Packer notes, “wisdom in Scripture always means knowledge of the course of action that will please God and secure life.”   (cf. Prov 3:5-6; Jam 1:5; Rom 12:1-2) The Role of the Holy Spirit Further, “Christians have an in dwelling Instructor, the Holy Spirit” (1 Jn  2:20 , 27), who guides us such that “God seeks his glory in our lives, and he is glorified in us only when we obey his will.” As Psalm 23:3 notes, “he guides me in paths of rig

Chapter 19 of  Knowing God  has a singular focus: to help us grasp adoption, what it means to be the sons and daughters of God. “What is a Christian?” Dr. Packer asks. “...one who has God as Father,” he answers. It is the primary identity of who a Christian is, and should be the primary controlling thought of what it means to be a Christian. (Jn 1:12-13; Gal 4:4-5; Eph 1:5; 1 Jn 3:1-2) The Heart of the New Testament Adoption is the heart of the New Testament. The message of the New Testament can be focused in three words: “adoption through propitiation!” Where as in the Old Testament God’s covenant name with His people is “Yahweh” emphasizing His holiness, His separateness from them, in the New Testament “Father has now become his covenant name.” “…the stress of the New Testament is not on the difficulty and danger of drawing near to the holy God, but in the boldness and confidence with which believers may approach him: a boldness that springs directly from faith in Christ, and from th

Chapter 18 of  Knowing God  is a rather lengthy chapter, and rightfully so, for its aim is that we would understand the very heart of the gospel. And its summarizing argument and conclusion is this:  the very heart of the gospel is propitiation , “the pacifying (satisfaction) of God’s wrath”, “the averting of God’s anger by an offering”, namely, the salvation of sinners from the wrath of God by the death of Christ (Rom 5:9). While there are numerous blessings that the gospel delivers to those who place their faith alone in Christ alone for salvation, the primary and most fundamental need and blessing is the averting of God’s righteous and personal wrath upon us for our rebellious sin against Him via the death of Christ on our behalf and, instead, having our relationship with God restored.  Dr. Packer notes three facts about propitiation:  Propitiation is the work of God himself.  It is  not  the work of man in any way. That is, it is entirely a work of grace. (1 Jn 4:7-9) Propitiation

Chapter 17 of  Knowing God  focuses us in on God as the jealous God. To describe God as jealous may sound odd, even pejorative, to the modern ear. But the Bible repeatedly describes and proclaims God as “jealous.” Note the second commandment in which God self-proclaims “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Exod 20:5) and Exod 34:14’s declaration that “the Lord, whose  name  is Jealous, is a jealous God.” It is not often we hear that one of the names of God is “Jealous.” To help us understand what it means that God is jealous, Dr. Packer points out two key truths:  Biblical statements about God’s jealousy are anthropomorphisms , “descriptions of God in language drawn from our life as humans.” And it is important to remember that in using such language of metaphor and analogy so that we might have some understanding of God that “those elements in human qualities which show the corrupting effect of sin have no counterpart in God.” There are two sorts of jealousy among humans, and only

Chapter 16 of Knowing God helps us to see the necessity and complement of God’s goodness and God’s severity. The chapter warns that “people today are in the habit of disassociating the thought of God’s goodness from that of his severity.” That is, people want the benevolence of God without the wrath of God. But this is a picture of the mythical Santa Clause not the true God. Dr. Packer points out that seeing God as merely and solely benevolent effectively creates the problem of evil and neuters God of “his omnipotence and lordship over the world.” God's Goodness The goodness of God is that perfection of God that includes His generosity, mercy, grace, and love. It is “the sum total of his revealed excellences.” The particular moral perfection that God’s goodness points to is His generosity, “his disposition to give to others in a way which has no mercenary motive and is not limited by what the recipients deserve but consistently goes beyond it. Generosity expresses the simple wish t

Chapter 15 of Knowing God is a sobering chapter on the wrath of God. As Dr. Packer notes the wrath of God is a theme emphasized throughout the Bible, both the Old (e.g. Nahum 1:2-8) and the New Testaments (e.g. 2 Thes 1:7-10). He quotes A. W. Pink from his book The Attributes of God noting, “A study of the concordance will show that there are more references in Scripture to the anger, fury, and wrath of God, than there are to His love and tenderness.” It is important to note that God’s wrath is never sinfully motivated or derived: “God is only angry where it is called for...all God’s indignation is righteous.” God’s wrath is always judicial; that is, it is always a just wrath, administering justice to those who rightly deserve it. (Psa 62:12; Prov 24:12; Rom 2:5-6) God’s wrath is something people choose for themselves. (John 3:18-19) “The decisive act of judgment upon the lost is the judgment which they pass upon themselves, by rejecting the light that comes to them in and through Jesu

Chapter 14 of Knowing God brings us to the reality of God as Judge. That God is Judge is stated in Gen 18:25; Judg 11:27; Psa 75:7; 82:6; Heb 12:23 plus a host of other passages through the Old and New Testaments leaving no doubt that God is the ultimate Judge of all mankind and will judge us all.   Dr. Packer points out 4 characteristics that are true of a judge in the ancient near eastern world and thus of God: The judge is a person with authority.   The judge is a person identified with what is good and right. The judge is a person of wisdom, to discern truth.   The judge is a person of power to execute sentence.   Because God is the God of perfections, He is the perfect Judge in all 4 of these aspects. That God is Judge is both a sobering and joyous reality for it brings to our attention that all people, Christians and non-Christians alike, will give an account of their lives (words and deeds) to Jesus Christ Himself at the coming day of judgment, ensuring that retribution for goo

Chapter 13 of Knowing God brings us to consider “The Grace of God.”   To truly grasp and appreciate grace we must realize basic realities about both God and man.  The moral ill-desert of man -  All people are “creatures fallen from God’s image, rebels against God’s rule, guilty and unclean in God’s sight, fit only for God’s condemnation...” We are not inherently good; we are inherently sinful.   The retributive justice of God -  “...retribution (judgment of sin) [is] the moral law of God’s world and an expression of His holy character...God is not true to Himself unless He punishes sin.” (Thus, our need for someone to stand in our place as our representative and substitutionary atonement.) The spiritual impotence of man -  We are incapable of saving ourselves from the wrath and judgment of God. The sovereign freedom of God -  God is under no obligation or compulsion to love us or save us. Yet He freely chooses to love us and save us.   And as we consider grace, there are three mira

Chapter 12 of Knowing God focuses in on the love of God. The chapter takes on two major ideas: what it means that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) and defining God’s love.   For #1 Dr. Packer points out that God being love is indelibly tied to God being spirit (John 4:24) and God being light (1 John 1:5). That “God is spirit” means His love is not capricious or fickle like human love can be; it is “as strong as death.” (Song 8:6) That “God is light” means His love is “holy love” that brings about holiness in our lives, brings about sanctification because confirming us to the image of Christ, no matter what it takes, is the best thing for us and for the glory of God. For #2 Dr. Packer defines God’s love in six parts: God’s love is an exercise of His goodness.   God’s love is an exercise of His goodness toward sinners. God’s love is an exercise of His goodness toward individual sinners. God’s love to sinners involves His identifying Himself with their welfare.   God’s love to sinners was

The focus of chapter 11 in Knowing God is truth: the word of God is true because God is truth in His very nature. Therefore, what He says must be true.   As we read the Bible it is helpful for us to know that there are three overarching categories (or characteristics) to what the Bible says: Law - Commands and prohibitions with sanctions (consequences) attached Promise - Favorable and unfavorable, conditional and unconditional realities that can and will come about Testimony - Information given by God about Himself and people As we read Scripture it is helpful to look to see which of these three categories particular truths fall into. And as we read we must remember that “what [God] says goes” (always and without exception...Isa 55:10-11).   This means that... God’s commands are true. (Psa 119:151) God’s promises are true, for God keeps them. (Heb 10:23) In regards to the prior, Dr. Packer notes, “[God’s law] shows us what we were made to be, and teaches us how to be truly human,

Chapter 10 of Knowing God focuses in on how to receive the gift of wisdom from God. Dr. Packer notes that receiving wisdom is part of God’s work “to repair His ruined image” in the life of the Christian, part of being “renewed in the image of Christ (2 Cor 3:18) and of God (Col 3:10).” There are two prerequisites to take hold of the gift of wisdom from God: We must learn to reverence God. (Psa 111:10; Prov 9:10; Job 28:28; Prov 1:7; 15:33) This is a necessary act of humility on our part, recognizing God for the great God He is. (Neh 1:5; 4:14; Deut 7:21; 10:17; Psa 99:3; Jer 20:11) We must learn to receive God’s word. (Psa 119:98-99; Col 3:16; 2 Tim 3:15-17) Dr. Packer goes on to note that to live wisely “realism [is] needed...you have to be clear-sighted and realistic—ruthlessly so—in looking at life as it is.” And then he notes, “there is...one book in Scripture that is expressly designed to turn us into realists, and that is the book of Ecclesiastes.” (a timely observation for us

In Chapter 9 of Knowing God Dr. Packer draws our attention to wisdom noting that it is both a moral and intellectual quality that can be defined as “the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it...Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness.” Human wisdom can be frustrated and misdirected for wrong uses. But God’s wisdom can never be frustrated and when combined with His other perfections such as God’s omnipotence (all-powerfulness), it always accomplishes its proper goals, what God purposes and intends. God’s wisdom and love are not intended to give us the “easy” life. God’s purpose is “that we should love and honor Him, praising Him for the wonderfully ordered complexity and variety of His world, using it according to His will, and so enjoying both it and Him...His immediate objectives are to draw individual men and women into a relationship of faith, hope, and love toward Himself, delivering th

Chapter 8 in Knowing God focuses on the majesty, or greatness, of God. (Psa 93:1-2; 145:5; 2 Pet 1:16; Heb 1:3; 8:1; Psa 48:1; 95:3, 6) Dr. Packer cautions us that “one reason why our faith is so feeble and our worship so flabby” is because we lack knowledge of the greatness of God. We need to have great thoughts of God and small thoughts of ourselves. Dr. Packer prescribes two basic actions to help us develop our appreciation of God’s greatness: Remove from our thoughts of God limits that would make Him small.  Compare Him with powers and forces which we regard as great.  A great place to start is to read and meditate on Psa 139 .  And also read Isa 40 and BEHOLD YOUR GOD ! Behold His tasks.  Behold Him compared to the nations.  Behold Him compared to the world.  Behold Him compared to the great ones of this world.  Behold Him compared to the stars.  All of these show HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD ! (Queue Chris Tomlin’s “How Great is Our God”...yes...go listen to it: https://youtu.be/vg5qDlj

In chapter 7 of Knowing God the focus is on God being unchanging (immutable). Because God does not change we can relate to Him just as we see those in the Bible relate to Him. So while our culture and time is very different from that of those in the Bible, the God we serve is not for He is unchanging.  There are six aspects in which God does not change: God’s LIFE does not change. He has always and will always exist. He has always had perfect life. (Psa 93:2; Jer 10:10; Rom 1:23; 1 Tim 6:16; Psa 90:2; 102:26-27; Isa 48:12) God’s CHARACTER does not change. He eternally is always who He always has been. His moral character is changeless. (Exod 3:14; 34:5-7; James 1:17) God’s TRUTH does not change. God never has to take back what He says. His Word is forever true. Nothing can annul it (make it ineffective, null and void). (Isa 40:6-8; Psa 119:89, 151-52; John 10:35) God’s WAYS do not change. He owes mercy to no one, yet He chooses to bless those who place their faith in Christ wit

Chapter 6 of Knowing God focuses in on the importance and necessity of the Holy Spirit to our knowing God.   Dr. Packer highlights that without the Holy Spirit there would be no... gospel New Testament faith new birth Christians.   So he asks how do we honor the Holy Spirit and His essential work in our lives: “In our faith: Do we acknowledge the authority of the Bible, the prophetic Old Testament and the apostolic New Testament which he inspired? Do we read and hear it with the reverence and receptiveness that are due to the Word of God?” “In our life. Do we apply the authority of the Bible and live by the Bible, whatever anyone may say against it, recognizing that God’s Word cannot but be true, and that what God has said he certainly means, and he will stand behind?” “In our witness: Do we remember that the Holy Spirit alone, by his witness, can authenticate our witness, and look to him to do so, and trust him to do so, and show the reality of our trust, as Paul did, by eschewing the

Knowing God chapter 5 focuses in on two significant truths about the first coming of Christ: His incarnation and the kenosis.   The incarnation is the truth that the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, became fully human and was born Jesus of Nazareth. The incarnation makes sense of the other miracles of His life, death, and resurrection. Jesus is both fully man and fully God. (cf. key verses of John 1:1-18 and 2 Cor 8:9) The second topic of the kenosis may not be as familiar to us. “Kenosis” is the Greek word in Phil 2:7 translated “emptied” (ESV). As Dr. Packer points out Christ emptying Himself was “the laying aside NOT of divine powers and attributes [Christ did not become less God] but of divine glory and dignity.” (cf. John 17:5) The King James Version renders the meaning well: “[Jesus] made Himself of no reputation.” As Dr. Packer succinctly summarizes it: Jesus’ incarnation and emptying (kenosis) is not deity reduced but divine capacities restrained.  Rightly understoo

Chapter 4 of Knowing God focuses us in on how we worship God, particularly how our worship leads us to envision God in our minds and desire Him in our hearts. It brings a strong word of caution about idols and images in worship, building from the second commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God...” (Ex. 20:4–5a ESV) How we worship impacts who we worship. And the manner of our worship impacts how we picture God. There are two words of warning that we need to carefully consider and heed: Images dishonor God, for they obscure his glory.   Images mislead us, for they convey false ideas about God.   The most important thought we have is what we think about God. We are a people who serve a god not of our imaginations, not of our own creation; we worship and serv

Chapter 3 of Knowing God focuses on the supreme importance and blessing of not merely knowing God but being known by Him.   The chapter poses some very big life questions: What were we made for? What aim should we set ourselves in life? What is “eternal life” that Jesus gives? What, of all states God ever sees man in, gives God most pleasure? What makes life worthwhile? The answer to them all: Knowing God!  (John 17:3; Jer 9:23-24; Hos 6:6) And then it goes on to point us to how we can and should know God personally, emotionally, intellectually, and volitionally by listening to God’s word, knowing God’s nature and character, doing God’s will, and rejoicing in God’s love and fellowship. Yet in the final analysis it is not merely that we know God but that He knows us: “What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it — the fact that he knows me.”  (Ex 33:17; Jer 1:5; Jn 10:14-15, 27-28)

Each day as we read through Knowing God  together I’ll try to summarize the main points or highlight an important thought from the chapter.   The emphasis in chapter 2 lies on the difference between knowing about God vs. knowing God . What we seek is to know God not merely to know about Him. Dr. Packer offers 4 evidences of Knowing God (developed from the book of Daniel): Those who know God have great energy for God . Those who know God have great thoughts of God .   Those who know God show great boldness for God . Those who know God have great contentment in God .   And he recommends two basic steps to know God: Recognize how much we lack knowledge of God. Seek the Savior.

Today we begin reading through Knowing God by J. I. Packer. If you haven’t already, make sure to read the prefaces. We will be reading a chapter a day each weekday of the month of September. It gives us the weekends to rest, get ahead, or catch up if we miss some of the reading. As John 17:3 tells us: “...this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (ESV) As we read through this book I pray it will be beneficial to us by helping us to truly know God. God has used this book in the lives of many in that regards including my own life.  Chapter 1 “The Study of God” begins by helping us to see the importance of knowing God, His nature and character: “...a study of the nature and character of God...is the most practical project anyone can engage in.” Take note of the five (5) principles the study is grounded on and how they focus on the supremacy of God and the centrality of the Word of God in the life of the follower of Christ, in the li

Dr. Packer originally wrote Knowing God  in 1973 and provided an update to the book in 1993. As a result he wrote two prefaces to the book, one for each of the years the books was published. As we head into reading through Knowing God , let me encourage you to read the Prefaces. Dr. Packer makes an important point as we begin our journey of reading the book: this book is a “nurture book”...”a book for travelers.” And at the heart of the book is “the conviction...that ignorance of God — ignorance of both his ways and of the practice of communion with him — lies at the root of much of the church’s weakness today.” (written nearly 50 years ago...as much as some things change, some things don’t it seems)

 The body of The Hills Church will be reading through Knowing God by J. I. Packer together through the month of September. If you would like to join us  (one chapter each weekday...use the weekends to catch up or get ahead),  here are links to various sites you can purchase the book from in print, audio, or ebook formats including in Spanish. Make sure to check the different sites as cost varies and shipping cost varies. The sites are not listed in any particular order so the cost may be cheaper at different sites.  On the audio books, you may be able to sign up for a 30-day trial to listen to the book for free (but make sure to remember to cancel your trial when done).  Also, there are English and Spanish versions of the book. ChristianBook.com Amazon.com Lifeway.com 10ofthose.com WTSBooks.com AudioBooksNow.com ChristianAudio.com

I have been reading through Ligon Duncan's book Does God Care How We Worship?  in which Duncan makes a case for the regulative principle in worship. The regulative principle, simply stated, is "the corporate worship of God is to be founded upon the specific directions of Scripture" (Derek Thomas,  https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/regulative-principle-worship/ ). I'll likely have more on the regulative principle later, but let it suffice it to say that I believe in the principle as at a fundamental level I believe it is an outworking of the doctrine of sola scriptura, that the Bible is the sole inspired and infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. Six Lessons about Worship Duncan walks through some key scriptural passages that speak to lessons we learn about God's desires and commands for our worship. In the passage on the golden calf ( Exodus 32-34 , particularly Exodus 32:1-6 ) he notes that six applications: Impatience with

It seems to be popular among some Christians to say, “God has told me...” about a particular area of their life, yet have no discernible, practical explanation of what they mean by that. It seems some use the phrase “God has told me” or “The Spirit has led me” as a synonymous way of saying “I feel Ike I should”. I think there is danger here as it makes the will of God a subjective exercise in human feelings subject to the dangers of sinful motivations driving a decision. While there is much more that could be said on this topic (in no small part the role of the Word of God), an example from the life of Jonathan Edwards serves as an overt example in the life of a godly man of what it means to listen to wise godly counsel in discerning God’s will in a particular situation. The following was inspired by and adapted from Chapter 5 "Keep God Central: The Life of Jonathan Edwards" in The Supremacy of God in Preaching  by John Piper (Baker Books, 2015). (The books is a strongly

The Song - "He Will Hold Me Fast" The song "He Will Hold Me Fast" has been used by God in my life in the past year as a powerful reminder of God's goodness to me and Christ's steadfast love for me. It is particularly convicting to me as it states truly what I fear and know to be true, namely, that I am not strong enough to prevail over sin and Satan and that my love for God too often grows cold. But it encourages me as well as it reminds me of the certainty that the security of my salvation is not found in my ability to perform works of righteousness; rather, my security is found in the sovereign and steadfast love of Christ who I have placed my faith in. My security is found in Christ. I share a bit of it here with you in the hope that you will find similar conviction and encouragement from it. Originally written by Ada Habershon in 1906; it was updated by Matt Merker in 2013.  You will find the full lyrics and a recording of the song on Matt Merker

5    He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. Psalm 78:5-8 ESV A Discipleship Ministry for Children and Their Parents It is from these verses that the ministry Truth:78 (formerly Children Desiring God) draws its name. This ministry has been particularly instrumental in how we have discipled our own children. And this ministry has been influential on how we view children's ministry at The Hills Church.  We have invested both as a family and as a church in