The Making of...Christ Formed in You

A new site for this book!

2010-07-20T09:07:00.000-04:00

Now that Christ Formed in You is making its way to the printer, head on over to this new site where we offer 22 excerpts from the book and a special bargain on pre-release pricing.

Editing is complete. What next?

2010-06-11T01:17:00.004-04:00

If you've visited this blog in the last month, you probably noticed that we've now completed the editing process of Christ Formed in You. Turning in the final manuscript to Shepherd Press last month was another milestone moment.

Here's a portion of the e-mail that Rick Irvin, the production manager for this project, sent:

It is great to see this. Not just from a business sense of getting part of a job done, but knowing that worthwhile work has been completed; challenges were met and God provided ways to open up his word. Just a quick glance shows that God has truly blessed all of us with the type of work I have wanted. As I drive people crazy with saying, "it's all about content and communication," and in this book God has provided both.

So, what's next? Well, securing endorsements, copy editing, typesetting and design, compiling both a Scripture and general index, marketing, and a target release date of October 1, 2010!

The Evolution of One Section

2010-03-24T08:48:00.008-04:00

Now that we're near the end of the editing, I find it encouraging to look back over the evolution of this book and see how far it has come. I thought it might be interesting to look at one section in its different stages of development. This is a section from Chapter Eight, "Growing in Grace: Vivification."

The Outline (8/26/2008)

Be Ravished by Mercy
Offer Your Body for the Worship of God
Surrender
Edwards
Wesley
Calvin
Owen
Self-denial
Calvin
Don’t be conformed
Be Transformed Through Renewing the Mind
To the heart, through the mind
Packer
Realize the good, perfect, acceptable will of God

As you can see, this is a very schematic outline of Romans 12:1-2, the passage this section of the chapter is based on. The single words in the subheadings (Surrender, Edwards, Wesley, etc.) were cues for themes to develop or quotations and illustrations to use.

Original Manuscript (10/13/2008)

What is the process God uses to get us on our feet and moving in the right direction? Paul’s appeal in Romans 12 provides the answer.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom. 12:1-2)

Motivated by mercy

Notice the basis of Paul’s appeal: “the mercies of God.” Only the gospel can produce real and lasting change. Knowing this, Paul usually began his letters with a rich exposition of the gospel, grounding the ethical exhortations which followed in God’s grace. There are only a few commands or exhortations in Romans 1-11. This is no accident. Paul deliberately builds his practical instruction on the firm foundation of the gospel. Romans 1-11 focuses on God’s mercies lavished on us in Christ, even when we were enemies to God (Rom. 5:10) He has justified us freely in Christ (Rom. 3:24), liberated us from sin’s slavery (Rom. 6:6-7), and indwelt us by his Spirit (Rom. 8:9, 13-17). God didn’t even spare his own Son, but gave him up for us (Rom. 8:32). This assures us that God will give us everything we need. What amazing mercy! Only the ravishing taste of this grace can change us.

A life of worship

The only fitting response to lavish mercy is a life of worship. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (v. 1). If we’re captured by the wonder of God’s mercy, we will yield all we are in worshipful sacrifice to God.

The command to “present” our bodies to God vividly portrays unreserved surrender. “Present” means to yield or hand something over to another. Paul uses this word when he commands us to yield ourselves and the members of our bodies to the Lord as instruments for righteousness (Rom. 6:13, 16, 19). Why does he emphasize the body? Because everything I do is in my body. God doesn’t have me unless he has my body.

This passage describes God’s call for believers with the language of the Old Testament – “sacrifice,” “holy,” “acceptable to God.” In the Old Testament these words referred to literal sacrificial animals. They were to be blemish-free, spotless, and healthy animals. But Paul fills these words with new meaning. We no longer worship by offering sacrifices of dead animals; we offer our own living, breathing bodies. Everything we do in the body is meant to be worship. Transformation is not restricted to a religious compartment of life, while leaving the rest of what we do – the “secular” – untouched and unchanged. God wants all of us, soul and body, all the time. He intends to lift every aspect of our lives up into worship.

As a nurse hands the surgeon a clean, sterile scalpel to use in surgery, or as an apprentice gives his master a tool for sculpting, so you must yield the members of your body to God. Hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouths – submit them all to God as instruments for righteousness, and offerings of worship.

Renewing the mind

Spiritual transformation is an inside-out process. This is one of the key differences between gospel-driven change and religion. God is interested in more than external conformity to a set of rules. He wants to make us new on the inside. The change he desires must go much deeper than behavior. Our hearts and minds must be renewed.

Deep, lasting change happens as I refuse to be shaped by the norms of this present age. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (v. 2). Rather than conforming to the mind-set of the fallen world around me, I must be renewed in the core of my being. The capacity to discern and embrace God’s will for healthy, God-honoring humanity depends on the transformation of my thoughts and affections. God changes me not by manipulating my choices or forcing my will, but by restoring my heart and renovating my mind. The implications for spiritual formation are profound. Packer observes,

Man was made to know good with his mind, to desire it, once he has come to know it, with his affections, and to cleave to it, once he has felt its attraction, with his will; the good in this case being God, his truth and his law. God accordingly moves us, not by direct action on the affections or will, but by addressing our mind with his word, and so bringing to bear on us the force of truth . . . Affection may be the helm of the ship, but the mind must steer; and the chart to steer by is God’s revealed truth.

Since this is true, the saturation of our minds with the truth of the gospel is vital. Jesus said as much, when he prayed to his Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). Spiritual growth is not about moving on from where we began – the gospel. It’s about growing deeper in the gospel. Or, rather, getting the gospel deeper into us.

In his book, Our Sufficiency in Christ, John MacArthur tells a story of a newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst who “invested a fortune in collecting great works of art. One day he read about some valuable pieces of art and decided that he must add them to his collection. He sent his agent abroad to locate and purchase them. Months went by before the agent returned and reported to Hearst that the items had at last been found – they were stored in his own warehouse. Hearst had purchased them years before!”

We are often like this. We long for a resource that will help us grow. We look to self-help books, counselors, and seminars in our quest for the magic bullet, the secret of change, the key to victory. But the most important resource – the truth of the gospel – is at arm’s reach. We only have to appropriate it in our lives.

The hardest work of writing had been done in the above excerpt, but I was still not happy with it. In the next version, you can see the same passage furthered along by Kevin's editing.

Edited Version (11/20/09)

How does God get us up on our feet and moving in the right direction? What are some of the basic elements we need to understand in order to walk more like Jesus? Paul’s appeal in Romans 12 provides the answer.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom. 12:1-2)

Taking a closer look at three of the phrases in this passage can help us better understand the spiritual walk set before us. Those phrases are “the mercies of God,” “spiritual worship,” and “renewal of your mind.”

Motivated by an Appreciation of God’s Mercy

Most of Paul's letters are somewhat evenly divided between an exposition of the gospel and encouragement to his readers to live differently because of that gospel. But the book of Romans follows another pattern. The first 11 chapters (out of 16) are almost entirely one great and glorious gospel exposition. Then we come to the first phrase of the first verse of chapter 12, which includes a “therefore” encompassing all that came previously. After nearly eleven complete chapters explaining and extolling the glories of the gospel, how does Paul summarize it all in a single phrase? “Therefore... by the mercies of God...”

Paul is saying that the gospel, having been painstakingly explained in Romans 1-11, is ultimately about God’s mercies lavished on us in Christ, even when we were enemies to God (Rom. 5:10). God has justified us freely in Christ (Rom. 3:24), liberated us from sin’s slavery (Rom. 6:6-7), and indwelt us by his Spirit (Rom. 8:9, 13-17). God did not even spare his own Son, but gave him up for us (Rom. 8:32). This level of mercy and grace, this crystal-clear demonstration of unwavering commitment to those whom he loves, assures us that God will give us everything we need. What amazing mercy! Only the ravishing taste of such mercy and grace can change us.

Responding to Mercy through a Life of Worship

The only fitting response to this lavish mercy is a life of worship. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (v. 1). If we’re captivated by the wonder of God’s mercy, we will yield all we are in worshipful sacrifice to him.

The command to present our bodies to God vividly portrays unreserved surrender. Here, present means to yield or hand something over to another. Paul uses this word earlier in Romans when he commands us to yield ourselves and the members of our bodies to the Lord as instruments for righteousness (Rom. 6:13, 16, 19). Why does Paul repeatedly emphasize the body? Because everything I do in seeking to walk as Christ walked involves my body. God doesn’t have me unless he has my body.

On this matter of presenting our bodies, Romans 12 uses Old Testament language, terms like “sacrifice,” “holy,” and “acceptable to God.” In the Old Testament, of course, these words referred to literal sacrificial animals—blemish-free, spotless, and healthy. In a powerful, even shocking adaptation of such language, Paul fills these words with new meaning. We no longer worship by killing animals, but we do take an equally extreme and decisive approach in our worship of God. We offer the active and unreserved service of our own living, breathing bodies.

Everything we do in the body is meant to be worship: eating, sleeping, walking, driving, working, talking, cooking, singing, exercising, typing, making love—all of it. Spiritual transformation is not restricted to a religious compartment of life, while leaving the rest of what we do – the “secular” – untouched and unchanged. God wants all of us, soul and body, all the time. He intends to lift every aspect of our lives up into worship.

As a nurse hands the surgeon a clean, sterile scalpel, or as an apprentice gives his master a tool for sculpting, so you must yield the members of your body to God. Hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouths – submit them all to God as instruments for righteousness, offerings of worship.

Transformed by Renewal of the Mind

Spiritual transformation is an inside-out process. This is one of the key differences between gospel-driven change and religion. God is interested in more than external conformity to a set of rules. He wants to make us new on the inside. The change he desires goes much deeper than behavior. Our hearts and minds must be renewed.

Deep, lasting change happens as I attend to how this present age impacts my thinking. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (v. 2). Two different processes are evident in this verse. First, looking to the present and future, I am not to let the world mold my thinking (“do not be conformed”). Second, looking to the past, in those areas where the world has already molded my thinking, I am to reverse that influence, replacing worldly thinking with biblical (“be transformed by the renewal”). In sum, rather than conforming to the mind-set of the fallen world around me, I must be renewed in the core of my being. The capacity to discern and embrace God’s will for healthy, God-honoring living depends on the transformation of my thoughts, and thereby the transformation of my affections. God changes me not by manipulating my choices or forcing my will, but by restoring my heart and renovating my mind. The implications for spiritual formation are profound. Packer observes,

Man was made to know good with his mind, to desire it, once he has come to know it, with his affections, and to cleave to it, once he has felt its attraction, with his will; the good in this case being God, his truth and his law. God accordingly moves us, not by direct action on the affections or will, but by addressing our mind with his word, and so bringing to bear on us the force of truth . . . Affection may be the helm of the ship, but the mind must steer; and the chart to steer by is God’s revealed truth.

Since this is true, the saturation of our minds with the truth of the gospel is vital. Jesus said as much, when he prayed to his Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). Spiritual growth is not about moving on from where we began, the gospel. It’s about growing deeper in the gospel. Or, rather, getting the gospel deeper into us.

In his book, Our Sufficiency in Christ, John MacArthur tells a story of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst who, invested a fortune in collecting great works of art. One day he read about some valuable pieces of art and decided that he must add them to his collection. He sent his agent abroad to locate and purchase them. Months went by before the agent returned and reported to Hearst that the items had at last been found – they were stored in his own warehouse. Hearst had purchased them years before!

We are often like this. We long for a resource that will help us grow. We look to counselors, seminars, and self-help books in our quest for the magic bullet, the secret of change, the key to victory. But the most important resource – the truth of the gospel – is at arm’s reach. We only have to appropriate it in our lives.

Kevin's changes were helpful. He was helping me think through how to label the subheadings and lightening up my prose. But I still wasn't completely satisfied. After two further revisions, this is the semi-final version. You will notice changes not just in labeling, but in some of the content (for example, one of the illustrations was moved to a different chapter where it seemed to fit better, and I added a new quotation from C. S. Lewis). The final section of this version folds in another subsection of the chapter on the dynamic work of the Spirit in our hearts which was in a different section in earlier versions.

Semi-final Version (3/21/10)

How does God get us up on our feet and moving in the right direction? What are some of the basic elements we need to understand in order to walk more like Jesus? Two related passages of Scripture give us the answer.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom. 12:1-2)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)

In these verses, Paul provides us with five essential elements which make up spiritual transformation: the goal, the motive, the cost, the process, and the power. Each element is important. We must have the right goal, if we’re to know what we’re striving for. We also need to be rightly motivated in our pursuit, while at the same time fully understanding and embracing the cost. An understanding of the process is also essential, if we’re to fully cooperate with it. And, of course, we must be resourced with power, or we’ll get nowhere.

1. The Goal: The Image of Christ

As we saw in chapter one and have repeatedly emphasized throughout this book, the goal of spiritual transformation is conformity to the character of Christ. We see this in 2 Corinthians 3:18: we “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” This is God’s eternal purpose. As Romans 8:29 says, God has “predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son.” He wants to make us more and more like Jesus in his spotless holiness, humble service, radiant joy, and self-giving love.

2. The Motive: The Mercies of God

Next, consider the motive, which Paul declares with the phrase, “the mercies of God.” This again takes us back to the thrust of this book. All genuine spiritual transformation is driven by the gospel.

Sometimes Paul's letters are somewhat evenly divided between an exposition of the gospel and encouragement to his readers to live differently because of the gospel. But in the book of Romans, the first eleven chapters (out of sixteen) are almost entirely one great and glorious exposition of the gospel. Then we come to the first phrase of the first verse of chapter 12, which includes a “therefore” encompassing all that came previously. After eleven complete chapters explaining and extolling the glories of the gospel, how does Paul summarize it all in a single phrase? “Therefore, by the mercies of God . . .”

Paul is saying that the gospel is ultimately about God’s mercies lavished on us in Christ, even when we were enemies to God (Rom. 5:10). God has justified us freely in Christ (Rom. 3:24), liberated us from sin’s slavery (Rom. 6:6-7), and indwelt us by his Spirit (Rom. 8:9, 13-17). God did not even spare his own Son, but gave him up for us (Rom. 8:32). This level of mercy and grace, this stunning demonstration of unwavering commitment to those whom he loves, assures us that God will give us everything we need. What amazing mercy! Only the ravishing taste of such mercy and grace can change us.

3. The Cost: Present Your Bodies as Living Sacrifices

The only fitting response to this lavish mercy is a life devoted to worship. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (v. 1). If we’re captivated by the wonder of God’s mercy, we will yield all we are in worshipful sacrifice to him.

The command to present our bodies to God vividly portrays unqualified surrender. Here, present means to yield or hand something over to another. Paul uses this word earlier in Romans when he commands us to yield ourselves and the members of our bodies to the Lord as instruments for righteousness (Rom. 6:13, 16, 19). Why does Paul emphasize the body? Because everything I do in seeking to walk as Christ walked involves my body. God doesn’t have me unless he has my body.

To describe the nature of our bodily worship, Paul hijacks Old Testament language, terms like “sacrifice,” “holy,” and “acceptable to God.” In the Old Testament, of course, these words referred to literal sacrificial animals, which were required to be healthy, spotless, and blemish-free. In a powerful, even shocking, adaptation of such language, Paul fills these words with new meaning. We no longer worship by killing animals. But in an equally extreme and decisive approach in our worship, we devote our own living, breathing bodies in active, unreserved service to God.

Everything we do in the body is meant to be worship: eating, sleeping, walking, driving, working, talking, cooking, singing, exercising, typing, making love—all of it. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Spiritual transformation is not restricted to a religious compartment of life, while leaving the rest of what we do – the “secular” – untouched and unchanged. God wants all of us, soul and body, all the time. He intends to lift every aspect of our lives up into worship.

This requires, of course, complete and total surrender: nothing less than the full, unreserved abandonment of all our desires, prerogatives, ambitions, and personal rights. Such self surrender is the only way to make real progress in the Christian life. If you hold on to some vestige of self will, following Jesus will feel intolerably difficult – a moral and spiritual regimen that seems impossible to follow. But this gets right to the heart of one of the great differences between the demands of morality and the way of Jesus. As C. S. Lewis put it, “Christianity is both harder and easier.”

In fact, we are very like an honest man paying his taxes. He pays them all right, but he does hope that there will be enough left over for him to live on. Because we are still taking our natural self as the starting point.

As long as we are thinking that way, one or other of two results is likely to follow. Either we give up trying to be good, or else we become very unhappy indeed. For, make no mistake: if you are really going to try to meet all the demands made on the natural self, it will not have enough left over to live on. The more you obey your conscience, the more your conscience will demand of you. And your natural self, which is thus being starved and hampered and worried at every turn, will get angrier and angrier. In the end, you will either give up trying to be good, or else become one of those people who, as they say, “live for others” but always in a discontented, grumbling way – always wondering why the others do not notice it more and always making a martyr of yourself. And once you have become that you will be a far greater pest to anyone who has to live with you than you would have been if you had remained frankly selfish.

The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.”

Do you see the difference? Morality demands that we be good, but Christ demands much more. He demands that we give him all. That makes Christianity seem really hard. And, in a way, it is. But it’s also easy, because Christ also gives us a new self. He transforms us so that his will becomes ours. But devoting our whole selves to him, body and soul, in a life of surrendered worship, is the first step.

4. The Process: Renewing the Mind

Spiritual transformation is a process of inner renewal that involves the total reorientation of our minds and hearts. This is one of the key differences between true Christ-centered change and religion. God is interested in more than external conformity to a set of rules. He wants to make us new on the inside. The change he desires goes much deeper than behavior. Our minds must be renewed.

Deep, lasting change requires me to attend to how this present age impacts my thinking. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (v. 2). Rather than conforming to the mind-set of the fallen world around me, I must be renewed in the core of my being. The capacity to discern and embrace God’s will for healthy, God-honoring humanity depends on the transformation of my thoughts and affections. God changes me not by manipulating my choices or forcing my will, but by restoring my heart and renovating my mind. The implications for spiritual formation are profound. Packer observes,

Man was made to know good with his mind, to desire it, once he has come to know it, with his affections, and to cleave to it, once he has felt its attraction, with his will; the good in this case being God, his truth and his law. God accordingly moves us, not by direct action on the affections or will, but by addressing our mind with his word, and so bringing to bear on us the force of truth . . . Affection may be the helm of the ship, but the mind must steer; and the chart to steer by is God’s revealed truth.

This means we are transformed as our minds are informed. Since this is true, it is vital to saturate our minds with the truth of the gospel. Jesus said as much, when he prayed to his Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). Only when the truth is renewing our minds, will be transformed, and thus be equipped “by testing [to] discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).

As believers, we long for a resource that will help us grow. We want to discern God’s will and follow it. So we look to counselors, seminars, and books in our quest for the magic bullet, the secret of change, the key to victory. But the most important resource – the truth of the gospel – is at arm’s reach. We only have to appropriate it in our lives. Spiritual growth is not about moving on from where we began – the gospel. It’s about growing deeper in the gospel. Or, rather, getting the gospel deeper into us. As Richard Lovelace writes,

Growth in faith is the root of all spiritual growth and is prior to all disciplines of works. True spirituality is not a superhuman religiosity; it is simply true humanity released from bondage to sin and renewed by the Holy Spirit. This is given to us as we grasp by faith the full content of Christ’s redemptive work: freedom from the guilt and power of sin, and newness of life through the indwelling and outpouring of his Spirit.

5. The Power: The Spirit of the Lord

This can raise a reasonable question: Is the responsibility for growth left in my hands? If the gospel is what changes me and it’s up to me to apply it, does this cast me back upon myself? Look again at what Paul says, this time in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” The agent of transformation is the Spirit of the Lord. The power comes from him.

This is the necessary balance to the previous point. Spiritual growth depends on saturating our minds with truth, but transformation is not merely a cognitive process. It is personal and supernatural. “Spiritual life is produced by the presence and empowering of the Holy Spirit, not simply by the comprehension of doctrinal propositions or strategies of renewal.”

So, does that mean there is nothing for us to do? Not at all. For Paul also commands us to “walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16, 22), and “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). There is, you see, a dynamic interplay between God’s work and ours. The Spirit empowers all of our obedience, yet it is still our responsibility to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25, NIV).

Once again, Paul’s words help us.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philip. 2:12-13).

This exhortation captures the interaction. We are given responsibility: “work out your own salvation” (v. 12). But we are not left on our own. The command to work out our salvation is grounded in God’s promise to work in us. This work of God is on two levels: our motivations and our actions.

To Will: Motivations. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (v. 13). To “will” is to desire, determine, or resolve. The original word embraces both the affections and volitions of the human personality: God works on our desires and choices. John MacArthur suggests that God uses two things to work on our wills: holy discontent and holy aspirations. He makes us dissatisfied with our sinfulness and inspires spiritual longings for something better. He changes the motivational structures of our hearts. J. I. Packer calls this “life supernaturalized at the motivational level,” for any desire within us for true holiness has come from God, not ourselves.

To Work: Actions. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (v. 13). To “work” means to operate, effect, or do. God gives us not only new desires but also the ability to carry them out. This is why Paul teaches us to pray that God would fulfill our resolves for good and our works of faith by his power (2 Thess. 1:11).

So, we have a responsibility. We must work out our own salvation. We must obey. We must put sin to death, fight the good fight of faith, grow in grace, and pursue holiness. Yet we can only obey God as we are empowered by the grace of his Spirit. “God’s work in salvation, in Paul’s view, never absorbs or invalidates man’s work, but arouses and stimulates it and gives it meaning.” Consider several other passages that show this dynamic tension.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Cor. 15:10)

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Col. 1:28-29)

In each of these passages believers are active. Paul worked hard, lived by faith in Christ, proclaimed the gospel, and toiled for the maturity of others. Yet in each case, God and his grace played the decisive role. The Christian life is not either-or, but both-and. We work and God works. The two go together. God equips us with everything good that we may do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:21). This is why I use the word “dynamic” to describe how grace operates in our lives. Growth is not automatic. You and I must cooperate. But all of our cooperation and effort is dependent on God’s grace.

Jonathan Edwards captured the biblical balance well:

In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some, and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, and we act all. For that is what he produces, viz. our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we are the only proper actors. We are, in different respects, wholly passive, and wholly active.

This is hope-giving, liberating, and energizing. Reflecting on the interplay between God’s grace and my responsibility encourages me not to sit back in passivity. I have a role to play. But it also keeps me from despair, for my spiritual growth isn’t ultimately dependent on my unaided efforts. God is committed to my growth in grace and is working in my heart.

The Big Picture

2010-03-23T10:13:00.003-04:00

Here's an ugly, informative, 95 percent final Table of Contents of the entire book, down to the subhead level. Click on the image to see the whole thing.

Ten Ways to Kill Sin

2010-03-20T16:41:00.006-04:00

In a previous post, Kevin talked about the need to sometimes adjust the order of subsections in a chapter. We've done this in multiple chapters, often running through two, three, or four ideas before landing on a final flow of thought. One of the benefits of (1) having a good editor and (2) having a lengthy amount of time for editing, is the gradual increase of clarity in structure and flow of thought. And, of course, the better the structure enhances the content, the better readers will be served.

Chapter seven, which was the chapter under consideration in Kevin's previous post, has gone through multiple revisions. Here is a partial (and slightly edited) e-mail exchange between Kevin and I, followed by the latest (and probably final) ordering of subsections in the book, with a brief preview of each.

E-mail from Brian to Kevin: I was looking again at the division between “understanding” and “actions” in the application list in this chapter. I’m not totally against it, but the division strikes me as arbitrary. Yielding to God is an act, not just something we understand. So is aiming at the heart, looking at the cross, and depending on the Spirit. So, I thought maybe we should re-title the lists to “internal dynamics” and “external dynamics” – but I’m not sure that works either. After all, using the spiritual sword of Scripture is just as internal as external. My point: though breaking the list of ten things down into two lists of five makes it feel more manageable, I’m not sure its really necessary or serving the content well. It feels more like we’re making the division to serve structure, rather than structuring to serve content and genuine understanding . . . One more thing . . .In the original mss, I intentionally put looking to the cross and depending on the Spirit at the end, because these are the most important. I think the present ordering loses the feeling of making the gospel the climax of the chapter. We did cut two things from the list, making it ten instead of twelve. If we took out the divisions, what about this as a logical progression . . .

E-mail from Kevin to Brian: Absolutely. Agree on all accounts. These being somewhat artificial divisions, they can be effectively handled a number of ways. I like your 1-10 list. Maybe call the section Ten Ways to Kill Your Sin.

Ten Ways to Kill Sin

Killing sin, crucifying the flesh, is no easy affair. It involves the habitual rejection of sinful desires, motives, thoughts, and habits in our lives. If we are to kill sin we must oppose it consistently. We must habitually fight its impulses and make every effort to weaken its power over us. The following ten strategies are not exhaustive, but I believe they will be helpful.

1. Yield Yourself to God

As we saw in chapter five, Paul teaches us that one of the first steps in fighting against sin is surrendering to God.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness (Rom. 6:12-13).

He specifies in this passage that we are to hand over both our selves and our bodies to God. Just to be clear, he notes that we are to hand over our members—that is, every individual part of the body, without exception.

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2. Accept That the Battle Never Ends

Killing sin is a constant duty that will require life-long battle. Paul says “we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” It's not obvious in the English translation, but all the verbs here emphasize an active, ongoing effort. In other words, “if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Owen captured the point well when he said: “You must always be at it while you live; do not take a day off from this work; always be killing sin or it will be killing you.” We must never let up the fight. Sin is always pounding away at us, “always acting, always conceiving, and always seducing and tempting.”

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3. Take God’s Side Against Your Sin

Third, you must learn to always take God’s side against your sin. This is implied in yielding ourselves to God; but we must be conscious and consistent in acting on the inclinations toward holiness and acting against the inclinations toward sin. “The duty of mortification consists in a constant taking part with grace, in its principles, actings, and fruits, against the principle, actings, and fruits of sin.”

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4. Make No Provision for the Flesh

Which flame is harder to extinguish, that of a match, or a forest fire? And does a forest fire ever begin at full power? Never. Fires start small, then get bigger.

Paul tells us, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14). This verse is about lighting fewer matches, and being careful to snuff out the lit ones before the flames increase. In practice this means not exposing yourself to things—websites, magazines, or movies, for example—that are likely to bring strong temptation.

Making no provision for the flesh also involves rejecting the first inclinations of sin. In rejecting the urge to snap back in sarcasm at a hurtful word, or indulge the lustful thought or glance, we extinguish the match in those first few seconds. If we don’t, we may soon have a raging fire on our hands. Owen wisely warns, “Rise mightily against the first sign of sin. Do not allow it to gain the smallest ground.”

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5. Use Your Spiritual Sword

As Romans 8:13 says, we must put sin to death “by the Spirit.” But how do we do that? How does the Spirit help us put sin to death? Consider Ephesians 6:18 “Take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Linking Romans 8 and Ephesians 6 together, we see that one way the Spirit helps us kill sin is with his sword, the Scriptures. As someone once said, “Either this Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book.”

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6. Aim at the Heart

Remembering the focus of chapter four, we must aim at the heart. Sin is a heart matter, not just a problem of behavior. Stomping on the fruit of sin—the sinful behavior itself—won’t kill the tree. Jesus constantly focuses our attention on the heart. As Jesus said, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

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7. Replace Sin with Grace

Repentance involves not just turning from, but turning to. As we saw in chapter six, holiness demands both “putting off” and “putting on.” We must not only put off sin, we must put on grace. The negative must be replaced with the positive.

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8. Stay in Community

Battles are best fought by armies, not individuals. One of our strategies in putting sin to death must be to stay close to other Christians. “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Eccl. 4:9-10)

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9. Look to the Cross

Even more importantly, we must look to the cross. Without this all other strategies will ultimately fail. “There is no death of sin without the death of Christ” said Owen.

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Over and over again, when the Bible commands us to put sin to death, it does so in the context of Christ's victory over the very sins we battle. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we fight from a position of victory. Therefore,

Set your faith upon Christ for the killing of your sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls . . . By faith fill your heart with a right consideration of the provision that God has made in the work of Christ for the mortification of your sins.

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10. Depend on the Spirit

Finally, as we look to the cross in our efforts to put sin to death, we must also remember that the power of the cross is only available to us through the Spirit of Christ. Remember Paul’s words in both Romans 8 and Galatians 5. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). While our constant effort is necessary and required, we clearly cannot defeat sin in our own strength. “Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, to the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.”

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Something close to the final Introduction

2010-02-24T15:08:00.008-05:00

Have you ever been in a situation where you know your destination but can’t find your way? It happens to me with almost predictable regularity. In fact, I’ve been lost in nearly every big city I’ve ever visited. Just ask my wife. In these moments of dislocation and disorientation, we need two things for our journey to be a success: a map and someone to show us where we are in relation to our final destination. When you come right down to it, then, I suppose we usually need a third thing as well. Especially men. When our journey has been reduced to an ineffective mix of hunches and guesswork, we need to admit we could use some help!

Following Jesus is also a journey, and one with a clear, inspiring destination. According to Scripture, our destination is to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). To be holy. Most Christians realize this and desire it. But we often feel disoriented in the midst of our journey. Though we know where we should be going, it can seem like we’ve lost our way.

A primary reason for this disorientation is simply that becoming more like Jesus—a process theologians often call “sanctification”—takes a lifetime, and life gets complicated. As the years unfold it can become unclear how sanctification really works, and how it fits with other elements of Christian life and thought. For anyone who takes faith seriously, honest, important questions will eventually arise.

• How do my current struggles with sin affect my standing with God?
• What practical steps must I take to deal with sin and nurture spiritual growth?
• What should I expect as I pursue change?
• How do I measure progress?
• And how do other aspects of my life – my longings for happiness, my personal disciplines and habits, my sufferings and trials, and my relationships with other people – fit into all this?

Dangers, Toils, and Snares

This journey towards holiness is further complicated by what the well-known hymn “Amazing Grace” describes as “many dangers, toils, and snares.” It is both terribly sad and undeniably true that a fair number of these perils have emerged from within Christianity itself.

Distortions of emphasis. Many Christian traditions, all of them undoubtedly well-intentioned, emphasize certain aspects of biblical teaching to the neglect of others, leaving unsuspecting Christians with distorted ideas or false expectations about spirituality.

• Some put so much emphasis on having correct doctrine that the heart and affections get left behind in an overly intellectual approach to discipleship.
• Others so heavily emphasize inward piety and the importance of spiritual experience that they effectively replace joyful faith in Christ with an unhealthy and myopic introspection.
• Some neglect the work of the Holy Spirit altogether, leaving Christians with the impression that being holy is wholly dependent on moral effort and self-discipline.
• Still others put so much focus on the Spirit that believers wrongly view the Christian life as nothing more than a passive acquiescence to the Spirit’s work.

Misrepresentations of the gospel. Even worse are teachings that eclipse the transforming power of the gospel altogether. These appear in two basic forms.

On one side of the spectrum are views that distort God’s grace in ways that give license to ongoing patterns of sin. This is the error that Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace . . . the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sins departs.”

Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

But on the other side of the spectrum, and even more contrary to the gospel and more detrimental to spiritual health than “cheap grace,” are approaches to holiness that stress moral effort while neglecting the rich resources of God’s grace in the gospel. This legalistic approach to holiness rips the heart out of Christianity, leaving people with nothing but the dead form of performance-based religion.

In his essay, “The Centrality of the Gospel,” Tim Keller captures the gospel-centered balance we need:

The key for thinking out the implications of the gospel is to consider the gospel a “third” way between two mistaken opposites . . . Tertullian said, “Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves, so this doctrine of justification is ever crucified between two opposite errors.” Tertullian meant that there were two basic false ways of thinking, each of which “steals” the power and the distinctiveness of the gospel from us by pulling us “off the gospel line” to one side or the other. These two errors are very powerful, because they represent the natural tendency of the human heart and mind . . . These “thieves” can be called moralism or legalism on the one hand, and hedonism or relativism on the other hand. Another way to put it is: the gospel opposes both religion and irreligion. On the one hand, “moralism/religion” stresses truth without grace, for it says that we must obey the truth in order to be saved. On the other hand, “relativists/irreligion” stresses grace without truth, for they say that we are all accepted by God (if there is a God) and we have to decide what is true for us. But “truth” without grace is not really truth, and “grace” without truth is not really grace. Jesus was “full of grace and truth”. Any religion or philosophy of life that de-emphasizes or loses one or the other of these truths, falls into legalism or into license and either way, the joy and power and “release” of the gospel is stolen by one thief or the other.

These “two thieves” of legalism and license have plagued the church throughout its history, doing great damage and hindering many in their journey. It is directly between these extremes, therefore, that we must live, safe in the truth of the all-sufficient cross of Christ. This is how we reliably make progress toward the destination of Christlikeness.

To aid us on our way we need a good, accurate map. A map that not only tells where we are in the journey, but one that marks the path clearly and warns us of the dangers, toils, and snares—from our own hearts, from the temptations of this fallen world, and from well-meaning but misguided Christian teachers—that we will encounter along the way.

Piecing Together a Puzzle

My personal journey towards Christlikeness has certainly not been a straight line from conversion to transformation. I’ve often felt disappointed with my lack of progress and confused by the conflicting perspectives on how to change. But I’ve also experienced surges of growth as the Lord has opened to my mind the glories of Christ’s work in the gospel and the ways of his Spirit in the heart. Nor is my journey complete. I continue to fight sin and learn of my daily need for repentant faith in the crucified and risen Christ. My spiritual growth has been like putting together a jigsaw puzzle – slowly the borders have been formed and key pieces have fit into place, and the big picture has gradually taken shape.

This goal of this book is to explain where the process of transformation fits and how it happens in the Christian life. I hope to bring together various aspects of spiritual formation in a way that is unusual for most books. Many authors do a wonderful job of focusing on one or two of the following areas.

• The content of the gospel – unfolding what God has done for us in the cross and resurrection of Christ.
• The application of the gospel – discussing the implications of the cross for daily life.
• The priority of holiness and the necessity of mortifying sin – explaining what holiness is and how putting sin to death is an essential and ongoing responsibility in any Christian’s life.
• The motivating power in Christian spirituality – describing the inner dynamics of grace and joy in helping us glorify God through the pursuit of holiness.
• The nature and means of spiritual transformation – explaining how people grow spiritually through the use of various methods (such as meditation and prayer).
• The role of suffering in spiritual growth – encouraging us to embrace trials as one of God’s means of changing us.
• The importance of community in our discipleship – reminding us that we need others to help us in our journey to Christlikeness.

I have been greatly helped by many of these books, authored by contemporary theologians and pastors such as J. I. Packer, John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, Tim Keller, C. J. Mahaney, Don Carson, Paul Tripp, Jerry Bridges, and Don Whitney; as well as classic books on spirituality from previous generations written by great stalwarts of the faith such as Saint Augustine, John Calvin, John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, Charles Spurgeon, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and C. S. Lewis. As I’ve read from these authors over the past fifteen years, different pieces of the puzzle have slowly come together, giving shape to a larger vision of what the gospel is about and how it connects to the various dimensions of my spiritual life. My purpose in this book is to bring these pieces together, presenting a single, unified, gospel-centered vision of how to understand and live the Christian life.

The Power of the Gospel for Personal Change

Because you have picked up this book, you must feel the need for change in your own life. When you examine your attitudes, relationships, thought-patterns, and personal habits, it doesn’t take long to realize how far you still have to grow, does it? If you are like me, such self-assessment can quickly become discouraging! We know we need to change, but how do we pursue it?

My central claim in Christ Formed in You is that it is God’s purpose to change us by progressively making us more like Jesus, and that this happens only as we understand and apply the gospel to our lives. In the pages that follow we will explore the transforming power of the gospel from several angles.

• Part One focuses on the foundations for personal change. We will look at God’s ultimate goal in transforming us (Chapter One); the key to transformation, which is the gospel itself (Chapter Two); and the application of the gospel to our lives (Chapters Three, Four, and Five).

• Part Two then takes up the pathway of personal change. We will explore the captivating beauty of gospel holiness (Chapter Six); with its demands that we both kill sin (Chapter Seven); and grow in grace by the power of the Spirit (Chapter Eight); and the quest for joy that motivates us in this pursuit and strengthens us in the battle for holiness (Chapter Nine).

• Part Three of the book focuses on the means of personal change, the tools God uses to transform us. These final three chapters, while building on the foundation of the gospel discussed earlier in the book, are the most practical. We will learn how God uses spiritual disciplines (Chapter Ten); suffering (Chapter Eleven); and personal relationships in the body of Christ (Chapter Twelve) to conform us to the image of Christ.

In each of these chapters, my aim has been to “connect the dots” between the gospel, the goal of Christlikeness, and the specific aspect of spirituality under discussion. As Keller writes, I want us to see that “we never ‘get beyond the gospel’ in our Christian life to something more ‘advanced’.”

The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom. We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience, but the gospel is the way we grow (Gal.3:1-3) and are renewed (Col.1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every barrier (Rom.1:16-17).

This explains what I mean by the subtitle of this book: The Power of the Gospel for Personal Change. The seventeenth-century English Congregationalist pastor and theologian John Owen put it well in a sentence that summarizes the entire thrust of my book. He said, “Holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls.” His treatises on the work of the Holy Spirit, the nature of indwelling sin, temptation, and the mortification of sin provided a road map for pursuing gospel-driven holiness.

While I would never venture to compare either the depth of my knowledge or the historical significance of my ministry to Owen’s, I have benefited greatly from his writings (along with those of Tim Keller and others) and hope that this book might serve in a similar way as a map for twenty-first century believers who long to experience the life-changing power of the gospel in their own journey toward holiness.

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A unified vision of gospel-centered spirituality

2010-02-11T16:22:00.002-05:00

One of the things Brian wants to accomplish in this book is a synthesis of several approaches to spirituality that are usually not found together: So, the gospel (chapters 2-5), the application of the gospel in the pursuit of holiness (chapters 6-8), Christian hedonism as motivation (chapter 9), and means (disciplines, community, suffering, chapters 10-12).

What he hopes will be distinctive in this book is combing these approaches together into one unified vision of gospel-centered spirituality. The idea is that in reading this book, you can get a clear picture of the goal (think, John Ortberg or J. I. Packer), the means of the gospel (think, Jerry Bridges or C. J. Mahaney), the application in mortification and spiritual growth (think, Kris Lundgaard), the motivation (think, John Piper), and the means of disciplines and community (think, John Ortberg or Don Whitney), plus suffering (think, Jerry Bridges and others).

I think that goal is clearly reflected at last in this, the latest and probably the final Table of Contents.

Christ Formed in You
The Power of the Gospel for Personal Change

Part I: The Foundations of Personal Change
1. Restoring God’s Broken Image: The Goal
2. The Key to Transformation: The Gospel
3. The Curse is Canceled: Justification
4. The Cure Has Begun: The Heart
5. Closing the Gap: Sanctification

Part II: The Path of Personal Change
6. Captivated by Beauty: Holiness
7. The Killing of Sin: Mortification
8. Growing in Grace: Vivification
9. The Quest for Joy: Motivation

Part III: The Means of Personal Change
10. Training in the Spirit: Disciplines
11. The Refiner’s Fire: Suffering
12. Life Together: Community

Excerpts from Current Draft of Chapter 10, on Spiritual Disciplines

2010-01-25T16:45:00.003-05:00

From his home the man had an unobstructed view of the new construction site. The work had started out normally enough. A commercial building of some kind, it seemed. But after the workers had leveled the ground and poured the foundation, something odd took place. With the help of various machines, a rectangular silver box was maneuvered into the center of the slab. It was the size of a large living room, and taller than any of the men. In the days that followed, as the crew began to frame the building and add drywall, the huge, glistening box was gradually hidden from view. Still curious, the man decided to walk over and ask what it was.

The building, he learned, was to be a bank, and the great silver box was its vault. So important to the bank was this vault, so central to everything the bank did and stood for, that the building was being constructed around it. The vault lay at the heart of the bank, defining its purpose, giving it value, and making it distinct from every other building in the area.

Discipleship is meant to resemble the construction process this man was witnessing. For it is through the practice of the spiritual disciplines that we are enabled to build our lives around Jesus. He is the treasure and great reward hidden in our hearts. By him we possess, deep within us, the sure and certain hope of eternal, unfading riches.

Why is it, then, that so often we who claim to follow Jesus haven’t organized our lives around him? He is to be the center of gravity in our souls, that our thoughts, habits, schedules, and routines might orbit around him. The spiritual disciplines enable us to center our lives on Jesus, becoming like him in his self-giving love. The disciplines are not the end themselves. They are practices that help us remember the gospel and apply it to our lives as we develop our relationship with God. They are also our subject for this chapter.

A Rocky Wannabe

As a boy, I had a powerful attachment to the Rocky movies. Sylvester Stallone’s character may have been an unlikely role model for a scrawny twelve-year-old kid living on a dusty farm in West Texas, but that didn’t stop me from making him an idol. I owned a scratchy tape recording of the first Rocky soundtrack, and I listened to it for inspiration as I did push-ups, strained through sit-ups, jumped roped, and lifted about as much weight as Rocky could have pumped with his drooping eyelids.

Why in the world was I doing this? Being twelve, I never got far enough in my thinking to have a clearly defined goal. If you had asked, I probably would have said, “I want to look like Rocky,” or, “I want to be the heavyweight champion of the world.” Needless to say, I never achieved either. Why? Probably lots of good reasons. But for our immediate purposes, I want to focus on just one: Apparently, two weeks isn’t long enough to transform a skinny weakling into a stallion, and that’s about as long as I stuck to my vague plan. I never became Rocky because I didn’t keep up the exercise routine.

Too often the same could be said of our spiritual lives. You hear a sermon, attend a conference, are inspired by a missionary, or read a stirring book. An image forms in your mind of who you could become. You envision yourself as a genuinely Christ-like person, spiritually deep, mature, and unruffled by life. As the music rises in your soul, you resolve to get disciplined: read through the Bible in a year, memorize a verse of Scripture each day, pray thirty minutes every morning, fast every Thursday, increase your giving by 10 percent.

But before long, like a twelve-year-old briefly obsessed with body-building, you quickly lose steam and your new routines sputter to a halt. Consequently, you never become the spiritual giant you envisioned. Sound familiar?

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Training is Different From Trying

“Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness,” wrote Paul to Timothy (1 Tim. 4:7, NASB). The Greek word for “discipline” is gumnazo (our words gymnastics and gymnasium derive from its root). Translated “train” (ESV, NIV), “exercise” (KJV), and “discipline” (NASB), gumnazo was used to describe the intense discipline of athletes in first century Greco-Roman culture. Competitors in the Olympic or Isthmian games were so relentless in pursuit of a champion’s wreath that they trained in the nude, part of a strict environment that eliminated all non-essentials.

The New Testament urges us to adopt a similarly radical regimen in the spiritual life. We are called to discipline our bodies, keeping them under control as we pursue an imperishable crown (1 Cor. 9:24-27). We must strip off “every weight” and the “sin which clings so closely” and run the race set before us (Heb. 12:1). We should forget what is behind and strain forward to what lies ahead as we “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philip. 3:13-14). As we have learned, God’s ultimate goal is to glorify himself through transformed human beings. We further that goal as we deliberately engage in practices that train us for godliness. If we’re serious about this pursuit we will train with intensity, like an Olympic athlete.

The key word is train. Suppose you were to ask me to run with you in a 20K marathon next week. I could say Yes, and have every intention of doing so. But I would never make the finish line. My good intentions couldn’t possibly compensate for the lack of training. Trying harder simply wouldn’t work because, as John Ortberg observes, “There is an immense difference between training to do something and trying to do something.” If you asked to me to run a marathon that is ten months away, I could do it – if I spent adequate time in training.

So here’s the first thing you must understand in the matter of spiritual disciplines: Living the Christian life is about training, not trying. We don’t exert human effort trying harder to be a better person. We train to live in step with the Spirit. Spiritual disciplines, “those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth,” are the means God has given us for training to live as Jesus lived. These practices are called disciplines because they involve our deliberate participation in training for the purpose of godliness. They are called spiritual disciplines because their effectiveness depends on the gracious work of the Spirit of God.

No Shortcuts

There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth. Oak trees do not grow overnight, but over decades. The formation of the character of Christ within us is a lifelong process, and the spiritual disciplines are means for helping us in that process. They are of such central importance that even Jesus practiced them. The Gospels frequently record Jesus’ retreats for times of solitude and prayer. His teaching reveals how deeply he drank from the wells of Scripture. His entire life was one of love and service to others. If Jesus’ communion with God was maintained through the practice of spiritual disciplines, we shouldn’t assume there is a quicker route for us. As Sinclair Ferguson writes, “Jesus did not possess any special means of spiritual growth which are not available to us. It is essential to realize this if we are to understand Jesus, if we are to become like him.”

Just what are these spiritual disciplines? Teachers and authors on spiritual formation have compiled numerous lists, showing significant variety and diversity. In this chapter, I want to highlight the two most foundational spiritual disciplines: meditation on Scripture and prayer. Then I will suggest several principles to guide our use of all the disciplines as we pursue spiritual growth.

Remember, the disciplines are about being with God, about cultivating a relationship with him. Like any other relationship, the only way to grow close to God is by spending time with him, listening to him and talking to him.

Listening to God: Meditation on Scripture

God speaks to us through his Word. Meditation on Scripture is therefore the only fully reliable means by which we can listen to God. Scriptural meditation is a foundational discipline in any healthy Christian spiritual life.

But this meditation may not be quite what you think. Christian meditation, unlike meditation as practiced in Eastern religions, is not an attempt to empty your mind. It is the practice of filling your mind with the truth of God’s Word. Don Whitney defines meditation as “deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer.” The objects of meditation include the Word of God, the character and worth of God, the works of God, and the wonder of the gospel. All genuine meditation is rooted in God’s revelation of himself, his character, his deeds, and his saving plan as seen in Scripture.

A mind filled with God’s word like this will result in a fruitful life. As the first psalm says,

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;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers. (Psa. 1:1-3)

Meditation is like a Bridge

One of the best ways to understand the value of meditation is to consider it as a bridge. Just as a bridge connects two masses of land, meditation bridges some of the gaps in our spiritual lives.

A Bridge Between Reading and Praying.

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A Bridge Between Mind and Heart.

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A Bridge Between Hearing and Doing.

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Talking to God: Prayer

The other foundational discipline is prayer (which, as we just read, is closely tied to meditation). God speaks to us in his Word, and we speak to him through prayer informed by his Word. In prayer we tell God about ourselves, our circumstances, and the circumstances of others. We express to him our affection, ask for his help and grace, and enjoy his transforming presence. By spending time with God, we become more like him. As Ben Patterson writes in his fine book on prayer,

To stand in the presence of God is, as it was with Moses’ shining face, to reflect his glory. Not only that, but it is to absorb his glory, to be transformed into his likeness. Like film in a camera, when the shutter opens to the light, we bear the likeness of the One who shines the light on us when we pray.

The goal of prayer, then – as it relates to spiritual formation – is the increasing transformation of the soul into the likeness, the image, the character of Christ. As the eighteenth century pioneer missionary William Carey, said, “Prayer – secret, fervent, believing prayer – lies at the root of all personal godliness.”

But let’s face it – when we thinking about the “discipline of prayer,” our initial emotional reaction is one of guilt, not delight. Like many other believers, I know that I should pray more than I do, and often feel guilty that I don’t. I hear (and sometimes even preach!) sermons, read books, and attend seminars on prayer. But when I try to cultivate a vibrant prayer life of my own, I find myself faced with numerous obstacles.

·    Legalism: Sometimes I’m more motivated by a sense of obligation than privilege and begin to think of prayer in terms of law rather than grace. After all, I’m a pastor. I’m supposed to be a mature Christian! Why, then is prayer so difficult? As Paul Miller rightly says, “Private, personal prayer is one of the last great bastions of legalism.”

·    Self-sufficiency: Often, I’m too self-sufficient to pray. I either let busyness crowd out time with God, or when I actually start praying I try to fix myself up and pray in a certain way. But what’s missing in both cases is a clear sense of my helplessness – my need for God.

·    Unbelief: And sometimes the obstacle is a simple lack of faith. It’s not that I stop believing in God altogether, but that I forget his character. When I imagine him looking at me, I see an angry judge or a disappointed authority figure, rather than the kindness and love of a father.

These attitudes cling to me like barnacles to a ship and poison my relationship with God, rendering prayer almost impossible. When faced with these obstacles, I don’t need new strategies or methods for prayer, as helpful as these can be in other situations. The only thing that will counteract these toxic thought patterns is the antidote of the gospel applied to prayer.

Praying in Jesus’ Name: The Antidote to Legalism

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Praying Like a Little Child: The Antidote to Self-Sufficiency

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Praying to the Father: The Antidote to Unbelief

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A Palette of Practices

There are, of course, many other important and helpful spiritual disciplines. But all of them really just serve to cultivate and enhance our relationship with God which is centered in meditation and prayer. Rather than viewing the disciplines as an ever-lengthening list of religious things to do, think of them as a palette of practices from which you can develop your own particular plan for spiritual growth. An artist does not color by number, but skillfully combines the varied colors of the palette in her unique painting. Believers enjoy a similar flexibility in their use of the disciplines.

For a thorough, but by no means exhaustive, list of disciplines see the table below, where the disciplines are categorized as inward disciplines (to cultivate the heart and mind), outward disciplines (to embody the virtues of Christ in personal practice), and corporate disciplines (to practice with other believers).

[click on the image to see all of it]

But don’t feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of disciplines! Rather, be encouraged, for as my friend Del Fehsenfeld writes, “The spiritual disciples are varied and practical enough that all of daily life can be lived within their basic structure.”

The wide variety of these practices reminds us that God not only uses prayer and the reading of Scripture to help us grow, but also serving in our church or community, celebrating life with family and friends, and so much more. The disciplines help us pay attention to God’s presence in daily life. Through these practices we remind ourselves of God’s saving grace given to us in Christ and revealed to us by the Spirit through God’s word. And we also cherish God’s common grace in the blessings of friendship, rest, and community.

We should remember that no two people’s practice of the disciplines will be identical. Your disciplines should not and will not look precisely like mine, or mine like yours. The disciplines of a plumber will be different, though no less important, than those of a pastor. A mother of preschoolers will not have the same rhythms and routines as a single woman. Resist comparing your practices with others or trying to measure up to what someone else is doing. Instead, recognize both your needs and your limitations and prayerfully develop a plan suited to your circumstances and season of life.

We will be most effective when we are intentional in the practice of daily disciplines and recognize the need for occasionally devoting more prolonged periods of time to nurturing our spiritual lives. A helpful adage says, “Divert daily, withdraw weekly, abandon annually.” This advice reflects both realism and wisdom. Most people will find it difficult to sustain a commitment to pray or meditate for several hours each day. But committing a few minutes a day, a few hours a week, and a few days a year is doable for most people. We must recognize and live within the limitations of our unique circumstances and individual responsibilities. But we must also be intentional in doing what we can.

Different individuals will choose their own unique mix from this palette of disciplines, but meditation and prayer, like primary colors, will be present in any healthy plan for spiritual growth.

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The Engine of Our Transformation

In all our consideration and all our practice of the spiritual disciplines, we must remember that only the gospel can change us. Religious practices alone will not. Never be content with the mere forms of piety. Always be feeding your soul at the banqueting table of God’s love in Christ! John Owen wrote,

Let us live in the constant contemplation of the glory of Christ, and virtue will proceed from him to repair all our decays, to renew a right spirit within us, and to cause us to abound in all duties of obedience . . . The most of our spiritual decays and barrenness arise from an inordinate admission of other things into our minds; for these are they that weaken grace in all its operations. But when the mind is filled with thoughts of Christ and his glory, when the soul thereon cleaves unto him with intense affections, they will cast out, or not give admittance unto, those causes of spiritual weakness and indisposition.

The spiritual disciplines are really all about keeping your heart in the constant contemplation of Christ. Fill your mind with the gospel and cleave to Christ all your heart. Think of Christ often! Marvel at his incarnation – the Word was made flesh! Meditate on the achievements of the cross and the dying love of Jesus. Celebrate in your soul the resurrection of Christ. Death is defeated once and for all! Stand in awe at the ascension and enthronement of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. God’s plan for his image-bearing human beings is restored in Christ. The second Adam reigns! As you soak your mind with the gospel and deeply absorb its truths in your soul, you will be changed.

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Two Benefits of Editing

2010-01-12T18:55:00.002-05:00

There are many reasons to edit a book and many benefits result from the editing process. But, speaking from an author's perspective, here are two benefits that stand out to me.

First, an editor's critical eye helps the author clarify and simplify his train of thought. This is where (again, from my perspective) Kevin has helped me the most. He has discovered places where I dropped a train of thought, raised expectations for the reader that I failed to fulfill, made a leap in logic, or was too subtle or fuzzy or foggy to be understood. And he's helped me cut out cumbersome passages that do not advance the argument of the book. As a result, the manuscript is now both shorter (!), but also leaner, more streamlined.

Second, the editing process has helped me refine my writing style. This is the benefit of multiple rewrites (some of the chapters have been through three or four revisions!). Of course, the primary goal in the revision has been to clarify and simplify, but the net effect has also been an improvement in style. At this point in writing I know almost all of what I want to say. The content is there. Revising the text has thus provided an opportunity to not only work on clarity, but also look closely at how I'm saying what I want to say.

Editing a book is like simultaneously doing structural remodels in a house and changing the color scheme and decor. Removing a wall here and there and adding some windows for better light cause the house feel more spacious. Putting on a fresh coat of paint and ridding the place of dated art make the house feel more classy.

In both ways - and I'm sure in others, as well - the manuscript is taking on a much better shape.

Titling Goes to Another Level

2010-01-11T10:03:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been quite a while since this blog has been updated. With respect to the previous post, the overall approach to chapter titles has been overhauled once again; this is very typical and usually very helpful. This e-mail Brian sent me on January 5 (slightly edited) summarizes the state of our thinking.

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Part I: The Foundations for Transformation [Or Spiritual Formation]
1. Restoring God’s Broken Image: The Goal
2. The Key to Transformation: The Gospel
3. The Curse is Canceled: Justification
4. The Cure Has Begun: The Heart
5. Closing the Gap: Sanctification

Part II: The Path of Transformation [Or Spiritual Formation]
6. Captivated by Beauty: Holiness
7. The Killing of Sin: Mortification
8. Growing in Grace: Vivification (or Transformation)
9. The Quest for Joy: Motivation

Part III: The Means of Transformation [Or Spiritual Formation]
10. Training in the Spirit: Disciplines
11. The Refiner’s Fire: Suffering
12. Life Together: Community

Or [Using the same chapter titles]

Part I: Foundations
Part II: Building Blocks
Part III: Tools

I also think it would be nice if we could somehow build some congruency between the overall structure (and titling) of the various parts and the subtitle and introduction. If we use “roadmap” in the subtitle, then mixing the metaphors and using foundation/building blocks/tools might not work. So, we could change the subtitle to something like, “A Blueprint for Your Spiritual Growth.” Or we could choose section titles that go with the “roadmap” metaphor – maybe: Part I: Starting with the Gospel, Part III: Pressing On to Holiness; Part III: Helps for the Journey, or Helps Along the Way.

So, [Once again using the same chapter titles]

Introduction: A Roadmap for Your Spiritual Journey
Part I: Starting with the Gospel
Part II: Pressing on to Holiness
Part III: Helps for the Journey, or Helps Along the Way

So, those are some more ideas to throw in the mix!

BTW, I’m working on chapters 8 and 10 (and maybe 9) today. Hope to have something to you by the end of the day.

Brian

Distilled TOC

2009-11-10T16:13:00.001-05:00

You can never be too clear on the big-picture overview of a complex book in process. Now that we're getting close to being about halfway done, I felt the need to distill the project down and get some clarity on titles for the Parts of the book. This always helps me immensely, because editing in context is worlds apart from simply editing.

Distilled Table of Contents, not reflecting actual chapter titles

Christ Formed in You
A Comprehensive Look at the Christian Life

Part One

Conceptual Foundations: The Gospel and Our Need

1.    Imago Dei
2.    The Gospel
3.    Justification
4.    The Heart
5.    Sanctification

Part Two
Holiness: The Goal of This Earthly Life and How to Pursue It

6.    Holiness
7.    Mortification
8.    Vivification
9.    Motivation

Part Three
The Means of Grace God Uses to Make Us More Holy

10.    Spiritual Disciplines
11.    Suffering
12.    Community

Cut & Paste: Recent email exchanges

2009-10-20T13:11:00.003-04:00

Brian wrote on 10/15/2009 regarding Chapter 4:
Okay – here’s a substantially revised version of chapter four. I threw out the introduction and the final section of the chapter, moved a middle section to the front to create a new introduction (which I’m not sure I’m happy with – are you?), smoothed out some transitions, retitled a couple of subsections, inserted most of the material on indwelling sin from chapter seven, and added a (hopefully) clarifying chart showing the relationship between our position and practice in Christ. This revision completely changed the set up of the chapter. It’s now not focused on a problem (whether legalism or license, though I mention the latter), but on how we are to take the resources of the gospel (positional sanctification/union with Christ) and apply them to our lives by “living in sync with the gospel” (progressive transformation). I’ll be curious to see your critique. I’m sure it still needs work!

Brian wrote on 10/16/2009 regarding Chapter 4:
This is slightly revised from what I sent yesterday. I clarified the chart to use the same language (once-for-all-ongoing, definitive events vs. ongoing, personal, practice) that I revisit in chapter 6. Here’s one more idea that I’ve had – should we consider swapping around chapters 4 and 5? There’s a very key link between 4 and 6. But on the other hand, there’s also a key link between 3 and 4. Chapter five, while important, seems somewhat out of the logical flow of the argument. Have you noticed this? Do you think it matters?

Kevin replied on 10/20/2009 regarding chapter sequencing :
As you suggested, I think I am inclined to reverse the order of chapters 4 and 5. That would give us the following progression:

The Gospel --> Justification --> The Heart --> Sanctification

The chapter on the heart has to be somewhere in the book, and prior to the holiness chapter. I understand what you're saying about links between the justification chapter and the sanctification chapter, and then between the sanctification chapter and the holiness chapter. But in a very real sense there are and ought to be links between every chapter. Our task is to present the material so that those links are always clear.

I like putting the chapter on the heart between the justification and sanctification chapters. It gives the reader a break from closely reasoned and somewhat abstract, heavier theological material, and does an elegant job of explaining an area that is at some point puzzling to every Christian. For some (many?) readers this new order may give a more tangible context to the application portion of the sanctification discussion.

I am now looking at the Union with Christ material in the sanctification chapter vis a vis the Applying the Gospel in the Pursuit of Holiness section in chapter 6. It may be that these beautifully dovetail with one another in terms of emphasis, or there may be significant redundancies. Maybe both. I have only just glanced at the latter section, so this might prove to be a non-issue, but if you have thought about it at all let me know.

Brian wrote on 10/16/2009 regarding Chapter 6:
And here is chapter six. Wow. I never would have thought I would cut so much, but I did – over 800 words from my original version. As I started working it, I could see the problems you saw. The chapter was jerky in its progression and (I think) redundant and repetitive in its second half. So, I sliced and diced and this is what’s left. I think it’s quite a bit clearer now. I eliminated a lot of the subheadings and tried to condense the material in the last section. I think it’s more unified now, but there’s a section of about 1500 words without subheadings. I kind of like it – because it’s really all explaining one basic point (applying the gospel in the pursuit of holiness), and I thought other headings might distract from that. Let me know what you think.

A couple of other notes. First, I haven’t written any kind of intro for part two of the book. If it’s okay with you, I will attend to that later, maybe even after chapters six-nine all take better shape. And second, I didn’t write a definition of spiritual formation. I’m inclined to do that in chapter 1 (in my first draft there is a simple definition in the footnotes where I say that I’m using the term synonymously with spiritual transformation, but maybe I should expand this and put it in the main text). Later we can write in some references to that definition in some of the subsequent chapters, or maybe in the intros to each of the three parts.

I’ll probably not start working on chapter eight until at least next week, but that’s what’s next in my plan. How is chapter seven coming?

Kevin replied on 10/20/2009:
I completely agree that it is better to wait and write the introduction to the various parts of the book at the end, for the same reasons it is usually best to edit the first chapter only when the final shape of the book is obvious.

Adjusting the order of subsections, Part 2

2009-10-14T17:32:00.002-04:00

No surprise: After editing, two of the headlines (underlined in blue) were reworded, and four (underlined in green) were shuffled around to form a more logical progression. This logic becomes more obvious when reading the text. Really.

Adjusting the order of subsections

2009-10-09T06:48:00.007-04:00

In part of Chapter 7, the draft had twelve subsections designed to help the reader get a better handle on mortification. Whenever I come upon a list of any significant length like this, red flags go up, because in my experience such sections can nearly always be improved by reordering and/or the introduction of subcategories.

I began by writing out the headings on a pad, not even reading (for this pass) any of the associated text. First I labeled each heading as being more in the nature of attitude/knowledge, or more in the nature of practice/application. Then within those categories I tried to put the items into some sort of logical and helpful progression. The result is shown below, original order on the left and new on the right.

I will not be surprised if line editing results in some further changes; Brian has wondered if this might be an area where consolidation or elimination of some categories could help shorten the chapter.

Wordsmithing, Part 2: Introduction to Chapter 7

2009-10-08T21:28:00.021-04:00

Here's another effort at succinctly representing edits without providing a confusing amount of detail. Toward that end, I'm also leaving out some minor edits to a few paragraphs.

Key:

Blue text is Brian's draft

Orange text represents my current edit (which may change even before it goes back to Brian for his review)

Grey highlight means text was deleted

Yellow highlight means text was moved aside and may appear elsewhere in the chapter.

I thought the idea of sin as a wild animal was worth unpacking a little, offering the reader a longer and more interesting introduction while extending and deepening the teaching content. As with other edit samples I have shared in this blog, some of what appears as "my" text are Brian's ideas moved forward from later in the chapter. Any or all of what appears below may change after Brian sees it.

-------------------------------------------------

“‘The tiger ate her hand. It slowly proceeded to eat the rest of her arm.’

That’s how Vikram Chari described the horrifying spectacle that he and his 6-year-old son witnessed at the San Francisco Zoo on December 22, 2006, when a Siberian tiger named Tatiana attacked her keeper.

For those who work with wild animals, the bloody assault is a reminder of what they already know but don’t always remember: The creatures they’ve become so attached accustomed to can turn on could kill them at any moment. ‘If you’re not afraid of it, it will hurt you,’ said animal behaviorist Dave Salmoni. ‘You can’t get the wild out of a cat because he’s in a cage.’”

Lots of us think we can tame sin, but like a tiger, sin turns and masters us at the first opportunity. You cannot get the wild out of sin by simply caging it. Evil is untamable. No pet sin is safe. As the seventeenth century pastor and theologian John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

As we saw in chapter six, spiritual transformation always involves dealing with sin and growing in grace. This chapter is about the negative aspect – dealing with sin. We need to learn how to kill the beast within.

Like an animal trainer who has become familiar with a beast, over time we too can grow careless. We forget what we are dealing with, and at some level we come to imagine we have tamed our sin, that we have rendered it harmless enough to share a kind of mutual coexistence, an approximation of harmony.

But sin will never be domesticated. It is wolf, not dog; piranha, not goldfish. Sin is not simply different from us in some neutral, potentially compatible way. It is opposed to us. It is our enemy, and everything about its nature, at every moment, is wired to destroy.

This is where the analogy with wild animals breaks down, for sin can be far more subtle in its destructive intentions than a slashing claw or crushing jaws. We regularly come under assault from our sin and don't even notice, for our sin knows us well. It is expert at chipping away quietly at our character and beliefs, aiming precisely at our weak points.

Therefore, to borrow the language of political correctness, a Christian must never be tolerant, open-minded, and nonjudgmental about his or her sin, as if it were simply a matter of preference. Rather, we are called to hate our sin in the most virulent of ways—to despise it, reject it, deplore it, starve it, and make every effort to kill it.

That’s what this chapter is about—understanding and implementing the biblical call to kill sin.

Theologians call the duty of dealing with our sin in this way mortification. Mortification is not a word we often use. We are familiar with several related words – such as mortuary (a funeral home) or mortician (a funeral director). When people use the word “mortify,” they usually mean to humiliate or shame someone. But that is not what theologians mean by “mortification.” When it comes to sin, to mortify means to kill.

Revise? Or advise?

2009-10-08T20:51:00.008-04:00

Somehow I am still surprised at how the process of line editing can cause me to go back and revisit the work at a higher level.

When I posted an excerpt from Chapter 6 on Holiness, after having read through it, I thought it was in fairly solid shape. But once again — by now I should know to stop predicting these things — when I settled into the editing process I realized that additional changes were probably in order.

This is not Brian's fault. Writing anything of any substance is a process of continual reworking. I once read that in a reasonably well-written book the average sentence will have been redone seven times. That sounds about right. If anything, it's conservative. As I recall, Josh Harris once told me he rewrote the opening chapter to I Kissed Dating Goodbye 12 times. Of the 12 or 15 complete books I have edited, only two did not need substantial work, and one of these still needed to have several chapters shuffled around.

The Holiness section reproduced in that earlier post had four subheads appearing under a main heading:

Consecration
Moral Perfection
Fully Realized Human Holiness
Shuddering, Yet Aglow with Fire

It seems quite obvious now, but during the line-editing phase I realized that consecration and moral perfection were being presented as the two principal attributes of holiness as defined by Scripture, while the following two sections are not about attributes at all. The third section is about Christ as the perfect embodiment of holiness, and the final section speaks of the human response to divine holiness, as we find it to be both irresistibly attractive yet terribly fearsome in light of our sin.

I sent these ideas back to Brian along with some other observations about the chapter, and he will be getting to them as he can. "Fixing this" probably does not require wholesale change but it can, through some simple matters of framing, labeling via headlines, and transitions between sections, bring big improvements in clarity for the reader.

It seems that Brian and I are continuing to settle into a good shared approach and division of labor. One of the things I seem to be able to do, after having had a few exchanges with an author, is to sense where the line is between simply performing edits myself, even if they are substantial, and sending a section or a chapter back to the author with my thoughts and observations. When I send this kind of material back to Brian, for example, his familiarity with the teaching content, his clearer sense of what he hopes for the book to accomplish, his superior theological understanding, and his not insignificant writing gifts can probably move these sections or chapters closer to the goal line, and do it more efficiently, than I could have myself.

Deciding whether to do the work myself or to send it back to the author has to do with my comfort level on matters such as these:

Do I understand what the author is trying to do at this point in the book?
Do I know what the book ought to be doing at this point? (Sometimes these are not the same thing, which can raise another level of questions about whether to consult with the author or just press ahead.)
Is there material in this chapter or section that has ramifications for chapters that have already been edited or are in the process of being worked on by the author?
Given all this, does it make more sense for me to work on this section or chapter, or to return it to the author with my suggestions and observations?

A Very Invigorating and Enjoyable Experience

2009-10-01T21:46:00.013-04:00

Yesterday I spent six or seven hours working through the edits and rewrites Kevin recommended for chapters two and three. It was exciting for me to see how Kevin's suggestions helped me reshape content (especially in chapter three, which is more theologically dense than most of the other chapters) in ways that will make it more accessible to the reader.

Kevin had already moved some stuff around to clarify the flow of thought (see the elusive goal of linearity). But this, along with some of his suggested rewrites, helped me see ways to make the chapter even better by (i) simplifying an overly technical section of the chapter that needlessly introduced new theological concepts and (ii) making the final 1/4 of the chapter more concrete in application.

I'm now discovering for myself how thrilling it can be to work with an editor who really helps you find your voice and clarify your content. In contrast to many of the days in writing the manuscript, when it was hard labor to crank out sentences, the time I spent rewriting yesterday flew by and seemed very productive.

In one of my e-mails to Kevin, I said, "I’m excited, by the way, about how your edits/suggestions are helping me clarify the content! This is turning out to be a very invigorating and enjoyable experience." After looking over the reworked chapters, he wrote, "Based on a quick read, I’d say good improvements in every way."

Next week I'll do the rewriting for chapter four. In the meantime, Kevin has done the line editing for chapters five and six, and is now working on seven.

Excerpt on Holiness from draft of Chapter 6

2009-09-29T14:13:00.008-04:00

Here is the first lengthy excerpt from the book. Having moved (for now) beyond the introductory chapters that are so important for setting up the rest of the book, the work is going much more smoothly on the editorial side. This is also causing the progress meter (left sidebar) to rise much faster. Remember that your chances to preorder Brian's book for $5.00 ends when the meter tops 30% (details in right sidebar). As you read the following excerpt you will see that Brian does a fine job of bringing Scripture directly to bear in ways that bring fresh illumination.

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Novelist Flannery O’Connor once said, “To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” She did this in her fiction, often ending her stories with unusual, even shocking, twists that force the moral of the story upon her readers.

Our gracious God knows we are almost blind and hard of hearing. And in Scripture, he shouts and draws large, startling pictures to help us understand his holy nature and the character he wishes to form in us. Let’s take a brief survey of these pictures of holiness in Scripture.

Consecration

The first occurrence of the word “holy” in Scripture is in the second chapter of Genesis. Having completed the six days of creation, God rests from his creation work on the seventh day. Verse 3 says, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” (Gen. 2:3). The phrase “made it holy” is a single verb in Hebrew which means to consecrate, separate, or set apart. God set apart the seventh day from the other six, making it unique.

The next occurrence of the verb in the Old Testament conveys a similar meaning. After instituting the Passover meal in the inaugural event of Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt, God instructs Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine” (Exod. 13:2). The word “consecrate” is the same word we saw in Genesis 2:3. God is commanding Moses to set apart the firstborn children and animals in Israel for himself. “Whatever is the first to open the womb . . . is mine.” The noun form of this word expresses the same idea; it means that which is “set apart” or “consecrated” to God.

God himself is set apart from all others. “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exod. 15:11). To put it simply, God is in a class all by himself. God is other than we are. He is called the Holy One of Israel (Psa. 89:18), has a holy name and dwells in a holy place (Isa. 57:15; Psa. 99:3; Deut. 26:15; cf. Psa. 20:6, 24:3). His Spirit is holy (Psa. 51:11) and he does holy works (Psa. 105:42) and makes holy promises (Psa. 145:17). God does everything for the sake of his holy name (Ezek. 36:22). Psalm 89:35 says that God swears by his holiness “because that is a fuller expression of himself than anything else.”

But God also sets apart for himself various people, places, and things. When Moses heard God speak from the burning bush, he was on holy ground (Exod. 3:5). God chose Israel to be a holy nation, set apart as his special people (Exod. 19:6). The garments of Aaron, the high priest, were holy garments (Exod. 28:2, 4). The priests made holy sacrifices on a holy altar (Exod. 29:37) in a holy place, while the ark of the testimony was kept in the Most Holy Place (Exod. 26:33-34). Even the furniture and utensils used within the tabernacle were holy (Exod. 30:27-29). Because Jerusalem housed the temple, it was known as God’s holy city (Isa. 52:1). Anything set apart for God’s special use was holy.

This, then, is the first picture of holiness: being set apart or consecrated for God.

Moral Perfection

Closely connected to the idea of consecration is that of ethical purity and moral perfection. As we saw above, God is other than we are. But this otherness is not merely metaphysical. It is also moral. God is unique in the perfection and purity of his character. As the prophet Habbakuk said, the Holy One is “of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Hab. 1:12-13).

This moral dimension to God’s holiness consists in the excellence of his nature, the integrity of his justice, and the purity of his wisdom. As a seventeenth-century theologian said, God’s holiness is the glory of his perfections.

As his power is the strength of [his perfections], so his holiness is the beauty of them. As all would be weak, without almightiness to back them, so all would be uncomely without holiness to adorn them . . . [holiness] is the rule of all his acts, the source of all his punishments. If every attribute of the Deity were a distinct member, purity would be the form, the soul, the spirit to animate them. Without it, his patience would be an indulgence to sin, his mercy a fondness, his wrath a madness, his power a tyranny, his wisdom an unworthy subtlety. It is this gives a decorum to all.

Holiness, then, is not merely one of many attributes of God. It is the sum and substance of all the attributes. All of God’s perfections are holy perfections. Holiness is the beauty, the splendor, the “fearful symmetry,” of God’s infinitely flawless character.

God’s utterly self-consistent holiness demands a corresponding purity in those created in his holy image. Moral perfection is the condition for a relationship with God. “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?” asks the Psalmist (Psa. 24:3). The answer is found in the strict ethical requirements which follow. Because God is holy, only those who have clean hands, pure hearts, and honest lips can stand in his presence (Psa. 24:4-6; cf. Psa. 15:1-5). God’s holiness demands ours. “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 20:7; cf. Lev. 11:44-45; 19:2; 1 Pet. 1:16).

Yet we are human, inherently sinful, placing all of us in a deep moral crisis. Our God is holy, and we are not. When we see our sinfulness in the light of God’s holy character, we tremble.

When God gave his law to Israel at Sinai, the people of Israel “saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking.” They “were afraid and trembled and stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us lest we die’” (Exod. 20:18-19). Isaiah the prophet, perhaps the most righteous man of Israel in his day, was reduced to psychological shambles, when he saw “the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” surrounded by winged seraphim, who covered their faces as they cried, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isa. 6:1-5).

Job, despite his initial confidence as a plaintiff desiring audience before the Almighty’s throne (Job 23:1-7), lost all self-esteem when he heard the living Lord speak. In self-abhorrence, he confessed, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). Reflecting on these kinds of biblical stories, Calvin wrote of the “dread and wonder with which Scripture commonly represents the saints as stricken and overcome whenever they felt the presence of God.” He concluded that, “man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God’s majesty.”

The emotions of awe, dread, and fear are appropriate responses to God’s holiness, because he is holy and we are not. He is pure, clean, righteous, and true. We are soiled with guilt and deceit. His character is holy. Ours isn’t. This realization should give us pause when approaching our God. As Annie Dillard once wrote,

On the whole, I do not find Christians . . . sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.

Fully Realized Human Holiness

These pictures of holiness emphasize the transcendence of God, evoking responses of awe and dread. But Scripture provides another picture—a picture of incarnate holiness, immanent holiness, holiness drawing near to us in the person of Jesus.

Everything about Jesus’ life was fragranced with the aroma of holiness. Prior to Jesus’ miraculous conception, an angel appeared to his mother Mary saying, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). John the Baptist, the herald and forerunner of Jesus, pointed to him as one who would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). Demons, possessing insight more keen than Jesus’ own companions, recognized him as “the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:34). Peter proclaimed Jesus as the “Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14), and the early disciples acknowledged Jesus to be God’s “holy servant” (Acts 4:27, 30). Like “a lamb without blemish or spot” Christ ransomed us for God (1 Pet. 2:18-19) by offering himself “without blemish to God” (Heb. 9:14). He is our great high priest, “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Heb. 7:26). He was “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:4). In raising Jesus, God did not let his Holy One see corruption (Acts 2:27).

The greatest and clearest picture of holiness in Scripture is this Jesus of whom we sing and teach and preach. Every aspect of Jesus’ life exuded the beauty and splendor of God’s moral perfection and ethical purity. Though he experienced the full scope of temptation, he remained completely sinless (Heb. 4:15). Jesus literally embodied what Sinclair Ferguson calls “fully realized human holiness.”

Shuddering Yet Aglow with Fire

In his fully realized human holiness, Jesus shows us what we were made for. The beauty of his moral flawlessness is irresistibly attractive and resonates in our hearts. Perhaps this is one reason why children loved Jesus and felt safe in his arms: They sensed his intrinsic goodness and purity.

Yet his untarnished perfection is also threatening, even terrifying. In Mark 5, when Jesus was in a fishing boat with his disciples during a dangerous storm, the disciples were understandably frightened. But when Jesus stilled the wind and waves with his mere words, his fearful disciples became terrified! They had come face to face with his transcendence. This is also why Peter, having glimpsed the majesty of his Lord displayed in a miraculous catch of fish, cried out, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8).

There is something about holiness that provokes both of these responses: attraction and alarm, delight and dread. Augustine expressed this combination of emotions when he wrote, “What is that light whose gentle beams now and again strike through to my heart, causing me to shudder in awe yet firing me with their warmth? I shudder to feel how different I am from it: yet in so far as I am like it, I am aglow with its fire.” Augustine’s words explain why we are so conflicted in our feelings about holiness. We shudder, because of our sin. We are not holy, so we feel threatened by the dissimilarity between our hearts and our holy God. Yet at the same time, we are aglow with the fire of the Holy One, because holiness is what we were made for.

As we have seen in previous chapters, the good news is that God credits the Christ’s perfection to all who trust in him. Ultimately, Jesus alone can ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place. But we stand there with him. His obedience is ours. His perfection counts for us. Christ is our holiness, our sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30).

Visual Aids: TOC, Document Map view, mind maps

2009-09-29T01:54:00.028-04:00

There are three main visual tools I use to help me grasp the big picture of a book and track its progress.

First is the Table of Contents, a few working versions of which I have already reproduced in this blog. (Click the TOC tag to see those.) Mostly I use this as an easy way to scan chapter headlines and keep in mind the overall flow of the book. For the first two-thirds of the editing process I usually keep a hard copy of the original draft of the TOC close at hand for reference and note taking.

Second is the MS Word Document Map function. This is particularly useful at the chapter level, allowing me to look at just the primary and secondary headlines of a chapter in order to see how the logic of a chapter unfolds and the pattern and consistency with which concepts are labeled. (More thoughts on the role of heads and subheads appear in this entry on my personal blog.) As the book takes shape through the editing process I can also look at patterns and consistencies across chapters and Parts of the book. During this time I am also keeping an eye out for headline redundancies, inasmuch as a 12-chapter book could easily have 100 headlines and subheads.

The third method involves the use of mind maps (I use Mind Manager software). Mind maps are incredibly valuable tools to me, and play a role in tracking or planning almost every part of my business and personal life. When I can see that an editorial project is going to become at all complex, I create a map for it as a visual reminder and summary of the progress of the overall project. At the top of this post is a thumbnail of a simple map (click on it) that summarizes the status of four of the chapters in Brian's book. Especially when a book is only one of several work projects I may have underway, such a map is vital for maintaining a clear view of the status of various chapters.

Looking at this map section, for example, I can recall at a glance:

that chapters 2 - 4 are back in Brian's court
that I have done significant editing on chapters 2 and 3 (because it made sense to do so before returning them to Brian)
that I have done no editing to speak of on chapters 1 and 4 (because structural issues in those chapters suggested that Brian do some work prior to my editing)

Not all of this information is explicit in this map, but I fill in enough as I go along so that what the map is saying is always clear, at least to me.

I don't make it a priority in these maps to keep the working chapter titles up to date; that's not one of their primary functions. Also, in the case of this particular map, the task roll-up feature — a kind of project-management lite function that tracks the progress of particular tasks by percent completed — is not working quite right. This project is not complex enough for that to be more than a nuisance. Usually this feature works fine.

An exchange about chapter four

2009-09-25T10:13:00.018-04:00

Brian,

This chapter can be extremely helpful to the reader. But the first part — generally speaking, everything before the “living in sync with the gospel” section — seems to suffer from issues of labeling and reader expectations. Prior to diving in to begin a close edit, I'm sharing these thoughts to see if you wanted to comment or perhaps even undertake some rewriting.

Here are some questions and observations that the early part of this chapter raises for me on behalf of the reader.

As your target reader, the typical Christian in a good church, you ought not to assume I am significantly different from the average American. Greatest country in the world, cradle of opportunity, and all that good stuff being true, there are also the downsides. I want to be spoon-fed. On average I am intellectually lazy, materially spoiled (yet feeling entitled to more), chronically overscheduled and/or poor at personal time management, and I am constantly being trained by the culture to expect things to be even more clear and simple, and even more quick and convenient, than they were just six months ago. You can either meet me where I am or miss the opportunity to reach me.

STRUCTURE AND EXPECTATIONS
The purpose of this chapter. How does this chapter follow from the preceding chapter? As a reader, I want to be perfectly clear, before the introduction to this chapter is over, how it relates to the preceding chapter and how this present chapter represents the next link in the book’s logical chain. I don't necessarily need to know the full structure of the chapter this early, but I do need to sense it's important to you that I always have a good handle on where this book is going and how the big-picture components I have so far been introduced to fit together.

The structure of this chapter. In the first section you say there are two ways we fail to grasp the implications of grace. First, we see grace as a license for sin. Second, we leave grace behind when it comes to personal change (and you call it a kind of legalism... what exactly is legalism? Why is it a problem?). This leads me to think that these are the two subjects that will be covered in this chapter, and since you have introduced them to me in clearly labeled categories, license and legalism, I expect to see them discussed in clearly labeled categories. Will that be what I find?

TERMINOLOGY
What do you mean by the curse of sin (assuming the previous chapter had not made that perfectly clear). More directly pertinent to this chapter, what do you mean by the power or rule or stranglehold of sin? The bondage of sin? Slavery to sin? Are they all the same thing? If so, is there a reason for saying it all these different ways? Maybe the New Testament authors or various theologians used some of these synonyms for perfectly good reasons relating to audience and circumstances, but does that mean they all have to be used interchangeably when talking to me? (On the other hand, if there are genuine nuances of difference between them, is it important for purposes of this book that I grasp each one? Would a single summary phrase suffice?) If this is going to be a core concept of the chapter, I'd like to have a clear definition right at the beginning so I have a category in my mind. Is being free of sin in this way the same as being saved? Is it an aspect of being saved? Does it relate more to ongoing transformation, or more to those once and for all events like justification?

(You might consider serving the reader by allowing this book to create {or adopt} a nomenclature as it goes. If you teach them in an early chapter to think in terms of accomplished-once-and-for-all events {such as justification} versus gradual-change categories {such as progressive sanctification}, then explicitly reaching back to pull that same language forward re-emphasizes core teaching concepts and allows you to build on those concepts as foundational.)

Early in the chapter, following your mention of the errors of license and legalism, you say these errors are "deadly." If I'm safe in Christ, and if my sanctification is inevitable, both points being fresh in my mind from the preceding chapters, what does "deadly" mean here? Didn't we just conclude the previous chapter rejoicing in our freedom and new life? (Sometimes in answering anticipated questions like this you need to say something like, "as we will learn in chapter X...")

Sometimes in this chapter it is clear to me that you are saying that a habitual pattern of sin or a lifestyle of embracing sin is incongruent and incompatible with being in Christ — such as when you use language like "living in slavery to sin." At other times, you seem to be saying (or at least it is not clear to me that you are NOT saying), that committing individual acts of sin is incongruent in the same way. When you are speaking of lifestyle sins, my conscience has to agree. When it seems like you are speaking of individual, discrete sins, I can just start to feel condemned. Is it both? Is there a clear line between these two (actually, that question may not be asked too often, and is probably one you don't want to get into)?

Other comments:
The opening illustration for this chapter seems weak. As a story it is not terribly compelling (although I suspect it would be if you knew the guy) but it also doesn't open the right door for the subject matter of this chapter.

Before I received your overview of this chapter I too had questioned the utility of the "Best is still to come" section.

Again, my hope here is that in asking these questions you will be able to look at the chapter in a fresh way and perhaps conclude that a reworking of the first couple of sections would be a better way to move this forward than for me to try to answer all these questions "for you" and do the reworking myself. If we can put this chapter on a new foundation, I think the rest of the content will be much better served and working on it will be much simpler.

Does this make sense? Please let me know if you find this approach helpful.

Kevin

----------------------------------

Yes, I do like this approach and these are kinds of e-mails that assure me that you will make this a better book. Keep them coming. Here are my thoughts:

1.    I’m fine with scrapping the lead in the introduction. If you don’t find it compelling, most readers probably won’t either. I don’t have a new lead immediately in mind, but will think on it.
2.    I also appreciate you helping me think through a reader’s questions and expectations. In crafting a new introduction to the chapter, I want to keep these concerns front and center.
3.    I just scanned over the chapter again to determine what is essential to the argument of the book. I think everything before the section titled “Union with Christ” can be scrapped or rewritten. “The Best is Still to Come” and everything following can be scrapped (or perhaps moved to another section of the book?). But everything under “Union with Christ,” “Closing the Gap,” and “Living in Sync with the Gospel,” is, in my mind at least, essential. These sections are really just an exposition of Romans 6 – but they lay out the gospel story as the pattern for a Christian’s progressive transformation. One of my goals it to show how the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ connect to the believer’s death to sin and newness of life. I’ll pick these threads up again in chapter six.
4.    The implications of Romans 6 are both that (1) grace means you cannot continue in habitual sin (I agree that individual acts of sin are different) and (2) that we don’t need to add works to grace in order to be sanctified; rather we need to live out the gospel story – to let what is already true of us in Christ become true in our actual character. So, that’s where I’d reconnect with the legalism/license problems.
5.    I realize this is difficult stuff. This was the most difficult chapter of the book to write (and I think it was the last one I completed), because of the close exegesis of Romans 6. But, in some ways, I view it as the most important, because everything that follows hinges on the realities explained here.
6.    Because of this, I’m more inclined to do directed rewrites of specific sections – that would allow me to answer the questions you think the reader is asking, while at the same time retaining the integrity of the exegetical argument.
7.    Do you have specific ideas for how to rework the introduction/conclusion?

I’m hoping to take ½ a day next week to work on chapters 2-3 and maybe start reworking sections of this chapter.

Brian

Wordsmithing, Part 1: Line editing & rewriting

2009-09-24T12:32:00.011-04:00

This link will take you to the first of five images. Use the right-hand arrow to see images two through five. Following up on this post, these screen captures show the results of basic before-and-after line editing using the compare function in MS Word. The original text that was eliminated shows strikeout and is highlighted in gray. New text is underscored, although a fair amount of this text was Brian's which I moved from elsewhere in the chapter. Remaining original text is plain. Brian now has the final from this process and may make additional edits.

For anyone unfamiliar with the book-editing process, let me note that after Brian and I have completely finished our work, this text is still going to be copyedited and proofread for basic grammatical and typographical errors. So, as an editor, while I do pay some attention to these as a matter of course, they are not top-of-mind matters for me at this stage of the process. Knowing that others are going to do a final cleaning up of the text frees me to focus on more strategic communication goals.

Two progress-report emails

2009-09-23T13:43:00.013-04:00

Here is an edited excerpt from an e-mail I sent Brian yesterday:

I think it's great that the blog is taking on more of a two-perspective feel….I suppose this will help people see that we really are working this out as we go along….

It occurs to me as I write this that you as an author do not have the benefit of receiving from me only those thoughts and observations that have had time to mature. As both a co-author and reader of the blog, you are probably facing more challenges than the average author I would work with, because you catch a glimpse of my half-formed observations. [Readers of this blog can probably appreciate the discomfort and awkwardness associated with having a premature draft of anything in circulation.] In other book-editing arrangements, I normally only turn over my thoughts on a chapter when they have taken a more definite shape. Well, we asked for it.

This is why it's important to present you with a couple of chapters that don't need a directed rewrite, and which I have thoroughly edited (not to be confused with “finished”). That way you can clearly see what I would do with your material when left to myself. The process will be very instructive for us both. It will either raise your confidence in me, or your responses will help adjust and teach me so that, Lord willing, I can move forward more effectively as an editor of your particular material. My delivery of those chapters to you has, quite honestly, been delayed (in part) by work on this blog. Nevertheless, the progress overall seems fast enough.

And here is another lightly edited e-mail I sent to Brian earlier today.

Brian,
Enclosed are my drafts of chapters 2 and 3. I do not consider either of them final, but together they will give you a fairly clear sense of how I think the book can be improved, and the sorts of things I would do to try to get there.

The formatting changes are primarily to facilitate the process of eventually converting to typeset, and secondarily to allow me to use the MS Word Document Map function, which helps me track the bigger picture. The documents themselves also contain some notes and comments.

I have not yet paid any attention to the footnotes, but given the intended audience I will likely recommend they all be converted to endnotes.

I look forward to your honest evaluation of this work...some of it maybe even in public.

Kevin

First Draft of Introduction

2009-09-21T21:12:00.008-04:00

Ten days ago Kevin asked me to write an introduction to the book that answers as least some of the following questions:

What, exactly, is this book about?
How is it differentiated from other, similar books?
Why should I read this book and not any one of 1000 other books on the Christian life?
What will I gain from reading it?
Will my benefit be worth the cost?
Is this author able to connect with me through clear and straightforward writing?
Does he seem to know what he is talking about?
Does he have reasonable credentials to write on this subject?
Do I feel welcomed into this book?
Is the author going to lecture me or encourage me? (Does he motivate by grace?)

I have been waiting for a quiet afternoon free from other responsibilities to tackle this. But around noon today, several ideas came to mind, so I started writing and worked on the intro sporadically throughout the day. Nine hours and 1600 words later, my first draft is complete.

I took Kevin's suggestion that I craft this introduction to capture what may be the unique thing about this book - the synthetic approach to the subject of holiness. Lots of books deal with some aspect of holiness or another: the content of the gospel, the nature and means of spiritual transformation, the work of the Spirit, the necessity of putting sin to death, the role of community, etc. I've benefited from many of these books by authors I love. But what I wanted to capture in my book was a big picture approach, that puts all these pieces together.

Kevin also suggested that I use my lead from chapter one for the introduction. I decided not to do that, and go with a new lead instead. I also tried to make the introduction more personal by referring to my own spiritual journey. Finally, I use the introduction to lay out a plan for the book - almost a road map to what's coming. I'm curious to see how Kevin thinks this first draft does in answering the above questions.

Pulling back to gain perspective

2009-09-21T21:00:00.007-04:00

Once I have gone into the text and begun to edit a chapter or two closely, I usually find myself cycling back and taking a fresh look at the larger structure and purpose of the book. This pattern gets reiterated several times throughout the editing process. There's something about getting down into the line-by-line editing that helps open up the thought process of the author and allows me to then step back and look at the larger work through eyes there that are at least a little bit more like his. At least, that's my goal.

In this instance, I was working on chapter 3, about three quarters of the way through it. This is often the point where some important refinements take place in a chapter as a whole. I looked back at the original title, "The Curse is Canceled," and realized that, after editing most of the chapter, I had yet to come upon the concept of curse in a way that really resonated with the title. That's when I pulled back and thought, Wait a minute, what is this chapter really about? Then I went back to the preceding chapter: What was that chapter about? And how does it lead into this one?

At this point I went into my files and found something that it might seem I should have referenced earlier: a brief summary of each chapter that I had asked Brian to prepare after my first review of the manuscript. (But had I done this earlier, it really would not have changed any of the line-by-line editing I have done so far and, as I mentioned, the act of having done that editing has put me in a better place to evaluate the book overall.)

I took those brief summaries and inserted them at the beginning of each chapter in the manuscript. Now, when I come to each chapter for editing I will have its corresponding summary there for ready reference. I looked over the summaries and highlighted the key terms, and from that I made the following annotations, in ALL CAPS, to the gradually shifting Table of Contents that you will undoubtedly see several more times if you continue reading this blog. This process has brought me new clarity regarding the larger structure of the book, and will probably lead to a number of suggested revisions in chapter titles.

Table of Contents

[Part One: Captivated by the Gospel]

1. Imago Dei -- (Brian is working on this, so I won't touch it again until he is done)
2. [Seeing the gospel clearly] -- THE GOSPEL
3. [Justification: The Curse is Canceled] -- JUSTIFICATION
4. The Bondage is Broken -- TRANSFORMATION
5. The Cure Has Begun -- THE HEART

[Part Two: Holiness, the Goal of the Gospel]

6. Beautiful Holiness -- HOLINESS
7. Killing Sin -- MORTIFICATION (or, the negative side of the pursuit of holiness)
8. Growing in Grace -- VIVIFICATION (or, the positive side of the pursuit of holiness, something never be confused with revivification, which is what Dr. Frankenstein did)
9. Captivated by Beauty -- MOTIVATION

[Part Three: Tools of Transformation]

10. Training in the Spirit -- SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
11. The Refiner’s Fire -- SUFFERING
12. Life Together -- COMMUNITY

Acknowledging the high wire

2009-09-20T19:33:00.002-04:00

Because this is a blog chronicling the process of editing, I am walking the high-wire here without a net. I'm laying out the case for how I have supposedly improved Brian's manuscript before he has even seen what I've done. In fact, I may not have improved it at all. I may be totally wrong.

Blogs, like reality TV, unfold in uncertain ways, subjecting their actors to the potential of public humiliation—perhaps this blog more than some others. That's okay. I think Brian and I understood what were getting ourselves into. There is a sense in which he is on a high wire as well. It's probably good for us both.

The elusive goal of linearity

2009-09-19T11:05:00.022-04:00

For the kind of book Brian has written, it is important to make your arguments essentially linear. This raises a challenge that is particularly acute for speakers or preachers who become authors: Reiterating points made previously, or foreshadowing points yet to come, may quite often be a good approach when speaking. It is rarely the best approach when presenting the same material in written form.

I came upon an example of this in editing chapter 3, a discussion of justification. Brian had come to a place where he was making three sub-points about justification:

Justification is legal in nature
Justification is declarative in function
Justification concerns our status before God

Having been at this kind of work for a while, I know it is going to be extremely difficult to write this section in a way that really teases the points apart to make them distinct from one another.
Why? Because these three points are so interdependent that it's very difficult not to make them all at once: "Justification is a legal declaration of our status before God."... "When God justifies me I am legally declared righteous in his sight."... or any one of 1000 variations. They can sound like one point, and in a sense they are. But based on the divisions you just offered the reader, that one point can and should be understood as being made up of three points. So the author can't have it both ways. He can't say, "Here are three separate things to understand about justification," and then fail to discuss them...separately.

There is no way you're going to be able to write three or four paragraphs about justification being legal in nature without drifting into saying things that better belong in one of the other two categories. But then there was another layer of complexity. In the case of Brian's draft, he made the first point about justification being legal in nature and then spent some time setting forth the fundamental purpose of God's law: not to give us a way to heaven but to show us we can't get there on our own. When I saw this, I began to realize that this whole section about the definition of justification was going to need some work. More importantly, I began to recognize that clarifying the purpose of God's law is absolutely foundational to any clear discussion of justification. It ought not to be buried as a sub-point of a sub-point of the definition of the word. So I pulled out the whole three- or four-paragraph section and moved it up earlier in the chapter, doing some rewriting in order to make it fit into its new context. In this way, by the time you are reading about how justification is legal in nature, you already have fresh in mind the purpose of God's law, and that makes understanding these sub points about justification much simpler.

With the material about the purpose of God's law removed, I was then able to return to this three-part definition of justification and really focus on trying to keep those three naturally interwoven points distinct from each other—a bit of a trick in itself that may be the subject for a blog post at another time.

An Author's Initial Thoughts and Feelings

2009-09-19T09:20:00.002-04:00

This is my first post on this blog, which Kevin Meath has designed to give an insider's look at the process of taking a book from manuscript to finished product. Since this is my first published book, I'm learning about this process for the first time. My initial thoughts and feelings as we have begun editing have included excitement, gratitude, nervousness, and confidence.

Excitement - I completed the manuscript over a year ago, so it's exciting to finally see editing underway.

Gratitude - I was thrilled when I learned that Shepherd Press had asked Kevin to be my editor. One of the elders in our church knows Kevin and spoke very highly of him. Then I did some further research and discovered that Kevin had worked on books by C. J. Mahaney, Paul Tripp, and others. My gratitude increased.

Nervousness - As a first time author, I've been (understandably) a little nervous about what the editing process would do to my book! How close will the finished product resemble what I originally envisioned?

Confidence - But the apprehension is morphing into confidence. As I have dialogued with Kevin, I've observed not only his expertise, but also his graciousness and kindness - and his desire to serve me as an author. There is nothing of the ruthless editor slicing and dicing an unwitting new author's manuscript to pieces! Rather, Kevin is a wise practitioner who is coming alongside me to help make this book the best it can be. He is assisting me to finetune the flow of thought in the book, remove obstacles to the reader, and make the unique selling points of the book stronger.

As Kevin mentioned in a previous post, I now need to set aside some time to work on the directed rewrites he has sent. I'm hoping to do this within the next two weeks.

Table of Contents when book est. 8% done

2009-09-18T01:08:00.001-04:00

I put material in [brackets] when I know I'm not entirely happy with it and I want to be sure to spend some time with it later.

---------------------------------------
Table of Contents

[Part One: Captivated by the Gospel]

1. Imago Dei
2. [Seeing the gospel clearly]
3. [Justification: The Curse is Canceled]
4. The Bondage is Broken
5. The Cure Has Begun

[Part Two: Holiness, the Goal of the Gospel]

6. Beautiful Holiness
7. Killing Sin
8. Growing in Grace
9. Captivated by Beauty

[Part Three: Tools of Transformation]

10. Training in the Spirit
11. The Refiner’s Fire
12. Life Together

My mandate from Shepherd Press

2009-09-18T00:58:00.002-04:00

My mandate from Shepherd Press on this project is essentially as follows. I am to:

1) involve the author and elicit input from him, to whatever extent and in whatever manner fits the circumstances, makes him happy, and serves the book;
2) and perform hands-on editing myself;
3) in order to produce a manuscript ready for a final copyedit and proofing prior to typeset.

I plan to do this by a combination of Directed Rewrite, Line Edit, and Substantive Edit work, all three of which I discuss in greater detail at my personal website. When I returned chapter 1 to Brian with suggestions, I was initiating a directed rewrite of that portion of the book.

Brian is looking forward to making the time to work on those suggestions. (He is, after all, a husband, father, and full-time pastor). In the meantime, I am making edits to subsequent chapters and hope to send him back two sample chapters of my edits within the next few days.

So for me, the work has now begun in earnest.
At this point in the project I feel like an explorer of a small new country—an explorer who possesses a rudimentary map, has taken a couple of quick flyovers to assess the general contours of the land, and has skimmed some casual essays from others who passed through the country sometime earlier. But now I am down in amongst the undergrowth. Sometimes I climb a ridge or scramble up a tree to get a higher perspective, but most of the time I am at ground level getting to know the country intimately.

It's an exciting time in some ways because I can really see the riches of the land. What the author has to offer—his passions and perspective, his depth of scholarship and personal experience—is there on the page, and my job is to try to make it into everything it can be while still (emphatically) remaining his.

What does it mean that Christ has returned to us our humanity?

2009-09-15T12:56:00.004-04:00

This blog is primarily about editing a book. From time to time, however, I know I'm going to be compelled to post excerpts from the manuscript that I find illuminating or helpful. I will try to remember to label them so they can be readily distinguished from the posts that are purely editorial in nature. Here is the first such inspirational entry, a partially edited and excerpted section from chapter two. Brian Hedges comes up with some great material. The purpose of this excerpt is not to encourage humanity to be self-congratulatory, self-exalting, or triumphalist, but to marvel at the graciousness and comprehensiveness of Christ's gift to us.

All Things Under His Feet
In 1 Co 15 Paul borrows the phrase “put all things under his feet” from Psalm 8, and the phrase is loaded with meaning….this psalm is about God’s original purpose and intention for human beings and their relationship to the created world. As we saw in chapter one, human beings were designed to reign over the created world as God’s representatives on earth. Because of sin, they do not….

In taking this language from Psalm 8, however, Paul is saying that God has put all things under the feet of the risen and exalted Christ (cf. Heb. 2:5-9). In the person of Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, man has resumed his lordship over creation. Everything that Christ has done, is doing, and will do serves to recapture and complete God's original plan for the perfection of creation!

Human Nature Exalted in Christ
God’s work in making Christ supreme has extraordinary implications—and not just theoretical or theological implications, but extremely personal implications for every Christian. For in Jesus Christ, human nature itself has been resurrected, enthroned, and exalted….

In Jesus, we see something of the pattern of what we will be. He is the firstborn of the new creation, the firstfruits of the resurrection in the age to come. His exaltation to a place of rulership is something we will share. We are beneficiaries of the restoration of humanity that Christ accomplished through his resurrection. When Scripture tells us that we can anticipate being made like Him, this is something of what it means.

The practical challenges of displaying before-and-after edits

2009-09-15T10:46:00.012-04:00

I want to try to show some initial edits I did recently on chapter 2. Here are two versions of the first three paragraphs of the chapter. First is the original text, followed by my partial edit.

ORIGINAL TEXT
Some of my favorite stories are about characters who find themselves transported from this world to another through a magical object. Lucy walks through the wardrobe into Narnia. Milo enters The Lands Beyond through a tollbooth. Alice pushes her way through the bright silvery mist of a mirror into Looking Glass Room. Neo leaves the Matrix by taking the red pill and going down the rabbit hole. In each adventure, the protagonist discovers in a seemingly ordinary object a portal into a new world.

As we saw in chapter one, we are transformed as we gaze upon the glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ in the gospel. Like Lucy’s wardrobe or Alice’s mirror, the gospel is a portal into the new world of life in the Spirit. When we gaze upon and enter God’s new world through the gospel, we are changed.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)

PARTIAL EDIT

Some of my favorite stories are about characters who find themselves transported into an extraordinary world through something which at first appears perfectly commonplace. Lucy walks through a neglected old wardrobe into Narnia. Milo enters The Lands Beyond through a tollbooth. Alice pushes her way through a mirror into Looking Glass Room. Neo leaves the Matrix by taking the red pill. In each adventure, something ordinary becomes a portal into a new world.

As we saw in chapter one, the most astonishing and transformative portal of all is the gospel. By what at first seem to be mere words, we encounter a truth that can change us forever. Gazing upon the glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ through this gospel, a power takes hold that is far beyond the mechanism of the words themselves. That power is the Spirit of God.

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Click on this link for an image showing a side-by-side view of the before-and-after edits of the full seven-paragraph excerpt. The link takes you to a Picasa page. If you have a fairly large monitor, try clicking on the full-screen icon; it may give you a clearer view.

If anyone has suggestions for a better way to present the side-by-side comparisons please email me (kevinmeath on Google's email service) or comment. Thanks.

Wondering about converting part of Chapter 1 into an introduction

2009-09-11T17:34:00.010-04:00

In looking over the first chapter it seemed that the draft was trying both to introduce the book and begin the teaching process. Sometimes this works fine, but I think this book needs to be unusually intentional about distinguishing and defining itself in the mind of the prospective reader.

Also, I had noticed earlier that at several points the author refers succinctly to the book's purpose. So I took the parts of Chapter 1 that focus on introducing the book to the reader, collected the references from later in the book referring to the book's purpose, and wrote a cover note to the author suggesting he create a brief introduction--which we will need to title in a way that draws the reader's attention.

Introductions are often overlooked by readers, and I usually counsel authors not to put anything in them that is critical to the content. In this case, however, I think we may be able to tie the title of the introduction to the title of the book in such a way that would draw attention, and thereby serve the goal of defining the book for the reader. An excerpt from my note to Brian:

The purpose of this introduction is to answer obliquely a series of questions that almost always exist implicitly in the mind of the prospective reader, questions that are more important than usual in this case, given the nature of the book. Not every one of these questions needs to be addressed, but they are certainly all worth thinking about.

What, exactly, is this book about?
How is it differentiated from other, similar books?
Why should I read this book and not any one of 1000 other books on the Christian life?
What will I gain from reading it?
Will my benefit be worth the cost?
Is this author able to connect with me through clear and straightforward writing?

Does he seem to know what he is talking about?
Does he have reasonable credentials to write on this subject?
Do I feel welcomed into this book?
Is the author going to lecture me or encourage me? (Does he motivate by grace?)

The Original Table of Contents

2009-09-09T16:22:00.001-04:00

I am an editor who firmly believes in the big picture. As a result, it is not usual for the Table of Contents to undergo fairly significant change. For the record, here is the TOC as it appeared in the original submitted manuscript.

Christ Formed in You: How the Gospel Restores God’s Image within Us

Table of Contents

1. Imago Dei
2. Through the Looking Glass
3. The Curse is Canceled
4. The Bondage is Broken
5. The Cure Has Begun
6. Beautiful Holiness
7. Killing Sin
8. Growing in Grace
9. Captivated by Beauty
10. Training in the Spirit
11. The Refiner’s Fire
12. Life Together

Time to launch

2009-09-09T16:17:00.004-04:00

A lot of water has gone under the bridge in the past nine months. After consulting with Brian and with Shepherd Press over the past couple of weeks, we decided to go ahead and give this blog a try. Let me give a very brief overview of what has taken place since last November.

I did an initial analysis of Brian's manuscript, and the more I have looked at it the more impressed I have become with the care and effort he has put into this. First, I sat down with a printout and read most of it, making marginal notes and, at a later stage, roughing out some thoughts in a Mind Manager map. I asked Brian a series of questions about the book and his hopes and intentions for it. This began a very helpful initial discussion.

After that I had to spend several months on some other projects and only came back to this book in about the past week.

Without going into any detail on the chronology, here are some edited excerpts from correspondence between the author, the publisher, and myself that may help clarify the current status of the project.

KM: What will the reader learn from your book that he could not learn equally well or better elsewhere?

BH: ...One of the things I wanted to accomplish in this book is a synthesis of several approaches to spirituality that are usually not found together: So, the gospel (chapters 2-5), the application of the gospel in the pursuit of holiness (chapters 6-8), Christian hedonism as motivation (echoing John Piper, chapter 9), and means (disciplines, community, suffering, chapters 10-12).There are obviously very good books on each of these different emphases. What I hope will be distinctive in this book is combing them together into one unified vision of gospel-centered spirituality.

* * * * * * *

(Now back to my written comments to Brian) Books that try to do one thing clearly often benefit from restructuring. But this book is trying to bring together several different approaches. The best course may be to just let this book be what it is.

* * * * * * *

Maybe a new title (if there’s a better one), some careful marketing copy, and/or a new preface or introduction can help position this book better in the marketplace. Publicly framing this book as a synthesis of the emphases of major Christian writers might really help it stand out.

Because the manuscript is rather well developed and well executed, I don't anticipate a lot of structural alteration. But my concern is that the unique selling proposition of the book is not sufficiently evident to allow it to stand out in the marketplace. To carve out a niche for it, perhaps we need to think about titling, from the front cover to the chapter names and beyond.

The current title certainly has value. But for many people, the title will be the only piece of information about this book they will ever receive. I wonder if we can’t come up with something that would capture the attention of virtually everyone who would be particularly interested in the original title, but then also cast the net more widely. I am playing with titles that emphasize the synthesis-of-approaches idea.

This began an exchange of ideas between Brian and myself about the title, which may ultimately render the name of this brand-new blog something less than accurate. Yes, editing is often a messy process, and it is not often best to go public with a book title before its time. Too late.

Unwrapping the package

2008-11-26T08:31:00.022-05:00

Yesterday I glanced over the manuscript in Word, noting it was packed with content, carefully formatted, and the work of someone who loves reading and scholarship. As I printed out a copy double-sided, I found Brian's blog and saw a few places where he had mentioned the book, including its acceptance by Shepherd Press. I emailed him to introduce myself, letting him know I hoped to read through the manuscript sometime over the next couple weeks. He replied quickly and excitedly. Turns out Rick Irvin had already told him I would be his editor and Brian had already seen my site.

I then roughed out an initial look for this blog, keeping it private. I have not yet mentioned this idea to Brian (his interest is obviously a prerequisite to pitching the idea to Shepherd Press) because I'm not at all sure it's a good one. Maybe down the road I'll run the idea by him, and maybe someday after that we'll take it public. If you're reading this, we did.