I’ve been thinking and praying a lot lately about the subject of accountability… I’ve not yet fully developed the thoughts below, but I will share them anyway. Perhaps someone “out there” will have some words of wisdom or experience.

Warning: these are generalizations, so your experience may vary by degrees.

Standards

In evangelicalism today, we set low expectations for people (for accountability, participation, service, etc.) that when people do fall short (and in a fallen world, and in sinful flesh, we should expect that people will), they fall to an even lower standard.

In other words, we set the standard at “3″ and people come in at “2″ and it troubles us. Instead, we should set the standard at “8″ and see them come in at “5″ and “6″ and be joyful. (Not to mention that Christ’s standard for us is “10″ – no, I’m not getting into works-based salvation, but I WILL unashamedly get into works-evident sanctification.)

Fear of Man

Even if we teach and preach the doctrines of grace, we tend to disciple as Arminians and Semi-Pelagians. “Whether you accept or reject what I am telling you about sin depends entirely upon my approach and upon my persuasiveness and upon my relationship with you, not upon God’s truth of it nor the persuasion and conviction of the Spirit within you, nor your relationship with Christ as your Lord and Savior.”

Discuss amongst yourselves. Or comment. Or contact.

Bob Kauflin has posted the list of songs we sang at Together for the Gospel. Great music, and wonderful teaching through music.

Colossians 3:16

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (ESV)

The Real Issue with Sen. Obama’s Comments:

Liberals tend to speak in functional terms of meaning and purpose. Conservatives tend to speak functionally in terms of social order, stability, and morality.

None of these is a substitute for authentic Christianity — a faith that is predicated on being true — not merely meaningful or helpful.

(Emphasis added.)

Tim Challies has an excellent summary of RC Sproul’s session at Together for the Gospel, titled The Curse Motif of the Atonement.

In the cross not only is the Father’s justice satisfied by the atoning work of the Son, but in carrying our sins the Son removes them as far as the east is from the west. He does this by being cursed. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law not just by being cursed for us, but by becoming a curse for us. He who is the incarnation of the glory of God now becomes the very incarnation of the divine curse.

God is too holy to even look at sin. His eyes are averted from His Son. The light of His countenance is turned off; all blessedness is removed from His Son whom He loves. And in its place is the full measure of the divine curse. All the imagery that portrays the historical event of the cross is the imagery of the curse. Jesus needed to be delivered into the hands of the gentiles so He could be crucified outside the camp so the full measure of the curse and the darkness could be visited upon Him. God adds to these details others—God turns out the light of the sun so as God turns His face, even the sun won’t shine on Calvary. Bearing the full measure of the curse Christ screams “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus did not merely feel forsaken; He was forsaken. He was utterly, totally and completely forsaken by the Father.

The audio can be found here.

Dr. Sproul preached primarily from Galatians 3:10-14:

Galatians 3:10-14

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (ESV)