Josh Benner

Author: the Josh Benner Blog

  • A sinner’s guide to repentance

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    Originally published March 22, 2017

    Repentance is sincere remorse or regret for an action. Theologically, repentance is associated with the idea of turning away from sin and turning to God.

    James 4:7-10 gives what’s almost like a “how to” guide for repentance. It’s not exhaustive, but he says five things that are important to repentance.

    1. Repentance involve submission to God

    Repentance isn’t just about moralism. It’s about an actual desire for God.

    It’s not “well I’ll just drink less” or “get control my temper better.” It’s not just “don’t do that,” but it’s a turning to God. It’s recognizing that God is greater than your sin, that he is better. That his ways are better. That turning from sin is turning to a better way. (more…)

  • Strength through the toughest struggles

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    At the beginning of Romans 5, the Apostle Paul is speaking of the glories of justification by faith.
    Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
    -Romans 5:1-2
    But beginning in verse 3, Paul seems to randomly change topics:
    Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
    -Romans 5:3-4
    For a Christian who has been justified, God gives them his Spirit. And through God’s Spirit, a person is sanctified (made Holy).
    There are other places in the Bible that talk about sanctification and its result. In Galatians, Paul. talks about the fruit of the Spirit. And the point of that passage is that for a person who has the Spirit, which is synonymous with a person who has faith, the Spirit of God working in a person produces fruit, virtues like love, joy, peace, patience. (Galatians 5:22-23)
    In Romans 5, Paul is saying that another way how people grow with God is through struggles.
    That might seem absolutely counterintuitive.
    Many people get frustrated with God when they’re struggling, suffering.
    It can so naturally be this sense of “where are you God?” Or “Why is this happening to me?” “It’s not supposed to be this way.”
    Suffering is part of life.
    It rains on both the saint and the sinner.
    And the Christian life is one that is lived in a fallen world. Where we still sin, and have to deal with the ramifications from that. Where other people still sin, and where we have to deal with the ramifications from that. And where there is still sickness, illness, disease, hurt.
    And there’s something we all have to understand. The Bible doesn’t promise a Christian’s life will be free from suffering.
    In fact, the Bible literally promises the opposite of that.
    James tells us to look at trials as a reason for joy:
    Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
    -James 1:2-4
    So in James, the result of trials is that it refines a person. It’s meant for a person to actually be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” God uses suffering to refine a person.
    We so often think life is all about happiness.
    It’s not. That is not what the Bible says the Christian life is all about.
    It’s all about knowing God and serving God.
    If life were all about happiness, if this life were all there was, then yes, suffering would interfere with that.
    But suffering does not interfere with knowing God. And in fact, it can often times enhance our relationship with God.
    Some people struggle and suffer, and they turn their back on God.
    It’s tragic.
    But for others, they grow in a deeper relationship with God than they ever thought possible when going through the greatest challenges and struggles. You name it, people have been able to love and follow God through it.
    And again, it’s not that suffering is good for its own sake.
    It’s that the result, the strength that comes from the tension, the greater relationship we can have with God is what can often times be the biggest blessing.
    A radical idea that is puzzling to our world.
    When you lift weights, you don’t get from the workout itself. It’s that when you lift weights, it creates all of these little micro-tears in your muscles. And after you workout, the muscles repair themselves and as a result of that, you’re stronger.
    Faith gets strengthened through the heavy lifting.
    If we never face difficult situations, then we never grow.
    And different types of workouts work different muscles. Different ways how we’re tested strengthen us in different way.
    Sometimes it’s not until the dust has settled that we can look back and truly appreciate what God was doing in us.
    Sometimes you don’t see the beauty of the journey until you’re on the top of the mountain and are able to see where the difficult path was leading you and to appreciate the beauty that it brought.
    I’m sure some of us have experienced things that were extremely difficult at the time, things that were horrible. But things we can look to and as hard as it was at the time,we can see how it helped shape us, how it helped make us into who we are today.
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Glimpses of the work of God in the world

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    Jesus taught: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
    With the promises of the Lord, there’s a sense of the present fulfillment of the promise, but it points to a later and greater fulfillment in heaven.
    So for the present day, we do get a sense of the Lord, we are invited into a relationship with Christ, growing in our knowledge of him, knowing him better.
    There can be times in our lives, seasons of our lives where we find his presence especially strong in our lives. We get glimpses.
    We can appreciate and have a sense of awe for the Lord who created everything when we truly behold his creation, see the beauty of the sunset or stand at the foot of a mountain.
    We have moments when we see people coming to faith in the Lord, born again to the hope of the gospel, and when we see lives transformed, people made new by the power of God’s saving work.
    So in little ways, we get glimpses of God’s glory, of his work in the world.
    But the pure in heart, shall see God.
    The Christian life, is still being lived in a fallen world, we still deal with our own sins and the ramifications of the sins of others. We still get sick and die.
    We shall behold of his glory and holiness in heaven. Not in a glimpse or a flicker of light, but beholding the glory of God, the awesomeness of the Lord for eternity
    In the Old Testament, we are told that a person could not see God the face of God and live.
    God is so glorious, he is so holy, he is so pure, so full of life and light that sinful people cannot behold his glory.

    But the promise of Jesus is an eternal blessing in the presence of the Lord. And for that, we should rejoice. We should enjoy the blessings he has given us today. But to know that they are merely appetizers to the greater feast.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Pro-life: compromise vs practicality

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    Matt Walsh wrote an interesting piece for the DailyWire today. He was comparing the gun rights advocates to the pro-life movement.
    Walsh argues that the pro-life movement could learn from the gun rights advocates.
    The gun rights movement has a different attitude. They won’t give an inch. Ever. At all. They treat even the most mild gun restriction as a tyrannical assault on our way of life. They won’t agree that any gun should be banned. They won’t allow for any exceptions. They aren’t just in favor of gun rights. They are radically, absolutely, unequivocally in favor of gun rights. They are extremists about guns. And I don’t say that pejoratively. We ought to be extreme in our defense of our principles. Every gun rights advocate ought to be an extreme advocate. Every pro-lifer ought to be an extreme pro-lifer. That is the lesson here, I think.
    -Matt Walsh
    I normally agree with Matt Walsh but I think there’s a major flaw in his reasoning.
    Walsh argues that the gun rights advocates don’t budge, don’t give an inch, and that the pro life crowd celebrates seemingly small wins. But the gun advocates have the constitution on their side. Pro life advocates don’t (in fact, the supreme court precedent is against them).
    So the gun advocates are on top of a hill and defending their territory.
    The pro life crowd is on offense, trying to advance the agenda.
    The analogy is really rather that the gun rights advocates are similar to the pro-choice movement in that the pro-choice side also fights tooth and nail and doesn’t like to give an inch.
    Walsh criticizes the pro-life movement for being too quick to compromise. What’s the alternative? Especially when there is such vehement opposition? It’s not like a pro-life bill gets passed and the pro-choice advocates sit back and do nothing. States have passed laws requiring abortion clinics to educate women on alternative options. There’s a 2015 law in California which forces pro-life advocacy centers to post information about abortion. The battle rages on.
    You have to do things one step at a time. And so conservative state legislatures pass laws that help.  Walsh seems to call that “compromise,” but it’s utilitarian, it’s doing what you can today to save the unborn. Will it save them all? Sadly, no.
    Just because you can’t save everyone doesn’t mean you should give up at trying to save anyone in the pursuit of saving everyone. You do what you can.
    The pro-life side should most certainly not compromise or flinch from the value of all human lives, and having a deserve to protect the unborn. It should not compromise from the reality that life begins at conception. It should not compromise that abortion is wrong, because it is taking a life. And the pro-life side should continue beating the drum and fighting for new laws.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Wisdom is as wisdom does

    Originally published March 8, 2017

    There are two ways to go. The way of the wise and the way of the fool. This is based off of the wisdom tradition of the Old Testament. Which often talks about these two roads.

    In James 3:13, he asks a rhetorical question, “Who is wise in understanding among you?”

    Who’s wise?

    James has much to say about wisdom.

    There’s a difference between wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge is knowing facts. Wisdom is living out a life that is applying what God has revealed.

    Knowledge is knowing that you have brownie mix in the pantry. Wisdom is making brownies.

    Since wisdom isn’t just knowing things but living according to what God has made known, it follows that if a person really is wise, they should live a life that validates what they believe. James says, “Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (3:13).

    In the context of the Bible, wisdom begins with a fear of the Lord.

    The book of Proverbs says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And that fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7).

    There are two ways to go. The way of the wise and the way of the foolish.

    Fear of the Lord leads to knowledge, which leads to humility before the Lord.

    Fear of the Lord is reverence for the Lord, for his power and might. Fear of the Lord is fear of the wrath that can come as a result of rejecting him. Fear of the Lord is the knowledge that we don’t deserve him on our own. That it is only because God is good that we have hope. Without the work of Christ on the cross, there would be no hope. The knowledge that Jesus died a death he didn’t have to die but he did it because he loved us. That he didn’t die to save righteous people, but he came to save sinful people.

    And realizing that is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

    And along with having a fear of God is coming to him in humility.

    In Mere Christianity, CS Lewis said, “As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”

    So we validate our faith by living out our faith. We show that we are wise by living a life that reflects our wisdom.

    We sometimes get too far into thinking that different opinions are all valid when it comes to faith.

    Now, certainly we should be loving to all people, regardless of what they believe. Certainly we live in a society where we have to function and coexist with different people who have different view in regards to faith.

    And that’s important for life.

    But that doesn’t mean all views are equally valid.

    But our society likes to think that’s true of God. That that’s how God is.

    But that isn’t reality. It is God who created us. God who created the heavens and the earth. God who rules and reigns. It is God who is sovereign over all creation. And it is we who are ultimately accountable to him alone. It is not the other way around.

    We like to judge God. We like to say how God should be.

    But all of this shows the vanity of the human heart. It shows the idolatry of the human heart. We try to make ourselves God. We try to make ourselves the judge. Too many people ignore the things that God has said. Too many people ignore the things that Jesus has said “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.”

    We have an opinion about God that we like, and then we decide that’s just how God is. But sometimes we say things that have no Biblical basis.

    So a person doesn’t like the idea that God would judge, so they just decide that’s not how God is.

    People ignore the Bible and make arguments based on emotion or preference as opposed to what God has revealed about himself.

    Is that fear of the Lord? Is that humility with God?

    People want the good things with Jesus but they try to undermine that he alone is the way. That his blood alone cleanses sin. That his death alone paid the price.

    There are two ways in the Bible. The way of wisdom and the way of foolishness. When we try to make boxes and explain why God has to fit into that box, we’re keeping ourselves from God.

    We don’t get to invent God. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And in fearing the Lord, it is recognizing that God is God, and that God is the almighty creator and King of the Universe.

    True wisdom is showing humility, and at the foot of the cross, there’s no room for arrogance. In seeing what Jesus has done, in seeing his work, in seeing the death he died for the forgiveness of our sins. To see the tremendous cost of sin, the cost that Jesus paid for us, the death he endured for us. To see the life that he’s invited us to. To see the awesome holiness of God.

    To see where God is bringing us, the place he has prepared for us, the new heavens and the new earth he is making. That we are unworthy on our own. And it’s not that we can make ourselves worthy but this infinitely glorious home that God has prepared, that it is entirely because of the love of God, the goodness of God, the grace of God.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.