Discipleship: The Life That Cherishes the Preeminence of Christ

By R L Coursey

As Satan tempted Christ, so he tempts us today. Pointing to the glory of the kingdoms of the world, he says, “All these things I will give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Although always with an air of piety, the consumer-driven church is lured into following the counsel of Satan while rejecting the example of Christ.

He who is a deity emptied himself of his privileges and became a man. And not just any man but the lowest of men—a servant. He died not just any death but the cruelest of deaths—on a cross, as a condemned criminal. Such a vision of Christ’s humiliation should consume all of our self-interest and pour contempt on all our pride. But the vision of the exalted Christ should all the more compel us to renounce our own self-importance and self-seeking.

The enslaving power of self-love does not only attach itself to the church, transforming its spiritual life into empty forms, turning its so-called good works into monuments of self-glory and changing its sacred mission into a search for the significance and fulfillment of self. It also enslaves the individual Christian by exalting the self to preeminence. Thus, it defeats real happiness by producing pride, discontent, envy, bitterness, unforgiveness, ambition, anxiety, and a whole host of other destructive qualities that exist for no other reason than to defend and maintain the self that we have erroneously, and to our own injury, exalted to preeminence.

Self-love will never be made subordinate until we get a glimpse, by divine grave, of something far lovelier. Other idols may be replaced by even more enticing ones, but the idol of the self can only be laid aside by the all-entrancing vision of the loveliness of Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973620082

R L Coursey

The extensive teaching ministry of R L Coursey has taken him throughout the continental US and into 19 countries. He has served on the faculty of several seminaries and preached in churches from over 20 different denominations. He now lives in Grand Rapids Michigan with Claudia, his wife of 30 years, where he devotes his time to writing.

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Copyright © 2018 R L Coursey.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-2009-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2008-2 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/17/2023

CONTENTS

Introduction

PART I

DEPRAVITY:

The Essence of the Consumer Nature

Chapter 1     The Height of Duty, A Supreme Love for God

Chapter 2     The Height of Duty, The Believer’s Delight

Chapter 3     The Depth of Depravity, A Subordinate Love for God

Chapter 4     Consumer-Driven Christianity Defined

Chapter 5     A Strong Delusion, Sinners in Zion Warmed

Chapter 6     Wide Is The Gate, The Allure Of Consumer-Driven Christianity

PART II

DELIVERANCE:

Allured by the Brightness of His glory

Chapter 7     Deliverance from Sin and Wrath

Chapter 8     Faith’s Glorious Vision –Its Agent

Chapter 9     Faith’s Glorious Vision – Its Instrument

Chapter 10   The Saving Knowledge of God – Its Subject

Chapter 11   The Saving Knowledge of God – Its Source and Object

Chapter 12   The Saving Knowledge Of God – Its Consequences

PART III

DISCIPLESHIP:

The Life that Cherishes the Preeminence of Christ

Chapter 13   Called From A Self-Centered Life

Chapter 14   The Cost of Discipleship

Chapter 15   Faith, A Life-Changing Act

Chapter 16   Faith Alters Life’s Course by Exchanging Its Object

INTRODUCTION

I n the Fall of 2017, I listened to a sermon where the preacher laid out in detail the story of Elijah. As the story went on, I thought, I know this story well. Maybe I could even tell it better. Certainly, there were too many character flaws surrounding the life of Elijah to challenge anyone’s insecurity. And as for the prophets of Baal, well, they can make even the most foolish appear wise. And then, as unassuming David flung his stone, killing the laughing giant, he flung his stone on an unexpected audience who were likewise laughing at the foolishness of the prophets of Baal. And what was this unexpected stone in his arsenal? The insinuation that in many ways we may be just as foolish as the prophets of Baal. But wait a minute, I thought, compare us to the prophets of Baal? I’ve always compared myself with the hero of the story. And, in Elijah’s case, maybe I would have acted a little better. Isn’t it unamerican to compare the audience with the villain of the story? In America no one is supposed to lose. Or maybe the truth is that I’ve never read the story thru anything but my American eyes of me first. Maybe I need to see the story from God’s perspective. Maybe I didn’t know the story after all.

The lesson I gleaned from the sermon was not whether Baal worship is applicable to the church today, but what should our response toward idolatry be. The prophets of Baal can be characterized as simply a professional ministry trained in gratifying the felt-needs of the masses clamoring for their own preeminence. And its proponents may believe just as strongly in the miraculous power of their popular religion as the prophets of Baal did. But as important as determining the nature and extent of idolatry today, an even more pertinent question may be gleaned from the story of Elijah. Not discovering its extent or form, but rather establishing the proper response to idolatry in all its forms and extent. It is obvious that we cannot take such drastic measures as the prophet Elijah, but can we afford not to take our own quest for preeminence seriously, and still claim to worship the God that this self-idolatry seeks to displace? Unless we confront our consumer giant of me first, we will attempt to make everything (God, Bible, gospel) bow down to our idol of self.

So, in the face of idolatry, what are we to do? Where would the preacher take us? Can’t we just pray a quick prayer and continue on our merry way? Or perhaps he will reaffirm that we are now in Christ, and our idolatries have already been forgiven past, present and future. Certainly, he cannot just leave us here, like the prophets of Baal, slain in the temple (figuratively speaking). Don’t we deserve better? That depends on what’s most important, ourselves or God. Our response to idolatry always reveals our love for God. This preacher was obviously of the opinion that the recognition of our idolatries was not the most terrible thing that can happen to us, but the first step in resolving the most terrible thing that has happened to us; and that gospel-comfort is not always the most valuable thing that we need from a sermon. The secondary issue of comfort would only be paramount to an audience who love themselves with all their heart, and therefore always focus on themselves first. And if we say that both our love to God and for ourselves are equally important, then we are not seeking to love God with all our hearts, but merely to divide our love equally between God and ourselves. Loving ourselves is a legitimate love, but only as a subordinate love; otherwise, it is idolatry. This idolatry is even more serious than simply choosing a lesser good over the supreme. It is exalting ourselves over God and is ultimately revealed in our choosing our own will over His. The fact that self-idolatry opposes the very nature of God, and not merely that this idolatry is against our own good, implies that no preacher can either minimize its seriousness, or too quickly comfort his hearers with peace, peace, without revealing a love for God that is subordinate to the love he has for himself and man.

The Bible is consistent on this issue, and always has the same attitude towards idolatry. Are there any verses that flip the scales in our direction and assert that divided affections, while very undesirable, are somehow more permissible and less serious under grace? Does grace or gospel ignore the heart, or do they change it? Although some verses can be twisted to infer the former by indirect implication, one direct declaration can never be contradicted by a hundred indirect implications. What is not clear can never contradict that which is clear. Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, soul, mind and strength, is never replaced by the gospel of Let us love ourselves with all our heart. When James warns of spiritual adultery, and John of losing our first love or being lukewarm, and Paul of the dangers of legalism or being carnal, it is always communicated with the utmost seriousness and call for change. There is no indication that those who were the direct recipients of these warning had the option to view them as anything but serious. The indirect implication of only confessing our failure and trusting in God’s grace alone for forgiveness is incompatible with the seriousness of the problems, unless the direct call to change our ways is also heeded. There is no biblical quick fix that solves the problems that concern us, while ignoring God’s preeminent concern for His own glory. So, in the light of the gospel, the real indirect implication of all these verses is not that we are imperfect and therefore excused, but that we are imperfect and empowered, and therefore are called upon to make the appropriate change. Discipleship is a call to follow Christ, and not an indirect call to humbly accept our inability to follow.

When Peter repeats the Old Testament command, Be ye Holy; for I am holy, does the force of his appeal now change in the New Testament? Is this direct declaration ever contradicted anywhere in the Bible? Or did Paul qualify it because now the good pleasure of His will is to exalt the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved?¹ God’s grace is always unmerited, but does His grace only encompass one single aspect salvation, or does it include the whole? Does it deliver us only from the guilt of our idolatries in justification, or does it also deliver us from the power of them in regeneration and sanctification? Whichever grace we choose to accept reflects our attitude toward idolatry and reveals our true love for God.

To fight the fundamentalist half-battle of the mind is not enough when the real battle is for the heart, soul, mind and strength. Theology that consoles its recipients in the practice of that which is an abomination to God does not recognize the seriousness of sin, because it does not take God seriously. The fact that some can believe something so strongly based on an indirect implication alone, leaves them without excuse for rejecting that which is clearly a direct declaration. Yes, the Corinthians acted carnally, but where does the Bible directly declare that this is an acceptable or excusable state. Verses like these reflect a reality that needs to be taken seriously, not excused. In the Bible, words delivered for the purpose of encouraging change, should never be employed to discourage it, or render us comfortable without change. The fact that the Bible corrects much in the lives of believers, does not imply that change is optional but that it is a reasonable scriptural expectation. There is a reason why the Spirit inspired the Scriptures to be predominantly practical. And it was not because God is demanding, but because He is deserving. Iain Murray wrote,

The Christian’s character and godliness is given higher priority in Scripture than his service. Therefore all seeking of spiritual enjoyment or of public usefulness apart from personal holiness is delusive²

In view of God’s mercies (everything from election to glorification), Paul beseeches the Roman believers to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.³ For Paul, the practical side of his epistles were not add-ons, but equally vital parts of the message that he wanted to convey. The commands that follow Paul’s call to reasonable worship are no less optional than the call to worship itself, for, once again, they were not given because God is demanding but deserving. They are not mere practical advice added on to the more essential doctrines of the faith that preceded. For Paul, inactivity and indifference were not the expected outcome of the of the message of the gospel. The word gospel occurs 104 times in the New Testament, and 10 of those times are in 1 Corinthians chapter nine, between verses 12 and 23. In verse 23 Paul writes,

And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

And with the gospel clearly in his mind, he goes on to express the true gospel-centered response of the believer in the following verses,

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one recieveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

In the context of 1 Corinthians 9, the preaching to others refers back to the gospel. True gospel-centeredness teaches that we must now do our all for Christ’s glory precisely because He has done all for us. If both sides (theological and practical) are equally conducive to the glory and honor of God, then those who do not strongly endorse both sides must, one way or another, oppose God’s glory. Gospel-centered idolatry, then, that focuses primarily on one side or the other (legalism or antinomianism), opposes the very glory of God. It is a bad sign when we pray like the Pharisee, I thank God I am not like this sinner. But it is equally alarming when we pray as sinners, I thank God I am not like this Pharisee. For the publican in the parable was not looking around at anyone but himself and God.

If our goal is to reach an audience of idolaters, then our preaching will attempt to render the message more relevant and less offensive to an audience who focuses only on themselves first, or it will seek to attract with the offer of lesser things, whether in the life or the next. Included in these lesser things are those that are relatively good and outwardly moral. But they are counterfeits, nonetheless, if they only serve to strengthen our self-centeredness. The gospel itself is a most excellent thing, but if it is employed to reinforce our self-centeredness, rather than call us from it, then it is a counterfeit gospel. Therefore, the Bible speaks of the danger of another Jesus, another spirit and another gospel⁴ that threaten the church.

Based on the worship/idolatry test, the Bible is self-authenticating. It is not man trying to reach God for the advantages to be gained or the dangers to be avoided alone. Although the Bible does not delegitimize any of these secondary motives, but rather encourages them, it also supersedes them with a motivation infinitely higher than ourselves. Thus, Christianity frees us not in a negative direction to forget about ourselves and all the good things God has created, but in a positive direction to value God infinitely above ourselves and anything else. This love for God that is lacking in me-centered worship is not gained by simply reflecting on all the wonderful things that God has done for us in Christ. It loves God because it has tasted the loveliness of His nature reflecting from His word in regeneration and seeks to increase in that knowledge in sanctification.⁵ The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.⁶ Initially it is a passively received, for when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.⁷ But the gospel does not end here, for the verse continues, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. The immediate benefits of the gospel are passively received (justification and regeneration), but the further benefits are actively received as the believer strives, fights, runs, watches and prays in the power of the Spirit.

This raises an important question that must be answered directly and clearly. How do we apply the test of reasonable worship to our preaching, our theology or even our own lives, since we are all so weak and imperfect? Karl Barth is an example of imperfection. Although considered one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century by many, he continued to have a mistress along with his marriage. But the test of whether he is merely an imperfect disciple, like the rest of us, or no disciple at all, was not that he fell, nor how often he fell, but that he theologically justified his right to continue falling, rather than obey God. So, the test of a gospel-centered idol worshiper is not necessarily whether one falls into sin, nor how often he falls, but rather one’s attitude towards his fall. The test of idolatry in both the Old and New Covenants begins with an attempt to rationally declare God unworthy of worship by removing or lessening the imperative from the command in our theology or preaching. Our attempts may appear pious and even Christ-centered, I are eternally secure in Christ, whether I obey or not. It is true that our security is in Christ and not our obedience, but we do not obey to merit our future salvation, but because our hearts have been changed and Christ now commands our affections and deserves obedience. So, the whether or not verbiage comes from the heart of an idolater. Paul would answer such a hypothetical assertion with God forbid. It is God’s glorious excellencies that render optional obedience no longer a reasonable part of the believer’s vocabulary of worship. The very fact that we are alright with lowering the force of the commands simply because the personal consequences have been dealt with, proves that Christ does not have our affections and our self-idolatry remains. This self-idolatry is exposed by inventing a theology that transforms Christ’s work into an idol that we utilize to maintain the legitimacy of our option not to obey. While no child of God obeys perfectly, if we invent a theology that allows us to take sin less seriously, then an exaggerated love for the idol of self has blinded us to the glory of God. For the gospel clearly affirms that the reason man deserves wrath is because God deserves worship. They both rise and fall together. Once the gospel is freely received by faith alone, through grace alone, the believer is not to attempt to change the message to infer that now that man no longer gets what he deserves (wrath), he no longer has to be too concerned whether God gets what He deserves (worship).

Self-idolatry can hide in both Calvinism and Arminianism in the form of either antinomianism or legalism. Thus, we can employ our very theology to condone our idolatry. Justification and sanctification are two separate benefits of salvation. In justification, God declares that He is for us. In sanctification we declare with our lives that we are for Him. The former takes place in God, while the latter takes place in us. One is past tense and continues the same forever, for God never changes. The other, although it began in the past, should always be progressing, for its consummation is yet future. Sanctification, should always be viewed experimentally. The tree is known by its fruit. To ascertain to genuineness of our worship, we must examine both our lives and our theology to see whether they oppose or promote true worship before we claim the title of worshiper. We are not looking for perfection, but direction. If one benefit of Christ’s gospel excludes another in our theology, then it will constantly point us in the wrong direction.

Let us assume that we are among those whom God has already declared righteous. Although gratitude for this blessing will affect our present walk, what does that walk itself look like? How does the gospel save us? True gratitude is not always attempting to squeeze out of the gospel more and more of our preferred consumer benefits to meet our felt-needs. The tone of gratitude is both triumphant and militant. The Arminian believes that only those who persevere to the end will be saved. This is militant but not triumphant. The Calvinist believes that all who are truly saved will persevere onto the end. This is triumphant and militant. But many modern Christian believes that God will preserve them, whether they persevere in faith and holiness or not. This is triumphant but not militant. It implies at least the possibility that the gospel can save us from God’s wrath, but not from ourselves. This makes reasonable worship, which includes the continuous acts of faith and repentance, optional, simply because we have already performed a single act of faith in the past.

Nor are we to merely remember our deliverance from wrath and hell only to fulfill some psychological need of the present. Moses told the children of Israel, beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage⁸ not so they would feel safe and secure in the hands of such a mighty God, but so that they would not go back again into bondage. The whole book of Deuteronomy is forward looking. He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in.⁹ The deep consideration of all God’s mercies is to move us forward. The rear-view mirror serves no purpose, if the car has no intension of moving forward. In this way, we use our rear-view theology to impede our walk. This the Bible never does. Whether in