Killing Sin Through Personal Prayer
August 25, 2012 1 Comment
For all my Christian life, I seem to have been hearing the voice of Dr JI Packer along the way. Now as an octogenarian, he’s as wise and godly as ever.
There are some more clips here and are worth listening to.
About Fr Stephen Smuts
Packer is indeed a profound Anglican Evangelical, and as we know very Reformed! Indeed a full and long Christian life is a blessing, my own father lived into his late 80′s, and mother into her mid 80′s, and they were both moderate Roman Catholics. And my greatgram, who greatly influenced my Christian life (outside of Catholicism), lived into her late 80′s.
Btw, as I have said before, one of my favorite sections on the subject of Sin in the believers life, is the nice chapter from David Steinmetz’s book: Calvin in Context: Chapter 8, Calvin and the Divided Self of Romans 7. It is only ten pages with footnotes, but very good, as I see it. We can most certainly learn to sin less, but sadly we will never be able to be “sinless” in this life. Again, that tension of ‘the already but not yet’ reality of being ‘In Christ’. (Romans 7:13-25 / 8)
It is very interesting comparing the lives of John Calvin and Martin Luther! Luther of course was always later (as a Reformer) in some aspect of rebellion with monasticism. Being himself an Augustinian monk as a Catholic. He knew that one could live a life of human deception there, if one were not fully seeking Christ, and also seeking sound theological and biblical direction. Having myself been a Benedictine monastic for a few years in my 20′s, I whole heartily agree! But, Sir Calvin was very much an ascetic type, though he was happily married for a few years (Idelette de Bure, the widow of an Anabapist) but he lost his wife in death, and then never married again. For those who read history and bio, Bruce Gordon’s book: Calvin, (Yale University Press, 2009), is a must! (398 pages, with Index)