Dane Ortlund

Dane Ortlund (PhD, Wheaton College) is senior editor of Bible at Crossway Books in Wheaton, Illinois, where he lives with his wife, Stacey, and two boys. Dane blogs regularly at Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology. He is the author of A New Inner Relish: Christian Motivation in the Thought of Jonathan Edwards.
 

Jul

12

2011

Dane Ortlund|5:30 AM CT

The Turning Point of Francis Schaeffer's Life and Ministry
The Turning Point of Francis Schaeffer's Life and Ministry avatar

“. . . so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”


Titus 2:10




In 1951 Francis Schaeffer’s life and ministry were turned upside down, despite already having walked with the Lord for many years and having seen much fruit in ministry. He was 39.

In the introduction to his book True Spirituality, Schaeffer recounts what happened.
I faced a spiritual crisis in my own life. I had become a Christian from agnosticism many years ago. After that I had become a pastor for ten years in the United States, and then for several years my wife, Edith, and I had been working in Europe. During this time I felt a strong burden to stand for the historical Christian position and for the purity of the
...

 
 
 
 

Jun

20

2011

Dane Ortlund|5:30 AM CT

The Geography of the Gospel
The Geography of the Gospel avatar

“. . . remain at Ephesus . . .” –1 Timothy 1:3

“. . . I left you in Crete . . .” –Titus 1:5

The gospel of grace frees us judicially: despite being guilty in ourselves, we are, at the same time, acquitted through the work of another. The gospel of grace frees us relationally: accepted in Christ, the craving for acceptance from others is emptied. The gospel frees us psychologically: at peace with God and self, the frenetic quest for a self-generated internal...

 
 
 
 

Jan

30

2011

Dane Ortlund|11:37 PM CT

Major Agreement, Minor Disagreement, Moving On
Major Agreement, Minor Disagreement, Moving On avatar

Dear Jason,

Thank you so much, brother, for your careful and thoughtful rejoinder. I am instructed. One of the things I so appreciate is your desire to model your own pursuit of holiness, and your teaching of it, after the pattern of the New Testament.

In interchanges like this, there is so much that could be said, and the issues seem to be multiplying, and also shifting somewhat. To my mind, then, the healthiest thing to close out this exchange is a brief word on where (I think) we agree, and where (I think) we disagree.

Where We Agree


1. About a thousand theological convictions that haven’t surfaced in this exchange.

2. Holiness—earnestly sought, gouge-out-an-eye, soul-guarding holiness—seems, tragically, not to be the great concern today that it has been in generations past.

3. Holiness requires effort,...

 
 
 
 

Jan

27

2011

Dane Ortlund|5:00 AM CT

The Radical Gospel, Defiant and Free
The Radical Gospel, Defiant and Free avatar

This is not the first time and will not be the last that I give public thanks for our brother Jason Hood. Jason is an unusually thoughtful man who serves as scholar-in-residence at a church in Memphis, having competed a doctorate in New Testament at Highland Theological College. I rejoice that he and I are on the same team. Jason, bless you, and thank you for your recent contribution to Christianity Today.

Because we are brothers, I am loathe to lock horns. Because I love the gospel, I am willing to do so. Because you love the gospel, I know that you will receive it with your usual humility and wisdom. Because I respect you and want to honor you as my brother and fellow soldier in the greatest fight, I pen this...

 
 
 
 

Jan

04

2011

Dane Ortlund|6:00 AM CT

Remember Regeneration
Remember Regeneration avatar

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ” — John 3:7

John Wesley and George Whitefield both said that the trans-Atlantic revival of the 1740s was fueled by the recovery of two great doctrines: justification by faith and the new birth.

This is a striking observation in light of the present evangelical scene. In recent years books and blog posts, conferences and colloquiums have sprung up like mushrooms (some nourishing, some poisonous) to deal with the doctrine of justification. The recent gathering of the Evangelical Theological Society in Atlanta is just one example.

A Present Neglect?



We hear far less, however, about regeneration, as J. I. Packer recently indicated. Iain Murray touches on it throughout his writings, John Piper preached a series on it (now this...

 
 
 
 

Oct

28

2010

Dane Ortlund|10:29 AM CT

Three Blind Men
Three Blind Men avatar

Mark 10 closes with two accounts. The first is of James and John coming to Jesus to ask for the two coveted seats of honor at Jesus’ right and left when the Lord reigns in glory as the enthroned king (10:35–45). The second is of blind Bartimaeus, who importunately cries out for mercy from Jesus, heedless of the crowd’s attempts to silence him, and is healed (10:46–52).

The two stories are intended to be mutually illuminating.

In both accounts:

  • Jesus is confronted with a request (vv. 35, 48–50);

  • Jesus initially responds by asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” (vv. 36, 51);

  • The parties making the request clearly understand who Jesus is, prompting them to lay before him their true heart’s desire (vv. 37, 47–48).


A fourth parallel exists that is more subtle, underneath the surface of the narrative: In both cases the party making the request is suffering from blindness.

This emerges when...

 
 
 
 

Sep

15

2010

Dane Ortlund|8:00 AM CT

Christianity, A Peace-Fueled Battle
Christianity, A Peace-Fueled Battle avatar

Paul told Timothy, “Wage the good warfare” (1 Tim 1:18; cf. 6:12). A few verses later the apostle lauds the value of “a quiet and peaceful life” (2:2). Jesus told his disciples in Luke’s Gospel to count the cost and likened considering discipleship to considering war (Luke 14:25–33). Yet the opening and closing announcement of Luke is that of peace (Luke 2:14; 24:36).

Evidently Christianity is war and peace. Both.

Some of us tend to view the Christian life as peace without war. An illustration may help make the point. On April 20, 1945, days before his suicide, Adolf Hitler celebrated his 56th birthday with a tea party. Quietly and safely stowed away in the Reich bunker with a ceiling 18 feet thick, he was “seemingly unaware,” one writer says, “of the war raging around him.” Two days later Hitler announced that he would never be leaving the bunker. Like the dictator,...

 
 
 
 

Aug

10

2010

Dane Ortlund|2:05 PM CT

C. S. Lewis's 1951 Grace Awakening
C. S. Lewis's 1951 Grace Awakening avatar

On April 25, 1951, the gospel came home to C. S. Lewis. This fascinating event does not seem to be well known, even among admirers. Yet Lewis refers to it no less than five times in volume three of the Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, which covers the final years of his life, 1950 to 1963.

The crucial letter comes in December 1951, written to priest and friend St. Giovanni Calabria:
[D]uring the past year a great joy has befallen me. Difficult though it is, I shall try to explain this in words. It is astonishing that sometimes we believe that we believe what, really, in our heart, we do not believe.

For a long time I believed that I believed in the forgiveness of sins. But suddenly (on St. Mark’s Day [April 25]) this truth appeared in my mind in so clear a light that I perceived that never before (and
...

 
 
 
 

Jul

09

2010

Dane Ortlund|11:47 AM CT

Broken or Triumphant?
Broken or Triumphant? avatar

“He has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.”  --Hosea 6:1

Are Christians to be broken or triumphant?

Both. But—let’s be clear what we mean.

Are Christians to be broken? If by broken we mean downcast, long-faced, perpetually discouraged, hand-wringing, abject, ever grieving over sins—no. If by broken we mean contrite, low before the Lord, poignantly aware of personal weakness, self-divesting, able to laugh at ourselves, of sober judgment, sensitive to the depths of sin within us—yes.

Are Christians to be triumphant? If by triumphant we mean self-assured, superficial, obtuse to personal weakness, beyond correction, self-confident, quick to diagnose others’ weaknesses and our strengths, showy, triumphalistic—no. If by triumphant we mean confident of God’s unconquerable purposes in the world through faltering disciples, bold with a boldness that accords with the outrageous promises of the Bible, quietly abandoning ourselves to God in light of...

 
 
 
 

May

05

2010

Dane Ortlund|12:33 PM CT

Justification’s Double Liberation
Justification’s Double Liberation avatar

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” –Lam. 3:24

Our tendency in our evangelical universe is to articulate justification by faith alone morally, for the past (conversion) and future (entrance into heaven), without applying the soothing salve of justification emotionally and psychologically, for the present. We embrace Christ for forgiveness of sins but move on to other ideas and strategies when it comes to our emotional life and the daily pressures that do not lie directly in the “moral” realm. This is a great mistake and a recipe for worried, half-hearted Christians, dabbling their toes in an ocean of grace, thinking they’ve hit bottom.

When sinners are justified, however, two (organically linked) liberations wash into their life. The first and more obvious liberation is moral. The second liberation is emotional and psychological.

To be sure, these are two interlocking facets of a single gift. Yet it...

 
 
 
 
Previous Posts