Old Doxoblogy

2007-06-20T23:50:00.001-04:00

For more Theology for Doxology visit us at doxoblogy.wordpress.com!

Please Pray For Al Mohler

2007-01-05T17:18:00.000-05:00

Al Mohler has suffered a setback in his recovery. He is in very serious condition and needs your prayers. More details here.

The 'Paddy (Patty?) Wagon'

2007-01-04T20:15:00.000-05:00

From the Official Pat Robertson website.

Welcome to the Official Site of
M.G. "Pat" Robertson

Here you can learn more about the man and his mission -- as a broadcaster, statesman, author, humanitarian, businessman and Christian. Follow the latest from Pat about the social, political and spiritual issues that define American culture and the world today.

And dip into the wealth of information authored by Pat -- speeches, teachings, commentaries and answers to tough questions. This is a unique opportunity to learn about Pat and learn from him. Take a look around now and come back often to get the latest from this media pioneer and prolific author.

So here's my question for Pat...

When you said the things in this article, were you speaking as a broadcaster, statesman, author, humanitarian, businessman or Christian?

Now here's a couple of questions for you, the reader.

1. What did you learn about Robertson from this?
2. What did you learn from him?

Here are my answers...

1. I learned that Pat hears voices.
2. I learned to keep my mouth shut about it if I ever hear voices.

Read this, by the beloved Centuri0n, and then sign the petition, if you haven't already.

Pat Robertson please apologise

2007-01-03T16:21:00.000-05:00

Pat Robertson: please apologise petition. Frank Turk has created a petition aimed at Pat Robertson and his claim as a prophet. If your like me and tired of this shame he has brought to Christianity you'll take a minute and read the petition and then sign it if you agree.

Evangelical Jargon ('Huh?')

2007-01-03T07:45:00.000-05:00

This one is very obvious. You've probably been waiting for it.

"Ask Jesus into your heart."

Could anyone explain that me? Without quoting Revelation 3:20, which has nothing to do with a heart or salvation.

The Message Of The New Covenant

2007-01-02T20:45:00.000-05:00

II Corinthians 5:14-21

In chapter 3 of II Corinthians Paul contrasts the Old and New Covenants.

The Old Covenant was a ministry of death, but the New Covenant is a ministry of life. Verse 6.
The Old Covenant had a fading glory, but the New Covenant has a glory that lasts forever. Verses 7-18.
The Old Covenant was a dispensation of condemnation, but the New Covenant is a dispensation of righteousness. Verse 9.
The Old Covenant veiled the face of Moses, but the New Covenant reveals the face of Christ. Verses 12-18.
The Old Covenant was a taskmaster, but the New Covenant gives freedom. Verse17.

In chapter four he tells us of the power of the New Covenant.
In the first verses of chapter five he tells us of the hope of the New Covenant and defends his ministry under the New Covenant.

Now Paul tells us what the message of the New Covenant that we proclaim consists of.

First, it is a message of Substitution. Verses 14-15.
Second, it is a message of Regeneration. Verse 17.
Third, it is a message of Reconciliation. Verses 18-20.
Finally, it is a message of Justification. Verses 19, 21.

Finally, Paul tells us that we must proclaim this message. Verses 18-20.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2Co 5:18-20)

Christmas Treasures

2007-01-01T20:05:00.000-05:00

The Book of Origins, by Philip Eveson.

Exodus, PTW, by Philip Graham Ryken.

2 Samuel, by Dale Ralph Davis.

Dogmatic Theology, by W. G. T. Shedd.

Covenant and Eschatology, by Michael Scott Horton.

And by the way, Christianbook.com has E. J. Young's three volume Commentary on Isaiah for $17.99, so I'm probably ordering that as well.

And a special thank you to my wife, Magaly, for finishing the Luther sermon for me this evening. I meant to post the last part on Christmas day, but after I finished I decided to add a picture and a Merry Christmas. While the the picture was uploading the power on my computer shut off and I lost the whole post. By that time the kids were already up and ready to open presents so I figured I would finish it (again!) another day, and this is the first day I've been on the 'puter, aside from checking my Bloglines account and email.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Happy New Year!

WHAT THE ANGELS ANNOUNCED AND PREACHED TO THE SHEPHERDS-Conclusion

2007-01-01T20:00:00.000-05:00

By Martin Luther-Preached in the afternoon on Christmas Day at the parish Church, 1534.

27. Now it is impossible for us here on earth to fully understand and exhaust the meaning of this message. Life is too narrow really, Our heart to small, for us to be able to apprehend, let alone comprehend, this tremendous joy. For one's heart really to be able to embrace it, would cause it to burst and die. Experience tells of how some people even die from fright and sorrow, some because of great joy. In like manner this gladness is so great that were the human heart fully able to assimilate it, body and soul would be torn apart and the person would expire.

28. Now even though we are unable fully to grasp and comprehend this joy, we should at least partake of its fruit by becoming kinder, gentler people who bear our neighbor no grudge, yes, do good even to our enemies, remembering the role model that God himself became man. But we see how feebly things go with us, also as regards the fruit that ought to follow, let alone that such gladness should fully reign in our heart and be fully understood. The greater part of mankind continues with the old Adam: envy, hatred, and other evil vices, a sure indication that the [angel's] message is not actually believed, or at best feebly, otherwise some minimal fruit would at least result, even though we did not fully appreciate it.

29. The stronger the faith is, however, the more joyous will be a person's perception of this overwhelming grace. It is impossible for a human heart not to rejoice, if indeed it believes that it has a Saviour from sin, death, and all evil. Surely a person who has found a physician who can cure his fever, disease, and personal ailment, will rejoice; yes, with thanks he will promise the dear doctor that he will never forget his good help. He has heartfelt gratitude fro the wellbeing he feels in his body. Surely rejoicing must be even greater when from the heart he believes that a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, has been born for him, to provide him genuine security against sin and everlasting death. The greatest number of people, however, seek after another kind of joy, one that provides tranquility, recreation, and pleasure here and now; but not for one moment are they free from anxiety. It illustrates how like a dream we receive this very joyous message and then snore away. The dear angels preach and sing indeed, but we godless people sleep on, with the treasure before our eyes and ears, but paying it no attention.

30. Now then the smart aleck who hears that word and finds no joy in it may in truth regard himself to be a lost individual. What after all will cause a heart to be joyful, if it cannot rejoice over the angel's message, Unto you a Saviour is born? Whoever is not changed for the better by this word and made more godly, praising and thanking God; whoever does not relish this heavenly wine, nor have his heart warmed by this fire, to become kinder and gentler to his neighbor, him will the judge and hangman make more pious, for he's beyond reprieve. The fact that he's not set ablaze by this fire nor drawn by this heavenly wine--that Christ is our brother, yes, has become flesh and blood with us--plainly shows that he is a lost and condemned man. Accordingly, let it be a negative rebuff against our coldness and torpid resistance, causing us to pray from the heart for his grace, that by the Holy Ghost he might change our heart and help us.

31. The angel thereupon delineates further what sort of Saviour he is, namely, "Christ the Lord." The sermon is short but it compresses the entire Holy Scripture in one bundle. Were a man to try to delineate it all, it would take him longer and he would need to cite the witness of the prophets about this child's birth. In other words, when the angel says this Saviour born to you is "Christ the Lord," he means that he is the Saviour whom the patriarchs and prophets foretold and whom with all their hearts they yearned to see. They well understood that he was to come, but they did not live to see his coming. But now the Saviour himself, Christ and Lord, has been born.

32. Christ himself states this fact to the Jews (John 8:56): "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." What indeed would Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the fathers and prophets have done if they had lived long enough to see that Christ had been born? With longing they prophesied concerning him and rejoiced exceedingly about his coming. They were consumed with anticipation, while we are frozen stiff with ingratitude and disdain.

33. This very Christ and Lord has now been born, the angel tells the shepherds. He will put all things in order, freely bestowing the gift of righteousness, everlasting life, and salvation which were lost as a result of sin, and making heaven and earth new and at peace again. The Lord and everlasting Sovereign is born! Be comforted and undaunted, be brave and glad, renewed in courage by him, for it is not Joshua or David whom you have, but the one and only Saviour, who is Christ and Lord indeed. He will not cast you into hell, but rescue you: nor judge and condemn you because of sin but will forgive you your sins: nor be angry with you, but will greet you with friendly laughter. he is your brother and kinsman, and on top of it, your Saviour, King, and Lord; he dies for you, redeems you from sin, death, and the devil. Whoever finds no joy in his birth, nor thanks God for it, belongs to the devil.

34. So much in brief concerning the angel's sermon. Let each one search his own heart whether he rejoices because of it and whether he loves his neighbor. if he finds no gladness is it, he should know that he is a lost and condemned man. Whoever rejoices over it and love his neighbor, let him thank God and pray that his joy might increase, becoming ever more complete. Amen.

Obligatory Birthday Post

2006-12-28T23:42:00.000-05:00

Well today's my birthday and this is my best present ever:

Happy Birthday Dad

Now if you don't mind I'm going to go bawl like a baby.

A (Late) Christmas Present

2006-12-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

If you are interested in downloading some free music from yours truly head over to this post over at ColossiansThreeSixteen. A special thanks to Brent Thomas for hosting these songs!

WHAT THE ANGELS ANNOUNCED AND PREACHED TO THE SHEPHERDS-Part 3

2006-12-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

By Martin Luther-Preached in the afternoon on Christmas Day at the parish Church, 1534.

18. Whoever rightly perceives this in his heart should, for the sake of the flesh and blood above at God's right hand, hold dear all flesh and blood here on earth and be angry with none of his fellowmen. Simply looking at the manly nature of Christ, our God, should rightly make all hearts rejoice and spread kindness all around, so that no angry thought would evermore occur. By the same token, whoever has really grasped the picture in his heart that God's Son became man can hardly have evil intentions in his heart towards the Lord Christ, but only good. For I know very well that I don't relish being angry with myself or hurting myself. Now Christ is one with me, having flesh and blood like mine; so how could he possibly intend evil for himself, that is, towards us, who share his flesh and blood? That is why I do not fret over the devil's vexing. When that picture reigns in the heart, then every instance of God's avenging wrath, as with man's fall into sin, or Sodom and Gomorrah, melts away. When we but think of this one man who is God and who has elevated our poor human nature by becoming man, God's wrath vanishes.

19. As stated, are they not a derelict people who, though they hear this, nonetheless, willfully despise and disregard the treasure while they give attention to filling their pockets with money, building nice homes, and chasing after finery? It is, of course, the miserable devil who blinds their hearts so that they don't even give a second thought to these glad tidings. You may be sure that wherever greed, grubbing, jealousy, and hatred are present, there is proof positive that the light of the angel's message does not glow in their hearts but is extinguished.

20. For the present, as I have said, I am not speaking of the benefit and power of our redemption but only the birth of Christ itself, that he so honored our nature, our flesh and blood, by himself assuming it. By itself that should have melted our hearts and molded us into one cake as in the baker's oven, igniting such ardor within us that we come to each other. But this is a message that goes in one ear and out the other, just as we go into church and come out again little changed. If we really embraced this picture with our eyes and hearts, a kinder, gentler person would result and we would say, How can I do hurt and wrong to that very nature which my God and Lord has so honored by himself becoming man? But the devil seeks to keep that from being preached, and where it already is being proclaimed, attempts to snatch it out of their hearts. The enthusiasts and the radical spirits dispute this with their arguments and ultimately lose the joy through their "wise" cogitations. And so the devil maintains his troops in the world, keeping the light from dawning, or quickly extinguishing it.

21. This is the one fact that ought to move us to great happiness and blessed self-esteem, that we have been so honored over all creatures, even the angels. We can truly boast: My flesh, my blood, sits at God's right hand and rules over all things by his almighty hand. No other creature is so distinguished as is my flesh and blood, not even the angels. How can I, therefore, but love my neighbor and do good to him? Right there, however is where the devil works his spell, as we have said, spoiling our joy through other concerns, so that we don't hold on to this picture in our hearts as we should. If we possessed nothing else than this privileged station, it would be cause to spring and dance.

22. But there's more to this joy than that we are honored above the angels, for a Saviour is born for us. That really climaxes all. It goes far beyond the distinction and honor to our nature that the man Jesus also wants to be our Saviour. That is the chief point and greatest reason why we ought to be joyful. Those people are lost who neither know nor have heard this. But, as said earlier, much worse off are they who having heard and known still despise it. For these words melt heaven and earth together, make death into sugar, and turn all ills, of which there are plenty, into delectable wine. Where's the man who could have conceived this, that a Saviour would be born to be our Redeemer? For that treasure was valid not only for the mother, the Virgin Mary, for her alone to possess in her motherhood, but for us all. "Unto you," states the angel, "is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

23. The angle speaks to the shepherds; they were Jews and knew very well the meaning of "Saviour" in their language, that it signified Lord and King. But the greater part of the Jews erred on that point, thinking that Christ would be a Lord and King over a physical realm. That was not the meaning. The angle had something higher in mind, and so stated, "Unto you a Saviour is born." In other words, till now you have been held captive by the devil in sin and death, plagued by him with water, fire, pestilence, and sword; indeed, who can tell all the evil? The whole of poor mankind lay under his tyranny, souls misled by idolatries and lies many more times than our bodies ravaged by the French disease (syphilis). Consequently, the poor, thirsty, weak body also had no rest from the devil; nor was eternal death far behind, with soul and body so afflicted. These are the devil's arts and weapons. However, the angel says to you who now lie captive to this proud, shameless, evil, poisonous spirit, who is this world's prince and god: A Saviour is born.

24. The little word "you" should make us glad. For to whom does the angel speak-to trees and stones? No, to people, and not to one or two, but to the whole human race. So what are we to conclude? Shall we continue to doubt the grace of God? and say, st. Peter and St. Paul might rejoice over the Saviour, but this noble, precious treasure does not belong to me, I will in turn ask, To whom does he then pertain? Did he come for the sake of geese, ducks, and cows? You forget who he is. Had he come for the sake of helping other creatures, he would have taken those creatures' nature; but he became the Son of man exclusively.

25. Now then what are you? Who am I? Are we not all human beings? Yes, and who other than people are to receive this child? The angles have no need of him; the devil does not want him. We, however, need him, and for our sakes he became man. It behooves us, therefore, to welcome him with gladness, as the angel here says, For unto you a Saviour is born. Is it not a great wonder that an angel from heaven comes to bring this message to mankind, that many thousand angels thereupon also rejoice, urging and preaching to us people to rejoice over and embrace this graciousness with thanksgiving? We must write the words "unto you" with letters of fire into our hearts and welcome the Saviour's birth most gladly.

26. The angel speaks with trenchant, passionate words, Unto you a Saviour is born, as though to say, I am not addressing wood or stone, but you people, you shepherds and people of earth for whom the Saviour is born. This birth is not meant for angels, nor for the sake of the mother's motherhood, but for the sake of the poor, lost, and condemned mankind in the devil's bondage, those subject to the devil's derision and mockery. Should we not, therefore, embrace with thanksgiving this Saviour who was born for us? In him we not only have one united with us in nature, with our body and blood, but also a spiritual treasure far greater than physical glory, namely, our spiritual and eternal Saviour. Whoever perceives and believes this understands what it means to truly rejoice, yes, he virtually succumbs because of great joy.

Klug, Eugene F. A. Sermons of Martin Luther: The House Postils Vol 1. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.

Merry Christmas from the Nelson Family

2006-12-23T16:52:00.000-05:00

From my family to yours Merry Christmas.
Pete Nelson

WHAT THE ANGELS ANNOUNCED AND PREACHED TO THE SHEPHERDS-Part 2

2006-12-23T08:45:00.000-05:00

By Martin Luther-Preached in the afternoon on Christmas Day at the parish Church, 1534.

9. Whoever, therefore, desires to overcome and be safe from the devil's poison and evil must rivet his attention on these wonderfully comforting words of the angel, "unto you is born a Saviour." When this conviction reigns in our heart the victory is already won. We can now counter: Though the devil throttle me, deeply imbed sin in me, and inject me with his poison to bring me under God's wrath and everlasting judgment, yet I will not be overcome with fear and terror to the point of despairing. For great though this evil is, it cannot in any way be compared with the treasure God has given us through Christ. It is far greater than the evil the devil has brought about in us. We don't understand why God did not take charge over the human race in the same way the devil has dominion over people, but instead chose to become a true man himself. That near the devil cannot come to people, to become a human being, man remains man, and the devil remains the devil, two distinct persons and natures. The Son of God, on the other hand, assumed a human nature, so that I can now say in truth: This man is , and is called, true God; and conversely God is, and is called, true man in one person.

10. God thus has drawn much closer to us and entered more deeply into our condemned and troubled nature than the devil could. He can possess and torture a person but cannot personally become a human being, as, conversely, a human being cannot become a devil. The two natures remain distinct not only in essence but in person. But with the Son of God the two are one; he has our flesh and blood, born of the virgin Mary, true, natural man like you and me, except that he was conceived by the Holy Ghost without male semen, and did not partake of the devil's poison, sin and death, but possessed a completely pure, guiltless body and blood. Except for that one fact, that our body and blood are impure and sinful, he is a man like you and me, needing to eat, drink, sleep, wake up, become tired, rest, and carry on as other people need to do because of their nature. As St. Paul says, habitu inventus ut homo, "in his appearance he was found in fashion as a man," so that whoever saw or heard him would have to say, he is a true human being in nature, no apparition, for he possesses all the characteristics of human life.

11. This was the gladness of which the angel spoke. I speak now only of the glory over which we should rejoice, not yet about the fruit of his suffering and resurrection. My sermon now is only about the glory with which God honored our nature, that against all dishonor and shame brought upon us by the devil through sin, we came to blessedness in that God drew so near to us by himself becoming a man in his own person like you and me, except that he was without sin. Thereby he adorned the whole human race with this inexpressible honor. This is what the angel wanted the people to perceive with his words, "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

12. The dear angels rejoice because of the birth of this Saviour, and they glow and spring happily, completely at peace with mankind. That is the essence of the angel's joyous sermon, "I bring you glad tidings which shall be to all people." His deep desire is that none of us in the human race be excluded from this rejoicing but that all would espouse these glad tidings from the heart, as the angels did, that by Christ the Lord's birth our human nature has been greatly elevated, because the most sovereign Son of God himself, by whom all things were made, has become flesh and blood with us.

13. If there was nothing more for us in the newborn child than that our human nature had been highly honored in that God who created us is now our kinsman, our nearest friend, our flesh and blood, (I'll omit for the present to speak of his suffering and resurrection), it would be little wonder, if we, believing it from the heart, would become so dear to each other that, as the saying goes, we would consume each other with love. If our hearts really perceived the greatness of this honor and we could say with firm faith, God is become man, would it be a wonder if we no longer were enemies with any man and surrendered our lives for each other? The fact is you could not even hate or harm anyone in effigy who has body and soul like your God and mine. Should we not, therefore, because of such glory with which God has elevated human nature above and beyond the angels, also love and do good to all people?

14. The angels are much more glorious creatures by nature than we human beings. But God did not consider that; he is not an angel, nor did he become an angel. The angels, moreover, are blameless and holy spirits who have never fallen, as the other angels and we poor humans did, and therefore they are also immortal. That seems to suggest that it would have cost the divine nature less, if God had become an angel. But he sets the course, chooses the lowly, poor human nature, lost in sin and subject under the devil's rule and the power of death, plagued and troubled through and through by the devil and his ceaseless pressure. That meant sinking to the lowest depths. That fact alone ought to motivate us to ardor, love, kindness, ands service toward each other for the sake of this one man, Jesus Christ.

15. Some of the fathers, in particular Bernard, in reflecting on the matter have stated that when the devil, while still in heaven, saw that the Son of God would become man, he became so filled with envy against people and hatred toward God for not becoming an angel rather than man, that out of jealousy and arrogance he fell to his ruin. That may be a pious thought or an actual fact, but in any case the beloved fathers sought thereby to emphasize the great joy, glory, and overwhelming goodness that have come to us, because God took to himself not the angel's nature, but through Abraham's seed our flesh and blood, which had been corrupted by the devil and poisoned through sin and death.

16. People who know nothing of this glory are without hope of salvation, but much worse are those who hear the message of the angels or from the apostles-that God graciously embraces our human nature, honors and magnifies it so highly, that not even the angelic nature equals it in comparison, in fact no creature made by God. But they do not savor it, nor do they have comfort or joy from it. You may be sure they forfeit their salvation. They neither fathom nor possess it.

17. If my father were to become a great and wealthy lord, I would indeed be very happy. When one member of a large family of brothers is promoted they all share in the joy and satisfaction. How great was Israel's joy when Joseph was elevated to prince in Egypt. it is a natural gladness. So how does it happen that we do not rejoice over this inexpressible honor and glory? Why doesn't it grab us in our hearts? and why don't we praise and thank God over the fact that he assumed our flesh and blood and now sits at the right hand of God, Lord over all creation?

Klug, Eugene F. A. Sermons of Martin Luther: The House Postils Vol 1. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.

The Holiday Season and History Channel

2006-12-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

Let me get on my soapbox here for just a minute of your time. I want to rant about something that is near and dear to my heart of hearts: The History Channel and Christianity.

Now most of the time when my daughters see I'm watching this channel and it has something about Jesus or Christianity on it they make me turn it to a different channel or just shut it off. ( My youngest girl calls the history channel the "all Hitler all the time" channel because it seems no matter the subject Hitler must appear in it.) Typically because when they are covering the subject of Jesus or Christianity rarely do they get some evangelical/conservative scholar on its usually some radical liberal or John Crossan. And I spend an hour yelling at the television. So in the interest of not watching dear old dad stroke out they take matters into their own hands.

However, since dear old dad has been having some bouts of insomnia lately the girls haven't been up to keep me from watching the History Channel. And last night to my pleasure and surprise they had something on Jesus that I believe was Decoding the past: Resurrection. I don't think that they actually made this I think this was a 20/20 special because it had Elizabeth Vargas on it. Anyway for once it had some conservative voices on it (William Lane Craig, Lee Strobel) who countered the claims of the liberals about Jesus' resurrection. All in all a very well done piece.

Well I was puttering around and then turned on the idiot box and what was on but the Spear of Destiny. Now for those of you who may not know the Spear of Destiny or Lance of Longinus is the supposed spear that pierced Christ on the cross. (John 19:31-37) Because of this a myth has arisen around it that supposedly whomever wields this spear will be able to conquer the world. Constantine according to this show had the spear in hand when he conquered Rome. One supposed scholar had the temerity to say that without Constantine western Christianity wouldn't exist today. Implying of course that it was the spear that helped this along.

Well of course when Constantine loses the Spear of Destiny that's when the empire collapses into ruin. And then it goes through many different hands including you guessed it Hitler.

So what is my point here? Well its this:

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.
(Isaiah 45:7 ESV)

It is the sovereign Lord that is in charge of history. He is the reason nations rise up or fall. Its not some lousy piece of metal. Here is what the bible says about what the Lord causes:

Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
(Psalms 33:8-11 ESV)

God rules there is nothing that happens that hasn't been according to His purpose and plan. Nothing. Including the saving of His people:

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
(Acts 2:23 ESV emphasis mine)

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
(Acts 4:27-28 ESV emphasis mine)

So this Christmas remember it is because God sovereignty purposed all things that events happened and nothing occurred that God didn't plan.

Merry Christmas.

WHAT THE ANGELS ANNOUNCED AND PREACHED TO THE SHEPHERDS-Part 1

2006-12-22T13:00:00.000-05:00

By Martin Luther-Preached in the afternoon on Christmas Day at the parish Church, 1534.

1. Beloved, you have heard the story of this day, how Christ Jesus, God's Son, was born into this world, and what we are to learn from this. Now while this occurred in Bethlehem, according to the Evangelist, the angel of the Lord, accompanied by many thousands of angels, appeared with extremely brilliant light to sing and proclaim this birth to the two or three shepherds in the fields tending their flocks nearby. This was the angel's sermon:

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:10-12)

2. This is the first sermon preached concerning this newborn child, our Lord Jesus. It was delivered for us on earth by the angels from heaven, and even though we deal with this sermon year after year, we still keep on treating it as though new. For even if it were preached and heard every year, yea every day, we could never exhaust its meaning till the end of time.

3. The angel's sermon was indeed most necessary. Christ might have been born a hundred times over, but it would all have been in vain if it had not been preached and revealed to us. What profit would it be to a man to have a treasure and yet not know that he has it? It's like the man who has an inkling about a treasure of gold buried int he cellar of his house but doesn't know for sure how to get at it; what pleasure of joy does he have from it? That is true for everything in this world: A buried treasure is a useless treasure, as the proverb has it, ignotti nulla cupido, "what a person is unaware of doesn't excite him"; there is neither delight nor disgust for what is not real nor likely to come to pass. This is especially true in spiritual matters. If the angels had not proclaimed this holy, wonderfully, joyous birth and revealed this treasure to people, no one would have yearned for this treasure, let alone relished it; none would have rejoiced. The bottom line is, as stated, what a man does not know cannot be dear to him.

4. That is why the truly preeminent point in today's Gospel is that the angel's proclamation made this birth known, to show us this treasure, so that we are not left unawares of having a treasure in hand, unable either to rejoice over it or be comforted by it. Hence the pronouncement: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy."

5. These are truly key words, for the one speaking them is the angel of the Lord. The shepherds are terribly frightened by the great and dazzling light accompanying the angel's appearance and encompassing them with the Lord's brightness in a most unusual happening. In just a split second the dark night was lit up like a fire and everything, heaven and earth, fused together as one mass. The shepherds were hardly accustomed to such a light ands message, and consequently, they were terribly frightened. The angel observes this and, therefore, speaks gently to them, "Fear not," as though to say, you have no reason to fear; but the fact that you do plainly shows that you are not yet aware of the very precious treasure God has given to you, otherwise you would not be afraid but would be of good spirit and happy at heart. That's the reason for which I have come, to make this treasure known unto you. So, listen to me: I bring you joyful tidings, truly joyful, against all your sorrow, fear, and terror.

6. He does not merely say, I make known to you a great work and wonder, but, "I bring you tidings of great joy." Now no one can rejoice over something he does not know about. The man who after being told and informed still refuses to rejoice over it is a fool. The world is full of such fools who have had God's heavenly and eternal gifts proclaimed to them and yet do not rejoice over them, though they know about them. Accordingly the angel does not merely term the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ a wonder, but a joyous thing, for it is his sincere intention to bring a message that would be overpowering, not useless, but avail to make us rejoice over Christ's birth, and not just a little bit but with exceeding joy. The wondrous work of God which I am making known to you, he states, is a birth that will cause you wondrous joy.

7. Here was the reason why: The devil had subjected all mankind under sin and caused terrible, incalculable grief beyond human comprehension. In the first place he precipitated us into original sin, including death with it, and not only death but also all manner of evil. Daily in this world we live with murder, lying, betrayal, stealing, robbing, and all manner of shameful evil, depravity, and vexation, so that literally no one's life or property are safe for a moment, but everything is in terrible turmoil! But beyond such evil there is even a greater one, as God's Word tells, in that the devil takes hold of people so totally that they become mad and foolish. As a result of this wickedness and sin, the human race has become little more that a stinking, shameful, disguised tool of the devil. So despicable has he made mankind through sin that we could not possibly become more base. Eternal death and God's wrath take us by the throat; we are never at peace but constantly plagued in body and soul here on earth, making it an enormous, woeful, fear-ridden kingdom of the devil.

8. If we rightly think about it and weigh one against the other, such pitiful, and heartrending calamity in no way compares with the glory of this precious treasure and joy of a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, born for us. And with his message the angel wants earnestly to divert our eyes and hearts from our devil-induced grief and sorry condition to this child, purposing thereby like a golden-tongued preacher to show us that the grief and sorrow brought upon us by the devil cannot in any way compare with the salvation and joy that is ours in this newborn child. It is a fact, when this joyous image reigns in a person's heart, then the evil launched by the devil becomes as nothing, though indeed always still very real and damaging.

Klug, Eugene F. A. Sermons of Martin Luther: The House Postils Vol 1. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.

Unbelievable!!!

2006-12-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

You guys have got to hear this! Apparently Jingle Bells has a subliminal message in it when played backwards!

What's So 'Merry' About Christmas? Part The End

2006-12-21T21:30:00.000-05:00

Here's what's so merry about Christmas...A baby was born who lived both a sinless and a righteous life, who although he did not deserve death, laid his life down as a sacrifice, and he claimed to do it for those who would believe on him. Then, after he had been dead for three days, His Father, who turns out to be God, raises Him from the dead confirming that He really did live a sinless and righteous life, that His sacrifice was effectual for those who would believe, and that everything that He taught while living on this Earth was true.
The merry Christmas we've been wanting is found here, not in a baby in a manger, or a baby receiving gifts from wise men, or even the young boy, Jesus, learning in the temple. Our merry Christmas is found when we see that Jesus had a reason for coming to this Earth, a mission to accomplish, which He accomplished with amazing totality.
He came to save His people from their sins. Done.
He came to destroy the works of the Devil. Done.
He came to bear witness to the truth. Done.
He came to be glorified. Done.
He came to accomplish the will of His Father. Done.
He came to save those who believe. Done.
He came to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, and the acceptable year of the Lord. Done, done, done, and done.
He came to set the oppressed free. Done.
He came to reconcile the world to His Father. Done.

Merry Christmas.

To The Glory Of God

2006-12-21T09:24:00.000-05:00

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Ps. 19:1

This picture is not very sharp because I didn’t have a tripod available when I took it. On the way to work yesterday I say the morning sky transform from just an average sunrise to the whole sky turning a brilliant pink. Within a minute of this shot the sky was back to normal. I barely had enough time to pull off to the side of the interstate (I-40) and snap the picture above. I hope you enjoy it. May it remind you of the awesome God we serve!

Evangelical Jargon ('Scuze Me?)

2006-12-20T20:47:00.000-05:00

Here's one that goes along with Christmastime:

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Which season? Winter?

The Incarnation

2006-12-19T19:46:00.000-05:00

Well I have nothing profound to say here. I'm suffering from writers block whether that be coding or standard writing. However, I do know that its only a few days until Christmas. And some of you maybe in that panic mode at this point in time. I haven't bought Great Aunt Hortense's gift yet! What are we going to do she'll cut us out of her will! Or you maybe in that righteous indignation mode because someone has sent you a "Holiday" card. Don't they know its CHRISTmas! And of course the flip side to that: Christmas is just another pagan holiday how dare you celebrate that!

Uff Da! Take a minute and listen (yes I said listen) to a sermon given by my pastor Perry Tinklenberg on the Word made flesh. On that page is also a link to the MP3 file which you can save to your computer for later.

God bless and Merry Christmas,

Pete

Obligatory Birthday Post

2006-12-14T18:05:00.000-05:00

Several bloggers like to inform the world of their birthdays, so I guess I will too. Yesterday, Wednesday, December 13th, was my thirtieth birthday. One reason I let the world down by not announcing my birthday was that my oldest son, David, Had his tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday as well.

My gifts included volumes 1-3 of Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck, translated by John Vriend and edited by John Bolt.
I also received Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary, by Harold W. Hoehner, and The IVP Bible Background Commentary on the Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas.

In the way of other stuff I received two sets (SAE for general work around here and Metric in case I go to Canada) of Craftsman Ratchet Wrenches, and a gift card to Lifeway Stores.

Cool stuff! Thanks everybody!

A Must Read

2006-12-14T09:02:00.000-05:00

Brent over at colossiansthreesixteen (described as a collision of theology, culture and music) has written two posts recently that need our attention. The first is Your Life Is Your Most Powerful Apologetic and it deals with the fact that most modern Evangelicals live no differently than the unsaved world. The second post, Is Your Salvation Big Enough? deals with the fact that the gospel not only offers forgiveness of sins, but equally as important, a changed life. Great stuff!

What's So 'Merry' About Christmas? Part Two

2006-12-08T07:45:00.000-05:00

Alrighty then. I reckon you've had enough time to reflect on what a downer I am.

My point in the last post was not that we shouldn't be 'merry', but that we should be merry for the right reason.
What I mean is this...Why do we get all warm and fuzzy when we read Luke 2? Why do we read the story of Christ's birth with such happy overtones, especially when it is not a particularly happy story just on the face of it? And the story doesn't get any happier as we continue to read. Jesus goes through Judea healing everyone who comes to Him, does good, treats people nicely and fairly, and yet the Pharisees keep trying to find ways to kill Him.

Finally, they get Judas, one of His closest friends, to betray Him. After a mock trial He is crucified and Judas hangs himself. Still not a happy story, is it?

The answer that I am going to give you now is really very simple. But first, let me tell you what it is not. Here are three reasons not to be merry at Christmas.

1. The story of Christmas is not the story of human love overcoming all obstacles.
2. The story of Christmas is not the story of do good unto your neighbor and your neighbor will be good unto you.
3. The story of Christmas is not the story of doing right against all odds.

O. K. You ready for this? The story of Christmas is meaningless and most certainly not 'merry' until we read about what happens three days after Jesus is crucified. This is what is so 'merry' about Christmas. Jesus rose from the dead! Easter is the reason for the season!

To be continued...

What's So 'Merry' About Christmas? Part One

2006-12-07T17:00:00.000-05:00

Why is Christmas 'merry'?
Is it because we give gifts?
Is it because we receive gifts?
Is it because all the family is together for a meal?
Is it because of the economic boost that results in retailers finally making it into the black?
Is it because of the 'magic' of the season?
Is it because of the good mood that some people exhibit? (No one I know!)
Is it because of a baby in a manger?
Is it because it represents a time of giving, love, or togetherness?
Is it because angels announced the babies birth?

Maybe for some people, but not for me. I don't think that is the case for Luke either.
The day of Christ's birth was not a particularly joyous time, humanly speaking.

Joseph was being taxed, his girlfriend was carrying another's child, they had to make a long journey to Bethlehem, Mary was due at any moment, there was no room for them in the inn so they had to sleep in a stable, Mary delivered her baby, all they could find to cover the newborn baby with was grave clothes, and he had to sleep in a feeding trough.

It doesn't sound like a particularly joyous occasion on the face of things, does it?

"But what about the angels?"

Oh yeah. The angels appeared to some shepherds and scared them stiff. The last thing Mary and Joseph were looking for was company. And the angels told those shepherds to go visit the new baby. How many mothers do you know who are anxious for their babies to be handled by strangers?

The Most Awesomest Christmas Song Ever

2006-12-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

All My Heart This Night Rejoices

All my heart this night rejoices,
As I hear, far and near, sweetest angel voices;
“Christ is born,” their choirs are singing,
Till the air, everywhere, now with joy is ringing.

Forth today the Conqueror goeth,
Who the foe, sin and woe, death and hell, o’erthroweth.
God is man, man to deliver;
His dear Son now is one with our blood forever.

Shall we still dread God’s displeasure,
Who, to save, freely gave His most cherished Treasure?
To redeem us, He hath given
His own Son from the throne of His might in Heaven.

Should He who Himself imparted
Aught withhold from the fold, leave us broken hearted?
Should the Son of God not love us,
Who, to cheer sufferers here, left His throne above us?

If our blessèd Lord and Maker
Hated men, would He then be of flesh partaker?
If He in our woe delighted,
Would He bear all the care of our race benighted?

He becomes the Lamb that taketh
Sin away and for aye full atonement maketh.
For our life His own He tenders
And our race, by His grace, meet for glory renders.

For it dawns, the promised morrow
Of His birth, Who the earth rescues from her sorrow.
God to wear our form descendeth;
Of His grace to our race here His Son He sendeth.

Hark! a voice from yonder manger,
Soft and sweet, doth entreat, “Flee from woe and danger;
Brethren, come; from all that grieves you
You are freed; all you need I will surely give you.”

Come, then, banish all your sadness;
One and all, great and small, come with songs of gladness,
Love Him Who with love is glowing;
Hail the star, Near and far, Light and joy bestowing.

Ye whose anguish knew no measure,
Weep no more; See the door to celestial pleasure.
Cling to Him for He will guide you,
Where no cross, pain, or loss can again betide you.

Hither come, ye heavy hearted,
Who for sin, deep within, long and sore have smarted;
For the poisoned wounds you're feeling,
Help is near, One is here mighty for their healing.

Hither come, ye poor and wretched;
Know his will is to fill Every hand outstretched.
Here are riches without measure;
Here forget all regret, fill your hearts with treasure.

Let me in my arms receive Thee;
On thy breast let me rest, Savior, ne'er to leave Thee.
Since Thou hast Thyself presented
Now to me, I shall be, evermore contented.

Guilt no longer can distress me;
Son of God, Thou my load bearest to release me.
Stain in me Thou findest never;
I am clean, all my sin is removed forever.

I am pure in thee believing,
From Thy store evermore righteous robes receiving.
In my heart I will enfold Thee,
Treasure rare, let me there, loving, ever hold Thee.

Dearest Lord, Thee will I cherish;
Though my breath fail in death, yet I shall not perish.
But with Thee abide for ever,
There on high, in that joy which can vanish never.

Evangelical Jargon (Huh?)

2006-12-06T07:43:00.000-05:00

Here's an old one,

"Let go, and let God."

What's that all about?

Ryan Ferguson recites Hebrews chapters 9 and 10

2006-12-06T00:56:00.000-05:00


This video is from the WorshipGod06 Conference Aug. 9-12, 2006. Ryan Ferguson is giving a memorized dramatic recitation of Hebrews 9 and 10 from the ESV Bible. God’s Word is powerful. HT to the Dawgs at Fide-O and Dan J. Philips from Pyro The Holy Bible, English Standard Version is copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Celebrating Advent

2006-12-01T03:30:00.000-05:00

Now I just know I'm going to get the looks and comments I always get from Baptists when I talk about the season of Advent but I am going to do it anyway.

Advent (definition time now) is the first season in the Christian year consisting of the first four Sundays before Christmas with the season culminating upon Christmas day. This means that December 3 will be the first Sunday in Advent for this year.

Typically Advent is spent concentrating upon the coming of Christ both the future coming and His incarnation. A series of reading is used typically consisting of a reading from the Old Testament, Psalms, one of the Epistles, and from one of the Gospels. Each of these will speak of Christ's coming or His return. For example this December 3's reading will be Jeremiah 33:14-16, Psalm 25:1-10 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, and Luke 21:25-36. All of these including the Psalm deal with the coming of Christ (Psalm 25:3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame).

So why am I bringing this up? Well because in the hustle and bustle of the time between the Friday after Thanksgiving and Christmas day our focus tends to get lost. This came to my attention painfully one year when I looked up an saw that for my family we had lost the meaning of what Christmas was. And I wondered what could I do to bring it back into focus. So I went back to my roots. I was examining Luther's smaller catechism when I noticed that in the back was a list of the Christian year and it started with Advent. So I researched what was Advent and in reading it I came to the conclusion that here was the thing for family worship.

So I talked to the wife (this is a very important step for you married folks) and explained what I was trying to do and she agreed and help me make an Advent wreath. I found a book that was suitable for use during the readings (Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration) and then sprang the idea upon the children. Now in this I had it easier as my children were at that time mostly adults and when I reasoned with them they responded positively this maybe a little harder with younger children or easier it depends upon the children. (its been a long time since I have had little children).

And it worked. The weeks before Christmas was spent reading and meditating upon Christ. There were challenges to be sure, but we have stuck with this for a number of years. And it always helps us focus upon what the meaning of Christmas and the season is to be about.

Consider adding Advent to your family worship time.

Blogspotting

2006-11-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

Yes. This is a blatant rip-off of Phil Johnson's classic brainchild, the BlogSpotting post. But since Phil recently posted what I consider a 'pomo' BlogSpotting post, I figured it must not be too sacred. And, hey!!! I might even get BlogSpotted for real! (Every link about me in that post is now obsolete, but then again, so is that blog.)

Here's the few blogs who have had anything to say about Doxoblogy in the past month or so.

Rose Cole tries to stir up some trouble by misinterpreting me, but I don't let her, since she is my favorite Arminian.:-)

My friend, Jeff Wright, liked what I had to say about Reformation. If he liked it, then it must have been good. He's one of the most discerning readers I know.

Bob Hayton had a much better take on Dan Phillip's post than mine. But he still linked to mine anyway. He also had some nice things to say about D. J. Cimino's classic post titled, Why?

Neil Shay, aka Bugblaster, linked to me for some reason I didn't fully understand.

Michele, from Reformed Chicks Blabbing, liked a post from back in April. Her title, Cliff Notes Version of the TULIP, is a lot better than mine, but also the kind of title you might expect from a lady, but not from a Tennessee redneck, which is why I didn't rename it a third time.

My brother, Pastor Steve Weaver, never noticed the similarities between Russell Moore and myself. Go figure. It was pretty obvious to me all of my life that I was like someone, and when I saw Russell Moore face to face, I knew it must be him.

The Thirsty Theologian must not be forgotten. He links to everybody who says anything that he likes. Sometimes he likes what we write over here.

James Mills, from Ecclesial Dreamer..., wants to send people over to answer the question, "What does, 'Make a decision for Christ' mean?"

That's not quite as impressive as Phil's BlogSpotting posts, but then again, you must consider that this is Doxoblogy, and we are D. J., Peter, and Jeremy. What else would you expect?

Evangelical Jargon (What's that mean?)

2006-11-29T18:00:00.000-05:00

Here it is, faithful few, your very own opportunity to sound off about various religious sayings in 'Evangelical Christianity'.
Each Wednesday I'll post a phrase from the world of Christianese for you to tell everyone what you like, dislike, or think about that phrase.
This week's phrase:

"Make a decision for Christ."

What does that mean? My honest gut reaction the first time I heard it was, "Can't He make His own decisions a lot better than I can?"

Things Held In Common With Russell Moore

2006-11-29T17:35:00.000-05:00

Last night my brother and I drove up to Carson-Newman to hear Dr. Russell Moore preach. I have only listened to a couple of his messages on the internet (I still have dial-up 'cause nobody wants to sell me high-speed, so it takes a while to download audio), but I really enjoyed what I heard.
Once again, last night, Russell Moore was faithful, unapologetic, and more importantly, faithful to the text. He reminded us that creeds are everywhere, and especially in the Christian faith.
His text was taken from Matthew 16:13-18. Peter's confession is the foundational creed for the Church. We believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, and the Son of God. Upon this confession Christ has promised to build His Church. And as we, the Church, remain on this foundation the gates of hell will not prevail against us.
After the message, Steve and I went down front to talk with Dr. Moore. It was here that I learned of at least ten different characteristics, beliefs, and qualities that we hold in common.

1. We both shake with the right hand.
2. We both have names.
3. We are both from the south.
4. We are both good looking fellers.
5. We have both met my brother.
6. We both drove to the meeting.
7. We are both Southern Baptists.
8. We wear shoes.
9. The ESV seems to be our preferred translation.
10. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Proclaiming The New Covenant (2 Corinthians 4:1-6)

2006-11-27T18:30:00.000-05:00

Introduction: In Chapter 3:7-18, Paul contrasts the Old and New Covenants. He calls the Old Covenant a ministry of death, while he calls the New Covenant a ministry of the Spirit. Paul does nothing to take away the glory of the Old Covenant, instead, he does the opposite. He tells of the glory of the Old Covenant, a glory that when Moses descended Mount Sinai, he had to cover his face, because of the glory that shone as he had been in the presence of God. But whatever glory the Old covenant had is far surpassed in the New. This is why, Paul says, "We use great boldness of speech." Not like Moses, who hid the glory of the Old Covenant by the veil over his face, but by the clear preaching of the Gospel. And as the Gospel is preached we are beholding the Glory of the Lord, and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.
I. The Open Proclamation Of The Gospel 1-2

A. The Privilege Of Proclaiming
B. The Renunciation Of Trickery
C. The Commendation Of Truth

II. The Veiling Of The Gospel 3-4

A. Those Who Are Perishing
B. The God Of This Age Matt 11:25, Rom 11:8-10, 1 John 5:19, Eph 2:2
C. What Is Hidden? The Glory Of Christ

III. The Revelation Of The Gospel 5-6

A. We Preach Christ
B. A Supernatural Work
Just as God has called everything into existence ex nihilo, He has called His elect out to be a kind of firstfruits of His new creation. He has called those whom He foreknew, not based upon their good works, because they are fallen creatures, and incapable of any sort of works that are pleasing to Him, but out of the nothingness of our fallen selves He has created us unto good works.
We may express our wonder at the created order, the galaxies and wideness of creation, or the glory of God that is seen in the smallest insect in the minute detail and complex order that exists within it's small shell. But for the Christian, the work of redemption is every bit as breathtaking, every bit as glorious, every bit as lovely as any other supernatural work of God. We intend to give God as much glory in this supernatural work of salvation as we give Him for His equally supernatural work of Creation.
C. The Goal Of The Gospel
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" (Isa 40:1-9)

Conclusion: We gaze intently upon the glory of God as we look into the face of Christ by reading (devotionally), hearing (preaching), seeing (in the ordinances), and speaking (meditating upon) the Gospel. The Gospel is not a commendation of our own selves, but the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Christ. This leaves no room for boasting, for, "Salvation is of the Lord."

Losing my Religion Redux part 5

2006-11-26T02:42:00.000-05:00

Awaking from my tryptophan induced coma I realized that the passage of time had exceeded my planned vacation from blog posting. So to remedy this I have decided to finish the history of my migration from Dispensationalism to Reformed Theology. Of which I am sure some are saying: Finally!

Well I ate it all up. I picked up all of Hal Lindsey's books I bought a Ryrie study bible. All my answers in any bible study I consulted the notes before I ventured any answers. The pastor at the church was an old time Southern Baptist and under his influence I was rebaptized (which I am sure relieves any concerns of my Baptist brothers since I started out a Lutheran) and things continued on like that for quite some time and then the church split. I went with the separatists since I thought their reasoning was more scriptural. But the church they formed didn't last so I wound up at a little Bible Church (Again Baptist only not called that. I mean really have you ever seen any "non-denominational" "bible" churches that practice paedobaptism?) whose pastor was a teacher at the local bible school ( it eventually would become Moody Northwest). It was there I met Ted Campbell.

Now Ted was a student at the bible school with ideas about becoming a missionary to Ireland. And he taught karate. I had always screwed around with martial arts and I had hesitated from doing anything like that again because of some teachings I had received that taught that bowing that happened in karate classes was the worship of false gods. (Charismatic influences). But Ted assured me that what he taught was divorced from eastern philosophy and was in fact an American version of T'ang Soo Do. There wasn't a Buddhist shrine, nobody bowed to the founders photo, in fact the only bows were to the instructor and the American flag. So I sat in and yes there was nothing that offended my conscience so I became a pupil. I prospered under the teachings until I gained the rank of first gup (red with two stripes equivalent to a third degree brown belt for Japanese systems; just under a black belt rank) but injuries kept me from attaining my black belt. (Someone I was sparring, full contact, took my knee and turned it around 180 degrees, makes it difficult if not impossible to do the jump kicks when the knee won't hold up.) I also went with Ted and did demonstrations where we would break bricks and wood and Ted would give his testimony. That was my ministry for a number of years. It ended when Ted's marriage dissolved.

It was around that time that I was wandering through the local Christian book store and I spotted this title:

Dispensationalism: Rightly dividing the people of God? by Keith Mathison.

I don't know why I picked this book up. For that matter I don't know why this book was in that particular store since it carries mostly dispensational theology books. And hardly any books of substance. You know the type a million Rick Warren and Joel Osteen and maybe one by R.C. Sproul and the only reason its there is because I put it on hold.

But I picked it up and I decided to buy it and read it. And I got mad. I mean really how dare this, this Mathison fellow tell me that the last decade of my life was based upon a faulty theology. So I reread it, I mean if your going to rebut and argument you have to know the argument right? (I realize that isn't the popular theory now [take a look at the guys debating Steve Hays and Paul Manata at Triablogue for the latest theory in practice] but its how I was taught back in the stone age) So I read it again. And then I did something I had never done before I read about the history of the Christian church. That was a mistake Christian History tended to agree with Keith Mathison's statement about the age of Dispensational theology. Well then I started to really examine the Bible verses that Mathison had used, I mean really examine them. And I wasn't really comforted by what I was reading. It didn't seem to follow what I had previously been taught. In fact it seemed to be the direct opposite. Yet there it was in the Word of God. So I bought another book by R.C. Sproul and I read that, and I realized that "salvation was of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). This caused me to re-evaluate what I had been taught about Man's free will. I knew I no longer believed that. During this time I started searching the Internet for Reformed Theology. And I came across some great websites. They had things like Jonathen Edwards, and John Owens works on them. They ruined me. I could no longer hold to Dispensationalism and the dystopian world view that taught me that all of God's purposes end up in failure. (Check it out for yourself, why do the dispensations end? Does anyone really pass the test? Even in the millennium?) Instead I saw the progressive revelation of God to man that would culminate in His glorious restoration of all things into what they were originally and even better.

Well that settled it for me. So I knew I had to make a change. Now, here's a clue for those of you persuaded to change your views. Don't do what I did. I went home and started examining all my books everything that was obviously dispensational in its view (all of Lindsey's books say) I threw out. This tends to to make the wife look at you strangely especially if everytime you toss a book you are muttering "Crap, its all crap." With a strange gleam in your eyes. Not the best way to do things, your wife may think you've gone over the edge.

And that is how I became Reformed.

Why?

2006-11-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

Why do we as Christians think that we are living a good Christian life as long as other Christians are unaware of our sin and shortcomings?
Why do we accept a "performance based" Christianity?
Why don’t we realize that we still sin and fall short of the glory of God?
Why do I feel like a good person of I think I haven’t done anything “really bad” today, when the Bible says that in my flesh even my good works are as filthy rags in God’s sight?
Why don’t we walk in the light and be honest about our mistakes, failures and sin?
Why do we want others to think we are someone who is holy and pious, when it is only by the righteousness of Jesus that we are blameless in the eyes of God?
Why do we get upset at our fellow believers when they ever so slightly sin against us?
Why can’t we see that it’s only by God’s grace that we didn’t do the same thing to them?
Why can’t we have a more honest Christianity in America, instead of the fake shell of flesh-produced psuedoholiness?

Why can’t we have a more Gospel-centered/cross-centered Christianity?
One that daily looks to the Gospel as a foundation for our lives, the hope of our salvation (past, present & future) and the answer to our sinfulness… and not the shifting sands of self-righteousness that produces a performance based, man-centered Christianity.

Why?

Thankful For Pain

2006-11-22T14:45:00.000-05:00

I'm not a masochist. I don't enjoy pain. In fact, I don't like pain at all. And in one sense, I could see how the title of this post might seem a bit ridiculous. Isn't pain a product of the fall? Isn't it part of the curse? To both of these questions I must give an unequivocal answer of, "Yes." Pain is part of the curse. But even in this part of the curse we can be thankful for God's mercy of pain.

In a world where death, decay, sickness, and sin do not exist, pain would have no merit at all. It would be an unnecessary evil. But in the fallen world in which we live, a world riddled with death, decay, sickness, and sin, pain can be a blessing. It can be a merciful blessing from the hand of the Creator.

While some would rather argue over the so-called 'problem' of pain, I would like to point out first of all, that pain is not a problem. I have no problem whatsoever reconciling the existence of pain with the creative acts of God in a created world that has rebelled against Him. Pain is just. In fact, it is merciful because it is not all that we really deserve. We all deserve much worse. And yet God in his forbearance has granted that we not immediately go into the bottomless chasm of pain, the place that does await each and every human who refuses to bow the knee to Christ as Sovereign Lord, He has instead granted us this gentle reminder of earthly, temporal pain, that teaches us to bow our knee to Christ now.
He has given pain to point to Himself as our Savior.

Pain is also a mercy because it points to potential decay here and now. When we get the flu and our bodies ache with pain we know that it is time to see the doctor. When we place our hand on a hot stove, pain is there to tell us to remove our hand from the burning element. Pain protects us from an early death by presenting itself in varying degrees, telling us to turn the saw off, pull our finger from the light socket, or sit down after breaking a leg.

Finally, pain is a mercy because it points Christians back to Christ. It points us to the One who endured pain as no other being has ever endured. Christ suffered not only at the hands of rebellious men, but also at the hand of an angry God. He endured wrath that Christians will never know, and the reason He endured that pain was so that all who trust in Him would never have to experience that pain.

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for pain. Not because of an overly romantic notion of pain and strength, but because God has allowed it for our good and His glory.

Losing My Religion Redux part 4

2006-11-22T01:29:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I am rather surprised by the response to this I really don't think of this as important as what Jeremy writes. Or what D.J has posted. But to continue:

While attending this church they offered a class in Sunday School called "God's Plan For the Ages". I was told that this would explain God's working through the ages. This intrigued me as I had never heard of this before. So I signed up for the class which was to last three months. So in March of 1980 I walked into class with my bible and a open mind. The first thing they handed out was a map reproduced here:

This blew me away I had never seen anything like this before. I was excited, this seem to outline the whole of recorded history as regards to the bible, in a neat and concise manner. I was told that there were seven distinct dispensations and during each dispensation Man was given a test and how he responded to that test determined whether or not he was saved.

Now let me state right now that most of the Dispensationalists that I have talked to since I was first taught this do state that what I just wrote isn't what is currently being taught. Most do assert that salvation is entirely by grace and that during the various dispensations that people were saved by grace. However, I spent a long two weeks listening once again to the tapes that I have kept from that teaching and I can state that what I previously written was what was being taught. Now the best I can say about this is that it is more like classical Scofieldian Dispensationalism than say what Ryrie had reconstructed Dispensationalism into or what is now Progressive Dispensationalism.

One of the most stirring memories of this time was when the teacher said "You should all be glad that we are living right now in the dispensation of Grace (aka the Church Age) because during the next dispensation, the Kingdom Age, the millennium, we will be judged by our very thoughts! Anyone who has a thought against Christ will be struck down dead!" Can you imagine this? The millennial reign being a source of terror to some.

Well I took it all in. This was the truth of Bible to me. Now in my naïveté I had no idea about the history of Dispensationalism I thought it was standard Protestant theology. This is what Luther had taught right? So when it came to studying the Old Testament it was always through the lens of which dispensation was going on at the time. Same with the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all had been the teaching of Christ during the Law dispensation so that it didn't apply now it would apply during the millennial reign of Christ. What was applicable to me now was the Pauline letters (not Peter, Jude, or John they were for the Jewish Christians) because Paul was the apostle to the gentiles and the Church was that mystery that had never been talked about at all in the Old Testament.

To be continued...

Post Script: I'm trying to finish this by Thanksgiving or right after.

Biblical Pattern For Reformation

2006-11-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

I'm still planning on writing a recommendation for Turning Back the Darkness: The Biblical Pattern of Reformation, but go ahead and by it now.
In the meantime, here's a good quote;

"If you look up the noun reformation in your concordance, you will not be impressed by the results. In the New International Version (NIV), the word does not occur at all; int he King James Version (KJV) it occurs just once; and in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) it is also found only one time (Heb. 9:10)...By this standard reformation must not really be a biblical concept, or not an important one anyway. The prospects for discerning a biblical pattern seem dim at this point.
There are, however, two other words that describe what reformation is all about, and they are repeatedly encountered in the Scripture. These words are remember and repent. That is what reformation is-remembering God and His saving work and His authoritative Word, repenting from unfaithfulness in heart and in action and to the pattern God established through His Word when He formed a people for Himself. It is in the use of terms such as these that reformation occurs all though the Bible, defining faithfulness in every generation.
One of the great reformation texts is found in the opening chapters of the book of Revelation, the letters to the seven churches from the Lord Jesus Christ...Ephesus was the mother church of these seven, and in the first of the letters Jesus praises this important congregation:
I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.-Rev. 2:2-3
The next paragraph, verses 4-5, presents a well-developed definition of reformation, establishing it firmly as a mandate from the Lord:
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Reformation, as we see it biblically defined and commanded by the risen and exalted Lord Jesus Himself, consists of both holding fast to what we have received from God and the ongoing work of repenting and conforming to His Word in every area and aspect of our lives."
Richard D. Phillips, Turning Back The Darkness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002), 17-18.

While We're Waiting On Peter To Finish His Yarn...

2006-11-21T14:03:00.000-05:00

I need some exegetical commentary recommendations on 1 and 2 Samuel. Thanks.

Losing my Religion Redux part 3

2006-11-21T01:18:00.000-05:00

I had decided to go to the local community college and get a degree in electronics. It seemed the best idea to support my growing family. By then my wife and I already had a son and my daughter was on the way. While there, still not attending church, I met a man who would become one of my dearest friends. His name is Bruce Hogan and I thank God every day that He allowed Bruce to come into my life. Indeed it is evidence of God's providential hand in my life that Bruce was one of the people that was part of my class in electronics. Bruce was the only Christian in the entire group besides myself. And I was a poor specimen of Christian.

One day in lab I said to Bruce (and he remembers differently than I but then he is a kinder towards me than I deserve) a flippant remark about seeing him "Here, there or in the air." Do you remember that trite phrase? Even now I shudder while remembering what I would say to brothers in the Lord. As if the coming return of Christ was something to say in a flippant manner. Well needless to say Bruce's' head swiveled around and he fixed upon me his gaze. Now I admit that my language in that room wouldn't have pointed me out as a Christian. I was just as foul mouthed as some of the others. But of all the garbage I might have spewed that was something that was totally out of character for who Bruce thought I was. (unregenerate pagan)

Now Bruce had two things working for him, he was a former Marine and he had been trained by the Navigators. He would need both to whip me into shape. And once he ascertained that I was indeed a born again Christian he knew that I had never been discipled in my entire life. Then setting his face like flint he discipled me. And I made his life miserable, and he loved me. I told him to go to hell and he said: "Sorry, that isn't possible for me anymore or for you." And he loved me some more. All the time pointing out things in the Word. Having a Bible study with me during lunch. Helping me memorize verses. And encouraging my wife and I to go to church. Which we did.

It was at Bruce's church that I was formally training into Dispensational Theology.

To be continued...

God's Prescription For Divine Healing-James 5:13-18

2006-11-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

My outline from Sunday School this week.

Introduction: There are three points to keep in mind as we study this passage. The first is that the forgiveness of sins is a greater miracle than that of healing the sick. (Matthew 9:1-7) The second point is that God uses both divine and ordinary means to heal. (Acts 28:7-9) Finally, we must remember that many times God does not heal, either through divine or medical means. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) In all cases it is always best to rest in God, who alone is wise, and able to give us what we really need, sometimes healing, sometimes a thorn in the flesh, but all is always for His glory and our good.

I. Calling The Elders

A. 'Elders' Is Plural (not too long on this point)

1. Does not mean 'Elderly' (I Peter 5:5) (only in quick reference)
2. Does not mean 'Saved Longer'
3. Means Pastor, or leader who has authority in the Church
B. It Is The Sick Who Initiates The 'Ceremony' Or 'Procedure' (less than a 'ceremony' but more than a 'procedure')

1. Public confession of sins before the Elders
2. Repentance of sins
C. Others May Suggest That The Sick Call For The 'Ceremony' Or 'Procedure'

II. The Responsibilities Of The Elders

A. General Prayer
B. Anoint With Oil (no discussion as to the meaning of 'anoint'-makes no major impact on the text)
C. Specific Prayer After Confession

III. God's Work

A. Sickness Is Healed (not always guaranteed)
B. Sins Are Forgiven (always guaranteed when confessed and repented of)

IV. When Should We Request Healing? Send For The Elders?

A. Examine Your Conscience

1. Is this sickness the result of sin?
2. Am I willing to make my sins public (if need be)?
3. Do I have a repentant heart?

B. For The Elders

1. Have they repented of all known sins?
2. Have they asked for God's guidance in their prayers?
3. Do they believe God will use this means for Divine healing?
4. Is this belief based upon assurance from God?

C. Congregational Prayer For The Proceedings

Conclusion: This teaching is at the same time very simple and yet hard to believe. I have struggled with this passage for several weeks. I have found that in the end, we must not try to explain it away by spiritualizing it as some do, (either by making the sickness to mean sin, or by making the 'anointing with oil' to mean medicine) but take it at face value as God's commands concerning healing.
It doesn't make logical sense to our minds, doesn't require any special abilities, only faith in God and His promise. It is a command to be obeyed, not an optional benefit of being a Christian. As uncomfortable as it may make us feel, we must accept this teaching of James as being just as inspired by the Holy Spirit as Paul's teaching on Justification.
When we refuse to obey this we are living beneath our privilege, and at the same time, living in disobedience to God's Word. May God forgive us for our neglect and give us the courage and faith to obey.

Losing my Religion Redux part 2

2006-11-20T01:57:00.000-05:00

Let's see where was I? Oh yes reliving High School (shudder). As I have previously written on the first week of the school year Chapel was the first hour of every day. And unlike the sermons that I had been used to these were ones directed to us with a distinct gospel message. It was torture. It was the most miserable week I'd ever experienced. Then came the schooling. They actually taught out of the Bible. Not only that but the answers they gave were so radically different than what I had been instructed in public schools. I was angry, upset, worse than that every time I questioned the answer they would pull a response from the Bible! I started reading the Bible just so I could argue against them. That would lead to my downfall, so to speak, because the more I read the more I saw exactly what they were speaking of. But I didn't want to believe it. You see despite my unregenerate state I had been taught by my father and mother that the Bible was God's word. So I knew that I couldn't argue with that. The best I could do was come up with the "well that's your interpretation" answer.

And every Friday there was Chapel. Now in Chapel we had a stream of pastors and the main thing they seemed to be preaching was the soon return of Christ in which all believers would be "raptured" to heaven while the rest of us would be down here going through the tribulation under the Antichrist. Now needless to say nothing like this was every preached in the Lutheran Church that I attended. So almost every week I was literally scared to death that Christ would return and I would be "left behind".

When I talked to one of the assistant pastors at my church about this he was totally shocked he had never heard of such a thing. Of course during Chapel I had been told that the "apostate" church wouldn't teach this doctrine so I became paranoid of my own church.

Things finally came to a head at one Chapel service. I knew I was a sinner I knew that if Christ came back I wouldn't be with those that were raptured. So there when the preacher said that if anyone wished to come to Jesus and accept Him as Savior to pray along with him. I did just that and trusted Christ as my Savior and Lord.

All that time after that I would learn about Jesus at school and go to the Lutheran Church on Sundays. I was very messed up. My pastor was teaching me one thing (a very social gospel, be good, do the right things change the society) and the teachers were instructing me on such things as the return of Jesus, the Antichrist, how we need to witness to everyone because if we don't then we are responsible for them going to Hell. Oh yes and the world was steadily getting worse and worse and this was according to the Bible prophecy.

The thing is I was never really discipled. Never really instructed on what the Christian life was to be. Oh I knew I was to read my Bible everyday. And I was supposed to memorize Scriptures. Not listen to Rock and Roll stuff like that. I remember reading these "Danny Orlis" books that told me how going to movies and playing cards were things that "real" Christians didn't do. Nobody really explained the concept of adiaphora (See LBC Chapter 21:2)to me so I thought that to be a follower of Christ I had to follow all these "rules" that would show that I had a changed life. (See even this is about sanctification in one way).

Well after High School I got married (31 years this month) and my wife disliked the Lutheran Church's worship. She felt it was too like Roman Catholics with is stylized worship. And I disliked her church as it was huge with over 600 people attending at one time. So we fell into the practice of not attending church. This continued until I went to college and met a man who changed my life again.

To be continued...

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Losing My Religion Redux part 1

2006-11-17T03:32:00.000-05:00

Jeremy has asked that I again post my journey from Dispensationalism to Reformed Theology. Well I never kept my previous post from my defunct blog. But providentially my mind is like a steel trap (sprung) so I remember almost word for word what I wrote. And since I am still hammering out the rest of my posts on Sanctification, prolusion means a short introductory essay preceding the text of a book ( I have a dictionary on obscure words and I am not afraid to use it.), I will recount my previous posts again.

First let me state this: I have nothing but respect for many if not most Dispensational teachers no matter that I do disagree with them. It was a Dispensational Baptist preacher that lead me to trust Christ as my Savior and Lord.

I was raised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America denomination. My father a staunch Lutheran had us in church every Sunday morning. There I would sit ignoring what was going on only moving if it was the portion of the liturgy which required me to stand or kneel and mumble out a response. I was your typical child only in church because my parents forced me to be there. I read the Bible stories and collected the Sunday Pix comics because they had the cool adventures of Tullus in them.

In my junior high year (they call it middle school now) I was required to go to confirmation classes at the Lutheran church. Not because I wanted to become a Lutheran rather because to go against my Father's wishes would have been unthinkable. So I went. As I was in church I was the same in catechism class an inattentive student preferring not to answer when called upon. In fact I don't know that I read any of the reading. And let me state this: it wasn't Luther's small catechism that we were learning. No this was some pabulum foisted upon the church by some over eager revisionist who was try to make it relate to that generation. And seeing that the ELCA is the most liberal of the American Lutheran denominations I'm not surprised that Luther's small catechism was no longer to be found.

Sad to say I was confirmed in the Lutheran church totally unregenerate. I do admit I had a shiver go down my spine when I stood before the entire church and said "I renounce the Devil and all his ways". It meant nothing. It was in this sorry state that I applied and was accepted at a private Christian highschool. This school was non-denominational. You know I love that term, its used by Baptists trying to hide who and what they are. This school was no different many of the teachers were also preachers in training or looking for a pastorate. Some of them were missionaries. Ninty-nine percent were Baptist. I think the number of Lutherans that were in that school numbered three. And the other two were Missouri Synod so we didn't talk. I remember sitting before the person who was going to accept or decline my application she asked me if I was "born again" I didn't know what that meant. That term had never been used in the church I attended. Not once. So I told her that I had been confirmed in the Lutheran church. That got me the look, but she accepted it as proof of my regeneration.

And so I started school not knowing that one of the requirements was that every Friday morning chapel was mandatory. And not only that but during the first week chapel was every day of the week.

To be continued.

Dissing Dispensationalism

2006-11-14T23:45:00.000-05:00

Our good friend, Dan Phillips, of Pyromaniacs and Biblical Christianity fame, has posted Twenty-Five Stupid Reasons For Dissing Dispensationalism, or, for a more accurate title, Twenty-Five Stupid Disses On Anyone Who Doesn't Happen To Be A Dispensationalist (You're welcome).

I agree with Dan, for the most part. He does list some pretty stupid reasons for dissing Dispensationalism. Except for numbers 7, 11, and 23 (I'm trying to be generous in my criticism).

It appears to me that Dan has built a magnificent straw man, with a shirt, a hat, and only the very finest straw. He even drew a smiley face on the straw man. But guess what? It's still a straw man.
Now, I don't think he spent his time trying to create a straw man. Like the kid in science lab who wasn't trying to make a chemical reaction that would engulf the school in flames. But guess what? (I love that question). That kid can now tell you what will happen when you mix those chemicals together!
No, I think Dan actually thinks that those are the arguments against Dispensationalism. He thinks those are the arguments because he was listening to Things To Come on tape when the actual arguments against Dispensationalism were being spoken.

As for the three that he actually came close to getting right, (7, 11, and 23. You will have to follow the link to read Dan's comments about each of these points, since I will just copy the headings), I will try to defend those very briefly, since, as a non-Dispensationalist, I am only entitled to a few words.

7. But the Reverend Doctor Professor _____ wrote a 600-page book destroying dispensationalism!

Sorry! It looks like I won't be able to rely on anyone else who is most certainly smarter than me on this one. That's because people who write books with more than ten pages are obviously trying to obscure the meaning of Scripture. Somebody give me a break! By the way, Dan, I first learned about the day-age theory in my Scofield Bible. I rejected it as a Dispensationalist then and reject it as a non-Dispensationalist today. (I also appreciated John MacArthur's defence of Genesis 1-3 in The Battle for the Beginning.)
As far as the, "It means what it says", issue, I give you a hearty, "Amen!" But sooner or later we're going to actually have to say what it says. Nehemiah 8:8

11. We should interpret the Old by the New.

I'm trying to see your point. I really can't. And I don't think you can either, you just know that you disagree with someone like me, therefore, there must be a reason, but you still haven't figured it out. Let me help. I believe that Christ was speaking literally in those verses you cited. You don't. You don't really believe that Christ is the focus of, for example, the book of Job. I do.
I'm also not sure what Matthew 16:1-3 has to do with this. As for John 5:36-47, well, to quote a really smart guy (please forgive me), "It means what it says."

23. "Hey, I'm a CT/amill/postmill/preterist whatever, and I use grammatico-historical exegesis on everything!"

I think your problem here is that you see the redemptive-historical and grammatical-historical interpretative methods as contradictory, whereas the rest of the world sees them as complementary. God inspired the words to reveal Himself to us. The 'grammatical' emphasis actually enhances the 'redemptive' qualities of the text.

I know there's nothing 'earth-shattering' that has been written here. I don't have that skill. But there is one thing I would like to point out.
You will never hear me say, "Israel is the Church". Well, except for just then. But never again!!! The Church hasn't replaced Israel. As far as I can tell, there is still the smattering of a national identity of Israel. And I interpret Scripture so literally that I actually believe, like, Paul and James, God will save all of Israel, (if by 'all' we are speaking of a national conversion and not every single Israeli alive at the return of Christ). There have been others who disagree with this interpretation. They're wrong.
I do, however, believe that Christ is the 'True Israel'. I believe that in Him all the promises given to Abraham have been, are being, or will be fulfilled. Galatians 3:16 I also believe that all who are in Christ are the heirs of the promises made to Abraham and Christ. Galatians 3:29 Israel as a nation can only find their inheritance by coming to Christ and sharing with the all other believers the inheritance that Christ receives. Christ is the rightful heir of the promises and ultimately, He Himself is the fulfillment of those promises. The Church is not the new Israel, but Christ is the 'True Israel'.
Galatians 3 and 4 are magnificent chapters for understanding God's purpose in both the Law and the selection of Israel.

Separated At Birth?...I Don't Think So!

2006-11-13T20:11:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite moments last week was a comment made by someone as Steve Camp and I exchanged pleasantries.

"You look like Elton John!"

I nearly laughed my tail off, but I don't think Campi thought it was very funny. As a matter of fact, it was the only time I saw him at a loss for words the whole week.

Personally, I don't see the resemblance, but it's still funny.

Sorry...I still can't stop laughing!!!

Turning Back The Darkness

2006-11-10T20:33:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading a book titled, Turning Back the Darkness, by Richard D. Phillips. The sub-title is, ‘The Biblical Pattern of Reformation’. I plan to write a recommendation of the book when I get back home, but let me go ahead and recommend that you buy it at any cost…and do not sell it, no matter the offer! This book will be a great resource to you, whether you are a Pastor, Teacher, Deacon, or Lay-person.

Last Update

2006-11-10T20:32:00.000-05:00

Wow! It’s been a great week sailing the Caribbean with some of my favorite preachers. My faith has been challenged, my knowledge enlarged, my heart stirred, and my fellowship broadened. We’ve met some great people on the cruise. In addition to James White, Steve Camp, Don Kistler, and David King, and Mike O’Fallon, we’ve also had the opportunity to meet several other brothers and sisters in Christ. This is probably my favorite part of the Cruise. Meeting others who share our faith nearly down to the particulars is a rare blessing. I’ll be posting some pictures of some of our new friends when I get back on dry land, with brief bios composed by yours truly, the Doxoblogist. I have some particularly compromising pictures of a couple of rather famous people, sort of ‘guilt by association’ pictures, since they posed with me.

That’s all for now, or as Supraman might say, ‘Nuff said!’

More Man-Centeredness

2006-11-08T17:01:00.000-05:00

I just received an email advertisement from one of the nation’s largest Christian bookstore chains highlighting some new and recommended books that are for sale. Since I don’t want to give away any free advertisement for these books, I will simply give you some of the descriptions that are given for these books, and I would like to see if I am the only one troubled with what I read.

“Drawing simple but powerful truths from the Bible, this book gives you practical guidance for specific types of change, and it links you up with the power to actually make the changes you long to make.”

“In (the name of the book), (the author) insists that we cannot appropriate and enjoy the benefits of God's kingdom until we understand how it operates. As you study such principles as the Kingdom concepts of kings, lord, territory, law, citizens, royal privilege, culture, economy and others, prepare for your thinking about God's kingdom and mankind's destiny to be radically transformed. This book will help you learn to think and act like a Kingdom citizen and the ruler God intended you to be. It will infuse your life as a believer with a new sense of excitement and purpose.”

“Drawing on biblical models like David, Esther and Jesus Himself, this book reveals how personal courage, integrity and determination can help you live at your full potential as a person transformed with God-ordained significance.”

“(The author) offers concise, practical insights you can understand and apply in order to move past hardships and experience a life of purpose and significance.”

I have saved the best for last:

“This book shows how God responds to us when we live in agreement with Him. There is power in the little word "yes" when it becomes the driving force of our lives in both prayer and action.”

As if God couldn’t be God without your permission!

What about a book about living for the glory of God?
Why aren’t deeply theological books not on the best-sellers list?

And speaking of Sanctification...

2006-11-07T23:20:00.001-05:00

Take a minute and read this by Steve Hays of Triablogue Sin and Sanctification.

Another Weak Update

2006-11-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

We went onshore to Jamaica today to do some shopping. We were harrassed quite a bit by the locals who wanted totake us on tours, but never felt threatened in any way. To be honest, my wife was very concerned about the trip, but I'm a Calvinist.

Which makes me think...How do the 'free-willers' make it through life? I don't think I could live with the uncertainty that being an Arminian entails. As a Calvinist, I can say with the Apostle Paul that no matter what happens, God is still in control and is working all things together for my good, and, more importantly, for His own Glory. So if the boat sinks, if sickness comes, if there is bodily harm, persecution, trials, even death itself am a conqueror in Christ. Not that God takes these bad situations and makes them good, but that through the death of Christ, sinking, sickness, persecution and death become my friends. They are the path to victory for the Christian, because, ultimately, they are for the Christians good and God's glory.

We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Ps. 16:11

2006-11-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Ps. 16:11

Sanctification: prolusion

2006-11-07T00:59:00.000-05:00

It seems sometimes that I have spent a large portion of my Christian life unlearning things. Now admittedly most of this is because I spent a large portion of my life digesting what passes for modern Evangelical theology. With its synergistic salvation and its idea of the “Carnal Christian” I paid no attention to the idea that my sanctification was a progressive goal of becoming more and more like Christ.

Indeed when I think about it I don't know that I was ever taught about sanctification at all. Although I suppose that sad little illustration found in the four spiritual laws could have been an attempt to show what sanctification was. Thing is I spent too much of my life thinking that the “Carnal Christian” was to be my lot in life.

My paradigm change was learning about Reformed theology and the Sovereign God of the bible. There I was confronted with a complete view of salvation found in the Ordo Salutis (order of salvation). Salvation wasn't just saving me from hell. It was an entire process that not only consisted of salvation from sin but salvation from the power of sin, and conforming me to the image of Christ.

This is sanctification:

Those who are united to Christ, effectually called, and regenerated, have a new heart and a new spirit created in them; and by His Word and Spirit dwelling within them, this personal work of sanctification is indeed carried further. All these blessings accrue to them by reason of the merits of Christ's death and resurrection. Sin's mastery over them is completely broken; the evil desires to which it gives birth are increasingly weakened and dealt their death-blow; and saving graces in them are increasingly enlivened and strengthened. The practice of all true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, is thus promoted.

John 17:17; Acts 20:32; Rom. 6:5,6,14; 2 Cor. 7:1; Gal. 5:24; Eph. 3:16-19; Col. 1:11; 1 Thess. 5:21-23; Heb. 12:14.

Sanctification, as defined in this way, extends to every part of man, yet remains incomplete in this life. Sin's corrupt remnants continue to defile all parts of man, causing within him a continual warfare that does not admit of reconciliation; the flesh rises up against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.

Rom. 7:18,23; Gal. 5:17; 1 Thess. 5:23; 1 Pet. 2:11.

In the war of flesh versus Spirit, sin's corrupt remnants may for a time gain the upper hand, yet the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ enables man as a new creature to gain the victory. And so the saints grow in grace, moving on towards a fullness of holiness in the fear of God. They earnestly endeavor to live according to heaven's laws, and to render gospel obedience to all the commands which Christ, as their head and king, has laid down for them in His Word.

Rom. 6:14; 7:23; 2 Cor. 3:18; 7:1; Eph. 4:15,16.

Sanctification: LBC in modern english

I'm On A Boat And You're Not

2006-11-06T22:42:00.000-05:00

The Alpha and Omega cruise and conference is going great. We're somewhere between Georgetown, Grand Caymon and Ocho Rios, Jamaica right now.
We have been advised that unless you are going with a tour, Jamaica is dangerous. I don't know what we're going to do, because we cancelled our excursion in Jamaica earlier today. We'll probably just stay on the boat and take pictures.

Tonight, I asked Dr. White the 'Caner' question. And I didn't even get punched!!!
Campi and I have had a couple of good discussions, particularly about the University model for training leaders in the Church. We both think it is a better and biblical idea to train our leaders in the local church rather than a Seminary. Steve has written a lot on the subject, and I asked him to write some more.

I'm using internet minutes so I gotta go. God Bless all of you land-lubbers.

A Merciful God

2006-11-03T10:18:00.000-05:00

There is an interesting perception by non-Calvinists that Calvinists think they are special because they are chosen. How wrong that is! Calvinist think that they are so dead in sin unless God chooses to save them they would forever be dead! We believe the Bible teaches that we are so sinful the only way we could be saved is if God chose, in His wonderful mercy and grace, to save us. So... we don’t think we are the “special chosen ones”. We think we are completely unworthy of being saved by a holy and righteous God!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved… Eph. 2:4-5

Concluding Remarks

2006-11-03T06:45:00.000-05:00

Today at 3:00pm I'm heading down to Tampa FL to leave on the Alpha and Omega/Audience One/Sovereign Grace Singles(?!) Caribbean Cruise. So while I'm gone, Peter and D. J. will probably be posting over here. Be nice to them. They're not quite as abrasive as I am.

I thought up a few questions to ask James White and Steve Camp, while we're on the ship.

For James White;
Why are you afraid to debate the Caner boys?
Why did you let Dave Hunt win?
Why did you let Norman Geisler win?

For Steve Camp;
Why did you sell out to the Contemporary Christian Music Industry?
Don't you think your songs should be more theological in nature?
Why are you afraid to say what you really believe?

In case you've lived in a cave the past ten years and did not click on the links, those questions are jokes. And, No, I probably won't ask them, except for maybe the Caner question.

I'll be back on the 13th or 14th. For updates see the Pulpit Crimes blog.

THIS MORTAL LIFE ALSO

2006-10-31T23:52:00.000-05:00

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
(Heb 12:4 ESV)

On October 16, 1555 thirty-eight years after Martin Luther had nailed his nintyfive theses to the door of Wittenburg's Castle Church two men walked calmly to their deaths. Mary Tudor determined to return England to the darkness of romanism had imprisoned the leading reformers of the land and sentenced them to be burned to death.

Hugh Latimer started out a confirmed romanist ardent against the preaching of the reformers persuing them to their meeting houses and arguing with them to return to Rome. Of Latimer it was said that: “England, nay Cambridge will furnish a champion for the church that will confront the Wittenberg doctors and save the vassal of our Lord.”
Latimer came under the influence of Thomas Bilney who came to Latimer asking that he hear his confession. Latimer thinking that he had won over one of the reformers and while Bilney was on his knees before Latimer he preached to Latimer the gospel. Latimer overcome by grief by what Bilney said to him trusted Christ and became a new man.
No longer the oppressor of the reformers Latimer became the most popular of preachers exhorting everyone to godly living and the reading of the scriptures. Even though Latimer was at times imprisoned he still was able to preach Reformed doctrine each time that he was released. He continued to do so until imprisoned by Mary Tudor.

Nickolas Ridley too became a priest as had Latimer but while a proctor in Cambridge through his study of the scripture signed the degree against the pope's supremacy in England. He became the bishop of Rochester in 1547 and was part of the committee that drew up the first English Book of Common Prayer. As Bishop of Rochester he strengthened Reformed teachings in Cambridge. With Thomas Cranmer and Hugh Latimer he took part in the Oxford disputations against a group of romanist theologians and would not recant his Protestant faith. Like Latimer Ridley was arrested and sentenced to death by burning.

Foxes book of Martyrs account of the death of Latimer and Ridley:

The place of death was on the northside of the town, opposite Baliol College. Dr. Ridley was dressed in a black gown furred, and Mr. Latimer had a long shroud on, hanging down to his feet. Dr. Ridley, as he passed Bocardo, looked up to see Dr. Cranmer, but the latter was then engaged in disputation with a friar. When they came to the stake, Mr. Ridley embraced Latimer fervently, and bid him: "Be of good heart, brother, for God will either assuage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it." He then knelt by the stake, and after earnestly praying together, they had a short private conversation. Dr. Smith then preached a short sermon against the martyrs, who would have answered him, but were prevented by Dr. Marshal, the vice-chancellor. Dr. Ridley then took off his gown and tippet, and gave them to his brother-in-law, Mr. Shipside. He gave away also many trifles to his weeping friends, and the populace were anxious to get even a fragment of his garments. Mr. Latimer gave nothing, and from the poverty of his garb, was soon stripped to his shroud, and stood venerable and erect, fearless of death.
Dr. Ridley being unclothed to his shirt, the smith placed an iron chain about their waists, and Dr. Ridley bid him fasten it securely; his brother having tied a bag of gunpowder about his neck, gave some also to Mr. Latimer.
Dr. Ridley then requested of Lord Williams, of Fame, to advocate with the queen the cause of some poor men to whom he had, when bishop, granted leases, but which the present bishop refused to confirm. A lighted fagot was now laid at Dr. Ridley's feet, which caused Mr. Latimer to say: "Be of good cheer, Ridley; and play the man. We shall this day, by God's grace, light up such a candle in England, as I trust, will never be put out."
When Dr. Ridley saw the fire flaming up towards him, he cried with a wonderful loud voice, "Lord, Lord, receive my spirit." Master Latimer, crying as vehemently on the other side, "O Father of heaven, receive my soul!" received the flame as it were embracing of it. After that he had stroked his face with his hands, and as it were, bathed them a little in the fire, he soon died (as it appeareth) with very little pain or none.

The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Reformation 2006

New Links

2006-10-30T20:12:00.000-05:00

Here's a few new links that are being added to the blogroll.
The Reluctant Puritan
Al Mohler's Blog and Commentary
Steve Green's Journal
Darrell Bock's Blog
Grantian Florilegium
Waterless Places
Strange Baptist Fire
Together For The Gospel

Repent And Reform!!!

2006-10-30T07:05:00.000-05:00

As fallen human beings we are prone to drifting, drifting away from God and drifting towards worldliness in our worship. As a matter of fact, I can say with absolute certainty that everyone who reads this either have drifted from God in the past, are drifting form God presently, or will drift away from God in the future.

Our churches are no different. As local bodies made up of drifting humans, our churches will drift along with their members.

It is my prayer that we will be drawn closer to God through this study, that we will push back against the tide of our own reasoning, and that we will recognize the potential for drifting in the future and put up safeguards for ourselves, our families, and our churches.

I. The Reforms of King Josiah 2 Chronicles 34-35, 2 Kings 22-23

Judah in Josiah's time had fallen as far as Israel into idolatry. Josiah himself came from a family of idolatry. Things had not always been like this. But there had always existed the tendency to turn a blind eye to the idols that the people would bring in. The kings eventually also turned to serve idols rather than God.

Josiah's great-grandfather, Hezekiah was a good king who,

"...did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the LORD the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses." (2 Kings 18:3-6)

However, Hezekiah's son, Manasseh, was a wicked king who rebelled against his father and the one, true God. He even went so far as to defile the Temple that Solomon had built by setting up idols of false gods in it. Later in life, Manasseh repented of his sin and turned back to the God of his father.

When Manasseh died his son, Amon, reigned as king in Judah. Amon did all the sins of his father and continued in them and did not repent, but rather multiplied the guilt of his father, going farther into idolatry, and deeper into sin.

Into this culture Josiah was born. Josiah, as the son of Amon, reigned after the death of Amon. At the age of eight, Josiah began his reign in Judah.

When Josiah was still a youth of the age of sixteen, he was moved to seek the God of David, his father. The biblical account outlines four areas where Josiah initiated reform in Judah.

A. Removed the Idols and Altars

At the age of twenty the Bible says that he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of all the false idols, altars, and high places dedicated to the worship of idols. Then he exercised 'church discipline' on the false priests, burning their bones on their own idolatrous altars.

B. Repaired the Temple

At the age of twenty-six, Josiah continued his reforms by hiring workmen to repair the Temple that had been desecrated and the condition of it had deteriorated to such a point that it was near ruins.

C. Recovered the Law

While the priests of God were bringing out the money for the repair of the Temple, they recovered the Law that had been given to Moses. This Law had been lost for possibly 75 years.

D. Reinstituted the Passover

As the priests read the Law they found the part that told about the Passover. The Passover had apparently been neglected for some time, because there is so much given about it. There had never been such a Passover observed from the time of the Judges until that day.

In these examples of the condition of Judah in the time of Josiah, we see many modern parallels within the Church today. The God of Scripture has been replaced with a god of our liking. Since the God of the Bible is not proclaimed, the Word of God is not reverenced or preached with a view towards truth. Since there is no truth proclaimed, the Church has become at best a self-help clinic, and at worst a social club. Membership is regarded as mere social status. Since the Church is no longer the Church, the ordinances God has left us are pushed to the perimeter and are not seen as vital or important in a healthy Christian walk. We are in need of a Reformation in America, and I suspect, also across the world where we have exported our brand of Christianity.

II. Shifting Sand

When I was a youth living in Florida with my parents, we would go sometimes to the beach. While at the beach I would wade out into the surf, looking at ships that sailed in the horizon. After starting out to sea for a while, I would look down and try to see the creatures that would swim around my feet. After a while I would hear my parents calling for me to come back. But I hadn't moved! But as I turned around I found that I had moved. I just didn't realize it. The undercurrent had shifted the sand under my feet and I had drifted yards away from where I started, even though I had not taken one step in that direction.

We as Christians also find ourselves drifting from God many times. We don't recognize that we are drifting, and yet we are. The nature of fallen humanity is to drift. This tendency to drift carries over into our church life.

Churches are constantly in need of reforming. Here are four areas many churches need to reform. If your church does not fall into any of these categories, Praise God! Nevertheless, rest assured that there is room for reform somewhere in your church. I know this because I know Scripture doesn't leave anyone room to hide from imperfection. But we should not be discouraged either. But rather, we should trust in God to align our hearts with Himself as we obey Scripture.

A. The New Idolatry

God in our time has been replaced. Not with images chiseled out of stone, or shaped from metal, or even carved from wood. God has been replaced with a god of our imagination.

Where God was once the sovereign who reigns on high, hating sin, loving righteousness, a God of wrath and mercy, revelatory and transcendent, He has become to many, pie in the sky, our buddy-buddy, old man upstairs, lovey-dubby kind of God. A God who refuses to punish sin, and a God who will not suffer anyone the torments of hell. But this is not God.

B. Misdirected Worship

Worship has become the worship of ourselves. Instead of coming together to worship the God of Scripture, we come together to worship ourselves, the preacher, the singing, God's blessings, baptisms, offerings, or anything else that will fill the time.

The center of worship is always to be God. When we give, we worship God. When we sing, we worship God. When we hear the preaching of God's Word, we worship God. When we receive good from God's hand, we worship God. When baptism or the Lord's Supper is administered, we worship God. When we fellowship with other believers, we worship God.

C. The Lost Scriptures

Scripture has been lost. The Bible as a guide for living for and worshiping the God of heaven has been substituted for itself. The clear preaching of Scripture through careful exposition, study, and prayer has been substituted for the preaching of a few key verses, taken out of context, and misused to appeal to the flesh.

We can learn how to be successful, gardening tips, how to get from God, and a host of other topics, but who will explain Scripture in its context? Who will feed us the Word's that come from the mouth of God? Scripture has been hijacked. Somebody bring it back to us.

D. The Lost Ordinances

Baptism and the Lord's Supper have also been swallowed up in themselves.
Baptism has become meaningless, with the repeat after me, sign this card, assure me of salvation, get in and out of the water, and continue on in your sin salvation that is practiced across our nation.

The Lord's Supper has become meaningless as well, whenever and if it is observed. It is given to anyone who walks through the door. We have not fenced the table. We have allowed unrepented sin to flourish in our congregations, thus producing spots and blemishes in our observance of the Lord's table.

God is not pleased. We must repent and reform our churches.

III. Revive Us, O Lord
Revival is the desperate need of our day. Revival is the sovereign work of the Spirit. So, in no way should we think that the following is a list of steps that guarantee revival. Instead, they are ways we must prepare our churches for the revival that we pray the Holy Spirit will send.

A. Rediscover God's Word

The first step to recovering Scriptural worship is recovering Scripture itself. While we do not worship Scripture, Scripture has the central place in our worship. In Scripture we will find all that God requires of us. Until the Bible is proclaimed line upon line, precept upon precept, God-centered worship will never take place. In the Word of God, God reveals Himself. If we do not examine the Word and regard it as infallibly portraying God, we will not have an accurate picture of the God of Scripture.

This must take place first, in our preaching. Preaching must be expositional, contextual, and comprehensive. This means that when we preach we must explain the text, show the immediate context in a given book and time period, and show how those truths that are taught in that text relate to the rest of the Bible. Then we can see a complete picture of God as He is to be worshiped.

Another place the examination of Scripture is to take place is in our homes. Studying God's Word daily, alone and with our families, and meditating on the Scriptures at work and continually.

B. Return To God

As we see God emerging from the pages of Scripture, we are to accept this God as the one true God. We must do away with our preconceived notions of what our god would do, of what are god is like, and of how he reacts. In short, we must conform to the revelation of God in Scripture. We must cast down those vain imaginations of me-likeness and surrender to the God of the Bible. The God who is Holy, Just, Righteous, Transcendent, Pure, Light, Love, Wrath, Mercy, Grace, Peace, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Immutable, Omnipresent, who punishes those who hate Him, and rewards those who love Him.

C. Reverence The Time Of Worship

There is nothing intrinsically valuable about the place of worship. There is however a time to honor as the time that we come together as a community of believers and worship God. When we come together for the purpose of worship we are doing something that transcends time, space, and matter. We are lifting our voices as one with those believers who are present, those around the world, and those who stand before the throne of God lifting perfect praise to the Lamb and the One who sits on the Throne. The Holy Spirit is uniting us together in one body and combining our praise together so that every tribe, language, people, nation, and race are worshiping as one.

This time is not a time for frivolity. I, as much as anyone, enjoy joking around and having fun. There is a time and place for that. That time and place is not while we are congregated together for the purpose of worship. This time is not to be used for singing about my friends and loved ones who are waiting for me over yonder on that bright shore where beautiful flowers bloom and we get a mansion. All of that may be true to a degree, but we end up worshiping the blessing instead of the One who blesses. I want to see my family and friends, but may I never sing a song of worship about them! Heaven will be beautiful, but I dare not worship heaven. God is the fountain and focus of worship. Don't worship His future blessings. Worship Him.
This time is to be used for the worship of God alone. We worship Him through the clear preaching and hearing of His Word, through sacrificial giving of our means of living as, a picture of a life totally sacrificed to His will, and through the singing of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs.

D. Regard The Ordinances As Meaningful

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the two ordinances that are taught in Scripture. Scripture also provides the parameters for observing each of these.

Baptism is reserved for those who believe and repent. Only those who have believed and repented are eligible for baptism. (I'm Baptist. Can you tell?) We have no other example given in Scripture.

Baptism is a visible portrayal of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In baptism we identify ourselves with Him. Just as Christ died for our sins, we show that our old man died with Him. As Christ was buried we show that we were buried with Him. As Christ was raised we show that we to have risen with Him in newness of life. It is a confession of our faith in Christ alone.

By baptism, we are united with Christ and His body, the Church, which is the visible manifestation of the invisible reality. In the local church we have the privilege and responsibility to watch over one another's souls.

The Lord's Supper, or Communion, is also a visible portrayal of the Gospel. When we take the bread and 'wine', we are committing an act of faith in Christ. We are displaying our faith in His body that was broken and His blood that was shed for our sins. When we partake of the Lord's Table, we are looking back in faith to His finished work. We are looking up waiting expectantly in faith for His return. We are looking around at our brothers in Christ recognizing that we are one body with them. We are looking inward at the reality of our union with Christ, represented by eating His 'body' and drinking His 'blood'.

Both of these ordinances must be guarded lest they become meaningless. It is often said that if you take the Lord's Supper too often that it will become meaningless. I don't think so. It will only become meaningless if we allow it to be available to those who have not shown evidence of biblical faith in Christ. We may feel that Baptism or the Lord's Supper is meaningless, but the meaningfulness of these ordinances does not depend on our feelings. The meaningfulness of these ordinances are spelled out for us in the Word of God.

"What if I 'm not worthy of Baptism or Communion?" No one is. Christ has bought your worthiness with his blood. But we do need to beware that we do not present ourselves for either of these ordinances with unconfessed sin. Not free of sin, that won't happen till we get our glorified bodies, but conscious and repentant of sin that is present in us.

When we recognize the significance and that Christ has commanded and granted these ordinances to the Church, we can begin to see how they are vital to our worship and to our sanctification as well. We have a constant reminder in them that we are to exhibit faith and repentance on a continuous basis. And faith and repentance are the supreme acts of worship.

Conclusion: As God's people we would hope that we would not drift from Him, but the sad fact of the matter is we have drifted, are drifting, and will drift again. That is why we must always be reforming ourselves, our families, and our Churches. We must repent and reform.

Clement On Justification By Faith

2006-10-29T04:30:00.000-05:00

"Whosoever will candidly consider each particular, will recognise the greatness of the gifts which were given by him. For from him have sprung the priests and all the Levites who minister at the altar of God. From him also [was descended] our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh. From him [arose] kings, princes, and rulers of the race of Judah. Nor are his other tribes in small glory, inasmuch as God had promised, "Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven." All these, therefore, were highly honoured, and made great, not for their own sake, or for their own works, or for the righteousness which they wrought, but through the operation of His will. And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Chapter XXXII.-We are Justified Not by Our Own Works, But by Faith.

Luther did not invent the doctrine of Justification by faith alone. By this quote we see that it was not only taught in Scripture, but also that Clement, a student of the Apostle Paul, taught it as well. This letter was written around A.D. 96 from Rome to the church at Corinth.
Luther recovered this doctrine which had been hidden by Popes, councils, and the teachers of the Catholic Church. These were the methods that Satan had used to blind the world to the Gospel. But even through this time of darkness there were a few candles which burned, shining the light of truth in the Dark Ages. But with Luther came a flood of light that brought the knowledge of the glory of Christ in the Gospel of God to the forefront. That Gospel is that Christ is our Justification and that by faith alone we acquire this Justification.

Post Tenebras Lux

Happy Reformation Sunday!!!

Gospel

2006-10-27T23:07:00.000-04:00

Have you gospeled yourself today? I know this doesn't sound like a post on sanctification and it isn't. But I'm running on empty right now and I have decided to get to sanctification at a later time.

But have you gospeled yourself today? I know this sounds like some post-modern churchianity speak but I'm serious have you gospeled yourself today? Have you told yourself the gospel today?

If not let's do it now:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
(1Co 15:1-8 ESV)

I've been needing that lately, truth is I need that every day. Everyday I need to remind myself that its not me its Jesus. Jesus paid for my sins and nothing I can do can earn my way into God's good graces. But you see there are days that I don't do that experientially there are days that I tell myself that if I just “do” this ministry, this bible study, this kindness, this work I'll earn favor.

You see I “know” that I'm only justified by faith but living that out really trusting Christ's meritorious work on the cross that takes the gospel. So I need to say this is the first importance: Christ died for Peter Nelson's sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, raised, all in accordance with Scripture. That's the gospel that's what I need to hear, and trust everyday.

Pete

Unexpected, Unsolicited, Much-Wanted, And Much-Needed Help

2006-10-27T19:00:00.000-04:00

My friend to the north, whose politics are a little wimpy, discovered that my poetry making skills were not up to snuff, and so he tried to help me out.

Don't get hurt trying to click all of those links at once.

Thus Sayeth The Lord

2006-10-26T21:47:00.000-04:00

"The truth is that no one age is so peculiar that the ministry of that age needs to be greatly different from that of any other. The work, like the man, is in all its integrity the same, and he who is well fitted for it in one age and clime would not find himself out of place were he transferred to another. The preaching of God's truth is governed by grand and general principles which are connected with God and man and which must, therefore, be as broad as humanity itself and as the relations sustained by it to God."-James Petigru Boyce. Quoted from, "James Petigru Boyce: Selected Writings" by Timothy George.

Today's Post

2006-10-26T07:48:00.000-04:00

My post for today is over here.

Reformation Begins In The Heart

2006-10-24T20:30:00.000-04:00

Steve Camp recently wrote an ~~E-book~~ post titled, "Everybody Wants Reformation...but who is willing to let goods and kindred go?" I have often expressed the same sentiment in different words, "Everybody wants to be Reformed, but nobody wants to be a Reformer."

There are two situations where being a Reformer presents a problem to me in particular, and to you in general. The first is this, the Reformer cannot take a day off. Reformation, while ultimately dependent upon God, is nevertheless hard work for the Reformer. The second, which is the point of this post, is that the work for the Reformer begins in the dark dungeon of his own heart. And anyone who has looked deep into his own heart recognizes why I call it a 'dark dungeon'.

The heart, my friends, is the place where Reformation and Revival must begin. A deep, steady, penetrating look into the heart is a fearful thing. Partly because we know what will be found there, and partly because we don't know what else will be found there.

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Gen 6:5)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jer 17:9)

Now, this look into the heart must not be by ourselves alone. There is too much of a tendency towards self-justification in us. No, we must look into the hearts with the Creator of the heart.

Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. (Psa 26:2)
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psa 139:23-24)
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Heb 4:12-13)

Thankfully, God's searching of our hearts is accompanied by God's grace, otherwise we would be consumed. Read the rest of what the writer of Hebrews tells us..

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:12-16)

As God searches our hearts through the medium of His Word, we are sustained by the grace of God that comes to us through Christ's work as High Priest. Since He has been tempted as a man, overcome that temptation perfectly, and offered Himself as the supreme sacrifice for our sins, we may come before Him in repentance. We may humbly ask Him for the grace that we need to help us in our deficiencies.

Now, all this looking and searching has a purpose...Repentance. Repentance is the first step in the path of Reformation. In fact, Repentance may very well be Reformation in it's essence. When we are engaged in the work of Reformation, what is it that we are doing? We are teaching people to turn from one manner of life/worship/work to another manner of life/worship/work. In this teaching, repentance is implicit. Repentance is the command of God to turn from sin to Christ. Turning to Christ is turning to Him in faith, of which James says;

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (Jam 2:26)

And Paul tells us;

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10)

So turning from sin to Christ in faith is, in a sense, turning from sin to good works.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Tit 2:11-14)

So, Reformation must begin in the heart. And until we are willing to strive for Reformation in our own hearts, our efforts at Reformation in the Church at large will be meaningless. We would do well to remember the words of Christ in this respect;

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Mat 7:3-5)

When the work of Reformation begins in our own hearts, then we may be able to see clearly the need for Reformation in the Church.

Search Me, O God

by J. Edwin Orr

Search me, O God, And know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, Know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, For cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy Word, And make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy Name.

Lord, take my life, And make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, My passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, Revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival, Start the work in me.
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;
For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

We're A Bunch Of Groupies!

2006-10-24T16:40:00.000-04:00

After much consideration and the realization that sometimes I don't have a lot to say, and at other times that I simply don't have time to say much on this blog, I have decided to invite three of my friends to turn this into a group blog, the likes of which have heretofore ne'er been seen.

I invited Peter Nelson, who recently closed his blog, Peculiar Baptist, Mark Pierson a.k.a., Bluecollar of the blog that bears his name, and D. J. Cimino, a fellow-laborer in the Gospel at our local church, and has an online presence at Hidden Treasure.

Bluecollar has not responded to the invite yet. So he may or may not enlist.

At any rate, join me in welcoming my friends, Pete and D. J., and hopefully Mark.

Finally, we might get something worth reading over here!

Poetry???

2006-10-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

Before the world began,
As yet there was no man,
God sat upon His throne,
For He is God alone.

He spoke and by His hand,
Created earth, sea, sand.
Man He made to be free,
To worship only He.

In the garden man fell,
Condemned the world to hell.
Adam said "All is lost!"
Yet God will pay the cost.

Behold, a Redeemer,
The Word, Son, and Saviour.
God sent Emmanuel,
On Him His vengeance fell.

Three days, three nights had passed,
and then God spoke again,
"Awake, my Son, awake!"
At His voice worlds did quake.

Arose the Son, the Word,
Glorified, He is Lord.
Seated by God's right hand,
"Repent!" is His command.

Those who place trust in Him,
The Lord does not condemn.
And so I bid you, "Come!"
to God's beloved Son.

Bookstore Updates!

2006-10-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

I just updated the Doxoblogy Bookstore recommended reading section.

I also updated the other pages so browsing ismore likely to return good books, but I'm sorry to say, you've still got to use your own discernment when looking through them.

The Heart Of The Matter Update!!!

2006-10-18T22:15:00.000-04:00

(Update) I just noticed that I defined Pelagianim as, "insisting that the sin problem is one of imitation and inheritance." That should read, "insisting that the sin problem is one of imitation and NOT inheritance." It is now corrected.

In the history of theology, the debate between what have come to be called Calvinism and Arminianism, originally Augustinianism and Pelagianism, has been one of the most controversial among confessing Christians.
At times the debate has caused some on both sides to question the salvation of those on the other side. To be sure, all true Pelagians are not Christian. True Pelagians deny original sin, insisting that the sin problem is one of imitation and not inheritance.
Modern-day Arminians are not Pelagians, and most modern-day 'free-will' proponents are not Arminian. But all three positions, Pelagianism, Arminianism, and 'free-will theology', do have a common root. This root is found when we look back in history to the original debate between Augustine and Pelagius.

"Oh Lord, give what you command, and command whatever you will."-St. Augustine

This prayer by Augustine puts the British monk, Pelagius, on edge. How dare this bishop teach his people that they cannot obey God! After all, if we are unable to obey God on our own, then why has God commanded anything?
Such logic is perfectly reasonable in a world without God. In a world where there is no need for the cross, the logic is impeccable. But in a world that is created and sustained by the God of Scripture, a world that is fallen and in rebellion against it's Creator, the logic of Pelagius makes absolutely no sense.
But, even for Christians today, who understand the need for a cross, for a substitutionary sacrifice, the logic seems perfectly reasonable. After all, we have free will, don't we? I can do good when I want, and, I can be bad when I feel like it. Relatively speaking, yes. Objectively speaking, absolutely not. Objectively speaking, in a world where God is the standard of 'good', no one can be 'good'. We can only, of ourselves, be bad.
Looking at God's standard we find that He is perfect, holy, just, righteous, pure, and without the slightest discoloration of sin. And then He commands us to be holy. He commands us to be perfect. We can't do it. It is impossible.

Here is where Augustine and Pelagius part ways. Pelagius insists that it must be possible to attain to perfection by ourselves, otherwise, God would not have commanded us to be perfect. Augustine insists that this perfection can only be granted to us by God's grace. Pelagius insists that the command to believe the Gospel is a natural possibility, but Augustine believes that it is impossible for men, but with God, all things are possible.

So, we see the heart of Pelagianism, the belief that man by himself can do what God has commanded. Modern free-willers have softened this position by the addition of a 'prevenient grace', the belief that God has given to everyone grace enough to believe the Gospel, not so much as to effect belief in the Gospel, but not so little that man could not accept the Gospel if he were so inclined. At it's core it is exactly what Pelagius argued for, a humanity able to effect it's own salvation.

But Scripture teaches us differently. Scripture teaches us that Christ commands all to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28-30), but Scripture also teaches us that no one can come to the Christ unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). We are commanded to be perfect (Matthew 5:48), and yet we are told that keeping these commands cannot make us perfect (Romans 3;10-20). But we are also told that God righteousness is displayed apart from the law and that we are justified (declared to be as righteous as Christ is righteous) by faith (Romans 3:21-25), which itself is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10). This is the heart of Calvinism. The heart of Calvinism is the Gospel. The heart of Pelgianism is man's ability to save himself. The heart of 'free-will theology' is man's ability to save himself with God's help. The heart of Calvinism is that man is saved by God alone.

That's the heart of the matter.

Guest Blogger: Benjamin Beckinbridge Warfield

2006-10-17T19:00:00.000-04:00

In what attitude of mind and heart does religion come most fully to its rights? Is it not in the attitude of prayer? When we kneel before God, not with the body merely, but with the mind and heart, we have assumed the attitude which above all others deserves the name of religious. And this religious attitude by way of eminence is obviously just the attitude of utter dependence and humble trust. He who comes to God in prayer, comes not in a spirit of self-assertion, but in a spirit of trustful dependence. No one ever addressed God in prayer thus: "0 God, thou knowest that I am the architect of my own fortunes and the determiner of my own destiny. Thou mayest indeed do something to help me in the securing of my purposes after I have determined upon them. But my heart is my own, and thou canst not intrude into it; my will is my own, and thou canst not bend it. When I wish thy aid, I will call on thee for it. Meanwhile, thou must await my pleasure." Men may reason somewhat like this; but that is not the way they pray. There did, indeed, once two men go up into the temple to pray. And one stood and prayed thus to himself (can it be that this "to himself" has a deeper significance than appears on the surface?), "God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men." While the other smote his breast, and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Even the former acknowledged a certain dependence on God; for he thanked God for his virtues. But we are not left in doubt in which one the religious mood was most purely exhibited. There is One who has told us that with clearness and emphasis.

All men assume the religious attitude, then, when they pray. But many men box up, as it were, this attitude in their prayer, and shutting it off from their lives with the Amen, rise from their knees to assume a totally different attitude, if not of heart, then at least of mind. They pray as if they were dependent on God's mercy alone; they reason -- perhaps they even live -- as if God, in some of his activities at least, were dependent on them. The Calvinist is the man who is determined to preserve the attitude he takes in prayer in all his thinking, in all his feeling, in all his doing. That is to say, he is the man who is determined that religion in its purity shall come to its full rights in his thinking, and feeling, and living. This is the ground of his special mode of thought, by reason of which he is called a Calvinist; and as well of his special mode of acting in the world, by reason of which he has become the greatest regenerating force in the world. Other men are Calvinists on their knees; the Calvinist is the man who is determined that his intellect, and heart, and will shall remain on their knees continually, and only from this attitude think, and feel, and act. Calvinism is, therefore, that type of thought in which there comes to its rights the truly religious attitude of utter dependence on God and humble trust in his mercy alone for salvation.

There are at bottom but two types of religious thought in the world -- if we may improperly use the term "religious" for both of them. There is the religion of faith; there is the "religion" of works. Calvinism is the pure embodiment of the former of these; what is known in Church History as Pelagianism is the pure embodiment of the latter of them. All other forms of "religious" teaching which have been known in Christendom are but unstable attempts at compromise between the two. At the opening of the fifth century, the two fundamental types came into direct conflict in remarkably pure form as embodied in the two persons of Augustine and Pelagius. Both were expending themselves in seeking to better the lives of men. But Pelagius in his exhortations threw men back on themselves; they were able, he declared, to do all that God demanded of them -- otherwise God would not have demanded it. Augustine on the contrary pointed them in their weakness to God; "He himself," he said, in his pregnant speech, "He himself is our power." The one is the "religion" of proud self-dependence; the other is the religion of dependence on God. The one is the "religion" of works; the other is the religion of faith. The one is not "religion" at all -- it is mere moralism; the other is all that is in the world that deserves to be called religion. Just in proportion as this attitude of faith is present in our thought, feeling, life, are we religious. When it becomes regnant in our thought, feeling, life, then are we truly religious. Calvinism is that type of thinking in which it has become regnant.

Quoted from 'What is Calvinism?', from Selected Shorter Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield.

The Third Sacrament, Which Is The First

2006-10-16T21:30:00.000-04:00

For the rest of my Baptist brethren out there, I apologize for using the 'S' word. I know it's supposed to be ordinance.

And yet there is the sense in which Baptism and the Lord's Supper may rightly be called 'sacraments'. They are means by which grace is given to the Christian soul, not salvific grace, but grace nonetheless.

In Baptism, we receive grace which strengthens our faith. In the Lord's Supper, or, Communion, we experience the grace of special communion with Christ and His Church.

But there is a third Sacrament, or means of grace, that is first in order above Baptism and Communion. This sacrament is in some sense the only sacrament which can be called so in the purest and highest meaning of the word. This sacrament is the Preaching of God's Word.

A worship service may be conducted without observing the ordinance of Baptism. We may corporately worship God without the observance of the Lord's Supper. But we can never truly worship God publicly without the public proclamation of God's Word. Indeed, we observe the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper precisely because we obey the Word of God. The Word of God itself is the means of God to create Christians and, therefore, Christianity.

This Word of God is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), the truth by which we are reborn (James 1:18), and the sound which produces faith in those whom God calls (Romans 10:17). By the proclamation of the Word of God, the grace of faith is imparted to the hearer so that they may believe.

The Word of God is the source of blessings for those who obey it, (Luke 11:28), the authority for the Christian (Luke 4:32), and is the nutrition of the Christian life (Matthew 4:4).

The Word of God is at work in believers (I Thessalonians 2:13), equips believers for good works (II Timothy 3:16-17), and is able to save our souls (James 1:21).

These are just a few of the statements from the New Testament about itself (and the Old Testament as well), and it's power. But these few verses are sufficient to make my point. The Word of God is the Means of Grace that the Holy Spirit uses to bring us to Christ, to build up our faith, and ultimately present us faultless and Christlike before the throne of God.

So then, preach the Word! It is truly the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes!

About That Last Post...

2006-10-15T21:47:00.000-04:00

I just opened up my own bookstore. So buy books from me instead.

By the way, the only books I'm actually recommending you buy are on the home page. After that you must engage your own discernment.

Again With The Books!!!

2006-10-15T15:15:00.000-04:00

What I'm reading now:
Apologetics To The Glory Of God by John Frame
James Petigru Boyce: Selected Writings edited by Timothy George

What I'm planning on reading next:
What Jesus Demands From The World by John Piper
Above All Earthly Powers by David Wells

What I hope to read later:
The Glory Of The Atonement edited by Charles E. Hill and Frank A. JamesIII (Essays in honor of Roger Nicole)
Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices by Thomas Brooks

Check out the Westminster Bookstore official book review site! And then buy books from Westminster Bookstore! Only $5.00 shipping any size order!
(HT: Kim Riddleblogger)

God's Glory-An Interpretative Hermeneutic

2006-10-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

My hermeneutics have been attacked on more than one occasion. This post is where I am going to tell what the guiding principle in my hermeneutic is. It's really very simple. God's glory is the root of my hermeneutic.

I interpret all of Scripture though this lens. After I have read the text, determined it's genre, and interpreted both literally and theologically I ask myself this question, "How does this text reveal God's glory?"

There are several answers that can come from this question.
For example,
1. In a text such as Isaiah 6, it is obvious that God's glory is revealed as His holiness through the vision that Isaiah receives.
2. In Exodus 20, God's glory is revealed by His requirements for the Jews to be set apart.
3. In Romans 3:10-20, God's glory is revealed in the fallen state of man.
4. In Romans 3:21-26, God's glory is revealed in the redemptive work of Christ.
5. In John 1:1-18, God's glory is revealed in Christ Himself.

Points number four and five are the main focus of my hermeneutic. God has most perfectly revealed His glory through His incarnate Son.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. (Joh 1:14-18)

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (Joh 14:8-9)

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Heb 1:1-4)

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2Co 4:6)

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, (Col 1:13-19)

This means that my hermeneutic now becomes Christological in nature. This conclusion is supported by the following verses.

And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luk 24:25-27)

If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" (Joh 5:31-47)

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2Ti 3:14-15)

From these verses we learn that Scripture is not only about God's glory, it is about the One through whom He has most perfectly revealed His glory, that is, His only Son.
All of Scripture is about Him. I find Bryan Chapell's statement most helpful when looking for Christ in the Scriptures.

"In its context, every passage possesses one or more of four redemptive foci. Every text is predictive of the work of Christ, preparatory for the work of Christ, reflective of the work of Christ, and/or resultant of the work of Christ." Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the expository Sermon (1994; Grand Rapids: Baker Books), 275.

1. Predictive: these passages include specific prophecies, Messianic Psalms, and many of the ceremonial laws, which make no specific reference to Christ and yet are revealed to be about Christ when we read the New Testament.
2. Preparatory: Some of the Old Testament passages were meant to prepare God's people for the coming of Christ. God's covenants with man in Old Testament were preparatory in this sense.
3. Reflective: According to Chappell,

"Where the text neither plainly predicts nor prepares for the Redeemer's work the expositor simply should explain how the text reflects key facets of the redemptive message...What does this text reflect of: God's nature that provides the ministry of Christ; and/or human nature that requires the ministry of Christ?" Ibid., 277.

4. Resultant: These are passages that tell us how we should live based upon Christ's work. It is important to recognize that these are not guidelines for earning God's favor, but the results of the heart set free by Christ. (Points 1-4 summarized from Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon, by Bryan Chapell, pp.275-279.)

Now, none of what has been written in this post is to the neglect of the literal interpretation of Scripture. It is all founded upon the literal reading of texts in their historical contexts. It is not a method of reading Christ into the text (eisogesis), finding where He really is in the text. For example, in Genesis 1 Christ. But if we read John 1 literally we find that He is there. And further, if we read the passages listed above literally, then we must conclude that Christ permeates the pages of both the Old and New Testaments. And to interpret Scripture ignoring this fact is to miss the point altogether.

Three Questions

2006-10-13T20:37:00.000-04:00

1. Does anyone come to Christ apart from the convicting work of the Holy Spirit?

2. What is the means by which the Holy Spirit brings conviction?

3. Does everyone experience conviction at some point in their lives?

On Reformation

2006-10-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

I have thought about this for a while and I think that this can apply to anyone in any field who wants to reform their organization.
The way to reform is any organization is not to abandon your organization. If you want to reform your local church, then you do not stop attending. You don't start hunting for another church to attend. You stay at the church and work for reform until the church begins to take steps towards reformation, or, until the church runs you off. Read about Martin Luther sometime.
If you want to reform the school where you teach, then don't apply for a teaching job at another school.
If you are a doctor who wants to reform the hospital where your residency is, then don't move your residency.

Too many times people, who are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their lives, jobs, churches, marriages, etc., turn their back on those things that they wish to change. They quit.
Their marriage hits a little snag and the following week they are divorced. The church heads a different direction than what they believe to be a Scriptural model and they stop attending.

A prime example of this line of thinking is evident today in our nations attitudes towards Iraq. Let's just quit Iraq and move on to North Korea. (If you want to comment about Iraq and the 'W', then do it on the last post. This post is about not giving up.) In short, you don't win wars by quitting. You don't reform anything by quitting.

This does not mean that you continue to do things the same way, or that you never change tactics, should the need arise. It does not mean that you stop learning and growing and shut out all arguments against your 'reformation'. It does not mean that you have arrived at the final perfected reformed stance and can now only focus your energies outward.
It does mean that as you yourself are being constantly reformed, you are using that personal reformation to feed your public reformation.

So when you look around and see that things are askew in the world, don't just turn your eyes to Heaven and sing about how terrible the world is and how happy you will be one day after awhile. Instead, turn your heart towards God, find your hope and joy in Him, and through the power of the Word and God the Spirit, turn the world upside down for Christ. If the time comes and you are rejected, shake the dust off your feet and carry the reformation elsewhere. But don't quit.

P.S. All you pastors out there, Mark Dever will take you the rest of the way.

W

2006-10-10T00:05:00.000-04:00

Guys, I'm no politician. I don't enjoy politics. Yet I try to stay fairly well informed.
That being said, I'm not the guy who watches Hardball, Hannity and Colmes, or the O'Reilly Factor every night. During election season I try to get a pretty good picture of all of the candidate's positions, and then vote my conscience.
As I have seen, read, or heard news from various sources, it seems as though many conservatives are turning against the President. I find this interesting because he's not up for re-election this year. And yet he is continually being attacked by the Democrats. And now it seems as though Republicans are buying into the arguments of the Democrats.
I don't like the way Iraq is turning out any more then anyone else. I'm sure President Bush doesn't like the way Iraq is turning out. And yet, when I consult my conscience, I find that I still support our President and the war in Iraq.
To allow Saddam Hussein to remain in power would have been unthinkable. The spread of freedom in the Middle East is still a noble cause. And to retreat in the face of ruthless, murdering, terrorists is one thing that I am not willing to do.
And let me tell you what I think is going on with the President's approval ratings. America doesn't care whether Iraq was a bad idea, policy or whatever. America doesn't care whether North Korea has a nuclear bomb. America doesn't care whether Iran has the technology to develop weapons of mass destruction. North Korea and Iran are little kids trying to play big boy games. America doesn't care whether or not weapons of mass destruction were/are found in Iraq. America is angry because we have not won the war in Iraq.
We all need to step back for a moment, look at the situation that we are in as a nation, consult our consciences, and remember that we don't go to war if we are unwilling to win that war. Retreat is not an option. Troop withdrawal is not an option. Occupation is not an option. Our only option is winning, but we cannot win unless we back our President in this war. To do otherwise is to undermine those who are fighting to win in Iraq. So we must resolve to have the backbone to finish what we've started. End of story.
And that is my sad little foray into politics.

Don Mattingly

2006-10-05T21:50:00.000-04:00

Don Mattingly's Blog is now up and going.

Living In Light Of Eternity

2006-10-05T07:25:00.000-04:00

I wrote this for Neil's blog, but he said I could cross-post it, and he does make all the rules.

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13-17)

Arrogance is a problem in many people's life. Even those whom we consider to be the most meek, mild, and humble, many times belie their arrogance by there actions. No they don't look down their noses at others, no they don't think any more highly of themselves than they do others, no they don't miss Sunday morning worship, Sunday evening service, or Wednesday night prayer meeting. But when we leave church do we live our lives in light of eternity? To ignore the eternal out of preference for the temporal is arrogance of cosmic proportions.

James calls to attention all who would live life as though this life is all there is. He vocalizes the attitude of their hearts. "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit." This attitude is an attitude of arrogance. James gives us three reasons that it is arrogant.

First, we are arrogant because we are ignorant of our tomorrow. We do not know what tomorrow will bring. We don't control the circumstances that surround us. Only God does. And only He can know what tomorrow holds for us. Just as the farmer cannot make it rain on the freshly planted crops, and cannot make the sun shine for the harvest, we cannot control our destinies. This is contrary to what the world would have us believe. According to the world we are the masters of our destinies. We are told to take control of our lives. The Christian message is the opposite. We must give up control of our lives, yea, even give up our lives themselves for Christ to work His will in us.

Second, we are arrogant because we are ignorant of the brevity of our lives. Our lives are lived in a haze, each passing day adds nothing to our past, and yet our future grows shorter. Whether a small child who dreams of Christmas morning, only to find that it has already passed in a moment of time, or an aged father who looks back on his life and sees only the fleeting shadows, we live as though life will continue forever and yet death is as close as our next heartbeat.

Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.

And yet we seek to live in the moment. Cries of "Carpe Diem!", ring across the world, through the ages, and their echo is heard in Christ's Church as well. May we all trade our cries of, "Carpe Diem!", for cries of "Deo Volente!", (God willing). These are the words that Pastor James longs to hear. Words that cry from the heart, "Lord, work your will in me! Make my life a testimony to the reality of an eternity of basking in your glory!"

Our lives are meant to be lived in the enjoyment of God's glory, and laying up treasures for ourselves in His presence. This is what it means to have eternal life in the here and now. To prepare our hearts to enjoy Him in worship for all eternity.

Finally, we are arrogant because we are ignorant of our sin. We are very careful to avoid breaking the Ten Commandments. We train our eyes to turn away from evil. We guard our hearts from evil thoughts. And yet we do not love our neighbors as ourselves. We do not give of ourselves for the good of others. We have strained at the gnats of the Law and ignored the weightier matters of the Divine life. Our lives are to be lived for Christ. We are His body. He is our head. It is our duty to do what He has commanded, as well as abstain from what He has prohibited. And it is He who will work in us to live, move, and do of His good pleasure.

Avoid arrogance. Live in light of eternity by endeavoring to do God's will.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Mat 6:33)

Yankees Championship Post

2006-10-05T07:15:00.000-04:00

This is where we will discuss the progression of the New York Yankees in their battle for their 27th World Series Title.

ALDS
Game 1: Yankees 8, Tigers 4.
Game 2: Yankees 3, Tigers 4.
Series Tied: 1-1.
Next Game: Friday 8:00pm ET, ESPN.

Is Homosexuality A Sin?

2006-10-02T21:25:00.000-04:00

A question I received in my email a couple of days ago goes like this;

I saw your email on a Christian site that talked about homosexuality issues and so I wonder what your thoughts are on same sex romantic love are and if you think this is a sin, where are we told this in the bible?

My first concern with this email is that there might be a site on the internet somewhere that has published my email address. If so, I would like to request that you remove my email address from your site and link directly to my blog site instead. I have an inkling that this is not really the case, but is probably a standard introduction to a spam message, but I have thought about this for a while and think that maybe I should answer the question here anyway.

As far as 'same sex romantic love' goes, yes, I do believe it is a sin. Let me be clear, homosexual actions of any kind are sinful, romantic or casual. The standard rant from the other side is going to be that I am a homophobe. I have many phobias, I'm very 'Monkish' in that respect. Snakes scare me. As a matter of fact, most reptiles drive me nuts. Birds also scare me. But homosexuals don't scare me. Murderers scare me. Adulterous women scare me. But not homosexuals. In fact, I have known some very pleasant gays and lesbians who would work side by side with me on the jobsite.
One co-worker remarked to me how nice it was to be around a Christian who was nice to her. She went on to describe some of the injustices that Christians had committed against her, from lying about her job performance behind her back to open hostility towards her. I responded, " You know I don't agree with your lifestyle, and I believe that it is a sin. But that doesn't mean I can't love you and try convince you of the truth of the Gospel." She responded, something to the effect of, "If you were the only Christian I knew, I would consider leaving my lifestyle and attending church. But I've been mistreated by too many Christians."
She knew I thought she was living in sin. I didn't avoid the issue when it came up. And yet when I would treat her with the respect that we have been taught by Christ that each and every one should expect from His followers, she knew that it was her sin that I disliked and not herself.

That homosexuality is said to be sin in the Bible is very clear.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Rom 1:24-32)

There are a couple of things to point out here.
First, that homosexuality is not the only sin that will condemn people to hell. Covetousness, envy, gossip, disobedience, and foolishness are also included in this list of sins that the Apostle says deserve death.
Second, that homosexuality is not the unpardonable sin.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1Co 6:9-11)

The same Apostle Paul now tells us again that those who practice sin, homosexuality and greediness both included, will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But he goes on to say to the Corinthian believers, "And such were some of you." These Christians that Paul was writing to had formerly been sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers but now they were not. There is hope for all who sin. That hope is in the death of Christ.
Christ's death cleanses, sanctifies, and justifies sinners. Sins are forgiven, repentance is granted, and righteousness is given by Christ for all who will come to Him. This includes the disobedient child and the homosexual.

This, of course, is not an exhaustive treatment of the issues of homosexuality. I will leave that to better people than myself. But that homosexuality is a sin is stated clearly in Scripture. And equally as clear is the truth of the Gospel that can save homosexuals.

Talking Baseball

2006-09-23T08:15:00.000-04:00

As a life-long Yankees fan (even in the eighties and nineties when they won about 50 games a year), I was happy to receive an email from my brother that contained this link to a news story that says that Don Mattingly's son, Preston, has signed to play with the U. T. Vols.

"Donnie Baseball" is clearly the greatest baseball player to ever live. While his numbers towards the end of his much too short career may not have been impressive (his back was messed up for the last three or four years of his career, making it difficult to swing a bat), his leadership skills always were. Derek Jeter is probably the only player that he can be compared to today. Don loved baseball, and still does, as the hitting coach for the Yankees.

If Preston loves the game as much as his dad, then he too, will become one of the greats. And I'll get to say, "I watched him play in college!"

Watch for Don Mattingly's blog...Coming Soon!

No Wonder Peter Disagrees With Me

2006-09-16T12:56:00.000-04:00

You Are Superman

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
And pretty cute too. No wonder you're the most popular superhero ever!

What Superhero Are You?

HT: Peculiar Pete

Calvin And Me Sitting In A Tree, C-O-M-M-U-N-I-N-G

2006-09-16T12:34:00.000-04:00

You scored as Calvin. You are John Calvin. You have a Nestorian Christology and separate the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus. You believe only those who have faith are united to Christ, who is present spiritually, yet you call this "Real."

Calvin

100%

Luther

75%

Zwingli

25%

Catholic

Unitarian

Eucharistic theology
created with QuizFarm.com

HT: Peculiar Pete

I'm Almost Back

2006-09-13T22:05:00.000-04:00

As though anyone cared.

I just wanted to let anyone who is going on the Audience One/Alpha and Omega Ministries/Sovereign Grace Singles Cruise scheduled for November 4-11, know my itinerary. I thought you might like to know because if you like me, you can follow me and my wife around and learn to dislike me, or, if you already dislike me, you can make preparations to avoid me while on the Cruise, by not purchasing the excursions that we have decided on.

First, At Grand Cayman, we will be taking the Land and Sea Combination which departs at 10:15am.

Second, At Ocho Rios, Jamaica, we will leave at 9:00am to go on the Spanish Town and Best of Jamaica excursion.

Finally, at Costa Maya, Mexico, (this is awesome) we will leave at 7:30am to visit the Kohunlich Mayan Ruins.

That's all for now. I'm going to try to get back into the blogosphere by Monday.

Good night, and God bless the U.S.A.

The End

2006-08-28T21:00:00.000-04:00

This is the last post I will write on the Law. Up till now I have pretty much just said that I am not bound to the Law by the New Covenant. I now want to tell you in positive terms what I believe my relationship under the New Covenant to the Law actually is.

When I said that I disagreed with Calvin's third use of the Law, that was only half true. I agree with Calvin that the Law can show me what God's will is for my sanctification. I agree that the Law shows us what righteousness looks like. But the Law does not sanctify me. The Law does not make me holy. And the Holy Spirit who lives in me does not enable me to keep the Law, in the sense that He is continually driving me to the Law for righteousness. The Law doesn't provide righteousness of any kind, either in a justifying sense or in a sanctifying sense.

Justification is work of God apart from the Law. So is sanctification. Positionally we are set apart by God to be holy. Practically we are made into holy people by God. Sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that leads us into obedience to God's commands and never contrary to those commands. So those commands that are indeed what are commonly called 'moral' are binding upon Christians, as they have been upon all humanity since the beginning, but it is not in the immediate context of the Mosaic Code that they are binding. They are binding on all humanity because there are things as right and wrong.

But they are specifically binding upon the New Covenant believer because they are inherent in Christ's command that we love one another. And loving one another also brings into focus a whole new dimension of 'moral' commands. I am to do good to those who persecute me. I am to love those who hate me. I am to help those who use me. I am to befriend those who abandon me. I am to give to the one who steals from me, care for those who injure me, be thankful for those who take me for granted, love my enemies, and lay down my life for those who would kill me. These are the commands that New Covenant believers are to live by. And I challenge you to live that kind of life and break the Ten Commandments at the same time.

We have the Law written on our hearts. We are new creatures. We are reborn and created unto good works. So instead of undoing the Law, Christ has established it, not again on tables of stone, but on the fleshy tables of our hearts. This is nothing less than a new nature that lives in us. This nature does not despise the law, but it is not in bondage to it either. It is the Law of God living in us provoking us to good works and obedience and not the Law of the Mosaic Code. And while these are the same in some ways, they are not in others. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

I know the words are mangled and this reads like a drunk man wrote it, but I think if you read it enough you can start to see what I am trying to say.

Random Thoughts...As They Occur

2006-08-27T20:25:00.000-04:00

My head hurts. Why don't the kids stop running through the house and screaming?
Why do I have to do this? What's the point?
I need to clean up the office. My books are everywhere except where they need to be. It's almost September and I haven't built the deck I wanted to have up this spring. Got to switch the car insurance over to Farmer's Bureau.
Empanadas...mmmmm!
Did anyone understand a word I said today? Will I ever actually read God, Revelation, and Authority? The book of James is really destroying my view of Christianity.
Is there any good reason I should take the time to deposit a check for $6.41? Everything else is direct deposited. Need to have a yard sale before fall.
Is a concordance really a good resource?
Why haven't people actually read Matthew Henry's Commentary? I guess it's a good thing, since they don't know that he was a Calvinist, otherwise, it would be hard to get a copy.
8:23!!!! IL've got to go to work in the morning. I wonder if we'll have Labor Day off?
Empanadas are hot and ready! Just got to change the time on the post and then publish... Oops! almost forgot to spell check!

A Concise Content- Oriented Review Of The Man Of Sin By Kim Riddlebarger

2006-08-11T02:45:00.000-04:00

He asked, and you never know which wacko (like me) is going to respond when you ask the general public to do something like this, sooooo...here goes. (Also I had promised this a long time ago in a post far, far away.)

In an age of uncertainty and an Apocalyptic warnings coming through the media, whether in fictional accounts produced by Hollywood, 'documentaries' and 'evidence' of global warming coming interestingly enough again from Hollywood, media accounts of the state of the war on terror, or mainstream Christian retailing of End Times novels, speculations, and conjecture, The Man Of Sin stands as a welcome resource for those who wish to look at what the Bible has to say about the Anti-christ.

Uncovering a truly biblical understanding of the Anti-christ is a daunting task when you begin to see all the presuppositions that have been attached to the person in all the fore-described media. But it is a task that Kim Riddlebarger faced head-on and, in my opinion, produced for us a Biblical picture of the Man of Sin.

The book begins with the immediate context of American culture as it relates to the Anti-christ. Dr. Riddlebarger draws a picture of the contemporary view of the Anti-christ and of the expectancies of what he will be and when he will appear and begins the task of separating fact from fiction.

He then provides an overview of the forerunners of the Anti-christ from the Old Testament. Riddlebarger's discussion of the many 'types' and foretellings of the Anti-christ found in the Old Testament lays the necessary foundation for understanding all that the Anti-christ has been foretold to embody in Scripture. Tracing these types from the serpent in Paradise, through Cain, Nimrod, Pharoah, Nebuchadnezzar, to Antiochus Epiphanes, and through the study of specific prophecies of the Anti-christ, Riddlebarger provides a comprehensive picture of the Anti-christ as expected by Jewish society before the time of Christ.

Moving then into a discussion of the doctrine of the Anti-christ in the New Testament, Riddlebarger lays another foundation for a more complete picture of the Anti-christ by discussing the interaction between Jesus and Satan in the Gospels, the "already/not yet" eschatological focus of the New Testament, and a look at prophetic perspective and fulfillment of prophecy in the New Testament.

The next section of the book begins a discussion of the 'anti-christs' (small 'a' and plural) that have already gone out into the world. Noting that the word 'anti-christ' only appears in the first two of John's letters and never in the book of Revelation, he goes on to list some identifying traits of these anti-christs, the chief being a denial of the incarnation of the Son of God. Interacting with B. B. Warfield, he notes that Anti-christ is anyone who that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and that we should not import John's description of these heretics into our view of the Man of Sin or the False Prophet who will arise at the end of time. He concludes, "..."the final manifestation of the beast and the false prophet...seems to indicate that John's series of antichrists...will indeed give way to a final ...persecutor of the people of God".

The next chapter focuses on the doctrine of the Anti-christ in the book of Revelation. Once again, he lays the foundation from the Old Testament, showing how the forerunners of the Anti-christ shape the language used to describe the beast and the false prophet. Nero and the cultic emporer-worship of the Roman Empire is discussed while he shows the significance of the number '666'.

Chapter Six is a discussion of Paul's doctrine of Anti-christ in II Thessalonians. Once again, Riddlebarger is careful to bring all the background information we need to interpret correctly Paul's statements concerning the 'Man of Lawlessness'. In this chapter Riddlebarger interacts with the various views from Dispensationalism, preterism, futurists, and historicists in their interpretations of the Man of Sin, the coming Apostasy, and the Restrainer. For those of you who are wondering, Riddlebarger concludes that Gospel preaching is the 'restrainer' Paul speaks of in this passage.

Riddlebarger continues forward with a look back at the various interpretations of the Anti-christ in Church history. Beginning with the Fathers and walking through history, he discusses the various views of the Anti-christ which were often colored by the world they lived in. There is also a helpful chart showing the differing beliefs of the Fathers, Dispensationalism, the Reformers, etc. at the beginning of the book, but I thought it would be better located here.
The final chapter of the book is a summary and compilation of the conclusions from preceding chapters. The final section is an admonition to trust in God and not spend time on useless speculations not consistent with Scripture, but to rather look for the glorious appearing of Christ. Satan is a defeated foe. Evil runs rampant because Satan and his minions know their time is short. Don't fear them, but have faith in God.

Overall, this book is a good read even for those who disagree with the author's conclusions because he will make you think about what you believe and why. His conclusions are based on a literal interpretation of the Scripture and not a fanciful imagination, as is evident in many other books of this genre.

3 thumbs up.

To purchase The Man Of Sin click here.

Not A Pity Party

2006-08-10T21:51:00.000-04:00

After a year in the blogosphere I have found out that several groups of people don't like me. The hate-mail keeps rolling in.

These are just general categories, I know you guys that read this blog regularly like me.

The Covenantals don't like me, but neither do the Dispensationalists. The Charismatics don't like me, but then again, neither do the Cessationists. Premillers, Postmillers, and even some Amillers don't like me. Free Gracer's don't like me, almost as much as the legalists don't like me.

In fact, there is pretty much only one group of people that like me so far, and that's the Presbyterians. I think this is because we have an unspoken agreement that we can have fellowship in the Gospel even though we disagree on some other things. This agreement is not that we ignore those disagreements, but that we keep the main thing the main thing and don't resort to false accusations about each other's positions. But that's something else altogether.

The point is, there are a lot of people who are unhappy with me because I am a non-charismatic, non-cessationist, continuationist, NCT, Amil, who believes that we are under the Law of Christ and not the Law that was given to the nation of Israel.

The question then, is why do I hold these positions? Is it because I am a rebel? Or maybe because I want to be different? Maybe it's because I want to make enemies!

No. No. And, no. Why then?

I want to please Christ. I want to serve God. I want my theology to be shaped, not by a system or a circle of friends, but by the Word of God. To do anything else would make me a servant of my system or my friends. Isn't that the gist of what Paul says in Galatians?

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Gal 1:10)

This statement by Paul comes on the heels of His remarks about the singleness of the Gospel. There is only one. Paul had become convinced of that through a revelation from Jesus Christ, and, as His Apostle, I think he knew what he was saying. There's only one truth. And he was irrevocably convinced of that truth. In much the same way, though not exactly since I'm not an Apostle, I am convinced of the truth of these positions I hold. I didn't get them from a book, but from Scripture (although some books were helpful in nudging me towards a better understanding of Scripture). So I hope you'll pardon me when I don't budge on these positions just because someone throws a prooftext out that is supposed to destroy my whole worldview. I also hope you'll rejoice with me when I am convinced by Scripture that something I formerly believed to be true is in fact false.

No, I'm not infallible, and I hope we can deal with the text of Scripture honestly and wrestle together with it and not each other. Frankly, I have no stomach for personal attacks. This is evidenced by the many times the way I respond when I am attacked. More than once I have asked for forgiveness because I took some personal attack against myself and responded in kind. From now own those attacks will either be ignored or responded to with a defense of myself, if required, rather than a flame-war of harmful words.

My not-so-current-anymore debate with Peter on the Law is a great example of how Christian brothers should discuss these matters. We have both been firm in our convictions, yet ready to change if convinced by Scripture, and never once have we resorted to personal attacks between us.

The title of this post is 'Not A Pity Party'. But I also want you to understand that it's not a 'Glory Party' either. This is a public confession of my own faults and a call for civility in a God-honoring discourse of His Word.

In other words, sure, we'll strain at the gnats, but let's keep the camels out of the digestive tract.

This One I Like

2006-08-06T15:55:00.000-04:00

Daniel at Doulogos tagged me with this meme. I honestly hate memes on general principle, but this one is about books, so I like it.
1. One book that changed your life (other than the Bible):
The Pleasures of God by John Piper. How can you keep living the same way when you finally realize that God is eternally happy within Himself?
2. One book you've read more than once:
In the Face of God by Michael Horton. A great counter-response to the self-centered worship of modern Christianity.
3. One book you'd want on a Desert Island:
Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. Theological, devotional, worshipful, and fresh every time you read it.
4. One book that made you laugh:
The Umpire Strikes Back by Ron Luciano. Great baseball humor from one of the great umpire characters of all time. I read this when I was about fourteen and remember laughing my head off through the whole book.
5. One book that made you cry (or feel really sad):
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan. Well, the first half of it anyway.
6. One book that you wish had been written:
The Temporal Aspects of the Old Covenant by John Owen. My life would be so much easier right now.
7. One book that you wish had never been written:
Our Faith by Emil Brunner. Neo-orthodox.
8. One Book You're Currently Reading:
The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 95; Fulgentius: Selected Works. Torch-bearer of Augustinianism to the last jot and tittle. Somewhat Catholic, yet strong on grace.
9. One Book you've been meaning to read:
A Confessing Theology for Postmodern Times edited by Michael Horton. Don't have anything to say about it yet.
10. Now tag five people:
No. I'm only going to tag three, and only because I think they might like the meme.
Pastor Steve Weaver (who can do it whenever he gets back from Louisville, KY.), D. J. Cimino, and Jeff Wright.

I'm tired of blogging right now. I'll be back in a couple of days.

I Didn't Want To Do It

2006-08-02T20:05:00.000-04:00

But I guess I have to. I don't mean to offend anyone with this post, but I've got to tell the truth.

For those of you looking for justification for getting it on with your immediate family, New Covenant Theology isn't for you.
And please don't tell me that this is the normative view of NCTer's.
Also don't tell me it is consistent with what NCTer's teach.

It's not. On the same token, couldn't we say the same thing about Dispies or even Covenantals?
Dispensationalists believe the Law was abrogated.
Covenantals agree that this commandment is not included in the Decalogue, which is the 'summary of the moral law'.

So don't say it. It's ignorant. Both for the NCTer who wants to affirm it, and the NCT detractors who want to create a new strawman for easy beating.

Now can we get back to some real debate concerning what NCT actually affirms and not be distracted by every nutjob who thinks he can speak for NCT?

You know what? Just do a web search for John Reisinger and Fred Zaspel.

Oh yeah, get Five Views on Law and Gospel, and read the chapter by Douglas Moo.

Then tell me what NCT is all about.

Do All Christians Hunger And Thirst After Righteousness?

2006-08-01T07:15:00.000-04:00

In the Beatitudes, Jesus says:
(ESV) Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

Is this a characteristic that will be found in all Christians?

Yes. The Beatitudes is not a pick and choose list. You can't say, "I want to inherit the earth so I'm going to be meek, but righteousness isn't very high on my list of priorities so I'm not going after that one right now." Or, "Righteousness just seems so unattainable that I'm not going to even try for that one."

The Beatitudes are not a unit unto themselves either. They are part of Christ's larger Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is Christ's teaching on Kingdom living. Since we believe that the Kingdom is present now, all those who are part of the Kingdom are bound by it.

Granted, these Beatitudes are not in the imperative. They are not commands. But they are descriptions of Christians and the rewards that await them. But I would also say that absence of these rewards equals absence of salvation. For instance, the pure in heart will see God. We know that all Christians will see God. Therefore all Christians will be pure in heart. This doesn't mean that I'm perfect now. I still have the rest of my life to live and grow in sanctification, however long or short that may be. But I do long for the day when sin is done away with in me and I am truly pure in heart and receive my reward, seeing and knowing God even as I see and know my family.

So I would say that longing for righteousness is a characteristic of all true believers. They are in the process of being filled with righteousness now, and will one day be righteous.

While I'm Resting...

2006-07-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

Ask me some questions.

Guys, this Law thing was just supposed to last a week and, quite frankly, it's wearing me out. Soooo...
Ask me some questions. Leave your questions in the comments of this post or email them to me. My email address can be found on my profile page.
One rule that applies only to this round of questions, don't ask me about the Law.
I'll be getting back to the Law later in the week, but I need a break from it for a couple of days right now. I sort of feel like Faithful, in the pilgrim's Progress, who met Moses on his way up the hill called 'Difficulty'.

"So soon as the man overtook me, it was but a word and a blow; for down he knocked me, and laid me for dead. But when I was a little come to myself again I asked him wherefore he served me so. He said because of my secret inclining to Adam the First. And with that he struck me another deadly blow on the breast, and beat me down backward; so I lay at his foot as dead as before. So when I came to myself again I cried him mercy: but he said, I know not how to show mercy; and with that he knocked me down again. He had doubtless made an end of me, but that one came by and bid him forbear."

An Introduction To The Relationship Of The Covenants

2006-07-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

The Law does not annul or add to the Abrahamic Covenant, which is described by Paul as a Covenant of Promise. (Gal 3:15-18)

The Covenant made to Abraham was a promise to bless him and his offspring. This blessing consisted of two parts,
1) God would be their God, and
2) God would give them the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.
Now again, these promises were made to Abraham and his seed, that is Christ. (Gal 3:16)

So entrance into this covenant of promise must be brought about by being in Christ. The Jews misunderstood this and thought that just because they were the physical descendants of Abraham that they would inherit the promises. And they did receive temporal blessings, which they to this day enjoy, because of this covenant. But we are to see that God made the promise of blessing to Abraham and Christ, as we look back from the New Covenant perspective that has been given to us by Christ and His Apostles. The Covenant of Law, which was given 430 years after Abraham received the Covenant of Promise, does not expand upon that Covenant. Neither does it take away from it. The question that Paul must answer in light of this is, "Why then the Law?" (Gal 3:19) Rather than say anything more on the twofold purpose of the Law, see here and here.

Now according to that first use of the Law, which is Paul's main point in Galatians, the purpose of the Law was to conclude all under sin. In effect, the Law was a 'uniter' of all humanity under the guilt of Adam. So although we did not sin in the same way that Adam sinned, we are united under the same standard of guilt. (Rom 5:14)

So when it is said that Christ was born under the Law (Gal 4:4-5), there is an implication of Christ's unity with mankind by virtue of being under the same standard. And like, Adam, who acted as the representative of all humanity in his rebellion, Christ acts as the federal head of those who will believe by His obedience to the Law which had previously condemned all.
The great purpose of the Law, then, is to unite us all under sin, so that the promise which was made to Abraham and to his Seed (Christ), may be granted to those who believe by virtue of their new union under the headship of Christ. (Gal 3:22-29, 4:4-6, Rom 5:12-21, Eph 1:3-14)

Homework Assignment

2006-07-28T07:15:00.000-04:00

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read the quote by Kim Riddlebarger in the Faithful Sampler in the left sidebar.
Then go to this post and read the last comment, which was made sometime last night.

Now, answer these three questions for me (you don't have to actually respond here unless you want to):

1. How many examples of an unstated presupposition do you see? (Hint: There's a BIG one in the first line of the second paragraph.)

2. Do you think any of what he said makes sense outside of his (and possibly your) presuppositions?

3. How could you restate this argument to make it coherent to someone who doesn't hold your presuppositions?

Calvin's Three Uses Of The Law

2006-07-26T06:45:00.000-04:00

According to John Calvin, and the majority of those who came after him, the Law has three uses. Those three uses are pedagogical, civil, and didactic.

To say that the Law has a Pedagogical use is to say that it teaches us our sin. Paul says,

"...I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" (Rom 7:7)

This is the first function of the Law. To show us our helplessness in keeping it and revealing our sin. Indeed the Law not only reveals sin, but increases our sin.

Then there is the civil use of the Law. This civil use is the way we normally think of laws in general. They restrain evil. Even so, the Law that God gave through Moses in the Mosaic Covenant has this use. It keeps people from sinning.

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions... (Gal 3:19)

Not because people don't want to sin, but because they fear the punishment the Law demands for breaking the Law. However, when opportunity presents itself and the chances of getting away with our lawbreaking is greater then our chances of being caught and punished, we break the Law. So sin is still present in us, but the outworking of that sin is restrained by Law.
<>That's why capital punishment is the only way to keep would-be murderers from becoming murderers and would-be sexual offenders from becoming sexual offenders.< /unabashed conservative politics>

Calvin's third use of the Law raises concern in my mind. The didactic use, or the teaching use, of the Law says that the Law should be used to urge believers into good works. But this is a concept that is never alluded to in the Scriptures. There is no place where believers in the New Covenant are commanded to use the Mosaic Law as a means of provoking good works. Do you want to know why? The Law can't provoke me to good works. It can restrain me from acting on my sinful passions, but it cannot excite the will to do good in me. That is the function of Grace. And that is what Paul tells us time and again in his various treatments of the relationship between Law and Gospel.

But hey, .667 isn't a bad batting average for Calvin, is it?

Martin Luther On The Twofold Use Of The Law

2006-07-25T20:51:00.000-04:00

The law is used in two ways; first, for this worldly life, because God has ordained all temporal laws and statutes to prevent and hinder sin. But here some one may object: If the law hinder sin, then also it justifies. I answer: Oh! no, this does not follow; that I do not murder, commit adultery, steal, etc., is not because I love virtue and righteousness, but because I fear the hangman, who threatens me with the gallows, sword, etc. It is the hangman that hinders me from sinning, as chains, ropes, and strong bands hinder bears, lions, and other wild beasts from tearing and rending in pieces all that come in their way.

Hence we may understand, That the same can be no righteousness that is performed out of fear of the curse, but sin and unrighteousness; for the law binds mankind, who by nature are prone to wickedness, that they do not sin, as willingly they would.

Therefore this is the first point concerning the law, that it must be used to deter the ungodly from their wicked and mischievous intentions. For the devil, who is an abbot and prince of this world, allures people to work all manner of sin and wickedness; wherefore God has ordained magistrates, elders, schoolmasters, laws and statutes, to the end, if they can do no more, that at least they may bind the claws of the devil, and hinder him from raging and swelling so powerfully in those who are his, according to his will and pleasure.

Secondly, we use the law spiritually, as thus: To make transgressions seem greater, as St Paul says, or to reveal and discover to people their sins, blindness, and ungodly doings, wherein they were conceived and born; namely, that they are ignorant of God, and are his enemies, and therefore have justly deserved death, hell, God’s judgments, his everlasting wrath and indignation. But the hypocritical sophists in universities know nothing thereof, neither do those who are of opinion that they are justified by the law and their own works.

But to the end that God might put to silence, smother, suppress and beat down to the ground these mischievous and furious beats, he has appointed and ordained a particular Hercules with a club, powerfully to lay hold on such beasts, take them captive, strike them down, and so dispatch them out of the way; that is, he gave the law upon the hill of Sinai, with such fearful thundering and lightning, that all people thereat were amazed and affrighted.

It is exceeding necessary for us to know this use of the law. For he that is not an open and a public murderer, an adulterer, or a thief, holds himself to be an upright and godly man; as did the Pharisee, so blinded and possessed spiritually of the devil, that he could neither see nor feel his sins, nor his miserable case, but exalted himself touching his good works and deserts. Such hypocrites and haughty saints can God by no better means humble and soften, than by and through the law; for that is the right club or hammer, the thunderclap from heaven, the axe of God’s wrath, that strikes through, beats down, and batters such stock-blind, hardened hypocrites. For this cause, it is no small matter that we should rightly understand what the law is, whereto it serves, and what is its proper work and office. We do not reject the law and the works thereof, but on the contrary, confirm them, and teach that we ought to do good works, and that the law is very good and profitable, if we merely give it its right, and keep it to its own proper work and office.

The law opens not nor makes visible God’s grace and mercy, or the righteousness whereby we obtain everlasting life and salvation; but our sins, our weakness, death, God’s wrath and judgment.

The light of the gospel is a far different manner of light, enlightening affrighted, broken, sorrowful, and contrite hearts, and reviving, comforting, and refreshing them. For it declares that God is merciful to unworthy, condemned sinners, for the sake of Christ, and that a blessing thereby is presented unto them who believe; that is, grace, remission of sins, righteousness, and everlasting life.

When in this way we distinguish the law and the gospel, then we attribute and give to each its right work and office. Therefore, I pray and admonish all lovers of godliness and pure religion, especially those who in time are to be teachers of others, that with highest diligence they study this matter, which I much fear, after our time, will be darkened again, if not altogether extinguished. Martin Luther, Table Talk, Of The Law And The Gospel, CCXLLIV.

See also the Reformation Sampler in the sidebar which I updated a day early.

'Moral' Law

2006-07-25T20:30:00.000-04:00

Is there really any other kind? Isn't this just a redundancy?

If it is God's Law then it is moral. We have a moral obligation to comply with it. And consider the implications if God gave a law that wasn't moral.

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." (Rom 7:7)

Just some thinking fodder.

Wrongly Dividing The Law Of Moses

2006-07-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

Let me make one thing clear before I begin. I do not have a problem with dividing the Law into three parts (civil, ceremonial, and moral) in order to understand the Law as a whole. The problem that I find is this, there are those who would divide the Law of Moses, which has all been fulfilled in and by Christ, and impose one part of it, the 'Moralia', upon Christians.

Now this seems innocent enough, but is it what the New Testament teaches us to do? Is there anywhere in the New Testament that instructs us to look to the Mosaic Law for instruction in righteousness? The answer is a resounding "NO!!!" In fact, just the opposite is instructed of Christians.
I sort of hate to keep going back to Galatians 3, but I think Paul says it so clearly there. Following Paul's course of argument through the whole chapter, first, he says that the law cannot produce the Spirit in us.
Second, the flesh working to obey the Law cannot perfect us.
Third, the ongoing presence of the Spirit is not given by the Law.
Fourth, Abraham was counted righteous apart from the Law.
Fifth, those who have faith are Abraham's true children, not those who are bound by the Law.
Sixth, everyone who does not do everything contained in the Law is under a curse.
Seventh, the Law is not of faith, but of works.
Eighth, Christ delivered us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us.
Ninth, in Christ we have fulfilled the requirements of the Law and the blessing of Abraham have been given to us.
Tenth, Christ Himself is the true seed of Abraham to which the promises were made.
Eleventh, the Law does not annul or add to the covenant of promise that God gave to Abraham and his seed, Christ.
Twelfth, the blessing of Abraham is not obtained by Law, but by promise.
thirteenth, the law was a temporary covenant made with Abraham's temporal seed which had two functions;

1. To increase transgressions.
2. To restrain or hinder sin until the beneficiary (Christ) of the promise should arrive.

Fourteenth, the Law is not opposed to the promise, but is the means by which we are all united under sin, so that we might be united with the One who would deliver us from that sin through faith, and so inherit the promise in Christ.
Ffiteenth, the Law was the guardian appointed by God to keep us until faith had been revealed.
Sixteenth, now that faith has been revealed,we are no longer under that guardian (Law).
seventeenth, we are united with Christ and made sons of God by that union.
And finally, since we are united with Christ who is the rightful heir of the promises, then we are rightful heirs of the promises.

If you will notice, Paul does not make any divisions in the Law in the whole course of his argument. Instead, he later tells the Galatians,

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (Gal 5:1-4)

The yoke of slavery that Paul refers to is the Law. These words of Paul come on the heels of his allegorization of the children of Sarah and Hagar. Hagar (Mt. Sinai, Law), bears children for slavery. Paul uses this allegory not as a space filler, but to teach us something about the type of people the Law produces. The Law produces slaves.
Paul tells us not to submit to that Law. Which parts should we not submit to? "I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law." None of it. Paul still hasn't divided the Law into categories for the Galatians. He is driving this point into their heads, "You can't be saved, justified, sanctified, or glorified by the Law. If you try to add the Law back into the mix then you have abandoned grace and have been cut away from Christ." (My summary of the book of Galatians.)
Does this mean that Paul leaves the Galatians without a Law? No. But he gives them a different standard than the Mosaic Law. He gives them the Law of Christ. The Law of Christ is a Law that has been written upon our hearts as was promised by the prophets to be the mark of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It is a Law that the Spirit causes us to live by. It is the Spirit Himself living and working in us.

Concerning the outward verbalization of this Law, Paul says it is fulfilled in the words, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Gal 5:14). Concerning the inward reality of this law, it is produced by the Spirit through the the various fruit listed in 5:22-23. There is no Law that will condemn such actions that are produced by the fruit of the Spirit in us. This is why Paul can so vehemently oppose the Mosaic code in its entirety. He knows that the Old Covenant has only ever produced slaves, but the New Covenant that was purchased by Christ produces those who have the Law, not on tables of stone, but on the fleshy tables of their hearts.
The Law of the New Covenant has done what the Law of the Old Covenant could not do. It has gone deeper than condemning our actions and dealt with the issues of our desires by actually implanting itself within us. It has produced a nature that willingly and lovingly obeys God's eternal and unchanging laws.

Who Knew The Bible Was Inspired And When Did They Know It?

2006-07-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

A question I received via email last week;

Did Paul consider himself to be writing "inspired" words? Or did he think it was just another letter? What about the other writers of the NT?

Although this is not part of the question, I think it is helpful that we recognize that the Old Testament prophets believed they were inspired. When they use such language as, "The Word of the Lord came...", "Thus says the Lord...", or other similar phrases, they are confessing that the words that they spoke or wrote down were not their own words, but the words of God. They were claiming inspiration.
Likewise, when Moses gave the Law, he understood that these were not just a bunch of rules that he had made up, but that he was speaking and writing the words of God.
So, now, we come to the New Testament, and read the words of Paul;

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Gal 1:11-12)

When we read these words we begin to recognize that Paul is claiming inspiration for himself. He is claiming that his writings are just as inspired as any of the Old Testament prophets writings were.
Next, we see that Paul placed his own teaching on par with the teaching of Christ about divorce;

To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife. To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. (1Co 7:10-12)

In verse 10, Paul summarizes Jesus' teaching on divorce. He says, "the Lord says this". Then, beginning in verse twelve, Paul gives his teaching, which is complimentary to Jesus' teaching, concerning divorce. In verse twelve he says, "I say this".
Should we understand Paul to be saying that this is something to be taken as a lesser teaching that of Christ, and therefore that we can ignore Paul's teaching if we like? Or, is he simply stating the fact that Jesus had actually said these words and then separating the quote from Jesus form his own words which he prefaces by saying, "This is what I say"?
I think the latter interpretation is more faithful to the text. If it is, then Paul is claiming to be so inspired that his teachings are equal with Christ's teachings.
Also, concerning Paul's writings, it is evident that Peter thought Paul to be inspired because he says,

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2Pe 3:15-16)

These are interesting words from Peter. Basically, Peter compares Paul's letters to the rest of Scripture. Peter tells his readers that there are false teachers who twist Paul's letters to their own destruction, just like they do the rest of the Scriptures. When Peter says, "Scriptures", what is he referring to? He is referring to all the inspired writings of the Bible! Old and New Testaments.

Concerning the other writers of the New Testament, first of all, we have the words of Jesus concerning the inspiration of the Apostles. He says,

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Act 1:8)

So this is Jesus telling His Apostles that they were to be His mouthpieces in all the world. If they believed Jesus, then they also must have believed that they were speaking and writing the words of Christ. They must have known that they were inspired.

The writer of Hebrews seems to claim to be a spokesperson for Christ in the first two verse of Hebrews, although later, in chapter 2, he seems to say that he is not an Apostle,

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world....
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Heb 1:1-2, 2:1-4)

The general tone of James' letter seems to be of someone who is writing with authority, making several commands throughout the letter, with no appeal to outside sources for their validity, however, he makes no claim of inspiration.

Peter claims inspiration rather explicitly,

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pe 1:16-21)

John claims to be a 'witness' of Christ (when he says "we..testify", 'testify' means to 'bear witness),

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1Jo 1:1-3)

John is even more explicit when he tells us that he heard the voice of Christ telling him to write the things that he saw in a Spirit-induced vision in a book,

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea." (Rev 1:9-11)

It has been theorized that Jude was claiming to be inspired when he said that his mind was changed about the topic of his letter (the theory being that the Holy Spirit moved upon him to write the words that he ended up writing),

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jud 1:3)

Matthew, as an Apostle, probably understood that his writings were inspired, for the reasons stated above in Jesus' parting words (Acts1:8).

Mark may be claiming inspiration, by the virtue of proclaiming the same Gospel which Jesus preached and bearing witness to Him (Mark 1:14-15), in the opening of his Gospel when he says,

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mar 1:1)

And finally, Luke claims to have perfect knowledge of the story of Christ and His church,

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luk 1:1-4)

In any case, I think that there is conclusive evidence to point to the fact that most of the writers of the New Testament believed that they were inspired.

The Unity Of The Law

2006-07-23T21:00:00.000-04:00

I'll be honest with you, I haven't had a lot of time to respond to Peter's critique of my view that the Mosaic Law should not be divided into three separate parts. So consider this a non-response. A full response will come either Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

I have read both posts and I can only say, I can't see how any of the verese that are quoted there would lead me to believe that the Law could be divided into three parts. I acknowledge that there are parts that are ceremonial, parts that are moral, and parts that are civil, but I don't see anywhere in Scripture where it is an option to take any of those apart from the others. Instead, Paul says,

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. (Gal 5:3)

And James says,

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. (Jam 2:10)

And now, on a completely different note...

This question has been in my inbox for about a week now and I don't want to forget it.

Did Paul consider himself to be writing "inspired" words? Or did he think it was just another letter? What about the other writers of the NT?

That will be the subject of Monday morning's post.