Saturday, December 13, 2008

A Devotional on Exodus 32 (part 2)

(This post would serve you best if you first read Exodus 32 and part 1 of this devotional series.)

Are we to think of Moses as more loving and forgiving because he interceded for Israel to a ANGRY God?

NO!

First, Moses was not the one being sinned against, God was. Second, Moses did not yet know what God was angry about when He told him His plans.

However, I would argue that would God had not have been gracious to keep Moses from seeing what Israel had been doing, when relaying His plan, Moses would NOT have interceded!

Now that’s a thought!

I believe this can be argued by the response we see of Moses when he does see what Israel had been doing (Exodus 32:19b-20,26-27). Which is significantly different than what we see in Exodus 32:11-13.

One more thing should be commented about in this age in which we live in. What caused Moses to act so violently and angry for what Israel was doing? I believe it was born out of a zeal for the LORD!

Moses had removed himself from the sin of the world and had spent along time in the presence of God’s holiness. So when Moses returns to behold sin, we see the manifestation of how one should respond to sin. That is, out of a love for righteousness and hatred against unrighteousness.

This is the proper reaction against sin out of a zeal for the LORD and His HOLINESS!

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Whats does this inform me about the music I listen to?
2. What does this teach me about: God, my heart, and movies?
3. What does this call for with what we allow before our eyes?
4. Does my heart respond the same way as Moses does when I sin or am exposed to it?

A Devotional on Exodus 32 (part 1)

(For this devotional to be most effective read Exodus 32 first and perhaps even thumb through Exodus to get a general idea of the context.)

When God states to Moses that He would destroy Israel because He saw what they were doing Moses steps in and intercedes for the people.

Before diving in though, a few things must be pointed out.

It should be noted that Scripture is setting the stage with a shadow of the Christ. Moses is the shadow of Jesus. We see in the text a legitimate cause for the LORD to destroy His people. Moses steps in as a representative of Israel and pleads for MERCY.

His basis to see God relent is that God has made a promise that He must fulfill and God will be mocked if He lead a people out of Egypt only to destroy them in the wilderness because He couldn’t make them obey.

Because of this intercession of Moses, God “relented from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on His people.”

However, this all being said it should be understood that what God stated He was going to do He could not have without lying and disgracing His name. Both of which are not possible for God. (II Tim. 2:13; Titus 1:2) Secondly, we already know from this point that YAHWEH is all knowing and doesn’t forget. So, the arguments that Moses brings to His attention, He already knew.

This makes the whole event seem pointless until you remember the point of the text is to point to Christ in which the real dilemma is solved.

How can a righteous God save a wicked people, for His name, when the very act of saving seems unjust?

Imagine a judge today pardoning a serial killer and letting him go free on the basis that he felt loving and forgiving that day, this would cause every man and woman to stand up and cry out against the injustice!

But in the Moses account no answer is given for how God can do this; because, he was the shadow, but in the Christ account it is.

Just as Moses presented himself as atonement for the people, so did Jesus Christ. However, Moses atonement offer was rejected, Jesus Christ’s atonement was not! He offered himself to appease the wrath of God and therefore became a public display of God’s justice (Romans 3:24-26) even in His justifying the ungodly (Romans 4:5).

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

This is Eternal Life!

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” -Jesus (recorded by the Apostle John in John 17:1-3)

Jesus defined “eternal life” as knowing God. This is the eternal life always offered in the Scriptures. If we are attempting to save anyone from or to anything else they are not getting saved.

So many today want to simply be saved from difficulties or simply saved to living forever with family and friends. Or a host of other reasons that are man-centered and have not to do with the Gospel or the Eternal Life Jesus Christ came to give.

Our churches are full of people who could care less about knowing God and yet are convinced they are saved because some pastor “Popeishly” told them they were saved. They want their worship style of music. They want their ears tickled from the pastor with whatever or they’ll take their business else where.

No wonder our churches are fighting. No wonder our churches are turning to other means for growth and success. Our churches are full of goats and wolves who think they are sheep. No wonder we have such trouble trying to get these people to behave like sheep. Because they’re NOT!

A goat is a goat. A wolf is a wolf! And a sheep is a sheep!!!

Oh LORD! Forgive us for teaching another gospel! Forgive us for idolatry! Forgive us for teaching people to worship the gift rather than the giver! We repent!!! Give us yourself! Help us to know you! Holy Spirit give us understanding of the Word. For you have spoken so clearly and revealed to us the Glory of the Son. Sanctify us in Thy Word! Thy Word is Truth!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

The World HATES Christians.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you…if I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” Jesus (recorded by the Apostle John the one who our LORD loved, in John 15:19,22).

Jesus taught the reason the world would hate us is because when we fulfill the Great Commission we would command all men to repent from their sin or they will be guilty and judged for their sin.

In other words, the Gospel condemns all men in order to save men.

Now we are told by many influential Christians that we need to change the way we do church and teach the gospel because people are offended and feel condemned. “We sound judgmental.” “We sound too preachy.” etc.

Are you seeing what I am seeing. Leading Christians are telling Christians to stop condemning the unbelieving world, because the world doesn’t feel loved by it and is offended and turned off by us. And if we continue to do this the world will start hating Christians and the church.

Yeah, we already knew that. Jesus told us we would be 2,000 years ago! Now we are surprised by it?

P.S.
Check this out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDHL9NZ1lQQ

Saturday, November 8, 2008

A Humbling Thought from God's Word (John 8).

I was reading today in John 8. I recommend it to you :-) No but seriously, this is one powerful discourse that Jesus has with the Pharisees. It never ceases to amaze me how Jesus can say such harsh things so bluntly and honestly. And yet, I never doubt that He is love! For example, in John 8 Jesus tells the Pharisees:

They are ignorant (v. 14)
They judge wrongly (v.15)
They do not know God (v.19) and thus,
They are liars (v.55)
They will die in sin (v. 21)
They are slaves to sin (v. 34)
They do not believe nor love the Word of God (v.37)
They are not Jews (v.39)
They are murderers in their hearts (v. 40)
They do not love God nor His Messiah (v.42)
They deceive themselves and reject God’s Word (v.43)
They are children of the Devil (v.44)
They’re will (free-will?) is bound to do the Devil’s desire (.44)
They are not God’s children (v. 47)

When we think of Jesus does this list come to mind of things he said to people (mind you this is taken from just one chapter of one of the four Gospels). We often have a unbalanced view of Jesus going around only saying kind things and healing everybody and never judging anyone and telling everyone to not judge but just love, love, love. John speaks of Jesus as the Word in flesh who was full of “grace and truth.”

But here’s the interesting thing that stuck out to me this morning when reading John 7+8. Jesus throughout His ministry commands people to “hear” and “perceive” and understand. And yet here in John 8, Jesus makes it crystal clear that no one can: hear,see,understand, or believe unless the Father gives special grace. In fact, Jesus even tells the Pharisees that their will is bound by their father (the Devil) to do his desires (v.44). In other words Jesus gives commands to mankind that they cannot do! No wonder Jesus told them they were in slavery (v.34).

So, if you are a child of Satan, which everyone is born into this world as, then you are: blinded, deaf, deceived, and therefore unbelieving. Everyone needs to believe to see, hear, and understand. But only God’s children can do this.

So, salvation depends not on the man who runs nor the man who wills, but on God who chooses to show mercy. Salvation belongs to the LORD! In essence Jesus was telling the Pharisees, “you do not believe because you are not my children, and you are not my children because I have not made you my children!” (read John 3)

John 1:13 says, “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh nor the will of man, but of God.”

So finally my point of humbling is this. I am saved simply because God showed me unique and peculiar mercy and grace, that He has not given to all. There is nothing I did to earn this favor from God! and yet I receive the blessings! And because of the magnitude of this salvation and the weightiness of judgment others will experience (that I deserve), I have an eternal reason to be infinitely humbled! Who would have thought that the gospel would be the source of our salvation from pride?!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

A Brief Defense for Penal Substitutionary Atonement: A Commentary on Romans 3:24-26

In Romans 3, the Apostle Paul is demonstrating that all men, no matter their background, ethnicity, or knowledge, fall short of the standard by which God judges a man of being just. Therefore, in verse 23, Paul concludes that all “fall short of the glory of God.” Paul is also attempting to explain to the church in Rome why possessing the law does not make one righteous before God. But rather, the law acts more like a sign or pointer revealing to man how he does not measure up to God’s standards, and exposes the many transgressions of all men. Paul is building up the tension for his readers because up until this point he has clearly shown how all men, Jew and gentile alike, are under the wrath of God. The question then arises, “if no one is good, how can anyone get to heaven and God remain just?” For if all men are unworthy of heaven, and worthy only of hell, how can anyone receive this reward? Furthermore, how can God seemingly just drop the charges for the sins committed and remain a just judge? These are the questions Paul answers in Romans 3:24-26.

3:24. Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. This verse is picking up in mid-thought and is clearly connected to verse 23. The ESV translation of vs. 24 starts with the word and. So there is an obvious connection in Paul’s mind of the category of those who “sin and fall short” and those who are “justified.” In this verse, the author states that those who are in Christ Jesus are “justified” as a gift of grace through redemption. The word justified, used here, is used thirty-eight other times in the New Testament. Twenty-four of those times the word is translated exactly the same, the other fifteen times it is translated nearly the same only differentiated by tense of the word.

Throughout the New Testament justified is used to mean, “to show to be righteous or to declare righteous.” For example, if someone were to make the claim that they knew the president of the United States, that person and his claim would be justified if President Bush were to come over to his house and verify this person’s claim. However, this term is most often used with a courtroom motif. Schreiner states:
Justification is a legal or forensic term, belonging to the law courts. Its opposite is condemnation. Both are the pronouncements of a judge. In a Christian context they are the alternative eschatological verdicts which God the judge may pass on judgment day. So when God justifies sinners today, he anticipates his own final judgment by bringing into present what belongs properly to the last day (Schreiner 190).
So Paul argues that even though everyone sins against God and is therefore under His condemnation, those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer under that condemnation, but rather, seen as just before God and His law. Paul then goes on to explain through what means this is done.

Those who are justified are so on the basis that they have been redeemed. In the previous verse Paul stated that everyone has sinned against God. The idea could be understood that all men are therefore indebted to God. Therefore, for them to be free they must be redeemed. The word redemption is used only ten times in the New Testament. However, the word was very common to Paul’s contemporary audience. They would have most likely associated this word with the connotation of a slave being indebted and being set free due to a ransom being paid. In other words, the word redemption means, “to release on payment of ransom.” However, there has been debate on the intended meaning by Paul when he used this word. Some have argued that this word could be seen not as a ransom being paid, but rather, or simply the idea of “deliverance” or “emancipation” from slavery (Cranfield 206). That being said, the best understanding of the word is likely the idea of a ransom being paid. This can be seen for three reasons.

First, as stated before, the common understanding of this word is most commonly understood to have the imagery of a ransom being paid. There is no reason given for the reader to think otherwise.

Secondly, the immediate context is already carrying the imagery of an indebted group of people who have been ransomed. In verse 23 Paul states that all men have sinned against God. And in verse 24 Paul states that those who are in Christ Jesus have been redeemed “freely.” Why would Paul use terms such as this one if he did not intend for it to have a ransom understanding?

Lastly, looking at the Scriptures in a broader context by the same writer, Paul uses the imagery throughout his epistles with the idea of those in Jesus being there through means of a price or purchase (I Cor. 6:20). That being said, it does not mean that Paul does not have in mind the ideas of “deliverance” or “emancipation.” Rather, that is exactly what the ransomed experience on the basis of the purchase being made.

So in verse 24 Paul gives hope to the reader. This hope is found outside of the individual. It is found in Christ Jesus. However, at this point, though Paul has spoken of hope for those in Christ Jesus, he has not answered the dilemma at how a holy righteous judge can do so. Stott states it well:
Then how on earth can Paul affirm that God does what he forbids others to do; that he does what he says he will himself never do; that he does it habitually, and that he even designates himself ‘the God who justifies the wicked’ or (we might say) ‘who “righteousses” the unrighteous’? It is preposterous! How can the righteous God act unrighteously, and so overthrow the moral order, turning it upside down? It is unbelievable! (112)

Here is the point Stott is making: If God has clearly revealed that it is an abomination for a judge to condemn the righteous and justify the ungodly (Pro. 17:15), how can He then justify the ungodly? Paul goes on in verse 25 to explain.


3:25. Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over sins previously committed. The “whom” in verse 25 refers back to Christ Jesus from the end of verse 24. Paul argues that God the Father appeals to Jesus, His Son, as a testimony to His righteousness. But how is Jesus a demonstration of God’s righteousness? In verse 23 Paul stated that all men have sinned against God and are therefore under God’s just wrath. In verse 24 Paul states that those who were under God’s just wrath have now been justified and redeemed. In other words, somehow God’s just wrath against sin has been placated, appeased, or dealt. This is what the word propitiation means.

However, all scholars do not accept this word here in Romans 3:25. Many scholars such as Dunn, Gundry, and Chalke would translate this word as expiation or as mercy seat (Dunn 180-181). There is good reason for this. For this word is used, by the translators of the Old Testament, for the LXX for the Hebrew word for mercy seat. This is the same reason why Calvin and Luther translated this word this way. Now Paul is dealing largely with the Law of Moses in the context and it is clear that the Old Testament is in mind here. However, to translate this word as expiation or mercy seat would not communicate the full meaning of the word here being used by Paul. One scholar states it best:

The main reason these options are not satisfactory, and a reference to propitiation seems necessary, is the context. In these verses Paul is describing God’s solution to the human predicament, which is not only sin but God’s wrath upon sin (1:18; 2:5; 3:5). And where there is divine wrath, there is need to avert it…In sum, it would be hard to exaggerate the differences between the pagan and the Christian views of propitiation. In the pagan perspective, human beings try to placate their bad-tempered deities with their own paltry offerings. According to the Christian revelation, God’s own great love propitiated his own holy wrath through the gift of his own dear Son, who took our place, bore our sin and died our death. Thus God himself gave himself to us to save us from himself (Stott 114-115).

As Stott and many others have stated the immediate context demands for a more full meaning that simply expiation. Seifrid states it wonderfully, saying:

According to Paul, our sins themselves are an expression of the wrath of God on idolatry, a wrath that therefore cannot legitimately be reduced to an impersonal effect or natural result of a deed (1:18-32). Humanity has been subjected by God to the power of sin (3:9). The righteousness of God effects deliverance from sin to which God’s wrath delivered us (3:24; cf. 6:1-23, esp. 6:7). Expiation is thus contingent on propitiation. Propitiation effects expiation. (620)

Finally it should be noted that to translate the word as expiation and not as propitiation would only speak of what has been done with sin and would do so at the neglect of what is done with God’s wrath (Jeffery, Ovey, and Sach 82).

This can be seen in the same verse where Paul uses the word forbearance. Forbearance means, “to bear with or endure.” In other words, because of the past sins prior to Jesus Christ not being dealt with, God was enduring something. What was God enduring? God was enduring the injustice of sins undealt with. In other words, it is God’s nature to be just! For Him to never deal with sin would be impossible. However, God did forbear the injustice for a time until Jesus Christ came. Then He sent forth His Son as the propitiation for sin “previously committed.” By doing so, God “publicly” demonstrates to the world that He is indeed just! As Clement of Rome has said, “His flesh for our flesh, and His soul, for our souls.” (Clement of Rome 1.18.) Or stated in a letter to Diognetus, “The father Himself placed upon Christ the burden of our iniquities. He gave His own Son as a ransom for us…” (Letter to Diognetus 1.28.) Jesus Christ took upon Himself the wrath against sins committed by others.
3:26. For the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. The word for at the beginning of verse 26 is connected to the last phrase in verse 25. It answers the question, “why did God pass over sins previously committed?” God passed over sins previously committed, so that, He could display His magnificent righteousness “at the present time.” Murray comments on this phrase saying,

The definite specification of time in the expression “at this present time” (vs. 26) is another example of the significance attached to the historical epoch in which God gave this demonstration of his justice. It is contrasted with the generations of the past when God’s forbearance was in exercise, and it shows that location in history belongs to those accomplishments which have a Godward reference at their centre. We are not to relegate to the realm of the superhistorical that which meets divine interest and exigencies. (121)
Paul uses the word demonstration, which means, “to prove.” This word is used three times and translated as: demonstration, proof, sign. In other words, Jesus Christ being a propitious sacrifice to God is a sign or a proof that God is indeed righteous.

What exactly is God seeking to prove by punishing sin? What is God demonstrating by giving sin its proper due? God is proving that He is indeed just. This word is used 79 times in the New Testament. It comes from a word, which means, “right.” In fact, this word is translated 48 times as righteous. So when Paul states that this is all done to display God being just, he means it shows and proves that God does indeed uphold what is right! He does not sweep the sins previously committed underneath some cosmic rug. Nor does He ignore it. He does not just “up and forgive it” either, but rather, he deals justly or rightly with sin. In this way God is not only just, but He is just in justifying the ungodly! What an awesome God. For here God clearly manifests not only that He is a just God, but that He is a loving God that would do so at the expense of His dearly loved and only Son. Only God can clearly manifest both perfect love and perfect justice in one event. One scholar writes:

Now the bearing of the cross on God’s dealings with men “at the present time” is unfolded. It amounts to a declaration that God is at once just in himself and justifying in his activity on behalf of mankind. (Harrison 45)

Or as another has said, “Christ was set forth as a sacrifice for the manifestation of the righteousness or justice of God, that is, that he might be just, although the justifier of the ungodly” (Hodge 98). The last phrase in verse 26 states the who God justifies, those who have “faith in Jesus.” In the opening of the epistle, Paul had quoted a prophet from the Old Testament stating, “The just shall live by faith.” It is here in these verses that Paul explains how that can be! One is not able to stand before God by keeping the Law of Moses or even the laws written on their own hearts. One must and can only stand before God by faith in Jesus Christ and His accomplished work on the cross.

Because of the clear argument being made here by the Apostle Paul, he closes the chapter with this being the reason God is not a respecter of persons or ethnicities. Nor will God justify anyone by works of the law. But rather, the law of faith alone will justify them. However, the question arises, “if men are justified before God apart from the law, is the law then overthrown?” Paul then begins to grapple with this question in the following chapter.

So, now that we have taken a brief examination of what Paul is talking about in Romans 3:24-26, how then should we live? It seems the best application of these truths is found in the following verse, where Paul asks a rhetorical question. “Where then is the boasting?” The answer, “It is excluded.” This is why getting Romans 3:24-26 is so crucial! Because God’s glory is at stake! And our sin is on the line! If we get these verses wrong, there will be room to boast. Perhaps this may be the biggest problem with all the other interpretations of this text. The application doesn’t fit their exegesis. But if we realize that we are all deserving of Hell. And the only reason we are not condemned, is because of the free gift of redemption “by His grace.” I cannot boast for being in Christ, or remaining there! I am there because it was given to me to be in Him. So here is how we can apply this verse specifically. The next time you encounter someone that you grow impatient with, or think less of than yourself, remember that all of us are just as lost and our only hope is Jesus. So patiently and lovingly, as a servant, point them to the only hope for mankind. That is Jesus! Boast in nothing, save the cross of Calvary! For it was there that the sinless, innocent, and just Son of God was punished with the full penalty of sin on the behalf of wicked, guilty, sinners like you and me. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

How BIG of a deal is Abortion in America anyways?

This spring semester I had a class called “Contemporary Issues in Science.” It was a really cool class! We had a lot of time designated to discussion in the class concerning major issues concerning ethics and contemporary science. Things like, genetic engineering, abortions, contraceptives, and tons of other issues. I had to write a paper on contraceptives and abortions. I had to develop a Biblical worldview and ethic and compare it with the science developments and explain how those issues should be seen by a Christian.

Upon doing my research I became sick with some of the information I was getting from the sources I used in my paper. Here’s the facts I came too. In 1973 America legalized abortions in every state. Since then there has been a continual increase in the amount of abortions each year when compared to the previous year. The book I was using was published in 2002. It stated that abortions were increasing by 1.6% each year. It also stated that in 2002 there was 1.4 MILLION abortions in the United States alone. I don’t know if that number registers for you but I did some more research to compare those numbers with other major events in history.

For example, since the war in Iraq has started (March 20, 2003) there has been 3,376 casualties in combat(That’s just over 5 years). Now that is a lot of people. And tied with each one of those people are loved ones and family members. However, there are 4,000 murders (abortions) of innocent children EVERYDAY in the U.S. alone! SHOCKING! I hope you are repulsed and disturbed, because you should be. This is a sad, sad, sad thing. But it get’s worse!

If I were to take ALL of the casualties of Americans in combat from the entire history of America. That is, if I were to add up all of the deaths from all of the wars in U.S history (including WWI & WWII) and then in addition to that add in all the deaths from the Holocaust it would add up to 13,760,572 deaths! That is a whole lot of people. What would you think if I told you that the amount of legalized murder of innocent children (abortions)that were done in the U.S. since 1973 more than doubles that amount? From 1973-2002 there have been over 40,000,000 ABORTIONS! However, today the death toll of innocent children in the U.S. is now over 50,000,000!!! This is genocide! Legalized genocide!

However, there is something you can do about this! This year you have the opportunity to vote. There are two candidates running. Barack H. Obama and John Mccain are the two candidates. Obama is arguably the biggest advocate for pro-choice to ever run for President. Mccain has a history and has promised to continue to be pro-life. Not only does Mccain have the ability to cut back the amount of abortions done in the United States, but also, he will have an opportunity to bring in another conservative (pro-life) supreme court judge (SCJ)! This is huge, because, we only need to have one more SCJ to have a majority of conservative SCJ. What this means is, if Mccain gets in office we could overturn the legalized abortions in the United States.

One major response I will likely get and so I thought it best to give it now is this, “Stephen, there are other important issues concerning this election other than this one topic.” I agree. However, can you think of a more pressing issue? 150 years ago there was a thing called legalized slavery. This slavery treated human beings who were less powerful as property. A man named William Wilberfore dedicated his life to stop this horrific affair. He died before seeing his dream come true. That is, to see all mankind treated equal. There were many in his time who agreed with him on his view of slavery. However, they thought it would be foolish to vote the overturn of slavery because it effected so many issues, thing like: the economy, power of the nation, the current war and other things! We look back at those people and think, “how foolish, selfish, and lost they must have been!” And yet, we are making the same mistake today! America has legalized slavery all over again. The human being in a mothers womb is not treated free! The child is not treated equal! The innocent dependent child is seen as property of the mother to “choose” whatever she wants to do with it! Please I beg you all! Do not make the same mistake our forefathers made!

A Brief Biography of the life and theology of John Calvin.

Introduction

John Calvin is arguably one of the most influential scholars in Christendom history. Calvin is largely responsible for the development of many doctrines including the system of Covenant Theology. Perhaps the greatest thinker from the Reformation is John Calvin. In the short 54 years lived (Piper 121) Calvin wrote tracts and books, preached thousands of sermons, established school known internationally, and trained many future pastors to send out into the world to spread the gospel to the four corners of the earth.

This paper will do a brief introduction to the life and doctrine of John Calvin. Due to many misconceptions and lack of research done by the common man, John Calvin has been largely misunderstood and sadly misrepresented by many. He is more often than not known for his forming of the doctrines of grace and the so-called killing of people in Geneva. Hopefully this paper will clarify some of those issues and act as a proper memorial to a man who dedicated his life to proclaiming the glory of God.

A brief background on the life of John Calvin

On July 10, 1509, Gerard Calvin and Jeanne Le Franc had a baby boy, their second. They were a middle class family in Noyon, a small city in the northern French province of Picardy…The baby boy, Jean, turned out to be smart, and when the time came, his father used his connections to get him a good education. (Elwood 1)

Calvin had just turned 8 years old when Martin Luther had nailed his famous 95 theses on the door of a church, which began the Reformation. Although John Calvin is recognized as one of the major reformers, he was one of untimely birth. Luther and Zwingli were already well-established reformers and known all across Europe, when Calvin was just beginning his education in (Roman Catholic) theology in Paris, France. His father had pulled some strings to get him into school there. Gerard had known the right people from his work place. Although, later John’s father fell out of good standing with the Catholic church, and so, Gerard sent him to study law (Piper 122).

Half a decade later Calvin went to study his passion at the time, the classics. His father had died and he felt free to chase after this love of his. He also took up Greek and wrote a book called Commentary on Seneca (Piper 122). Sometime in the early 1530’s Calvin had caught a glimpse of the glory of God and he was radically changed.

Many scholars have charged Calvin with being heartless and cruel to those who differed with him in doctrinal beliefs, claiming he would have people killed if they would dare to contradict anything he taught. This is simply not true. Calvin is not responsible for any mans’ death. However, what is often referred to for proof is the account of the individual Servetus who was beheaded in the town that John Calvin had much influence over as pastor. The man had attempted to have Calvin killed on a couple of occasions using deceit and hit men. Both times Calvin was preserved by what could best be called providence. Later this man had attempted to not only deny the doctrine of the Trinity but also espouse his view to many of the citizens of Geneva. He had warrants on him for death from the Roman Catholic Church as well. Calvin had met with him on a number of occasions to correct him of his doctrinal error but he refused to recant this heresy. The punishment in Geneva for holding to such a doctrine was death. Calvin likely could have talked the city council out of this, but after no change in Servetus, he approved of the decision made by the council on one condition, that they give him a quick and easy death. They agreed and had Servetus beheaded.

At the age of thirty-one Calvin was finally married. John Piper states that many women had made attempts at winning the heart of young and zealous Calvin (Piper 131). In fact some believe Calvin actually had some matchmakers working for him. However, it was a widower of an Anabaptist that caught the eye of John Calvin. When asked what Calvin was looking for in a wife he stated, “The only beauty which allures me is this—that she be chaste, not too nice or fastidious, economical, patient, likely to take care of my health” (Parker 70). Calvin’s new wife’s name was “Idelette” and she brought a son and a daughter with her.

Many have thought of Calvin as one who formed his doctrine and theology up in an “ivory tower”, and although this may have been Calvin’s desire, he never had that luxury. Instead, Calvin was familiar with much suffering and death. He lost all three of his children from his beloved wife at birth or soon after. And after only 9 years of marriage his wife also joined their children in the grave. After the death of his love he wrote:

You know well how tender, or rather soft, my mind is. Had not a powerful self-control been given to me, I could not have borne up so long. And truly, mine is no common source of grief. I have been bereaved of the best companion of my life, of one who, had it been so ordained, would have willingly shared not only my poverty but even my death. During her life she was the faithful helper of my ministry. From her I never experienced the slightest hindrance. She was never troublesome to me throughout the whole course of her illness, but was more anxious about her children than about herself. As I feared these private worries might upset her to no purpose, I took occasion three days before she died, to mention that I would not fail in discharging my duty towards her children (Parker 71).

Calvin also had a deep love and devotion to his sheep. He gave much time to study to protect them from many false teachers. The idea of Calvin living a life in an “ivory tower” is simply a lie. Contrary to popular belief Calvin’s doctrine of God’s sovereignty was formed in the midst of suffering and pain. In fact, it was the doctrine of God’s sovereignty that comforted him in these times of trials and testing.

After the death of his wife and children Calvin gave himself wholeheartedly to the local church. He often preached everyday and twice on Sundays, all the while giving three lectures in theology a week. He also gave countless hours in visiting the sick and counseling those in need.

However, this workload was done at the expense of his health. Calvin was given over to tremendous migraines and stomach pains. His poor health led eventually to colic and the spitting of blood, as well as, “the ‘excruciating sufferings’ from his hemorrhoids” (Piper 134). All of this took place while angry mobs fired large guns outside at his home. This sickness brought the death of John Calvin at a relatively young age of 54.

But Calvin’s legacy still goes on nearly 500 years after his death. Much of his writings are still influencing many men and woman in their understanding of the Scriptures. His books have also served many pastors in their endeavor to serve their sheep faithfully as Calvin did.

A brief look at John Calvin’s theology

Much of Calvin’s theology can be found his most famous work Institutes of Christian Religion. This work had a number of revisions but the purpose was the same from start to finish. Calvin sought to give an apology to the King for why the Protestants were true to the historic faith of Christianity. His hope was to stop the persecution of many Christians and establish the reputation of the Protestant’s young faith.

Perhaps there could have not been a better man for the job, for Calvin was well acquainted with the doctrines of not only the Roman Catholics but also was very well versed in the church fathers. In fact, Calvin often appealed to the church fathers to authenticate the doctrines that emerged from the Reformation.

This all being said, Calvin would have hardly thought of his Institutes of Christian Religion as exhaustive. He also had his sermons transcripted which later became a complete set commentary on the Bible.

It has often been said that Calvin’s theology ran on railroad tracks. Those tracks were the word of God and the Holy Spirit. To Calvin the two were inseparable and they ran parallel to each other. The Word of God was the objective truth revealed by God. The Holy Spirit would animate the Word of God and it worked on a subjective level at communicating to the reader through the objective word. He states:

The work of the Spirit, then, is joined to the word of God. But a distinction is made, that we may know that external word is of no avail by itself, unless animated by the power of the Spirit…All power of action, then, resides in the Spirit Himself (Azurdia III 97).

By doing this Calvin could have confidence and certainty in what the Word of God states. This thought process was way ahead of his time. Many scholars are still trying to pull apart and develop this idea that Calvin pioneered. Many today have fallen into a black hole of uncertainty and despair. Perhaps it would do contemporary Christian leaders some good to read more of John Calvin and a little less of these Emergent works.

The Institutes of Christian Religion was a 4-piece (book) set. The first book deals with knowing God as creator. He states, “For how can the thought of God penetrate your mind without your realizing immediately that, since you are his handiwork… you owe your life to him?” (Nichols 69). The second book deals with knowing God as redeemer. The third book dealt with how to apply the knowledge of God as creator and redeemer. The last book dealt with the church and things such as church government.

Calvin had a well-developed view of faith. This may be largely due to the new doctrine of sola fide or perhaps because of his development of the harmony between the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Whatever the motivation was, Calvin developed a well-rounded doctrine of faith. He describes faith as:

A firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence towards us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Elwood 83).

He goes on to explain that faith has three aspects to it. It is personal, not mustered by man, and functions with knowledge.

Calvin had also been one who was fascinated by and consumed with a passion for God’s glory. He longed to behold it, understand it, and herald it to all. Calvin saw the glory of God most clearly displayed in the gospel. This drove Calvin to really develop a well-thought out study and examination of scripture concerning the gospel. With Calvin’s well-developed view of faith came a proper understanding of what that faith did. For Calvin, faith was the only means by which one could receive grace unto salvation. But how did this all work? What exactly took place when one believed in the work of Jesus Christ? Calvin writes:

We explain justification simply as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as righteous men. And we say that it consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness… You see that our righteousness is not in us but in Christ, that we possess it only because we partakers in Christ; indeed, with him we possess all its riches… To declare that by him alone we are accounted righteous, what else is this but to lodge our righteousness in Christ’s obedience, because the obedience of Christ is reckoned to us as if it were our own? (Calvin 727, 753).

Calvin fought for this doctrine. And he suffered much for this doctrine of imputation of Christ’s righteousness. It is sad that so many are quick to drop this doctrine after 500 years because of some new wind of doctrine.

Perhaps the most misunderstood teaching of John Calvin is what is often called “Calvinism.” The most common understanding by both Calvinist and Arminians is the idea that the 5 points of Calvinism were written and structured by John Calvin. However, the 5 points were a response to a doctrinal statement written to a counsel in Holland.

In 1610, just one year after the death of James Arminius (a Dutch seminary professor), his followers drew up five articles of faith based upon his teachings. The Arminians, as his followers came to be called, presented these five doctrines to the State of Holland in the form of a “Remonstrance” (i.e., a protest). The Arminian party insisted that the Belgic Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Catechism (the official expression of the doctrinal position of the Church of Holland) be changed to conform to the doctrinal views contained in the Scripture (Steele, Thomas, and Quinn 3-4).

A counsel met for the next 9 months and had 154 sessions. There were well over a hundred pastors from several different countries who met to examine this protest to see whether there be any truth in the 5 articles made. The response to the 5 points was another five points by the Great Synod. These five points became commonly known as the “five points of Calvinism.”

That being said, most would agree that those five points were not only and primarily in agreement with Scripture that they are also in agreement with John Calvin’s understanding of salvation (though some attempt to argue against this point).

The five points were: Total Depravity, Unconditional Elect, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the saints. It formed an acronym of a very common flower in Holland, that is, the TULIP.

The doctrine of total depravity was nothing new by Calvin. This doctrine had been formulated long before Calvin was even born. It was first developed as a response to a heretic known as Pelagius. Pelagius taught that man could work his way to heaven. Augustine was known for his well thought out response to Pelagius, the church soon after deemed Pelagius a heretic. Later, another false teaching arose that was called “Semi-Pelagian.” It was quite similar to what James Arminius’ followers wrote up as a protest (although hundreds of years before Arminius). Due to both of these false doctrines the doctrine of total depravity was well developed before Calvin. In addition, Luther had also developed the doctrine a bit more by stating, due to the fall of man, his will is bound to his nature, which is corrupted and therefore can choose nothing else but sin.

The doctrine of unconditional elect was well developed by Calvin. To Calvin this doctrine was closely linked to the very nature of God, that is, the Great I AM. God could not look outside Himself for decisions or plans for that would be contrary to the very essence of who God is and has revealed Himself to be. This doctrine was taught and preached to comfort his sheep. Because one who knew God was all good and all sovereign one could trust in Him no matter the suffering and pain. This idea had its overflow into how and whom God chose for salvation.

Limited atonement is likely the most misunderstood of the five points. Some have attempted to argue that Calvin never held to this particular doctrine. However, the majority of avid readers of Calvin believe he held to this doctrine. The idea is that there is a particular and unique atonement for those whom God had chosen to save, as opposed to those who would not believe.

Irresistible grace outflows from points 1-3, because, man is totally unable to choose God, so God predestines to save particular persons, by applying the unique atonement to those chosen with an effectual calling that enables the person to a saving faith that is sure. Some have argued that this doctrine is the crucial clinching point between the Roman Church and the Protestants.

Perseverance of the saints is the doctrine that has been “practically” dropped by many self-proclaiming Calvinists. Many have abandoned this doctrine for a doctrine called “once saved always saved.” That doctrine is perhaps one of the most dangerous doctrines within Orthodoxy. It is not only doctrinally deficient but has given many Christians over to licentiousness. It is perhaps more harmful than Arminianism in this respect. The warning passages in scripture no longer act as anything. For a person who makes a profession is encouraged to never doubt his salvation no matter how unrepentant he or she may be. This would be abominable in Calvin’s mindset of God’s work in man. Calvin invested much time in developing a doctrine we often take for granted, that is, sanctification.

Another doctrine that was fine-tuned by Calvin was the doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement. This idea of Jesus’ death on the cross actually having an effect on God was crucial. God must punish sin! He must be appeased! However, it pleased the Father to crush the Son in the place of sinners. Calvin wrote, “Not only was salvation given to us through the Christ, but, by his grace the Father is now favorable to us” (Quiggle 142).

In other words, something took place on the cross that caused the Father to now show favor to those who were once His enemies. This was the atoning work of Jesus Christ. In the last two decades this doctrine has also gotten a lot of disagreement from within even the evangelical camp.

Conclusion

John Calvin lived a short life but by the sovereign grace of God he accomplished much for His glory. He was well acquainted with sorrow and suffering. He lived much of his life fleeing from persecution. He lived longer than all of his children and had to bear the death of his beloved wife.

To this day, Calvin is misunderstood and sometimes even hated for his doctrines. But much of it was formed in a life of suffering and seeking the glory of God in all of it. He was not perfect. However, he is another example to us what God can do through the life of a man who surrenders his life to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

May God use this life to stir in the hearts of men and women all across the world to be convinced and propelled by a certainty in the promises of God. That God may raise up a generation of people of faith who believe that God is faithful and the rewarder of those who seek Him.

To a generation that has almost completely lost any sense of conviction, passion, and sense of purpose in life. To a generation that is highly skeptical of everything including God’s word, and doubts God’s ability to clearly communicate to us. To a generation that is man-centered and has lost the vision of the Glory of God! This would be John Calvin’s message to our generation!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

No Heavenly Good!

This is a journal entry of mine from reading Philippians 3:19. The commentary is on Phil. 3:19d. Philippians 3:19-20 says, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. . .”

“we are so earthly minded we are no heavenly good! Notice: Scripture never warns of being ‘too’ heavenly minded, for it is not the tendency of man to do so, but rather it is the tendency of man to set his mind (heart) on earthly things.

But, it is those who are most heavenly minded who are the most good for the world. Think of Abraham who lived in the land of promise, as though he were in a foreign land, because he was looking for a heavenly city, and was it not John, the apostle of love, who was given visions of things to come from heavens point of view, or the Apostle Paul, who set his mind on the heavenly mysteries and sought to reveal those things to the saints, was it not also Paul who was caught up to the third heaven, and finally look at our LORD Jesus Christ whose mind was only heavenly, and did only the will of His Father.

Did not the LORD Jesus accomplish all good things for all in His life, which was set only on the heavenly. I would submit to you that the saying, ‘he is so heavenly minded, that he is no heavenly good’ is what the Devil has whispered in our ears when we are walking in the flesh, and so, we accept it.

However, in a sense this statement is true. The earthly minded have never accepted the heavenly things. Look at: Cain, or Esau, or stiff-necked Israel to the heavenly oracles of God from the prophets, or finally the Pharisees. For it would seem that the most heavenly minded man (Jesus) was no earthly good to them. Perhaps the problem is not the heavenly minded, but rather, the earthly good.

And humbly I must accept, this is only a problem the Holy Spirit can solve and no man! This is what the Apostle Paul meant in I Corinthians 2:6-16″

which says,
“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (italics added for emphasis)

Monday, August 4, 2008

"Legalism or Liberalism that is the question. . ." (Part 3)

Due to the “Introduction” blog for this third part we will just dive right in. So first let us examine the question asked from part 1,

“(H)ow would you counsel the person who says, ‘I am not burdened by the law…but by the battle that my sin nature fights against the law. I love the love, but I hate the sin which is in me…essentially, breaking the law.’ I think about this sometimes and [my spouse] and I have discussed it at length as well. Being that we are new creatures with a new heart…why does it seem so difficult at times to keep the law. And I don’t mean burdensome, but truly difficult b/c as you’ve pointed out even when we ‘keep the law’ outwardly, sometimes our heart’s motives are wicked (as Jesus showed in the Pharisees). This is the burden for me at least…my own wicked heart. It’s the constant examination of motives, having sorrow over sin, and of course (first and foremost) REFLECTING on what Christ has done for us which brings peace.”

I believe the question here is, “Why do we still have this struggle? How are Christians to properly deal with the internal and external struggle to do what is right? How may I find victory and counsel others in this venue?”

Part 1 of the question

Let’s first examine “Why do we still have this struggle?” The question is a good one. “If I am in the New Covenant and therefore have a “new heart” that loves and knows God, why do I still struggle with sin and often fail?” Biblically speaking, if the heart is the center of man and from his heart flow all things, how can sin still come from a man whose heart is good? Shouldn’t only good flow from a man that possesses a good heart?

Yes and No. I will deal with the “yes” first and then with the “no”.

Jesus spoke that good trees only produce good fruit. And that bad trees can only produce bad fruit. When scripture speaks concerning categories of man, more often than not it speaks of only two types. For example: Those who hear and those who don’t hear, those who see and those who don’t see, those who believe and those who don’t believe, those who love and those who hate, those who produce good fruit and those who produce bad fruit, those who are in the light and those who are in the darkness, those who are alive and those who are dead, etc. (you get the point). What I mean to say is that the Bible does not leave a third category very often. So you are either saved or you are not. In this sense, yes, only good flows from a good heart!

Throughout Paul’s epistles he is having to rebuke genuine believers for sinning though they are regenerate and have new hearts! Why is this? Paul states that the reason a Christian does sin is not because he wants to, but rather, because while Christians remain here on the earth they are still in bodies that are corrupt and are being more and more corrupt as time goes on (II Cor. 5:2; Eph. 4:22). This is commonly called “indwelling sin.”

In other words, the reason for the struggle is due to your flesh waging war against you (or your new heart). However, scripture speaks of the flesh that fights against the believer so distinctly that it is almost seen as no longer part of the believer’s personhood.( I Peter 2:11; Romans 7:20). Think of this indwelling sin as an active evil that labors to keep the eyes of your heart off of the solution to your problem, and therefore brings forth death.

The closest example I can think of for this “indwelling sin” might be cancer. The person’s desire is to live a full life, but there is an active evil disease that is seeking and laboring without rest to produce death continually in the cancer patient, to the point of ultimate death!

Part 2 of the question

“How are Christians to properly deal with the internal and external struggle to do what is right?”

Christians are to deal with this time of struggle with unexplainable hope and joy. This is what is commanded of us! Because death has been destroyed and our victory is sure, we are to live in such a way with such hope and joy that the world will be attracted to us (I Peter 1:13, 3:15) . Do not confuse this with the world being attracted to our source of hope and joy. Rather they will be attracted to the simple and clear display of the Christians’ hope and joy in the midst of this suffering life. For when told that our source of joy and hope is in “a hated, despised, crucified Messiah, who has risen and is now King over all things including them” the world’s only response can be HATRED apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:7; Ephesians 2:1-2; John 3; I Cor. 2:6-16).

But nevertheless this is what we are to do in the midst of this waiting period. Take note as well that this is the only period in the Christian’s life where he/she can hope. For we are told in Romans 8:24-25 that when our Hope is met it is no longer hope for it will have come!

An Example

In the time of Jesus it was a common event for a king, conquering new lands, to send out town-criers to proclaim the news to all the citizens and people. These town-criers were not predicting what was going to happen but rather proclaiming the facts, declarative statements to inform the people of what had happened. They would go about the land and herald the good news that there was a new king of the land. Now, though the King had won the war, it would take time to remove all the rebels and establish the fullness of the extension of that king’s kingdom. But the establishing and reality of this new kingdom was as good as a done deal. Imagine yourself a steward of that king (that had won), but who was currently imprisoned in the opposing armies camp. What hope and joy you will have even in the prison camp when you get word of the good news through the heralding of the town-crier. Those who are on the outside of the prison will be hopeless and joyless while appearing free while you will be full of joy and hope though you appear to be in prison! This is like the sure hope and joy we should have to the world.

Part 3 of the question

But you may be asking, “how can I find victory in this struggle, and how should I counsel others?” Do you remember how I stated that our “indwelling sin” is an “active evil that labors to keep the eyes of your heart off of the solution to your problem”? The victory we are to find is linked to the very thing our flesh strives to keep our eyes off of!

Examine II Corinthians 3:18. It states that we are sanctified as we are “beholding the glory of the LORD” In the context Paul is attempting to argue that he is a minster of a greater covenant than that even of Moses (I encourage you to read II Cor. 3-7:1 sometime after you finish this post)! So throughout the chapters Paul compares the two covenants and how the power and glory of the new surpasses that of the old so much that there is no longer any glory in the old.

The New Covenant brings in not just a new standard for people and God to relate, but rather, with the establishing of a New Covenant comes a whole new creation (i.e. new heavens and heaven, New Earth, new heart, new bodies, new temple, new law, new priesthood, new people, NEW EVERYTHING!). This was God’s intention from the very beginning and He sought the fulfillment of it, the moment Adam (the head of all creation) sinned and so all of creation fell with him. Thus, the need for a covenant that would restore all things!

But how was this covenant fulfilled? In JESUS! But when was this covenant fulfilled? At the cross! So the GOSPEL is the most clear revelation of the glory of God! By reflecting, studying, and savoring the gospel (which is the glory of Jesus Christ, who is God), we are sanctified (II Corinthians 3:18; 4:3-4)! In other words, when we strive to see Jesus in all His splendor (which is revealed in the gospel), and believe the truths revealed therein, we are victorious over our sin and will see a gradual growth into the image of God’s beloved Son! John Piper puts it this way, “God is the gospel!”

What I am saying is, the Bible declares that we become most like that which we set our eyes most upon! For examples of this look to Isaiah and the Psalms where God tells Israel that they are blind and deaf because they have worshiped (set their eyes on) false gods who cannot see nor hear! But when we set our eyes upon the “finished” work of Christ and “rest” in Him, it is there that we find our hope and our joy. It will be there that we find our strength and our peace. It is there that we discover our victory and our life. And it is there that we find our salvation!

John, the apostle of love put it like this, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (I John 3:2-3, bold italic was added for emphasis)

I remember my wife Ashley-Nicole relaying to me this account. “When I was a little girl I used to admire how my dad could walk so fast! So I would fix my eyes hard upon his steps and watch closely where his feet were stepping. As I intently looked at where my daddy had stepped I found that the natural inclination for me was to step where his feet had been stepping. And so, I learned to walk like my dad by fixing my eyes on him.”

This is what we are to do! Fix our eyes on Jesus! Treasure and admire the way Jesus walked! And as we behold the glory of Jesus, we will be transformed from one degree to the next. The end is sure for all those in Christ Jesus, for it depends solely on the accomplished work of Christ! And because He has fulfilled the law and lives, we know we have fulfilled the law and live in Him. He is the firstfruits and our victory is as sure as His resurrection. We may appear to be enslaved to the enemy but the true reality is we are free and the enemy is joyless and hopeless while we await sure victory!

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” -Paul in I Corinthians 15:58

An Introduction to "Legalism or Liberalism that is the question. . . " Part 3

I am now writing the third part to a blog that at its beginning was only intended to be solo. But as stated earlier, two very important questions were asked concerning the first blog. One of those questions was answered in part 2. It is now my objective in answering that second question. Before going any further I would caution the reader that if he/she has not read the first two entries this third will not be as helpful as it would, should the reader read the part 1 and 2 first.

At the on sight of working this blog I really wanted to title this “Living in realization of the reality of who we are in Christ for the victory accomplished by Him” However, there were two problems with this: first, this title is too reminiscent of the puritans (which really isn’t a bad thing) and second, most who have been following in this series would not recognize this title as being part 3 of the series at hand. That being said, I did want to title this blog that because it will be the main theme of the upcoming blog.

One of the objectives I set out in answering this question was reading through the N.T. and take notes on passages dealing with this question in mind. (For those of you in Bible school, I don’t think I was committing the sin of Isogesis, but rather seeing if the scriptures addressed this topic [a.k.a. Systematic Theology]) So I will not be dealing with one passage , but rather a plethora. This being the case I will not be putting the scripture passages in here but rather reference them in hope that you will have your Bible with you when reading this. Which I really encourage you to have one while reading this blog entry. However, when I do quote a passage I will be quoting from the [inspired ;-) ] ESV.

Before I begin I want the reader to know that my goal is to Glorify God by displaying the glory of the Son Jesus Christ. In doing this I hope to serve you (the reader). This being said, their are better articles and books written on this topic. So I would like to refer the readers to a book that I have found most helpful! You can find the book here. Now let us begin to answer this important question concerning the topic being discussed here.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

"Legalism or Liberalism that is the question..." (PART 2)


In my last blog I wrote on the false notion of having to choose between Legalism or Liberalism( or better known as “Antinomianism”). This article will not serve you best unless you have read the first article. So I recommend to you to read that one first.

Since this last blog, I received much thanks and agreement upon my conclusion on how to properly view our lives and freedom in Christ. However, I have received two very important and good questions from two different people. So, I thought it be best to respond to those questions in two more blog entries (thus, this will end up being a three part series). I will answer the questions in an order that will best make sense to the readers. In other words part two should set the stage for part three as part one did for the other two. My goal is two-fold to glorify God by revealing Him to the reader through the teaching of His word, and therefore, administer grace to the reader of this blog.

The first question I received was, “how does the law relate to the believer under the New Covenant?” This is a crucial question to the discussion. So this question must be dealt with carefully and explained clearly. I pray that I may do that here.

In the first article I explained how the purpose of the Law was to act as a pointer. The law “revealed” or “pointed” to the righteousness of God (Romans 3). In doing this it pointed to two things; the problem (us), and the solution (Jesus). When we see our wickedness and how we fall short of the glory of God and then repent of our filthiness and turn to Jesus, He offers free and full forgiveness of sins and His righteousness to those who believe. When one does this, they are in a New Covenant with God. And in this covenant God gives His people a “new heart” and “His Spirit” to cause them to obey Him (Jeremiah 31:31; Ezekiel 36:22-27).

But herein lies the question, “Since Jesus has ‘fulfilled’ the Law and abolished the Old Covenant and brought in a New Covenant, how should we then view the Law and what is our relation to the Law?”

First, it should be stated that our view of the Law should not change! You see, because the Law was never the problem! WE WERE! We were the ones that needed to be changed. The Law accomplished what it was supposed to do, that is, reveal the “righteousness of God.” We should view the Law as a means for seeing the righteousness of God

However, even though we view the Law of God the same our “relation” to the Law is no longer the same! Our relation to the Law of God changes with the changing of the Covenant (Hebrew 7:12 will explain this later!) . In other words, the Old Covenant was to act as a shadow of greater things, yes, Heavenly things! The sacrifice systems and cleansing process and etc. were all to point God’s people to the coming Messiah, who would fulfill all those things (The whole book of Hebrews shows this best, extensively). So then, those who are in the New Covenant are dead to that Law (Romans7:1-6).

That being said God’s purpose for His people has never changed. Although God has used different means in different dispensations throughout history, His purpose for His people has been the same. So, what is that purpose that God has had for His people from the beginning? This is the $1,000,000 .00 question to the topic at hand.

God’s purpose has always been to: “set apart for Himself a people, who are holy and pure by seeing Jesus as their ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE!” Now this encompasses much more that what is possibly seen at first glance. For example, for one to truly treasure Jesus, one must know who Jesus is. What makes Jesus, Jesus? What does Jesus Love? These are the questions that one must know to LOVE Jesus or to see Jesus as their “ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE!”

Let us just take one aspect of Jesus, so as to know what I mean by all of this. Jesus was fully man, but He was also fully God. That is to say, He possessed all the attributes of God, and He was like us in every way only without sin (referring to His humanity). Jesus is as righteous as God yet manifested in a man. It is on this attribute that we want to spend some time on.

As stated earlier, the Law “reveals” the righteousness of God(Romans 3). However, when Jesus teaches on righteousness He raises the standard from what the Law says. So where the Law states, “Thou shall not murder” Jesus says, “you have heard that it was said to those of old (referring to the Law) but I say to you everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…” ( Italics and bold added for emphasis) Jesus never lowers the standard but rather raises it! Jesus never lessened the importance of the law! He did otherwise, while increasing the standard by which to be held (Matthew 5:17).

In Romans 3:19-22a Paul states:

“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe…”

Paul states that the righteousness of God (the standard by which He will judge) has been shown in two forms: revealed in the “Law and Prophets”, and “manifested apart from the law.” This two-fold revealing of the righteousness of God coincides with the Old and New Covenant of God.

But if the Law given by Moses is linked with the Old Covenant and revealing of the righteousness of God what is the new or greater revealing of the righteousness of God linked to? Paul goes on to say,

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified (declared righteous in the court of God) by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” ( Romans 3:23-26, Parenthetical not scripture but brief commentary on the word justified, Italics and bold was added for emphasis)

This hardly needs any explanation! Did you see it?! Jesus is the greater revelation of the Righteousness of God! His incarnation, perfect lived life, death on the cross bearing the wrath of God for the sins of those who would have “faith” in Him, resurrection, and ascension is the greatest manifestation of the righteousness of God because it is the righteousness of God being acted out in real-time (now history but was “present time”).

Thus, when Jesus is in the upper room having “The Last Supper” with His disciples He tells them, “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20b, Italic and bold added for emphasis) So just as the Old Covenant is linked to the Law given by Moses to reveal God’s righteousness so too The New Covenant brings in a new giver of the Law Jesus to reveal the righteousness of God more clearly.



The best way I can think of how to explain the difference between the Law in the Old Testament and Jesus as they relate to the righteousness of God is like this, imagine yourself looking up on a beautiful clear sunny day. And as you look up you see these glowing bright glorious rays coming out from the sun which are too bright for you to even look at. Those rays of light are similar to the Law. They reflect and come from the source which is the sun. But here lies within the difference. Where as light rays from the sun are the Law, the sun itself is Jesus. Jesus is the righteousness of God! Whereas the law is a reflection of God’s righteousness.

Jesus brings in a New Covenant which is His body, those who are in His body died to the Law with Him and were raised with Him to new life (Romans 6-7:6). Jesus is the Great High Priest with this coming in of a New Covenant. With this coming of a new age comes all new things! I cannot begin to touch on all those things, but what I will deal with is what is the new law or standard that comes with the New Covenant.

As stated earlier Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it! He came not to lower the standard so that we could get in to heaven but raised it so that all are judged. By doing this Jesus becomes the only way to salvation. Salvation can only come by the accomplished work of Christ and be received by faith in His work. In other words, our new law is to place our faith in Christ Jesus!

By finding our salvation in Jesus Christ by faith we fulfill the Law of God. This is what Paul means when he says, “the just shall live by faith.” Think with me for a moment, what was the first commandment? To have no other gods before the One true God. Here God states that He just delivered them from Egypt and that He will provide for them! So that, they would go to no other gods because He alone is their God and will provide for them. In other words, the first commandment God gives to Israel is that they are to trust (believe) and find their everything in YAHWEH!

Now if you are finding your everything (i.e. your life) in YAHWEH are you going to even covet someone else’s things? If find yourself absolutely full in all the joy, peace, and satisfaction of Christ Jesus there is no desire left to be found wanting!

Let me attempt to use an illustration though it has it weaknesses. Say you walk into a restaurant absolutely starving and you look at the counter and it is absolutely full of delicious dishes. Your mouth is going to be watering like crazy and the temptation to be found ungrateful and covet what is there will be undefeatable! Now if I walk up to you and tell you, “God says, ‘you shall not covet!’” That does not solve the problem that only reveals the sin that was already there to be sin or wrong. But if the owner comes to you while starving and says, “come follow me” and brings you into a banquet hall filled with the most exquisite and delicious dishes of the greatest variety and tells you to, “eat whatever and as much as your heart can be full of delight for as long as you wish!” Once you have eaten your full and you leave the banquet hall you stumble across the same counter that had your mouth watering and you realize that the dishes filled with delicious foods was actually the dishes that came off the used tables and the food was the defiled leftovers. Your temptation to lust for the leftovers will have been removed by finding your needs and desires met in the banquet given to you freely!

This is essentially what God was telling Israel! I command you to find me giver of every good gift and to go to no other to seek or find your wants and needs! The Old Covenant Law did reveal a great amount about who God is and how He is able to be our source of delight our “ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE.” But it did so dimly and it did not change the real problem but rather exposed it (which was it’s purpose)! So this brings about the need for a greater covenant! With the New Covenant God reveals himself fully so as to show the “ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE” clearly and removes the problem (our hearts) by changes those in the New Covenant so that the delight of their heart is to see and obey God!

In other words, our law that we are to conform to is the righteousness of God! We know what the righteousness of God is by reading the scriptures. We understand that though the Old Testament revealed the righteousness of God, that it did so dimly, and that we can see the righteousness of God most clearly in Jesus including: his life and accomplished work.

The means of how we do this is most important to the discussion! This is the second question that was asked and will be dealt with in Part 3 of this topic. I am praying and preparing for this and hope to have it done soon, hopefully no longer than a week! I apologize for the wait and want all to know that I am praying for you! God bless!

Monday, July 7, 2008

"Legalism or Liberalism that is the question".....



Monday morning I was meditating upon Psalm 119 Verses 1-8. However, as the morning progressed I was praying and pondering what pearls could be seen in these verses and I found my mind enlightened to particularly the first couple of verse in Psalm 119. Which says,

"Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD,
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart.
"Psalm 119:2(Italics added)

Did you catch it? You see, I titled my blog "Legalism or Liberalism that is the question." Because, although most astute Christians recognize that is not our only choices, we LIVE as though those were our only choices. At least that is what I seem to see in my own life, as well as, pick up on from others in their conversation.

So how do we look at this topic in light of Scripture? Does the Bible tell us we may live our lives free from these two extremes? I believe God has spoken on this topic! And it is our responsibility to know and live according to this revealed will of God. So allow me to take some of your time and I hope at the end of this blog, you will leave blessed because of what the Word of God says.

Lets start with the passage in Psalm 119:1-8 which says,

"Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
who seek Him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways!

You have commanded Your precepts to be kept diligently.

Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes!

Then I shall not be put to shame,
Having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments.

I will praise You with an upright heart,
when I learn Your righteous rules.

I will keep Your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!" Psalm 119:1-8

Perhaps one of the most important eye openers to the text is when the reader recognizes the Hebrew poetic style being used by the psalmist. For instance if you look at the first three verses the Psalmist is using what is called Hebrew parallelism. So in the first verse the writer states that a particular person is blessed. The first stanza then states it is those who are "blameless", while the second stanza still dealing with the same person and even same attribute states it in another form, in this case "who walk in the Law of the LORD."

This is significant because of what the writer says in verse two using the same parallelism. In verse two we see that those who keep God's testimonies are those who are blessed. But notice with me how the writer defines those who "keep His testimonies". Who is the one who keeps God's testimonies? It is the one who is seeking God with his whole heart! Do you see the irony? Rules and laws are the very same thing that act as a stumbling block to some leading to legalism. And yet, it is the rules and laws that act as a means by which some are able to pursue and love the LORD with their whole heart!

It is with this foundation set that I would like to point out some obvious truths from what we have now established.

FIRST, rules and laws are not bad! What I mean is, we typically look at rules and laws as the problem to the dilemma at hand. But if rules and laws can act as a form of worship for one then the source of the problem cannot be the law! Indeed this is even what Paul states in Romans 7. The LAW (as all laws do) is to act as a pointer to the problem and to the solution. In other words rules and laws function in twofold. This leads us to the next point.

SECOND, the problem is OUR heart or indwelling sin. The "or" is dependent upon whether the individual is regenerate or not. But in either case the real problem to the legalism and liberalism is us! If the keeping of the law is a reflection of our heart, which is what verse two of this Psalm says, then this confirms my argument that the problem is us. This is further proved when we look upon verses 5-6.

The writer is broken and zealous to keep the laws of God, so that, he not be put to shame! What does the writer mean? I think the reason is clear in light of the second point. If keeping the law is a reflection of my heart towards God, then the reverse of it is true. In other words, when the writer does not keep the laws of God it reflects His lack of love in His heart towards God. The writer recognizes two things! First, the laws represent the giver of them. So how we treat the laws is how we are treating the LORD in our hearts. Second, because the true problem is us not the law it is he or "I" who is the one being put to shame and not the law!

THIRD, the law should NOT be removed! Because the function of the law is to point to the problem and to the solution. In other words, the law forever serves us in while we seek to keep the law we find we fail (the first pointer) and that we need One who has kept the law (the second pointer).

But you may say to me, "Stephen, you are making a major hermeneutical mistake because this book is written in the Old Testament, when the people of God were under a different Covenant AND under the Law. And Paul says, we are no longer under the Law but dead to it!"

This is a reasonable response. In fact, it is a situation that needs to be dealt with, so I am glad you asked ;-)! I will deal with this dilemma now.

I would like to state that though this is a legitimate question, it should be noted that if this response is right it would only disprove the third point made and half the second. In other words, if this statement is true it would not change the fact that the Law is not bad or that the real problem is us. It would only change our relation to the law. So it is only with this aspect I will deal with in my response.

Is this same relationship to the Law taught anew in the New Testament under the New Covenant of which we who are in Christ are under? "Yes" AND "No"! I will deal with the "no" first.

The New Testament never states that we are to keep the ceremonial laws of the Old. In fact, some of the books go so far as to exclude them, such as, Hebrews, Galatians, Acts, etc. So when we speak of the law we are not dealing with the sacrifices and cleanliness of the law, or the Ceremonial Law.

However, the principles of the laws in the Old should be continued over into the New. This is the pattern that we see continually throughout the whole New Testament, concerning this I do not have the time to refer to all of them.

But I will show in a brief sense what I mean by this. The Law of the Old dealt with, for the most part, outward conformity to God. So what happened is the people of God honored Him with their mouths (outward) but their hearts (inward) were far from Him. When Jesus comes upon the seen He exposes this. For a clear example of this go to Matthew 5-7. Jesus teaches that it is the principles of the Law that should be kept, because they deal with the heart. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Lets say you are counseling a person who has committed murder. In this case the Law of God has been broken. But now that it has been broken, how do we deal with this person. Do we say, "the Bible clearly says 'thou shalt not murder' and you have so now you must be punished." To do so would not be dealing with it in its fullness. I say so because you have only dealt with the outward problem and not the heart of it. The person is not just a murderer with his hands, but he is a murderer in His heart! So we should deal with the principle of the law and the heart of the problem, that is, the heart of the man. Point the man to the problem, namely, his heart. And point him to the solution, namely, Jesus who fulfilled the Law.

In the first case, the person was dealt with like a legalist. If the person simply let the murderer off the hook that would be liberalism. This is more often than not our sin, only we do this with so-called "smaller sins". But if we deal with the person from the heart then we deal with it as Jesus would have. (see Matthew 5:17-26)

Secondly, we see in the New Testament that the Apostle John deals with our relation to the law in a similar manner as we have been speaking of in I John 5:2-3 which says,

"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. AND His commandments are not burdensome." (Capitalization added for emphasis)

Did you see the parallelism between Psalm 119, Matthew 5-7, and now I John 5? John states that this is HOW we can KNOW we love God! Not that we JUST keep His commandments but that they are not burdensome! In other words, doing the law of God is the delight of those who love Him, of those who are His children!

If keeping the Law of God is a burden to you, then you love not God! That is what John is saying! But Stephen how can I be free from this hatred against God and His Law! How can I be set free?! How can I be saved?! Hear what Jesus has to say to you!

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
-"Jesus the Messiah" who takes away the sins of the World in Matthew 11:28-30

This is how Jesus saves us. Because the problem is us, our hearts, He gives us new ones and seals us with His Spirit so that we are freed from our hatred against the Law and Him, and are given a real and genuine love for Him and His revealed will for our lives with this "new heart" (See Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-27). Because the problem is us, we can't solve the problem, because we have dug ourselves in a hole we cannot dig ourselves out of. And if we do not call upon the name of the LORD, who is Jesus, to save us; then we will continue to dig our own graves and make our bed in the Lake of Fire.

Look to Jesus who is the spotless and sinless lamb who fulfilled the Law of God, He is the blessed One. For He bore our sins on the cross for us! He suffered the wrath for the sins of His people! And He promises full forgiveness and eternal life to ALL those who turn away from their sins and to Him! For all find themselves recipients of all the blessings of God, in Him! Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Together 4 the Gospel Conference



Midway through the month of April I was blessed with the Birthday gift of going to a conference in Louisville, KY. This conference's purpose was to further equip men for the ministry (specifically as it relates to the GOSPEL). There speakers consisted of Mark Dever, Albert Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, Ligon Duncan, John MacArthur, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and Thabiti Anyabwile.

Besides hearing world class teaching and preaching, the attendees also got to watch these speakers in a panel discussion on numerous occasions throughout the conference. But I must say that one of the most awesome things that took place in this conference was the generosity displayed through the publishing companies there. Upon arriving at each session all the conference attendees found a stack of free book on their chair. At the end of the conference I had received a grand total of 22 FREE books, which was a value of nearly $400. This is amazing when the conference only cost me $99.

Anyways, I wanted these men to administer to you as they have me, as is their desire as well. That is why they have offered the sermons from the conference to anyone for FREE! You can listen to anyone of these sermons by clicking on this link.

A sermon that has changed me forever

The following is an amazing sermon to guard those in the ministry from a man centered and encourage those to strive continuously for a God-centered ministry. click here to get the sermon. Blessings!!!!

-Stephen

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Do you wish to be BLESSED? (part 2)


In our last article we discovered that it is impossible to move God to mercy. However, God does choose to have mercy on some. We also noted that those whom He has chosen to show mercy will receive mercy through the means appointed (i.e. Salvation is through the means of faith).

But are all shown the same amount of mercy?

The answer is "no." It is true that God shows mercy to all! The rain falls on the just and the unjust. However, this should NOT be understood that everyone receives the same amount of mercy. A clear example of this can be seen in the narrative of Jacob and Esau. In this account it is spoken that God loved Jacob and hated Esau. Now, at the very least, all should be able to agree God is showing a greater love for Jacob than Esau. It is also clear, that because of this love for him, He intends to bless Jacob more than Esau. Once more, the text is also clear that it is based on nothing either of the two had done.

So then, If I have been shown the mercy and grace of God to believe unto salvation, then what?
This is an important question, and this brings us to our next passage,

"Blessed is he whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD." Psalm 119:1

This passage claims that there is a blessing on those who live in such a way that is blameless. It also uses the imagery of ones way of life (i.e. "way" and "walk"). And in what way is the person walking that he is found blameless. Well, that is answered in the next portion of the verse, "who walk in the Law of the LORD." That is to say living in a way that is blameless is the same as "walking in the Law of the LORD." And secondly, that person is to be considered "BLESSED".

Now this is something! Is this not what we are pursuing? To be blessed by God? And here it clearly states that to be blessed by the LORD all we have to do is walk blamelessly before Him.

But there lies the PROBLEM!

We can NOT walk before the LORD blamelessly. In fact, it is impossible. So now what?!?!

Three things need to be said in this! First, if you are burdened by the fact that you do NOT walk blamelessly before the LORD, know this, that is the mercy of the LORD. In other words, you are on the right track! This is why?

If you have truly been saved by God then you have been "born again" or "regenerated". In other words, if you have been saved you have been given a new heart that LOVES the LORD! You have also been given a Spirit within that causes you and burdens you to obey Him. The Bible states over and over again to love the LORD is to obey Him. You can NOT say you LOVE Him and care not to obey His laws. Such a scenario does not exist! This is why, the Law of the LORD that He has given reveals who He (God) is. It reveals the majesty and the GLORY of Himself. It displays His heart! To care NOT for the Law of the LORD is to NOT care about the LORD.

Second, IF you are have been saved then you are no longer blessed or cursed by what you have done or do! Rather, the Bible proclaims that all who are "in Christ" are rewarded on the account of His blamelessness / righteousness! In other words, everyone (who is saved) is now seen before the Law of the LORD blameless! Therefore, all who are "in Christ" are "blessed."

Thirdly, this does not mean the Law is useless to the Christian. In fact, it is quite the opposite! The Law is essential to the Christian for two purposes. One, it continues to act as a reminder of the need for a Savior and the inability of the person. Second, it acts as a pointer to the Christian to know God! Which as stated earlier is the absolute desire of every true believer. For every Christian has been given a heart that adores Him.

So then, although the Christian knows he will fall short of keeping the law, his desire to know and obey God's Law only grows. This is one of the blessings that comes with being saved and it can not be separated from salvation! For indeed, it is a part of salvation, that is, sanctification. This is the process that happens to every believer, in which, he/she becomes more and more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ!

My friends, if you are not being sanctified by God, then you are not being saved by God. If your LOVE is not growing for the LORD then be very afraid. For God is not at work in you both to will and do His good pleasure.

But hear this!
If God is bringing about a greater LOVE for Him, REJOICE! For the work He has begun in you, though seemingly small and so far from where you desire to be, will be completed! For it does not depend upon you and what you do, but rather, it is based upon the righteousness of Christ! AMEN!