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Update

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:22:14 -0600

New Covenant School of Theology has begun. We are midway through the inaugural class. The second class, Christ-Centered Counseling, will begin Monday, September 27. I will post the syllabus soon. If you plan on taking the class, let us know.

The Cross to Crown Ministries website is taking longer than expected. We hope it will be completed soon.

NCST Syllabus — The Holy Spirit

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:11:30 -0600

THE HOLY SPIRIT (Syllabus)

(Download PDF)

[Below are some of the key components of the syllabus. Please download the PDF for a complete outline including class schedule.]

Classes begin MONDAY, AUGUST 23.

Description: This course will explore the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, as described in both the Old and New Testaments. We will especially focus on His role in regeneration and sanctification, and thoroughly investigate His ministries of sealing, indwelling, baptizing, and filling. His relation to the Word of God, plus His gifts and fruit will also be examined and application will be made to the life of the believer.

Objectives: By completion of this course, each student will be expected to articulate:

The Holy Spirit’s unique person and His relation to both the Father and the Son

The necessary involvement of the Holy Spirit in the spiritual birth of every believer

The nature of the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer

The necessity of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the sanctification process of the believer

The difference between the baptizing and filling ministries of the Holy Spirit

The necessity of recognizing and exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church

The difference between the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the Old and the New Testaments

The nature of the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer

The Holy Spirit’s ministry in the life of Christ during His earthly pilgrimage

The present day abuses and resistance to the ministry of the Holy Spirit

Course Requirements:

Master of Divinity students (in addition to assignments on the class schedule)

Write a 10-page paper on a subject to be agreed upon by the instructor and submit the paper within one week after the final class.

Read a book on the Holy Spirit and submit a one-page summary within one week after the final class. The book should be chosen from the list of Additional Suggested Reading Material provided by the instructor.

Required Reading:

Wayne Grudem. Systematic Theology. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994, 1290p.)

James M. Hamilton, Jr. God’s Indwelling Presence. (Nashville:B&H Publishing Group, 2006, 233p.)

Additional Suggested Reading Material:

L. Berkhof. Systematic Theology. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1977, 784p.)

Frederick Dale Bruner. A Theology of the Holy Spirit. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1972, 390p.)

Sinclair B. Ferguson. The Holy Spirit. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996, 288p.)

Edwin H. Palmer. The Holy Spirit. (Puritan and Reformed Publishers)

RC Sproul. The Mystery of the Holy Spirit. (Tyndale Publishing House)

Course Descriptions

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:00:18 -0600

Course descriptions for the fall semester classes:

The Holy Spirit. This course will explore the person and work of the Holy Spirit as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. It will treat the subjects: regeneration, sanctification, sealing, indwelling, baptizing, filling, and the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit. The relationship of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God will also be examined. This course is required for all ministry tracks. 8 classes.

Christ-Centered Counseling. This course will discuss the purpose, the means, and the agents of Christian counseling. It will briefly survey the history of the conflict between "professional counseling" (including secular and Christian psychology and psychiatry) and "biblical counseling" (including Jay Adams' approach). Then it will proceed toward a methodology derived from the Scripture emphasizing the need for all believers who seek counsel to please Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. The class will direct its attention toward those who may be specially called and gifted to counsel others, but it will not ignore the fact that all Christians are expected to be counselors. This course is required for all ministry tracks. 8 classes.

God's Word and Character. This course will study the revelation, inspiration, illumination, and inerrancy of the Bible. Discussion then moves to the personhood and nature of the Trinity, the communicable and non-communicable attributes of God, and the dual natures of Christ. This course is required for all ministry tracks. 8 classes.

Introduction to Biblical Theology. This course will explain biblical theology and how it differs from systematic theology. Then it will move to a discussion of how to do biblical theology, tracing themes as they weave throughout the Bible. It will focus on interpreting all Scripture from a Christ-centered perspective. Discussion of genre analysis and the New Testament's use of the Old Testament will be explored. This course is required for all ministry tracks. 8 classes.

New NCT Seminary (Brochure)

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:52:37 -0600

Here is the brochure for the upcoming inaugural semester of New Covenant School of Theology.

If you are interested in more information about New Covenant School of Theology, please email Todd Cothran (todd@frontrangealliance.org) or call 719-260-0333 and ask for Todd or Doug.

New NCT Seminary: Vision, Purpose, and Method

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:36:31 -0600

[The following is excerpted from the soon-to-be-published NCST Vision Statement.]

Purpose

The New Covenant School of Theology (NCST) exists to exalt the Lord Jesus by teaching Christians how to think and live in the New Covenant.

Method

Specifically, by Godʼs enabling grace, we will achieve our goals by:

Teaching Christians how to interpret the Bible with a Christ-centered hermeneutic (Luke 24:44f)..
Preparing pastors for ministry through vigorous biblical study and leadership training in an apprenticeship model.
Training and equipping church leaders—including elders and ministry leaders (ex. women's ministry, evangelism/missions ministry)—for service in the local church.
Providing biblical instruction for all Christians at a deeper level than the typical Sunday School.

Learning at Church

At NCST, we believe that the training of church leaders is more effective when students are heavily involved in the ministry of the local church during the formal educating process. Furthermore, we believe that the local church is the ideal place for ministers to be equipped. This is not to degrade campus-oriented colleges, universities, seminaries, and the like, but we are persuaded that they are no substitute for well-done training in the midst of everyday church life. Therefore, students of NCST study in the context of real church ministry, which we consider to be a significant advantage over the typical educational setting.

If you are interested in more information about New Covenant School of Theology, please email Todd Cothran (todd@frontrangealliance.org) or call 719-260-0333 and ask for Todd or Doug.

Big Changes Coming Soon: New Look and New NCT Seminary

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:08:39 -0600

by Douglas Goodin

New Covenant Journal. In the near future, New Covenant Journal is going to be radically changed. We will have an entirely new look and we will be adding several new contributors who, I believe, will provide significant Christ-exalting content for your edification and encouragement. The preparation for this and other changes have resulted in sporadic posting. That should be remedied soon.

New Covenant School of Theology (NCST). Part of the previously mentioned "other changes" is the establishment of a new educational institution in Colorado Springs, CO. This has been a desire of mine for years, and our gracious Savior has now opened all of the necessary doors to allow its inauguration.

I will provide more information very soon. But for now I will tell you this much:

NCST will be founded upon the hermeneutical principles of New Covenant Theology and Biblical Theology.
Pastoral students will gain extensive (and required) ministry experience in a local church.
Classes will begin this fall (August 2010).
In addition to training students for full-time pastoral ministry, NCST will have curricula designed specifically for other ministry leaders (elders, women's ministry, etc.)

If you are interested in more information about New Covenant School of Theology, please email Todd Cothran (todd@frontrangealliance.org) or call 719-260-0333 and ask for Todd or Doug.

There is one more big change coming, but its announcement will have to wait a bit longer.

The Four Uses of the Old Covenant Law

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:03:03 -0600

Introduction

What is the value of the Old Covenant Law (i.e. the Law of Moses) for the Christian? That there is value is beyond dispute. Paul expressly affirms that all Scripture is profitable (2 Tim. 3:16), which certainly includes the Old Covenant Law. Moreover, he affirms that it is profitable for teaching, correcting, and equipping Christians. But exactly how the Law profits the Christian is the subject of much dispute.

Historic Reformed protestantism teaches three uses of the Law:

To reveal sin and the need for forgiveness.
To provide the rules of Christian living.
To restrain the actions of unbelievers.

The underlying presupposition is that the Old Covenant Law continues to place demands on men, both believing or unbelieving, Jew or Gentile. The New Testament, however, it seems to me, suggests a different kind of profit for Christians. I propose that there are not three but four uses of the Old Covenant Law (or perhaps, one overarching use with three sub-uses), and that none of them involves a direct obligation to obey its commands in the New Covenant era. I am not herein affirming that Christians are without law, but that is the topic for another post. This article will attempt to sketch the argument. (“Sketch” being the operative word. Full treatment will have to wait.)

Three uses in the life of Israel

The Old Covenant Law was not a universal law binding upon all men. It was specific to Israel. It was the core of the covenant between God and Israel (Deut. 4:13). And according to the Apostle Paul, it had three distinct purposes for the Jews:

• Publicize their sin (Rom. 3:20). Speaking to those under the Law (i.e. the Jews, v9), Paul explains that “through the Law comes knowledge of sin.” By having a list of dos and don’ts, God’s people were shown their failure to obey Him. The Law revealed their wickedness.

• Provoke their sin (Rom. 5:20). This is an unexpected purpose of God’s Law. One which, in fact, contradicts one of the previously mentioned Reformation purposes. Rather than to curb sin, the Law was actually given to induce sin in the Jewish people. Like when a parent commands a child not to touch something and thereby incites in the lad an increasing urge to touch it, so the Law produced a similar urge to do what God had forbidden in the children of Israel (cp. Rom. 7:7-9).

• Punish their sin (Gal. 3, especially v24). The Law was a disciplinarian (such should be the rendering of pedagogue rather than “teacher” or “tutor”). It reprimanded the Jew who stepped out of the bounds allowed by the commandments. It fenced the Jews in and punished anyone who hopped over it.

Prophetic use for Israel and the Church

The fourth use of the Old Covenant Law was its prophetic use. It had a goal (Rom. 10:4). Just like Isaiah and Daniel, the Law predicted the coming of Christ. It did so in (at least) two ways.

• First, it prophesied the coming kingdom and its King. In Matt. 11:13, Jesus says, “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John” (ESV, emphasis added). The Law not only commanded, it foretold. But what was its prediction? Luke 16:16 offers a clue when it says, ““The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached” (ESV). Again, this is Jesus speaking. The message of the Old Testament prophets and the Law has given way to their fulfillment—the arrival of God’s kingdom.

Moses went up on the mountain to receive God’s commands which he delivered to Israel along with God’s promise that if they obeyed them, they would become a kingdom (Exo. 19:5-6). This event was not only significant in the history of Israel, it also prophesied the kingdom of God to come. The fulfillment was Jesus, who Himself went up on a mountain to deliver commands to His people about His kingdom (see Matt. 5). The King of God’s kingdom did not merely restate and reinforce the Law of Moses, as is often taught in Reformed circles, but gave His own authoritative commands for the kingdom (“But I say unto you . . .”). The coming of this King and His kingdom was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant Law’s prophecy.

This, I believe, is getting close to what Jesus meant when He said that He came to fulfill the Law (Matt. 5:17). He came to be what it foreshadowed and to declare God’s righteousness for His kingdom.

• Second, the Law prophesied the need for the Messiah to suffer and die (Luke 24:46). God’s righteousness imposed severe consequences upon law-breakers. They would be cut off from His presence, rejected by Him, and they must die. This was repeatedly demonstrated by the (substitutionary) death of sacrificial animals and the exclusion of sinners from the Jewish community. If any Jew was to have an amicable relationship with God, a substitute more worthy than bulls and goats would need to come and take God’s wrath for him. Jesus took upon Himself the curse of the Law for the Jews (Gal. 3:13). He was cut off from God’s presence (crucified outside of Jerusalem), abandoned by God (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”), and He died. All of this was foretold by the Old Covenant Law.

This prophetic character of the Old Covenant Law, not its moral demands, is its profit for the Christian.

Conclusion

Christians should interpret the Law of Moses akin to the way we interpret Isaiah 53, as prophecy which richly foretells the coming of Jesus Christ. As such, the Law is not our source of laws. Certainly, New Testament authors quote and reintroduce Old Testament commands, but they do so as emissaries of the King. And nowhere do they tell us to imitate their practice. There is no New Testament warrant for arbitrarily “principalizing” Old Testament commands without express apostolic authorization. We look to our King for commands to obey (John 14:15; Matt. 28:18-19).

Christians Are Not Under the Law of Moses

Fri, 14 May 2010 14:01:06 -0600

[An exegetical analysis of Acts 15 which establishes that Christians are not obligated to keep the Law of Moses, even the Ten Commandments.]

by Douglas Goodin

Context

The book of Acts is the story of the Gospel’s progress from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, to the ends of the earth (1:8). As it moved away from its Jewish center, it naturally made inroads into Gentile states. Some Gentiles believed the Gospel, some shrugged their shoulders at it, and some tried to permanently quiet those who proclaimed it. Some of the Jews also persecuted Gospel preachers in an attempt to snuff out what they believed to be a blasphemous cancer eating away at their true religion. Nevertheless, the Gospel moved on, gaining followers from every nation, both Jews and Gentiles.

This is the setting into which Acts 15 comes. As the number of non-Jewish followers of the Jewish Messiah rose, the inevitable question finally appeared—What role does the Law of Moses play in the life of Christians? For centuries, the Law formed the basis of the relationship between God and His people. Now the message was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Where does the Law fit into this message? That was the question prompted by a group of Jews who were not wiling to let Moses fall completely out of the picture.

Summary of the text

Some Jews traveled to Antioch insisting that circumcision was required for salvation (v1). This prompted a weighty discussion, and a decision to take the matter to the leaders in Jerusalem (v2). After Paul and Barnabas reported about God’s saving work among the Gentiles, a group of Pharisee believers took up the cause of requiring circumcision and obedience to the Law of Moses (v3-5). After other arguments were presented, Peter spoke up and recounted how God had used him to reach Gentiles, even pouring out His Spirit upon them to evidence their having been justified by their faith (v6-9). Peter then made the bold assertion that requiring Gentiles to obey the Law of Moses was tantamount to testing God. Furthermore, he reminded them that neither the patriarchs nor they themselves had obeyed the Law. Salvation for Jews and Gentiles comes by grace, not Law-keeping (v10-11). Paul and Barnabas shared more of God’s mighty acts among the Gentiles. Then James took the floor and appealed to Old Testament prophecies which foretold of God’s plan to bring the nations to Himself (v12-18). James concluded that only four things from the Law of Moses should be asked of Gentile converts—abstention from things polluted by idols, sexual immorality, things choked, and blood. The reason he gave was that the Mosaic Law was preached in cities and synagogues all over the world (v19-21). The apostles, the elders, the church, even the Holy Spirit agreed with this conclusion, and a letter was sent via Paul and Barnabas to the brothers in Antioch with the instruction about the Law of Moses (v22-30). The brothers rejoiced at this word (v31).

Explanations, arguments, conclusions

1. This text is definitive for the question of a Christian’s relationship to the Law of Moses because that is the very question being addressed by the apostles and elders. When constructing an argument about the Christian and the Law, this passage must lie at the foundation. It should inform our presuppositions, not be interpreted by them.

2. Nowhere in the text is the Law of Moses divided into the traditional categories: moral, ceremonial, and civil. To find such a division requires a previous commitment to it. When this text speaks of the Law of Moses, we should think, “the Law in its entirety.”

3. Peter made two remarkable assertions about the Law of Moses (v10):

• It was an unbearable yoke which no Jew had kept. None of their Jewish forefathers—David, Solomon, even Moses himself—had kept the Law. Peter had not kept the Law. The Pharisees themselves had not kept the Law. Therefore, to require Gentile converts to keep the Law was to place expectations on them which nobody (including them) had met. Moreover, what made the Law so unbearable was the severe curses promised to all who disobeyed it (Deut. 28; Lev. 26). Why, asks Peter, would they desire to bring Gentiles under such a threat?

• Requiring the Gentile converts to keep the Law of Moses was tantamount to testing God. In other words, since God had already proven His acceptance of the Gentiles by giving them His Spirit (v8) and by cleansing their hearts by faith (v9), to require something else of them (i.e. circumcision and Law-keeping) was to call into question God’s work in their lives. That is a serious matter, indeed.

4. James introduced evidence from the OT prophet Amos that God would one day call Gentiles to Himself. After hearing the testimonies of Peter, Paul, and Barnabas that God had begun fulfilling this prophecy, he concluded that requiring the Gentiles to be circumcised and keep the Law would be troubling to them. It should not be done.

5. Some want to confine this passage and the decision of the church leaders to the realm of justification. According to this argument, no one can be justified (i.e. declared “righteous”) by keeping the Law of Moses (which, they maintain, is the point of the Jerusalem debate). It would be overwhelming trouble to require Gentile converts to keep the Law in order to be justified. They would no more be able to keep it perfectly than the Jews were. However, they argue, this does not mean that the Law of Moses is troubling as a means of sanctification. (Not all of it, mind you, but the “moral Law” is God’s eternal standard by which Christians, Jew or Gentile, determine how to please God.)

The bottom line of this assertion—The Pharisees sought to maintain the Law as a means of justification. The church ruled against this position. They concluded that the Law of Moses must never be used as a means of justification, but it remains the Christian’s guide for sanctification.

But,

• The text makes no distinction between justification and sanctification.

• The text makes no distinction between the “moral Law” and other kinds of Law. There is just law. (Nor does this or any other text explain how to determine which laws are “moral” and which are not.)

• The text explicitly reveals which commands from the Law were urged upon the Gentile converts and why (see below, and note that it was not the Ten Commandments).

• The assertion assumes rather than proves that the Law of Moses is intended as a perpetual standard for Christian sanctification.

6. Rather than troubling the Gentile converts with the entire Law, James recommended that a letter be sent instructing them to avoid four things (v20):

• Things polluted by idols.

• Sexual immorality.

• Things choked.

• Blood.

James then explained why he wanted the Gentiles to avoid the things listed in v20—because Moses had preachers in every city and every synagogue at every Sabbath service, going back to antiquity. In other words, James’ concern was not to keep the Law of Moses, but rather to prevent obstacles that would impede the evangelistic efforts of those trying to persuade those who keep the Law. If the Gentiles violated these four things, Jews living throughout the lands would not give them a hearing. The Gospel, not the Mosaic Law, is the reason for adherence to these four commandments.

7. Practical application for believers today:

• According to the apostles and the Holy Spirit, the Law of Moses is not binding upon the Christian either for justification or sanctification.

• When seeking to evangelize the Jewish people, we should consider how to remove obstacles that may prevent open discussion.

• James interpreted the progress of the Gospel among the Gentiles as fulfillment of Amos’ prophecy. This should inform our hermeneutic in interpreting OT prophecies.

Implications for Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology

Covenant Theology

1. The eternal nature of the Decalogue per se is inconsistent with the teaching of this passage. It teaches explicitly that the Law of Moses (which would include the Decalogue) is not binding upon Christians.

2. To divide the Law of Moses into separable categories—moral, civil, and ceremonial—is arbitrary and should not be used in theological conclusions.

Dispensational Theology

1. The Law was a yoke which no Jew could or did keep. Therefore, if Jews are still under the Law of Moses, they are subject to its unbearable yoke (i.e. its curse).

2. The text does not explicitly state that Jews are no longer under the Law of Moses, nor does it state that they are under the Law. Other texts will have to determine the relationship of Jews to the Law.

Now We Know, and It Changes Everything

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:07:15 -0600

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1:14-16 As children of obedience who are not conformed to passions formerly in your ignorance, but rather according to the holy one who called you, become holy yourselves in every aspect of life, for the reason that it has been written, "You will be holy, because I Myself am holy."

We (believers) have experienced a new birth which was fathered by God Himself. Therefore, the new family to which we belong is His family. Christians are God's kids. Since this is true, we ought to act like God's kids.

I remember some years ago, as I was well into adult manhood, I noticed myself standing a certain way and leaning a certain way against a door jam while talking with someone. My posture was strangely familiar. I am sure I had stood that way before, but the familiarity ran deeper than that. I wasn't simply observing a repeated pattern in my own life. No, the sense transcended my own behavior. Then is hit me. This is precisely the stance I had seen my father take countless times in my life. He has a unique way of leaning against the door frame when holding a casual conversation with someone in a room. A few days later, my wife observed that I was holding my arm out in a somewhat awkward position and she asked me if that was comfortable. Until she mentioned it, I had no idea I was doing it. It felt fine to me, in fact, it felt extremely natural. And in that moment I realized that in this way, too, I was mimicking my father. Over the next several weeks (and to some degree, even to this day), I began to notice my father manifesting himself in my speech patterns and expressions, and in my sense of humor, and in my attitudes, and in my tendencies. Even my nose is taking on the shape of my dad's nose. This started me thinking about the ways I want to be like him, and the ways I don't (the nose, for example). And it became more and more clear that I resemble my father to a significant degree. Without even trying!

The similarities between a father and son come naturally because of (presumably) genetic legacy, but even more so because of relational legacy. We are most influenced by those with whom we spend the most time. Husbands and wives become increasingly alike over the years (I'm told that they even start to look alike...please pray for my wife) because they spend so much time together. For a son who has had a father in the home, he is going to absorb his dad right into his own ways of thinking and behaving, simply because of their time spent together.

Peter instructs believers to act as children of obedience. If we are God's kids, we ought to behave like Him. The more time we spend with Him, and the more influence He has on us, will result in our looking more and more like Him. In contrast to the natural, inherited, mimicking that I described about me with my dad, we must exert tremendous effort to become like our heavenly Father. It will not come without trying, but only with intentional pursuit of His holy character.

This pursuit is not optional for God's children. We are commanded to be holy according to the holy one who called you. That's a tall order. Consider how God is holy. He is wholly holy. There is no darkness in Him whatsoever (1 John 1:5). God is different from all of His creation, nothing is like Him in all the earth. He is pure righteousness. He is pure perfection. He is flawless and without weakness. He loves with an impeccable love, and judges with absolute justice. He never has a bad day. That is the holiness we are expected to pursue, a holiness that resembles Him.

We do well to remember that He called us. He could have left us to our evil selves only to experience His holy wrath. But, He called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9-10; Col. 1:13), He adopted us as His children (Rom. 8:14-17), and He judged His only begotten Son in order to give us eternal life with Him. Because of this comprehensive kindness He has shown to us, the only reasonable response is to offer our entire being to Him as a living, holy, sacrifice (Rom. 12:1-2).

Every aspect of life. Not only is it required, it is also universal. We must not be content to have conquered one particular sin, or improved one area of our attitude, or increased our practice of one of the spiritual disciplines. We must press on still more seeking to be altogether like our holy Father in every way. This means that we must never become satisfied with our progress in being different from the world and being like God.

I've heard wives who refuse to submit to their husbands say, "But the Lord knows what I've been through, and he understands why I won't submit. He's okay with me as I am." And husbands who acknowledge their lack of spiritual leadership in the home, but say (and have been saying for years), "Yeah, I probably should give more attention to that. But I'm not going to beat myself up over it. God knows my heart." Or still others who admit their faults so willingly, often in self-deprecating anecdotes, and seem to think that their acknowledgment of the sin makes it all okay. But all of these approaches to sin are unbecoming a child of God. Certainly, our pursuit of holiness must always flow out of the gospel. We strive for perfection, not to be accepted by God, but because we have already been accepted by Him in His beloved Son. Nevertheless, strive we must. We should still mourn our sinfulness and long for righteousness, because we want to be like our heavenly Father and bear His family name in a manner worthy of Him (Eph. 4:1f). God desires this for His people, and He put it in writing: "You will be holy, because I Myself am holy" (Lev. 11:44f; 19:2; 20:7). Let us make it our ambition to do what our Father does, say what He says, love what He loves, and hate what He hates.

Our form ought to take the shape of God, not the passions formerly. Before we became God's children we were children of the devil (1 John 3:7-10). We looked and behaved like him. We pursued the things of our dirty, wicked heart. We had strong desires for our own gratification and pleasure without regard for pleasing God or being kind to others (see Rom. 1:22-32; Eph. 4:17-19).

In your ignorance. As Romans 1:32 makes clear, we were never ignorant of our sin. We liked it, yearned for it, and applauded others who joined in with us. Furthermore, we knew that we deserved the wrath of God because of it. We knew God as righteous judge, and we hated Him for it. But we did not know Him as gentle Father. We were ignorant of His grace. We lacked an experience in our soul of His forgiveness. We had no concept of a close, familial relationship with Him. We did not know Him intimately as a bride knows her husband. In that sense, we were ignorant of our sinfulness and God's righteousness. Now we know, and it changes everything.

Commanded to Hope

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:53:05 -0600

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore, hope altogether upon the grace which is brought to you in the uncovering of Jesus Christ, you who girded the loins of your thought, who are sober . . .

In the original language, hope (elpizo) is the only finite verb in v.13. It is an imperative. Peter is commanding his audience to hope. Remember, in the Bible hope is not wishful thinking, but is a certain expectation of something that is assured. The apostle enjoins believers to place their full anticipation upon the grace which is brought to [them] in the revelation of Jesus Christ. What will carry us through the oppression and afflictions that must come upon us in this sin-filled world? Looking for and envisioning the eternal kindness that will be lavished upon us when our Lord is displayed in the fullness of His majestic glory. As we have seen, heaven will be a place where sin and all of its effects will have no impact whatsoever. In the unveiled presence of God, no unholiness or distress will be allowed in. Therefore, we are told to be aggressive and active in hoping for that grace which will be ours on that Day. At first glance it seems odd to be commanded to hope, but upon further reflection we can readily understand how to do it and why.

The grace of our full and final salvation will be brought to us when Jesus is revealed. From its inception in the divine design to its historical consummation, salvation is in God's hands.

When I travel, I usually try to find something special to bring home to my children, some token of where I have been, perhaps, or else just something fun to add to the joy of our being reunited after a separation. In a similar way, when the Lord Jesus returns from His journey away from earth, included with Him will be the fulfillment of all that we have hoped for during our terrestrial pilgrimage. He will carry to us the greatest of all homecoming gifts—salvation and eternal life.

The gospel is not a call to mindless, baseless faith. We who believe it and place our faith in the promises of a certain-yet-future salvation, are described as those who girded the loins of your thought. Like an ancient soldier who hikes up his robe in preparation to run and fight, Christians must maintain a posture of readiness to do battle.

The location of our struggle is our thought, our minds. We live in a day when a minimum is placed on thinking, even in the Church. (Even in the pastorate!) One result of our mindlessness is that the sheep are easy prey for any hungry wolf who comes along. The New Testament knows nothing of a weak-minded or experience-based Christianity. At its core, it is a religion grounded in truth to be apprehended. To be sure, the gospel must not remain in the realm of abstract thought or passionless contemplation, as though it were nothing more than a bald proposition. Nevertheless, it must be through and through a cognitive, mental, deliberative recognition of truth.

The first act in following Christ is metanoeo (to repent) which means, "to change one's mind." The task of the evangelist is to call men and women to readjust their thinking about themselves and about Jesus Christ, admitting that they are indeed sinners deserving the just wrath of a holy God and that Jesus is the Son of the living God, who died as an atoning, substitutionary sacrifice, was buried, and came back to life. Natural, un-repentant man does not believe these things. He needs to change his mind. For believers, we who have repented, the cognitive battle does not end at conversion, it begins there.

In the midst of affliction and persecution and grief and temptation, we must keep our focus on the goal so that we do not get distracted along the way. If a runner stares at his feet, he is sure to trip; but if he keeps his sights on the finish line, he has the whole field in view in front of him, and is able to see any upcoming hurdles. It seems simple enough, but it actually requires intense concentration to maintain the focus necessary to finish a long race. For most of us, the journey to heaven is not a sprint, but a marathon, and it demands all the mental fortitude we can must to remain steadfast in the face of fierce opposition.

Closely related is the expectation that we stay sober. Literally, of course, it means to avoid drunkenness. An intoxicated person has lost control of his thinking which leads to a loss of control of his behavior. Therefore, his actions are erratic and un-calculated, often leading to further sin. A Christian is not to be under the influence of alcohol to the degree that it exercises any mastery over him. However, Peter has more in mind than literal sobriety. Disciples of Jesus Christ must maintain control of their thoughts and actions at all times. Our passions must not get the best of us, and our dedication to arriving at the finish line faithfully must not wane. This calls for rigorous stamina in our thinking. If we become drunk on wine, or love, or anything else, we will fail to keep our proper focus.

They Yearn to Pop Open the Lid

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:09:22 -0600

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1:12 To them it was uncovered that not to themselves, but to you they were serving things, which now were reported to you by means of those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit which was sent out from heaven, into things which angels long to look in.

The prophets understood that they were speaking to a future generation, that the marvelous treasure entrusted to them would not be for their own enrichment. They were servants of a group yet to come. However, their mantle was picked up by a group of men who lived in the current generation, who were given the untold privilege of uncovering the mysteries of old and expressing their fulfillment in all of its straightforward splendor. These men were apostles, prophets, and evangelists of Christ, sent by the same heavenly Spirit who had inspired Isaiah and Jeremiah. Those who bore the good news of Jesus Christ carried in their announcement the fulness of all that had been previously proclaimed. Paul said it this way, All the promises of God are "Yes!" in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).

Turns out, the prophets were not the only creatures interested in figuring out what all of this meant. Even the angels long to look in to these things. The early preachers and hearers of the gospel held an advantage over those awesome beings who dwell in the manifest presence of God. Although they continually observe the divine majesty and the goings on in the celestial court, and they hear the voice of God as He issues this sovereign decree and that, still like a little boy's intractable curiosity of the contents of a child-proof medicine bottle, they yearn to pop open the lid and have a look. They had listened to what the prophets said in many portions and many ways (Heb. 1:1-2), and observed as history's events unfolded day by day and year by year, but even their eyes had not seen all that God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). And they are still looking. “Long to look in” is a preposition/verb/infinitive combination in the present tense (eis epithumeo parakupto).

We should pause and notice one other thing about this verse. The prophets of old were Jewish prophets speaking to Jewish people. Peter is writing to a group that includes (possibly a majority of) Gentiles. Other New Testament writings, particularly by Paul, speak of this aspect of the mystery of the gospel. Ephesians 2:11-3:12 has this as its primary theme. What the angels did not know, and the Jews did not expect, and the Gentiles did not care about, was the fact that God's glorious program of salvation was never intended to be a national deliverance of ethnic Jews from their political adversaries, but rather a universal deliverance from His holy damnation of people from every tribe, tongue and nation (Rev. 5:9; 7:9f.). This was the mother of all mysteries which were revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Prophets Who Searched for Christ

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:55:53 -0600

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1: 10-11 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

Peter speaks of our salvation as grace that would come to you. Let us never forget that we do not deserve to be saved from God's judgment. What we deserve is to be punished eternally. But God is kind and merciful; He delights in those things (Jer. 9:23-24). He is pleased to grant pardon to His people because of His great mercy, which was the impetus for giving us a new birth (v.3). And let us also remember that His grace was specifically for you. The lovingkindness of God of which Peter speaks, namely, salvation from God's just condemnation, is not a general grace given to all mankind; rather it is selective.

Even the prophets of old, who were the mouth-pieces of God employed to predict the cross of Christ, did not realize the full benefit of what they were saying. After they spoke, they exercised painstaking investigative skill in trying to figure out what they had said. The salvation which seems so lucid to us was not clear to those who foretold of its coming. Isaiah's lamb which walked silently to its slaughter, which bore our sins and healed our wounds (Isa. 53), was a mysterious lamb for the prophet. When Ezekiel was led to the valley filled with the bones of dead men, the Lord asked him whether those bones would walk again. Ezekiel wisely answered, "O Lord God, You know" (Ezek. 37:3). God then told him to prophesy concerning the day when flesh and blood would once again attach themselves to the bones, and breath would flow in and out of their lungs. They would live again, when God's Spirit would invigorate them with new, Spiritual life. But how? When? Where? These are the questions that the prophet was left to answer. What is so obvious to us on this side of the cross was obscure to those who proclaimed it in advance. And yet, the wonder of it was so profound, and they were so intrigued with the hope of such promises, that they devoted themselves to determining the time, place, and means of their fulfillment. Like a miner who zealously digs his claim, leaving no stone unturned (or un-blasted), tracing every nook and cranny hoping to find the route that will lead to the big payoff, they scoured the terrain of this salvation seeking to discover what it might mean and when it would happen. To us, it has been revealed in all its fulness.

The inquiry lasted long after the original prophets had ceased to speak. When Herod desired to ascertain the exact location of Messiah's birth, he easily found biblical scholars who had studied these things and determined that the seers of old had named Bethlehem as His place of origin (Matt. 2:1f.). John the Baptist, the herald of Christ, even after receiving exclusive divine instruction regarding Jesus, questioned whether He was the fulfillment of the prophecies (Luke 7:18f.).

The Spirit which revealed the future advent and accomplishments of the Christ was the Spirit of Christ. He made Himself known to the prophets. He announced beforehand that He would come and die and then be raised in power over all creation. He was witnessing to these things, that is, He was explaining what He had observed. That's what a witness does; he tells what he has seen. Not that Christ actually saw His own death and resurrection before they occurred in time and space, but by His Spirit He testified to those things which were certain to come about because they had been decreed by the Tri-une God before the universe was created. He was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). The eternal life which He would secure for His people on the cross was promised before time began (Titus 1:1-3). Consequently, God's predetermined plan for redeeming His people was disclosed to the prophets by Christ's Spirit centuries before it was actually realized in history on Calvary. His presentation as the king and deliverer of Israel was declared long before its fulfillment (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:1f). On and on we could go listing predictions of Christ's death and resurrection in the Old Testament Scriptures and their corresponding actualization in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Someday

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:15:20 -0600

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1:8-9 [Jesus Christ] whom you love not having seen, into whom you now trust not having seen, but you rejoice exceedingly with delight—unspeakable and that which has been glorified, you who gain the goal of faith—deliverance of souls.

We who live two millennia after Christ was elevated into the clouds, where He must remain hidden until the Father sends Him to earth again, can empathize with Peter's recipients. We haven't seen the Lord Jesus. Our faith is based upon the testimony of others who did witness His life, death, and resurrection. Nevertheless, because we are persuaded of His person and work, we love Him. And in this case, absence certainly makes our hearts grow fonder. We long to see Him and to be with Him. Like a woman who has been promised to the perfect husband, yet must endure a seemingly interminable delay for consummation, we yearn for our wedding day with Christ. We have been told of His character, His magnificence, power, compassion, and we have had our souls warmed by His Spirit, and we love Him. Our heart and mind see Him, and they adore Him. Someday, our eyes will be filled with His majestic presence, and all will be perfectly sublime. Someday.

The Scriptural writers strive in vain to describe the glory that awaits those who hold fast to the end. Some of the metaphors include streets paved with gold, walls sparkling with precious jewels, and crystal waters, but mostly we are told what heaven is not. It is not a place of tears, or mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. There is no light there because the radiance of God's glory renders any other luminary unnecessary. And though we gain some visceral apprehension of heaven, it is really nothing more than a vague adumbration. What will it really be like? Words cannot describe it, they fail us in their inadequacy. The few people in history who have enjoyed a pre-death glimpse into its inner chambers have been left speechless (2 Cor. 12:3-7; Rev. 10:4; Dan 8:26; 12:4, 9). Still, because of what we do know we can and should exult in profound exhilaration at the thought and anticipation of it, even in the midst of fierce torments. They are temporary; our glorification is eternal.

The goal of your faith. Business gurus, marketing analysts, personal coaches, and the like, emphasize the need and importance of establishing clear, definable, and measurable goals if one is to achieve his or her ultimate purpose. If you don't know what you're aiming for, it doesn't really matter which direction you shoot. Goals help us to stay on course in our pursuits. They motivate us. "Keep your eye on the prize," as they say, in order to remain focused on the present objective and to remember that the result of all your strenuous exertion will be the reward that got you started in this endeavor in the first place. A running back who breaks free toward the end zone will usually be tackled if he pays attention to the opponents chasing after him, even if he is two seconds faster in any given speed test. However, if he locks in on the goal line, he will not easily be overtaken. By the way, there is a reason it is called the "goal line;" for the team possessing the ball, their goal is to carry it across that line.

Our faith has a goal—to save our souls. (NASB and ESV translate telos as 'outcome', but goal is better because it connotes purpose rather than merely the way things happen to turn out.) It will help us maintain a sturdy faith if we keep our sights set on the salvation which lies ahead of us. Someday, we who have believed the gospel will stand before our holy, omnipotent, and just Lord’s tribunal, and in spite of our sins will be pronounced "Righteous!" Our souls will be rescued from the terrifying wrath that awaits all who have failed to please and obey Him. That future rescue, Peter advises, is what we need to set as our objective, which in turn will strengthen our resolve in the face of grave oppression now.

Jesus Praising Us?

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:34:16 -0600

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1:7 . . . in order that the test of our faith—more precious than gold which is destroyed, but which is tested by means of fire—could be found for praise and glory and honor in the uncovering of Jesus Christ.

The value of gold has been exalted among people since the beginning of civilization. It is a precious metal indeed. Its worth coupled with the fact that it is the heaviest metal known to man explain why the phrase "worth its weight in gold" means something. Yet, in spite of its heftiness gold is destructible. Our trust in Christ, however, is not destructible. It will endure. All attempts to eradicate it will fail, even being tossed into an inferno.

Which brings up another point of comparison between faith and gold—they are both refined by fire. Just as the impurities of gold are separated and removed through liquifying it by intense heat, so also our dross is exposed and expunged through the flames of affliction. The apostle is giving us a graphic hint both to the topic which pervades his letter and to the severity of the trials which ought to be anticipated by believers in an unbelieving culture. Another expression which communicates its intent vividly is "trial by fire;" that, Peter insists, is an apt description of the road which leads to our inheritance.

Saying we believe the gospel is easy, it's the actual belief that is hard. Trusting Christ when the potential for loss is great requires a faith that is deep and sincere. In order to weed out those who are just playing the Christian game, and to grant assurance to those who possess genuine faith, our Lord sends difficult providences to His people. Another familiar expression is "trying times;" Christians should expect bunches of them.

Passing these tests has eternal benefits. When we graduate to the final level, we will hear our King say, "Well done!" and we will consider it worth the effort. Imagine it! The Lord of glory, honor, and praise calling your name and bestowing these commendations upon you. This will be the outcome of our enduring steadfastness through the various arduous examinations which occur throughout our lives.

First Peter 1:3

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:57:10 -0700

(A verse-by-verse study from a NCT perspective.)

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who birthed us anew, according to His great mercy, into an expectation that is alive by means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ out of the dead.

Three things are expressed of God in this verse. First, He is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. It may seem strange to speak of God as Jesus' God because the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is God. So why would Peter describe God in this relation to Jesus? One answer is that the God of whom Peter speaks is the God of whom Jesus spoke. In other words, Jesus came to reveal the Father (Jn. 1:18), to make the Father known (Jn. 14:7f.). Therefore, Peter may be affirming that he is referring to the same God whom Jesus proclaimed. "Blessed be the God of whom Jesus taught."

Another answer is that Peter is focusing on the humanity of Christ. The God in heaven is the God whom the man—Jesus of Nazareth—served. From the cross, Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mt. 27:46), clearly speaking out of His human nature, rather than His divine nature. So, Peter may be describing God as the one whom Jesus-the-man obeyed (Jn. 4:34; Phil. 2:8).

God is also the Father of our Lord Jesus. Two things are significant about this phrase. One is that the relationship expressed between God and Jesus is described as Father/Son. When theologians speak of the first and second persons of the Trinity, we gain an abstract, yet accurate, description of the biblical data regarding God. But this doesn't communicate very much about them. However, regarding them as Father and Son (which is the way the Scripture describes them) provides a much richer portrait of the roles and relationship among the members of the Godhead. We cannot relate to two distinctions within the divine essence, but we can relate to a parent and child.

The other significant word is Lord. Throughout the Old Testament, 'Lord' was reserved for God, Here, someone other than God is called 'Lord' (that is, someone other than God the Father). Granted, Jesus is God, but in this verse Peter makes a distinction between the two. Again, I believe, referring to Jesus the human who has been given authority over heaven and earth by God (Mt. 28:18).

Second, He re-generates believers, that is, He takes us through a new birth. In the same way that our first birth was not a choice we made, but was dependent on our father's "action," so also our second birth is the result of our Father's action. The father/Father is the cause; physical birth/new birth is the effect.

Third, this new birth flows from the deep waters of God's mercy. He was not obligated or compelled to give us new life, rather, He freely choose to do so because He is a God of great grace and kindness.

Furthermore, the new life so kindly given to us by our heavenly Father is an expectation that is alive. It impacts our now and our later. It contains a promised hope for the future (which will be described in more detail in the next verse). The apostle wants us to understand that this living hope is gained through the means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus was dead but now lives, we who experience the regeneration of God will also live after death. As Peter's friend Paul put it, if our hope in Christ only has ramifications for our brief stay on earth, what a pity! (1 Cor. 15:19). But that is not the case. We hope for victory over death and eternal life with our Lord because He has already overcome the grave. His empty tomb secures our empty tombs.

What is the appropriate response to this gracious gift of living hope? Praise and adoration to the One who gave it. Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

To Ponder:

Does the resurrection of Jesus Christ provoke worship in you? Have you accurately estimated the significance of your new birth in light of His new life?

Protected by God

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:57:02 -0700

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1:4 [Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who birthed us anew] into an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading which has been protected in the heavens for you.

Do you remember when Jesus taught about the new birth in John 3:1-10? On that occasion, our Lord asserted that regeneration was absoluetly essential to receiving something. In fact, He went so far as to say that without a new birth, a person cannot even see it. What was it? The kingdom of God. We who are born a second time are promised God's kingdom. The kingdom was the great hope of the Jews as they eagerly awaited the arrival of the Messiah-King who would establish the kingdom. When John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Christ, his message was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus proclaimed the same message when He began His ministry; and He instructed the twelve apostles to follow suit. The Christian's inheritance, given by his gracious Father, is the kingdom of God.

In addition to kingdom, the Scripture uses other words to describe our inheritance: eternal life (Mt. 19:29); the earth (Mt. 5:5); salvation (Heb. 1:14). Each of these comes at the promised blessing from a different perspective, providing a rich tapestry of the inheritance that awaits us.

Peter tells us three things that our inheritance is not—corruptible, defiled, and fading—which ought to energize our faith and zeal. And for Jewish converts, these adjectives would provide great confidence and joy as they compared this New Covenant hope with the Old Covenant promises.

First, the inheritance awaiting us is incorruptible (Gr. a-phthartos). This word is twice used in the NT to describe God, once when Paul contrasts the mortal creatures with the immortal God (Rom. 1:23) and again in a list of divine attributes (1 Tim. 1:17). Just as God cannot undergo decay and become less than He is, so also our inheritance will suffer no atrophy, no deterioration, and no destruction.

The Jews were promised an inheritance in the land of Canaan, a bequeathment subject to drought, famine, fire, hail, and any number of other threats to its prosperity. It could be taken away from them and destroyed by enemy nations. And it was. Not so, with the heavenly inheritance promised to those who are in Christ. It cannot be corrupted by anyone at anytime.

Second, our inheritance is undefiled (Gr. a-miantos). When something becomes defiled, it is now marred, sullied, dirty, or spoiled. When speaking in terms of moral agents, defilement connotes impurity or profanity (vulgarities used to be called "dirty words"). Religion can be defiled (Jas. 1:27), so can priests (Heb. 7:26). When one party of a marriage covenant is unfaithful, it stains the marriage bed (Heb. 13:4). And land promised to the people of Israel became defiled by their idolatries (Jer. 2:1f., especially v. 7). But the inheritance that awaits those who have been born again is incapable of any such ruination. Its purity is impervious to every kind of ugliness or degradation. It will forever be unmixed, unadulterated, undiluted, uncontaminated. Its sterling, flawless, perfect quality will endure without end. When we've been there ten thousand years, the bright shining sun will display the same brilliance as when we first begun.

Third, it is unfading (Gr. a-marantos). When the author of Hebrews spoke of the covenant God made with Israel, he referred to it as "obsolete," "growing old," "and ready to disappear." It had served its purposes of arousing sin in the Jews (Rom. 5:20) and demonstrating their desperate need of a Redeemer (Rom. 3:19-20; 10:1-5). But with the termination of the covenant came the end of the temporal promises to the nation of Israel. No longer would they remain the divine heirs of land, descendants, and world-illumination. Their inheritance faded off like the sunset after the death and resurrection of Christ (and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 served as an exclamation point to its disappearance).

Those who are in Christ, however, are participants of the eternal covenant with God through the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:20). This covenant is the fulfillment of all which came before, the anti-type to all the types and shadows of the previous covenants of redemptive history. And this covenant will never drift off nor become obsolete.

Peter's optimism toward the certainty and perpetuity of our inheritance is because it has been protected in the heavens for you. Two grammatical aspects of this "protection" are profound. First, the tense of the verb is the perfect tense, which communicates an action that was begun in the past and its impact continues into the present and future. For example, if I say, "I have been married for fifteen years...," implied in whatever follows the ellipsis is that I am still married. ("I had been married," does not imply the current status.) My marriage began fifteen years ago and continues to the present day. Peter reveals that our inheritance has been protected from some point in the past and the protection remains true even to this day. Someone has been keeping watch over it. But who? That's where the other grammatical aspect comes in. 'Protected' is in the passive voice, meaning that someone other than his audience is doing the protecting. It's what theologians call a divine passive because the intended but unmentioned agent is God Himself (unmentioned, that is, until the next verse). God is the one who is protecting our inheritance; He is its guardian. Our heritage will remain pure and whole and be ours forever because it has been stored in heaven under the watchful eye of the almighty, unassailable, everlastingly alert King of Heaven. Our (new) birthright is, therefore, certain and secure (cp. Mt. 6:19-20; Luke 12:33).

To Ponder:

How often do you consider your heavenly home? Are you living your life today more as a citizen of earth or as a citizen of heaven?

Salvation, As Good As Done

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:56:55 -0700

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1:5 [You...] who are guarded by the strength of God by means of faith, into a sure-to-come deliverance, to be disclosed in the last time.

The believer's endowment is secure, but what guarantee is there that a believer will persist in his belief? Again, our surety is the Lord. God protects our inheritance and He protects the faith required to attain to it. We are guarded by the strength of God so that our trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ will continue until we reach the intended goal—salvation. ("Salvation" means 'rescue' or 'deliverance'.)

Christians usually speak in terms of being "saved" in the past tense, as though it were already accomplished. We speak this way because the Bible speaks this way (ex. Eph. 2:8; Titus 3:5). More precisely, however, we understand that our salvation is a deliverance from the eternal condemnation that is properly awaiting all who have sinned against their Creator; and since this eternal retribution has not yet been executed, our rescue from it has not yet occurred. We can talk about our salvation in the past tense because its certainty is absolute; it is, as we say, "As good as done!" But the actual experience will not be experienced until the last time, the time of universal judgment (see Matt. 25:31f; Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10).

To Ponder:

Our hope is not in our faith, but in God through His Son Jesus Christ. Strictly speaking, faith does not save; God does. If even our belief in the gospel is dependent upon our own strength to maintain, we are doomed.

Tomorrow Will Come, But It May Not Come Tomorrow

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:56:50 -0700

(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter 1:6 [A sure to come deliverance] in which you rejoice exceedingly, if now for a little while it is necessary that you are those distressed in manifold trials.

The prospect of an indestructible, eternal inheritance protected by nothing less than the power of the Almighty is something worth shouting about. And yet we must remember that it is a hope. We are not there, we're here; and while we are here, we should anticipate many griefs.

Peter calls these griefs trials (peirasmos). When a person is accused of a crime, he goes to trial so that his innocence or guilt can be determined by the evidence and the eye-witness testimonies. The apostle instructs us to view our struggles in a similar manner. When difficult circumstances come, our reactions to them prove, one way or the other, whether we have indeed experienced the new birth by God's Spirit or are simply pretending to be converted to Christ. To present the proverbial example, if a man walks up and puts a gun to your head and commands, "Renounce Christ or die!" you are not likely to stand firm if your Christianity has no more substance than the fish stuck on your bumper. The same test comes when following Christ causes you bodily pain or property damage or embarrassment, or costs you a promotion or a job or a spouse or money. The outcome of these hard experiences is proof of your sincerity. Or not. (Cf. Rom. 5:1-5).

These trials come in all shapes and sizes. Peter calls them "various" (poikilos), a word used of Joseph's famous polychromatic coat (Gen. 37:3), and of the assorted afflictions Jesus healed (Matt. 4:24), and of the multi-faceted lusts and desires that we had before our repentance (Titus 3:3), and of the differing miracles that God displayed to prove that Jesus was His Son (Heb. 2:4). Just as all of these things are quite diverse, so also we can expect the forms of our suffering to be varied. They will be different from time to time and from person to person.

Now, for a little while. Compared to the everlasting, unending, infinite amount of time we will spend in Paradise, the present suffering, no matter how severe, is brief. This is not to make light of any affliction, but simply to put it in perspective. Tomorrow will come, but it may not come tomorrow.

It is necessary. The test is not optional; we must take it. After being pummeled with stones to the point that his persecutors thought he was dead, Paul arose and began to teach the believers that, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Christ's suffering was necessary (Acts 17:3) and so is ours. It has happened, is happening, and will happen to God's people. It is necessary because in God's benevolent wisdom, He will discipline and refine His people. Although it seems unlikely at the time, suffering is an act of God's grace. Therefore, we will rejoice because of our trials.

Thoughts on Biblical Interpretation

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:28:15 -0700

[The following is an outline of a class I recently taught dealing with how to study the Bible. It's just a skeleton, but maybe it will provoke some thoughts for your contemplation.]

I. Biblical balance and tension

Principles and guidelines—

1. We must remember that the Bible was not written to give us a systematic theology or a scientific textbook. It is not to be read as a set of universal commands or absolute statements. Nor is it to be read as a book about God in some abstract sense. The Bible was written to teach us about Jesus Christ and His kingdom (with special emphasis on sin and salvation).

2. The Bible does not contradict itself, but there are things beyond our ability to comprehend or reconcile. Where the Bible does not bring reconciliation, we should remain cautious and humble.

3. The Bible uses rhetorical speech. (When my wife privately tells me about a special occurrence with the kids during the afternoon and I ask, "So, did anything interesting happen today?" I am not betraying ignorance but seeking to accomplish a purpose in our relationship)

Examples:

• God asked Adam, "Where are you?"

• When God repents or expresses sorrow, He is not responding to something of which He was previously unaware.

4. We must never allow our understanding of a biblical text to force another text to mean what it cannot mean or say less than what it says. (In other words, if we find two texts contradicting each other, our understanding of one or both texts is faulty.)

Examples:

• Paul's teaching that justification is by faith alone; James' teaching that justification is not by faith alone.

• Passages which reveal Jesus' deity do not nullify or minimize His request in the garden for the cup to pass.

5. Just because you read it in a book, or a famous person said it, or many Christians have believed it for centuries does not make it the correct interpretation. (We should be thankful for gifted teachers, present and past, but not accept anyone's interpretation uncritically.)

6. We must discern the intended point of each passage. (Context is king!)

II. More examples and test cases

1. Compare Matt. 6:7 and Luke 11:5-8. Should we repeat prayers or not?

2. Compare Gal. 3:28 and 1 Tim. 2:12. Does the Bible distinguish between men and women or not?

3. Compare Luke 14:26 and Eph. 5:25. What should be a husband's affection be toward his wife?

4. Compare 1 Cor. 7:8 and Prov. 18:22. Is marriage something to be pursued or not?

III. Cultural Considerations

1. Look up Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Thes 5:26. We do not obey these commands. Why?

2. Look up John 13:14-15. Why do we not practice regular foot-washing?

3. The Bible does not present a broad doctrine of head coverings (1 Cor. 11 is the only occurrence), but it does teach a broad doctrine of men/women as heads/helpers. It does not present a broad doctrine of foot washing, but it does teach a broad doctrine of humble servanthood toward others

IV. Proverbs

Proverbial statements are not intended to be universal absolutes.

Examples:

• He who is not with Me is against Me (Mt. 12:30); whoever is not against us is for us (Mk. 9:40).

• Do not answer a fool according to his folly; answer a fool according to his folly (Prov. 26:4, 5).

• Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it (Prov. 22:6).

V. Doctrinal tensions

1. God's omniscience and answered prayer (James 5:16b-18).

2. God's sovereignty and man's freedom.

3. God's holy transcendence and His nearness.

4. The certain perseverance of the elect and the warnings against apostasy.

5. If words mean anything (the Bible affirms them all), then these issues are real and compatible: God knows all, and yet He responds to the prayers of His people. God is in predestinating control of absolutely everything, and yet the choices of men are their own choices. God is not limited by time and space, and yet He draws near to those who draw near to Him. Not one of those given to Christ will be plucked out of His hand, and yet those who jettison their faith will not be saved. These things are gloriously beyond our ability to fully comprehend, and yet they are true and profitable for us.

6. It is important to grasp the pastoral concerns of the Scriptures:

• A licentious person needs the warning passages.

• A works-oriented person needs justification by faith alone.

• A fearful person needs to know God's omniscience, sovereignty, and nearness.

• A spiritually lazy person needs to hear of rewards for good works.

• A man who regards God casually needs to see His resplendent holiness.

• We all need to fathom the depths of His grace, which is only found to be gracious when juxtaposed.

Free Doug Moo Articles

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:33:09 -0700

Dr. Douglas Moo's commentary on Romans (he also has a shorter version) already enjoys classic status. His other commentaries are also very helpful. In addition to these larger works, Dr. Moo has written many worthwhile articles for journals and book compilations. I recently stumbled on to his personal website where many of these articles are available in PDF format. I commend them to you.

Biblical Baptism

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:57:49 -0700

(This is a preview. Click here to watch entire sermon.)

First Peter 1:2

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:39:40 -0700

(A verse-by-verse study from a NCT perspective.)

2 According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the consecration of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

The apostle included one more adjective in his description of his audience in verse 1 (some translations transfer it to verse 2) when he called them elect. To be elected is to be selected, or chosen, or specifically picked out of a group. So Peter is indicating that out of all the people living in Pontus, Galatia, etc., the believers were specifically selected.

But on what basis and by whom was this selection made? By the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the consecration of the Spirit. God was the selector; He made the choice about who would follow Christ and who wouldn't. And He did it in agreement with His divine foreknowledge.

Peter spoke of God's foreknowledge on another occasion when he explained to the Jews how they had killed the Messiah (Acts 2:23). The death of Jesus, he said, was performed by the Romans at the request of the Jews. But even those causes were the outworking of an ultimate, prior cause—God. God is ultimately responsible for putting His Son on the cross, and He did so according to His predetermined plan and His foreknowledge. In the same way, those who would receive the gospel have been pre-determined by God's plan and foreknowledge. He knows the elect in a way that He does not know the non-elect.

Although their external appearance may not cause them to stand out from any other humans in Asia Minor, to be sure the Christians were different. Their uniqueness came from the fact that the Spirit of God had set them apart from unbelievers (cp. 2 Thess. 2:13). They were special to God, sanctified unto Him for a specific purpose—obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Again, the apostle borrows Jewish imagery to convey truth. Sprinkling the blood of sacrificial animals was an expression of consecration under the Old Covenant. In fact, at the very establishment of the covenant, as Moses read its stipulations, he took blood from the bulls and sprinkled it on the people of Israel (Exo. 24:7, 8). As a consequence, they had been set apart and made partakers of this special relationship to God. (See also the consecration of the Most Holy Place in Lev. 16; Heb. 9:18f.). Likewise, believers are made partakers of the New Covenant through the blood (Jesus') of that covenant, (Luke 22:20; Heb. 9:13f.) the everlasting covenant (Heb. 13:20).

The obedience spoken of here may be ongoing submission to Christ or initial submission to Christ at the time of repentance and conversion. Although I would not want to wrangle too much about this, I prefer the latter because of the tie with the blood consecration already spoken of. For a similar use of 'obedience' see Rom. 1:5 and 16:26.

Grace and peace to you is a standard greeting in the New Testament, but it must not be relegated to a place of mere formality. If there are two things all believers of all cities of all generations need, they are God's grace and peace. The words may be routine, but the sincerity of the request should not be questioned.

Biblical Theology and Preaching

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:45:05 -0700

New Covenant Theology is (or should be) influenced more by the discipline of biblical theology than systematic theology. That is not to say that systematic theology is unhelpful. However, it does tend to push its undiscerning disciples toward rationalistic, rather than redemptive interpretations.

D.A. Carson has written an excellent summary of how biblical theology should impact our thinking and preaching. Here is an excerpt:

The habit of thinking through the magnificent diversity of the biblical books—which of course is so much a part of responsible biblical theology—is likely to help the preacher devote time and care to the way the genres of Scripture should affect his preaching. How do I handle lament, oracle, proverb, apocalyptic, narrative, fable, parable, poetry, letter, enthronement psalm, theodicy, dramatic epic? Not to think about such things, of course, may still leave you orthodox: you may find principles and truths in all of these kinds of texts, incorporate them into your atemporal systematic theology, and preach them. Yet God certainly had good reasons for giving us a Bible that is shaped the way it is: not a systematic theology handbook, but an extraordinarily diverse collection of documents, with one Mind behind the lot, traversing many centuries of writing, in many different forms. The fact that one Mind is behind all of the documents makes systematic theology both possible and desirable, but not at the expense of flattening out and domesticating the documents that still remain the “norming norm.”

You can read the entire article here.

First Peter 1:1

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:16:26 -0700

(A verse-by-verse study from a NCT perspective.)

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to elect aliens of dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (my translation throughout).

Peter, one of the original followers of Jesus Christ, wrote this letter to Christians who were living in communities immersed in unbelief. The Roman empire of the first century was very much like the American empire of the twenty-first, only with less technology. It condoned the murder of unwanted babies; it encouraged sexual promiscuity, both hetero and homo; it regarded the government as its god and savior. One might even argue that the Roman culture was worse in that it attached a religious significance to much of its nefarious behavior (ex. temple prostitution and emperor worship). What Peter wrote to believers in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and the rest, 2,000 years ago, is just as important for believers living in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Washington D.C, and "Your City, USA," today.

Aliens of dispersion. This label derives its influence from the Jewish experiences of exile among the heathen nations into which the children of Israel were thrust after the collapse of their kingdom(s). When the Assyrians and Babylonians sacked the Israeli capitols, they dispersed the majority of the Jewish people throughout their territories as an attempt to destroy their unity and identity (cp. 2 Kings 17:6). This became a cause of sorrow and temptation for them (see Lam. 1:1f.; Ezek. 6:8f.; predicted in Deut. 28:64f). In a similar way, followers of Christ who live among the children of the devil must fight against disunity and disloyalty to their King.

So, Peter considers them aliens, pilgrims, or (to use a word my grandfather would have used) sojourners. They were pilgrims, not because they had no permanent mailbox, but because they were citizens of another country—a transcendent land beyond the Roman Empire, or any earthly empire (Phil. 3:20), whose designer and builder is God (Heb. 11:10). But until such time as they are granted transport to the Celestial City, they must wander in the regions of the Land of Destruction, remaining faithful to their Lord and committed to one another.

To Ponder:

Do I live as though exiled to a foreign land or have I become too comfortable in my country and culture? Do I feel like an exile longing for home (i.e. the new heaven and new earth)?

NCT Commentaries?

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:23:57 -0700

by Douglas Goodin

A question I am asked from time to time is, "Where are the NCT commentaries?" It's a good question. Lord willing, there will be a good answer down the road as worthy pastors and scholars undertake the laborious process of writing them.

In the meantime, what I propose to do over the upcoming weeks is to embark on a verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a distinctly NCT perspective. Obviously, much of the epistle would be interpreted similarly by all believers. But where NCT sees things differently, I will try to point it out.

My approach will be devotional and pastoral. My assumptions will be that the reader believes the Gospel and is committed to the Scripture as the inspired word of God. Therefore, I will have no interest in offering a defense of the Truth against liberalism or skepticism.

If you are not currently engaged in a slow, meditative study of God's Word, I encourage you to walk through First Peter with me. It is a wonderful reminder of our hope in Christ Jesus the Lord.

The Use of the OT in the NT

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:29:38 -0700

A perennial hermeneutical challenge is that of understanding how the NT authors quote and understand the OT. Dr. D. A. Carson handles this topic better than anyone I know. Here are three excellent messages dealing with the subject:

The Use of the OT in the NT (part 1)

The Use of the OT in the NT (part 2)

The Use of the OT in the NT (part 3)

Reading Well: The Holy War

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:13:55 -0700

The Holy War: Made by King Shaddai Upon Diabolus, to Regain the Metropolis of the World, Or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul

by John Bunyan, published in 1682 (review by Robert L. Franck)

John Bunyan’s works should be favorites for readers of this journal based on his theological perspective alone. He was a Puritan and a Baptist. But he provides much more than good theology for lovers of the written word.

He teaches not only through the reason gate—to borrow a Bunyanesque metaphor—to enter the mind but also through the imagination gate to enter the heart. Both destinations are essential if biblical truth is to take root in our lives. To illustrate, let’s consider Acts 14:22:

[Paul and Barnabas were] strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

This verse is a remarkably concise summary of Bunyan’s two greatest works: Pilgrim’s Progress and Holy War. So why spend time reading these tomes now that you understand the point that Christians must struggle and face difficulties in this life? Because understanding a principle in abstract, general terms is not enough. You must chew up the truth and digest it. You must consider its implications in relation to your own life. Christ has given gifted men to the Church to help you do just that. John Bunyan is one that is especially needed today.

Unfortunately, we most often define ourselves by our work. We maintain this perspective when we think about living for God. Our single metric of success is: “What good works have I produced for Him?” Anything that detracts from our labor for God is a distraction from what is most important in this life, our spiritual struggles included. They are worthless inefficiencies. But Bunyan’s perspective is different. He understands the importance of God’s working in us through our struggles. He addresses external trials in Pilgrim’s Progress. He focuses on our internal struggle with sin in Holy War. We need to see through Bunyan’s eyes.

Holy War begins with the creation of man, or as Bunyan allegorizes, the town of Mansoul. Then comes the attack and fall of Mansoul to Diabolus. The last half of the book examines the rescue of Mansoul by Emmanuel and the continuing struggle with the Diabolonians. You will observe the officials of Mansoul—Understanding, Conscience, Lord Willbewill—through each of these stages. For example, during Diabolus’ reign over Mansoul, Conscience alternately forgets Shaddai’s law and becomes a raving lunatic when it is violated. (Chew on that for a moment.) Emmanuel’s forces include: Captain Conviction, Captain Credence, and Captain Good Hope. The nefarious characters are led by Diabolus and include: Lusting, Forget-Good, and Carnal-Security. The scheming of these Diabolonians rivals that of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape, although they preceded Screwtape by nearly three centuries.

This is just a glimpse of what Bunyan sees. There is much more gold here, but you will have to dig it out yourself.

Read Bunyan. Read well.

Excerpts:

Now there is in this gallant country of Universe a fair and delicate town, a corporation called Mansoul; a town for its building so curious, for its situation so commodious, for its privileges so advantageous, (I mean with reference to its origin,) that I may say of it, as was said before of the continent in which it is placed, there is not its equal under the whole heaven. As to the situation of this town, it lieth just between the two worlds; and the first founder and builder of it, so far as by the best and most authentic records I can gather, was one Shaddai; and he built it for his own delight. He made it the mirror and glory of all that he made, even the top-piece, beyond anything else that he did in that country. Yea, so goodly a town was Mansoul when first built, that it is said by some, the gods, at the setting up thereof, came down to see it, and sang for joy. And as he made it goodly to behold, so also mighty to have dominion over all the country round about.

…the walls could never be broken down nor hurt by the most mighty adverse potentate, unless the townsmen gave consent thereto. This famous town of Mansoul had five gates, in at which to come, out at which to go; and these were made likewise answerable to the walls, to wit, impregnable, and such as could never be opened nor forced but by the will and leave of those within. The names of the gates were these: Ear-gate, Eye-gate, Mouth-gate, Nose-gate, and Feel-gate.

Well, upon a time, there was one Diabolus, a mighty giant, made an assault upon this famous town of Mansoul, to take it, and make it his own habitation.

…[Emmanuel] this Son of Shaddai, I say, having stricken hands with his Father and promised that he would be his servant to recover his Mansoul again, stood by his resolution, nor would he repent of the same. The purport of which agreement was this: to wit, that at a certain time, prefixed by both, the King's Son should take a journey into the country of Universe, and there, in a way of justice and equity, by making amends for the follies of Mansoul, he should lay a foundation of perfect deliverance from Diabolus and from his tyranny.

[Emmanuel says] “Nothing can hurt thee but sin; nothing can grieve me but sin; nothing can make thee base before thy foes but sin: take heed of sin, my Mansoul. 'And dost thou know why I at first, and do still, suffer Diabolonians to dwell in thy walls, O Mansoul? It is to keep thee wakening, to try thy love, to make thee watchful, and to cause thee yet to prize my noble captains, their soldiers, and my mercy. 'It is also, that yet thou mayest be made to remember what a deplorable condition thou once wast in. I mean when, not some, but all did dwell, not in thy walls, but in thy castle, and in thy stronghold, O Mansoul. 'O my Mansoul, should I slay all them within, many there be without, that would bring thee into bondage; for were all these within cut off, those without would find thee sleeping; and then, as in a moment, they would swallow up my Mansoul. I therefore left them in thee, not to do thee hurt (the which they yet will, if thou hearken to them, and serve them,) but to do thee good, the which they must, if thou watch and fight against them.”

Henry Scougal and The Rolling Stones

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:17:32 -0700

Craig has a new article with a timely message for this season of consumerism and pluralism. Here is an excerpt:

In 1965, The Rolling Stones released "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," decrying their attempts at satisfaction from the material world. Though the lyrics were expressly not profound, the topic of the song was quintessentially human. . . . Three hundred years earlier and four hundred miles to the north, another twenty-something British Isle inhabitant begged to differ with the Stones’ conclusion about life and satisfaction.

Reading Well: Here I Stand

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:16:09 -0700

by Roland H. Bainton (review by Robert L. Franck)

We all learned to hate history by taking classes in school that forced us to consume fact-crammed textbooks and then regurgitate their bland content on test papers. This was distasteful. But now it’s time to move on. Rinse out your mouth and try something savory.

I’ve got just the thing.

But first, let’s discuss method. The best way to learn history and its lessons is to approach them biographically. Marx would disagree, of course. He would say that impersonal, evolutionary, scientific forces march through history regardless of the personalities involved. Well, Marx is dead. And even if his descendants are busily writing textbooks, he was also dead wrong.

I have this from the highest authority—God’s history, the Bible. Biblical history is told through the compelling and intensely personal stories of individuals—Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Ruth, Samuel, David, Elijah, Esther, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Peter, Paul, John, and many others. And this history, from beginning to end, centers on the most compelling person of all—the God/Man Jesus Christ. The old saying is true: history is His-story. And He is not dead.

Mastering biblical history requires our first effort, but there is much profit in studying the rest of history. The rest of history, including our own, is also Christ-centered and reveals the working of God.

A biographical approach to history focuses on pivotal people. Imagine that you have filled your garage with stuff. It is piled high. No room for cars. You know that there are things in the pile that would be useful to you, but you can’t remember everything that’s there, and even if you could recall a particular item that you need, you can’t find it. Now imagine that you install large pegboards on the walls. For every peg you push into a board, you can hang up some of your stuff. This organizes it and makes it accessible and useful. In history, great and influential people are the pegs on which you can hang important dates, movements and events. And in addition to learning what happened and why it happened, you will gain wisdom and inspiration by observing the lives of these people.

A critical peg to place in your history board is Martin Luther (1483-1546), the great reformer. Luther stood at the intersections between feudal and modern society, between the Roman Catholics and the breakaway Protestants, between the humanists and Protestants, and between the Protestants themselves. Luther powerfully influenced these intersections and, therefore, profoundly shaped our lives.

I have read a few books on Luther and the best by far is Roland Bainton’s Here I Stand. This was first published in 1950 and is still in print. Bainton presents Luther’s life and thought chronologically. This is essential for Luther, since his personal experience is so tightly wound into his theological struggles. Bainton’s writing is very engaging, avoiding the eggheadedness of some biographers, who try to display their own brilliance by psychoanalyzing their subjects or focusing on scholarly debates. Luther’s brilliance is what you want to see, and Bainton reveals it by simply telling his story, often in Luther’s own words or the words of his adversaries and allies.

You’ve got to peg Martin Luther.

Read Bainton. Read well.

Excerpts:

“The first endeavor must be to understand the man. One will not move far in this direction unless one recognizes at the outset that Luther was above all else a man of religion. The great outward crises of his life which bedazzle the eyes of dramatic biographers were to Luther himself trivial in comparison with the inner upheavals of his questing after God.” (p. 22)

“He fasted, sometimes three days on end without a crumb. …He laid on himself vigils and prayers in excess of those stipulated by the rule. He cast off the blankets permitted him and well-nigh froze to death. …He believed in later life that his austerities had done permanent damage to his digestion.” (p. 45)

“Luther had come into a new view of Christ and a new view of God. He had come to love the suffering Redeemer and the God unveiled on Calvary. But were they after all powerful enough to deliver him from the hosts of hell? The cross had resolved the conflict between the wrath and the mercy of God, and Paul had reconciled for him the inconsistency of the justice and forgiveness of God….” (p. 65-66)

“He did not respond seriously to the suggestion [that he marry Katherine Von Bora] until he went home to visit his parents. What he related, probably as a huge joke, was taken by his father as a realistic proposal. …He summed up by giving three reasons for his marriage: to please his father, to spite the pope and the Devil, and to seal his witness before martyrdom.” (p. 288)

“When Luther looked at his family in 1538, he remarked, ‘Christ said we must become as little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Dear God, this is too much. Have we got to become such idiots?’ One wonders whether the children were ever minded to wonder who was the idiot when Luther cut up Hans’s pants to mend his own.” (p. 302-303)

Two Worldviews of Christmas

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:46:29 -0700

by Douglas Goodin

[This is from a meditation I gave tonight at our Christmas Eve service. It was a children's program telling the Christmas story by quoting Old Testament prophecies and New Testament fulfillments.]

Christmastime creates a clash of two worldviews. This conflict can be demonstrated by the lyrics of two popular Christmas songs—It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year and Joy to the World.

The first can be sung enthusiastically by every American. "Kids jingle-belling," "holiday greetings," "marshmallows," "mistletoe," "loved ones drawing near," such feel-good activities bring smiles to our faces regardless of religious conviction or worldview. The second, however, can only be sincerely sung by those who view the world the way the Bible views the world. Only Christians can sing, "the Lord and King is come," "the Savior reigns," and "He rules the world." Only the Christian would dare to sing of "sin" and "curse" and the need for a Savior. Only the Christian understands that the true joy of Christmas is the birth of God's Son who would receive the punishment we deserve for our rebellion against God's commands. And only the Christian proclaims, honestly, that Jesus Christ is the Universal Emperor, the Ruler of the every nation on planet earth.

Christmas productions (like tonight's) also demonstrate this worldview clash. Pull together a group of cute kids, with a few costumes and props, add a little music, and you have a can't-lose evening of smiles and cheer, regardless of the content. Anyone could enjoy this program. But their story was not just a good, old, American feel-good, festive event. Their's was the story of Jesus Christ, the only hope for sinners, and the King of the earth. Their story recounted the Old Testament promises of God foretelling Christ's coming. Their story quoted the New Testament fulfillments of God's promises when Christ came. Their story was not intended merely to be cute. Their story was about God—the eternal, holy, omnipotent, glorious God—becoming a man so that He could suffer the flames of hell, as it were, in our place. That's not cute. But it is the most joyous, most inspiring, most delightful, most hopeful, most smile-provoking, most wonderful story that could possibly be told.

For non-Christians, the joy of Christmas is hollow and ephemeral. It will eventually give way to horror because of sin. The flames of hell will be theirs to suffer, forever. For we who believe the good news of Jesus Christ, the joy of Christmas will only become increasingly solid throughout all eternity. We are forgiven. Our future is the glory of Christ, forever. For us, every day is the most wonderful time of the year, not because of heart-warming songs and holiday cheer, but because our Lord has come and our Savior reigns. From everlasting to everlasting, we will repeat the sounding joy and wonders of His love. Only a Christian understands the true wonder of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Losing It

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:24:45 -0700

Dear Dr. Solomon,

I have Acute Theological Fatigue Syndrome (ATFS). I’ve got all the classic symptoms – sunken eyes, listlessness, fingernail biting, I even stare blankly into the distance and drool on myself. You see, I’ll read about one position, such as New Covenant theology from this site, and it will make perfect sense. Then I’ll read about other positions and they will make sense too! How can they all make sense if they are saying different things? I think that I’m losing my mind!

Losing It

________________________________________

Dear Losing It,

I am well aware of the devastation caused by ATFS in cases such as yours by the many hundreds of letters I receive each month from your fellow sufferers. To begin with, let me commend you for your earnest desire to interpret the Bible correctly, which is most often the source of this condition. Next, you must realize that all theological systems make sense, that is, they are logical. Each position is based on certain assumptions and the interpretation of certain passages. Finally, the cure for ATFS is confidence in the meaning of Scripture. This is achieved by understanding passages in their own context (i.e., the intended sense of the writer) and interpreting difficult passages in light of clear ones. For example, a theme of the book of Hebrews is to explain the meaning of Old Testament content to New Covenant Christians. So lay your theological foundation here and your condition will begin to improve, and, after a time, by God’s grace and diligent study, you may be completely healed. Until then, wear a bib.

The Christian and the Law (Part 1)

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:01:51 -0700

What is the relationship of the Christian to the OT Law? The next several lessons of this study seek to answer that perennial question.

(download) (Previous Lessons)

This is the 17th of a continuing series entitled Promise & Fulfillment.