The Peace of God

"Peace in the New Testament carries all the dimensions of meaning that the great Hebrew word shalom, to which it corresponds, had come to bear. Shalom signifies the stable state of well-being, personal and communal, external and internal, that the fullness of God's blessing brings" (J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit, p. 216).

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 4

Another glorious text highlighting God's glorious governance of all things:

1 Sam. 2:6-8: "The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them he has set the world."

Be sure to take to heart what is really being declared here by Hannah. When life is given, who does it? When life is taken, who's responsible? Whether a person goes down to Sheol or is lifted up (we might now say, goes to heaven or hell) is determined by whom? And so on. Again and again note the Actor. God is supreme over all.  And blessed is Hannah for knowing and exulting in it. Additionally, in many respects this prayer of Hannah is programmatic for Samuel. As you read through Samuel, consider how the themes found in her confession recur throughout.

Repeatedly in the Bible it is declared that all things are "from him and through him and unto him" (Rom. 11:36). This is God's glory. I'd even say that Rom. 11:36 is the single most comprehensive statement in the Bible and should be the framework of any biblical or systematic theology. It is all-embracing, the matrix of all theologizing and living blessedly forevermore.

Does our Dung Stink?

How does Prov. 14:34 fit into American exceptionalism?

One might wonder sometimes whether Americans think their dung doesn't stink.  

Global Cooling

Joel Belz records this eye-opener in the June 4, 2011 edition of World:

Seems strange these days, but in the mid-'70s, Newsweek didn't think it was strange to sound a major warning concerning the phenomenon [global cooling]. The glaciation of the whole planet was considered by many to be a strong and even "imminent" likelihood.

I really think that this sort of phenomenon points to God's sense of humor. "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord hold them in derision" (Ps. 2:4). And I doubt he's half so impressed with "science" as we are. I confess I'm impressed with some things achieved by science, but not everything that passes for science. I also confess that although I sometimes grow angry at the political circus full of political clowns here in our big tent homeland, I don't get angry about global warming: I just laugh jollily; it cheers me up.

The Depth of the Gospel

"The things of the gospel are depths. The things of the gospel . . . are the deep things of God" (Thomas Goodwin, Works, vol. 4, passim; quoted in Fred Sander's The Deep Things of God, p. 97).

So let's get on with plumbing those depths!

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 3

Here are a slew of texts highlighting God's glorious governance of all things (note the italics):

Judg. 10:6-8: "The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead."

Judg. 11:21: "And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them . . ." (cf. Judg. 11:32; see also Judg. 20:35).

Judg. 13:1: "And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years."

Judg. 14:1-4: "Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.
Then he came up and told his father and mother, 'I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.' But his father and mother said to him, 'Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?' But Samson said to his father, 'Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.' His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines."

Ask yourself how many times some "evil" comes to pass in these verses? And who's ruling over it? And, of course, he's ruling in righteousness without doing any wrong. Shall not the Judge of all the earth always do what is just (Gen. 18:25)?

Sexual Intercourse, Old School

At Doug Wilson's Blog and Mablog, you'll find a fine, succinct account of marriage biblically defined. Here's a clipping:

A marriage requires two components or elements. The first is old school sexual intercourse and the second is a socially recognized set of vows, committing the couple to a legally recognized and protected state of marriage. If one or the other is missing, then so is the marriage. 

To use the language of philosophy, each of these is a necessary condition for marriage (without which, not), but not a sufficient condition. In other words, you can't have a marriage without the presence of both of these elements, but the mere presence of one of them does not constitute or create the marriage. The absence of either will result in no-marriage, but the presence of either does not automatically result in marriage. You must have both together. 

The first element is the one flesh union (Gen. 2:24).

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 2

More texts in Judges showing the sovereignty of God everywhere (with comments along the way), which is what Calvinism at its truest and best is:

Judg. 6:1: "The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and YHWH gave them into the hand of Midian seven years." Was Midian ultimate here? Who is said to be acting?

Judg. 9:23-24: "And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers."

Now note that it is God who does the sending. Again he is the primary actor. Note also the purpose clause: "that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal. . . ." The sending of the evil spirit had an aim. And whose purpose was that? God's. What authority! He commands even the evil spirits and they obey him (cf. Mk. 1:27). Also note how many free agents in Judges 9 make choices and exercise their wills. The evil spirit, the men of Shechem, Abimelech, and more. Yet God acts and achieves his goal: Judg. 9:56-57. This is absolute dominion. This is Calvinism. And there I love to be.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 1

So here begins a series of posts that simply point out the inescapable glory of God's sovereignty everywhere. Repeatedly (and this has happened for years now), I'm blown away by text after text as I read through the Scriptures each year. For example, a recent reading included Judges 5. And there we read in v. 2: "That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD!"

Now why, I ask, is there a call to bless YHWH when "the leaders took the lead" and when "the people offered themselves willingly"? The leaders acted. Sounds volitional. The people willingly offered themselves, not unwillingly, not against their will, not coerced. Sounds like a free act of the will. So why does YHWH get praise for this? Shouldn't the leaders and shouldn't the people get praise for exercising their free will so well?

Of course the reason is clear for those who are "willing" to look at texts without philosophical and theological bias. God is praised here because the leading of the leaders and the willingness of the people was God's willing and acting behind and underneath their willing and acting. It's called sovereign grace. It's called absolute dominion. It's called Calvinism. And there I love to live. There God's glory shines brightest. There I return again and again (inescapably and willingly) as I read holy Scripture—to bow low before the sovereign Lord. Blessed be YHWH for leaders when they lead and for the people when they offer themselves willingly. 


(See also 2 Cor. 8:16 for a New Testament text that comes to mind with the same upshot.)

Calvinism Everywhere: Preface to Series

Calvinism everywhere. That's my religion. And I'm sticking to it. Why? you ask. Well, because it's biblical, and it's everywhere. So here is a preface to the beginning of a series on Calvinism everywhere. It will not pretend to be comprehensive. But it will provide a significant sampling of the total scriptural witness.

The focus of this series of posts will be Judges through Chronicles. The reason for this focus is twofold: 1) this is mainly narrative; and 2) this is a neglected portion of holy writ. Now although many Christians in our time affirm the systematic statements concerning sovereignty of God found, say, in the epistles (e.g., Eph. 1:11, where God is said to be the one who works "all things after the counsel of his will"; see also Rom. 11:36), we characteristically don't see and acknowledge his sovereignty in the narrative and details of our unfolding lives, which lives are part of an unfolding narrative set on the grand stage of redemptive history. So this much neglected narrative portion of Scripture (Judges through Chronicles) sets God's sovereignty in bold relief against the backdrop of a storyline worked out in real history with the perspective of an "omniscient narrator." So it seems to me to be peculiarly helpful for the modern day American Christian who tends to view God's involvement in the world in a truncated and compartmentalized way. As this series unfolds, it will be clear how much we are actually out of step with Scripture in the way we think about God's presence, judgments, rule, care, and grace in our world.

One more exceedingly important word, a caveat really. When I say Calvinism, let it be crystal clear what I mean. I mean (and this is what I always mean and what I believe everyone should mean when using the technical term) what J. I. Packer means as set forth in his fine book A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (129): 

A Really Good Question (A Stumper)

"If America was better educated before we established a Department of Education than it has been since, why do we continue to have such a department?" (Angelo M. Codevilla, The Ruling Class, p. 83).

Now that's a good question. Can anyone answer this? Hurry! Someone get all the smart people, like maybe a committee of Harvard and Stanford graduates from among the Ruling Class, to help us with this challenging, even puzzling question. Till that committee forms, we shall live with perpetual uncertainty, wandering in a labyrinth of our small minds.

There's Knowing, and then There's Knowing: Information and Wisdom

"There are many knowing souls, but there are but a few wise souls. . . . It is not the most knowing Christian, but the most wise Christian, that sees, avoids, and escapes Satan's snares" (Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, 244).

Luther on Genesis 1

"It has been rightly said concerning the first chapter of Genesis that it's impossible to exhaust it in preaching. It's the greatest part of the Old Testament, and the New Testament is a revelation of the Old" (Luther, Works, vol. 54, p. 59).

Luther on the Marks of a Good Preacher

Some time ago Carl Trueman posted two helpful posts about Luther's thoughts on what makes a good preacher.  Take a look at part 1 and part 2 over at reformation 21.

Luther on Studying Theology: Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio

Many big fat books pour forth today on interpreting Scripture. Hermeneutics, traditionally described as the science and art of interpretation, is the name of the discipline. And much of this is helpful and useful and profitable instruction. Yet, the single most important piece of hermeneutical counsel I’ve ever read (apart from Scripture itself) comes from Luther’s pen (which derives the counsel from Scripture itself!). And this comes from the Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of Luther’s German Writings (Luther’s Works, vol. 34, "Career of the Reformer," 283–288).

There he instructs not, speaking precisely, in hermeneutics as such, but in studying theology. He instructs in how to become a decent theologian. And though this instruction is not the sort given in hermeneutical instruction today, yet it has great bearing on the discipline. I do wish, hope, and pray that more teachers today said the sort of things Luther said when teaching others how to learn at Scripture's feet.

Luther describes the nut of the matter on page 285:

I want to point out to you a correct way of studying theology, for I have had practice in that. If you keep to it, you will become so learned that you yourself could (if it were necessary) write books just as good as those of the fathers and councils. . . . This is the way taught by holy King David (and doubtlessly used also by all the patriarchs and prophets) in the one hundred nineteenth Psalm. There you will find three rules, amply presented throughout the whole Psalm. They are Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio [prayer, meditation, Anfechtung (affliction, conflict, severe soul-struggle)].

Works Necessary for Salvation in Luther's Theology?

I cite the following approvingly. Don't ever let any Roman Catholic say that works are not essential in Luther, not to mention the Protestant stream (flowing from Scripture, as it does).

From the Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of Luther's Writings:

Neither councils, fathers, nor we, in spite of the greatest and best successes possible will do as well as the Holy Scriptures, that is, as well as God himself has done. (We must, of course, also have the Holy Spirit, faith, godly speech, and works, if we are to be saved.)   

—Luther's  Works, vol. 34, Career of the Reformer, p. 284. 

Can You Spot Humility?

Is humility obvious? I mean, can we spot it when it's really in someone? We think we know what it looks like, or feels like, or sounds like. But do we? There is a false humility which is really nothing more than the fear of man, a pretended lowliness that cowers before mortals. But surely humility must begin with our vertical relationship with God. Shouldn't it? And Jas. 4:6-10 points us in the right direction.

Following upon rebuke concerning friendship and whoredom with the world (Jas. 4:1-5), James says: "But [God] gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" Now before we rush to apply this, we must first ask what he means by "the humble." Who are the humble? Well, the next several verses tell us what humility looks like. This is plain because by v. 10 James has not changed the subject: "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exult you." Humility before the Lord is still the topic. So what does it look like? Eight bullet imperatives show us the way.

• "Submit yourselves therefore to God" (v. 7)
• "Resist the devil" (v. 7)
• "Draw near to God" (v. 8)
• "Cleanse your hands" (v. 8)
• ". . . and purify your hearts" (v. 8)
• "Be wretched and mourn and weep" (v. 9)
• "Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom" (v. 9)
• "Humble yourselves before the Lord" (v. 10)

May the Lord truly humble us and help us to recognize the real thing in others.