The Covenant of Grace

What is the covenant of grace? It's not the language Scripture uses, but I do believe that, as a theological construct, it embraces the biblical data within and a common thread through God's gracious covenants.

Here's one of John Owen's brief descriptions of it: "This declaration of the grace of God, and the provision in the covenant of the mediator for the making of it effectual unto his glory, is most usually called the covenant of grace" (vol. 5, Works, 192).

Here's how the Westminster Confession of Faith describes it: "This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in Scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging to it, therein bequethed" (Ch. VII, Sect. IV).

The "Doctor" on God's Salvation

Dr. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, expounding Rom. 1:16 at Westminster Chapel in the late 1950s, proclaimed powerfully the salvation of God:

Often this word salvation, or being saved, is used very inadequately. Some people, sometimes, when they use the term, are only referring to one small part of it, while they give the impression that the one small part is the whole. That, surely, is very wrong and very bad. The Apostle glories in this great word, and we must understand something of the fulness of the content which he puts into it. This term salvation can really only be understood as we understand the biblical teaching with regard to man. We will never know the full content of salvation until we know what man was like when God made him, until we know God's view of man—man as he came out of the hands of God and was placed in perfection in an earthly paradise. And, in addition to that, to understand the real meaning of salvation, we must also understand what happened to man as the result of the Fall, and as the result of sin, for if we do not understand what is meant by the Fall, and by sin, we cannot possibly understand what Paul means by salvation. . . . 

That, then, is the way in which you measure this great term salvation. You start with man in the early chapters of Genesis. And that is why you cannot shed the Book of Genesis, or even the first three chapters. If you do, you are immediately detracting from salvation. In other words, if you believe in the doctrine and theory of evolution, which says that man is a creature that has evolved out of the animal, and is still evolving and has not yet "arrived," well, you really cannot have a doctrine of salvation—you will not know what Paul is speaking about in this Epistle to the Romans. In a sense, if the theory of evolution is true, a man does not need salvation. No; the only way to understand salvation is to see man in the garden of Eden, perfect, in absolute correspondence with God, and enjoying the companionship and the fellowship of God, without sin, in a state of perfect innocence. But then you learn that he was tempted and that he fell, he committed that sin, and this led to certain terrible consequences. 

What is salvation? Salvation is the deliverance of man from the consequences of the Fall and of sin; and our definition of salvation must never be less than that. It must include all that, in all its fulness.

The "Doctor" (as he was called—even by his wife!) goes on then to speak to what this deliverance from sin is. Briefly, summarizing what he unpacks more fully, the Doctor says, God's salvation is rescue from the guilt of sin, the power of sin, and the pollution of sin.

—Romans: An Exposition of Chapter 1, The Gospel of God (The Banner of Truth Trust: Edinburgh, 1985), pp. 272-274.

Word Analysis: Which Words?

Here's Bock and Fanning on how one determines which words require closer analysis in the exegetical enterprise (Interpreting the New Testament Text, 143):

1. One could study any words whose English definition is unclear.

2. Words with apparent synonyms or antonyms in the context make good candidates for word analysis.

3. Words used rarely or only once (hapax legomena) are also good candidates, especially if they seem to carry conceptual weight in the passage.

4. Words used figuratively make a good choice, since their precise meaning is often not transparent.

5. Words that are repeated or that may bear a passage’s conceptual weight are the most crucial to analyze, since understanding the passage's meaning hangs on understanding them.

6. Another way to discern potential key terms for further study is to compare English translations. If the translations render a word in clearly non-synonymous terms, the word may well merit closer examination.

The Gospel of God's Son

The opening paragraph of Paul's epistle to the Romans (Rom. 1:1-7) functions programmatically for the whole letter. Here's my brief outline of this packed passage:

I. The Call of Paul to the Gospel of God (v. 1)
II. The Gospel of the Son of God (vv. 2-4)
III. The Goal of the Gospel of Grace (v. 5)
IV. The Call of the People of God (vv. 6-7)

Verses 2-4 provide a marvelous summary statement of the central elements of the Gospel, worthy to go alongside 1 Cor. 15:3-5 as a concise setting forth of its central themes and contents. This is the center, folks, the non-negotiables of the once-for-all-delivered-to-the-saints faith. It's all there. And it's really good news!

Are you with me, brothers and sisters, called of Jesus Christ, loved of God, called to be saints? I hope and pray you are. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:7).

"Some" Scholars Are Stuck

Good point, Pastor Wilson and Mr. Murray. I'd only change the "some" to "most." But then again, I'm in graduate school at what's considered a top tier evangelical college, you know, of the flagship variety, so my view is doubtless skewed.

The Church and Christ: One Person

John Owen on the mystical body of Christ:

"This, then, I say, is the foundation of the imputation of the sins of the church unto Christ—namely, he and it are one person. . . . Christ and believers are neither one natural person, nor a legal or political person, nor any such person as the laws, customs, or usages or men do know or allow of. They are one mystical person. . . ."

—The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (vol. 5; Works, Banner of Truth), p. 178.

Contemporary Myth-Making

N. T. Wright on the nonsense of popular myth-making:

The general popular belief that the early stories of Genesis were straightforwardly disproved by Charles Darwin is of course nonsense, however many times it is reinforced in contemporary myth-making. Things are just not that simple, in biblical theology or science.

—"The Letter to the Romans" (vol. 10 in The New Interpreter's Bible; Abingdon Press: Nashville, 2002), p. 526.

Voltaire Versus the Apostle

Consider Voltaire:

"God will forgive; that's his business."

Now consider the apostle Paul:

"Because of your stubborn and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each according to their deeds" (Rom. 2:5-6).

Who're you gonna believe?

Basic Rules of Word Study

Here are some fundamental rules for studying words:

1. The exegete must initially pursue the meaning intended by the author for his original audience.

2. To establish the precise meaning of a word, one must recognize its possible range of meanings.

3. Words operate in a context and receive meaning from that context.

—Darrell L. Bock, “Lexical Analysis: Studies in Words,” in Interpreting the New Testament Text: Introduction to the Art and Science of Exegesis (eds. Darrell L. Bock and Buist M. Fanning; Crossway: Wheaton, 2006), 137-138.

Preacher: Pursue the Spirit's Power

C. H. Spurgeon gives a "diamond rule" for gaining and holding hearers' attention:

I will now give you a diamond rule, and conclude. Be yourself clothed with the Spirit of God, and then no question about attention or non-attention will arise. Come fresh from the closet and from communion with God, to speak to men for God will all your heart and soul. . . . When God speaks men must listen; and though he may speak through a poor feeble man like themselves, the majesty of the truth will compel them to regard his voice. Supernatural power must be your reliance. . . . If you do not touch the heart you will soon weary the ear. Clothe yourself, then, with the power of the Spirit of God, and preach to men as those who must soon give an account, and who desire that their account may not be painful to their people and grievous to themselves, but that it may be to the glory of God. 

—“Attention,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 149-150.

Preacher: Preach upon Practical Themes

C. H. Spurgeon on gaining your hearers' attention:

In order to secure attention all through a discourse we must make the people feel that they have an interest in what we are saying to them. This is, in fact, a most essential point, because nobody sleeps while he expects to hear something to his advantage. I have heard of some very strange things, but I never did hear of a person going to sleep while a will was being read in which he expected a legacy, neither have I heard of a prisoner going to sleep while the judge was summing up, and his life was hanging in jeopardy. Self-interest quickens attention. Preach upon practical themes, pressing, present, personal matters, and you will secure an earnest hearing.

—“Attention,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 149.

The Church's Songs and Soul Care

The hymnal, so theologically rich, is a great source for soul care. I believe David Powlison (certainly not alone) has often pointed this out.

Recently, while thinking and walking through some painful and sorrowful concerns with a dear friend, what came to my mind was this verse from Joachim Neander's 1680 hymn, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty:

Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e'er have been granted in what he ordaineth?

Moved with emotion during this conversation with my friend, what came out was what I've often sung with feeling and felt in the depths of my being, corporately and privately. Singing works like that. What the Lord brought to my mind was not something I'd read (though he certainly does that!), but something I'd sung dozens of times. And because so often what we sing will be the theology that comes out in trials and troubles, we best be singing theologically rich and deep songs, songs we can end with "O the depths!" (Rom. 11:33).

Here also, in brief, is a bit of my brief for recovering the psalms for corporate worship. But I still await that great work. When it comes, expect the mutual counseling ministry in the church to come alive and to sustain and strengthen and encourage and embolden a new generation for God's great glory.

—Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (taken from the Trinity Hymnal, based on Psalm 103, translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1863).

Throwing Light on the Commentaries

"Remember that the Scriptures throw a lot of light on the commentaries."

—Donald Hagner, quoting "a wise sage," New Testament Exegesis and Research: A Guide for Seminarians (Fuller Seminary Press: Pasedena, 1999), p. 3.

Christological Ecclesiology

Augustin (from Letter CXX; as cited in vol. 5 of Owen's Works, Banner of Truth, p. 176):

We hear the voice of the body from the mouth of the head. The church suffered in him when he suffered for the church; as he suffers in the church when the church suffers for him. For as we have heard the voice of the church in Christ suffering, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Look upon me"; so we have heard the voice of Christ in the church suffering, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

Now this is head-and-body Christology (or shall I say ecclesiology; or perhaps, even better, christological ecclesiology, or ecclesiological Christology?)  I can live with. In fact, must live with. Moreover, love to live with. It's there—in holy Scripture. It's there—woven into ultimate reality, knitted, as it were, into the being of the Trinity.

Adam's Sin and Masculine Christianity

Doug Moo says this of Rom. 5:12 (The Epistle to the Romans, 319):

The fact that Paul attributes to Adam this sin is significant since he certainly knows from Genesis that the woman, Eve, sinned first (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14). Already we see that Adam is being given a status in salvation history that is not tied only to temporal priority.

This biblical datum is the stuff of Piper's recent assertion (in his talk on J. C. Ryle) that Christianity has a masculine feel. Of course Piper's right. And here's one instance among many that provide that biblical framework. Or shall we suppose that Paul's assertion was culture-bound?  (Undoubtedly, at least in part, Paul was simply following God's lead in the Genesis 3 narrative in singling out Adam as responsible for mankind's defection.) No academic sophistication, no womanly wave of a magic exegetical wand, can wave away the obvious. But feminists (including so-called evangelicals) don't care about these things. They're too busy trying to fit Bible verses (if they want to be called evangelicals) into a secularist agenda.

Incidentally, it's a sorry and sad thing that evangelicals only started to see all sorts of egalitarianism in Scripture after the secular sexual revolution and when the secular feminist agenda was well under way. Coincidence? No. I believe the Bible calls it "worldliness."

And more evangelical "leaders," not least those rubbing shoulders with such feminists in institutions where this nonsense is put up with, need to call for repentance and lead the reform. The Church is losing its gospel witness as God's word is being dishonored (Tit. 2:5), dishonored, that is, by "evangelical feminists" and those who put up with them.

How to Write an Exegesis Paper

The following outline is the basic method for doing an exegesis paper as taught by Prof. G. K. Beale in his Principles of Interpretation course when he was at Wheaton College:

1. Dependent prayer.
2. Survey the historical context generally and particularly.
3. Confirm the limits of the passage.
4. Provide a provisional translation. Also compare 5 or 6 major translations and note differences.
5. Note textual problems.
6. Note grammatical problems.
7. Note syntactical problems. Do a sentence flow.
8. Note lexical problems.
9. Note exegetical relation (logical) problems. Do a discourse analysis.
10. Note parallel relation problems.
11. Note OT/NT problems.
12. Note historical-cultural background problems.
13. Note figurative problems.
14. Note genre problems.
15. Note theological problems
16. Produce a rough draft.
17. Consult secondary literature.
18. Provide a finished translation.
19. Produce the final form of the paper.

Your Tossings and Tears Amid Fears

Do you know God to be the kind of God who counts your tossings and keeps your tears? Do you know him as a loving heavenly Father who puts your troubled, tear-soaked sleepless nights in his book? (Ps. 56:8). Do you know him as the Almighty God who is assuredly for you? (v. 9). David did. Becaue he's that kind of God and Father. O know him this way, brothers and sisters! And enjoy the deep confidence and trust David knew, calling on God as gracious (v. 1), trusting him amid fears (v. 3), confessing confidently with David, "What can flesh do to me?" (vv. 4, 11). He will deliver your soul from death, your feet from falling, that you may walk before him in the light of life (v. 13).

Pastoral Polemics

In his sturdy work on The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (vol. 5, Works, Banner of Truth), John Owen models engaging in polemics in the presence and sight of God. In the preface, he tells us his aim in defending and teaching the doctrine (p. 4):

I have ascribed no opinion unto any particular person—much less wrested the words of any, reflected on their persons, censured their abilities, taken advantage of presumed prejudices against them, represented their opinions in the deformed reflections of strained consequences, fancied intended notions, which their words do not express, nor, candidly interpreted, give any countenance unto—or endeavored the vain pleasure of seeming success in opposition unto them; which, with the like effects of weakness of mind and disorder of affections, are the animating principles of many late controversial writings. 

To declare and vindicate the truth, unto the instruction and edification of such as love it in sincerity, to extricate their minds from those difficulties (in this particular instance) which some endeavor to cast on all gospel mysteries, to direct the consciences of them that inquire after abiding peace with God, and to establish the minds of them that do believe, are the things I have aimed at. . . .

Then in the first chapter on general considerations, Owen urges pastors and teachers to direct their energies toward the good conscience of the believer (p. 8):

Whereas we cannot either safely or usefully treat of this doctrine, but with respect unto the same ends for which it is declared, and whereunto it is applied in the Scripture, we should not, by any pretences, be turned aside from attending unto this case and its resolution, in all our discourses on this subject; for it is the direction, satisfaction, and peace of the consciences of men, and not the curiosity of notions or subtlety of disputations, which it is our duty to design. . . . For more weight is to be put on the steady guidance of the mind and conscience of one believer, really exercised about the foundation of his peace and acceptance with God, than on the confutation of ten wrangling disputers. 

So let's be found following Owen's model of pastoral concern in handling this holy and happy doctrine, shunning all temptations to display, vanity, and pride.

Exegesis: Structural Analysis

If you want to see the "syntactical bone structure" (as Prof. G. K. Beale calls it) of a text, a sentence flow is one way to do it. The following summary steps to take are taken from Gordon Fee's New Testament Exegesis (3rd ed., pp. 41-58):

1. Begin with the subject, predicate, and object to the extreme left.

2. Subordinate by indenting all adverbial modifiers and adjectival and noun clauses under the word or word group being modified.

3. Coordinate by lining up corresponding elements directly under one another.

4. Isolate structural signals (i.e., conjunctions, particles, relative pronouns, and sometimes demonstrative pronouns), either above or to the left, and highlight in order to draw lines from the structural signal to the the element(s) to which it is related.

5. Color-code recurring words or motifs in order to trace themes or ideas crucial to the flow of the argument.

6. Trace the argument by annotation.

DG's 2012 Conference for Pastors

Last week I went with a group of men from my local church to DG's 2012 Conference for Pastors: God, Manhood, & Ministry: Building Men for the Body of Christ. We had a wonderful time. Undoubtedly the conversations were the best part of the few days. Among the talks given, I found Doug Wilson's outstanding: "'Father Hunger' in Leading the Home," and "'Father Hunger' in Leading the Church." And Crawford Lorrits' message moved me to tears.

The interview with Piper and Wilson was a conversation that for years I've hoped for and even prayed for. It was immensely illuminating and stimulating, especially as some of the emphases and differences of these two ministries were explored face to face with each other.

I've easily listened to hundreds of sermons from each of these ministries, and I've felt a number of the tensions brought to the fore in this discussion. I have a lot to explore on this score, but for now I'll say this much about some of these tensions: I think we must live in the tensions of conversations such as this one in conversation with God's Word and one another, trying to do what is pleasing in the Lord's sight, seeking the wisdom and guidance of God's good Spirit. In other words, we never settle such tensions and move on. We live in them.

A one-size-fits-all approach to the questions raised, neglecting the Bible's balance and breadth, surely leaves lives and churches truncated. This one-size-fits-all tendency, afflicting many evangelical churches (e.g., some discussions on the mission of the Church), poses all sorts of problems. I find that many of the emphases and strengths of Piper and Wilson complement each other rather well and are not contradictory at all. Yet there's a deep need for wisdom to work out in day to day life the details of the tensions of biblical teachings and Bible teachers. And this requires dependence. A good place to be.

So have at these resources, men. They're food for your faith.

Journal of Biblical Counseling

As many have been pointing out, the Journal of Biblical Counseling is back—and available online for free! Happy news! Thank you, CCEF!

I applaud CCEF's decision to make this available for free, and I want to urge generous giving to this worthy ministry. May God be pleased to strengthen his Church through this ministry, not least for the sake of the broken and battered, the despairing and discouraged, and the weak and weary within her ranks and within her reach.

Oh God, Protect and Provide at Home

A Lutheran prayer for God's providential protection and provision:

Oh, God, grant that all people—in city and country—be diligent and display charity and loyalty toward each other. Give us favorable weather and good harvest. I commend to you my house and property, wife and children. Grant that I may manage and guide them well, supporting and educating them as a Christian should. Defend us against the Destroyer and all his wicked angels who would do us harm and mischief in this life. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), p. 46.

Sola Fide

No doubt many are aware that Luther's addition of the word "alone" in his translation of Rom. 3:28 caused quite a row. And to this day, it is frowned upon by Roman Catholics. A literal rendering of the verse reads thus: "For we reckon that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law" (translation mine). The word for "alone" is not there in the original. Yet Luther saw that the sense of the verse, the meaning intended, warranted it. 

But not all see this (I almost said, "not all have faith," 2 Thess. 3:2). Some still object to Luther's temerity to add a word where there isn't one to be found in the corresponding Greek. Moreover, increasing the temerity, it isn’t to be found anywhere in Pauline usage: Paul never explicitly says "justified by faith alone," or the like. To the shock of some Protestants, James alone does, only he adds the negative "not" to "justified by faith alone" (Jas. 2:24). But that's another post for another time.

So it'll be of interest to some that others preceded Luther in this "temerity": namely, Thomas Aquinas, Origen, Theodoret, Hilary, Basil, Ambrosiaster, Chyrsostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Bernard, and Theophylact (Joseph Fitzmyer, Romans, 360-361). These "fathers" used the "alone" language in their discussions of justification, and they weren't all expounding Jas. 2:24. It should be duly noted that Fitzmeyer, after listing these names in his commentary on Romans, appears to doubt the propriety of using "alone," stating that "it is a theological extension of Paul's teaching that presses beyond what he states" (362). He also asks "whether Luther meant by 'only' what his predecessors meant" (362). Nevertheless, such usage antedating Luther brings intrigue, even if only to point out that Luther was not the first to introduce it.

In any case, each has to reckon with whether or not Luther's translation and this Reformation sola bona fide comport with apostolic teaching. As for me and my house, the judgment of Moo undoubtedly stays the gospel course: “A serious erosion of the full significance of Paul’s gospel occurs if we soften this antithesis; no works, whatever their nature or their motivation, can play any part in making a sinner right with God” (Douglas Moo, Romans, 251).

Two Travelers Talking Together

In an earlier post, I pointed up the importance of Christian conversation from Buynan's Pilgrim's Progress. Here's another tribute to that oft-neglected discipline and delight from the same book (p. 140):

When Saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither,
And hear how these two Pilgrims talk together,
Yea, let them learn of them in any wise,
Thus to keep ope their drowsy, slumb'ring eyes.
Saints' Fellowship, if it be managed well,
Keeps them awake, and that in spite of Hell.

Please note, once again, what Buynan thinks is at stake. Christian conversation must be our portion in this life as we head heavenward.

The Central Place of the Whole Bible

From the margin of the Luther Bible of 1534, Luther calls Rom. 3:21-26 "the chief point, and the very central place of the Epistle, and of the whole Bible."

—Mined from Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, p. 218.

Paul's Blessed "But Now"

Oh that blessed "but now" of Rom. 3:21! Here's Doug Moo's redemptive-historical understanding of it, surely right on:

The phrase could have a purely logical force—"but now here is the situation apart from the law"—but is more likely to preserve its normal temporal meaning. As in Rom.6:22; 7:6; 1 Cor. 15:20; Eph. 2:13; and Col. 1:22, "but now" marks the shift in Paul's focus from the old era of sin's domination to the new era of salvation. This contrast between two eras in salvation history is one of Paul's most basic theological conceptions, providing the framework for many of his key ideas. Rom. 1:18-3:20 has sketched the spiritual state of those who belong to the old era: justly condemned, helpless in the power of sin, powerless to escape God's wrath. "But now" God has intervened to inaugurate a new era, and all who respond in faith . . . will be transferred into it from the old era. No wonder Lloyd-Jones can exclaim, "there are no more wonderful words in the whole of Scripture than just these two words, 'But now.'"

—The Epistle to the Romans, p. 221. 

The Most Important Paragraph Ever Penned

Can one overstate the place and importance of Paul's gospel paragraph in Romans 3? I'm talking, of course, about vv. 21-26. I doubt it. Leon Morris says this of that powerful paragraph:

In what is possibly the most important single paragraph ever written, Paul brings out something of the grandeur of Christ's saving work. He speaks of the righteousness of God, the sin of man, and the salvation of Christ. He views this salvation in three ways: as justification (imagery from the law court), as redemption (imagery from the slave market), and as propitiation (imagery from the averting of wrath).

—The Epistle to the Romans (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1988), p. 173.

Send Your Readers Off Now and Then

Speaking on writing well in the vernacular of your subject matter, Mark Tredinnick says this about writing to your target audience:

It's okay to offer readers some words they've never heard before used in the right places to mean what they're meant to mean. Writing can educate in this way, too. Send your readers off to the dictionary now and then. It might remind them to keep one handy (Writing Well, 129).

Why are some translators of the Bible committed to reaching a target audience with an eighth grade literacy level averse to this sort of advice? Would it be all that bad if a reader of the holy Bible had to learn a new word, not least one theologically loaded? Could that be all that bad for that person?