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?

DG's 2012 Conference for Pastors

I'm heading out of town with some men from the church for Desiring God's 2012 Conference for Pastors, so the blog will be on hold till the end of the week.

The Greatest Service to Education Today

C. S. Lewis: "The greatest service we can do to education today is to teach fewer subjects" (Surprised by Joy, 113).

Luther Gives Prayer Advice to His Barber

Luther's barber, Peter, inquired of him how he, an ordinary guy, might pray without being distracted by worldly thoughts and occupations. In part, here is Luther's reply:

Dear Master Peter: I will tell you as best I can what I do personally when I pray. May our dear Lord grant to you and to everybody to do it better than I! Amen. 

First, when I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my little psalter, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do. 

It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last of the night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas which tell you, 'Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.' Such thoughts get you away from prayer into other affairs which so hold your attention and involve you that nothing comes of prayer for that day. 

It may well be that you may have some tasks which are as good or better than prayer, especially in an emergency. . . . Yet we must be careful not to break the habit of true prayer and imagine other works to be necessary which, after all, are nothing of the kind. Thus at the end we become lax and lazy, cool and listless toward prayer. The devil who besets us is not lazy or careless, and our flesh is too ready and eager to sin and is disinclined to the spirit of prayer.

Luther then goes on to provide examples of how to pray the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' Creed. His examples may be found in the book below, from which the above was taken.

 —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 41-42.

The Centrality of Christ's Resurrection

It is not uncommon in Protestantism to hear preachers and teachers say that the cross of Christ is the center of the faith and the Gospel. If all that is meant by this is that the cross is essential and supremely important, fine. No quibbles here. But often the cross is spoken of as so central that the resurrection of Christ and other elements of the Gospel are made peripheral. At least this is functionally, if not confessionally, all too often the case. And it is an error.

Michael Bird says this good word about this error:

One of the benefits of the NPP has been to demonstrate that Jesus Christ's resurrection is far more integral to God's saving righteousness than is often supposed. N.T. Wright in particular sees Paul's theology constructed in such a way so as to emphasize that the resurrection of Christ is the apex of God's plan to redeem Israel from exile and to renew creation from the bondage of sin and death. This is a helpful corrective since Protestant theology has traditionally emphasized the cross as the immediate basis of justification and unfortunately marginalized the significance of the resurrection in Paul's gospel and soteriology. Accordingly, theologians have located justification as occuring primarily through the atoning and redemptive death of Christ. . . . The problem is that Paul's gospel knows no divorce between the cross and the resurrection and their ensuing effect. The resurrection figures equally prominently in Paul's most concise summaries of the gospel (The Saving Righteousness of God, 40-41). 

The resurrection is every bit as fundamental as the cross. Bird is right. Wright is right. And here is one of those places where the Church should thank God for Wright and embrace his teaching. And I'm convinced that the first Christians thought about these things far more organically than we tend to do in the West, we who divide things into bits and separate things God intends us to hold together.

Getting Acquainted with Paul's Gospel

"Anyone who wants to become acquainted with Paul's gospel must above all study Romans" (Peter Stuhlmacher, The Roman's Debate, 231).

Curved in on Ourselves

Martin Luther (citing Augustine, I believe) once said somewhere that the primal and primary problem with humanity is that we are curved in on ourselves. Staying with this figure of speech (which is marvelous), what might be a memorable way to think of the remedy?

Here's a suggestion: look away, look up, look out. You're curved in. So, first, look away (from your self); in the same motion, then, look up (heavenward toward God and his crucified and exalted Christ); and, immediately following and flowing from that, look out (toward your neighbors). The first—looking away—corresponds with repentance. The second—looking up—corresponds with faith. The third—looking out—corresponds with love. The prescription for this remedy is p.r.n. (namely, daily, hourly, even moment by moment).

There you have it, the gospel remedy for our being curved inward upon ourselves: looking away (repentance), looking up (faith), and looking out (love). Now straighten up!

Principles of Interpretation: The Basics

Professor Greg Beale's course Principles of Interpretation taught at Wheaton College (before he left for Westminster East) has been one of the most enjoyable and helpful I've taken. I say this, among other reasons, because I've found his general approach to Scripture to be reverent, prudent, salutary, and devotional. Here's the basic approach urged by Professor Beale in three summary points:

1. The context is always king.
2. Let your concordance run away with your Bible.
3. Let Scripture interpret Scripture.

Bunyan's Bibline Blood

Reading through the Pilgrim's Progress, I'm reminded again and again of how Charles Spurgeon said of Buynan that if you pricked him, he'd bleed bibline. At many points in the narrative, biblical references come in virtually every other line for pages (e.g., pp. 90-91). Buynan lived, ate, drank, breathed Bible. He must have taken long walks through it's pages every day.

May we be enabled to follow in those Bible-saturated steps! May the educated among us especially learn from that tinker! Let's be men and women of one book!

Tried and Proved by Trials

How do you do when tried and tempted? Can you sing with Faithful in Pilgrim’s Progress these wonderful words?

The trials that those men do meet withal,

that are obedient to the heavenly call,

Are manifold and suited to the flesh.

And come, and come, and come again afresh;

That now or sometime else, we by them may

Be taken, overcome, and cast away.

O let the Pilgrims, let the Pilgrims then,

Be vigilant, and quit themselves like men (p. 78).

Faithful, Christian’s traveling companion for a good stretch of the journey, sang this after, among other temptations, he had been enabled to shake of “bold-faced shame” in “The Valley of Humiliation,” otherwise known as “The Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Shame had come at him despising his religion. But Faithful, he tells Christian, had spoken this truth to him (p. 77):

 I began to consider, “That that which is highly esteemed among Men, is had in an abomination with God” (Lk. 16:15). And I thought moreover, that at the day of doom we shall not be doomed to Death or Life, according to the hectoring spirits of the world: but according to the wisdom and law of the highest. Therefore thought I, what God says is best indeed, is best, though all men in the world are against it. Seeing then that God prefers his religion, seeing God prefers a tender conscience, seeing they that make themselves fools for the kingdom of heaven are wisest: and that the poor man that lovest Christ, is richer than the greatest man in the world that hates him: Shame depart, thou art any enemy to my salvation: shall I entertain thee against my Sovereign Lord? How then shall I look him in the face at his coming? 

What is Faith?

Calvin answers (Institutes 3.11.7): Faith is "a kind of vessel" with which "we come empty and with the mouth of our soul open to seek Christ's grace. . . ."

Twelve Lessons Learned on Vacation: Part 3

Next I want to expand a little on this lesson among the twelve:

1. Don't try to get out of a vacation more than it can give.

Expectations. They're huge, aren't they? Without them, we couldn't get on in the world. But oftentimes by them we set ourselves up for disappointment or a fall. I suppose many approach a vacation with certain expectations that are not often gratified, and they then suppose that the next one will go better and be more fulfilling.

To point out one expectation that we had in our recent trip to Mexico, we assumed it'd be in the 80s, being so far south. Wrong. That's what it is, apparently, inland. On the ocean, it's usually cooler this time of year. It was mid-70s for about four to five of the days we were there, sunny and warm enough to swim. But two days were chilly, maybe in the low 60s at the warmest part of the day, accompanied by gusty winds. I didn't even bring any long sleeve shirts. That was disappointing. Em also got a UTI. I got a cold. These thwarted some of our expectations.

But we did not go into the vacation looking for some sort of ultimate fulfillment or satisfaction. Vacations can't give that. We knew we'd enjoy many pleasant creation goods, but what struck me repeatedly was how ultimately unsatisfying all those pleasant things were. The food was great. Drinks were unlimited. Leisure and entertainment abounded. The place was beautiful. We were comfortable and care-free. People waited on us. That's the life, right?

Wrong. Not for us anyway, for we've tasted eternal life. All of these things

Twelve Lessons Learned on Vacation: Part 2

A few days ago I posted the "Twelve Lessons Learned on Vacation," and I said I'd likely be expanding on the points I only outlined there. Since my brother-in-law told me he appreciated #8, I'll start and focus there:

8. I’m still a great sinner; and Jesus is still a great Savior.

Who goes on vacation expecting to see more sin in his or her heart? Well, I know it's there, and wasn't surprised that it cropped up. No, no, it's not just the presence of remaining indwelling sin in me that surprised me. It's being made deeply sensible of this when there was no daily press, and therefore I did not have my usual excuses. That was devastating (and, ultimately, liberating!). You know, under daily pressures it's easy to make allowances for low-grade irritation or grumbling or . . . . But I was on vacation. And not even close to having to leave to return to the pressures of my life.

So, for example, I found myself defaulting to American (and sinful) ways of thinking and reacting again and again. One illustration shall suffice for my purpose here (I'm not claiming to have only sinned once!).

Em and I went to dinner one evening wanting to take a dip in the pool right after we had eaten. So we set our two towels on two chairs by the pool, which was well within view. By the time we finished eating, however, our towels had disappeared. So naturally we went to the front desk and told the staff, assured we'd be enjoying a nice cool dip after getting prompt service. At the front desk we could even see our towels on the floor behind the desk. But after telling the pleasant young woman at the front desk and requesting fresh towels, we were told of their policy: "Lost towels are the patrons responsibility, and so you'll have to pay for them."

She didn't understand. Obviously. So I had my wife speak to her in Spanish.

The Agony

            Philosophers have measur’d mountains,

Fathom’d the depths of seas, of states, and kings,

Walk’d with a staff to heav’n, and traced fountains:

            But there are two vast, spacious things,

The which to measure it doth more behove:

Yet few there are that sound them; Sin and Love.

            Who would know Sin, let him repair

Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see

A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,

            His skin, his garments bloody be.

Sin is that press and vice, which forceth pain

To hunt his cruel food through ev’ry vein.

            Who knows not Love, let him assay

And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike

Did set again abroach, then let him say

            If every he did taste the like.

Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,

Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine.

—George  Herbert (1594-1633)

Christian Conversation in Pilgrim’s Progress

How important is Christian conversation? And in asking this question, I’m not asking with the emphasis on conversation. That is, I’m not asking how important conversation is that happens to occur between two people who happen to be Christians. No, that's unavoidable (unless you're a Lone Ranger Christian, which is to say, no Christian at all). I mean something far more significant and, unfortunately, far more rare among Christians. So I’m asking the question with the emphasis on the Christian element. How important is Christian conversation?

Indeed one might even put the question into biblical perspective by asking if such is essential? Which puts the first question on the plane of whether or not Christian conversation is of supreme importance? And by supreme I’m taking about the perspective of forever and ever—eternity’s perspective.  Moving in this direction in my questioning, some will perhaps wonder what in the world I’m on about?

Well, consider the place of Christian conversation in Christian’s pilgrimage as the main character journeys onward—with the wind in his face—alongside a good temporary traveling companion, Charity. To understand aright the answer that Buynan gives in his allegory to my question, consider also that, biblically considered, the whole of the Christian’s life plays itself out in terms of an exceedingly hazardous journey. If your travels through this world do not seem at all like an exceedingly hazardous journey, you may not be on the journey toward the celestial city, for hard and narrow is the way that leads to life (Matt. 7:14). And so Buynan assumes (and makes this clear in the narrative) that the one who heads heavenward does so only through many afflictions and difficulties—the wind, as Buynan puts it somewhere, is always in his face. We might say, the struggle is an uphill struggle, the sacred city sitting atop the hill of life.

Still at the house of Discretion, as noted in my last post on the Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian now sits down to meat with Charity (p. 56f):

Now the table was furnished with fat things, and with wine that was

Twelve Lessons Learned on Vacation

Emily and I spent a week in Cozumel, Mexico moving into 2012, and had a wonderful time. Our goals of seeking the Lord and finding refreshment (mind, soul, and body) away from the hurly-burly of suburban life and press were achieved. For that we are deeply grateful. But something unexpected happened. The Lord taught me (I think; time will tell) more than I ever dreamed or hoped he might. And so this post will outline the "twelve lessons learned on vacation." In subsequent posts I hope to expand on the outline and speak to some particulars. These are not in order of importance. However, if I were to state which lessons learned were the weightiest, it’d be lessons 1 to 5. This should come out in later posts. 

1. Don't try to get out of a vacation more than it can give.

2. Don't leave your Christianity behind when you leave home. 

3. The joy of the Lord alone satisfies fully; everything else serves as a mere pointer.

4. The glory of God is the supreme value on vacation, not the self, not modern concerns.

5. This little vapor’s breath of a life is utter vanity and futility apart from the fear of God and the hope of glory. 

6. God intends to carry on his sanctifying, transforming work even when you think you are taking a bit of a break from that hard road ahead.

7. If you do not actively seek to walk by the Spirit, you will fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

8. I’m still a great sinner; and Jesus is still a great Savior.

9. Heads of homes ought to lead with a God-honoring agenda for vacations.

10. Vacations provide ample scope for seeking and seeing the Lord. 

11. Vacations are for pursuing passionately and jealously a deepening of your relationships, not self-centered overindulgence.

12. Vacations provide ample opportunity to improve your understanding of anthropology.

The Word Working on the Wencels in 2012

Well, Emily and I are eager to move through God's Word again together in 2012. Freshly resolved to lay up more of that sacred Word above all earthly powers and beyond all worldly wealth, our reading this year will again be our own tailor-made plan. Based in part on my schooling, our work schedules, and how we've sensed the Lord would have us read, we've come up with the following reading plan:

Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr. (individually): Paul's epistles, Acts (2xs), Job, and the Pentateuch.
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr. (together): Psalms and Proverbs (2xs, continuing throughout the whole year until both have been read twice).

May, June, July, Aug. (individually): The Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings); and the rest of the Writings besides Psalms and Proverbs (Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles).
May, June, July, Aug. (together): John (3xs), Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, and Hebrews; Psalms and Proverbs continued.

Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. (individually): The Latter Prophets minus Isaiah (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve); and Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, and Jude.
Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. (together): Isaiah, John, Revelation, and 1-3 John; Psalms and Proverbs continued.

That's the reading plan. You'll notice there is some intentional repetition. We're doing Psalms, Proverbs, Acts, and Hebrews twice; the Gospel of John we're doing four times. We'll also probably go through Romans again and again. We've also roughly divided up our reading of the OT as the Jews divided the Hebrew Bible into the Law, the Writings, and the Former and Latter Prophets. The NT we've roughly divided up according to corpus or genre (e.g., the Pauline letters in the first third of the year; the Gospels in the second third; and John's writings in the third).

Now here's our memorization plan:

Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr. (together): Rom. 1:1-7, 16-17; 3:19-5:21; 11:33-12:21; 13:8-10; and one proverb per week (to be determined during our reading). I am taking a Romans exegesis class and will be doing a paper on justification, so we're focusing on 3:19-5:21.


May, June, July, Aug.(together): A psalm per month (to be determined during our reading); and one proverb per week (to be determined during our reading).

Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. (together): To be determined. We may start Hebrews or do John 14-17 or the Sermon on the Mount. Or perhaps we'll do more psalms. We'll also continue with one proverb per week (to be determined during our reading).

We began the new year this year as we always do—with Ps. 1. We confess without shame that we are seeking with full purpose of heart the blessing and fruitfulness described there. May the God of all grace help us according to his promise—and do so hearing this zealous cry and the sincere longing of our souls: "Not unto us, O YHWH, not unto us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love, and for the sake of your  truth" (Ps. 115:1).

A Blog Fast: Going Somewhere Warm with Wifey

Since Em and I will be going somewhere warm, the blog will be on hold for a week or so. We're going to spend some time seeking the Lord's face for the new year ahead, and we're going to practice a good bit of covenant renewal (that's code for lots of lovemaking). We're calling our time away "honeymoon round two." Isn't marriage good? Who thought this thing up? All praise, glory, and honor be to him.

Still Pressing on with Pilgrim by Faith

Pressing on in the journey we set about weeks back with Christian through our reading plan, we've come to rockier road. This has happened, strangely, after Christian lost his load (about which I posted). Many a Christian is surprised at this, thinking that the unburdened abundant life would bring earthly comforts and ease. But it is not so for the one who has embraced the cross, as Christian has found out and is teaching us in his trek.

And yet, whatever cross-bearing or trials and temptations the pilgrim faces, these all are wonderfully overcome by looking to the cross, not our cross. And so it happens as it did at the first: all burdens and loads along the way are loosened and laid on the the living Lord who was crucified. He continues to bear them in his body. And his cross-work continues to provide power for persevering.

So we read this when Christian was at the house of Discretion (he's relating his experience to Piety):

I saw one, as I thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon the tree; and the very sight of him made my burden fall off my back (for I groaned under a very heavy burden) but then it fell down from off me. 'Twas a strange thing to me, for I never saw such a thing before; yea, and while I stood looking up . . . three shining ones came to me: one of them testified that my sins were forgiven me; another stript me of my rags, and gave me this broidered coat which you see; and the third set the mark which you see in my fore-head, and gave me this sealed roll . . . (p. 53).

Of course here he's referring to when his load was first taken from him. And the "three shining ones" testify to the pilgrim's pardon, imputed perfection, and secure election. At that time, they also hand him a book to remember these things, needful because the journey's just begun.

A little further on, still at Discretion's house, Christian tells how "annoyances" (afflictions, trials, and temptations) along the way, after the load was loosened, are sometimes vanquished. Prudence had asked him, "Can you remember by what means you find your annoyances at times, as if they were vanquished?" Christian replies,

Yes, when I think what I saw at the cross, that will do it; and when I look upon my broidered coat, that will do it; and when I look into the roll that I carry in my bosom, that will do it; and when my thoughts wax warm about whither I am going, that will do it (p. 54). 

Prudence then queries Christian further, "And what is it that makes you so desirous to go to Mount Zion?" Christian beams and says,

Why, there I hope to see him alive, that did hang dead on the cross; and there I hope to be rid of all those things, that to this day are in me an annoyance to me; there, they say, there is no death, and there I shall dwell with such company as I like best. For to tell you truth, I love him, because I was by him eased of my burden, and I am weary of my inward sickness . . . (p. 54).

So, thus instructed, we too press on with Christian just as we started our journey at the very first. That is to say, we continue by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us; we continue to look to him who bore our burdens and robed us with his righteousness; we move onward and forward in the hope of glory held forth in the Gospel preached to us in the beginning; we are borne along by a weariness of inward sickness which reaches for the remedy and rest purchased and promised; and more, and most of all, seeing him dimly but still seeing him truly, we press on for love of our Lord toward the goal of seeing and knowing and enjoying fully him who bled and died in our stead, him who is our everlasting rest and refreshment at journey's end.

Father, Here's Our Commendation Amid Temptation

A Lutheran prayer commending all against temptations:

Heavenly Father, may we commend to you all who strive and work against great and many temptations. Strengthen those who still stand. Restore those who have fallen and given up. Grant all of us your grace in a miserable and uncertain life, and though surrounded constantly by so many enemies, may we persistently fight with a valiant and firm faith and finally obtain the eternal crown. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 37.

The Christmas Spirit

From J. I. Packer's classic Knowing God (pp. 63-64):

We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But . . . the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sake became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all year round.

It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians—I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians—go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that God might meet those needs) averting their eyes and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians—alas, they are many—whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.  

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christmas snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor—spending and being spent—to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others—and not just their own friends—in whatever way there seems need. 

There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit. "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5).

May the Spirit of this spirit be given to all who love the real Christmas, not the cultural accretions that have accumulated in our tidy little Middle American culture. May God be pleased to revive his churches to bear the likeness of the incarnate Christ who gave away his glory to give us glory, who became poor to make many rich.

The Son Took Flesh and Bone to His Person

Anselm on the person of Christ ("On the Incarnation of the Word" in Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998):

For one who correctly understands the Son's incarnation believes that the Son assumed a human being into the unity of his person and not into the unity of his substance. And my adversary foolishly thinks that the Son assumed a human being into the unity of his substance rather than into the unity of his person (p. 249).

The glorious doctrine of the person of Christ is worth celebrating with all the might: and so it also one of those doctrines worth fighting over when it is under attack.

Why December 25th?

Tim Challies links to a Christianity Today article written by Elesha Coffman that answers this question.

Update: See also Justin Taylor's post on this question, which provides an article from Andreas Köstenberger's website.

Guard Us, O God, from Greed

A Lutheran prayer against greed and cosmic treason:

Preserve us from a corrupt desire and greed for the wealth of the world. Guard us from seeking the power and glory of this world and succumbing to its views. Protect us from the treachery of the world, so that its deception and wealth may not entice us to follow it. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 36.

Atomism and Authoritarianism in Scholarship

In his excellent discussion on textual criticism in Interpreting Galatians, Moisés Silva says that "the textual discussions one finds in a commentary amount to little more than a guess or a mildly informed opinion" (43). And the central problem, he says, is atomism:

When NT scholars cite the reading of a manuscript, they almost never assess that reading in the light of the scribal peculiarities of that manuscript as a whole. As a result, statements about whether one type of change is more likely than another are usually based on very general and vague principles (such as "the shorter reading is preferred," a valid criterion that must however be used with awareness of some important qualifications), not on familiarity with the scribal tendencies found in specific manuscripts. Moreover, variants are most often evaluated without attention to parallel variations in other passages (44). 

I've often wondered why I'm supposed to submit to these general principles (such as "the shorter reading is preferred," or "the more difficult reading is preferred"). While there may be some validity in such principles, as Silva points out, I still often find myself asking, "Why?" "On whose authority?" "Why should I bow to these principles?" "Are they inspired?" Textual criticism is not a hard science like chemistry, and no set of principles can infallibly guide one through textual difficulties.

So in addition to the problem of atomism, I'd add the problem of authoritarianism. And I'm glad that a solid scholar like Silva has given us permission to ignore much of what the scholars have to say. But I confess, I probably would have done the ignoring without that permission. Scholars are getting easier and easier to ignore. And most should not give a second thought to what the mass of them thinks.

As Per Your Promise, Father, Silence All Slander

A Lutheran prayer in the face of false accusations:

As you have promised, give us your goodness in place of our wickedness. Silence all cruel slanderers and accusers, those who magnify our faults, and the devil. Do so now and whenever our conscience is worried. Keep us from all backbiting and from exaggerating the sins of others. Judge us not by the evidence of the devil and by our own depressed consciences. Hear not the cry of our enemies who accuse us day and night before you, just as we would not listen to the slandering and accusing of others. Take from our souls the heavy burden of all our sins, so that with a clear, joyful, and sincere conscience we may endure and do all things, and live and die fully confident of your mercy. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 35-36.

The Temple Motif in Ezekiel

The temple motif pervades Scripture. And I am willing to argue that it is one of the main theological realities that holds the whole together. If one understands the biblical theology of the temple, one really does understand a great deal of how Scripture, how history, and how theology are unfolding.

Ezekiel's prophecy provides no small witness to that biblical theology. The temple teaching in Ezekiel, however, cannot be understood solely on its own terms (which approach would be hermeneutically unsound, since that's not the way Scripture works). Unless one already grasps a good deal of the sweep of the Bible's temple teaching, one will likely simply be befuddled by Ezek. 40-48, or just flatly misunderstand it and do damage to the glory of Christ.

Consider the broad-brush painting of Ezekiel produced by the palette of William Dumbrell, a man who has labored in the canon for many years and understands its interconnectedness.This portrait gives only a hint of the scope of the temple teaching in the Bible, but one can hear and see Genesis to Revelation in this brief word focusing on Ezekiel:

Yahweh is depicted in Ezekiel 1 as enthroned and accompanied by ministrant attendants. . . . They function only as bearers of the throne. Yahweh is moving from his heavenly palace, in judgment against the Jerusalem temple. The book thus commences with Jerusalem and her temple under imminent judgment. Yet the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh has led us to expect a movement beyond judgment. So the book of Ezekiel concludes with the magnificent conception of Yahweh enthroned in what must be the New Jerusalem, permanently located among his people in a new city from which, in Eden terms, the waters of life flow.

—The Faith of Israel: A Theological Survey of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 153.

Dear Father, Grant Grace for the "Three Tempters"

A Lutheran prayer for the Father's assisting grace against the "three tempters":

We have the three tempters: the flesh, the world, and the devil. Therefore, dear Father, we ask you to give us the grace to expel the lusts of the flesh. Help us to avoid excessive eating, drinking, and sleeping, and to resist laziness.

Grant that by fasting, careful eating, and proper clothing and care for the body we may watch and toil to become useful and fitted for good works. Help us to kill and to crucify with Christ's help all evil inclinations and lusts of the flesh, with all its cravings and temptations, so that no one will concede to its temptations or follow them. 

Help that when we see a beautiful person or creature we may not be led to temptation but to admiration and to praising you through your creation. Grant that when we hear something pleasant and perceive something lovely we may not seek lust in it but rather praise and glory. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 34.

Christ Plus Nothing Equals Everything: Enough!

Today's New Covenant Church sermon was simply stellar. Pulling back the cosmic curtains with Col. 1:15-20, Pastor Andrew Fulton unveiled the glory of the Son of God in a sermon entitled Enough. My wife and I said to each other that it was one of the best Christmas sermons we've ever heard.

Like a master workman with great God-given skill, Andrew weaves the infinitely glorious Christology of Colossians into the twenty-first century fabric of fallen Naperville lives. Bringing the Word of God to bear upon our contemporary culture and concerns by bringing us face to face with Infinity incarnate, what can we do but respond with faith, joy, and worship? Christ plus nothing equals everything! Christ is all, and all is ours!

Emily and I feel so liberated and satisfied by the cosmic Christ of this preached word. You may listen to it at NCC's website. Enjoy. Marvel. Believe. Rest. And have a very Merry Christmas!

Would Make for a Good Study

Follow this link for a table comparing the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) and the London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689). These two confessions are very similar, the latter dependent on the former: but the differences, even at a glance, are telling. Probing those differences, and asking why they are there and where they are going, would make for a good study.

HT: Justin Taylor

Be Killing Sin, Or Else

An important word to remember from Tim Challies and John Owen on the importance of mortifying sin.

Teach, Preserve, and Protect, O LORD

A Lutheran prayer for instruction, preservation, and protection of the home:

Teach us by your Spirit to manage our homes well and to rule our households in a Christian manner, to your service, praise, and glory. Preserve our children and all in our household from sin and shame, as well as from danger and harm to body and soul. Protect the fruits of the fields and all cattle from lightning, poison, wild beasts, and every possible injury. Amen.

 —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 34.

Separation of Church and State?

How does our notion of the separation of church and state stand up to Jer. 50:14 (and countless other places in the prophetic word)? Does the word of the Lord care what we think? Does it care what we've got enshrined in law? Consider also Jer. 51:5. Is the political arena neutral? Are not even the pagan politicians and potentates (and parliaments and congresses) held responsible to YHWH?

Preacher: Have Something to Say

C. H. Spurgeon's counsel on being interesting enough to be heard:

Your subject must weigh so much upon your own mind that you dedicate all your faculties at their best to the deliverance of your soul concerning it; and then when your hearers see that the topic has engrossed you, it will by degrees engross them.

And,

Romaine used to say it was well to understand the art of preaching, but infinitely better to know the heart of preaching; and in that saying there is no little weight. The heart of preaching, throwing of the soul into it, the earnestness which pleads as for life itself, is half the battle as to gaining attention. . . . Have something to say, and say it earnestly, and the congregation will be at your feet.  

—“Attention,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 146.

Give Grace to Preach, to Lead, to Hear

A Lutheran prayer for preachers and hearers alike, and for all in authority: 

Give grace to all preachers to proclaim Christ and your Word in all the world profitably and gladly. Grant that all who hear your Word preached may learn to know Christ and actually improve their lives through him. Exclude from your holy church all strange doctrines and preaching in which Christ is not made known. Be merciful to all bishops and ministers and all in authority, that they may be enlightened by your grace and rightly teach and lead us by good word and good example. Protect all who are weak in the faith that they may not be misled by the wickedness of any in authority. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 33.

What to Expect at a CREC Church

Here you may find Pastor Wilson's ongoing explanation (who knows how much longer he'll go) of what to expect at a CREC church. As I've said before, this is a growing communion that has impressed me a great deal. And you should probably consider visiting one if one has been planted in your area.

Supping with the Savior One Day; Sinning with Satan by Monday?

At my local church, we sat done with Jesus yesterday at his table. We partook of his body and blood together, and we renewed fellowship with him and with one another. And I have one question, mainly for myself, before the Lord himself, as I begin this week, but also for all who regularly sit down to sup and cup with the living Lord Jesus:

We just sat down at supper with Jesus yesterday: how then can we dine with the devil today?

Loosening the Load and Bearing It No More

Journeying along with Christian through our reading plan is proving to be steadying and stabilizing, or at least reminding me, when not steady and stable, of the need for perseverance. I'm enjoying Buynan's masterpiece immensely. Through the first bit of reading, however, I've had a quibble with the dream. Christian carries quite a load on his back for quite a way before he reaches the burden-bearer. Along the way, he's not directed straightaway to his relief. Even Evangelist seems to be too slow to lighten Christian's load. And Goodwill urges Christian to "be content to bear it, until thou comest to the place of deliverance . . . (31).

Yet finally, after Christian had encountered a number of poor traveling companions, Interpreter sends him on his way toward his deliverance. Still burdened, Christian runs, not without difficulty, up the highway called Salvation. Ascending he sees a place with a cross and, a little below, a grave. Approaching the cross, the load loosens and shortly falls from his back, tumbling into the mouth of the grave, so that he saw it no more. We then read: "Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, 'He hath given me rest, by his sorrow; and life, by his death'" (41). Christian then looked and wondered awhile, "for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden" (41).

This episode stands at the head of a number that recount the loosened load and the cross's continuing freeing influence in Christian's journey. For example, on page 43, "Christian gives three leaps for joy, and went on singing":

Thus far I did come loaden with my sin,
Nor could ought ease the grief that I was in,
Till I came hither: what a place is this!
Must here be the beginning of my bliss?
Must here the burden fall from off my back?
Must here the strings that bound it to me crack?
Bless'd Cross! Bless'd sepulchre! Bless'd rather be
The man that there was put to shame for me.

A little later in the journey, being a weary traveler, Christian seeks and finds rest at "a pleasant arbour, made by the Lord of the hill, for the refreshing of weary travellors" (46):

Thither therefore Christian got, where also he sat down to rest him. Then he pull'd his roll out of his bosom, and read therein to his comfort; he also now began afresh to take a review of the coat or garment that was given him as he stood by the cross.

Here we see Christian, post-conversion, pulling out of his chest (probably Bible memorization, but perhaps just a Bible itself) the good news of a garment (no doubt Christ's righteousness) given to him when he first looked to Christ on the cross. This is walking, traveling by faith, pressing on in the journey in the same way it began.

And so must be the whole of our journey to our heavenly homeland. We walk by faith, not by sight. And, as Buynan eloquently reminds us, that faith pre-eminently eyes the Christ of the cross, risen and exalted, Lord of all, interceding for his own, mediating in heaven as the Christian's robe of righteousness. "Bless'd Cross! Bless'd sepulchre! Bless'd rather be / The man that there was put to shame for me."

The Fathers and Pistis Iēsou Christou

It is probably of no interest to most to know how much ink has been spilled over the Greek phrase pistis Iēsou Christou (πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ). So I'll just say it's been a lot. But it is probably of interest to many what that phrase means, since it comes in crucial texts, such as Gal. 2:16, that expound how we are justified.

Until the 1970s, the universal view took it as an objective genitive: "faith in Jesus Christ." But since then many have taken it as a subjective genitive: "the faithfulness of Jesus Christ." Since Greek genitival constructions are inherently ambiguous, how can one know which is in view? (Before pressing on, let it be said that, theologically speaking, both are true. We are saved by faith in Christ and by the faithfulness of Christ.)  Well, the way to get at the meaning in a given context is to heed the flow of thought and compare the same or similar constructions in the near and more distant contexts. 


However, there is another consideration as well, like asking how native Greek speakers took the phrase. Fortunately, in this instance, we know the answer. As  Moisés Silva points out in Interpreting Galatians, the Greek fathers of the early church oftentimes, like exegetes of today, had differing opinions about the rendering of a word or construction. In discussing this, he uses Chrysostom as an example (p. 30):

When Chrysostom is aware of a problem—that is, a difference of opinion about the meaning of a word or a construction—we should take his opinion as only that, an opinion to be weighed and evaluated. However, in cases where we are aware of an ambiguity, while Chrysostom simply assumes that one of the possible meanings is the right one, that fact can become highly significant. In other words, his use of Greek at that point is very strong evidence for the way a native speaker would naturally understand the language.

He then discusses the bearing of this phenomenon on how we take pistis Iēsou Christou:

A recognition of this phenomenon can have substantive implications. Chrysostom and the other Greek fathers, for instance, evidently assume that πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ is an objective genitive ("faith in Jesus Christ," rather than "faith/faithfulness of Jesus Christ"), but the commentaries fail to point out the significance of that fact. Surely, very weighty arguments are needed to counter this evidence. In spite of it, however, some scholars argue that a subjective genitive is the more "natural" interpretation.

So maybe one of the lessons we might learn from Silva is not to be too impressed by scholarly statements like "the natural reading is thus and such." We probably also ought to be slow to move away from the way the Church has traditionally interpreted a text because of some recent scholarly innovation unless we really do have sufficient reason for doing so.  

The Church's Mission: Maturity in Christ

Köstenberger and O’Brien on Paul's missionary commission: “The activities in which Paul engaged as he sought to fulfill his missionary commission included not only primary evangelism, through which men and women were converted, but also the founding of churches and the bringing of believers to full maturity in Christ” (italics mine).[1]

In the push for the Church’s mission to evangelize the lost, which I hear a lot about today, there can oftentimes be no push toward Christian maturity, which I hear less about today. Get 'em in, keep 'em in (usually with programs), and get 'em bringing more in (usually with programs). We ought to make sure that we don’t lose the apostles’ mission and focus.

Paul wanted nothing short of maturity in Christ (Eph. 4:13-16; Col. 1:28-29), for which he labored and suffered in word and deed. Churches whose mission does not aim for converts and local churches to mature into the fullness of Christ fail to come up to the fullness of apostolic mission. For apostolic ministry, Christian maturity fits into conversion like hand in glove. No Christian maturity, no fulfilled mission. No push toward maturity, no real push in Christian mission. No matter how many people show up at church on Sunday.

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[1] Andreas J. Köstenberger and Peter T. O’Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A biblical theology of mission (ed. D. A. Carson; Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2001), 184.

The Center of John Owen's Life and Theology

I heartily agree with the perspective of this post on Owen at Between Two Worlds. I've not got through Owen's entire corpus yet (still plodding away!), but this suggestion of an Owenian center rings true: "the doctrine that in the gospel we behold, by the Christ-given Holy Spirit, the glory of God 'in the face of Christ" and are thereby changed into his image" (Richard Daniels, The Christology of John Owen, 92).

In truth, before ever I knew there was talk about a center in Owen, I myself was gripped by this. I believe it's on the face of his writings. In fact, I lectured on Owen for a Sunday school class about a year ago and gave the same center as I expounded the heart of his theology and life. Another plausible center (or at least a dominant emphasis), though, in my judgment, could be something like this: true and full Christian experience consists in a continual holy communion with the God of triune glory, by the power, wisdom, and delight of the Gospel. But I'll let the scholars quibble over these matters. I simply exult and glory in them as I experience them.

Another point made in Taylor's post that I appreciate is the one about who Owen fundamentally was: he was first and foremost, above all else, whatever else he was, a pastor. That's inescapable, as I read him. And for this I love him, especially as one who is often nauseated by academic and professional puffery and posturing among scholars and pastors. O for more pastors like Owen, who love the flock of God up into the glories of Christ!

If you've never read Owen, what a treasure you've yet to find. My recommendation: start with either volume 1, 2, or 6 of his Works, published by Banner of Truth. Take up and read!

CREC: Baptism and Christian Education

Here is one of the many reasons (not the only reason, nor the main) why I've been so impressed with the CREC churches. If there is one in your area, you should probably visit it.

The Voice and Presence of Christ in His People

Consider John Owen's teaching on the voice of Christ in his apostles: "The epistles of the apostles are no less Christ's sermons than that which he delivered on the mount" (vol. 5, Works, p. 59).

I wonder: Do you agree with this? Do you believe this? I do. And I believe I've got scriptural reason to do so. And by due and necessary consequence, I'll even go a little further.

Consider two texts:

"The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Lk. 10:16).

And,

"He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near" (Eph. 2:17).

Now, ask yourself just two questions:

First, considering that first clause in Lk. 10:16, ask yourself if our Christology and ecclesiology can really hear a text like this aright? You know, head and body theology, Christology and ecclesiology organically and vitally connected, as in like not separated by 200 pages in a systematic theology, as in the body not being decapitated. We are Christ's body, his presence, including his mouth. In the first instance, this has reference to the apostles, but it goes beyond them as well, as the apostolic Word is spoken by believers, and especially his appointed spokesmen.

Second, ask yourself who the "you" refers to in Eph. 2:17. Presumably, the Ephesians, right? And they never saw or heard Jesus in the days of his flesh. They never saw him with bodily eyes or heard his actual unique voice. But nevertheless they heard his voice (see Eph. 4:21—in Greek if you can—they heard him, not about him). Jesus himself preached to the Ephesians in his Spirit-indwelt ministers.

Now recall Acts 1:1, where Luke says that in his first volume, the Gospel according to Luke, he dealt with "all that Jesus began to do and teach." What does this imply about what Acts records and bears witness to? Well, naturally, that Acts testifies to all that Jesus continued to do and teach—by his indwelling Spirit, through his apostles.

Have you heard his voice? He still speaks. Let us hear him.

Deeply Grateful for Matter

Happy Thanksgiving to all! So much to be thankful for! To highlight one that covers a lot of ground and includes turkey and pie, I'm deeply grateful for matter. Yes, that is, solid stuff.

Oh how glorious is the ground under our feet and the sensory receptors to perceive it! How glorious is the gift of 10,000 flavors and 10,000 taste buds to enjoy them! Oh how glorious is this creation and the creature inhabiting it!—human beings, the crown of creation, are mind-blowingly amazing! Oh how glorious is the wisdom and power, infinitely so, of the Creator who thought this stuff up and spoke it all into being! And here we are, flesh and bone, careening around the sun, really fast, on this ball of dirt in this vast universe, enjoying 10,000 mercies and gifts, moment by moment. Glory!

We cannot be too thankful! All praise and thanks be to the triune God of glory—Father, Son, and Spirit—the three-in-one, and one-in-three.

Planking: The Provena True Stretch

To prove I'm not a Gnostic. To prove that, after all, I love my culture. To prove I don't just study theology. To prove to my wife that I really do have a job.