Pursuing Holiness Will Destroy You

I came from a church that preached personal holiness. They used Scripture to speak of ways to become holy in our actions, to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. What they meant was here are some things you should do, some things you should refrain from so that you can be holy in conduct. My pursuit for holiness was caught up in my actions and what I was either pursuing or abstaining from each day. I thought I was pursuing holiness as I didn't watch certain movies, didn't listen to certain music, refrained from using certain words, didn't drink certain drinks, didn't smoke, didn't go to certain places, read my Bible, prayed, was involved in "church", memorized Scripture, etc. If I could just do these things, I was pursuing holiness. The issue was that I kept screwing up and could never pursue these things perfectly. On top of that, as I pursued these things, or abstained from these things, I found myself falling into the worst trap of them all...pride. I was very proud of what I was accomplishing, and it was becoming evident that I didn't need Jesus, because I was becoming such a good saviour for myself.

Here's the real issue in all of this. Every time I pursued my own holiness, I heard from Isaiah saying,

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 64:6

Not only this, but I also found other commands to be pretty empty and I truly didn't believe them. Jesus told us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I used to laugh at this verse. How was this easy? How was this burden light? I felt like a Jew, hoping my righteous deeds were good enough for, not only my salvation, but also my assurance of salvation. I was hoping my fruit was ripe enough so that Jesus would say, "well done good and faithful servant." I thought that John was full of it when he said, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). His commands are not burdensome? Yeah, right. What I found as I was pursuing holiness, like it was something to be obtained, was that Jesus' commands were hard, heavy and burdensome...just the opposite of what I was reading in the Bible. Then I thought...maybe it wasn't Jesus that was wrong, but the teachers I was listening to, this fake Gospel I was listening to.

Since leaving this church and pursuing Jesus, every time I hear "pursue holiness" it freaks me out some. Not because I want to "pursue licentiousness" but because I automatically revert back to this idea of sanctification, both positionally and progressive, come by my works for God, as though he needs them.

Yesterday I saw a quote by J.I. Packer that nailed it:

The holiest Christians are those who are fully focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, not on holiness.

This couldn't ring more true. If one pursues holiness, and sees holiness as a thing, instead of a Person, namely Jesus Christ, they will be destroyed, both in this life and the next. Pursuing holiness is a Person. We should be pursuing Jesus, pursuing God, through the work of the Spirit. As we pursue the Messiah, we will be pursuing holiness. As Jesus said, "you can do nothing apart from me," this includes holiness. Holiness isn't found in how much time you spend in the Bible, how much time you spend in prayer, how much time you spend in ministry, how much you abstain from sin, but it is found in how much you pursue the Person and work of Christ and understand that he has already done it for you...he wasn't joking when he said, "it is finished." He is our holiness, both now and forever.

This doesn't mean that we don't pray, read our bibles, minister to others, love our neighbors, etc., this means just the opposite. Because as we pursue more of our Saviour, the more these other things will naturally flow from us and not be a burden. It isn't a burden for me to love my wife, it is natural, because I love her.

Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
Matthew 15:16-20

This is why Jesus spends so much time on the heart. The only thing that can turn us from a sinful people is to circumcise our hearts and replace them from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh, which only God can do.

We must trust in his work, not our own. No matter how much we work for holiness, we cannot obtain it. Only God can clothe us in righteousness through replacing our sin, with the righteousness of Jesus. This is why grace is so amazing. This is why the gospel is so simple. This is why Jesus continues to point to the faith of children. Because the harder you try to obtain righteousness through what you do, the farther you are separating yourself from the perfected work on the cross by the Christ. Do you hear that? You aren't getting closer to Jesus the harder you work for righteousness...you actually are growing farther apart. I can't stress this enough.

Don't pursue holiness as though it is a thing to be obtained, but pursue holiness as a Person...Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
John 6:35

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Is Our God Holy or Loving?

I have been reading through the book of Joshua, which would to even the devout western reader, cause a series of faith spasms. It is easy to judge the Quran and other religious literature for its violent content, but it would be a case work in cognitive dissonance to deny the violence of the Jewish/Christian text.

Christians seem to have a way to "Forget" the justice of God in the name of His love. Such an imbalance not only distorts the nature of God, but it distorts His story and mitigates its necessity. The other day we were at the ruins in Carthage with a group of young Christians ministering here in Tunisia, and we stopped at a place that had ancient grave-stones of children sacrificed to Baal-Humon, and those with us were commenting on how awful it was to believe in a god who could demand such a thing of his people and I was immediately reminded of Isaiah 53:10, where we are told that God was "Pleased to crush Him (His Son)...as a guilt offering." How easy is it to forget that at the heart of the gospel is an atoning sacrifice. God's love includes these "Dark Passages" that we all try to forget, but lie at the heart of the gospel! The bloodshed of the cross will always be an "Offense" and "Foolishness" to those that are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23), as it is to our contemporaries in the west, and many Muslims in the world who also believe that Allah could never do such a thing to one of His prophets! It appears as senseless as the killings in the Palestinian conquests in ancient Israel as they are in modern Israel.

We struggle to believe this is possible for a loving God, because we have neutered His justice, and denied Him His glory. Our man-centered opinions about God have created a western deity tame enough for us to handle, and now we are paying the penalty of having no answers to a savvy attack on the God of the bible, because our gospel has lost its connection with God's holiness and justice.

I was in a bookstore the other day in Tunis talking to an atheist who had spent 16 years in the church (Not the Mosque), and left because the church had no answers for these questions, and he became incredulous to think that a god had any right to be zealous for His own glory! Unfortunately too many people in the church feel the same way, so we have left the God of Joshua off our flannel graphs, created a god (An idol) that appeases the 21st century western mind, and then put our heads in the sand of ignorance and wonder why our kids are leaving the faith, and how come no one is coming to our churches?

It is not surprising that those churches that are growing are not backing down from the truth of the atonement, and preaching the "Whole Counsel" of God's word, so that people can be exposed to God's holiness and our sin, and turn to the only name under heaven by which man can be saved, by God's great grace and mercy; Jesus the Messiah. This message will always be both a scandalous stumbling block to some, and absolute foolishness to others, "but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). We can't back down from that message, but must be looking for ways that contextualizes that message so it can be heard, which includes knowing God's story, and how it fits into other stories like those we find in the Quran, or in the history of Baal-Humon. They may be appalling, but they provide a great avenue to talk about the one sacrifice that ends all sacrifices!

Below is an excerpt from a press release for an upcoming book called Dark Passages: How Religions Learn to Forget Their Bloody Origins by Phil Jenkins that may be pretty cool on the subject.

"Western observers often express concern about the violent nature of passages within the Quran, and ask whether fanaticism is somehow hard-wired into the faith of Islam. Absent though from such discussions is any sense of the still more violent and unforgiving passages that litter the Hebrew Bible, which is also the Christian Old Testament. To take just one example of many, when God orders the conquest of Canaan, he supposedly commands his followers to exterminate the native inhabitants: “you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy” (Deuteronomy 7.1-2). The book of Joshua offers an abundance of such texts. The most striking fact here is not that such passages exist, but that they have been so utterly forgotten by the vast majority of Christians and Jews, including among devoted Bible-readers. This in itself is a significant comment on the relationship between the scriptures on which a religion is founded and the ways in which that faith develops through history. The fact that such a gap exists constitutes a real challenge to fundamentalist assumptions, and raises profound questions about many prognoses that are currently offered for the future of Islam. It would be easy, if pointless, to assemble these disturbing Biblical texts in order to show the bloody roots of Western religion, and the apparent contradictions within those faiths. Much more significant is understanding the role that these texts play within the holistic reality of the scripture, and how successive generations of believers have come to terms with these difficulties."

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Does John 10:15 Prove Limited Atonement?: Christ Lays Down His Life For His Sheep

This post is taken from Calvin and Calvinism by David Ponter. David has helped me to understand further the atonement of Jesus. This site is legit. You really need to do some research here on the history of God's love, desire and extent of the atonement here. He has an amazing blog which shows the history of these debates. I want all to understand that this post is not to say we don't believe that the atonement was especially for the elect, but it is to show that it wasn't only for the elect of Christ. We believe in both unlimited and limited atonement. Namely, that Christ died for all, especially his sheep.

Christ Lays His Life Down for His Sheep (John 10:15): An Argument for Limited Atonement
By David Ponter

Part 1: The Critique

This argument for limited atonement works like this in a syllogism:

Major premise:

Christ lays down his life for the Sheep (John 10:15)

Minor premise:

The pharisees are not Christ’s sheep (John 10:26)

Conclusion:

Therefore, Christ did not lay his life down for the Pharisees.

Stated without the prefix comments:

Christ lays down his life for the Sheep
The pharisees are not Christ’s sheep
Therefore, Christ did not lay his life down for the Pharisees

The problem is that its formally invalid.

Lets use an analogy which follows the same form, yet clearly demonstrates the invalidity of the form of the argument.

John loves his children.
Sally is not a child of John.
Therefore, John does not love Sally.

This is an invalid argument. Sally could be John’s wife and mother to his children, and so another person whom John truly and rightly loves.

You can swap out any terms, and the result will be same.

What’s happened, is that the negative inference has been smuggled in, something like this.

The simple positive:

John loves his children

is converted into a simple negative

John only loves his children.

Then the syllogism is followed out:

John only loves his children.
Sally is not a child of John
Therefore, John does not love Sally.

That is now is a valid form of an argument.

And if we bring this back to John 10:15, the syllogism now looks like this with the smuggled in negation:

Christ lays down his life only for the Sheep
The pharisees are not Christ’s sheep
Therefore, Christ did not lay his life down for the Pharisees

Either consciously or unconsciously, many readers have converted “Christ lays down his life for the Sheep” as being identical or as entailing, “Christ lays down his life only for the Sheep.” However, this is is an invalid negative inference.

The problem is, the conversion of the simple positive to a universal negative. This is the negative inference fallacy that Dabney references:

In proof of the general correctness of this theory of the extent of the Atonement, we should attach but partial force to some of the arguments advanced by Symington and others, or even by Turrettin, e.g. that Christ says, He died “for His sheep,” for “His Church,” for “His friends,” is not of itself conclusive. The proof of a proposition does not disprove its converse. All the force which we could properly attach to this class of passages is the probability arising from the frequent and emphatic repetition of this affirmative statement as to a definite object.
Dabney, Lectures, p., 521.

There have been a few attempts by limited atonement advocates to claim that the negative inference fallacy does not apply in this case. These attempts are quite astounding. Imagine a Romanist saying that the proposition, “Justified by faith alone” does not apply here, such that we can make a converse positive inference, that we can be justified by faith and works. We cannot be arbitrary when it comes to enforcing the universal and standard rules of logical inference.

And it should be straightforward that one should never seek to establish a positive argument based on invalid inferences. Such attempts will always and everywhere be invalid. Even repeating the invalid inference ad infinitum will never make it valid.

What is more, with that aside, Scripture declares emphatically,

1 Corinthians 4:6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.

No matter how tempting it is, no matter how important it is to one’s system, it is wrong to insert a negation into a verse where it was was originally present. This problematic is further exacerbated if after smuggling in the extra-textual negation, one then tries to sustain the case for limited atonement. This then becomes grounds for a circular argument.

Lastly, one should also keep in mind that readers of John’s Gospel should not jump to the hasty conclusion that because of what Jesus says in John 10, that the Pharisees are goats (in other words, reprobate). Rather, one cannot preclude the possibility that they are rebellious and wayward sheep:

Isaiah 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

Here Isaiah speaks to the apostate house of Israel, as much as he does to the faithful, who have been, themselves wayward sheep. If this is correct, then the contrast would be between obedient sheep versus disobedient sheep (the Pharisees), but not between the elect and the non-elect.

Part 2: The Affirmation

Whats actually going on in John 10 is more like this:

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
John 10:12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
John 10:13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
John 10:15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
John 10:16: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

The point is not about the extent of Christ’s death at all, but the faithfulness, the loyalty of Christ to the sheep. The pharisees are the hirelings who abandon the sheep. Jesus is saying to them something like this, “I am not like you, who run away, rather I will lay my life down for the sheep, defending them to the end….”

Thus, the real emphasis and attention should be on this verse:

John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

In this verse alone we have election, Christ’s intent, and the effectual call.

When we put together v15 and v16, we see in the mind of Christ a special intention to gather and faithfully lay his life down for his sheep so that they may be saved to the uttermost. He came to earth, not as a hireling coming to a field, but to gather those given to him. This is the direction we should move in, not in pressing the limited extent of the expiation.

When rightly understood, then, the verse speaks to a special intent of the satisfaction, not to the extent of the satisfaction.

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Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

Innocent until proven guilty is the law in the United States Judicial system, but it is not the law found in the word of God. We are told that we are guilty as we are born into this world by a sinful woman. There is no doubt in this. So much so, that the Revelations tells us what the devil is doing:

“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

Revelation 12:10

We are guilty. We are not innocent. There is no argument. There is no evidence needed and the devil knows this. How frustrating must it be for him to show us all our sin to our holy God, and yet come up short. Why is this?

The simplistic reason is that because of the cross, those who believe in Jesus are said to have had a "great exchange":

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10

So, although we are guilty and we do no good in of ourselves, we have been given the righteousness of Christ, who although he was tempted in all things, never sinned. When we are accused by Satan, God looks at those who believe and only sees the righteousness of His Son. And of his Son, God says:

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Matthew 3:17

Because he is well pleased with his Son, and the Son's righteousness has been given to us, there is nothing that we can be accused of, and there is nothing that we can do to gain "a more pleasing attitude or disposition" from God. May we remember this.

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3 Minutes to Live: What Would You Say?

As I was standing in the Cry Out! studio this past Friday, listening to the young emcees writing and spitting some freestyle, I stood up and read something on the wall. It was a challenge by Celestine and Tara. It simply asked, "If you had 3 minutes to live, what would you say?" I thought about this. Would I declare the love I have for my wife? For my children? What would I do? I think that what I would say, or what I think I would say would have a lot to do with what I worship or idolize the most. The one thing I do know about myself is that I am a finite sinner with zero prominence or power of persuasion. I won't be remembered much after I die. I won't have people bringing flowers to my grace in the thousands, like some famous celebrities. Because of this understanding, I figured why wouldn't I say something that has stood the test of time and has real power over the thoughts and minds of people? My wife and kids know I love them, as I tell them so much that my oldest son has repeatedly told me, "Dad, I get it...you love me..."

If I had 3 minutes, this is what I would say, what would you say?

“Men and women that have come to hear me speak or will read of this later, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through this earth and examining the objects of your worship, I notice that you all worship different things, with different thoughts and ideals. They seem to change yearly, if not daily. You worship money, you worship self, you worship your good deeds, you worship sex, and because of this, you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like the dollar, or gold, or an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a dirty tampon; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our sins, like the wind, take us away. Because of this, Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Now I make known to you, my wife, my children, my family, my friends, my enemies, those unknown to me, the gospel, which I am delivering to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to Paul also. Afterwards, at the right time, appointed by God, Jesus spoke the truth into my heart and revealed to me His Gospel that was passed down from the prophets of old, to the church of history and to the continual truth bearers until Jesus returns. For I am the least of the children of God, and not fit to be called His child, because I persecuted the church of God and everyone else I came into contact with. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

What must you do? You must repent, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Turn to him and believe, knowing that there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Do this and know that you and I will worship the one true God forever in heaven. No work, besides the work of Christ will save you. Know that it is not because of who you and I are, but because of who Jesus was, is and always will be.

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The Most Prophetic Chapter in the Bible

Job chapter 9 has to be the most prophetic book in the Bible. The reason I say this is that Job is called the most righteous man to walk the earth by God himself in Chapter 1. After everything is taken away from Job he comes to the conclusion drawn in chapter 9. It is packed with wisdom from a man who knows his condition, knows God's goodness and perfection and is left to just complete bewilderment of what he can't do. The amazing thing is that there is only one person who can answer the most prominenant conclusion in chapter 9 by Job. It comes in verses 32 through 35 and it states:

For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.
There is no arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
Let him take his rod away from me,
and let not dread of him terrify me.
Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.
Job 9:32-35

Read Job chapter 9 and just glean from its beauty. Amazing that this came from the man that God described as, "...none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Job 1:8b

Then Job answered and said:
“Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be in the right before God?
If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength
—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger,
who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;
who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
who alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the sea;
who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
who does great things beyond searching out,
and marvelous things beyond number.
Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
“God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.
How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
I am blameless; I regard not myself;
I loathe my life.
It is all one; therefore I say,
He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges—
if it is not he, who then is it?
“My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
They go by like skiffs of reed,
like an eagle swooping on the prey.
If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’
I become afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
I shall be condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
If I wash myself with snow
and cleanse my hands with lye,
yet you will plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will abhor me.
For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.
There is no arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
Let him take his rod away from me,
and let not dread of him terrify me.
Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.
Job 9

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Why is Good Friday, Good? John Calvin Answers

Many hear that this Friday is called, "Good" Friday. When they hear what Christians celebrate, namely the death of their Master, it probably puts quite the confusion in the hearers heart. The Reformer and Pastor, John Calvin gives a great explanation on why we consider this day, to indeed be, good.

The very form of the death embodies a striking truth. The cross was cursed not only in the opinion of men, but by the enactment of the Divine Law. Hence Christ, while suspended on it, subjects himself to the curse. And thus it behoved to be done, in order that the whole curse, which on account of our iniquities awaited us, or rather lay upon us, might be taken from us by being transferred to him. This was also shadowed in the Law, since אשמות, the word by which sin itself is properly designated, was applied to the sacrifices and expiations offered for sin. By this application of the term, the Spirit intended to intimate, that they were a kind of καθαρμάτων (purifications), bearing, by substitutions the curse due to sin. But that which was represented figuratively in the Mosaic sacrifices is exhibited in Christ the archetype. Wherefore, in order to accomplish a full expiation, he made his soul to אשם, i.e., a propitiatory victim for sin (as the prophet says, Is. 53:5, 10), on which the guilt and penalty being in a manner laid, ceases to be imputed to us. The Apostle declares this more plainly when he says, that “he made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” (2 Cor. 5:21). For the Son of God, though spotlessly pure, took upon him the disgrace and ignominy of our iniquities, and in return clothed us with his purity. To the same thing he seems to refer, when he says, that he “condemned sin in the flesh,” (Rom. 8:3), the Father having destroyed the power of sin when it was transferred to the flesh of Christ. This term, therefore, indicates that Christ, in his death, was offered to the Father as a propitiatory victim; that, expiation being made by his sacrifice, we might cease to tremble at the divine wrath. It is now clear what the prophet means when he says, that “the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all,” (Is. 53:6); namely, that as he was to wash away the pollution of sins, they were transferred to him by imputation. Of this the cross to which he was nailed was a symbol, as the Apostle declares, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,” (Gal. 3:13, 14).

In the same way Peter says, that he “bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” (1 Peter 2:24), inasmuch as from the very symbol of the curse, we perceive more clearly that the burden with which we were oppressed was laid upon him. Nor are we to understand that by the curse which he endured he was himself overwhelmed, but rather that by enduring it he repressed broke, annihilated all its force. Accordingly, faith apprehends acquittal in the condemnation of Christ, and blessing in his curse. Hence it is not without cause that Paul magnificently celebrates the triumph which Christ obtained upon the cross, as if the cross, the symbol of ignominy, had been converted into a triumphal chariot. For he says, that he blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross: that “having spoiled principalities and powers he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it,” (Col. 2:14, 15). Nor is this to be wondered at; for, as another Apostle declares, Christ, “through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God,” (Heb. 9:14), and hence that transformation of the cross which were otherwise against its nature. But that these things may take deep root and have their seat in our inmost hearts, we must never lose sight of sacrifice and ablution. For, were not Christ a victim, we could have no sure conviction of his being ἀπολύτρωσις, ἀντίλυτρον, και ἱλαστηριον, our substitute-ransom and propitiation. And hence mention is always made of blood whenever scripture explains the mode of redemption: although the shedding of Christ’s blood was available not only for propitiation, but also acted as a laver to purge our defilements.

7. The Creed next mentions that he “was dead and buried”. Here again it is necessary to consider how he substituted himself in order to pay the price of our redemption. Death held us under its yoke, but he in our place delivered himself into its power, that he might exempt us from it. This the Apostle means when he says, “that he tasted death for every man,” (Heb. 2:9). By dying he prevented us from dying; or (which is the same thing) he by his death purchased life for us (see Calvin in Psychopann). But in this he differed from us, that in permitting himself to be overcome of death, it was not so as to be engulfed in its abyss but rather to annihilate it, as it must otherwise have annihilated us; he did not allow himself to be so subdued by it as to be crushed by its power; he rather laid it prostrate, when it was impending over us, and exulting over us as already overcome. In fine, his object was, “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage,” (Heb. 2:14, 15). This is the first fruit which his death produced to us. Another is, that by fellowship with him he mortifies our earthly members that they may not afterwards exert themselves in action, and kill the old man, that he may not hereafter be in vigour and bring forth fruit. An effect of his burials moreover is that we as his fellows are buried to sin. For when the Apostle says, that we are ingrafted into the likeness of Christ’s deaths and that we are buried with him unto sin, that by his cross the world is crucified unto us and we unto the world, and that we are dead with him, he not only exhorts us to manifest an example of his death, but declares that there is an efficacy in it which should appear in all Christians, if they would not render his death unfruitful and useless. Accordingly in the death and burial of Christ a twofold blessing is set before us—viz. deliverance from death, to which we were enslaved, and the mortification of our flesh (Rom. 6:5; Gal. 2:19, 6:14; Col. 3:3).


Calvin, Jean ; Beveridge, Henry: Institutes of the Christian Religion. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. II, xvi, 6

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Definition of God's Love

My friend Mike Van Drie asked an important question:

When I say "God's love", what comes to your mind or how would you describe it?

My first thought on "what comes to my mind" was the cross based on John 3:16. This is actually what was done for the entirety of the world so that we would all know the length and strength of God's love. He did this so that none would have reason to say that God did not love them or pursue them. He did this to show that he does not wish that any or everyone would perish, but so that everyone, whether in this world, or the next (judgment) would have proof of the literal dying love of God on their behalf. This is my first thought.

How would I describe God's love? Meaning, what would be my definition?

Giving us what we need for his glory and for our joy (which can be what we want, but not necessarily so)

I believe that God does all things for his glory and, just like Israel (think civil laws of OT towards the nation of Israel), if we are obedient to those things, we will have the greatest joy in our lives. Are we always obedient? No. This is why we do not live "our best life now" but we struggle, fight and go through much pain. If we were to be sinless, living always for the glory of God, our joy would truly be complete. But, not only do we not, but we can't. So, the great exchange took place so that, although we continually sin, we can say that our joy is complete because of the finished work on the cross and resurrection. As we live in this light with our joy full because of him we shine the glory of God to all people and all nations, including our neighbors.

What are your thoughts on God's love?

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Brothers...Preach More Grace

I was listening to some John Piper and he said something pretty striking that I had never thought of. He told the preachers in the audience that if people were not asking them the question posed in Romans 6:1 that they were not preaching the gospel. This is quite the claim by Piper, but as I think about it and read more into the epistle to the Romans, I believe he is completely correct. Romans is called the gospel according to Paul and it is not light in theology. What one will continually find through Romans, is grace. So much so, that it caused Luther to see the light of his sin and the fallacies of the Papacy. From that, Romans drew Luther to the conclusion that the Epistle of James was an "Epistle of Straw" where he ended up taking it out of his Bible. Now, this was definitely an overcorrection in Luther, but if you follow his life of being hammered on working for his salvation, one can see why he loved the book of Romans and James left a bad taste in his mouth.

The question posed in Romans 6:1 is stated as such:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

This question, like Paul's other questions that he poses and answers, are ones that the Holy Spirit guided Paul to answer because his teaching would naturally lead to them. So, what causes one to ask this question of being able to keep sinning as much as they want?

Paul's preaching of the gospel. Specifically the grace found in the Son's death and resurrection where we gain our complete righteousness.

Throughout the epistle Paul focuses in on the finished work of Christ and righteousness found through faith in Him alone and on Christ's work alone. So much so that people simply will ask, "So can we just sin all we want because Christ will forgive and has done all the work for us?"

This comes off the heals of Chapter 5 in Romans where Paul shows that we have done nothing besides inherit and increase our sin debt, yet Christ has paid it all. He has just gone through such things as:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul keeps nailing this and just when one gets this impression of working and struggling with the faith in Romans 7, Paul brings it back again in Romans 8:1

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Paul continued to preach grace always, so much so, that people would come to the question of, "If it is finished and grace is poured out on me instead of wrath, why not just sin all the more."

The question then comes, "Is this the question you get when you preach?" "Is this the question you get when you speak to others about the gospel?" If not, you are not preaching the gospel but something else. By my gathering of hearing people preach, they preach more like a Pharisee or a Jewish Rabbi. They preach more on what you need to do throughout your week, and leaving the finished work of Christ out of the conversation. So many are worried about Lordship Salvation, which I agree with, that they refuse to preach the depth of grace and its abundance found on the cross and through the resurrection. I am not saying to leave out the idea of "a faith that works" as James so poignantly puts forth, but if grace is not on the tip of your tongue right afterwards, you are missing the point of the Gospel.

Preachers, brothers, sisters, please remember that Christ gives water that never runs dry. It is this grace that is the water, it is the knowledge that he is sufficient and like Jesus told the woman at the well, this water is given by the Father, through the Christ. The water is not the Law, the law only makes one thirsty, the water, the quenching of the thirst of the law is the grace of the gospel.

Do you only preach the dry tongue in the desert? Or do you preach the water found at the cross?
Never did a man sincerely seek but what he found the Lord willing to give. Go to your chamber, look at your past life, survey your mistakes and your sins, and confess them; and then lift up your eyes to the cross, and say, “O Jesus, given for sinners, have mercy upon a guilty one - have mercy upon me!” He cannot refuse you. As I read in an old Puritan this week, he says, “Come to Jesus, sinner; and if you are lame, come lame; and if you say you have no feet, come on your stumps. Come as you can, for he cannot reject you till he denies himself. He must cease to be faithful before he can reject any sinner that comes humbly to rest upon him.” Try him to-day, you aged people! Seek him, and he will be found of you. You young people, turn not your backs upon him! and you in middle life, O close in with him this day, and may he give you the water of life! Did not he say to that woman, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”? Ask, and he will give. What! not ask when it is to be had for the asking? Ah! Lord, we ask. Grant it now for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Charles H. Spurgeon: Spurgeon's Sermons: Volume 15. electronic ed. Albany, OR : Ages Software, 1998 (Logos Library System; Spurgeon's Sermons 15)

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Passover and Christ: Part II

Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.
Exodus 12:7-10

I will cover later the feast of unleavened bread to show how Christ is seen there, but here we see a peak of Christ in this part of Exodus 12. This part of the Passover, when speaking of Christ, is why early Christians were spoken of as being cannibals. Christ said, "this is my body, take and eat." Again, showing that he was the Passover Lamb who was to be eaten after he was slain. The lamb was to become part of their bodies, to be immersed within. The same is with Christ. When the Passover Lamb, becomes our Passover Lamb, he lives within us and immerses us with his Spirit. Just as there was nothing left of the Passover lamb after it was slain, neither was their life within Christ as he completely gave up his life on the cross.

Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:11-13

Just as the lamb was spread over the doorposts of the houses to cover them and sanctify them, so Christ's blood is given to us as a sign of his righteousness passed to us in exchange for our sin.

being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:24-26

The fulfillment in Christ as the Passover Lamb is simply overwhelming as he is made a public display of our sin as the lamb in the time of Egypt was publicly slain and its blood shown forth on each believer's house.

It is interesting to see that Christ is shown to be the second Adam to save us from our head just as the Passover lamb was to save the firstborn in each household. Christ is seen even more than the first Adam and the first passover lamb. Because unlike the first Adam and the Passover lambs, Christ didn't stay in the grave. So, not only did he fulfill these things, he went even further than they were able. Adam and the Passover lamb both condemned and reminded us of our sins, but Christ pays for our sins and rises again so that we might not die, but be brought to God.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
Colossians 1:15-18

We can see that in this passage that he is not only takes the place of the firstborn of all creation, namely Adam, but he also takes the place of the firstborn of the dead, namely the Passover lamb.

This was so Christ would have first place, highest significance, in everything.

The question for you is: "Does he?" Has he been sanctified, or set apart, in your heart? Is Christ your Passover Lamb who has taken away the sins of the world?

This question must be answered.

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Passover and Christ: Part I

I am going to be putting forth some writings on the Passover and Jesus Christ. For Christians, this is the most important week of our lives. Because of this week, we have hope, because of this week, we have meaning, because of this week, we have love given to us and shown before our eyes. I am going to first put forth the fulfillments we find in Christ that are shown in Exodus 12.

Before we start into Exodus 12, we must first understand that we see a lot of parrellels in the Israelites captivity and ourselves. The Israelites were slaves to the evil Pharoah, just as we ourselves are slaves to sin and do the will of our father the devil before we are saved. Then just as God saved the Israelites by His hand so God saves us from captivity of evil, death and slavery.

I will be putting forth Exodus 12 and then showing how Christ fulfills its entirety.


Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.
Exodus 12:1-2

We are told that when we become one of Christ's own, that it is our new birth. Our life, because of the Lamb of God, starts over and the day of our regeneration becomes the first day of the rest of our lives. We are a new creation, behold old things have past away, new things have come. Just as the Passover started the year for the Jews, Christ has started our lives over and this new life is the one that we have hope in because of the Passover Lamb: Jesus Christ.

Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. ‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.
Exodus 12:3-4

Here we find the first actual look to the person of Christ. We are told that the Jews will choose for themselves a lamb for the slaughter of their sins. John the Baptist proclaims: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Further, we are told that this lamb was chosen 5 days before Passover (the 10th day). Interestingly, five days before Passover Jesus rides into Jerusalem readied to be the sacrificial Passover Lamb.

On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
John 12:12-15

Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.
Exodus 12:5-6

There are quite a few pictures of Christ found here. You will notice that the lamb must be unblemished. The father of the household would do a careful examination of the lamb to make sure it was the best, unblemished lamb that the family owned. They would find a lamb with no faults, no issues, no spot, absolutely nothing wrong with it. Meaning, there would be no reason for wanting this lamb to leave the household. Spotless lambs were the highest value and taken care of with utmost importance. The reason that it was to be a year old was that this meant that the lamb was now full grown. It was no longer a baby lamb, but a full grown lamb. It must be a male because it was to take the place as the propitiation, expiation and atonement for the first born male that was supposed to die.

Christ was our unblemished Lamb. Even Pilate said that he found no fault in Christ. Peter tells us that there was no deceit found in his mouth, that although he was reviled, he did not revile in return. He was without sin. He was the Righteous One, the Just One. He was a grown male, He was the second Adam, to save sinners from the their head, Adam, from their sin. Just as the Passover lamb was to be a male to take the place of those males who were to die, Jesus took the place of the whole world as the propitiation, expiation and atonement.

We'll continue this study tomorrow and also look further into the importance of the Passover.

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Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

This book comes out well before Easter to make sure that you are able to buy it, study it and then teach its truths to others as Easter comes about. The book is laid out to have 25 short teachings and thoughts on the cross of Christ. It has most theologians that you can think of in the Reformed and Calvinistic circles and then also includes at least one I know that wasn't a Calvinist (Adrian Rogers). Most of the chapters are about 3 to 4 pages which include many different angles to look at the cross. The topics range from Christ's humility in Gethsemane, silence among his accusers, our sin putting him on the cross, propitiation, forsaken by God, etc. I am not going to list every theologian and every topic, but I will say that this book is a very good one to help someone as they study further on the cross of Christ. This book is a book of quotable thoughts for any pastor.

Some of my favorites were Martin Luther, C.J. Mahaney, Tim Keller, Adrian Rogers and Augustine. Martin Luther is first up in the book, and in my opinion, it didn't get any better than Luther. I really enjoyed his chapter and found myself continually reading because of his start of the understanding of the "True Contemplation of the Cross." Here is an excerpt from Luther's chapter:

Take this to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ. Your sins certainly did, and when you see the nails driven through his hands, be sure that you are pounding, and when the thorns pierce his brow, know that they are your evil thoughts. Consider that if one thorn pierced Christ you deserve one hundred thousand.

The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this, that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your meditation upon the suffering of Christ, for we ourselves are incapable of proper reflection unless God instills it.

But if one does meditate rightly on the suffering of Christ for a day, an hour, or even a quarter of an hour, this we may confidently say is better than a whole year of fasting, days of psalm singing, yes, than even one hundred masses, because this reflection changes the whole man and makes him new…

Martin Luther, p. 12 (taken from Martin Luther's Easter Book)

Although there were some that stood out, there were also some where I couldn't wait to read and they seemed to fall a little flat. Not only tha, there were some that were just plain bizarre where I will either need to study further or just glaze over for the sake of the other chapters. The odd ones were John MacArthur's take on Christ's forgiveness on the cross. He believes that Christ was only asking for the forgiveness of those who would end up believing in Him and not everyone that was at the cross crucifying him. I believe he ends up making his theology read into this part of Scripture a little too much. The other two that I will have to study a little further were J.I. Packer's on Christ descending to hell and also Joseph "Skip" Ryan's chapter on Christ being thirsty. He takes this to mean that Christ was spiritually thirsty and not physically. My first take is that he is trying to stretch this text further than it allows.

Even with these three, the other 22 chapters far outweigh them to keep me from recommending this book. I would recommend this to any who would like a good understanding of the cross from a wide set of generations, convictions and theologians. Just know, that it doesn't get better than Luther's chapter, but that doesn't mean the rest of the book gets "worse." Highly Recommended
Buy the book:

Crossway

Westminster Books

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Question Answered: How do you know you are predestined?

Conner asked a question that I thought I would open up for anyone else to answer as well. I don't want it to get lost in the comments section, since the post that he comments on is from a post that I did a couple of years ago. Here is Conner's comment:

My name is Conner and i will be attending west coast baptist college this fall where i will be learning homiletics from Dr. Goetsch. so i guess i am what you call an "IFB." and there are many questions that i would like to ask you. first of all, seeing as you are a calvinist, what makes you think that you are one of the predestined ones that will be going to heaven?

This is a great question. I really like the honestly put forth and the challenge that sometimes catches Calvinists off guard.

Here is my answer in a nutshell. I would ask that anybody else that wants to comment, please do so.

Here is my answer:

Conner.

Good question. And you can ask any question that you would like.

As far as how I know that I am predestined?

I know that I am one of the elect because of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

Calvin said it very eloquently:

Jesus is the mirror of your election

Although, I believe in duty faith, it is all about Christ, not about me or my works. Although out of my faith, works will come because I love him. But my assurance of election is all based on Christ and what he has done, not based on what I have done.

Because let's be honest. The more and more we look to ourselves the more we see our sin.

This is what happened to Isaiah in Isaiah 6. He saw the Christ and fell to the ground saying, "I am undone."

So, the way I am assured of salvation is because of the work of Christ.

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Athanasius on the Death of Christ

I am reading "On the Incarnation" by Athanasius for personal study and found an interesting section this morning on the death of Christ. I thought I would put up the quote for all to look at. I have found this small treaties on the Incarnation to be very profitable and will put up a review when I am finished. But for now, here is a quote on the atonement:

Even the very creation broke silence at His behest and, marvellous to relate, confessed with one voice before the cross, that monument of victory, that He who suffered thereon in the body was not man only, but the Son of God and Saviour of all. The sun veiled his face, the earth quaked, the mountains were rent asunder, all men were stricken with awe. These things showed that Christ on the cross was God, and that all creation was His slave and was bearing witness by its fear to the presence of its Master.

Thus, then, God the Word revealed Himself to men through His works. We must next consider the end of His earthly life and the nature of His bodily death. This is, indeed, the very centre of our faith, and everywhere you hear men speak of it; by it, too, no less than by His other acts, Christ is revealed as God and Son of God.

We have dealt as far as circumstances and our own understanding permit with the reason for His bodily manifestation. We have seen that to change the corruptible to incorruption was proper to none other than the Saviour Himself, Who in the beginning made all things out of nothing; that only the Image of the Father could re-create the likeness of the Image in men, that none save our Lord Jesus Christ could give to mortals immortality, and that only the Word Who orders all things and is alone the Fathers' true and sole-begotten Son could teach men about Him and abolish the worhship of idols. But beyond all this, there was a debt owing which must needs be paid; for, as I said before, all men were due to die. Here, then, is the second reason why the Word dwelt among us, namely that having proved His Godhead by His works, He might offer the sacrifice on behalf of all,surrendering His own temple to death in place of all, to settle man's account with death and free him from the primal transgression. In the same act also He showed Himself mightier than death, displaying His own body incorruptible as the first-fruits of the resurrection.

You must not be surprised if we repeat ourselves in dealing with this subject. We are speaking of the good pleasure of God and of the things which He in His loving wisdom thought fit to do, and it is better to put the same thing in several ways than to run the risk of leaving something out. The body of the Word, then, being a real human body, in spite of its having been uniquely formed from a virgin, was of itself mortal and, like other bodies, liable to death. But the indwelling of the Word loosed it from this natural liability, so that corruption could not touch it. Thus it happened that two opposite marvels took place at once: the death of all was consummated in the Lord's body; yet, because the Word was in it, death and corruption were in the same act utterly abolished. Death there had to be, and death for all, so that the due of all might be paid. Wherefore, the Word, as I said, being Himself incapable of death, assumed a mortal body, that He might offer it as His own in place of all, and suffering for the sake of all through His union with it, "might bring to nought Him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver them who all their lifetime were enslaved by the fear of death."
On the Incarnation, Athanasius, Chapter 4; The Death of Christ; pgs. 48-49

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Death By Love

I have read much of what Driscoll has written and also listened to many of his sermons, including the ones that are associated with this book. But, it seems as though Driscoll shows thoroughly his love for his people in this book entitled, Death By Love: Letters from the Cross. Many people have had issues with Driscoll's past books, either with his choice of terms, descriptions of theological dialogues, and even some ways that he has "counseled" people in the past. But, it will be very difficult for pastors and congregants to have much to quibble about in this book.

In Death by Love, Driscoll lays out the theological implications of the cross in letter form. What he has done is chosen different counseling situations that he has encountered in the past and then writes a "formal" letter to that person so that they can see what Christ has done for them to get through the situation that they find themselves in.

What one will find is that this is classic Driscoll. He is kind when he is needed to be kind and he is very straight forward when that is needed as well. This is why many have enjoyed Driscoll throughout the years is because he doesn't pussy foot around tough issues but hits them head on. There is no difference in this book. This book deals with real people, in real situations, with very real problems. Driscoll handles this very well without demeaning the person or the glory of Christ. I would tell each and every person, pastor or layman that deals in counseling to pick up this book to see how a true man of God counsels in the most difficult situations imaginable. To give you a glimpse of what I mean, here are the chapter headings:


I. Demons are Tormenting Me: Jesus is Katie's Christus Victor

II. Lust is My God: Jesus is Thomas' Redemption

III. My Wife Slept with My Friend: Jesus is Luke's New Covenant Sacrifice

IV. I am a "Good" Christian: Jesus is David's Gift Righteousness

V. I Molested a Child: Jesus is John's Justification

VI. My Dad Used to Beat Me: Jesus is Bill's Propitiation

VII. He Raped Me: Jesus is Mary's Expiation

VIII. My Daddy is a Pastor: Jesus is Gideon's Unlimited Limited Atonement

IX. I am Going to Hell: Jesus is Hank's Ransom

X. My Wife Has a Brain Tumor: Jesus is Caleb's Christus Exemplar

XI. I Hate My Brother: Jesus is Kurt's Reconciliation

XII. I Want to Know God: Jesus is Susan's Revelation

Driscoll handles each one of these with a Reformed perspective with much grace. One chapter above is especially personal when Driscoll handles "My Daddy is a Pastor." This chapter is written to his one and a half year old son, Gideon. This is a great chapter to read where Driscoll lets the reader into his personal life and what goes on behind closed doors.

After each chapter above Dr. Gerry Breshears handles the common questions to each. He does this succinctly so that the answers are not over burdensome, but get straight to the point with much detail and precision.

Again, I highly recommend this to anyone who is handling counseling situations or has dealt with, or dealing with, any of the situations mentioned in the above chapters. For further information about this book, you can check out the homepage here. Link to Buy

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The Symbolism of the Cross

I had written a post about a former student of mine doing a speech in her English class, in a public school, on the cross. I thought I would go ahead and post her speech here so all could read. It is very interesting to see how a 16 year old stands for the understanding of the cross. It is nice to see that my teaching has impacted someone so greatly that they still write and keep me informed of what is going on with their witness. It is truly good to see God's grace work in her life. I have given her some ideas as well for further speeches and also challenged her to open up lines of communication with those in her class to seek further conversation on the cross.

Cross Symbolism

For many people, when they see just another religious symbol, they could care less what it means or symbolizes. Especially if it is of another religion other than their own, or if they don’t even put themselves in a “religious category.” I want you in this moment to clear your mind of all previous knowledge and just listen to what the Christian cross means.

Jesus was born to a young peasant woman in the area we know as present day Israel 2000 years ago. We, as a civilization, revolve our history using time that was divided by his birth. Do B.C. and A.D. sound familiar? They stand for “before Christ” and “Anno Domini,” meaning the year of our Lord.

Until he was thirty, Jesus lived a traditional Jewish life, working as a carpenter. During this time, the whole area was under Roman dictatorship ruled by Caesar, including Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and Nazareth, where he was raised.

In his thirties, Jesus began his public teaching and display of recorded miracles, but always stayed fairly close to home. Over a three-year period, despite trying to keep a low profile, Jesus' acts and teachings spread nation wide. The Roman government took notice to this person who spoke such nonsense. God offers love and forgiveness? That you are actually worth something and can have hope? What was this nonsense? They took him in and sentenced him to death. He was beaten, whipped and mocked, then forced to carry his own wooden cross to a hill outside of the city walls. They hammered nails through his wrists and feet. Scholars say he slowly suffocated to death. Do you hate the feeling you get when you can’t hold your breath anymore? How about having that feeling for hours on top of having most of you skin shredded from the beatings beforehand? A word actually had to be invented because there was no other word in existence for the pain Jesus felt. The word ‘excruciating’ literally means, 'out of the cross'.

Seth McBee, a former youth pastor of mine, told me what the cross symbolizes to him. “The cross represents both the most tragic and yet most triumphant event in the history of our sinned stained world.” This crucifixion was the most tragic because it shows how severe out sinful hearts are. The only choice God had was to send his only Son to die in the most brutal way in existence. This event is also the most joyous though, because we were brought back into fellowship with our Creator and now can have our past wiped clean and can start again with a new slate. Without this brutal murder of God’s Son, we would still be lost and hopeless. But with a simple prayer and admittance that we are leagues away from forgiveness without God, there will be hope for everyone. All because of a cross. Seth says, “We, as Christians, see a triumphal victory where the war has been won and the Commander and Victor calls out to all, “Come you who are weary and find rest for your soul.”

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Bullinger's belief in Strict Limited Atonement and Unicorns

This is starting to frighten me. Yesterday, I posted something from my friend David on Bullinger's view of the atonement. David made a great comment in his post. He said:

These works have added a lot of useful material for my Bullinger file. What is clear now, beyond any doubt whatsoever, is that the doctrine of unlimited atonement was a Reformed doctrine. The evidence now is of such efficacy that only a proverbial fool would insist otherwise.

One may not agree with the doctrine. One may claim it is illogical. One may claim it is inconsistent with the doctrine of Predestination. One may claim that later Calvinists refined and smoothed out earlier inconsistencies. One can think and believe all that. What one cannot do is be dishonest about the plain and undeniable historicity of the doctrine in early Reformed theology.

What is starting to frighten me is the bullheaded process of just outright denying that the Reformers believed in universal atonement. Now, when we say this, we aren't denying that they also believed in limited atonement, we are saying that they believed both. Our friend Turretinfan cannot accept this. He goes to great lengths to try and outright deny that Bullinger or others ever believed in a universal atonement. So, he not only denies unlimited atonement but he now tries to just say, "nuh uh" when we constantly prove otherwise that a lot of the Reformers would agree with us. He might as well try and prove that Bullinger also believed in unicorns. I can accept that he doesn't believe in the unlimited view of the atonement, but this is getting ridiculous how much he twists words and ignores plain language to try and refute that the reformers didn't believe in the unlimited aspect of the atonement. With his arguments I am going to start to debate why Bullinger and the Reformers believed that leprechauns rode in on unicorns with fairy dust to take over Montana. No matter how hard Turretinfan, and others mind you, try and refute the plain language of Bullinger and others, it is still there for all to read. Take a look at this comment from Bullinger (from David's follow up post):

Also they declare by the way, whom he has redeemed: that is to wit, men of all tribes, &c. In which rehearsal he does imitate Daniel in the 7. chapt. and signifies an universality, for the Lord has died for all: but that all are not made partakers of this redemption, it is through their own fault. For the Lord excludes no man, but him only which through his own unbelief, and misbelief excludes himself. &c. Henry Bullinger, A Hvndred Sermons Vpon the Apocalipse of Iesu Christ. (London: Printed by Iohn Daye, Dwellyng ouer Aldersgate, 1573), 79-80.

Can you honestly tell me that Bullinger is not clear as day here? It is now to the point to where we say it is sunny outside and Turretinfan says that it is snowing and it is midnight.

If you would like to see to what lengths Turretinfan is going to try and prove that there are unicorns in the language of Bullinger click here. To see David's rebuttal, click here.

If you don't agree with us, fine. I can take that. But stop with this pretend world that makes no sense at all. At some point, you have to just say, I don't agree with some of the Reformers and move on. But to continue to try and have a smear campaign is retarded.

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The Reformed Doctrine of Unlimited Atonement

This is a post that my friend David did over at theology online. I really liked it and hope that it will shed some light on those who refuse to believe that the unlimited view of the atonement is merely Arminian or by deviant Amyraldians. Take a look and also take a look at the links included within the post. David has compiled quite the list that is overwhelmingly in the favor of the Reformed TRUE understanding of the atonement. Here it is, enjoy:

For the last few months I have been working my way through some rare out-of-print works by Henry Bullinger.

These works include:

Henry Bullinger, Common Places of Christian Religion, (Imprinted at London by Tho. East, and H. Middleton, for George Byshop, 1572).

Henrie Bullinger, The Summe of the Foure Euangelistes Comprehending both the course of the historie, and also severall points of doctrine set foorth in the same, pointing foorth as it were with the hand, that IESVS is CHRIST, the only perfect and sufficient Saviour of all the Faithfull, (Imprinted at London: William Ponsonby at the signe of the Bishops head, 1582).

[Henry Bullinger], Looke from Adam, And behold The Protestants Faith and Religion (London: Printed by Iohn Haviland, for Thomas Pavier, and are to be sold at his shop in Ivie Lane, 1624).

Henry Bullinger, A Hvndred Sermons Vpon the Apocalipse of Iesu Christ. (London: Printed by Iohn Daye, Dwellyng ouer Aldersgate, 1573).

[Henry Bullinger], An Holsome Antidotus or counter-poyson agaynst the pestylent heresye and secte of the Anabaptistes newly translated out of the Latin into Englysh by John Veron, 1570.

Henry Bullynger, A moste sure and strong defence of the baptisme of children against the pestiferous secte of the Anabaptytses. set furthe by the famouse Clerke, Henry Bullyinger: & nowe translated out of Laten into Englysh by Jhon Verone (Imprynted at Worceter by Jhon Oswen, 1551).

These works have added a lot of useful material for my Bullinger file. What is clear now, beyond any doubt whatsoever, is that the doctrine of unlimited atonement was a Reformed doctrine. The evidence now is of such efficacy that only a proverbial fool would insist otherwise. When it comes to the Web’s many many uber-Calvinists and uber-apologists who insist that this doctrine was either invented by heretical Arminians or by deviant Amyraldians, it is now clear that they are just wrong. Some of our internet cowboys need to get their head out of their posterior on this point. One may not agree with the doctrine. One may claim it is illogical. One may claim it is inconsistent with the doctrine of Predestination. One may claim that later Calvinists refined and smoothed out earlier inconsistencies. One can think and believe all that. What one cannot do is be dishonest about the plain and undeniable historicity of the doctrine in early Reformed theology. To do that is just to engage in mindless smear campaigns and sectarian polemics. When we add other early Reformation leaders like Luther, Zwingli, Musculus, Gualther, Calvin and many others, it is either willful stubbornness or willful ignorance to deny the evidence of history. When folk over there at Puritanboard or on Paltalk or on the various boards out there, call the doctrine of ‘double-reference’ theory of the atonement “blasphemy” those persons exhibit some of the worst forms of ignorance imaginable.

It’s time that our uber-calvinists out there on the big wide web leave behind their sectarianism and arrogance and rethink their approach to Reformed theology and to those who deviate from them the merest nanometer.

David

Also...here are the links to the quite large database of quotes and references compiled by David on the Reformed view of the atonement, love of God, desire of God, etc.

THE Index

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J.I. Packer's View on the Atonement

This is a book review of Packer's book, "In My Place Condemned He Stood." This book was really a love/hate relationship. I also knew that this would probably be the case heading into me reading it though as well. It is really 4 essays about the atonement of Christ. I found 3 of 4 to be very good and the one I figured I would find lacking is exactly the one that was lacking.

Here are the four different essays:

The Heart of the Gospel (J.I. Packer; taken from chapter 18 of Knowing God; 1973)

This is really a longer intro to the book as a whole. It speaks of the different aspects of the cross, such as propitiation, God's love, expiation, substitution and God's glory.

What Did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution (J.I. Packer; first appeared in Tyndale Bulletin; 1974)

This is really a defense of understanding both words used here, penal and substitution. Packer does a very good job in rendering that logic can only take someone so far before they have to bow the knee to the omnipotent and omniscient God. He does a good job in the defense of the use of the term, "Penal Substitution." I very much liked this chapter even though it was a very tough read to get through.

Nothing But the Blood (Mark Dever; Reprint from Christianity Today; 2006)

This was very short and really marked a way for the modern reader to try and understand why we still need to make sure we speak of the bloody atonement. Why it was necessary and why it still is necessary as far as our focus within God's love. I liked this short article, although I found some of it to be repetitive to Packer's What did the Cross Achieve.

Saved by His Precious Blood: An Introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. (J.I. Packer; 1958)

This chapter I really didn't like. I found that the work of Owen was really put up on a pedestal and said many times that there was no way for it to be refuted. This seems like words that should only be held up to the light of Scripture, not to a man's work with no inspiration of the Holy Spirit. J.I. Packer defends the understanding of a strict view of limited atonement in this article and says that those who don't believe in this view are not preaching the gospel. He says that preaching limited atonement is the biblical gospel, that if you preach otherwise you are preaching self esteem, that those who don't preach a strict view of the atonement are just trying to helpful to man and not concerned with the glory of God.

I still can't believe that he says some of this stuff. So, if I don't hold to a strict view of the atonement I don't preach the biblical gospel, I preach self esteem and are little concerned with the glory of God?

What I find interesting is that this comes after a quote in this very book by Martin Luther where Luther preaches an atonement that is more than limited, or particular. This is found on page 85 in the footnotes:

All the prophets did foresee in spirit, that Christ should become the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, rebel, blasphemer, etc. that ever was....for he being made a sacrifice, for the sins of the whole world, is not now an innocent person and without sins....Our most merciful Father...sent his only Son into the world and laid upon him the sins of all men, saying: Be thou Peter that denier; Paul that persecutor, blashphemer and cruel oppressor; David that adulterer; that sinner which did eat the apple in Paradise; that thief which hanged on the cross; and, briefly, be thou person which hath committed the sins of all men; see therefore that thou pay and satisfy for them. Here now cometh the law and saith: I find him a sinner...therefore let him die upon the cross.

Martin Luther(found at Galatians, ed. Philip S. Watson (London: James Clarke, 1953), 269-271; on Gal 3:13)

Notice there is not the particular in view here. But the understanding of the sins being laid on the Messiah and not of just some, but of the whole world. And Luther continues and says that Christ be thou person which hath committed the sins of all men.

I just really found this work to be lacking and very over the top with such arrogance in the understanding of the atonement. Although, I do believe that Christ did die for the whole world, he also died specifically, or especially, for the elect. So, it is a both/and statement in regard to the atonement, not an either/or.

I just find it funny that Packer has his arrogant statements in this book right after he quotes Luther saying just the opposite of what Packer would like him to say.

So, this book is a quandary for me. The first three-fourths of the book was very well done, but the last chapter on the Death of Death by Owen was just terrible. So, I am not sure what I would do with this book besides tell others to read it with caution, but shouldn't we do that with every book we read? Recommended (with caution) Link to Buy

If you would like to read some additional material on why Packer's and Owen's understanding of the atonement are misleading, take a look at these posts:

A whole slew of quotes from Luther on the Atonement can be found at Calvin and Calvinism here.

Tony Byrne has done some great research as well and this post you should find helpful in this argument: Double Jeopardy? and also Penal Substitution

Lastly, take a look at Steve's blog and especially at this small post: Pecuniary vs Judicial Debt

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