The King and His Kingdom

Helpful Gospel Definitions

2011-09-01T11:41:00.002-04:00

Over the past few years Trevin Wax has been doing a series of blog posts entitled "Gospel Definitions". In them he quotes various authors/scholars stating what the gospel is. Here are some that I find particularly helpful:

C.H. Dodd

“The Gospel” Summarized in 6 Parts

1.
The Age of Fulfillment has dawned, the “latter days” foretold by the prophets. (Acts 3:18-26)
2.
This has taken place through the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Acts 2:22-31)
3.
By virtue of the resurrection, Jesus has been exalted at the right hand of God as Messianic head of the new Israel. (Acts 2:32-36)
4.
The Holy Spirit in the church is the sign of Christ’s present power and glory. (Acts 10:44-48)
5.
The Messianic Age will reach its consummation in the return of Christ. (Acts 3:20-21)
6.
An appeal is made for repentance with the offer of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and salvation. (Acts 2:37-41)

F.F. Bruce

The basic elements in the message were these:

1. the prophecies have been fulfilled and the new age inaugurated by the coming of Christ;
2. he was born into the family of David;
3. he died according to the Scriptures, to deliver his people from this evil age;
4. he was buried, and raised again the third day, according to the Scriptures;
5. he is exalted at God’s right hand as Son of God, Lord of living and dead;
6. he will come again, to judge the world and consummate his saving work.”

Michael Bird

“Taken together we can infer from I Corinthians 15:3 – 5, Romans 1:1-4 and II Timothy 2:8, that the gospel is both about the person and work of Christ.

“God promised in the scriptures that He would renew creation and restore Israel. The gospel is the good news that God has made these promises good in Jesus, the Messiah and Lord. Jesus died and rose for the purpose of atoning for sins, and through faith in Him and His work believers are reconciled to God.

“The new age has been launched and God has revealed His saving righteousness in the gospel so that He justifies and delivers persons from the penalty and power of sin and death.”

J.I. Packer

“I formulate the Gospel this way: it is information issuing in invitation; it is proclamation issuing in persuasion. It is an admonitory message embracing five themes. First, God: the God whom Paul proclaimed to the Athenians in Acts 17, the God of Christian theism.

Second, humankind: made in God’s image but now totally unable to respond to God or do anything right by reason of sin in their moral and spiritual system. Third, the person and work of Christ: God incarnate, who by dying wrought atonement and who now lives to impart the blessing that flows form his work of atonement.

Fourth, repentance, that is, turning from sin to God, from self-will to Jesus Christ. And fifthly, new community: a new family, a new pattern of human togetherness which results from the unity of the Lord’s people in the Lord, henceforth to function under the one Father as a family and a fellowship.” (44, emphasis added)

Gospel Meals

2011-05-13T16:11:00.001-04:00

“And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him” (Mark 2.15).

My church loves food. This is a good thing because I love food too. Years ago we started a ministry called “fellowship lunch” (which is essentially an enormous pot-luck (providence?)) that takes place about once a month. There is something about food, something about table-fellowship, that we know is right. When we are sitting down, eating and fellowshipping we know in our bones that “this is the way things were meant to be!” Why is that?

The Gospel of Mark points us in the right direction. Mark, like my church and like me, is obsessed with food. In Mark 2 Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners, in Mark 6 Jesus feeds 5000, in Mark 8 Jesus feeds 4000, in Mark 14 Jesus is eating when he is anointed and later is eating with his disciples when he inaugurates the Lord’s Supper (a meal we celebrate again and again), and there is also a meal in the extended ending of the gospel in Mark 16. As if that weren’t enough, he includes an entire “bread section” spanning from 6:33-8:26 in which the word bread (greek. ortos) occurs no less than seventeen times. That’s a lot of food!

Through these meals Mark clarifies for his readers who Jesus is and what he came to do. God’s plan and promise was to send his Messiah (i.e. the liberating-king) to Israel to establish his new society and rescue his people from the evil that enslaved them. This plan was, all along, not just for “righteous” Israel but was meant for the entire world; Jew and Gentile alike, righteous and unrighteous.

When God came he would set his people right and set his world right so that there would be a renewed people under the rule of God’s king in God’s place. Sinners would be healed and God’s people would have fellowship with him and with one another. When this happened it would be an enormous celebration. And the point is that in Jesus all these things are coming true.

This is what the cross and resurrection is all about. Jesus gave himself so people could be liberated from their sin and brought safely into his kingdom. His body, the bread, and his blood, the wine, are given to make all things new. Now all who give up their lives for Jesus participate in the life of God’s new world. The party has begun. The feast is taking place. Jesus calls out to the world and says, “Pull up a chair. It’s on me.”

Review: The Real Mary by Scot McKnight

2010-12-20T16:07:00.006-05:00

How do you talk about Jesus' mama? That's a good question to ask. If we are honest, most of us talk more about what we don't believe about Mary than about what we do. You can count on a guy like Scot McKnight to call us (evangelicals) out on that one (I mean that in a good way). And that's exactly what he does in this book.

I know that I haven't thought too much about Mary in the past. I know that Catholics make a lot of her (I just went to Montreal this summer and saw the light show at Notre Dame which proves that point). And I also know that God chose her to be the bearer of the Messiah. So what?

McKnight helps us to make sense of Mary. In her song (known as the Magnificat) she says that "from now on people will call me blessed." McKnight goes through the various stories of Mary so that Evangelicals can call the mother of our Lord (God?) blessed.

Mary longed for God to come to his people and establish his kingdom, his new society of justice and peace. Like most people Mary probably thought that the Messiah would march into Jerusalem, kill the Romans and establish his throne. God visited Mary and told her that she would give birth to God's anointed one. Mary submitted to the will of God even though she knew people would consider her an adulteress. But Mary rejoiced because God was going to subvert those on the throne and make her own son King. Promises upon promises. But Mary would discover that things weren't going to be quite as straightforward as she thought. God would indeed bring his new society where his will is done. But this would happen through the suffering of her own son. Mary continued to learn what kind of Messiah her son was to be throughout his life. Jesus placed a priority on loving God which challenged the honor-your-parent commandment; it showed Mary that she would have to submit to her own son as Lord and that Jesus was establishing a new family with himself as the focus.

McKnight also helpfully discusses what Catholics believe about Mary. He tries to avoid caricatures but is still critical at times. In the last chapter McKnight helps us figure out what to do with Mary. One of his suggestions is that we hold an "honor Mary" day where we return to the stories of Mary and glean fresh insight. Mary is a great example of what it means to follow Jesus in the real world.

This book is an excellent Christmas read and, best of all, the gospel shines through in nearly every chapter. Highly recommended!

Impressions: Embracing Grace by Scot McKnight

2010-12-07T11:47:00.008-05:00

At a small group I was at one Sunday we were having a conversation about how we apply the gospel to our lives as Christians. We made the observation that for some Christians the gospel is something for non-believers, something that you don't really think about once you get saved. What I have found hard is that some people reduce the gospel to a few propositions about having your sins forgiven so that it can be difficult to apply it to every situation in life. Enter Scot McKnight. Embracing Grace is a book about the gospel. It tells us that the gospel is something that we proclaim but that we perform as well.

Here is how McKnight explains the work of the gospel:
"The gospel is the work of God to restore humans in union with God and communion with others, in the context of a community for the good of others and the world"

Reflections:

Eikons: Mcknight says that it is important where we begin when we are thinking about the gospel. McKnight begins with creation and the story of the Eikon (the greek word for "image"). Humans are made in the image of God which means they are God's special creation and are like Him in some way; we are made for relationships with God, others and the world.

Holistic: McKnight's view of sin and atonement are robust. This is because he has a holistic view of the two. Sin is not merely the breaking of a law (although it does include that) but culpable shalom-breaking which affects our relationship with God, others and the world. If we are dealing with a robust problem then we need a robust solution. McKnight emphasizes the importance of the incarnation, the life, death, resurrection and pentecost to the atonement (and therefore the gospel). He favors the recapitulation theory (i.e. Jesus became what we are so we can become what he is) since it can fairly incorporate all the other important theories of atonement (in his book A Community Called Atonment he calls this "identification for incorporation").

Community: God saves individuals but individualism is an enemy of the gospel. God accomplishes his redemptive purposes in the context of communities (i.e. Israel, the Church, and the Kingdom). McKnight's definition of the kingdom can not be divorced from community (and why would it? a kingdom always includes people.). God's kingdom is his society where his will is done. It includes people. God restores us to union with him and communion with others in the context of a community, the kingdom community.

Missional: God creates this community for the good of the world. This is the part that I actually struggled with the most. But when we understand Jesus' words in Matthew 5 everything falls into place. We are to be God's kingdom community that acts as salt and light in this world so that others will glorify God because of the good we do.

McKnight's book has helped me to appreciate the gospel more. With his framework we can actually preach the gospel from the Gospels.

Impressions: Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight

2010-11-29T09:45:00.014-05:00

Jesus Creed is a book about love. For a variety of reasons (some sinful and some justified) I have been suspect of books that are all about love. I think for a long time I have associated this word with flakey Christianity, a Christianity without guts. When Mcknight writes about love, however, he writes about love with a backbone; it is a love that isn't easy: God love and neighbour love (what McKnight calls the Jesus Creed).

Some Reflections:

1) McKnight begins the book by explaining what the Jesus Creed is all about. Jesus takes the Shema of Judaism and amends it to include neighbour love. When the Jesus Creed becomes a prayer we get the Lord's prayer. McKnight recommends repeating these often. This is a powerful tool for spiritual growth and I have found that repeating the Jesus Creed and the Lord's prayer reminds me of what it means to act like a Christian. It tells me that I become more like Jesus when I am identifying the needs of others and become a servant. Like the Good Samaritan we are to look to the side, not just 'out there', but in our own homes as well.

2) McKnight says that we should embrace the stories of those who embrace the Jesus Creed. Of all the people he writes about in this section his chapter on Mary fascinated me the most. Evangelicals don't generally say much about Mary but McKnight claims (speculates?) that a lot of what Jesus said and taught was learned from his mama. He looks at the Magnificat and points out that Mary had a kingdom vision; hers was a vision of a society where God's will is done, where things are put right at last.

3) "A spiritually formed person lives out kingdom values," says McKnight. One thing that particularly excited me about this book was the emphases placed on the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the society where God's will is done and the Jesus Creed is lived out. One of these values is that this kingdom is a kingdom of mustard seeds. This was helpful because many of us are attracted to those things which are GIGANTIC! But God's kingdom is marked by humble beginnings. This means that we can embody God's kingdom in the little, mundane, things in life. In other words, the kingdom is applicable to every day life.

4) Scot is all for the Bible. Not only does each chapter begin with a passage of scripture to reflect on before diving into the chapter but he tells us that one way we abide in Jesus is to learn at his feet; one way we learn at his feet is by reading and meditating on what Jesus taught us. He gives us helpful advice when he says that we don't always need our commentaries and study tools but just our bibles, our prayers, and the question, "What does this passage tell me about God's character?"

5) Finally, Scot goes through a variety of episodes in the life of Jesus and teaches us that those who love Jesus participate in his life. For Scot Jesus represents his people. This means that we can participate in his life, death, and resurrection. Jesus loved God and his neighbours perfectly; this is good news because God sees us as he sees Jesus (Reformed readers may particularly enjoy this section of the book). As people who fail to do these things we can find strength and power in the reality that Jesus did these things for us so that we would then be enabled to do them ourselves.

Righteousness and Cruciform Living

2010-11-02T16:45:00.002-04:00

I have really been enjoying the Common English Bible which is a fresh translation of the scriptures (So far they have released the NT but you can get the Psalms from the website). At the same time, I have been becoming more and more convinced that justification comes through our participation in Christ's death and resurrection and includes transformation along with a declaration (thank you Michael Gorman ;-)). As a result, this translation of Phil. 3.9-11 really caught my attention:

In Christ I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based on faith.10 The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It includes being conformed to his death11 so that I may perhaps reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead.

Righteousness comes from participating in the death and resurrection of Jesus and includes being conformed to his death. We are raised to be cruciform (thanks again Gorman!).

Is Christianity Just a Nice Dream?

2010-07-19T16:17:00.005-04:00

Although it's a little early to be talking about Christmas I thought this quote from N.T. Wright was very sobering.

"For many, Christianity is just a beautiful dream. It's a world in which everyday reality goes a bit blurred. It's nostalgic, cosy, and comforting. But real Christianity isn't like that at all. Take Christmas, for instance: a season of nostalgia, of carols and candles and firelight and happy children. But that misses the point completely. Christmas in not a reminder that the world is really quite a nice old place. It reminds us that the world is a shockingly bad old place, where wickedness flourishes unchecked, where children are murdered, where civilized countries make a lot of money by selling weapons to uncivilized ones so they can blow each other apart. Christmas is God lighting a candle; and you don't light a candle in a room that's already full of sunlight. You light a candle in a room that's so murky that the candle, when lit, reveals just how bad things really are. The light shines in the darkness...and the darkness has not overcome it" (Quoted from For All God's Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church, Eerdman's 1997).

Review: The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission

2010-07-17T09:44:00.002-04:00

As I write this review I have just set down John Dickson's new book on evangelism "The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission." There are not very many books that I would consider to be "life-changing" but after finishing this one I can confidently say that this will have lasting effects on my life. The reason I initially picked this book up was because I wanted to see how N.T. Wright and Alistair Begg could end up endorsing the same book on evangelism. Now I understand.

The Best Kept Secret is basically a book on evangelism for the whole church. Dickson makes a helpful distinction between proclaiming the gospel and promoting the gospel. This book is primarily about the latter and shows a variety of ways that all Christians can participate in "gospel ministry."

Evangelism, in the strict sense of the word, is a verbal activity. It is the actual communication of the news of the royal birth, life, teaching and miracles, atoning death, resurrection and ascension of the Messiah and Lord, Jesus Christ. But this verbal activity is not the only aspect of gospel ministry. One example of promoting the gospel is the financial giving towards Christian mission. Paul speaks of those who give financially towards his mission as "partners in the gospel". These "gospel promoting" activities are not of secondary importance. They are actually vital to the mission of the church.

For Dickson not every Christian is an evangelist. There are some Christians that are set apart for the verbal proclamation of the gospel. This does not mean that everyone else just sits around and lets the evangelists take care of all the gospel work. All Christians are to have a "salvific mind-set." They are to be people who are passionate about the salvation of others. This "salvific mind-set" expresses itself in a variety of ways from letting our light shine before others to being ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us.

One of the best chapters was chapter 8, "What is the Gospel?" Dickson does not settle for a systematic presentation of the gospel that presents the doctrine of sin and then the doctrine of the atonement. These are central to the gospel but need to be placed within the narrative accounts of Jesus. The theme of the gospel is the kingdom of God and the content of the gospel includes the royal birth, life, teaching and miracles, saving death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In other words, the four books at the beginning of our New Testaments are actually Gospel.

This is an excellent book that would be a good read for those who have no experience when it comes to sharing the gospel and for those who have been doing it their whole Christian life. Dickson roots all his discussion in the Scriptures and refuses to have a narrow view of gospel ministry. I am sure that I will be turning to this book again and again for wisdom on this amazing topic.

Symbolic Praxis and the Christian

2010-07-14T08:56:00.004-04:00

Last night I went to the bank to change my bank card PIN because my card had been compromised. I didn't really want to do it but I had to. Unfortunately it turned out to be a big waste of time because it wouldn't work, my number wouldn't reset. I'll have to give it a try another time. I had something I had to do and I did it (at least I attempted to). A lot of the things we do from day to day do not have meaning attached to them. We run errands, meaningless little endeavors to keep life going; but as for meaning, there is nothing significant about the event itself.

In the gospels, on the other hand, the actions of the main characters are full of symbolic meaning. N.T. Wright calls this "symbolic praxis". One such example is the significant figure John the Baptist. From his clothes to his actions all of it revealed something about his message. I have been reading through Mary Healy's commentary on the Gospel of Mark and she says this about his food, "The locusts and wild honey again evoke the exodus, where they represented God's judgment on sin (the plague of locusts...) and his promises to his people (a land flowing with milk and honey...)."

John was saying that the time that God had promised was here. The Messiah-King was coming to deliver God's people from their sin and inaugurate the Kingdom, God's new world order. John saw it necessary to change his diet to display this reality. Jesus lived by the same rule. Not that he ate locusts and honey but his actions were deeply symbolic of his messianic task and the kingdom that was coming to bear on the world through his actions. One only has to think about the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple to see the truth of this claim.

All of this is to be true of Christians as well. From holiness to deeds of mercy all of our actions are deeply symbolic of a great reality. God's kingdom has come through the crucified and risen Messiah. He is reigning at God's right hand and has given the Spirit to his people. The messianic age has dawned. Therefore when we put sin to death in our lives we are saying, "we are under the sway of a different ruler."; when we help the poor and needy we are saying, "This is what it looks like when Jesus becomes king!" What other ways can our actions point people to the risen and reigning Messiah?

Failure and Family Devotions

2010-07-08T09:06:00.003-04:00

Over at the Resurgence blog there have been a few very good posts on the topic of family worship. As I read them I was reminded of the importance of this ministry and my repeated failure at leading my wife. I am trying to figure out why it is that I can be so neglectful of family worship when I know that it is exactly what my family needs. Here are some possible reasons:

1. I Don't Believe (enough) that it is Important

Sure I know that family worship is important. But do I really believe it is that important? I don't think I have ever forgotten to eat a meal, forgotten to sleep or put clothes on before I leave the house. These are all basic to my daily life. Why, then, do I easily forget to lead my wife in regular worship? The only reason I can think of is that I don't really think it is that important. In reality, though, this ministry is probably more important than food, sleep and clothing put together.

2. I Find More Satisfaction in Other Things

I like television, reading and browsing through various blogs but too often I find more satisfaction in doing these things than I do spending time worshiping the Lord with my wife. These things can be good and do have their place but only the Lord can satisfy our deepest longings.

3. I Don't Make Time

Sometimes we just don't have time for family worship. Some nights we have places to go and by the time we get home it's already time to get ready for bed. This is okay. More often than not, however, we don't have regular times of family worship simply because I don't make the time. We eat dinner, watch television, read on our own and by the time I think of having family worship we are too tired. If, however, I were to think of this ahead of time and schedule 20 minutes after dinner then we could easily fit this into our night. Perhaps we could even have devos on the run when we are having nights out.

When it comes down to it it seems as though I fail at this so often because of unbelief. I do not believe that family worship is important, satisfying or worth my time. These are all lies. Thankfully I have Christ. In him there is no more condemnation. I have been set right (or right-wised) with my God. He has declared me righteous and given me to ability to love him above all things. I have become his righteousness. Best of all, this isn't due to the quality or frequency of my devotional life. It is all by grace.

Review: God the Peacemaker: How the Atonement Brings Shalom

2010-07-05T10:24:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I just need to read a good book on the cross. There are so many things that can distract us from that which is most important but the Bible says that the cross and resurrection of Jesus are matters of "first importance". This is a topic that no Christian (or no human for that matter) can afford to make peripheral.

Graham Cole's book (published by IVP) is a book on the atonement. In the introduction he lays out a variety of questions that he seeks to answer but essentially the book is about the cross, its saving significance and how it fits in the unfolding drama of God's redemption of his fallen creation.

Cole explains that there is a "big picture" of the Bible. He calls this big picture a divine comedy (or a U-shaped story). God has a plan to restore his created order (what Cole calls God's "atoning project" or "peacemaking project") and the atonement should be seen within this project. This, however, does not cause Cole to minimize the cross; rather, he sees the cross as central to this project. This, in my opinion, is the book's greatest strength. Cole manages to see the cross within God's larger drama without doing injustice to its centrality. In many books the larger drama takes center stage and the cross becomes one small part of that drama. Other times the cross is taken out of its context and it just becomes the way in which "I" get to heaven when I die.

Also helpful is the fact that Cole does not minimize sin. He acknowledges that the human predicament extends beyond a barrier to personal fellowship with God; Cole demonstrates how all our relationships are affected by the "rupture" even our relationship with the cosmos. But he never ignores the fact that all the problems in the world are ultimately due to sin. He, therefore, quotes Carson with approval, "In sum, we find ourselves fighting the Bible's entire story line if we do not recognize that our deepest need is to be reconciled to God" (p. 83).

Popular today, especially in scholarly treatments of the cross, is to question the idea that penal substitution plays a central role, or any, in the biblical concept of atonement. Some pick a different models like Christus Victor (Christ's victory over evil) and place them at the center. Cole doesn't seem to choose a "central" model but he does say that a model like Christus Victor, "needs the explanatory power of substitutionary atonement" (p. 184).

At the end of the day, I didn't come away from this book feeling ready to win a debate. Rather, I came to see the glory of God's peacemaking project. God desires "shalom" for this world (peace with God, peace with others, and peace with the cosmos) and at the dead center of this project stands the cross where the second member of the triune God paid for the sins of the world so that he could have a people who would be apart of this project to the praise of his glory.

Schreiner on Righteousness and Justification

2010-06-30T15:08:00.002-04:00

I found this great quote from Thomas Schreiner on Justification and Righteousness in Romans (HT: Mike Bird).

"The term 'righteousness of God' in Rom 1:17 ... is clearly fundamental for all of Romans, and it is unlikely that it can be confined solely to forensic or transformative categories. Those whom God has vindicated he also changes. In my opinion, it is doubtful that the term Paul features in presenting his gospel would contain only a forensic dimension. This transformation does not involve eperfection, and it is also crucial to see that God's transforming righteousness is still an alien righteousness - given by God as a gift to sinners. Nor is there any suggest that sinners somehow prepare themselves by good deeds to receive this righteousness. The saving righteousness of God is a gift received by faith alone, and God declares sinners to be in the right before him on the basis of Christ's atoning death. Yet God's declaration of righteousness - which is a gift of the age to come invading the present evil age - is an effective declaration, so that those who are pronounced righteous are also transformed by God's grace. Such a transformation is due solely to God's grace and does not involve a perfect righteousness, nor is there any suggestion that the good works that follow this transformation merit eternal life. Nonetheless, as Rom. 6 shows, believers are changed by the grace of God, and this transformation is an essential ingredient in God's saving work. The use of the verb dikaioun in Rom. 6:7 demonstrates that God's declaration of righteousness really frees people from sin. Similarly, in Rom. 5:19 Paul teaches that those who are incorporated into Christ Jesus are actually made righteous, just as those in Adam are truly made sinners. The forensic is the basis for the transformative, but the one cannot be sundered from the other. Those who are the recipients of the ministry of the Spirit have also been transformed by the ministry of righteousness (2 Cor. 3:8-9). Just as those who are condemned are actually guilty, so too those who are vindicated on the basis of the cross of Christ and his atonement for sinners (Rom. 3:21-26) have also been made righteous by God's gracious work (cf. Rom. 14:17). God's forensic declaration is effective because the Lord who was crucified on behalf of sinners was also raised from the dead (Rom. 4:25), and thus sinners live in a new way (Rom. 6:4)."

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 11

2010-06-24T11:15:00.006-04:00

Michael J. Gorman is the professor of Sacred Scripture and Dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He has spent much of his career studying, writing about and teaching Paul. He has a unique 'perspective' on Paul and as you read him you will find that he is neither 'old' or 'new' perspective but takes from the best of both worlds. So far I have found his small introduction to Paul to be a very edifying read and here I will offer brief summaries and reflections of his book 'Reading Paul' published by Cascade. Today we are looking at chapter 11.

Conformed to the Image of God's Son

In this chapter Gorman covers the topic of holiness in terms of cruciformity. By this he is referring to "conformity to the crucified Christ" (p.146).

Gorman offers us a fuller explanation: "Cruciformity is cross-shaped existence in Christ. It is letting the cross be the shape, as well as the source, of life in Christ. It is participating in and embodying the cross. It may also be described, more technically, as non-identical repetition, by the power of the Spirit, of the narrative of Christ's self-giving faith and love that was quintessentially expressed in his incarnation and death on the cross" (pp.146-7). The new life that we are raised to takes the form of the cross.

This life looks back at the work of Christ and ahead when Christ will return to fully establish his kingdom. "This means that the experience of dying and rising carries forward from baptism into daily life; each day, each moment becomes an occasion for expressing the resurrection power of God through cross-shaped decisions and actions" (p. 148). Christians should not be power seekers like the world but should have the mind of Christ, seeing power in weakness. Gorman makes the important point that cruciformity is not primarily about suffering, however, but loyalty; this loyalty often results in suffering. They can face this suffering with joy knowing that "shame gives way to honor in the economy of God" (p. 151).

Gorman goes on to discuss three aspects of of this cruciform existence: Faith, hope and love. He includes the ideas of trust and intellectual assent in his definition of faith but goes beyond them as well. Faith can also be seen as something like a pledge of allegiance and is an ongoing reality in the life of the believer. Jesus himself displayed this sort of faith. "Jesus is thus the ultimate paradigm of Christian faith, exemplifying its covenantal significance as trusting obedience, even to the point of death" (p. 155). He even goes beyond these ideas by showing that to have faith is to share in the faithfulness of Jesus (his death and resurrection).

Like faith, Gorman sees "love" as a verb. "Love acts patiently, love does kindness...Like faith, then, for Paul love is an action-word, a covenantal term that describes the fundamental relationship that should exist among God's people and from God's people toward others" (p. 156). Believers are to love just as Christ loved by not acting for selfish gain but for the good of others.

Hope, for Paul, is a "future oriented word". "We might therefore say that hope is the future tense of faith" (p. 160). The gospel itself has a future dimension and hope is the confidence that God will do what he said based on his actions in the past. We can, therefore, count on God's promises, be patient in the present and boast in our sufferings. Hope is grounded in the resurrection of Christ.

"Paul's triad of faith, hope, and love challenges us to the core, calling us to align our loyalties, our dreams, and our affections with the gospel of God, the lordship of Jesus, and the countercultural activity of the Spirit" (p. 163).

God's Grand Plan and the Atonement

2010-06-23T22:40:00.002-04:00

I have been reading Graham Cole's excellent book on the atonement. What I like about this book is that atonement doesn't become simply about "me and my salvation" but takes place within God's grand plan to bring shalom to his ruptured creation. He does this without minimizing the cross at all but places it in its proper context. Here is a quote from his introduction that shows what he is trying to get at:

"This broader perspective reckons with God's grand plan to restore the created order, and places the story of Jesus, his cross, and empty tomb within it. Thus this work takes the broad approach but hopefully not in a way that masks 'the cruciality of the cross'...The grand goal of the divine comedy is nothing less than to secure God's people in God's place under God's reign living God's way enjoying God's shalom in God's loving and holy presence as both family and worshipers, to God's glory" (p. 25)

In other words, the cross only makes sense when it is place in the context of God's saving reign. By the way, this book was edited and endorsed by D.A. Carson.

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 10

2010-06-10T12:40:00.003-04:00

Michael J. Gorman is the professor of Sacred Scripture and Dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He has spent much of his career studying, writing about and teaching Paul. He has a unique 'perspective' on Paul and as you read him you will find that he is neither 'old' or 'new' perspective but takes from the best of both worlds. So far I have found his small introduction to Paul to be a very edifying read and here I will offer brief summaries and reflections of his book 'Reading Paul' published by Cascade. Today we are looking at chapter 10.

Called to be Saints

In this chapter Gorman tackles the topic of the church. Paul often refers to the various communities he writes to as 'saints' or 'holy ones'. "What Paul has in mind is a group of diverse people who have been apprehended by the resurrection crucified Messiah - justified, crucified, occupied - and who live together as a distinctive, even counter-cultural, community in him" (p. 132). He then discusses the background to Paul's understanding of the church (ekklesia): "The first is the assembly...of Israel...The second reality...is the assembly...of the Greco-Roman city...On the one hand, it designates the assembly of believers who affirm Jesus as Lord and constitute the renewed 'Israel of God' (Gal 6:16). On the other hand, this assembly exists as an alternative [church] and even an alternative [city]..." (p. 133). The church is God's holy people who reflect his character through the Son.

Gorman then discusses some of the images that are used of the church: body of Christ, temple, and the family of God. These various images give an idea of the purpose of the church in meeting together: "First of all, the assembly meets to worship God...Secondly, the assembly also meets to speak to one another" (p. 138). What is the content of this worship and speech? "Both in speech from and speech to God, and in speech to one another, the assembly especially recites its foundational stories and considers how they can best embody those stories in their life together in the world" (p. 138). These stories focus on the incarnated, crucified and exalted Messiah and were also enacted in events like baptism, the Lord's Supper and cruciform justice within the assembly and the wider world.

The church is marked by holiness which is a fruit of the Spirit. "All Christian existence is charismatic existence" (p. 140). The Spirit bring life and holiness to God's people and makes it possible to live in covenant with God. "The Spirit is thus the personal, animating power and presence of God - the One who guides and molds the church...in the power of the resurrection...[which] manifests itself in the shape of the cross of Jesus the Lord" (p. 141). The Spirit creates unity among God's people by equipping them with diverse gifts. This unification also takes place alongside sanctification. If there are people in the assembly "who persist in practices that violate the gospel" they must be "dismissed from the assembly for the good of the community as well as the individual..." (p. 142). "Nonetheless, the church must learn to deal with controversial issues" (p. 143).

"Walking in the Spirit, then, is another way of saying that we participate already, between the first and second coming, in the new creation God has begun in Christ" (p. 143).

Interview with Michael Gorman

2010-06-09T07:57:00.005-04:00

Michael Gorman is professor of Sacred Scripture and Dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland; he as authored numerous books including Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters (Eerdmans, 2004), Reading Paul (Cascade, 2008), and Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul’s Narrative Soteriology (Eerdmans, 2009). Dr. Gorman graciously answered some questions regarding Paul and his views on justification.

1. Can you tell us, briefly, about when and how you became a Christian?

I became a Christian through a United Methodist youth group in my town when I was 15. It was the verbal and life-witness of friends who brought me to faith, though the initial moment of conversion was at what we used to call a “youth rally.” The experience almost made me a lifelong Calvinist, however (I’m a Methodist, but I was a Presbyterian for 10 years), since I feel like I was called and transformed without much if any conscious volitional act on my part. This is jumping ahead, but I think Tom Wright would appreciate that understanding of call/conversion very much. I do, too, obviously, yet I don’t think it conflicts with the interpretation of justification in Paul that I have offered.

2. Paul can sometimes seem very intimidating to Christians. Where is a good place to start reading Paul (i.e. his own letters, other resources, etc.)?

A great place to start reading Paul is with a very brief letter like Philippians and/or a very practical and relevant one like 1 Corinthians. Ephesians is also a good starting place, in spite of some people’s reservations about authorship. As for secondary sources, I tend to recommend my own Reading Paul and Tom Wright’s What St. Paul Really Said. Mike Bird’s little book (Paul: A Bird’s Eye View) is also good.

3. When did you first develop an interest in studying Paul?

My interest in Paul developed in seminary at Princeton in the early 1980s, when there were a number of fine Pauline scholars teaching, including the late J. Christiaan Beker, Paul Meyer, and Martin De Boer. They all influenced me profoundly, but it was a course in NT Ethics with the late Cullen Story that got me interested in Pauline ethics, which led to my PhD. dissertation, also at Princeton, under Meyer and then De Boer. The thesis of that work became the basis of everything I’ve done on Paul ever since.

4. For many Christians when they think of Jesus they think of things like "love, mercy, compassion, etc" and when they think of Paul "doctrine, justification, and sometimes division." Is that a fair representation of Paul (and Jesus for that matter)?

Interesting question! I think that both Jesus and Paul were agents of God’s inauguration of the new age (in very different ways, of course—only Jesus died and was raised to make it happen), which Jesus usually called the Reign of God and Paul understood as the Lordship of Jesus. Both were about the business of creating a new community of people who embodied the covenant loyalty and love expected in the Scriptures but made possible only by the advent of the Spirit. “Love, mercy, compassion” are traits of God that both Jesus and Paul understood, taught, and practiced, but they also each knew that God calls and forms a holy covenant people. Paul’s “doctrines” are all very practical and pastoral, not just ideas to be thought about. Justification is about resurrection from the dead, sort of like the parable of the prodigal son. Division? Jesus said, “I came not to bring peace but a sword.” Sounds pretty divisive! In other words, while I see differences between Jesus and Paul (one is Lord, one is not), they are not the ones people often point to. Bonhoeffer is helpful here: (The Cost of) Discipleship is in many respects a book about the similarities between Jesus and Paul.

5. In your book "Reading Paul" you offer an amazing one sentence summary of Paul. Let's see if you can go even shorter. How would you summarize Paul in a twitter (140 characters)?

Jesus is God’s crucified and resurrected Messiah and Lord whose Spirit creates communities of cruciform faith, hope, and love in anticipation of final salvation.

(That’s 138.)

6. There is a lot of discussion today about what the gospel actually is. Some people focus on the kingdom, some on justification, some on both. Can you tell us what the gospel is according to Paul in a nutshell (something that is easy to memorize)?

That’s a tough one. Why not memorize 1 Cor 15:3ff? But the previous answer would not be a bad paraphrase.

7. Why is it so important that we see the writings of Paul rooted in his Jewish heritage?

Paul simply cannot be understood apart from his self-understanding as the agent of the God revealed in the Jewish Scriptures and the Jewish Messiah.

8. Paul seems to talk a lot about "righteousness". What does it mean that God is righteous and how does it relate to Christians today?

Righteousness, or justice, is a fairly all-encompassing term about the unique character of God as morally different from humanity (“holy”), good, faithful to covenant, and both willing and able to save. Throughout the Scriptures, the righteous God calls a people to share in the divine righteousness. Participation in Christ’s death and resurrection makes that possible. For us today, that means lots of things, but above all that by the power of the Spirit we begin to share in God’s loyal and loving character revealed in Christ. Or, as I have said with respect to holiness in Paul, “You shall be cruciform for I am cruciform” (God speaking).

9. There is a lot of talk today about the doctrine of justification. When most people think about this doctrine they think of a forensic declaration. Can you comment on what justification is and what is good/not so good about the traditional understanding?

Let me quote from Reading Paul: “Justification is the establishment of right covenantal relations—fidelity to God and love for neighbor—by means of God’s grace in Christ’s death and our co-crucifixion with him. Justification therefore means co-resurrection with Christ to new life within the people of God now and the certain hope of acquittal, and thus resurrection to eternal life, on the day of judgment.” Somewhere else in the book I write, “Whatever else justification means, it means participation in the life of this one God of the covenant who reigns supreme and deserves our loyalty.” In Inhabiting the Cruciform God, therefore, I argue that justification is theosis (defined below).

There is more than one “traditional understanding” of justification, but my biggest objection to most of them is that they privilege the law court metaphor and make it into a narrowly defined doctrine of individual declaration and acquittal. How one can read Gal 2:15-20 and limit justification to that idea is rather mind-boggling. There, justification is about membership in the community (new perspective) and also about participation in Christ as a death-to-life reality. And even Abraham, the proof-text paradigm of justification, is presented in Romans 4 as one whose justification meant resurrection from the dead. Fortunately, most theologians and even many traditional interpreters of justification in Paul are seeing a close connection between justification and participation than in the past. (See, for example, my quote from Tom below.)

10. How are justification and resurrection related?

Well, the previous answer gives some of my perspective, but I would also add that justification is connected to life, and life for Paul comes, paradoxically, only through death—Christ’s and ours. Justification is new life—resurrection from death to life by sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ.

11. In a recent interview N.T. Wright stated that your work has been very influential on his as he is writing his new book on Paul. In what ways do you hope to see Wright "change/tweak" his views on justification in light of your work?

First, I am flattered that Tom would say that. We have talked and corresponded and listened to each other’s papers and read each other’s work quite a bit over the last decade. In his book Justification, he rightly says that “the notion of ‘being in Christ’ which Paul develops in these chapters [Romans 6-8] is rooted in, and fully dovetails with, the doctrine of justification. It is not the case, in other words, that one has to choose between ‘justification by faith’ and ‘being in Christ’ as the ‘centre’ of Paul’s thought. This is so close to my interpretation of Paul that I would be very happy if Tom consistently said and unpacked this. But sometimes he reverts to more traditional language, over-emphasizing the law court metaphor (though less individualistically than most) of “declaration” (in the covenant community”) and even using the language of imputation (as in his IVP lecture when the book came out). Somewhere in Justification he speaks of Christ’s death and resurrection being “reckoned” to us, based on Romans 6. I find this deeply problematic. Christ’s death and resurrection is the reality in which we participate; it is not something reckoned to us.

So… I guess I hope Tom will begin using participationist categories and language to describe justification, or do so more consistently.

12. You frequently use the term theosis and I know that sometimes people can have a hard time with it. What do you mean by it?

Here’s my definition, which is what I mean by it with reference to Paul, from Inhabiting the Cruciform God:

Theosis is transformative participation in the kenotic, cruciform character of God through Spirit-enabled conformity to the incarnate, crucified, and resurrected/glorified Christ.

Theosis means becoming like God. I know that some people object to the language of theosis. I am less concerned about that specific word than I am the content of the definition. The patristic theological claim was that “He became what we were so that we might become what he is.” This is much more central to Paul than most interpreters have recognized. It’s a good summary of some key Pauline texts. Bonhoeffer is again helpful here. The conclusion of Discipleship is such an interpretation of Paul, and I refer to it at some length in the end of Inhabiting.

13. Do you have any other "Paul projects" in the works?

I will be giving the Lund Lectures at North Park Seminary in September on the theme of “Re-Imagining Justification,” and that is, God willing, part of a larger project with (probably) the same name. I also have a book on Pauline spirituality for ministry somewhere in production. But first I need to finish my book on Revelation—in less than two months!

Thank you Dr. Gorman for taking the time to answer all these questions!

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 9

2010-06-08T12:42:00.004-04:00

Michael J. Gorman is the professor of Sacred Scripture and Dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He has spent much of his career studying, writing about and teaching Paul. He has a unique 'perspective' on Paul and as you read him you will find that he is neither 'old' or 'new' perspective but takes from the best of both worlds. So far I have found his small introduction to Paul to be a very edifying read and here I will offer brief summaries and reflections of his book 'Reading Paul' published by Cascade. Today we are looking at chapter 9.

Justified by Faith...Crucified with Christ

Gorman believes that we need to have a 'thick' doctrine of justification; he believes that too often the church has settled for cheap grace: justification without transformation.

According to Gorman, the streams of thought that Paul's doctrine of justification stem from are (see pgs. 114-15):

- the conviction that the God of the covenant is just/righteous;

- the corollary expectation that God's covenant people will be just/righteous;

- the conviction that God's righteousness expresses itself in salvific, transformative action for the covenant people and for all creation;

- the image of the just/righteous God judging the people, like a judge in a courtroom, both now and on the future day of judgment; and

- the vindication of the just/righteous on that day

Gorman notes that the most popular stream of thought places almost all the emphasis on the law-court imagery. The rise of the new perspective has pointed out that justification has to do with covenant membership in the people of God. Gorman offers a definition of justification that takes from the best of both worlds and more (see pgs. 116-17):

"Justification is the establishment of right covenant relations - fidelity to God and love for neighbor - by means of God's grace in Christ's death and our co-crucifixion with him. Justification therefore means co-resurrection with Christ to new life within the people of God now and the certain hope of acquittal, and thus resurrection to eternal life, on the day of judgment."

"Justification, then, is about reconciliation, covenant, community, resurrection, and life."

Gorman shows that justification and reconciliation belong together through Rom. 5.1-11. He says that the two are actually one and, therefore, views that limit justification to a divine declaration are inadequate. Justification is a sort of resurrection from the dead and are related to covenant and life. Gorman also comments that God's way of setting people right is different that the violent form of justice found in Rome and Phineas ways of justification (which is also justification by self). Those whom God justifies, however, cannot help but be transformed by God's alternative way of justice.

Gorman also offers a robust definition of "faith". While not denying the fact that faith means "trust" he also points out that faith needs to be seen as "loyalty". It is like a "pledge of allegiance." It also has to do with our participation in Christ: "Paul sees faith as sharing in the death of Jesus that is so real, so vivid, that it can be described as being crucified with Christ, or co-crucified" (p. 124). This co-crucifixion is not "a matter of human effort". Not only do we die with Christ but we are raised with him. Christ was "raised for our justification" and we are enabled to live in right covenant relations with God in the present. We are made alive to God. At the same time, the resurrected Christ lives in the believer through his Spirit. This is a corporate reality and not just an individual one. The purpose of the indwelling is to enable God's people to live in right covenant relationship with him and with others (i.e. new life). This new life takes a cruciform shape.

The Saving Righteousness of God 5

2010-05-27T12:49:00.001-04:00

Michael Bird has quickly become one of my favorite theologians. When you read him it is obvious that he loves truth and desires unity within the church. I am currently reading his book The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification, and the New Perspective (Wipf and Stock, 2007). Today I will be taking a look at chapter 4.

Incorporated Righteousness

The doctrine of imputation is a touchy subject as is evident from the debates that have taken place over centuries. The debates have arisen again in recent days due to the rise of the 'New Perspective on Paul'.

Bird begins the chapter by providing a short history of the doctrine. It is interesting, as Bird points out, that imputation was not as central to justification to some among the reformers. It is easy to assume that there is one view that all the 'reformers' ascribed to. Nevertheless, many in the reformed camp have seen imputation as the defining mark of justification and protestant theology. Bird even refers to it as the 'boundary marker' to distinguish between Protestants and Catholics. Even more recently proponents of the New Perspective and some Evangelicals have questioned the validity of the imputation of Christ's righteousness. Mark Seifrid, in particular, has pointed out that talking about imputation can sometimes detract from Paul's Christ-centered theology. He says that it is better to talk about our righteousness being found in Christ, crucified and risen.

Bird then goes on to clarify the debate. He refuses to label all those who refuse to use the language of imputation as legalistic since this is an over-simplistic way of looking at the debate; he also refuses to side with those who consider a denial of imputation a denial of the gospel. "To equate the gospel as consisting of the doctrine of imputed righteousness makes about as much sense as saying that the gospel is the pre-tribulation rapture" (p. 69). He reminds us that the language of imputation is not explicitly found in the New Testament but that it is an appropriate way of restating the forensic nature of justification. Bird will now set out to show is that believers are righteous because they are incorporated in Christ.

Bird looks at some of the key texts which are used to demonstrate imputed righteousness. At the end of the day he says that the usual texts never come out and explicitly teach imputation. Rather, believer's are righteous by virtue of their union with Christ in his death and resurrection. The resurrection was Christ's vindication and it is in this that believer's share by faith. The righteousness that they possess is a result of being united to "the Righteous One." Of particular interest in this section was his discussion of the debate between Piper and Garlington on the word Logizomai.

Bird says that it makes much more sense to speak of incorporated righteousness since imputed righteousness can give the idea that righteousness is somehow abstracted from Christ and given to the believer. Incorporated righteousness has to do with union with Christ and cannot be separated from the Savior himself.

The Saving Righteousness of God 4

2010-05-19T12:49:00.000-04:00

Michael Bird has quickly become one of my favorite theologians. When you read him it is obvious that he loves truth and desires unity within the church. I am currently reading his book The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification, and the New Perspective (Wipf and Stock, 2007). Today I will be taking a look at chapter 3.

Raised for Our Justification

In this chapter Bird is examining the relationship between resurrection and justification. He laments the fact that most of the time the resurrection is nothing more than God's approval of the work of the cross. (To me the equivalent of this would be to limit the cross work to God's disapproval of violence. Sure it's there, and it's important, but that by no means exhausts its meaning.)

Bird goes on the highlight some attempts that have been made to link resurrection to justification. He begins with Walter Kunneth. He believes that in the cross God dealt with sin and death and he overcomes them with new life in the resurrection. At the same time he closely links the verdict that arises from the righteousness added to the believer and the righteousness within the believer. Bird says that this actually detracts from his thesis because although justification and sanctification arise from union with Christ one cannot be subsumed under the other. Markus Barth grounds the believer's justification in both the death and resurrection of Jesus. He says that Christ's resurrection was the justification of God, Christ, and the sinner. According to Richard Gaffin the resurrection removes the sentence of death and the verdict of condemnation over believers. The resurrection is the justification of Christ and believers participate in that verdict. Mark Seifrid says that the gospel centers on the resurrection of Christ. "Christ's death and resurrection contain a verdict - condemnation and vindication...The death and resurrection of Christ is God's verdict against the ungodly, and simultaneously his vindication of them" (p. 47-8).

Next Bird shows how justification and resurrection are connected in three Pauline passages. In 1 Corinthians 15:17 Paul says that without the resurrection there would be no forgiveness of sins; in other words, the cross has no atoning significance without the resurrection. In Romans 1-5 the gospel that Paul proclaims has life as its goal; in Jewish thought vindication and life were linked in that vivification was the evidence that one had been justified. Rom 4.25 is an important text for Bird as he sees it as demonstrating that justification is actually caused by the resurrection. In the death of Christ God's wrath is propitiated and in the resurrection God's declaration of vindication is enacted. Lastly, Bird examines 1 Timothy 3.16; quoting N.T. Wright he says, "It is likely that 'he was justified' is an oblique way of referring to the resurrection: Jesus was 'vindicated' by the living God - not least as Messiah - after being condemned and killed" (p.54). The eschatological verdict had taken place in Christ and believer's can participate in that verdict.

Bird briefly looks at the theme of resurrection and the final judgment. Just as our present verdict of justification is based on the resurrection so is the verdict on the final day.

Bird has done the church a great favor in writing this chapter. We would do well to make the connection between justification and resurrection. Resurrection is not merely a proof that the cross was effective but actually causes our justification before God.

The Saving Righteousness of God 3

2010-05-17T16:38:00.001-04:00

Michael Bird has quickly become one of my favorite theologians. When you read him it is obvious that he loves truth and desires unity within the church. I am currently reading his book The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification, and the New Perspective (Wipf and Stock, 2007). Today I will be taking a look at the second half of chapter 2.

The second half of this chapter looks like it's going to be a little bit more complex. I'll give it a shot though. Bird begins by discussing Jewish particularism and righteousness. If you have had any exposure to the work of the New Perspective (especially N.T. Wright) you would know that it is popular to define 'righteousness' as 'covenant membership'. Bird sees the importance of the sociological dimensions of righteousness but think that it cannot be limited to covenant membership.

According to Bird the reformers did recognize the corporate dimension of justification but this was lost later on in Lutheran and Reformed dogmatics. The emphasis became the salvation of the individual. This began to change with the rise of biblical theology as a separate discipline from dogmatics. More people sought to understand Paul in his historical setting. F.C. Baur was one who saw justification in traditional categories yet saw Galatians as Paul refuting the errors of Jewish Christians and Romans as Paul's attempt to deal with Jewish 'particularistic' tendencies. Wrede and Schweitzer agreed with Baur that "justification was formulated in response to the Judaizing crisis but disagreed that 'righteousness' by faith was the center of Paul's theology" (p.20). For W.D. Davis the Torah was Israel's way of remaining separate from the pagan world. For Paul, however, it was not being "in Israel" that mattered but being "in Christ". Christ, instead of Torah, was the center of Paul's life. Munck believed that Paul's focus was on the fact that God had an ordained plan for the gentiles in salvation-history which was to prompt the Jewish people to find eschatological salvation in Christ.

So why does Bird take us on this little journey through biblical scholarship? He is showing us that there was rising concern in biblical studies that Paul wasn't just dealing with the question of how individuals are saved and was dealing with problems of Jewish exclusivity. However, at this point no one ever really made the explicit link that justification was the solution to particularism.

This paved the way for Krister Stendahl to give a more explicit link between 'righteousness' and the inclusion of Gentiles. E.P. Sanders built on this work but emphasizes 'covenant'. The problem he saw with Judaism is that is was not Christianity. It was a matter of eschatology. In come N.T. Wright and James Dunn. They agreed that Judaism was not a legalistic religion but Paul's problem with Judaism is that it was too nationalistic. Justification is about covenant membership apart from the works that marked out the Jewish people. Although Dunn and Wright do not totally exclude the soteriological dimensions of justification some have done so. From Baur on the dividing line seems to be those who root the framework of Paul's thought in apocalypticism and those who root it in salvation-history. Bird offers a view that puts these two together. "The covenantal horizon means that we cannot lose sight of the question of who are God's people and how are they marked out as they await their final vindication. Similarly the apocalyptic horizon demands that the coming act of salvation spells out liberation from sin, death, and evil as well as the rectification of sinners and transgressors. The question that confronts us is: who are the people of God and in what economy shall they be vindicated?" (p. 32). It seems that Bird's aim is to put and end to those who drive a wedge between the soteriological and social dimensions of justification.

The Saving RIghteousness of God 2

2010-05-13T12:45:00.004-04:00

The Saving Righteousness of God 1

2010-05-11T22:43:00.007-04:00

What Saint Paul Really Said 13

2010-05-11T12:55:00.001-04:00

This year as I focus my reading on the Apostle Paul I am seeking to understand better the writings of N.T. Wright. So I am doing a chapter-by-chapter summary of his book, What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997). Today we are looking at chapter 10.

Paul, Jesus and Christians Origins

Did Paul invent the Christianity that we know today? This is the question that Wright seeks to answer in this final chapter. He points to the author 'A.N. Wilson' as one who answers in the affirmative. For Wilson, Paul had departed from the Jesus of history and made him into a presence of divine love which had universal appeal. Wilson practically reinvents Paul altogether. He claims that he was a collaborator with Rome and developed his religion from paganism. Paul believed, according to Wilson, that the end of the world was imminent and his job was to get as many people as possible follow this new religion before it happened.

Problems with the Portrait

Although some of Wilson's points can be appreciated the bulk of what he says is questionable.

Saul's Background

Wilson believes that since Paul had to seek the authority of the chief priests for his 'persecuting mission in Damascus' that he was a collaborator with Rome. However, Paul was a zealous Shammite Pharisee who had no authority of his own (and had to seek it from the high priests) to act in this way. "The author of Galatians 1 and Philippians 3 would have laughed a long, hollow laugh at the thought of being a collaborator, in the pay of the high priests."

Judaism and Hellenism

Wilson sees Judaism as some sort of 'tribe' religion and Hellenism as the 'universal' religion, the one that everyone knew. So, he claims, Paul took the message of Jesus and transformed it from a Jewish one to a Hellenistic one that would would be 'relevant' to all.

The world, however, does not need a non-Jewish message. The creator God had chosen the Israel as the way of dealing with sin and evil in the world. As Wright says in a later book, this is God's message that is through-Israel-for-the-world.

The way Wright sees it, all attempts to show that Paul derived his message from paganism have revealed themselves to be failures.

Cross and Resurrection

According to Wright, Wilson has failed to grasp the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. These events fulfilled God's ancient purposes for the world; they were not a "matter of mystical speculation."

Wilson's portrait of Paul leaves no room for the bodily resurrection of Jesus. This was not an event to look back on but one to look forward to. For Paul, however, the resurrection of Jesus was the great eschatological event that caused all of God's ancient promises to come true. Paul was living in the first days of God's new world order.

Paul's view of the cross and resurrection were rooted in Judaism. Wilson, on the other hand, starts with Hellenism and causes "the picture to fall apart." Wilson claims that Paul's view of the cross is incomprehensible. However, when it is rooted in the Jewish scriptures, the cross was the moment when God's (representative) Messiah dealt with sin and death. Paul understood these events in a Jewish context.

Wilson tries to hang on to the eschatological dimension of Paul; this, however, makes no sense in Hellenistic mystery religion. For Paul, the cross and resurrection were the events that inaugerated the Age to Come and God would one day complete the work he began.

Jesus and God

Wilson supposes that any attempt to place Jesus and God side by side is dabbling in paganism. But according to Wright, the passages which do place Jesus and God side by side are strong statements of Jewish monotheism with Jesus placed firmly in the middle of it. Ironically, it is went Paul is opposing(not standing with) paganism that he makes these statements.

A Distorting Image

Wilson's portrait of Paul fails on the historical, theological and exegetical level. He not understood that Paul believed that through Christ God what fulfilling his ancient covenant that he had made with Abraham. Wilson does not make much of application either yet he retains the sense that there is something great Paul's writings.

Wright then seeks to answer the question, "what is the relation between Paul, Jesus and the origins of Christianity?"

From Jesus to Paul - and Beyond

The answer to that question relies on what one thinks of Jesus. Neither Jesus or Paul was preaching a timeless message about how people could be saved but believed that they were participating in the fulfillment of God's ancient promises. Jesus and Paul cannot be pitted against each other but must be seen as playing a role within God's drama.

Jesus was the one through whom God would accomplish his purposes to Israel. He announced that God's kingdom was arriving, even though it didn't look like what many had expected. Through his work Israel's God would liberate his people and bring salvation to the world. Through his actions, Jesus embodied YHWH's return to Zion as judge and redeemer. He believed that he would die in obedience to the will of God and that he would be vindicated by being raised from the dead before the final day. All this makes perfect sense within the world of first-century Judaism.

When we look at Paul we cannot look for a mere parallel to Jesus but continuity. Paul believed that he was called to proclaim to the world that Israel's God has brought his saving plan to it's climax in Jesus. He was calling people to give allegiance to the world's true Lord. For Paul and Jesus it was not a matter of 'mere religion' but showing people what it meant to be truly human, to experience life.

There is coherence between Paul and Jesus. "Jesus was bringing Israel's history to its climax; Paul was living in light of that climax." This is what matters. God had acted in Christ to fulfill his saving promises and inaugurate the kingdom.

Jesus is Lord IS Good News

2010-05-06T09:19:00.003-04:00

Jason Hood has an excellent post where he critique's the idea that "Jesus is Lord" is not gospel:

"Michael Horton, for instance, is critical of the idea of featuring a gospel proclamation of, “Jesus is Lord”: “There are many passages in the Bible that teach us that ‘Jesus is Lord’ is not in fact good news.” A statement like this can be found in interviews with Horton on the web; he particularly goes after N. T. Wright. Greg Gilbert of IX Marks Ministries recently published a small, readable book on the definition of the gospel.

“[T]o simply say that ‘Jesus is Lord’ is really not good news at all if we don’t explain how Jesus is not just Lord but also Savior. Lordship implies the right to judge, and we’ve already seen that God intends to judge evil. Therefore, to a sinner in rebellion against God and against his Messiah, the proclamation that Jesus has become Lord is terrible news.” What is the Gospel?, 105.

This is not untrue, but we must be careful not to push Jesus’ lordship to the margins of gospel definition. Gilbert actually risks doing just that when he titles the section just quoted, “Jesus is Lord Is Not the Gospel.” There are two problems, as I see it, with that language.

(1) By saying “Jesus is Lord is not good news” on the basis of Gilbert’s logic that Jesus’s lordship is not universally good news, we run the danger of making our definition of gospel subjective. God’s gospel is always the gospel, whether I find it to be good news or not.

Many of the people who heard the good news preached by Isaiah, the Psalmist and the Israelite women, John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, and on through church history, did not find it to be good news, either because they rejected it, or because it was too good to be true, or because they were in crummy moods and stuck on their earthly circumstances. But the good news was of course still good news.

(2) My hope is that these brothers do not mean that we are to limit “gospel” to a description of salvation apart from Jesus’ lordship. But some do. And a phrase like “Jesus is lord is not the gospel” runs the risk of picking and choosing what parts of the gospel you’ll take, and which you’ll leave off.

We cannot really substitute “Jesus is Lord” with “Jesus is Savior,” “Jesus redeems,” or “Jesus saves.” Many passages teach that those who reject his lordship in word and deed will prove to have been saying “Jesus saves” in vain. So even “Jesus saves” is not always good news, in the sense that it is terrible news for those who reject him and his lordship. But the Gospel is still the Good News.

Picking up on Gilbert’s title (which is just one glitch, I think, in an otherwise helpful book): in the sense that “Jesus is Lord is not the Gospel” (because it’s not the whole story), “Jesus saves” is not the gospel, either. But phrasing it that way is unhelpful and misleading!"

The King's Catechism 1

2010-05-05T10:36:00.003-04:00

In an effort to 'know the truth' better I have decided that I will try to construct a catechism. I really have no idea how to do this but I figure I'll give it a shot. I will be looking at other catechisms and base mine loosely on those. I am not sure how long it will be as I am really just doing this as a devotional exercise (as long as it is helpful I suppose). Here are the questions and answers for week 1 (If you have any other scriptural references to suggest then feel free to suggest them. Most of mine will be from the writings of Paul as I have been focusing my reading on his letters this year.).

1. Q. What is your only hope of salvation?
A. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom. 1.16-17; 10.9

2. Q. What is this gospel?
A. Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, the one who was promised in the scriptures; he was put to death by the principalities and powers but God raised him and seated him at his right hand as Lord of the world. Thus, God’s new world order has begun. Through his shameful death God has been victorious because now our sins can be forgiven, the very means by which we can be liberated from this present evil age. This Jesus will return again to judge the living and the dead and bring times of refreshing for all those who belong to him.
Rom 1.2-4; 2 Tim 2.8; 1 Cor. 15.1-5; Gal. 1.4; Col. 2.13-15; Acts 2.23, 36; 28.30-31

What Saint Paul Really Said 12

2010-05-04T11:05:00.003-04:00

What Saint Paul Really Said 11

2010-05-03T13:10:00.003-04:00

Insights into Paul's Gospel: Michael Bird

2010-04-27T16:42:00.004-04:00

As I read various writings on the apostle I will be quoting writers commenting on the gospel Paul proclaimed. Today we will hear from Michael Bird. The quote comes from his book "Introducing Paul" (IVP, 2008).

...The gospel includes a proclamation of the kingship and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is an explosive announcement that the despised and rejected one is now installed in a place of authority and deserves the acclaim normally reserved only for the greatest of worldly kings, for the highest gods of the pantheon, and even for the covenant God, Yahweh. In other words, Jesus is king and reigns over all...But merely stating that Jesus is king is an insufficient representation of the gospel...the gospel is about both the person and work of Christ. God promised in the Scriptures that he would renew creation and restore Israel. The gospel is the good news that God has made these promises good in Jesus, the Messiah and Lord. Jesus died and rose for the purpose of atoning for sins and through faith in him and his work believers are reconciled to God. The new age had been launched and God has revealed his saving righteousness in the gospel so that he justifies and delivers persons from the penalty and power of sin and death (p. 83).

N.T. Wright is 'Quitting' His Job

2010-04-27T08:01:00.003-04:00

It has just been announced that N.T. Wright will be leaving his job as the Bishop of Durham and will devote his time to academics.

HT: Michael Bird

What Saint Paul Really Said 10

2010-04-26T15:35:00.006-04:00

Justification: Soteriology and Ecclesiology

2010-04-23T13:34:00.003-04:00

In light of my last post I wanted to show how the wedge between eccesiology (the church) and soteriology (salvation) does not always exist in N.T. Wright's theology. Take this quote from his latest book, Justification (IVP, 2009):

There is indeed a sense in which "justification" really does make someone "righteous" - it really does create the "righteousness", the status-of-being-in-the-right, of which it speaks - but "righteousness" in the law-court sense does not mean either "morally good character" or "performance of moral good deeds", but "the status you have when the court has found in your favor."...yes, God has vindicated Jesus himself, by raising him from the dead...And yes, that vindication is indeed the context within which the vindication of the believer is to be understood. (p. 92)

Earlier he says:

It is in this sense that "justification" "makes" someone "righteous," just as the officiant at a wedding service might be said to "make" the couple husband and wife - a change of status, accompanied (it is hoped) by a steady transformation of the heart, but a real change of status even if both parties are entering the union out of pure convenience. (p. 91)

So justification isn't just about "identifying" who is in. It is about granting people a new status, a creation of a new reality. Before the status was "condemnation" and now the status is "in-the-right". Just as at my wedding my pastor granted us the status of "husband and wife", a status that we did not previously enjoy, so justification is the creation the status "in-the-right." I agree with Wright that this status also has to do with the covenant (i.e. who are the covenant people of God?). But when one is justified in the present it is because they are united to Jesus, in his death and vindication. Therefore, justification is about soteriology and ecclesiology.

What Saint Paul Really Said 9

2010-04-21T12:45:00.004-04:00

What Saint Paul Really Said 8

2010-04-21T12:30:00.000-04:00

Michael Bird on John Piper's T4G Sermon

2010-04-20T16:24:00.002-04:00

Michael Bird has an excellent post on John Piper's sermon at T4G. When I first heard the title of Piper's talk I thought, "Wouldn't a better question be 'Did Paul Preach Jesus' Gospel?'" Also, check out the discussion that is going on in the comments.

What Saint Paul Really Said 7

2010-04-19T19:01:00.007-04:00

Good News for Israel

This year as I focus my reading on the Apostle Paul I am seeking to understand better the writings of N.T. Wright. So I am doing a chapter-by-chapter summary of his book, What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Realy Founder of Christianity? (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997). Today we are looking at chapter the first part of chapter 6. Tomorrow we will look briefly at his exegesis of particular passages

Wright starts off the chapter by reminding us that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, teaching them the good news of the God of Israel, and he believed that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, God was fulfilling his covenant plan. God was doing was he promised he would and this picture was redrawn around Jesus and the Spirit. This starts of his discussion of the key phrase in Paul "the righteousness of God".

In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) the term 'righteousness of God' means God being faithful to his covenant promises. "God's 'righteousness', especially in Isaiah 40-55, is that aspect of God's character because of which he saves Israel, despite Israel's perversity and lostness; Israel can trust those promises. God's righteousness is thus cognate with his trustworthiness on the one hand, and Israel's salvation on the other" (p. 96). [Just as a side note, if you hear the term 'covenant faithfulness' and think that Wright is way off the mark I would encourage you to read Isaiah 40-55 in one sitting (or maybe listen to it on audio).]

Wright sees the term as forensic and from the law court. When 'righteousness' is seen in this light it cannot be the case that it means the same thing for the judge as it does for the defendant and accuser."For the plaintiff or defendant to be 'righteous' in the biblical sense within the law-court setting is for them to have that status as a result of the decision of the court" (p. 98). Wright claims that for the judge to declare someone righteous doesn't necessarily mean they are morally upright; rather, it means that the court has found in their favor. This is where Wright denies that 'the righteousness of God' has to do with imputation but this is not the main point of his argument.

Law-court language and covenantal language go together. Israel pleads to God to rescue her from exile, to vindicate or acquit her. They ask him to be faithful to his covenant. So, for Wright, 'the righteousness of God' is saying something about God. "God's righteousness remains, so to speak, God's own property. It is the reason for his acting to vindicate his people. It is not the status he bestows upon them in so doing" (p. 99).

Now eschatology comes into the picture. "Eschatology - the long hope of Israel for her God to act at last, once for all" (p. 99). Israel desires that the covenant God will vindicate them in the future. Some Jews thought that the present sign in the present that they would be vindicated the future was by loyalty to their covenant obligations, 'works of the law'.

Options for a Key Term

In this section Wright basically discusses the various 'options' one has in defining 'the righteousness of God'. Does it refer to God's own righteousness or the status that God grants to us? A very helpful chart is provided which displays the variety of interpretations. Wright says that the Jewish evidence is on his side in affirming that it refers to God's own righteousness. Wright sees God's righteousness as his covenant faithfulness and his saving power. "[God's righteousness has] to do with God's covenant faithfulness, both as a quality in God and as an active power which goes out, in expression of that faithfulness, to do what the covenant always promises: to deal with evil [Wright uses the word 'evil' to denote a variety of things: sin, evil on a big scale, etc.], to save his people, and to do so with true impartiality" (p. 103).

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 8

2010-04-16T12:50:00.001-04:00

I am continuing my short summaries/thoughts of Michael Gorman's small book Reading Paul (Cascade Books, 2008). This is a great little book; although one won't agree with him on some important issues, it is a good little tool for those interested in understanding what Paul was all about.

God Raised and Highly Exalted Him

The cross means absolutely nothing if Christ was not raised from the dead. Gorman begins by explaining Why the Resurrection Matters. For Paul if Christ has not been raised then Christians are still in their sins; the cross is emptied of its saving significance and Paul's life of suffering is foolish. But if Christ has been raised that means that he is the "first fruits" of the general resurrection for all those who have died in Christ. The Christian life in not vain. Moreover, the resurrection demonstrates that Jesus is the Messiah, that God has graciously dealt with sin and the church is God's work.

God and the Logic of Resurrection

When Paul encountered the risen Christ he believed that it was carried out by God. There were two major consequences of this: 1) Paul came to see that the crucified Jesus was God's righteous servant who atones for our sins; he is the suffering servant. "If Jesus' crucifixion has been vindicated and validated by God, then clearly his cross must not ultimately be a sign of divine curse but a means of divine blessing" (p. 94-5); 2) The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of the eschatological age which caused Paul to rethinking the relation of Gentiles to Israel. "Since the eschatological age has begun, the Jewish people must be experiencing the eschatological promise of new exodus and new covenant made by the prophets, and the Gentiles must be about the come the the knowledge of the true God, as the prophets (and Jewish tradition) also taught" (p. 95).

Christ and the Resurrection: The Exalted and Present Lord

The resurrection of Christ was physical into a new transformed bodily existence. This resurrected Jesus can be known personally by the church, the "body of Christ", as he dwells in them and they in him. Jesus is the present Lord but he has been exalted to royal status. Jesus is the Messiah who has a unique relationship with the Father and is worthy of the title "Lord".

Jesus is Lord

Gorman claims that in Paul's day there were three lord's that claimed people's allegiance 1) the God of Israel; 2) Caesar; 3) Jesus.

Paul proclaimed Jesus as Lord; but if Jesus was Lord that meant that Caesar was not. The two are mutually exclusive. The Christian gospel and the Jewish gospel, however, are not. The God of Israel is now revealed in his Son, the Messiah.

The Resurrection and the Human Condition: Now and Later

Believers participate in the resurrection now causing them to live new lives. Christ's resurrection was bodily so now we must use our 'members' in service to him. In this way we anticipate the resurrection of our bodies in the future. "What ties these two types of resurrection together, then, is their shared bodily character and the reality of transformation - moral transformation of life in the body now, and actual transformation of the body in the future" (p. 107). Through the power of the power of the Spirit Christians can live resurrection lives in the present. The crucified and risen Lord is present within the community of believers and makes their obedience to him a joy.

What Saint Paul Really Said 6

2010-04-10T13:26:00.005-04:00

Insights into Paul's Gospel: Craig Keener

2010-04-07T09:02:00.004-04:00

Today we will begin a series on 'Insights into Paul's Gospel'. As I read various writings on the apostle I will be quoting writers commenting on the gospel Paul proclaimed. Today we will hear from Craig Keener. The quote comes from his commentary on Romans in the New Covenant Commentary Series (Cascade Books, 2009); Keener is commenting on the content of Romans 1:1-7. I will be leaving out scripture references (there are many).

"The Good News Paul proclaims is just what the prophets announced...In the Prophets proper, the 'good news' is especially the promise that God would establish peace and blessing for his people, and Paul proclaims that this ancient promise is now being fulfilled in Jesus.

What is the content of the good news foretold by the prophets? The prophets associated their good news of Israel's restoration with the coming of the promised Davidic king and the hope of resurrection. In 1:3-4 Paul declares that his good news concerns God's 'Son.' As a descendant of David, Jesus could be rightful heir to Israel's throne, but once a king was enthroned, he was adopted by God. Jesus was not only descended from David, but attested as God's Son by the Spirit, who raised him from the dead and hence exalted him as Lord. Of course, Jesus is not God's 'Son' only in the ordinary royal sense, but the good news that God has established a king, and hence his kingdom, sets Paul's preaching of Jesus squarely in the context of the [Old Testament] promises.

Many Judeans regularly praised God for his power that would one day be expressed in raising the dead; Paul likewise treats the resurrection as the ultimate display of God's power. Jesus' followers, however, recognize this resurrection as not merely a theoretical hope for the future, but a future reality already initiated in history: Paul speaks literally here of Jesus' resurrection 'from among the dead ones,' implying that Jesus' resurrection is the first installment of the future promise of resurrection for the righteous...The same Spirit who raised Jesus will also raise all believers. Paul stresses Jesus' resurrection as a prominent element of the good news."

What Saint Paul Really Said 5

2010-04-05T16:38:00.012-04:00

Good News for the Pagans

This year as I focus my reading on the Apostle Paul I am seeking to understand better the writings of N.T. Wright. So I am doing a chapter-by-chapter summary of his book, What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Realy Founder of Christianity? (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997). Today we are looking at the first half of chapter 5.

As Wright has been stressing throughout this book, Paul was a Jew; as such we need to root his thought in a Jewish matrix rather than a substantially Hellenistic one. However, he does believe that we need to take Paul's non-Jewish context seriously. "Paul, after all, describes himself, almost by definition, as the apostle to the Gentiles" (p. 78).

The word paganism is being used in the broad sense and, "denotes, basically, those who are neither Jews nor Christians, and carries the connotation of their develped worldviews, in which religion and politics, superstition and magic, hope and fear, and sometimes ethics and morals, cluster together around a bewildering range of symbols and stories, developed over many centuries and involving many quite diverse cultures" (p. 78-9).

Derivation and Confrontation

Some scholars have suggested that Paul's thought derived from paganism. This isn't the line Wright takes. In relation to paganism (at least I think this is what he is saying), "Direction is more important than derivation; confrontation is as important, if not more important than conception" (p. 79). In other words, Paul didn't adopt a pagan worldview. He confronted paganism with the good news seeking to replace their worldview with a Jewish one that placed Jesus in the middle of it. According to Wright, if we are going to recover Paul's message to his non-Jewish hearers we will have to look at his letters, looking particularly at his work among the pagans.

Polemical Engagement

"By 'polemical engagement' I mean that Paul becomes, as he says, all things to all people (1 Corinthians 9.22" (p. 80). Paul used key concepts from opposing systems of thought but he never became a syncretist (he did 'sharply confront paganism). Since, though, all truth belongs to God "confrontation does not simply mean head-to-head total disagreement" (p. 81).

Paul acted like this because he had a firm belief that it was a part of God's ancient plan to bring gentiles into the blessing of Israel. "When Zion was restored, the nations would flock in to hear the word of Israel's God" (p. 82). Since, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the New Age had dawned the Gentiles would partake in the blessing. This was always a part of God's saving plan; this is why he called Israel in the first place.

The Jewish message was a monotheistic one which meant that the pagan world could be addressed with a message from the one true God. "The message, paradoxically, had to remain essentially Jewish if it was to have its proper relevance to the pagans" (p. 83).

Critique from Within

Paul was like a prophet to Israel warning them that they were headed in the wrong direction and calling them back to true allegiance to YHWH. He was not denying that they were his special people but that they had failed in their vocation; the Messiah, as Israel's representative, had been faithful and God's people were to be defined in him. Israel was in danger of becoming like all the other nations; their 'extreme zeal' was leading them the wrong way.

Wright emphasizes that Paul remained zealous but it was a 'zeal according to knowledge". "He still saw the message of the true God as challenging the false gods. He still saw the great mass of Judaism as being disloyal to the true God, and needing to be brought into line. But the line in question was now the Christian, fulfilled-Israel, line" (p. 85).

Next time we will be looking at the second half of chapter 5 where Wright looks at the specifics of this message to the pagans.

What Sain Paul Really Said 4

2010-04-01T15:26:00.001-04:00

Paul and Jesus

First Century Jewish Monotheism

- In the first century monotheism was a way of saying that God of Israel was the only true God of the world and the pagan gods and goddesses were not. There could not be two lords. God would one day defeat these 'gods' and vindicate his true people. Since God is the creator of this world he would do what he has to do to restore it. The awaited kingdom would come and those who belong to this one true God would get to be a part of it and those who had died would be physically raised from the dead when it came.

- God is transcendent but he is also active and present in this world.

Jesus and the Spirit Within Paul's Jewish Monotheism

- Paul remained a monotheist but because of God's saving work in Christ montheism was redifined around Father-Son-Spirit.

- Paul took passages that spoke of the oneness of God (e.g. the shema) and placed Jesus firmly in the middle of it.

- The Spirit was the spirit of Jesus; God's presence to guide us in the wilderness

Resurrection, Justification and the New Covenant Community

2010-03-26T22:33:00.004-04:00

Ephesians is quickly becoming one of my favorite Pauline books (However, whenever I am studying Paul, the letter I am studying usually becomes my favorite). There are so many great things that could be said about it but two themes in particular have been sticking out to me.

1) There is saving significance in the resurrection of Jesus. Does the resurrection actually contribute to or accomplish God's salvation? Or does it just prove that the cross was the effective means of salvation? I was reading a book on the cross this week, one of my favorites, and the author was saying, if I understood him correctly, that God accomplished our salvation on the cross and that the resurrection proved that it was so. In my mind this seems to downplay the importance of the resurrection; as if the resurrection was nothing more than God's approval of the cross. It is that, to be sure, but it is much more. Resurrection, in the Old Testament, was a vivid metaphor of what would happen to God's people when YHWH established his sovereign rule and met with his people in forgiveness. This was the beginning of the 'New Age', in fulfillment and faithfulness to God's promise with Abraham, where God would be with his people, he would remember their sins no more, the nations would come to God, they would know him and all things would be made right. This is what Paul had been waiting for and he saw that God had brought the kingdom in the death and resurrection of the Messiah. This meant that, since Jesus had been raised in advance of the final day, God's new day had already begun. Not only that, all those who are united to Jesus by faith participate in this redemption now. This is what Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-7, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." In Romans Paul can talk about the cross as the moment of redemption but here he talks about the resurrection. Without the resurrection there is no redemption, no salvation.

2) In Christ Gentiles become true members of the covenant family. Gentiles should rejoice that through the work of Christ they become partakers of the covenants of promise, they join the family of God and they are reconciled to God. All these ideas are closely linked in Ephesians. Both Jew and Gentile are reconciled to God through the cross to form God's new covenant community. What Paul says here sounds very similar to what he says about justification in other letters, "Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith" (Galatians 3:7-9). Being made right with God and being members of the covenant people are two sides of the same coin. What God has joined together let us not separate. I do think we can still speak of the vertical and horizontal aspects of justification. But for Paul, at least in Ephesians, the ideas of 'being made right with God' and being apart of the covenant people are one.

The Christian's Vision

2010-03-22T12:47:00.003-04:00

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:7-10).

As Christians we all have our individual stories of how we came to faith. For me, when I was entering into high school I was becoming increasingly aware of my own sin and my need to truly repent and pledge my allegiance to Christ; some people have conversion accounts that are quite different than mine. But there is one large over-arching story that unites all Christians.

God has a plan. When our first parents sinned against him and came under God's judgment the Creator did not utterly abandon his creation. He could have easily squashed us all and started over, but that's not what he did. Although the book of Genesis takes many twists and turns there is one character that stands out. God called a man named Abram, later changing his name to Abraham, and made him a promise that he would inherit a 'land' and that many nations would be blessed through him. Later on in the biblical storyline we see that God also makes a promise to King David; one of his descendants would sit on an eternal throne and reign justly forever.

These are the stories that Paul has in the back of his mind when he is writing this amazing blessing in Ephesians 1. God's plan is to unite all things under the headship of his Son. He has made it possible, by election, redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and adoption for all those who are united to Christ in faith. The church is not some side project for God. When Paul uses phrases like 'chose us' he is recalling the stories of Abraham and Israel; God's work in Christ is the climax of God's promises to Israel.

Moreover, God has given us his Spirit. Paul says that the Spirit is the 'guarantee' of our inheritance. He is the foretaste of what is to come. He is the future brought into the present who enables us to live as new creations.

As I study Ephesians I am amazed by this big vision that Paul had. He cared for individual Christians and wanted to see individuals put their faith in Christ; but Paul was not an individualist. It was this great mystery now made known through Jesus that captured his gaze. Is this what captures ours as well?

Brian Vickers on Imputation

2010-03-16T22:39:00.003-04:00

"...there is not a strict division in these texts between the ideas of Christ's 'active' obedience he rendered to the Father in terms of obeying his will or keeping the law, and Christ's 'passive' obedience, referring primarily though not exclusively to his dying on the cross...the obedience Paul speaks of in Romans 5:19 most likely refers to Christ's death, even though his death ultimately cannot be detached from his life. At the same time, the clear emphasis in that text is on Christ's obedience to God in contrast to Adam's disobedience. At the cross, Christ obeyed the will of his Father...God made Christ a sacrifice for sin and Christ fully obeyed God and became that sacrifice for sin. He willingly accepted God's wrath against sin as it was placed upon him (passive) and he willingly bore that penalty for sin on the cross (active)...Christ's role as the second Adam does, in fact, include the provision for forgiveness of sins and a positive standing before God on the basis of Christ's obedience" (Jesus' Blood and Righteousness, Brians Vickers, pp. 196-7)

Are You Looking Forward to Easter?

2010-03-16T12:38:00.003-04:00

Easter is quickly approaching and at this time it is custom for Christians to dwell on the meaning of the death of Jesus and his resurrection. A lot of the time Christians use the resurrection as a proof that Jesus is God. While this can be helpful I don't think it gets to the heart of its meaning. N.T. Wright offers us this helpful paragraph in his book 'What Saint Paul Really Said':

'Resurrection' was, in Ezekial 37, a metaphor for the return of Israel from exile. When Paul was faced with the fact of Jesus' resurrection, he concluded that the return from exile had in fact happened. Exile had reached its height in Jesus' death; now he had come through death, through the ultimate exile, and was set free not just from Greece or Rome, from Herod, Pilate and Caiaphas, but from sin and death, the ultimate enemies (1 Corinthians 15:25-6). This meant that the Age to Come, the Eschaton of Jewish expectation, had already arrived, even though it didn't look like Paul had expected. It meant that Israel had in principle been redeemed, in the person of her anointed representative. It meant that the Gentiles were now to be summoned to join Israel in celebrating the new day, the day of deliverance."

Some comments:

- Israel was in exile because they had disobeyed the covenant. They had sinned against God and he gave them up to their sin. The curses of the covenant had fallen on them. He removed his blessing from them and the nations came against them and enslaved them. So exile comes as a result of sin.

- The promises made to Israel in exile were promises of a new day of salvation, a time when God would atone for their sins and they would know God fully in a new creation.

- These promises were not just for Israel; when this new day, this new creation, came the whole world would be able to join in the celebration.

- Essentially, return from exile means that God has dealt with Sin and sins. One of the greatest things about this promised salvation is that the sins of Israel, and all the world, would be dealt with and the world be free from the effects of Sin.

- Jesus bore these curses on himself. All the evil of the world came against Jesus and did its worst to him. God was dealing, first and foremost, with sin on the cross. When God's people, and all humanity, sinned the result was exile. Jesus went into exile even though he was sinless.

- Jesus was raised from the dead. When God finally dealt with sin the images that he gave in the prophets was that of resurrection (See Hosea 6). Since Jesus dealt with sin on the cross God's new creation, the world without sin and it's evil effects, has come.

These are great things to rejoice about. When we think of the resurrection we ought to rejoice that sin has been dealt with and we get to be a part of God's new world, the world without sin, the world of King Jesus. I am looking forward to Easter.

What Saint Paul Really Said 3

2010-03-15T08:31:00.003-04:00

Here are some points of interest in Wright's chapter entitled 'Herald of the King':

- After his 'conversion' Paul remained loyal to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who made promises to Abraham, the God who gave the law, the God who spoke through the prophets.

- The Church misunderstands the gospel when they make the focus some kind of 'order of salvation'. It is not an individualistic and ahistorical message about how one gets saved.

- The background of Paul's gospel stands firmly in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the Greek world. Israel awaited a day when God's promises, as predicted by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekial, would come true. God would rescue his people from exile and comfort them. God would be king of the whole world. The term gospel was also an announcement of a great victory, birth or accession of an emperor; this came with promises of peace and security, a start for the new world. If a person was preaching and teaching that the former was coming true then it challenged the latter. If YHWH was king then Caesar was not.

- The gospel is a true story about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus through which God becomes king of the whole world.

- The cross is at the heart of Paul's theology. The cross of Christ is a royal victory which confronts the 'powers' and declares that their time is up. It is the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham where God deals with sin and evil. The cross is a covenant fulfilling act when God executed a judicial sentence on sin itself. It was the fulfillment of the Isaianic message and is the center and starting point for what the gospel is all about.

- If Jesus defeated sin then death could not hold him. When Jesus was raised it meant that sin had been dealt with, God had achieved what he promised to Abraham. The great eschatological event had taken place. For Paul, resurrection meant bodily resurrection. This event was 'according to the scriptures' which meant that the entire biblical narrative was moving in this direction. The Age to Come had arrived but was coming in two stages. It demonstrates that Jesus was and is Israel's true Messiah, the anointed King.

- The gospel is the 'gospel of Christ', or the gospel of the King. This king has defeated evil at its very heart. The messianic promises of salvation have come true in him and he is now the King of the whole world.

- When the King came he would be Lord, not only of Israel, but of the whole world. Paul's language here comes from Isaiah and from the imperial cult.

- The message of the gospel was a message about God, the true God as opposed to false ones. Those who believe the gospel are known by God.

N.T. Wright on Preaching the Gospel

2010-02-12T08:58:00.002-05:00

"God intends to do through us for the wider world that for which the foundation was laid in Jesus. We are to live and tell the story of the prodigal and the older brother; to announce God's glad, exuberant, richly healing welcome for sinners, and at the same time God's sorrowful but implacable opposition to those who persist in arrogance, oppression and greed. Following Christ in the power of the Spirit means bringing to our world the shape of the gospel: forgiveness, the best news anyone can hear, for all who yearn for it; and judgment for all who insist on dehumanizing themselves and others by their continuing pride, injustice and greed. The human race has been in exile; exiled from the garden, shut out of the house, bombarded with noise instead of music. Our task is to announce in deed and word that the exile is over, to enact the symbols that speak of healing and forgiveness, to act boldly in the power of the Spirit." (The Challenge of Easter pp 46-47)

What Saint Paul Really Said 2

2010-02-11T11:35:00.005-05:00

'Zeal' is an important word in this chapter. The pre-Christian Paul was zealous for Torah. This did not mean that he woke up in the morning with a hot cup of coffee did his devotions and said his prayers (although that is a very good thing to do). Zeal was something that was done with a knife! He was from a strict sect of Pharisees known as the Shammaites. He was zealous for YHWH and Torah and this expressed itself in violence. He was willing to do anything to bring about God's kingdom, the longed for liberty.

Paul was waiting for the great promises made in the prophets to be fulfilled, the true 'return-from-exile'. Like many other Jews of the day he thought that these things were still going to be truly fulfilled in 'accordance with the Scriptures.' This was a story that still needed an ending and his goal was to bring it about. God had promised to deal with sin through his covenant with Abraham. Yet the people of promise themselves became sinful and were cast into exile. The scriptures spoke of a day when all of this would be sorted out. One day YHWH would return to Zion, evil would be defeated and the true people of God would be vindicated. This might be summarized in three points: monotheism, election and eschatology. The one true God had chosen Israel as his special people and he would bring his plan through-them-for-the-world (I borrowed that from his latest book) to its climax. YHWH would become king over all the world; in order for this to happen, however, Israel needed to keep Torah. Paul would make this a reality through violent zeal, 'zeal for God, zeal for Torah, zeal that will bring in the kingdom.'

Paul wasn't just looking for some sort of timeless salvation. He was waiting for the promises of God to come to their climax. He was waiting for God to redeem Israel and fulfill his covenant, the purpose of which was to undo the sin of Adam. The bearers of the solution, however, needed saving and were waiting for God to act.

Wright goes on to discuss some technical terms in light of this reading of Paul, namely, justification and eschatology. Justification and eschatology go together. The eschatological hope of Israel was that God would vindicate his people. Through obedience to the Torah, with a particular zeal, one could be assured in the present that they would be vindicated in the future.

After Paul saw the resurrected Jesus all this changed. He came to see that God did for Jesus, in the middle of time, what he thought he was going to do for Israel at the end of time. The resurrection showed that Jesus really was the Messiah. "But if Jesus really was the Messiah, and if his death and resurrection really were the decisive heaven-sent defeat of sin and the vindication of the people of YHWH, then this means that the Age to Come had already begun, had already been inaugurated, even though the Present Age, the time of sin, rebellion and wickedness, was still proceeding apace."

What Saint Paul Really Said 1

2010-02-10T22:18:00.002-05:00

I am a huge N.T. Wright fan boy. Even when I disagree with the Bishop I always find him insightful and challenging. I read the Bible better because of him. One reason why I am interested in reading Paul is because of Wright. In my seminary days I heard a lot about N.T. Wright and the 'New Perspective', most of it negative. Wright, in my mind, was a dangerous figure who led people to some sort of works-righteousness. He had strange notions of the law being that which separated Jew from Gentile. I remember the moment I decided I would start reading the Bishop for myself. I was going for a jog and was listening to Ephesians on my iPod. Then Max Mclean said, as only Max Mclean could say, "Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility" (Eph 2.11-16). I suspected that Wright had some important things to say and I have since then found that to be true.

So, alongside Gorman's Reading Paul, I have decided to read What Saint Paul Really Said. I will be reading through each chapter and will post things that I found helpful (or not so helpful) and which help me to understand Paul more.

In chapter 1 Wright surveys some scholars and discusses their impact on Pauline theology. There are scholars that emphasize Paul's Jewishness and then there are those who say that Paul draws on Hellenism. There are four questions that people have been asking as they study Paul: 1) Where do we place him? (history), 2) What is at the center of Paul? (theology), how do we study his letters amidst the vast amount of literature (exegesis), how do we use Paul today? (application).

Here is a great quote from Wright that ends off this chapter: "Paul in the twentieth century, then, has been used and abused much as in the first. Can we, as the century draws to a close, listen a bit more closely to him? Can we somehow repent of the ways in which we have mishandled him and respect his own way of doing things a bit more? This book is an attempt to do just that: to stand back from the ways we have read Paul and to explore a bit more how Paul himself suggests we read him. It is an attempt to study Paul in his own terms. It is trying to come to grips with what he really said. (pg. 23).

N.T. Wright on the Faith of Abraham

2010-02-03T12:54:00.004-05:00

"Paul's description of Abraham's faith...goes deeper than simply an account of heroic trust in the face of overwhelming odds. It is a deliberate reversal of his description of the degeneration of the human race in [Romans] chapter 1...What Paul is saying is that in Abraham's faith, and in faith of the same kind, human beings are put back together again and enabled to rediscover what a genuinely human life is like.

This is how it works. Humans ignored God, the creator (1,20, 25); Abraham believed in God as creator and life-giver (4.17). Humans knew about God's power, but didn't worship him as God (1.20); Abraham recognized God's power, and trusted him to use it (4.21). Human beings did not give God the glory he was due (1.21); Abraham gave God the glory (4.20). Human beings dishonored their own bodies by worshiping beings that were not divine (1.24); Abraham, through worshiping the God who gives new life, found that his own body regained its power even though he was long past the age for fathering children." (Romans for Everyone, pp. 77-78)

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 7

2010-01-28T21:46:00.004-05:00

Even Death on a Cross

The cross stands as the center of Christian existence; it is the source and shape of the life of the Christian. In the first century, however, it was a sign of Rome's power. It was an incredibly strange thing to claim that the Messiah was crucified.

The cross of Christ was the work of God to reconcile the world to himself. In his love he to the initiative to win the world back. The symbol that stood for the might of Caesar would now stand for the the love of God. The cross reveals the covenant faithfulness of God and his way of dealing with sin and human rebellion.

The cross is God's act of self-giving and reveals that God works through the weak and foolish things in the world. It is the power and wisdom of God that redeems the world; Christ crucified is at the heart of the gospel.

Christ was the sacrifice for sin. "Christ died for us/for our sins/for the ungodly/for all/for me." Love for God and love for others were the covenant obligations for the people of God. The cross was Christ's own self emptying act of faithfulness to God and love for us. Through faith and baptism we participate in the death of Christ by co-crucifixion and are justified.

The cross says something about our human condition. God expects all people to love him and others yet we are marked by idolatry, immorality and injustice. This is true of both Jew and Gentile. All people are enslaved to Sin (with a capital "S"). As a result, we cannot do what is right and do not have the ability to cure ourselves. The consequences of this condition are present spiritual death and future physical death. This present age is dominated by Sin and sins.

The solution we need involves liberation and forgiveness; the cross answers both of these problems. "Christ became poor so that we might become rich." We benefit from the death of Christ by participating in it.

N.T. Wright on 'Works of the Law'

2010-01-28T08:24:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons people find N.T. Wright confusing at times is that in one paragraph he seems to be affirming one thing and then with a statement he seems to deny it. In his response to John Piper Wright denies that the Jews of Paul's day were performing works of the law in order to earn favor with God. In one sense I agree with this. The Jews believed that they were God's covenant people. God gave them the law so that they would be God's special people, unlike any one else. They did not have legalistic intentions. However, to deny any sort of legalism seems impossible in light of what Wright says here:

"[Many Jews] would have taken the law and sung it to a tune like this. God gave Israel the Torah, the holy, just and good law. Israel is required to keep the Torah; those who do so will be vindicated as God's people when he acts in history to judge the nations and rescue Israel from their clutches. The way to tell, in the present, who will be vindicated in the future, is that they are keeping 'the works of the law' right now. That is their badge in the present, the present sign that they will be vindicated in the future" (Romans for Everyone p. 60).

When I read this, and other things from Wright, I scratch my head (not because I don't understand what he says; I don't understand why he denies certain things); I get that Jews believed that they were God's special people and some believed that if you wanted to be marked out as God's people you had to take on Torah. We need to take seriously Paul's discussion of how the law separates Jew and Gentile (or is God the God of the Jews only?). But what Paul denies is that the Jews could put any claim on God because they possessed and performed the law. They took pride in the idea that they were the ones obeying the law. They were God's privileged people. What does Paul say? "Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness." Anytime, at least in my mind, people start saying things like, "we are A so we deserve B, we have A so we deserve B, or we have done A so we deserve B" there is, at least some sort, of legalism. We cannot expect vindication from God because of who we are, what we have, or what we have done. We are all under Sin's power. We all need to come to Christ in repentance and faith.

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 6

2010-01-25T12:28:00.002-05:00

The Gospel of God

The Christian faith finds it roots in Judaism. Paul saw himself as serving the one true God of Israel who was revealed most fully in the Messiah Jesus. This God is the living God who has revealed his name as "YHWH". "With other Jews, Paul believed that God has spoken the world into existence; called Abraham to be the father of a people, Israel, that would be a blessing to all nations; gave the Law to, and made covenant with, that people; expected the covenant people to obey the precepts of the Law, especially to live in loyalty toward God and in love toward neighbor and stranger, particularly the poor; promised a Messiah to save the people from their sins and oppressors; and spoke through prophets about a future day when God would establish a new, permanent covenant, when sin and injustice would cease, and when even the Gentiles would acknowledge the one true God in a new creation."

In Israel's scriptures there derives a set of beliefs about God's acts and character traits. Paul believed that God had acted in Christ and that the scriptures needed to be re-interpreted in light of this fact. He saw the Law as holy and good but also saw that it pointed to the gospel which he had now come to believe and proclaim. When Jews believed in this gospel they were participating in the reality to which the prophets pointed; when Gentiles believed they joined the family of Abraham. They experienced a "spiritual" heart surgery that made it possible for them to "fulfill the righteous requirement of the Law."

Because of the new thing God had done, when Paul used the word "God" there was continuity and discontinuity with how he understood the word. He saw a close relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit; this is what we know as the Trinity. Paul thought of the God of Israel in a different way because of his experience of the Son and the Spirit.

One of God's attributes that the Scriptures highlight is his faithfulness. Again, Paul saw this as taking on new meaning because of the triune nature and work of God. As a response to the problem of sin God established a covenant with Abraham. This has now been made a reality through the Messiah. God has fulfilled his promised to bless both Israel and the Gentiles. God's mercy is revealed in his work of reconciliation. "The focal point of this grace in Christ is, of course, the death of Christ, where God's faithfulness and mercy come into full view."

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 5

2010-01-20T12:53:00.002-05:00

In the Fullness of Time

Paul believed that the God of Israel has a plan for this world; he had the conviction that the climax of this great plan, a plan rooted in Israel’s prophets, was at hand. In light of the misery they were facing, the prophets saw that God was going to do something new. God was going to make a new creation, new exodus and new covenant. This great time of worship and justice would be for all people. The apocalyptic visionaries called Israel to align themselves with the purposes of God over and against Satan and his minions.

Jesus had an apocalyptic perspective. This is seen in his message that, “the reign of God is breaking into history now – that is, in and through Jesus’ own ministry of calling twelve to reconstitute Israel, preaching to the poor and to all, exorcising demons and defeating Satan, forgiving sins, liberating the oppressed, challenging the religious leaders, and eventually dying and rising.”

This apocalyptic event takes place in two parts. God has inaugurated the new age yet it overlaps with the present evil age; when Jesus appears for the second time he will end the present age and will bring the age-to-come to its fullness. Believers currently live in the overlap of the ages. This new life happens “in Christ”, a personal and corporate experience. It is a bifocal life that is characterized by looking back at what God has done in Christ and looking forward to what is to come.

Reflection:

If one wants to understand Paul it is essential to have a good grasp on his apocalyptic outlook. Gorman is extremely helpful in this area. He doesn't choose an apocolyptic message over a cross message. He sees God having a grand purpose for Israel, and the whole world, and the way this comes about is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Another thing essential to grasp is how Paul is rooted in Israel's scriptures. In a lot of biblical theology people jump straight from the fall to the cross without giving any attention to God's workings with Israel. However, the very foundation for God's plan for dealing with sin is rooted in his plans for Israel. In Christ God's purposes have come to their climax.

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 4

2010-01-18T13:03:00.001-05:00

The Power of God for Salvation

Paul was a preacher of the good news of God’s salvation. This gospel was not a “personal message of salvation” but a theopolitical announcement (by political Gorman does not mean government structures and political parties but a public, common life together). Although Paul did not give us a comprehensive outline of the gospel and his theology, he did leave us some important summaries by which we can discern Paul’s “big ideas.”

In the first century when people heard the word euangelion (good news) they would think of the salvation promised by the prophets in the Jewish scriptures; another idea brought to mind by this word was the good news of the birth of an emperor, his accession to power, or the salvation that he would bring. Paul was preaching that the promises of the prophets were coming true and that Jesus was the true Lord and Savior of the world; salvation, including peace and justice, would come through Jesus not Caesar.

God’s great plan of salvation, his intervention in human history, to put a world gone wrong to rights has been executed. Therefore, Paul’s gospel isn’t merely about “personal salvation”; Paul does, however, call people into a right relationship with God. The gospel message brings those who believe into, “a new life in this world under the sway of a new lord and savior in the company of like-minded companions….[it is] good news from God, about his Son, for us…[that] centers on Jesus’ death, resurrection and exaltation as Lord.” Those who hear the message must respond with faith.

Salvation as the Revelation of God's Righteousness

2010-01-15T12:23:00.003-05:00

In Rediscovering Paul authors David Capes, Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards give a good definition of Paul's view of salvation in Romans:

"Despite the scandal of the cross, Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. This is because God's power is revealed in the gospel and makes salvation a reality for everyone who believes, Jews first, then Greeks. In Paul's vernacular, salvation is a comprehensive term that incorporates all the benefits of the gospel. It includes (1) forgiveness of sins, (2) reconciliation and living at peace with God, (3) adoption into God's eternal family, (4) redemption from slavery to sin, death and other spiritual forces, (5) resurrection from the dead at the parousia, (6) acquittal at the final judgment and (7) glorification with him for eternity. So salvation is not merely going to heaven after death; it is a wide-ranging program of transformation for humanity and creation. Specifically, Paul unpacked the salvation found in the gospel as the revelation of 'the righteousness of God' (Rom 1:17)."

Paul in One Sentence

2010-01-13T12:36:00.002-05:00

In Reading Paul Michael Gorman offers this excellent summary of Paul in one sentence:

"Paul preached, and then explained in various pastoral, community forming letters, a narrative, apocalyptic, theopolitical gospel (1) in continuity with the story of Israel and (2) in distinction to the imperial gospel of Rome (and analogous powers) that was centered on God's crucified and exalted Messiah Jesus, whose incarnation, life, and death by crucifixion were validated and vindicated by God in his resurrection and exaltation as Lord, which inaugurated the new age or new creation in which all members of this diverse but consistently covenantally dysfunctional human race who respond in self-abandoning and self-committing faith thereby participate in Christ's death and resurrection and are (1) justified, or restored to right covenant relations with God and with others; (2) incorporated into a particular manifestation of Christ the Lord's body on earth, the church, which is an alternative community to the status-quo human communities committed to and governed by Caesar (and analogous rulers) and by values contrary to the gospel; and (3) infused both individually and corporately by the Spirit of God's Son so that they may lead "bifocal" lives, focused both back on Christ's first coming and ahead to his second, consisting of Christlike, cruciform (cross-shaped) (1) faith and (2) hope toward God and (3) love toward both neighbors and enemies (a love marked by peaceablness and inclusion), in joyful anticipation of (1) the return of Christ, (2) the resurrection of the dead to eternal life, and (3) the renewal of the entire creation."

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 3

2010-01-12T09:01:00.003-05:00

To Spread the Gospel

As an apostle it was Paul’s mission to spread the good news of Jesus and to establish communities which were obedient to God through conformity to Jesus in the power of the Spirit; through his visits and letters these communities were strengthened. Paul greatly cared for these communities in a variety of ways during and after the time he founded them.

Paul was a traveling preacher and he did this with companions. He also worked as a tent-maker which helped to support his traveling and preaching ministry. Paul allowed a community to participate in the work of God through financial support, but only after the community was established.

Paul was a strategic evangelist; he brought the gospel to large urban centers and to the Jewish community in different cities. After his work in the Jewish community he moved on to gentiles which made up the majority of his converts.

The communities that Paul established were called “assemblies”. Those who gathered together constituted God’s new family. Paul saw himself as their spiritual father and exercised his parental authority over them. “Today we would call a person like Paul a ‘pastor’ (meaning ‘shepherd’), and his or her letters ‘pastoral letters’.

Paul’s ministry, however, wasn’t all success. He often suffered persecution in various forms; Paul, however, wore this as a badge of honor as it associated him with the crucified Messiah. He didn’t suffer because he enjoyed it; rather, he suffered because he was radically faithful to Jesus, the crucified Lord. Ironically, cross-shaped suffering could lead to the spread of the gospel. “…What confirmed an apostolic call for Paul was not merely the claim of a divine encounter and commission…but above all conformity to Christ in his faithfulness, love, and (consequently) suffering…It authenticated him and authorized him to speak with the authority of God, whether in person or by letter.”

Paul wrote letters that are directed to his original hearers and to us. They need to be read by us as “documents of spiritual formation.” We also need to keep in mind that these are first-century letters and we must read them as such. Paul writes in a fairly standard format: Salutation, thanksgiving, body, closing exhortations, and greetings/benedictions. Paul, however, “Christianizes” this standard way of writing.

Gorman goes on to give a concise summary and a helpful chart of the themes of each of Paul's letters. I will not summarize them here as the are already quite short. My suggestion would be to buy this book. It is a great tool to have on the bookshelf.

Reflection:

It's amazing to see the work that God did in Paul's life. He went from a persecutor to one who's life work was to travel and establish communities who were faithful to Lord Jesus; he suffered for the sake of Christ. Today we often think of great leaders as those who preach amazing sermons and have huge churches. Paul, however, didn't measure his greatest by his accomplishments but by his suffering with the Messiah. I love how Gorman says it, "he wore it as a badge of honor." I fear suffering for the sake of Christ yet I need to change my thinking to be like Paul. To suffer like Christ is to suffer with Christ.

The Gospel Command

2010-01-11T09:03:00.002-05:00

Although one might disagree with some of the things N.T. Wright says in the first sentence, the main point is something we can all learn from. The gospel is primarily an announcement, a command from the world's true Lord.

"The 'good news' is not, first and foremost, about something that can happen to us. What happens to us through the 'gospel' is indeed dramatic and exciting: God's good news will catch us up and transform our lives and our hopes like nothing else. But the 'good news' which Paul announces is primarily good news about something that has happened, events through which the world is now a different place. It is about what God has done in Jesus, the Messiah, Israel's true king, the world's true Lord...The gospel isn't like an advertisement for a product we might or might not want to buy, depending on how we felt at the time. It is more like a command from an authority we would be foolish to resist. Caesar's messengers didn't go round the world saying 'Caesar is lord, so if you feel you need to have a Roman-empire kind of experience, you might want to submit to him.' The challenge of Paul's gospel is that someone very different to Caesar, exercising a very different kind of power, is the world's true lord." (Paul for Everyone: Romans Part 1 pp.4-5)

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 2

2010-01-07T23:09:00.005-05:00

Grace and Apostleship

We do not know very much about the apostle Paul before his conversion; we do know that he was a Pharisee, "proud of his heritage and his zeal for the Law of God". This zeal caused him to seek the destruction of the church which he saw as a perversion of Judaism. It seemed that this movement did not seek to keep the law as was evident from its open welcome to Gentiles. There are two mains reasons why Paul sought the destruction of the church: 1) they were preaching a crucified Messiah, which means that he was cursed; and 2) their openness towards Gentiles.

Paul used violence to remedy the situation. He would have seen himself as descending from a line of holy heroes like Phinehas who went to great means to enforce purity among God's people. Paul saw his zeal as the basis for his righteousness before God.

This violent zeal was abandoned by Paul after the Lord Jesus revealed himself to him, the "defining moment of Paul's life". After, although he remained a Jew, he came to believe that the crucified and risen Jesus was the Messiah and, therefore, the Lord of the world. Paul "changed his convictions, conduct, and community.

When Paul encountered the risen Jesus he was called and commissioned as an apostle. He was going to preach the gospel to the Gentiles; formerly he violently persecuted the church for accepting them but he had a new mission now.

"The turn to nonviolence is at the very heart of Paul's conversion, and his gospel." Retaliation was no longer Paul's practice; rather, he "absorbed violence" himself and taught his churches to do the same, as is appropriate for those "converted by and to the love of God". He also critiqued imperial violence in the name of peace and security (see the pax et securitas in 1 Thess 5:3). "A politics of subversion, not intentional but as an inevitable consequence of the gospel, is central to Paul and to those who read his letters as Scripture."

After his conversion Paul saw that Gentiles could be included into God's community without being circumcised. God's great time of salvation, promises by the prophets, had arrived and this meant anyone could come to God through the Spirit. Paul's gospel does not mean inclusion for everyone, however. "All are welcome just as they are to be apprehended by, and fully converted to, Jesus Christ the Lord."

Reflection:

Sometimes when people speak of Paul's conversion they make it sound as if he was converted from an evil religion to a good one. Some say he abandoned legalism for grace. I appreciate Gorman's stress on the fact that it was his encounter with the Messiah that changed him. After this moment he realized that God's promised salvation had arrived bringing to fulfillment all the promises God has made to Israel. Paul stayed firmly planted within Judaism but he believed that, through Jesus, the covenant had reached it's climax and that inclusion into the people of God meant that one had to be in the Messiah. This radically changed Paul. He was, as is rightly said, converted.

I also find Gorman's stress on nonviolence helpful. Paul was a violent persecutor but after his conversion he refused to retaliate and he preached a message of reconciliation to God (first and foremost) and with others. God's community should be marked by meekness, gentleness and peace.

However, I do have some reservations about, what seems to be, Gorman's full blown pacifism. I'm not sure Paul always fits into that category and I don't think we can just write off Romans 13 as evidence for this fact. Although Paul never says in that passage that Christians should be a part of the "governing authorities" he has a very positive view of this authority. It is a necessary, though temporary, measure God has implemented to restrain the effects of the fall. I think it is possible for a Christian to be a part of these authorities because it does not necessarily entail retaliation and violence. Gorman does, however, give us a lot to think about on this important subject. One question that will be on my mind is, "can a Christian be a part of the governing authorities and still live a life of cruciformity?"

See an interesting discussion here at Jesus Creed.

Reading Paul with Michael Gorman 1

2010-01-07T00:04:00.001-05:00

Christianity, Judaism and the Marketplace of Religions

2009-12-26T12:42:00.005-05:00

In the book Rediscovering Paul the authors explain why Christianity, although flowing from Judaism, broke away from it's "Jewish moorings".

"It should not surprise us that Judaism could not contain the splinter group whose members were known as Christians. Even though Jewish members of "the way" may have seen their zeal for the gospel as part and parcel of their Jewish heritage, eventually their kinsmen found their message and their ways blasphemous. The temple, the Torah, circumcision, the dietary code, even the sabbath-everything distinctively Jewish was compromised by early Christianity. It is no wonder, then, that the Jesus movement eventually broke away from its Jewish moorings (Paul made sure of that). So,with the influx of Gentile Christians and the steady eroision of Jewish traditions, imagine how hard it was for early Christians to distinguish themselves in the marketplace of religions. Christians had no temple, no sacred space. That must have put them at a disadvantage in attracting devotees. Where does one go to worship the Christian God? What are the holy days of sacrifice? Which animals must be slaughtered for divine purpose? Among pagans it was common for temples to host sacred meals. Christians had sacred meals without temples. Was it possible to have sacred meals in an ordinary house? Christians read Jewish Scripture but did not observe the Jewish law. They had no prayer houses, only house churches. In certain respects, these people had no definable, distinctive features other than the fact that they proclaimed the resurrection of their leader, baptized their novitiates in his name, shared a common table and gathered on the first day of the week to sing, pray, prophesy and occasionaly listen to the reading of letter written by a man whose name was Paul"(pgs. 52-53).

It is amazing that Christianity grew the way it did when one consideres the religious and political climate of the first century. The gospel truly "is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith" (Romans 1:16).

Tullian on the Great Reversal

2009-12-24T08:02:00.002-05:00

Tullian quotes C.S. Lewis on the 'reverse of the curse' in this post:

"All of Jesus’ ministry—the words he spoke, the miracles he performed—showed that there was a new order in town: God’s order. When Jesus healed the diseased, raised the dead, and forgave the desperate, he did so to show that with the arrival of God in the flesh came the restoration of the way God intended things to be. New life was given, health was restored; God was reversing the curse of death, disease, and discomfort. The incarnation of Christ began the “great reversal.”

Read the whole thing here.

Dead and Alive in Christ

2009-12-23T09:02:00.002-05:00

This past week I have trying to read through Paul's letter to the Colossians in one sitting once per day. I am looking forward to receiving Michael Bird's new commentary on the letter for Christmas so I am preparing myself beforehand.

In chapter 3 Paul uses the image of dying and rising with Christ in order to promote right living in relation to God, each other, and the world. This is a frequent theme outside this letter as well (i.e. Galatians). He tells the Christians to seek things that are above, where Christ is seated. This isn't simply a way of saying, "think nice thoughts about heaven and don't think about the world." It means that the Colossians are to live as new creations in a world that is hostile to God. They are being transformed into the image of their creator and they are to seek the things that promote growth in this direction. This means that they will have to consider certain things to be true. It is tempting for Christians to think that they have two natures battling within and sometimes the bad nature wins and sometimes the good nature wins. This isn't how Paul thinks. He teaches that Christians are already new men and women in Christ. They have been redeemed in Christ as a foretaste of the things to come. Therefore when temptation comes don't say things like, "I can't overcome this unless you do something God!" because God has already done something. He has made us new in Christ and given us his Spirit so that we can, unlike before, be obedient to him.

Four Books, One Gospel

2009-07-23T12:50:00.003-04:00

On this blog I enjoy asking the question, "What is the gospel?" I do so because I believe it is one of the most important questions one could ask or reflect on. Some answers focus on the kingdom while others focus on the atoning death of Christ; one group quotes the words of Jesus, "The Kingdom of God has drawn near!" the other quotes Paul, "Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was risen on the third day." While I think these discussions are helpful there is a point that is often missed. In the Scriptures we are given four books in the Bible with the title, "The Gospel" stamped right on them. I was reminded of this fact in a lecture by D.A. Carson. Jesus going to John for Baptism, healing the sick, proclaiming the kingdom of God, going to the cross, rising from the dead, this is all under one title,"The Gospel". I found this quote by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld helpful:

We speak typically of gospels (plural). The superscriptions should remind us that the evangelists (i.e., the writers of the gospels) and those who preserved their writings and added the superscriptions would have been happier if we spoke of a "fourfold gospel". They would have insisted that they were each in their own way telling the one story, the one gospel. They recognized that the only gospel that counts is that "of" Jesus Christ, both in the sense that Jesus is the center of the good news, but also in that he is the ultimate proclaimer of the euangelion that God's kingdom is becoming reality. With that in mind, and over their protestations, we will follow common practice and refer to their writings as gospels. (quoted from Recovering Jesus)

The gospel can be summarized, sometimes very precisely, in many ways (always with a focus on the death and resurrection) but we must always remember that it took the evangelists more than a few sentences to tell the full-orbed gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is a quote from Acts 10:

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and h does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

My Evangelism Experience

2009-07-20T14:27:00.003-04:00

On Saturday I went out with my friend Paul MacDonald to share the gospel of the Kingdom. I had a very interesting conversation with a woman and I thought I would post it here. Please note that the conversation recorded here is from memory and I tried my best to record it faithfully. You can also find it here at Paul's blog:

While Paul was assisting a man with finding the appropriate bus stop I decided to go across the street and speak to a woman who was sitting on the step outside a church. The woman was listening to her MP3 player so as I approached her I made it obvious that I wanted to talk to her by making eye contact, reaching out to hand her a 10 commandments penny, and smiling. She took off her headphones and greeted me with a, “hello”. I introduced myself to her and told her what Paul and I were doing. I asked her if I could talk to her about Jesus and she agreed. I began by asking if she knew anything about Christianity. She responded by saying, “Well, my parents are Christian; I am too, I think…” I said, “That’s great” and then asked her if she could tell me what Christianity was all about. She said, “It’s really about values; you know, as a Christian you value the things that the Bible says.” I said, “That’s great. Yes, the Bible tells God’s people what they ought to value; many of those things are different than the values of the world. However, the core of Christianity isn’t just about values; it’s about what God has done in and through Jesus Christ.” I asked another question, “When you look at the world around you do you think that there is something wrong?” She answered in the affirmative. I said, “There is tragedy all around us. There is suffering and death. We just heard on the news about Michael Jackson who lived a tragic life and died a tragic death!” She responded, “You’re right. Our world is messed up.” Then I asked, “So what do you think is wrong with our world? Why do you think our world is like this?” She said that she didn’t really know. I told her, “I want to tell you what the Bible says about our problem and what God has done to save us.” So I explained, “From the beginning God originally created our world good. God made man to live in fellowship with himself, to enjoy his good creation and experience great blessing in God’s presence.” I asked, “Have you ever heard of Adam and Eve.” She laughed and said, “Yes!” “Well” I said, “God created Adam and Eve to live in fellowship with him but they rebelled against him. Because of this God cursed our world; this is why our world is the way it is; our sin caused it.” She seemed to be taking it in. I continued, “God did not desire to leave us in his curse. He called a man named Abraham and promised him that he would create a people who would experience his blessing instead of his curse.” I asked, “When Jesus came to earth do you know what his message was?” She said, “Jesus was all about teaching people to love one another. By doing this people can find life.” I responded, “Jesus did teach his followers to love one another. In fact, that was a very important part of his mission. But Jesus’ ministry was about something much more than just that. Jesus came to proclaim the kingdom of God.” I asked, “Do you know what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God?” She said she didn’t so I explained, “The kingdom of God basically means ‘the reverse of the curse’. Although man deserves to be under God’s curse he sent Jesus to bring his blessing. Whenever Jesus healed someone, made the blind see, cast out demons, or raised the dead he was showing that his mission was to reverse the curse that had rightly fallen on us.” I asked, “Does this sound like good news?” She laughed and said, “Yes!” I told her that there was more, “One day Jesus is going to return to judge the living and the dead. He will come to defeat all evil once and for all. But this raises a problem for you and me. If the world was filled with people just like me and just like you would the world be a better place?” She thought about it for a second and then said no. “That’s right. We are evil. You are evil. And if Jesus is coming to judge all evil then we ourselves need to be done away with. We don’t deserve God’s blessing, we deserve his eternal curse in hell. But Jesus did something so that we could become a part of his kingdom. He went to the cross. He was our substitute. He entered into darkness so that we wouldn’t have to. He, even though he wasn’t a sinner, was treated like a sinner on our behalf. He bore the curse that we deserve so that we could go free and enter into his kingdom community. Jesus died as our ransom; then, Jesus rose from the dead. He broke the curse once and for all. The Bible says, “He loosed the pangs of death”. All this was done so that people just like us could experience God’s blessing instead of his curse; so that we could have fellowship with God, receive his Spirit, and have the hope of a world to come without any pain or sorrow.” I handed her a bible and I told her to read the gospel of Mark. I told that God commands her to repent. I emphasized that this was not an option but that she needs to pledge her allegiance to Jesus so that she could be forgiven.

Chris Brauns on Gossip

2009-06-25T11:42:00.002-04:00

Blogger Chris Brauns has a helpful post on gossip. I left a comment on his blog asking him for a biblical definition of gossip; here is his response and my follow up:

Chris:

Nick, it’s such a good question. My first thought is that you are a guy who is attempting to think biblically. And, that is 80% of the battle.

Of course, it is a matter of discernment. So, as we grow in wisdom we will be able to spot gossip. It’s like the old Supreme Court line about pornography, something to the effect of, “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.”

Having said that, several questions could be asked: (1) Does it betray a confidence? 20:19 (2) Does it need to be said to glorify God and build relationships? (3) Is Matthew 18:15-17 being violated? In other words, should someone either be confronted or should the matter just be let go (Prov 19:11, 17:14). (4) Is the person who is hearing the information part of the solution? Often talking to a pastor is necessary. But, talking to someone who isn’t a leader in the church isn’t.

Sometimes Proverbs calls it “whispering” (ESV) – - Is it “whispering”, and I’m thinking about the way it is said?

Sloppy answer on my part. I’m talking around it. But, I think it’s worth doing. Just you asking helped sharpen my thinking.

Gossip: the unnecessary spread of information (often sensational) when that information may damage another or the cause of Christ or help a party avoid confrontation that should take place.

Nick — can you tweak that and make it better?

Nick:

Hey Chris,

Your answer was extremely helpful. Would you mind if I posted it on my blog? I don’t have much to add to what you said except that I guess a good test to ask ourselves before we share information comes from Mark 12.30-31: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” If we ask ourselves “Am I loving God?” and then “Am I loving my neighbor?” it might cause us to think twice before sharing information about that neighbor.

N.T. Wright on the Parable of the Sower

2009-06-23T21:17:00.003-04:00

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55.10-13)

The sowing of seed, resulting in a crop that defies the thorns and briers, is a picture of YHWH's sowing of his word, and the result is the return from exile and, indeed, the consequent renewal of all creation. At the heart of the story is the cryptic announcement that the time foretold by the prophets is at last coming to birth...Israel's God is acting, sowing his prophetic word with a view to restoring his people, but much of the seed will go to waste, will remain in the 'exilic' condition, being eaten by the birds, or lost among the rocks and thorns of the exilic wilderness. The eventual harvest, though, will be great. We are here no far from Jesus' story about the great banquet. The party will go ahead and the house will be full, but the original guests will not be there. Judgement and mercy are taking place simultaneously. (Jesus and the Victory of God, 233-234)

Not only does Jesus tell us about the different reactions to the word that is being sown but he also, by reaching back to the Old Testament, tells us what the word is and what it is accomplishing. Jesus was announcing God's kingdom in a radically new way. God was becoming king and, as a result, was accomplishing the great restoration. God's purpose is to have a 'returned' people who are saved from the great curse. What a great blessing it is to be a part of this people. What a great savior we have who took this curse upon himself, going down into exile so that we might emerge clean. What can be said but 'Praise be to God'.

10 Favorites for Helping You Understand the New Testament

2009-06-17T15:52:00.002-04:00

10: "For Everyone Series" by N.T. Wright
09: "A Community Called Atonement" by Scot Mcknight
08: "Simply Christian" by N.T. Wright
07: "A Bird's Eye View of Paul/Introducing Paul" by Michael Bird
06: "The Cross of Christ" by John Stott
05: "ESV Study Bible" by Crossway Books
04: "New Testament Thelogy" by Thomas Schreiner
03: "Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament" edited by D.A. Carson and Greg Beale
02: "Christian Origin Series (Especially Jesus and the Victory of God and The Resurrection of the Son of God" by N.T. Wright
01: "Theology of the New Testament" by Frank Thielman

I find myself going back to these books again and again. I was telling a friend today that if I could have one book, besides the bible, it would be Frank Thielman's NT Theology. Nothing has aided my study of the books of the NT like this volume. Enjoy!

1 Clement 1: A Healthy Christian Community

2009-06-04T13:34:00.005-04:00

I have started to read through 1 Clement with my wife. Some people in the early church really cherished these letters from these great men of God so I thought I should too. I haven't read the whole letter yet, and haven't done extensive research on it either, but I have started to make some notes and study questions for the first chapter. You can read the letter here and you can read a bit about Clement here. I would also highly suggest purchasing this book.

1 Clement 1

The members of the Christian community are:

1) marked by a faith that is focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. They are constantly looking to him because they know that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him and he is returning to judge the living and the dead.
2) genuinely pious. Their piety consists of showing generosity and love to their ‘neighbors’; in other words, they do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith.
3) openly hospitable. They open up their home to all because Christ is Lord of all. When Christians share what they have with others, regardless of sex, race, or class, it is a powerful testimony to the world that Jesus is building his worldwide kingdom community.
4) sound in their knowledge. They will know their Bibles and will not be tossed to and fro by false teaching. They will know the fundamentals of the faith: that the Messiah was revealed, justified by the Spirit; seen by angels, proclaimed to the nations; believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
5) they submit to the leadership and honor those who are ‘aged’ in the faith. God has ordained that local churches have established authorities. Their role is to teach and shepherd the flock. To demonstrate the unity of God’s family members must submit to godly leadership. Another blessing of local churches are ‘experienced’ Christians. There is much wisdom to be gleaned from these people.

The leadership of the Christian community instruct:

1) the young people how to think. Minds wander, especially young ones. They need to learn wisdom because it doesn’t come naturally. Young people need to be trained to use their minds in a way that honors Christ as Lord.
2) the women to have a blameless, reverent and pure conscience. Women should have a heart for their husbands and their home. They need to be instructed on how to remain obedient to their husbands and manage their households in a godly manner.

Questions for Reflection:

1) If a godly person were to look at your life would they be able to say that you have a faith that is steadfast? What best describes you: Are you constantly worrying or getting in ‘bad moods’? or do you find that when you enter into hardship your thoughts turn to the crucified, risen and reigning Messiah?

2) Are you generous with your possessions? When you go to work and get a paycheck are you focused on, “how can I use this money for myself” or are you thinking, “how can I use this money to bless others?”

3) Do you seek to open up your home to others? If not, why? Do people feel “stand-offish” around you or do you make people feel welcome?

4) Are you actively reading God’s word? Many Christians in the early church didn’t have any Scriptures available to them and would consider it a huge blessing to have their own copy of God’s word. Do you read the Bible daily or do you just casually read it ‘here and there’?

5) What do you think it means to submit to church leadership? Do you seek out the wisdom of those in authority and from those who have been Christians for a long time?

6) What do you focus your attention on? Christ Jesus said that we ought to, “Seek first the kingdom of God and it’s righteousness”. Do you set your mind on how you can honor Christ as Lord in all things?

7) How is your home life? If you are a husband, are you leading and loving your wife as Christ does the church? If you are a wife, are you humbly submitting to the guidance and counsel of your husband?

The Kingdom: The Really Really Old Perspective on Paul

2009-06-01T16:05:00.003-04:00

"Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit" (Ephesians 2.11-22).

Some observations:
1) There is peace between Jews, Gentiles, and God; it's not a vertical or horizontal thing, it's both. Let's not be platonic.
2) Gentiles are no longer separated from the 'commonwealth' of Israel and the 'covenants of promise'; we shouldn't be scared of using words like 'covenant' because Paul wasn't.
3) The law is the wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles. It is okay to say that Jews wore the law as a 'badge' which identified them as those who inherited the covenants and promises of God. However, it can become very difficult to distinguish nationalism and legalism (and I don't think we should).
4) The main purpose of the cross is that it creates a worldwide family that is at peace with one another and with God. The church is not secondary.
5) Both Jew and Gentile need the message of the cross.
6) The church is the worldwide family that is indwelt by the Spirit.

The Kingdom: Scot Mcknight Presents the Gospel

2009-05-25T13:03:00.001-04:00

"God loves you and everyone else and has a plan for us: the kingdom community.

But you and everyone else have a sin problem that separates you and everyone else from God, from yourselves, from one another, and from the good world God made for you.

The good news is that Jesus lived for you, died for you, was raised for you, and sent the Spirit for you - so you all can live as the beloved community.

If you enter into Jesus' story, by repentance and faith, you can be reconnected to God, to yourself, to others, and to this world.

Those who are reconnected like this will live now as God's community and will find themselves eternally in union with God and communion with others.

Those who preach this gospel will not deconstruct the church. Instead, they will participate in what God is doing: constructing the kingdom community even now."

The Kingdom: Christ and Job Loss

2009-05-15T10:18:00.004-04:00

And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago (Acts 3.17-21).

There can be nothing more shocking, or numbing, than being called into your bosses office to find out that you are being laid off. At this point your whole life changes. All those plans for the future come to a halt and all hope for a stable life seem to vanish; worry sets in and the question, "what will happen next?" is constantly running through your mind. This is a situation that is being faced more and more today as companies lose money and can no longer afford their employees.

What does the Bible have to say about all this? I believe that true comfort can come in these troubled times by recognizing the truth that Jesus, the Messiah, has come. A good way to describe this world is 'chaos'. Sometimes there is good but other times it seems that everything is wrong with this world; people suffer from hunger, some face injustice by the governing authorities, while others lose their jobs and can no longer afford the 'cost of living'. When man first sinned against the creator God it brought on the curse and chaos ensued. But God's plan is not to leave the world the way it is. His plan is to save it and he has acted to save us from the evil in ourselves and the world at large.

When God's people were suffering because of their sin God made a promise to his people that one day he would make this world right (see Isaiah 35). All these promises have been made good in Jesus. He has come to take the curse of sin upon himself so that we, the ones who justly suffer for it, would go free, "But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out." For those who come to Jesus we can have our sin problem dealt with when we repent and believe. Moreover, we can be confident that we will experience 'times of refreshing' at Jesus' second coming. Jesus is coming to restore all things. He is coming to make all things right. He has entered into our chaos so that we might be freed from it. Turn to Christ and be saved.

The Word: Mere Avoidance

2009-05-14T15:56:00.004-04:00

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of a liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4. 1-5).

It is easy to be like a clock; since the Bible tells us that Christ's kingdom is already here we can swing to one side and act as though we are going to solve all the world's problems in the here and now. Other times we can act as though Christ is not sitting at God's right hand, swing to the other end, and act as though there is nothing more to the Christian life than a lot of waiting.

When Christ ascended to the right hand of God he brought with him times of great joy. The spirit has arrived and people from every tongue and nation are coming to Christ in repentance and faith. Nevertheless, these 'last days' bring danger as well as great blessing. One of the threats that the church constantly faces is false teachers/teaching. There is such a thing as 'damning doctrine' and the god of this age loves when God's church fails to be discerning.

False teaching can be easy to detect at times. When we are told that it is okay to indulge in immoral sexual activity, tell lies, or anything else contrary to the will of God we know that we are to have no part in it. However, the devil and his demons are often more crafty than the 'in your face' kind of false teaching. Many times he fools Christians into thinking that the way to holiness is the way of 'mere avoidance'. After all, God's word tells us not to be worldly so, perhaps, the way we might do this is to avoid anything that brings pleasure. The craftiness behind this deception is the fact that it totally by-passes the heart of the matter. It is easy to avoid things and then look at ourselves and think, "I'm doing pretty well; not like those people over there".

Jesus is the creator of all things and through his death he is working to reconcile all things whether in heaven or on earth. Jesus is exercising his Lordship over all creation. So the way forward is not mere avoidance. It is doing everything in life in a way that reflects the truth that Jesus is Lord. Take sex for example: Pornography is a terrible misuse of God's good gift of sex. As a response Christians should not avoid sex all together. Rather, married couples should express the truth, through prayer and thanksgiving, that God made man and woman for each other and that together they reflect the image of a wise, generous, and loving creator. In this way Jesus is taking sex back.

The fact that Christ is Lord is not an excuse to indulge in sinful activities; nor does it mean that Christians become holy by the avoidance of things that God created for our good. Rather, we should live in a way that truly bears witness to the fact that Jesus is king and is working for the glory of God in all things.

Everything Else: The Transfiguration by Sufjan Stevens

2009-05-13T11:54:00.002-04:00

When he took the three disciples
to the mountainside to pray,
his countenance was modified, his clothing was aflame.
Two men appeared: Moses and Elijah came;
they were at his side.
The prophecy, the legislation spoke of whenever he would die.

Then there came a word
of what he should accomplish on the day.
Then Peter spoke, to make of them a tabernacle place.
A cloud appeared in glory as an accolade.
They fell on the ground.
A voice arrived, the voice of God,
the face of God, covered in a cloud.

What he said to them,
the voice of God: the most beloved son.
Consider what he says to you, consider what's to come.
The prophecy was put to death,
was put to death, and so will the Son.
And keep your word, disguise the vision till the time has come.

Lost in the cloud, a voice: Have no fear! We draw near!
Lost in the cloud, a sign: Son of man! Turn your ear!
Lost in the cloud, a voice: Lamb of God! We draw near!
Lost in the cloud, a sign: Son of man! Son of God!

-From the album Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens

The Word: The Mystery of Godliness

2009-05-11T12:52:00.002-04:00

He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory (1 Tim. 3.16 ESV).

The Bible has no hesitations about linking Christian godliness with biblical orthodoxy. In order to be godly Christians we must be confessional. If someone were to ask us, "How might I become more like Christ?" how might we respond? It seems clear that the way the apostle Paul would respond would be, "Let essential Christian truths shape your life; this is the mystery of godliness."

What are these essential truths? First of all, Jesus Christ identified with us and died for our sins. When Jesus appeared in the flesh he lived the life that his people Israel, and the whole world, could not. He was completely faithful to the Father and did his will in all things, even as he went to the gruesome Roman cross. It was at the cross that Jesus reconciled God and man making peace by his blood; Jesus was vindicated at his resurrection showing that he was God's anointed one.

Second, Jesus has gone to heaven, the place where God and his angels dwell. We will see him again when he returns but this doesn't mean that Jesus is not actively reigning. In fact, because Jesus has entered into heaven the time has come for the great promise made to Abraham to become a reality (i.e. that the gentiles would come to him).

Third, Jesus is the true Lord of the world. This is good news because of the kind of Lord that Jesus is, namely, the one who brings peace, justice, and will fill the earth with righteousness. Now Jesus, through his Holy Spirit and by the will of the Father, is calling people to allegiance to himself.

These are the central beliefs of the Christian faith that can cause a person to be transformed into the image of Christ. As the church prayerfully mediates on these doctrines then the world will see what it looks like when people have their sins forgiven and are subject to the rule of the world's true Lord. This is what happens when Jesus becomes King.

The Kingdom: N.T. Wright on Building for God's Kingdom

2009-05-07T10:27:00.003-04:00

We are not building the kingdom by our own efforts, no. The Kingdom remains God's gift, new creation, sheer grace. But, as part of that grace already poured out in Jesus Christ and by the Spirit, we are building for the kingdom. I use the image of the eleventh-century stonemason, probably illiterate, working away on one or two blocks of stone according to the orders given to him. He isn't building the Cathedral; he is building for the Cathedral. When the master mason/architect gathers up all the small pieces of stone at which people have been working away, he will put them into the great edifice which he's had in mind all along and which he alone can build—but for which we can and must build in the present time. Note 1 Corinthians 3, the Temple-building picture, and the way it relates directly to 1 Cor 15.58: what you do in the Lord is not in vain, because of the resurrection.

I have absolutely no idea how it might be that a great symphony or painting, or the small act of love and gentleness shown to an elderly patient dying in hospital, or Wilberforce campaigning to end the slave trade, or the sudden generosity which makes a street beggar happy all day—how any or all of those find a place in God's eventual kingdom. He's the architect, not me. He has given us instructions on the little bits of stone we are meant to be carving. How he puts them together is his business.

The Kingdom: Do You Have the Spirit?

2009-05-06T13:10:00.006-04:00

Suppose you lived in a neighborhood full of single-mothers who could barely afford to purchase their children food. Or perhaps you lived in a country where children went days without a clean glass of water. How would you respond? Well you might say, “These are people who desperately need the gospel” and you would be right. All people, no matter what condition they are in, need to hear the good news that Jesus, the promised messiah and King of Israel, died for our sins and has been risen from the dead; that he now reigns from his throne and will one day return and do away with sin, evil and death forever. But what would you think of someone who said that that is the only thing they need. You would be right to say, in my estimation, that they haven’t fully understood the vocation of the messiah.

Jesus the messiah came to John the Baptist to undergo baptism. Russell D. Moore says, “Jesus is anointed through the baptism of John, pronounced the Son of God by a voice from heaven, and then, just as His father David, immediately sent in the power of the Spirit to confront the enemy of His covenant God (Mark 1:9-12; Luke 3:21-4:14; 1 Samuel 17).” Jesus received the Spirit and then went to proclaim and enact the Kingdom of God. Whenever Jesus healed a leper, healed a blind person or cast out demons he was confronting the enemy of God and bringing his kingdom to bear on the present.

After Jesus was crucified and risen Jesus told his disciples to wait for the gift of the Spirit (Acts 1:4, 5). When they received the Spirit they were given the ability to speak in tongues, prophecy, and some were given the ability to heal. These are all signs that we are living in the days of the reigning King (see Acts 2: 17-21). The church began to spread rapidly because of the gospel proclamation and the miracles that were being done in the name of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. The miracles performed were not mere magic tricks used to impress an audience. They met the physical needs of those suffering due to the fallen world in which we are living. The apostles didn’t say, “One day Jesus will come and destroy this world and make a new one so come on board so that one day you will be made well”. No, they healed them by the power of the reigning King (see Acts 3:1-10).

In his conversation with a lame man Peter says, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” (Acts 3:6). I don’t know any Christians who have the power to heal but I know plenty of Christians (and all Christians have the Spirit). This means that we, just normal Christians, can, by the power of the Spirit, bring Jesus’ lordship to bear on the present. Sadly, there are many Christians who think that we must solely focus on preaching the gospel (which is an absolute necessity if anyone is going to be saved) and wait for the consummation of the Kingdom for anything physical to happen (which in some cases is true since not all of us have the gift of healing). But the early church knew that Christ is already Lord and is working through his church.

Many of us don’t have the gift of healing. Does that mean that we’re useless? No. “What we do have we will give”. We can help purchase food for our neighbor’s children. We can build wells in the name of Jesus. And when people ask us why or by what power we do these things we can answer, “It is through the power of Jesus, the crucified, risen and reigning Messiah that we do these things; repent, therefore, for the forgiveness of sins and receive the promised gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The Library: The Kingdom of Christ

2009-05-05T13:43:00.003-04:00

"The Kingdom concept is a mystery older than the creation itself – a mystery that points to God’s cosmic purpose to sum up the entire cosmos under the rule of one human King, Jesus of Nazareth (Eph. 1:10)…Evangelical theology will remind Christians that the call to Christ is no a call ‘to go to heaven when you die’, but instead a call to be ‘joint-heirs’ (KJV) with the Messiah who will inherit an all-encompassing Kingdom… A renewed Kingdom theology can remind evangelical churches that they are the rulers of the universe – but not yet (1 Cor. 6:3). This means evangelicals can see the Kingdom of God as something more than the terminus point on the prophecy chart; something more than a crocheted sentiment hanging on the kitchen wall. It means that evangelicals can confront the Caesars of this age with a truth that once caused riots in the streets – there is ‘another king’ (Acts 17:7). It means that we can remind ourselves that the only perspective on the Kingdom of Christ that matters ultimately is quite old. And that perspective has already been addressed over the waters of the Jordan and in the caverns of a garden tomb, and will be repeated once more before a watching cosmos: ‘Jesus is Lord’ (Phil. 2:9-11)."

- Russell D. Moore, The Kingdom of Christ pp. 11-12

Twittering the Gospel

2009-05-05T09:38:00.002-04:00

Here's my shot at it:

Jesus, the Messiah and true King promised in the Scriptures, died for our sins and, being raised up by God, has been appointed Lord of all.

Destroying Idols

2009-04-22T10:17:00.002-04:00

I am at the Gospel Coalition this week and have been having a great time. Yesterday there was a great line up of speakers and we were greatly fed. The conference started off with Tim Keller speaking on confronting and destroying the idols of our culture.

A reason that many people have false conversions is because their idols were not confronted. The apostle Paul would go into the places of influence and confront their idols and seek to destroy them. This is so important because every culture looks to something to rescue it whether it be money, morality or human reason. If it is not dominated by the glory of God then it is dominated by the worship of some sort of idols(s). Jesus Christ faced opposition, just as the apostle Paul would later, when he confronted the idols. In fact, all the idol worshippers came against Jesus and crucified him. Every single human being is guilty of idol worship and needs the atonement of Jesus so that they can rightly worship the one and true God.

That is just a little taste but I highly recommend listening to this entire message online.

I Believe in the Faithfulness of Christ Pt. 2

2009-04-20T18:13:00.002-04:00

Last week I suggested that a valid interpretation of the phrase ‘pistis Christou’ is to read it as ‘the faithfulness of Christ’; in fact, I believe that this is the correct translation based on the context in which the phrase is found in the Scriptures. Now I want to suggest a couple benefits of this reading:

1) Although some fear that this reading is a threat to the doctrine of justification I would say that it actually reinforces what is sometimes referred to as ‘imputation’. When the Bible refers to the faithfulness of Jesus it does not speak of a ‘treasury of merit’ that is then placed into our account that God looks at and is satisfied. Rather, it refers to Jesus’ absolute obedience to the Father culminating in the cross. Whereas Adam, the original representative of the human race, failed Christ remained obedient. Likewise, whereas Israel failed to trust in God and worship him alone Jesus remained completely faithful to him in the wilderness. Jesus is God’s unique son and he joyfully submitted himself to his Father’s will, even when that meant that the nations would rise against him and crucify him like a criminal. Since Jesus is the Messiah, the true king of the world, he is the representative of all those who believe in him. Those who confess that Jesus is Lord are in Christ so that what is true of him is true of them. Even though we are sinner’s deserving of God’s holy wrath Jesus is the representative of every Christian so God can look at us and declare “Righteous!” He is our faithful Messiah. Christians are righteous because they are incorporated into Christ and all Jesus’ obedience is seen as being true for them; this is true of Jesus faithfulness to the Father in his earthly life, his death and his resurrection where God vindicated him.

2) The other day I was listening to a discussion concerning Tom Wright’s response to John Piper’s book. The panelist’s were Thomas Schreiner, Brian Vickers and Mark Seifrid. One of the issues that was addressed was Wright’s view that present justification is based on faith whereas future justification is based on works. Now, it should be noted, that a fair reading of Wright does not give the idea that we in anyway contribute to our own justification. I believe that Wright is saying something to the traditional reformed view that sees works as being the evidence that one was made right with God but does using poor wording. Thomas Schreiner, who is one of my favorite theologians, made the observation that our is justification is not based on works or faith but on Jesus. Many people place a target on Wright because he says, “Justification on the last day will be based on works” but then go around saying “Justification is always based on faith”. I know what they are saying but the wording is misleading.

All that to say that translating pistis Christou as the faithfulness of Jesus can help solve this issue. Our righteousness is not based on our faith but on the faithfulness of Jesus. Here’s Phillipians 3:9 in two different translations:

“…not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness” (NET).

“…not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (NASB).

Notice that one translation says that the righteousness we receive a righteousness based on Christ’s faithfulness whereas the other one says that it is based on faith. All that this demonstrates is that translating pistis Christou is one possible way of avoiding this error and reminds us that we don’t look to ourselves in any way for our status of righteousness but look to Christ alone, the faithful man and faithful Israelite.

I Believe in the Faithfulness of Christ

2009-04-17T09:39:00.001-04:00

I believe in the faithfulness of the Messiah. I am referring to the way a particular phrase is often translated as “faith in Christ” in our modern English bibles. There is significant debate about this of which I would like to make several points.

1) Sometimes certain scholars make it seem like the translation of pistis Christou as the faithfulness of Christ is nothing more than wishful thinking. In reality this is a very natural translation of the phrase. This isn’t to say that any other translation is un-natural but those who think this is the proper translation don’t necessarily have some sort of hidden agenda. There are many other genitives in the book of Romans, for example, that we translate “of” not “in” (i.e. the faithfulness of God). The faithfulness of Christ is a very legitimate translation of pistis Christou and those of us who think so aren’t heretical weirdos with no appreciation for the Reformation.

2) It is easy to shrug something like this off thinking, “Most modern translators interpret this phrase as ‘faith in Christ’ so they’re probably right; how much do I know any way?” Though it is true that most modern translators take pistis Christou to mean faith in Christ that does not mean they’re right. There has not been unanimous agreement among translators what this phrase means in the present or in the past. Examples from Romans 3:22:

The NET Bible: “…the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe”.

KJV: “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe”.

Tyndale: “The rightewesnes no dout which is good before God cometh by ye fayth of Iesus Christ vnto all and vpon all that believe”.

Wycliffe: “And the riytwisnesse of God is bi the feith of Jhesu Crist in to alle men and on alle men that bileuen in hym”. (all emphases mine).

Now I know that most of these are translated faith of Christ not faithfulness but one thing to note is that those are the same word in Greek.

3) One big thing that determines the way things are translated is the immediate context of the passage. When Paul breaks out with his “But now” in chapter three we should look at what goes before and what comes after to see if our translation of pistis Christou makes sense in this particular context. To our surprise it makes perfect sense! Here’s what Paul says:

“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?” (Rom. 3.1-3 ESV).

Even though the Jewish people did not live up to the covenant God would remain faithful. But how would he do that? Well if we go to verse 22 and translate pistis Christou as the faithfulness of Jesus Christ then we have our answer. Jesus is the faithful Israelite! That is how God remains faithful. To translate the phrase this way makes perfect sense of the context.

Sometimes we can be scared of things we aren’t used to. That is why next week I will offer a couple reasons why we should welcome this translation with open arms. It does not minimize the doctrine of imputation, as is often thought, but rather reinforces it. It also shows us that our justification is based on Christ and not anything or anyone else.

Kirk Wellum on Propitiation

2009-04-16T12:35:00.002-04:00

Kirk Wellum, principal of Toronto Baptist Seminary, makes an interesting point about the word "propitiation" in our English bibles. You should also check out the comments on that post.

Declaration of Membership

2009-04-15T14:20:00.002-04:00

Over the past month or so I have been devotionally reading through Paul’s letter to the Romans. Two tools that have been helping me greatly are the ESV Study Bible and N.T. Wright’s little book, “Paul for Everyone”. Using these resources have been giving me a fuller idea of what Paul means when he talks about being, “Justified” or “Declared righteous in Christ.”

The ESV SB has reinforced my strong conviction that Justification is a declaration whereby God declares sinners to be in a right relationship with himself. This is crucial. The greatest gift of the gospel is God himself and justification makes a relationship with him possible. If it weren’t for this doctrine we would all be enemies of God.

Paul for Everyone has helped me to appreciate the covenantal aspects of Justification. One of the greatest ways to see this theme in Romans is to read the letter all the way through in one sitting. Paul talks a great deal about Abraham and Israel in relation to Justification and if we’re not careful these can be sidelined. But for Paul, when God called Abraham it was all about God graciously acting within creation to deal with the problem of sin. Humanity had become evil through and through but God was determined to make a new humanity through which his grace and justice would be manifest.

When Abraham trusted God, God declared him to be righteous. This means that Abraham entered into a right relationship, a covenantal relationship. His sins were forgiven and he was given the glorious promise of inheriting the land of Canaan. God gave him the sign of circumcision after he declared Abraham to be in the right as a sign of the relationship that had come into being. Romans 4.11 says, “He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.” Genesis 17.11 says, “You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.”

So Paul says that circumcision was a sign of the “righteousness he had by faith” whereas Genesis says that it is a sign of the covenant relationship. God is passionate about creating a world without sin. As N.T. Wright says, “He will put the world to rights”. The way he does this in the present is by calling wicked sinners to himself, forgiving their sins through the atoning work of Christ, declaring them righteous, and by giving them all the promises that come along with being a member of the new covenant people. There is much more that could be said. Justification is truly a glorious doctrine; it gives hope to sinner’s and displays God’s great desire to put the world to rights.

Keeping the Messiah at the Center

2009-03-25T12:32:00.000-04:00

In John Piper's book God is the Gospel he says, "The glory spoken of in 2 Corinthians 4:4 is not a vague, impersonal glory, like the glory of sunshine. It is the glory of a person. Paul speaks of 'the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.' The treasure in this text is not glory per se. It is Christ in his glory. It is the glorious Christ. He is the ultimate gift and treasure of the gospel. All other words and deeds are means to this: seeing Jesus Christ-the kind of seeing that is seeing and savoring simultaneously" (p. 65).

At the very heart of the gospel is the declaration that the Messiah is Jesus. The death of Christ accomplished what needs to be done so we can enter into the family of the Messiah and the resurrection is God's declaration of Jesus' status as God's 'anointed-one'. The point of the gospel is that we might come to Jesus and enjoy him as the crucified and risen Christ. We ought to always seek to deepen our understanding of what exactly it means that Jesus is the Messiah so that our hearts might rejoice in him for his glory and our good.

Toronto Baptist Pastor and My Spiritual Condition

2009-03-10T13:03:00.000-04:00

My family owned a Christian bookstore that was pretty much like your average Christian book shop. The first thing you saw when you walked in wasn’t anything really deep but was the usual Max Lucado coffee table book (or at least something like it). Some people get annoyed with this aspect of Christian bookstores thinking, "We need deeper theology!" but a question I’ve been thinking about is, “How annoyed should we be?”

R.G. Mitchell Family Books was the largest Christian retailer and distributor in Canada so it was quite a shock to some when it went bankrupt. If you search “Mitchell Family Books Bankruptcy” you will get a variety of responses. One that interested me was by a guy named Toronto Baptist Pastor. The author’s real name is Pastor H. Schonhaar; he is the pastor of Toronto Baptist Church, a fundamentalist KJV-only church in Toronto, Ontario. The heart of his post was that Mitchell Family Books went bankrupt because the Mitchell family is spiritually bankrupt. I thought it strange that such a judgment should be made before I even met this man but it got me thinking about something, namely, “What kinds of products should a Christian retailer be selling?”

My grandfather, Robert Gordon Mitchell, was a conservative brethren lay-man who had a passion for the written word. He loved Jesus and served him with all his energy. His desire was to get good books into the hands of Christians. 75 years later Mitchell Family Books was quite a different store. It sold more general products under the broad heading “Christian”. These products varied from paintings, music, books, bibles, and a whole lot of trinkets.

Throughout the time I worked there I got to know many of the authors and titles we sold. Some were good and some were bad, some had all truth (i.e. the Bible itself), some had no truth, and some had a good amount of truth. So what should Christian retailers sell? Should they sell only Bibles? Should they sell any books by liberal authors? Should they only sell books that are faithful (keeping in mind that no book, other than the bible, is perfect) to God’s word? Is there a difference between a ‘theological’ bookstore and a ‘Christian’ bookstore? Is Pastor H. Schonhaar right that a person is spiritually bankrupt by virtue of the books they sell? These are all questions I have been pondering.

I am more inclined to think that there is a difference between a 'theological' bookstore and a 'Christian' bookstore. The first is aimed towards academics who are looking to study whether it be liberal or conservative (like the theological bookstore at the University of Toronto). The second, on the other hand, is aimed more towards the average Christian reader. It is important for Christian bookstores to carry the truth because many new Christians will pick up anything they can get their hands on. The question that I would ask before carrying a book in a Christian bookstore is, "Is it faithful to the gospel?" Is the book faithful to the message that Jesus, the crucified and risen messiah, is the Lord of the world and through his death forgiveness is available to all people? This allows for grace in the area of deciding which books to carry.

Any thoughts?

Know Your Audience

2009-03-09T12:52:00.000-04:00

I love to preach. There aren’t very many things that get me more excited than studying the Bible and then figuring out, through the Spirit of God, how I am going to communicate my findings. Sometimes I get so excited that I just have to let it out. (I have a gracious wife who is often patient as I ramble on about the apostle Paul and the gospel that he proclaimed; but I don’t think she minds too much.)

A lesson that I have been recently learning is the importance of knowing your audience. I have had several opportunities to teach and they have all been to diverse groups of people. The grace kids that I taught for a couple years were aged 3-6, I lectured on the doctrine of justification to Grace Fellowship Church (my home) to a whole bunch of people, and my continuing ministry at the nursing home where I teach the seniors. Again and again I have to remind myself that different audiences require different methods, otherwise I may be preaching in vain.

I received some great advice from my friend, who is in his 80’s, who told me that I need to teach the seniors in a similar way as the grace kids. The folks at the nursing home aren’t just retirees, they are dying. Most of them can no longer walk and many cannot even speak. I have to keep things real simple and I can’t take anything for granted (e.g. I have to explain who Adam and Eve are).

At our church the elders often address the children during their sermons. This keeps them awake and, at least, helps them get something out of the sermon. I have put this into practice with the seniors and I’m finding that it is a very effective way of keeping people involved, both mentally and emotionally. I’m still learning but I’m always looking for ways that I could improve so that I can serve our king and his kingdom better.

P.S. I found a job…..and I am writing this on my lunch break ;-)

Jesus, the Son of God

2009-01-30T16:38:00.001-05:00

Here is the sermon I am preaching tomorrow at the nursing home. Take a look!

Jesus, the Son of God
Mark 1.9-11; 10:45

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1.9-11)

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10.45)

In life there are many important questions that we may ask ourselves. When we are younger some of us ask, “What will I do with myself or what career path will I choose?” This is an important question because depending on what we want to do with our life will determine what we will do with our time or what college/university we will attend. When we’re a little older another important question is, “Who will I marry?” For those people who want to get married this is a crucial matter. Obviously we won’t go out and marry anyone. We want to choose someone who is compatible with us, whom we love, and, in the case of a Christian, someone who loves the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps a question that older people have to deal with is, “What will happen to all my things after I die?” Some things we own are very precious to us and we want them to go to particular loved ones. This is why we have things like wills so that we can determine beforehand where our possessions will go after we die.

But although all these questions are important and necessary there is one question that rises above them all. There is one question that is most important. This question is, “Who is Jesus Christ?” This question is so important because it determines your relationship to God. Your confession of Jesus Christ will determine the outcome of your life. It is the “Sum” of your entire life.

When Jesus was on earth he did many mighty things. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and even exercised control over nature. Because of these things people asked, “Who is this man?” The Bible Says:

On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4. 35-41)

Jesus, talking with his disciples says:

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8. 27-29)

Today, in this nursing home, Jesus asks each and every one of us, “But who do you say that I am?” And that’s what I want to speak with you about. I want to look to the Bible, God’s word, and see what it says about Jesus and who he is. There are many opinions today about Jesus Christ. Some say he was a good man, an inspiring teacher or a good example. But, ultimately, all of these fall short and we must ask, “what does God have to say about Jesus?” And that’s what we will find out today.

1. Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and the world’s true King

Where can we find hope? Our world is a broken world. Wherever we look there is sickness, poverty and death. We see it on the news and we see it in our own lives. Of course, there are wonderful things in this world. Things we can enjoy and things we can love. Some of us have families who we very much get along with and love to fellowship with. But then what happens when a family member suddenly dies in a car accident or develops a drug addiction? Or what about when a family is split up because of an adulteress relationship? It forces us to confess, “There is something deeply wrong with our world.”

Or perhaps we can think of our justice system. We can give thanks to God that we have police officers to protect us and judges who can execute justice. We can feel safe in our communities, in our homes, and know that people will be punished for their crimes. But what happens when one day we look out the window and see police cars and ambulances only to find out that our neighbors’ 5 year old girl was murdered while she slept. And worse, what happens when the murderer gets away with it? Again, we must confess, “There is something deeply wrong with our world.”

In Canada we are very blessed. We have healthcare, we have a government that values equality, we can get jobs, and we can buy homes. But then what happens when we wander through the streets of Toronto and see that there are many left without homes, people who sleep out in the cold and sometimes freeze to death. There are some women who cannot feed their children so they stand on street corners and sell their bodies to make a living. Again all of these things cause us to confess, “There is something deeply wrong with our world.”

So where do we find our hope? Do we find it in our families? NO! Do we find it in our government? NO! Do we find it in our money? NO! None of these things can give us ultimate hope!

The only true hope for this world is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the Old Testament God looked on his oppressed people and promised times of blessing, time of refreshment; it would be a time when there would be a new King who would make all things right. All evil would be judged and the earth would be filled with righteousness. There would be a new earth where there would be no more pain or tears and the lion would lie down with the lamb. The King would come with his kingdom and all evil would be judged.

In our passage, Jesus comes to John the Baptist and is baptized. As he comes up from the water there is a voice heard from heaven. It is God! And he says that Jesus is his Son. In Psalm 2:7 God says to King David, “You are my Son”. This points to Jesus. Jesus is the true king. Jesus is the Messiah who would put all things right.

He is the one who gives hope of a world, a new creation, where there will be no more sin and death. No more will there be any phone calls or knocks on the door reporting that a dear family member has just died in a tragedy. The world will no longer be plagued with injustice where guilty people get away free. There will be no more oppression. There will be peace. People won’t go hungry, they won’t be homeless and they won’t freeze to death.

People were expecting a Messiah to put things right. But they didn’t expect that the Messiah would die and rise again. They didn’t think that God’s king would be hung on a cross.

2. Jesus is the King who Dies for Sinners

Jesus was a humble king. He wasn’t born in a palace but he was born in a stable that probably smelled of animal dung. People rejected him. Even his own people sought to kill him. But Jesus’ death was no accident. Although men handed him over to be crucified, it was part of God’s age old plan to rescue sinners just like you and me.

So why did Jesus die? The answer is quite simple really. Jesus came as the Messiah to put the world right and to judge all evil. But what happens when we are all sinners? What happens when we are all evil? Well the fact of the matter is that if God is going to judge all wickedness he will have to judge you and me too. We are sinner’s who have rejected God. We have chosen our own way and have gone astray. Just like God’s people were carted off to exile because of their sin, we are all sinners and are in the exile of death.

You need to hear this. Your fundamental problem is not that your neighbor is a sinner. Your fundamental problem is that you yourself are a sinner and deserve the judgment of God. But when Jesus Christ came he showed what kind of king he really was. He was a humble king who would take upon himself the punishment that we deserve. Our passage says this, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus would pay the price that our sinned deserved. He would bear God’s awful wrath so that we, sinners, could go free. Jesus died so that we could enter into the kingdom. He died so that we could come under his gracious rule and could experience life when Jesus puts all things right.

But Jesus was the King. He could not stay dead. The Bible says, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” (Acts 2.29-33). It also says, “[God promised the gospel] beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 1.1-4).”

Jesus was the suffering servant who bore our sins on the cross so that we might be forgiven. And through the resurrection of Jesus he was declared to be the true King of the entire world. He is the one who will make all things right, will take away all pain and all suffering.

Trust in him. Confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved.

New City Baptist Church and the Unexpected Messiah

2009-01-30T09:22:00.000-05:00

The church where I am a member, Grace Fellowship Church (in Toronto), is taking part in a new church plant downtown, New City Baptist Church. I was just listening to the first sermon preached at this new church and was greatly edified. Pastor John Bell presents Jesus as the unexpected messiah who dies for the sins of his people. Be in prayer for this work as there is a great need in Toronto for solid evangelical churches.

New City Baptist Church Website

Click Here to listen to the Sermon

Doing Things Well for the Kingdom of God

2009-01-29T16:48:00.000-05:00

Our Lord was not a lazy man. He was busy doing kingdom work. Sometimes things got so crazy that the crowds pressed all around him and he had to escape to a quiet place. Of course not all of us will be involved in ministries that will invite large crowds. Nevertheless, we ought to work for the kingdom with all our might.

Last night I read Don Carson’s, “Memoirs of An Ordinary Pastor” and I was greatly touched with the endurance of Tom Carson. Whatever he was doing, whether it was full-time ministry, being a civil servant, preaching, or taking care of his wife, he did it well, without complaining, except maybe about his own sinfulness. When his wife was sick he dropped mostly everything and dedicated most of his time to be there for his bride. He is an example for all husbands: “External ministry just about evaporated: Dad’s ministry was looking after Mum. And not once, not once, did any of his children hear a single note of self-pity or a muttered ‘This isn’t the woman I married’ or any such thing. We cannot recall a single time when he lost patience with her” (133).

This was true in every way he served the Lord. Yet, in my life, there have been many times that I have felt self-pity, have not done my job well or complained about my circumstances. But we ought to reflect Christ. We ought to do what God has given us to do for his Kingdom and do it well. Tom is helpful when he recounts the saying, “I am but one, but I am one; I cannot do everything, but I can do something; what I can do, I ought to do; and what I ought to do, God helping me, I will do” (143). Of course, we always need the cross and resurrection so that we remember that our acceptance with God is not to be found in ourselves but in King Jesus.

What Do You Do?

2009-01-27T16:06:00.000-05:00

So what do you do when you have a wife to support and no job? Remember that Jesus is the risen King and you have been bought with his blood.

Looking For a Job

2009-01-23T16:42:00.000-05:00

I will be taking a break from blogging as I look for a new job! See you when I see you.

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

2009-01-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was [designated] to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1.1-4).

For the apostle Paul a central facet of the gospel proclamation was the fact that through Jesus’ resurrection he was designated to be the Son of God (cf. Psalm 2.7), the world’s true Lord. For some of us we have trouble seeing what is so good about this news. Is this just the scary part of the gospel and then the good part is that we can have our sins forgiven? I don’t believe so. I think that the declaration of Jesus’ lordship and his substitutionary atonement are equally ‘gospel’! The gospel of Jesus’ lordship is good news because of the sort of king that Jesus is. He is the king that brings salvation. He is the king that rules justly. He is the king that bore the wrath of the father. Jesus’ lordship is terrifying if you reject him but when we see the kind of kingdom that Jesus’ brings it ought to make us want to ‘sell everything just to buy this treasure’. Read through Mark 5 and rejoice in the kind of King that we have as Christians. Here are some lyrics by The Welcome Wagon that can help us find great joy in the gospel of God’s Son:

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

“Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, Great David’s greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed, His reign on Earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free,
To take away transgression, and rule in equity.

He comes with succour speedy, to those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying, were precious in His sight

He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
Love, joy, and hope like flowers, spring in His path to birth;
Before Him on the mountains shall peace the herald go;
And righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow.

To Him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end;
The tide of time shall never His covenant remove;
His name shall stand forever, His name to us is Love”

Romans 1. 16, 17: The Righteousness of God

2009-01-19T09:50:00.000-05:00

The next passage in Romans that I am studying includes the controversial verses 16 and 17. Since I had some time this weekend, I wanted to do a little mini-study on these verses before I continued.

So what is the “Righteousness of God”? There are many answers to this question. Three possibilities are:

1) God’s faithfulness to his covenant (an attribute of God)
2) A gift of righteousness (a genitive of origin)
3) God’s saving activity (subjective genitive)

It is hard to make a choice because there seems to be good reasons for either one of these. One thing that we have to remember is that we must not anathematize people because they disagree with what we think it means. People can become quite passionate over this word, rightly so, but it can sometimes get ugly.

Perhaps I’m taking the easy way out but I think that when Paul speaks of ‘the righteousness of God” he has all three, or something close, in his mind. Frank Thielman says, “The most satisfying understanding of the phrase recognizes, however, that Paul uses it in more than one way”1. Doug Moo asks the question, “Do we have to choose between theology (God’s acting) and anthropology (the human being who receives) – as some have stated the dilemma? Could we not take ‘righteousness of God” here to include both God’s activity of ‘making right’ – saving, vindicating – and the status of those who are so made right, in a relational sense that bridges the divine and the human?”2.

There is good reason to think the phrase means something close to ‘God’s saving activity’. After all, it is frequently used in the OT in this way: “I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory” (Is. 46.13). In this passage “righteousness” and “salvation” seemed to be used synonymously. God’s righteous is his powerful saving activity that will be displayed when God rescues his people from sin and exile.

However, we also need to note, the context that the term is used. In Romans “God’s righteousness” stands in close proximity to the righteousness that humans receive as a gift. Paul says, “…the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5.16, 17). Moreover, in Romans 1.16, 17, the idea of the gospel revealing God’s righteousness suggests the subjective genitive whereas the quote from Habakkuk stresses that it is a status received by faith. The two go together.

Others see Paul’s use of ‘the righteousness of God’ as referring to God’s covenant faithfulness. Psalm 98 gives us insight:

“Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvellous thing! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

When God acts in salvation, or righteousness, he is being faithful to his covenant with Israel. Through the good news of Jesus’ reign and the salvation it brings God is fulfilling the promise made to Abraham, namely, that he would be the father of many nations.

In Romans 1 the stress seems to be on God’s saving activity which, as a result, reveals his covenant faithfulness. Frank Thielman says, “[God’s righteousness and salvation] reveal his faithfulness to the covenant he made with his people”3. Michael Bird expresses the same thought, “In saving Israel, God is faithful to his covenant…”4.

So in light of these insights what would be a simple definition? Our decision should take into account all three possibilities. God’s righteousness is his powerful act of salvation to bring people into a right relationship with himself which, in turn, displays that he is faithful to his covenant with his people. This act of salvation includes the gift of a new status (see Phil 3:9) so that all those in Christ can be declared ‘righteous’ by faith in the crucified and risen Lord of the world. In short, we might say that God’s righteousness is his ‘righteous-ing”.

______________________________________

1. Thielman, Frank. Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 346.
2. Moo, Douglas. J. The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 74.
3. Thielman, 346.
4. Bird, Michael. F. A Bird’s Eye View of Paul (Nottingham: IVP, 2008), 94.

R.G. Mitchell Family Books

2009-01-16T14:50:00.001-05:00

Here is a brief overview of my family's company that recently went bankrupt. Mitchell Family Books was a Christian book distributor and retail store that was in business for over 70 years. My grandfather was a godly man with a heart for Christ and his word. Perhaps, if my parents let me, I can post some of my grandfather's memoirs. He was a man who loved business, evangelism, the proclamation of God's word and, most of all, his Savior.

Douglas J. Moo on Google Books

2009-01-16T08:53:00.001-05:00

For those of you who don't know, Google Books offers great previews of a variety of books. You can actually read quite a large chunk of Douglas J. Moo's commentary on Romans. Click here.

Romans 1.8-12: Paul’s Longing

2009-01-16T08:31:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I barely commented on verse 7 in my previous post. What is interesting there is that Paul refers to the Christians as ‘beloved of God’. This was a way of referring to God’s chosen people, Israel. In light of the Christ event Paul feels quite free to speak of God’s new covenant people in the same way. I think that’s pretty interesting!

Well I’m a pretty indecisive person so I have changed my mind on the whole NET bible thing. Instead I will be using the ESV. However, later on I might go a little King James on you. I don’t know; we’ll just have to see. If you’re reading this just remember that these are my personal ‘devos’ so I won’t be dealing with everything in the text.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you- that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine (Rom. 1.8-12)

Paul is always thanking God for other Christians because of the fact…well, that they are Christians. God’s is doing his work through his gospel. As we will see in v.16, the gospel is God’s power. Through this gospel God had saved, and was saving, people from Rome and people were talking about it. Paul doesn’t just thank God for their faith when he prays but he asks God for an opportunity to see these Christians.

He wants his reader’s, for whatever reason, to know that he is very serious about this so he calls God as his witness (the God whom he serves in spreading the good news of Jesus’ reign). Paul was a missionary and he was passionate about those who had come under the lordship of Jesus. Christianity isn’t about ‘I’; it’s about Jesus and the ‘us’ that he is creating. We ought to long for the fellowship of other believer’s just as the apostle does himself. Why did Paul long to see these Christians? His desire is that he may impart to them some spiritual gift so that they might be strengthened. How would they be strengthened? By being mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. Paul probably didn’t know what sort of spiritual gift he would impart to them; he would have to wait to see what their needs were. But what we can learn from the apostle is that we ought to constantly be seeking to bless other Christians. Perhaps we can practice this exercise by choosing a particular member from our congregation, praying for them, and then telling them how you’ve been praying for them. In this way we can bless others and encourage them, just like Paul.

UPDATE:

Last night I was reading Doug Moo on Romans; in reference to the spiritual gift in this passage he comments, "...we should think...of an insight or ability, given Paul by the Spirit, that Paul hopes to 'share' with the Romans. What gift Paul may want to share with the Romans cannot be specified until he sees what their needs may be." In light of that, Tim Challies has a helpful post on spiritual gifts.

Trevin Wax on His Interview with Wright

2009-01-14T08:37:00.000-05:00

A few days ago Trevin Wax posted an interview he conducted with N.T. Wright. There is some great discussion going on over at the Kingdom People blog. Here is a comment that Trevin made in response to some questions and comments that I find helpful:

"First, responding to BJ…

Your question about Wright and Piper’s view on the “grounds for salvation” is actually not what this discussion is about. Keep in mind that Wright and Piper are using the same terms in different ways.

Wright is using the term “justification” in an ecclesiological sense. That is… he is saying that what marks us out as being part of the kingdom of God is our faith - not circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, etc. In other words, justification is concerned with “who is in the covenant.” He seeks to uphold this definition by putting passages like Ephesians 2 in context (after the “by grace you are saved through faith” section follows an extended passage on God bringing together Jew and Gentile). Also key for Wright is Galatians 2. When Paul confronts Peter, what is it over? Ecclesiology. Peter won’t sit with the Gentiles. He is waffling on “the mark” of the covenant, which is now faith in Jesus - not the Jewish Law.

So when Wright says one is justified on the Last Day by works, he is NOT saying that one is saved by works. He is not using “salvation” and “justification” as synonyms. In fact, he caught me doing this in my first interview with him (Nov. ‘07). I asked a question about justification by works, switched over to talking about salvation, and he said I was equating them… He was right. I was. But he’s not and he wants to be emphatic about that. Salvation is by grace alone.

So part of this discussion is about how to frame the doctrine of justification. Is it merely an ecclesiological doctrine (that is, it speaks to who is part of God’s people) or is it also a soteriological doctrine (that is, it solves the problem of how one gets to be part of God’s people)? Piper and many in the Reformed tradition see it as the latter. Wright and others in the Reformed tradition (including Baxter and a few others it can be argued - Michael Bird is the expert on this) see it as the former.

In answer to Tim, who wants me to peek my head up and give a verdict… I enjoy the works of Piper and Wright and have benefited greatly from both. I feel indebted to Wright for his work on the historical Jesus, which helped me to see how Jesus actually fit his historical context. I am indebted to Piper for his God-centered theology that focuses on the glory of Christ.

To see where I line up, take a look at my extensive commentary on “The Future of Justification” and also a series I did about a year ago called “New Perspective Positives,” where I demonstrate a few places that the New Perspective provides a healthy corrective to evangelical theology. I believe there are some key points made by the NP that can be incorporated into a conservative theological framework that leaves intact the traditional categories of historic Protestant theology.

Regarding the debate over justification… Think of Wright’s theology as a movie camera that focuses in on the background instead of the foreground. (You’ve seen movies or TV shows where the background is brought into focus and the foreground is fuzzy.) I think Wright is correct to see the ecclesiological ramifications of justification that are often absent from Reformed expositions. The ecclesiological question is bigger than we’ve made it out to be in the past. So in that sense, I think it is a help to look at the ecclesiological background.

But when we take Wright’s approach, the foreground gets fuzzy. The foreground is the soteriological dimension of justification that (agreeing with Piper) I believe is part of Paul’s view. In other words, Wright is helpful in focusing our attention on the ecclesiological dimension of justification and unhelpful in that he too often reduces it to that dimension alone.

But let me again say… I enjoy the works of both these men. And though I would be more aligned with Piper on the issue of justification, I would actually be more aligned with Wright & Goldsworthy (and others) on Paul’s definition of “the gospel.” So… I’m one of these guys who is grateful for the opportunity to read and learn from both these men.

Wright is not as dangerous as Piper makes him out to be; Piper is not as bad as Wright makes him out to be. Once you keep that in mind, you can read both these guys and appreciate their collective strengths and weaknesses.

That’s my two cents."

An Appreciation and Criticism of the “New” Reformers

2009-01-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

1) A Stress on the Importance of Penal Substitution

Man is guilty. God is holy. Jesus lived a perfect life. Jesus died in the place of sinners, bearing the wrath of God. Although this isn’t all that the Bible has to say about the work of Christ it is central to what Jesus accomplished on the cross. In fact, the early church saw Jesus’ substitutionary death as an important facet in the gospel they preached. Paul said that the fact that Christ died for our sins was a matter of first importance. Certainly substitution is in view in that passage. For Paul, along with the ‘New Reformers’, penal substitution was an integral part of the gospel he preached.

2) An Emphasis on Systematic Theology and Practical Living

I went to a reformed seminary where there was a heavy emphasis on systematic theology. I remember one day during a book sale a group of students rushed over to the systematic theology section in hopes of some good finds. There are ups and downs to systematic theology. A particularly beneficial ‘up’ is that is helps us understand what the bible says about a given topic and allows Christian’s to apply biblical truths to their lives. In the new reformed camp there is a heavy emphasis on practical theology (i.e. C.J. Mahaney, John Piper, Joshua Harries, etc.). True Christian living is grounded in the truth of God (i.e. because this is true, do this).

3) An Appreciation for History

One of the greatest gifts the ‘reformed’ tradition has given us is its stress on church history. There is a mark of humility in their willingness to look to those who have gone before them; they use men and women from years past to teach them how to live for Christ and gain insight into the written word of God.

4) The Importance of Heart Religion

John Piper, perhaps more than any of the reformers, shows from God’s word that the triune God doesn’t just want us to perform our ‘duty’. Rather, he desires that we seek our true everlasting joy in the God who created us and saves us through his Son. The illustration of a man giving flowers to his wife and saying, “honey this is my duty” shows the foolishness of trying to serve God without a heart for God. Holiness is truly a matter of the heart.

5) Delight in the Sovereignty of God

Many people find the doctrine of election offensive. But reformers truly delight in the grace of God in drawing dead sinners to himself and redeeming them from the slavery of sin. In eternity past each individual Christian was chosen by God out of his sheer grace, not based on anything they have done. The God of grace simply loves sinners and awakens them from their dead state. Why? Because he loved them.

6) The Importance of Justification by Faith

How are sinners made right with God? By Works? No. They are made right with God through their faith in Jesus Christ. In reformed theology the doctrine of Justification is seen to be central to the theology of the apostle Paul. Because of what Christ did we can have everlasting fellowship with God. We no longer need to fear judgment because there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God looks at all those who have placed their faith in Jesus and declares, “Righteous!”

There are many more positive things that could be said about the ‘new’ reformers; however, there are some criticisms that should be raised.

1) Incomplete Gospel

This is one of my serious concerns for the Reformed tradition. While they rightly stress the fact that a gospel preached that excludes the death of Jesus on behalf of our sins is incomplete they tend to error in that they don’t emphasize the Resurrection of Christ and the Lordship of Christ as much. They are good at looking to 1 Corinthians 15. 1-3 but sometimes fail to emphasize Romans 1.1-4. I’m not saying that they don’t emphasize this at all. But it seems to me that their Gospel tends to be a statement of the doctrine of penal substitution. “God is Holy. Man is a sinner. Jesus lived a perfect life. Jesus died for our sins so that we could be forgiven. Jesus rose from the dead.” However, one is hard pressed to find the gospel laid out this way in the bible. Penal substitution is central to the gospel but it is not the sum of the gospel. The gospel is about the fact that although Jesus was killed on a cross God raised him to life; he has been designated as the Messiah (or the true Lord of the world). By believing in this Jesus we can have forgiveness of our sins. This too needs unpacking but both the resurrection and death of Christ need to be stressed. The Gospel is a statement about Christ and what he has accomplished. These things also need to be seen in the context of God’s relationship to Israel. Too often the gospel begins at Eden and then skips ahead to the cross. However, a significant portion of the bible is written about God’s chosen people. Although it may seem tough we need to get serious about the fact that what Jesus did was the climax of Israel’s history. People like N.T. Wright make a similar error; however, he has it the other way around. He stresses cosmic facet of the gospel (i.e. Christ’s lordship) but de-emphasizes the forgiveness of sins as part of the proclamation. This is how a person can appreciate both the reformation and N.T. Wright. Both have good things to say but both fall short in some respects.

2) Making Imputation the Center

Sometimes people talk as if imputation were the center of the bible. While I do passionately believe in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness (however I do prefer what Michael Bird calls ‘Incorporated Righteousness’) I don’t think that it is the center of the bible. I also believe that it can be stated in different ways (just like Michael Bird). One would be hard pressed to prove that the imputation of Christ’s moral righteousness is the central idea of the bible that the OT points forward to. The doctrine itself is not found in any single text. Some texts talk about being ‘reckoned’ righteous but this does not lay out the doctrine in its full form. In other words, nowhere in the bible does it say, “We are sinners, Jesus lived a perfect life, Jesus’ moral righteousness is imputed to us.” There are texts that come close but it is better to let the texts speak for themselves.

We constantly need to be shaping our beliefs by the word of God. There are many things that are to be learned about justification. We do know true things but we haven’t nailed it yet. We need to explore the fact that when Paul talks about justification it takes place in the context of Jew and Gentile relations. We need to avoid the idea that we have arrived and have said all there is to say about this great doctrine.

With that said Justification is incredibly important. God does declare us righteous by virtue of our union with Christ. This doesn’t happen by anything we do but by faith alone. What is true of Jesus is true of us. As important as this doctrine is, I think we can stand united with those who vary on their understanding of this doctrine. The central thing is that God declares us to be righteous by faith by virtue of our union with Christ. Some people preach a heretical justification, just like those Paul was facing off against in Galatians, but we need to be very careful in making this claim and our reasons need to be biblically grounded.

3) Skipping Over Israel

Not all of the reformers do this but there is a disturbing silence about Israel out there. As I said earlier, when presenting the story of the Bible, many just skip over Israel. However, what Jesus did is the climax of Israel’s history. Jesus is the messiah of Israel and the whole world. Even the great passage of the suffering servant is written in the context of Israel’s exile. This will help us understand why the fact that Jesus is the messiah is good news. This too needs further exploration if we are to be faithful to the biblical texts.

Romans 1.1-7: Paul, Set Apart for God’s Gospel

2009-01-13T11:33:00.000-05:00

I am going to start some personal ‘devos’ on Paul’s letter to the Romans. I thought that it would be helpful if I posted my reflections so others can help me out. I don’t plan on giving a super detailed exposition of the book, just some thoughts. This is a hard book so sometimes I will probably get bogged down. Hopefully I won’t give up. I will be mainly relying on the NET Bible for my translation. Unfortunately I don’t know Greek, as I didn’t even finish second year, so I can’t translate myself. However, I will be looking at a whole bunch of translations on my own.

Romans 1.1-7

1:1 From Paul,a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. 1:2 This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 1:3 concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh, 1:4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1:5 Through him we have received grace and our apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name. 1:6 You also are among them, called to belong to Jesus Christ. 1:7 To all those loved by God in Rome, called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

This letter is from the apostle Paul. He says that he is a ‘slave’ of Christ Jesus, that he is called to be an apostle, and that God has set him apart for the gospel. Paul was a zealous Jew before he was saved; he persecuted Christians and thought that by doing so he was doing God’s will. But the risen Christ revealed himself to this Jew and the man was never the same. Jesus enlisted him into the ‘army of apostles’ in order to preach that Jesus was the world’s true Lord.

Here Paul set’s forth the gospel he preaches. In this passage, but not in all, he focuses mainly on Christology, or the identity of Christ. This gospel reaches back into the promises that were made to Israel, God’s special people. As such Paul’s gospel is not abandoning Judaism but actually fulfills God’s purposes for his people.

Simply put, the gospel is about Jesus. Jesus is God’s son who is a human descendant of King David. This is important. It isn’t simply saying that Paul emphasizes Jesus’ humanity and then uses the term ‘Son of God’ to emphasize his divinity. Rather, Jesus is the true King that was promised: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7.12, 13 ESV).

When Jesus was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit, he was designated as the Son of God. Not that he wasn’t God’s son before (see Douglas J. Moo’s commentary on Romans) but he is now the crucified, risen and reigning Messiah.

I asked my wife one day, as she was a classical studies major, what would the Romans think if Paul was telling them that Jesus was the true ‘Son of God’ and that he was ‘Lord’? These were titles that were given to Caesar. So they would have instantly thought, “Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not!” Jesus, the world’s rightful Lord, is taking the world back for himself. He was doing this by sending apostles out to announce the good news. When a person becomes a Christian they come under the gracious rule of the crucified, risen and reigning Messiah. They have pledged their allegiance to the true Lord of the world, Jesus Christ.