Like A Bell

Thinking is a tool for faith. It is not against faith.

2011-06-29T09:39:00.000-04:00

It is often said that faith and reason (thinking) don’t go together; that Christianity is based on faith not thinking. Those who think this way think faith and reason are opposites, contradictions, or enemies. This is not true at all. Today I was reminded of this while reading in Richard Muller’s, Post-Reformation Dogmatics vol.1, pages 401-405.

Faith can only occur in rational human beings. Faith is given by God the Spirit to creatures with minds. He gives faith to the mind as that mind is illumined, brought to an understanding of Jesus Christ through Scripture. It’s like turning the lights on in a dark room. As soon as the light is switched on, your mind begins to work. You see what is in the room; you understand where you are etc. The Spirit is the one who turns on the lights so we can see Jesus Christ as he is taught in Scripture and offered to us in the gospel. In his illumination we see, understand, believe, and think about God and all his grace. Faith happens only when people think. Conversely, true thinking and knowledge happens only where there is faith; because where there is faith there is God the Spirit who has first turned the lights on.

Thinking, according to the design of God (we were created in his image after all; and God thinks), is a tool. It serves us for God’s glory. Thinking is not the foundation of our faith, God’s revelation in Scripture and Christ has that role. Rather, thinking discerns truth and recognizes heresy. Our thinking has no authority to denounce the Trinity, or the incarnation. These teachings are incomprehensible, yet are revealed as true by God himself. Nevertheless, our thinking can identify transubstantiation and the perpetual virginity of Mary impossible because it goes against proper thinking. Faith and theology do not embrace fideism.

There is a difference between truth statements of the bible like “Jesus is Lord,” and the corresponding human explanations and ramifications of that truth. Faith says “Jesus is Lord” based on the Bible. The axioms of faith are always provided by God’s revelation in Scripture and Christ. However, the “connections or relationships between these axioms is apprehended by right reason. Reason then, does not introduce into the text of Scripture a meaning that is not present there, but rather serves faith by drawing out legitimate conclusions from the text, by making explicit those truths which are presented implicitly.” Pg., 401. Scripture always comes first. The Spirit turns the light on to that revelation so we can think properly.

So the truths of God given in Christ and Holy Scripture, though above and beyond reason, are not unreasonable or contrary to reason. Thinking is a tool given by God, empowered and illumined by him to draw the conclusions, explanations, and applications intended by Scripture. These conclusions, explanations, and applications, nevertheless, belong to faith since the subject is from God and his revelation. Faith seeks understanding.

Thinking and Theology

2011-06-23T08:56:00.001-04:00

The Christian church has talked for a long time on the use of human thinking in theology. Augustine’s great book On Christian Doctrine is one of the first books I read on this subject. It’s true, faith seeks understanding.

Here are some thoughts on the use or part human thinking (often called “reason”), has in connection with reading the bible and doing Christian theology.

First, human thinking is never above Scripture. Rather, Scripture is above our ideas. To put it another way, our thinking must be directed by Scripture if we are going to understand God Almighty correctly.

Secondly, it is a tool given by God. We think and know because we were made in his image. So as we let Scripture teach us we can make Scriptural conclusions, defend the faith as given in Scripture in dialogue and writing, and be built up in the true faith. Faith is a gift to us from God. Well, this faith fuels into flame our desire to know and understand the world and theology as God has revealed it. So by faith we seek to understand and as we understand we live more and more by faith, and as we live more and more by faith, we understand more and more, and so on. This happens until we come to the full measures of the statures of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13). The tools of thinking and faith are gifts God will give us for all eternity.

Thirdly, how is this tool of thinking helpful? One, it can be used to make the teaching of the bible clear to people. Preachers have to be “apt to teach,” so they need to think about how to make the bible understandable (Neh 8:8). Two, thinking critically helps us to understand what is bad and good theology. Remember the Berean Christians? They searched the Scriptures to see if what Paul was preaching was biblical (Acts 17:11). Three, when error comes into the church, or when the church needs to ask herself if she is biblical, thinking is involved. The church must take heed to her doctrine and approve the things that are excellent (Phil 1:10).

Romans 12 says, “Be transformed by the renewal of the mind.” God the Spirit does this transforming work and he doesn’t do it without our thinking. Thanks be to God for giving us himself and our capacity to think.

Who's kiss will we accept? Christ's or Satan's. Dostoevsky would say Christ's

2011-06-15T16:26:00.000-04:00

Here is a good post on that awsome book by Dostoevsky.

We priase God for Jesus Christ who overcame that aweful accuser, Satan.

http://centerforgospelculture.org/resources/articles/incarnation/

There is a resurrection body…how will it be raised?

2011-06-14T09:29:00.000-04:00

Last week’s post described what kind of resurrection body we will have when the resurrection happens. This post answers the question of how. How will God’s people in Christ Jesus be given a physical but glorified body? Answer: By the grace and power of God. See 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.

In this Scripture we are taught first that, resurrection, like the forgiveness of sins is of God’s free gift. We can see this grace from the time when God clothed Adam and Eve with coats of skin, and when God kept them from the tree of life by a flaming sword. God did not want them to live forever in their sinful flesh, but he would cloth them with his grace through the sacrifice of Son. This included a new body. For this reason none of God’s people cremated themselves, like the pagans did. Their bodies were always buried in faith. They believed creation would one day be renewed. The grace of resurrection is full pinnacle of this promise! Notice grace in this passage. (v.38a, 45b, 47b, 49b).

Secondly Scriptures teaches that this resurrection happens by the power of God! (v.51-57) Presently we are made of corruptible decaying material; but one day by God’s power who through the victory of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, will transform us into non-corruptible, un-decaying material and we become people who will never again feel the sting of death.

Jesus Christ overcame death’s power and sting because he grappled with the power of sin, which God’s law exposed time and time again. That is, Jesus fulfilled all the law even the law that says, “The soul that sins, shall die.” However, because he was God, this law could not condemn him. He took the law’s condemnation away from us by taking our sins on him, and the death we deserved, and defeated them at the cross and resurrection. By the power of God’s gospel comes the resurrection of our bodies.

Very few think long and hard about life after death. But the church should call people to do so. All the dead will rise, but not all will rise to a life worthy to be called life. Sinners outside Jesus Christ will spend eternity in the lake of fire with a body that will never die. But God is his great love has given sinners the gift of Christ to save us from the wrath of God. (1 Thess 5:9-10). Today is the day of salvation.

The Spirit concludes his teaching here with v.58. Because Jesus did rise from the dead, all who are in him, risen with him in union with him by faith have their sins are forgiven and will received a glorified body like his. Therefore, Christians can serve the Lord with steadfastness, immovability, and abundance.

Here I quote John Piper. He preached this many years ago. “‘Steadfast’ means steady as you move forward. Keep on going and don’t let up. Don’t be given to fits and starts. Put your hand on the plough and don’t take it off till your work is done. Steady movement forward till your work is done.

‘Immovable’ means don’t get knocked over by sudden blows. Keep your balance. Stand strong and unshaken when the rains come down and the floods come up and the winds blow and beat against your house. Be like a boulder that can’t get washed away. Be like a tree that can’t get blown down.

‘Abounding in the work of the Lord’ means do lots of it. ‘Abound in’ means ‘overflow with.’ Fill your days with things that count for Christ. Pray and dream and plan and then work, work, work while it is day.”

There is a resurrection…so what will our body be like? (Description #1)

2011-06-07T10:05:00.000-04:00

It’s been a long time since my last blog entry. I’ve been busy obviously; and with busyness come tiredness. I’ve been tired too. But thanks be to God Almighty that through the gospel of Jesus Christ I, and all the Lord’s people will receive a resurrection body like Christ’s resurrection body.

Of course many people don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, let alone the resurrection on Christ. However, as we have seen in past blogs, the Scripture in 1 Corinthians 15 makes it clear that if there is no resurrection then: 1) Christ is not raised and we are still in sin (v.12-13), 2) there is no point in believing in Jesus Christ (v.14-17) , 3) our loved ones who have died have perished permanently (v.18-23), 4) the world would not be sorted out and put right (v.24-28), and 5) the Christian life would not have any meaning (v.29-34). If there is no resurrection then Christianity is blank. However, it is not blank! In fact Christ has been raised, and at his coming all his people will be raised too as he proclaimed in v.12-34.

Well, these same people who denied the resurrection of the dead antagonistically asked two questions. (v.35). Thankfully, Paul for their benefit, and ours, was led by the Spirit to answer these questions in v.36 – 57. We will deal with the first question in this blog.

Question:

What kind of body will God’s people come with at the second coming of Christ?

Answer:

The Resurrection body. (v.36-50). Well, what will this resurrection body be like? Here are Paul’s three descriptions of the resurrection body.

One. The resurrection body comes from our normal physical body; death cannot prevent this from happening (v.36-38). Paul shows this with the illustration of the seed. In seeds we see that death is not the end of new life! Instead, out of death new life springs forth. These Corinthians experienced this when they sowed. In a few months millions of corns seeds will go into the ground…there they will rot, but from them will come new corn. Our body is a seed so to speak. Death will not thwart God’s purposes of new-life in us. God gives it a new body as he has chosen (v.37). In God’s great day…in his spring time all in Christ will raise from the ground!

Two. The resurrection body is different from the body we have today (v.39-41). The point is pretty simple. We are all used to different kinds of material. From rubber, to ice, to a star; from the fish, to the Moose, to the pork they are all different. So it is between our body now and our future resurrection body. They are different! But to what degree? Not in kind…our resurrection body will still be our body…but the difference will be in glory! (v.41-42a).

Three. The resurrection body is a body, but glorified body (v.42-50). A tulip bulb is sown in ugliness, but it comes to life in beauty. So with our bodies. Our present body is subject to decay….the resurrection body is imperishable. Our present body is in dishonour (sin affects our bodies)…the resurrection body will be raised in glory. No shame, no blindness, no ailments. Our present body is weak. We become emotionally and physically tired. But the resurrection body is raised in God’s peace and health. Our present body is physical, but the resurrection body is spiritual. (v.44).

OK, let’s talk about this last point a little. What does it mean that our body is a spiritual body? I need to alert us at this point to a heresy. Yes, there are heresies! It is the tenant that the resurrection body is not a physical body. And they get in from v.44. They think Paul is saying the R is not a physical body, but some other spiritual thing; maybe from un-invented material called mushmug!

But this is exactly what Paul is not saying. Here God’s word contrasts how the body lives in one existence and then in another. Our present body is made alive by the normal life which all humans share – the soul. Paul uses the Greek word for soul here. We all depend on the soul for our bodies to live. But the body we will be given in the resurrection will be made alive by God’s own Spirit. It will be a Spirit-made-alive body. Paul says in a simpler way in Rom 8:10-11.

Paul shows this in v.45-49, and v.51-53 with the Adam and Christ comparison. Adam whose body was made of dust had to come first, and so our bodies of dust have to come before the resurrection body. Adam passed on the soul to all mankind, so our bodies have to be made alive by soul before the resurrection body. But then God gave us Christ. He is from heaven, who is the full image of God, who makes his people of heaven because he gives us the Spirit who makes our body’s alive in the resurrection. (v.45-49).

Conclusion:

So the resurrection body will be different from our present body, but it will be a body! It will be like Jesus’ body (Phil 3:20-21). Think of the resurrection as something like a person taking off one set of clothes and putting on another, exchanging an old suit for a new tuxedo; or, even think of the body itself changing its clothes - taking off the old garments of this life (weakness, sinful desires, decay) - and putting on the new set of clothes (power, purity, and immortality and the perpetual filling of the Spirit). We won’t be tired anymore.

Our highest good is God, so let’s study theology

2011-04-19T09:18:00.000-04:00

Studying theology by reading our bibles, bible study, reading books, listening to sermons, talking with others, and partaking of the sacraments is for our ultimate good. Why, because our ultimate good is God. Polanus (1561-1610) put it clearly is this nice syllogism. You can find it in volume one of Richard Muller’s Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics page 246.

1. That which is our salvation, glory, strength, shield, and, indeed, all things whatsoever are necessary to our blessedness, that is our highest good.

2. God alone is our salvation, glory, strength, shield and all things whatsoever are necessary to our blessedness:

3. Therefore God alone is our highest good.

The blessedness of all rational creatures then, is the contemplation of and communion with God the Father, Son, and Spirit in eternity, consisting in the vision of God, conformity to God, sufficiency in God, a freedom from all evils, and a possession of all true good.

Here are some Scriptures which show this. Psalms 27:1; 28:7; 62:2,7; 3:3; 18:2; 1 Corinthians 15:28; Colossians 3:11.

Of course good works and loving our neighbour as ourselves would come under the category of true good. Being in fellowship with God, and being shaped into conformity to him involves doing the good works of God. We come into fellowship with God through the good work of his good Son, and therefore we are created in Christ for good works. Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

God gives us theology, but how do we get it?

2011-04-15T09:18:00.000-04:00

Reading in Richard Muller’s Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics I came across an excellent explanation of where theology comes from and how we get it. The short answer is God Almighty. However, a two sentence blog post is to short so here are the little-bit-longer answers.

God Almighty is the cause of our knowledge about God and his world. That is to say, by the grace of God the Father in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit’s teaching work, we come to know God. God has the perfect theology of God, “for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:10-11).

Well, how do we get this knowledge? Answer: God by his grace. This comes in basically three parts. Muller only lists two in the section I read today, but in other places he cites the third part.

Part one: “God as he wills, gives us to know the mysteries of his heavenly kingdom by means of his Holy Spirit” (Muller. vol.1, Pg.242).

Part two: “An attentive meditation on the divine Word, by the grace of the Holy Spirit’s illumination.” (Muller. Vol.1, Pg.242). Getting the knowledge of God is a supernatural blessing. God the Spirit gives it by grace as he speaks through the Scriptures which he has also given by grace.

Part three and best of all: Jesus Christ the Word of God. Through him, the eternal and immutable Word of God we come to know God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Son.

John 14:9-11 “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”

Matthew 11:27 “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Praise God Almighty. He gave us theology! We can worship him and love our fellow man because of his gift of theology.

Studying theology and glazed eyes

2011-04-06T09:15:00.000-04:00

In the monotony of everyday work people with glazed eyes sometimes ask, “Why am I doing my job?” The pastor/theologian can get to this place too. Studying the Bible and theology for the church to prepare sermons, lessons, and life can become monotonous.

In reading Richard Muller’s, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics I came across some encouraging words from Johann Alsted on what the work of theology is and some reasons for studying theology.

The scope of studying theology takes in the church and the world. Calvin laboured in Scripture, preaching and teaching so that people in the church and world might hear the gospel and be saved on that final day. Alsted put it this way, “The work of academic theology…is the activity that occupies the student in his study of divine things for the sake of teaching them to others. The scope of theological study seeks the glory of God and the eternal blessedness of the believer and, in a less ultimate sense, the perfection of the intellect, will, and speech: it is an effort of the whole person that relates directly to the conforming of that person to the image of God” (Muller, vol.1, Pg. 211).

This leads me to list Alsted’s five reasons for studying theology. I paraphrase them here.

1. Its divine origin.
2. The majesty of its arguments. It is about Christ, the wisdom of God; and how to live the life of faith in union with Christ.
3. The use and goal of the theology is eternal life and the glory of God.
4. Jesus Christ revealed the Father to us.
5. It is pure and blessed by God, for he gave us his word.

So the pastor’s work in the Scripture and theology though laborious, frustrating, and puzzling at times, is nonetheless also joyful and full of potential as Jesus Christ is displayed. The scope of studying and then teaching Christ takes in both the church and the world. The reasons for studying and teaching theology are ultimately for the glory of God, and the sinners good.

If there is no resurrection…then what? (Point #5)

2011-04-05T09:29:00.001-04:00

You might recall that old Latin hymn The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done. It’s about the resurrection. Once you sing it you realize that if there was no resurrection the Christian life would have no meaning. The second line reads,

The pow’rs of death have done their worst,
but Christ their legions hath dispersed:
let shouts of holy joy out-burst.
Alleluia.

If there was no resurrection then death is not dispersed and there is no joy in the world.

Paul in 1 Cor 15:12-34 gives us the “if there is no resurrection then…” argument. In this entry we look at v.29-34. Notice the word “otherwise” in v.29. Paul still wants us to imagine, “Just think if the resurrection was not true?” He gives two answers.

Answer one: Christian funeral practices make no sense if we don’t have the resurrection to look forward too (v.29). This verse has been foggy to the church for a long time. There is no other mention of it in the OT or NT. So what does it mean? Definitely, it something this church did, and it is clear what they did…some people were baptized on behalf of the dead.

There are two possible meanings. First, some believers had died without being baptized, so others were baptized on their behalf. Secondly, it could refer to an unbeliever(s), who after the death of relative or friend who was a Christian; decided to become a Christian so he could be with his loved one in the resurrection.

We don’t know the exact meaning, but the point is understandable. Christian funerals and what we say at them, and the hope given makes no sense if there is no resurrection! Yes, heaven is a hope for us…but not the final hope. It’s not even mentioned in this chapter. Resurrection is what Christians look forward to. In the new Creation we will be with our loved ones.

Answer two: Suffering for Jesus Christ, and even being martyred for him makes no sense if there is no resurrection (v.30-33). Paul is speaking of the dangers he went through. He lived in danger very often. He died daily to his needs. He even endured physical abuse.

Why endure hostility and risk your life for the sake of the gospel if Christ is not risen? There is no gain, because God has gained nothing if there is no resurrection! If there is no resurrection we suffer for the gospel’s sake for nothing. If there is no resurrection, “Give up on Jesus, and then live it up for tomorrow we die.”

But as Paul intimates, this is completely deceptive, and we are commanded to not believe the lie that there is no resurrection, and watch out for those who deny it. Notice v.33. Quoting a phrase from Menander, Paul applies it to the church. He says in essence, “Bad company, like those who deny the resurrection of the dead, will only have a corrupting influence on the godliness God has worked in you! People want to seek the good life, so they don’t want to suffer.”

But Christian’s have a different mind-set. Realizing the glorious resurrection of the dead is yet to come, we are willing to give our lives for others for the sake of Christ. Yes, death is still alien, and we know its pain, but in Christ we don’t fear it…so we can give ourselves for the gospel. A Christian can risk his or her life because; his or her life is not at risk. Life after life after death ahead!

If there is no resurrection…then what? (Point #4)

2011-03-22T10:06:00.000-04:00

I read a funny comic strip a few weeks ago. Two people with suit and tie, and tote bag were going door to door proselytizing Jehovah Witness style. They were at a door and the owner was looking at the pamphlet. He says, “This is blank!” The two guys respond, “We’re atheists.”

Some in the Corinthian church believed and promoted the error that there is no resurrection of the dead! So from v.12-34, to show exactly how wrong this error is, Paul uses the, “If it is not true, then…, argument. If there is not resurrection of the dead then Christianity is blank like that pamphlet; it is nothing and there is no God.

Well, from v.24 to 28, Paul shows that if there is no resurrection then the world will not be sorted out and put right. The resurrection of Jesus was the time when God took this messed up world and put it back to order! Notice how the Bible explains this.

Point One: One human messed up the world, one human will put it right. The first Adam brought death to man & God’s creation. In passages like Romans 8, Gen 3, and also Job we learn creation is subjected to frustration and groans under the curse of sin. But here Paul’s focus is on the death Adam brought onto man. By his rebellion against God he sullied our world with death through sin. Notice v.20a, & v.22a. Paul said the same thing in Rom 5.

Adam’s sin brought us spiritual death. Separation from God’s person, his will, and his good purpose for us. Adam’s sin brought physical death too. Now we have to face what hurts us the most; life being taken away from us. This all came to us through Adam’s sin.

But there was another man! The last Adam, he gets us out of this mess. Notice v.21b, v.22b, v.45, and Rom 5:15,18-19. God gave the job to put sinners right to this man! Through him, God, as it were to the problem by the scruff of the neck and set sinners right again! How?

Jesus took death upon him on our behalf and went to battle with it on our behalf – and won! This means as our sin & death was imputed to him, so now his life is imputed to us also…so we are guaranteed to have a resurrection like his. This is why Paul says, Christ is the firstfruits!. This means Jesus is the pioneer to go into resurrection territory where no man has ever gone before – and he takes his children along! Notice v.22-23. All who belong to Christ shall be made alive! First, it was Christ; one day it will be all who belong to him. Of course, this “putting the world & sinners right” has only started it is not finished yet. Be completed at Christ’s 2nd coming - but it has started. This brings me to point two.

Point Two: Through the resurrection of Christ God the Father becomes King of the world (v.24-28). These verses describe God’s final putting-the-world-perfectly right. It describes the work of Jesus, the role of God the Father, and how this world will function forever. It’s about the coming Kingdom of God!

The Jews believed that God’s kingdom would come; but they did not agree on how it would come. Well, the church now knew! Jesus brought the kingdom and by his life, death & especially here, the resurrection! The surprise in God’s plan was that before God’s people would rise at the end of history, one person would first be raised in the middle of history. And this meant God’s order for saving the world was in two phases!

Phase one: The resurrected Jesus is now reigning. (v.25, 26, 27.)

Phase two: God the Father will be all in all (v.24,27-28). Christ victory (phase one) is guaranteed (v.25, 27a). This is why phase two will come. At the last day, the Son of God will, in the final putting-the-world-right, place all things under the order of the Father…that God may be all in all. Is Jesus less than the Father, or the Spirit? No! They are co-equal. The Father is the one from whom all things come, the Son and Spirit are the ones through whom all things come (1 Cor 8:6). There is order in God.

As God Almighty puts the world in its proper order; part of that order, which has been the order eternally in God, is that Jesus will be forever the Father’s true Son…doing all things that please him, handing all things over to him, and always being in subjection to him as God the Son. So in phase two God the Father will reign eternally, and God the Son will be the obedient Son eternally, and God the Spirit will bind them together eternally, and so God will be all in all!

One man messed things up, but another man came to put things right. Death is being reversed, being undone, losing its corrupting power; and this means sin is being conquered! That’s good news! And what’s more at the 2nd coming the living Lord will give all things to the Father and God’s final redemption and justice will happen. But if there is no resurrection…?

If there is no resurrection…then what? (Point #3)

2011-03-08T14:36:00.001-05:00

My study on the resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15 continues after a two week pause. Not that I have not been thinking about the resurrection, I have. It’s just that I have been busy, but busy in a world where the resurrection has happened. That is encouraging.

By the way, before I go to my point today let me point out that Fyodor Dostoevsky’s masterpiece of a novel, The Brothers Karamazov ends with the good news of the resurrection. The speech at the stone given to the boys of the Russian village by Alyosha concludes with Alyosha’s affirmation, “Certainly we shall all rise again, certainly we shall see each other and shall tell each other with joy and gladness all that has happened!” “Ah, how splendid it will be!” shouted one of the boys. It the midst of all the sin and injustice in the novel, Dostoevsky gives the answer of God…resurrection.

Anyway, to our study. We are looking at 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 where Paul asserts the certainty of the resurrection by showing the absurdity of everything if there was not resurrection. We have covered his first two points. If the dead are not raised then Christ is not raised and therefore we are still in sin. And two, if the dead are not raised then our loved ones who have died have perished permanently.

Here is Paul’s third point. If the dead are not raised then there is no point in believing in Jesus (v.19). If there is no resurrection Paul was misrepresenting God. Ministers do the same if they preach the resurrection. There is no point in preaching Jesus if Jesus is still dead. But also, for us, there in no point in believing in him. If all he was a good guru, a good teacher, and even a great miracle worker, but stayed dead when the Romans killed him…our faith is empty and our religion really is a crutch…and people should feel sorry for us. If the dead are not raised and Jesus is not raised then Albert Schweitzer was right.

As N.T. Wright put it… “If there is no resurrection, what’s the point of being a Christian in the first place? Hated, reviled, persecuted, struggling with sin – if this is all there, surely it would be better to throw in the towel, to admit that another philosophy of life can make life easier.” If Jesus did not rise from the dead but still has our sins, if he is the Son of God but stayed dead and did not destroy sin and death, if his atoning death was not sufficient and all we have to believe in is a Messiah who died we have not hope at all! There is no point in this!

But…v.20, “Christ has in fact been raised from the dead.” Robert Chandlish: “Therefore, we as well as those who have fallen asleep in Jesus have a hope that neither death nor sin can touch. Christian’s who fall asleep before the great day of resurrection are alive and forgiven now. We also, believing, are not in our sins.”

Church dogmatics follow the leader.

2011-02-22T15:58:00.002-05:00

My last blog on church dogmatics answered the question, “What is church dogmatics?” In this entry I’ll further seek to answer what church dogmatics is by listing a few of its characteristics? Our young daughter describes our dog by its characteristics. We might “get” church dogmatics better by seeing its characteristics.

The list below is taken from Bavink’s, Reformed Dogmatics: Prolegomena. Prolegomena is a pretty big word, huh? Runners have a pep talk from their couch before a race. They tell the runner how to pace himself, what the goal is, how he will win, etc. The couch gives him a prolegomena. A prolegomena is a sort of pep talk. In church dogmatics there is always a pep talk before you get into the heavy stuff. This pep talk tells the reader how we can know God, what our goals are in knowing him, and where we find the knowledge of God.

Enough said of prolegomena, what are the characteristics of church dogmatics?

1. The Bible is the foundation, because the church is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, whom the apostles and prophets proclaim. The NT church showed that all Jesus did, taught and accomplished was in accordance to the OT Scripture. Then the Spirit inspired the apostles to write the NT which became the tradition of the church. These Scriptures were and still are the foundation of all church theology, because they take us to the foundation of the church, Jesus Christ.

2. Church dogmatics act as go-between to faith and its true object: God in his living self revelation in Jesus Christ. The church doesn’t do dogmatics; at least it shouldn’t, so people can believe in dogmatics. It does dogmatics so people can believe in Jesus Christ. It serves preaching.

3. Church dogmatics does not have its own authority for its own sake. Its authority rests completely on the authority of God and can appeal to a “Yes, God hath said.”

4. Meteorologists describe the weather, church dogmatics describe the deeds of God “done for, to, and in human beings.” (Pg, 58).

5. Dogmatics serve ethics too. Why, because part of dogmatics is describing how the gospel changes human beings. The Bible describes what human beings are and do for God now; how with everything the are and have, with intellect and will and all their strength, they devote themselves to God out of gratitude and love. Dogmatics is the system of the knowledge of God; ethics is that of the service of God. The two disciplines far from facing each other as two independent entities, together form a single system.” (Pg, 58).

6. Church dogmatics seeks to think God’s thoughts after him. It tries to live out the childhood game “follow the leader,” in connection with God’s thinking about creation, salvation, and sanctification. It then attempts to describe God’s way and life, and proclaim it to the church. From this attempt and work comes church confessions and creeds. More on that next time.

If there is no resurrection…then what? (Point #2)

2011-02-17T09:26:00.001-05:00

This blog entry continues the study on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. The last entry covered verses 12 to 17, where the point is made that if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not raised and we are yet in our sins. Thanks be to God the dead do rise as we see in Jesus; so there is the truth of the gospel in our world.

Today we look at verse 18 and 19. If the dead do not rise then, “those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (ESV). In other words if the dead are not raised then our loved ones who have died in the Lord have perished permanently.

The word “perish” describing what happened to the loved ones means “destroyed,” “abolished.” What he means is they are annihilated, and will never have life again!

If the dead are not raised then they are still in their sins, they have no hope of life after life after death, and there is no future for them of any kind…they perish along with the rest of mankind! To deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny our past (Christ died for our sins), deny our present (we live in him), and it is to deny our whole future.

If the resurrection were not true we would suffer miserably at losing a loved one. But because there is the hope of the resurrection when we are about to lose a Christian loved one we, like Robert Rayburn said, “can take his or her hand, and in the midst of that heartbreak and that desolation and through the tears of love, we smile, we really smile, inside as well as out, and say with absolute conviction, ‘We shall meet again in heaven and the resurrection’ And, then later, when the pain of the separation is still felt, we say to ourselves: It is only till the resurrection.”

But hearing the news that Jesus Christ did not rise and we will not raise either. Surely, that would make us the most pitiable of men and women.

Church dogmatics lay out God’s treasures.

2011-02-14T16:22:00.000-05:00

Dr. Suess once wrote, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you'll go.” How about relating this to church dogmatics? We could say, “The more church dogmatics you understand, the more you will know and love God. The more you know and love God, the more God will spread his glory through you.” Of course understanding church dogmatics in a way that leads you knowing and loving God is a work of God’s Spirit in us; and praise God he does this work. Also, praise God there is such a thing as church dogmatics!

Let’s begin by asking what are church dogmatics? Nope, this is not a new question. From Origen (185-254 a.d.) to today millions of paragraphs have been written to answer this question. Oh, by the way, the answers have been excellent and very helpful. Thank the Lord for the wonderful teachers he has given to the church. Of course people like Immanuel Kant, Adolph Harnack, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Rudolph Bultmann, and other German guys said we couldn’t really answer this question. Why did these people say no? Simply, because they did not believe Scripture set forth the true knowledge of God. They said Christian truth is a human invention, an act of the human will, a human experience, not truth given by God himself to reveal the truth about himself. This brings me to again, in hopefully understandable terms define what dogmatics is.

When you read a book on church dogmatics you are reading a book which has put what the Bible says about God, sin, salvation, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and other Christian topics, in an orderly way. The Bible has information about these subjects throughout its pages. Dogmatics studies the passages and puts the information together in an orderly way, and then declares… “God’s Word teaches that…”

One of the best books on church dogmatics is Herman Bavink’s, Reformed Dogmatics. A new edition of this great work was put out in 2003 by Baker Books. Bavink said, “Dogmatics is the laying out of the treasures of Sacred Scripture, a commitment to the standard of teaching [for the church, the Holy Bible], so that in it [dogmatics] we possess a form and image of the heavenly doctrine.” Herman Bavink, Reformed Dogmatics vol.1. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic), 55.

We will explore the features and task of dogmatics next time.

If there is no resurrection...then what? (Point #1)

2011-02-10T12:28:00.000-05:00

Imagine a world where there is no forgiveness from God! This is the kind of world our world would be if there is no resurrection of the dead. If there is not resurrection of the dead, then Jesus did not raise, and we are still without forgiveness from God.

Scripture makes this point in 1 Corinthians 15:12-17.

To deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny the resurrection of the one who makes any and all resurrections possible…Jesus Christ. Notice the horror to sinners if Christ was not raised from the dead. If Christ is not raised we are in our sins still. But why? Three reasons…

Reason one.
If Christ is not raised we are still in our sins because Christ is still in your sins. Remember on the cross he became sin for us who knew no sin. There on the cross Jesus was in your sins as Robert Chandlish said. “They were on him, about him, before him; they were his. He owned them and felt them to be his.” Remember Psalm 40:12, “For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.” He himself bore our sins on the tree. He made his soul an offering for our sin.

Also, he was in your sins when he was buried. But did Jesus not say “It is finished…the sacrifice for sin is finished!” Yes, but there was that Saturday when Jesus’ body was still suffering the result of sin…death…separation of soul and body. Oh his soul went immediately into paradise into the Father’s presence for at death he said, “Into your hand’s I commend my Spirit.” The bitter cup was over. Yet, there was his body. It was cared for, perfumed, and it was no longer shamed; it even went into a new tomb. But still the separation was there. In a very true sense the body of Jesus in the tomb was still bearing the doom of our sin. Yet it was God’s will to redeem body and soul…but if he is not raised!?

This is my point here. Faith unites us to Christ Jesus. By faith we are one with him so that whatever his condition is, that is our condition too. Well, if Christ did not rise from the dead but is still in our sins, so we too are still in our sins. If we believe in a dead Christ we are not forgiven!

Reason two.
If Christ is not raised we are still in our sins because death’s power has not been broken. If Jesus has been raised, death’s power and fear over us has been broken. (1 Cor 15:26). This death has always come because of sin. Well, if this death has been destroyed, that means sin has been defeated too! If Christ did rise from the dead, God’s will to destroy sin by his Son has been accomplished! However, if he wasn’t raised from the dead, he wasn’t God’s Son, he wasn’t God, and death’s power and sin is not defeated.

Reason three.
If Christ is not raised we are still in our sins because then we are not justified. Read Romans 4:23-25. Jesus was raised so that we may be put right with God. The Lord’s resurrection, after his death on the cross, completed our redemption and vindicated Christ’s work of satisfying the wrath of God for our sin. The resurrection guaranteed that the benefits of the cross would be available. J. Murray: “If Jesus had not risen to life again, it could only have been because his sacrifice was not accepted, the price he paid was not sufficient, and we, therefore, remained in our sins!” When Jesus died for our sins, a full and sufficient payment was made for our forgiveness and justification. It was a perfect work!

Well, to leave Jesus in the grave would have been unjust, since he had so fully paid for our sin. So God raised him from the dead to vindicate the perfection of Christ and his atonement, and then in his grace God gave us Christ’s righteousness. But if Christ was not raised from the dead, it’s because it was not good enough and we are still in our sins.

Pretty horrible, hu? If there is no physical bodily resurrection there is no Christianity. But I don’t leave you on this note. 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.”

A study of 1 Corinthians 15. Resurrection a historical event.

2011-02-09T09:19:00.002-05:00

1 Corinthians 15 has been occupying my mind for 4 weeks. I just finished preaching through it at our church. The more our faith and understanding grips the truth and gigantic blessing of the resurrection, the more hope and holiness permeates our lives. John Calvin wrote in his Institutes, 3.10.5, “Let us consider this settled, that no one has made progress in the school of Christ who does not joyfully await the day of death and final resurrection.”

For the next 4 or 5 posts I will give some thoughts on the resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15.

We start with some thoughts on the message of v.1 to v.11. The resurrection is a historical event. Jesus really did come into the world and we really did see his glory. Angels really did announce his coming on one particular night outside of the Judean village of Bethlehem. Wise men really did come from the East, Herod, really did try to kill the Christ child, his parents really did have to flee to Egypt, there really is an empty tomb, Jesus really did rise from the dead according to the Scriptures, and the resurrected Jesus was really seen by over 500 witnesses. All these these things happened by God’s will in God’s world!

The preaching of this gospel that Christ died and is risen again from the dead calls people to faith and repentance, and brings them to faith and repentance. God’s work in history saves sinners. R. Rayburn wrote, “What changes people's lives today, what sets men and women free from sin and guilt, what delivers them from the falsehoods that otherwise capture and oppress the human mind and heart, is not an idea, but a person, a person who was born, who lived, who died, who rose again, who ascended to heaven before the very eyes of his enemies and his friends and followers. We do not ask people to believe an idea, but to confess and trust and love a person, a person whose deeds are recorded in history.”

John Updike in his poem On the Resurrection has this stanza,
Make no mistake: if He rose at all it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
The church has not fallen.

A missionary in Turkey attempt top bring the truth of the resurrection of Christ to Muslims. He said: "I am traveling, and have reached a place where the road branches off in two ways; I look for a guide, and find two men: one dead, and the other alive. Which of the two must I ask for direction, the dead or the living?" "Oh, the living," cried the people. "Then," said the missionary, "why send me to Mohammed, who is dead, instead of to Christ, who is alive!

Great music with reformend theology

2011-02-01T13:57:00.000-05:00

Two of my friends, Maartin Kenter and Pastor Scott Wilkenson just released their long awaited music CD.

They call themselves the Regenerates. Nice name I thought.

The CD is great on two accounts. One, the music is good. Scott's guitar playing and Maarten’s singing are well done; Two, the lyrics, and the stories and theology they tell is solid. They even sing a song about predestination! When was the last time you heard someone sing about predestination?

My favorite song is "Covenant Girl." Actually, our whole family loves it...especially my son Matthew who has just started courting a girl and went through the steps the song lays out. Here are the lyrics...

Covenant Girl

I've had my eye on you, your inner beauty shines likes beam of light
Could this be really true, the one I've prayed for, am I your Mr. Right?
And so I ponder, in my heart, my head caught up in the clouds

I think I know a beautiful girl, Is she the one God has for me?
Oh, yeah, I've met a covenant girl, so far I like what I can see

I know her father well, he’ll wanna make me tell him, how I’ll support a wife
He’ll wanna know what is my only comfort, both in death and life
And if he trusts me, He’ll ask his girl and see if she is agreed

I think I know a beautiful girl, she's got a walk that makes me glad,
Oh yeah, I know a covenant girl, I'm gonna go and see her dad.

*Phone Conversation*

I can't believe it's true All my fears are through, your father said OK
These months of seeing you have shown your virtue true, I love you more than I can say
So I ask you, take my hand and be my covenant wife
Here is the website. I heartily say, "check it out."

http://www.theregenerates.com/index.html

The Bible is a covenantal book

2011-01-21T10:14:00.002-05:00

This is my last post on Peter Jensen’s book The Revelation of God. The work’s strongest point is the connection between gospel and revelation. His basic point is this: God’s gospel in Christ is revelation and Scripture serves to give that revelation. The most helpful thing for me was the connection between covenant and revelation. Here are his points.

1. The fall was a rebellion against the kingdom of God; the covenant restores that kingly relationship with his people.

2. God’s covenant arrangements differed from time to time, depending on the developing state of his people. The covenant with Abraham bound a family to the Lord; the covenant through Moses bound a nation to him; the covenant with David bound a kingdom to him; the covenant through Jesus binds his people to him.

3. Well, these “covenantal people of God” have a book of the covenant (i.e Ex 24:7). The Old and New Testament are covenantal. There origin is in the Lord’s covenant with his people, and the book of the covenant (where his promises, blessings, hope, and judgements are recorded), is coterminous with the Scriptures since God carried the prophets and apostles along to record his covenantal dealings with his people.

4. The covenant origin of Scripture then reveals both the authority and the nature of Scripture. It is not a mere textbook, nor a merely a witness to the word of God. It is a witness and a description of God’s will because it is the record of God’s promises and judgement. So obviously the Bible read and preached gives both the message of grace and judgment.

5. The authority of Scripture is the personal authority of the Lord over the people whom he has saved.

6. Therefore, Scripture’s didactic function is exercised in the context of relationship with God (covenant). The authority of Scripture is the authority of the Lord, who exercises that authority first by redeeming his people and then by placing them in covenant loyalty to himself.

This truth is helpful. After all God is our Father, so when he talks to us it is because he is in relationship with us. All of the above can be found on pages 155-156.

Unity of Scripture.

2011-01-20T15:23:00.001-05:00

Great explanation on the unity of Scripture by Peter Jensen, in The Revelation of God.

"The unity of Scripture depends on its connection with God, that is, on the divine authorship....this unity is consistent with a diversity of time, place, language genre, experiences, and outlook. The biblical unity is a unity of source (in God), of function (covenantal rule), of narrative (the fulfillment of promise), and of message (the gospel of Jesus Christ)." Pg. 224.

This unity in regards to the message and purpose between the OT and the NT is superbly shown by F.F. Bruce in the fourth chapter of his, The Canon of Scripture. The chapter is aptly titled, The Old Testament Becomes a New Book. It is one the best explanations on the unity between Old and New Testaments.

Behaveing before the bible

2011-01-19T10:02:00.001-05:00

Actual words are not the things for which they stand. Yet they convey the reality of which they speak. God sanctified human language to convey his reality and the reality of his promises, warnings, and gospel etc.

In breathing out his will (and all the other things he wanted his people to know), through words through the prophets and apostles he made known to us his will in words. So what his word says he says; and this should affect how we behave toward the bible. We behave this way: we let his word judge, encourage, redeem, and direct our obedience as God himself judges, encourages, redeems, and directs our obedience. For indeed, through his breathed-out word he is doing these things even as these very words take us to Jesus Christ. In his The Revelation of God, Peter Jensen wrote this poignant paragraph about how God uses the bible in our lives.

"We must note that the role of language in the divine-human relationship brought into being through the gospel is far more integral than is allowed for in modern accounts of revelation. It simply is not possible to call the gospel, as many wish to call the Bible, a witness to revelation. The gospel is revelation, both in that it communicates truths about God, his actions and intentions, and also in that it communicates his person. For instance, it tells us that he has fixed a day on which he will judge the living and the dead. This assertion is intensely personal and self-involving. It constitutes both information and promise, and is received only by faith. It demands that we align our lives with its message. It is not in itself the day of judgment; language is not the thing for which it stands. But language can, and in this case does, convey the reality of which it speaks, so that we behave exactly as we should towards that reality (Heb 4:12-13). To this extent we are judged by the very words themselves. Likewise, we behave towards these words as we behave towards God himself. They convey his person to us, since they are to be treated as we would treat him. When we obey his word, we obey him; when we trust his word, we trust him; when we study his word, we study him; and yet he is, for his word is the appointed place of our relationship, and he is supremely faithful to it. His word communicates his self to us: 'If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you' (John 15:7)." Pg. 88

Not Another Textbook

2011-01-18T13:40:00.001-05:00

Oh no, not another textbook! Continuing on the topic of Scripture's authority Peter Jensen has a good point for evangelicals to remember. Often we think of the Bible as a textbook written about us for us that a better life or relationship might come out for us in the end; rather than as God's gift revealing his promises, Person, and truth for his glory and our good in his glory.

Yes, the Bible is for us from God. And, yes, following God's will and way as it is revealed in Scripture does help the repentant believer live a better (more godly) life. However, the Bible is for us and guides us to the good life because it takes us to God, and then to us. The Bible is about God, and it is about us and for us precisely because it is about God. God 's gift of himself in Christ and the Spirit is analogous here. God gave himself for us and to us in order to redeem and sanctify us, precisely because our redemption and sanctification are about himself. God wants us to know him and his good life for us.

Jensen puts it like this. "In its (the Bible) pages we have the self-revelation of God. Without doubt, the Bible teaches us about God. It has a key didactic function: if we are to respond to God in the area of truth, we need to be instructed in the truth. But we also need to do justice to its covenantal nature, its function of finding us and holding us for God through its promises. the promissory nature of Scripture means that it gives us information about the plans and purposes of God. The Bible is God's many-sided provision for his covenant people. The Psalms and Proverbs of the Bible, its prophetic laments, its promises and covenants, its narratives - these and its other literary forms serve to sustain and direct obedient faith."

Bible is intented to take us to Christ

2011-01-14T10:35:00.000-05:00

Bishop Peter Jensen, gave this thought on the authority of Scripture. I though it was helpful. At the back of it is the gospel.

“God has used the covenant to re-establish his rule over his people through his word. The covenant is a characteristic form of the word of God, culminating in the gospel, the word of promise and demand that centres on Jesus Christ…When we enter relationship with God on the basis of his covenant; we enter a relationship with one whose very words may be trusted completely. It means too, that the Bible functions as both gospel and covenant in that it is intended to create and sustain our relationship with the living God on the right basis, namely on our being his covenant partners, bound to him in loyalty and obedience and relating to him thought he mediator, Jesus Christ.” Peter Jensen. The Revelation of God. (Intervarsity Press, 2002). Pg, 82.

Scripture is breathed out by God

2011-01-11T22:07:00.000-05:00

2 Timothy 3:16 reads, "All Scripture is giving by inspiration of God." Donald Macleod in his work, A Faith to Live By, gave some important comments on the doctrine of inspiration of Scripture as described by Paul in this text. I've paraphrased Macleod's comments.

First, this does not mean that God breathed into the bible. It means that God breathed out the bible. Once Paul was in prison for preaching Christ. While there he wrote the Colossian letter. The letter he wrote was “breathed out by God.” We can say the same thing about Psalm 23. Now the important thing was not Paul or David, but the Scriptures! Through them God breathed out the words he wanted us to have. His message was being communicated, breathed out and written down.

Secondly, because God breathed out the bible, inspiration is completely independent of our feelings. The Bible is not inspired only when you are inspired by it. God’s word is not inspired only when you have joy, or when you are moved by it, or when it really hits home. No, even when this book, as far as our experience goes, is dry or boring to us it is still God-breathed. Yes, because of human blindness in sin we cannot understand it apart from the grace of God’s Spirit; yet it is still God’s own God-breathed book even in human darkness. And yes, there are times we really experience Christ being revealed to us in Scripture…yet before that event, and after that event the bible is still God’s written word.

A lot of weight on a word.

2011-01-06T14:35:00.002-05:00

Much has been written about the term logos and its use in connection with Christology and revelation. I read this in Peter Jensen's book. I thought it was a nice summary.

"It is understandable that logos was chosen to bear the weight that has been laid upon it in modern theology. First, it speaks immediately of revelation, of communication. Secondly, it gives Jesus Christ his due and proper place as the substance and norm of revelation. Thirdly, it enables us to see the significance of creation vis-s-vis Christ: all things were created through him. Fourthly, it relates Jesus Christ to God in a way that makes it absolutely plain that when we deal with him we deal with God himself and not some secondary deity. Fifthly, it shows from the very start that revelation is a matter of God's drawing near to us in event, not of our seeking and finding God. Finally, it provides us with a term we can use to relate revelation to that which mediates revelation, as Karl Barth did in speaking of 'the Word of God in its threefold form'" (Pg.47-48).

By God we Learn God

2011-01-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

I'm reading Peter Jensen's book, The Revelation of God. (InterVarsity Press, 2002). The work is substantial. After commenting on 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, where Paul describes the significance of the gospel, Jensen made this comment. I think it is helpful in understanding the doctrine of revelation.

"By God we learn God. The gospel is the very means by which God prosecutes his work in the world; it is the way he applies the salvation of the atoning death of Jesus to men and women. Since the gospel is about God's grace, the way to knowing God is a way of grace...It (the gospel) teaches us what revelation is and what it achieves." (Page.37)

God is Immutable: He never stops being himself

2010-05-27T15:08:00.000-04:00

God in his essence never changes. His nature and being are true, eternal, and infinite and so God is not subject to change. His name is “I am that I am.” A.W. Pink wrote: “He cannot change for the better, for he is already perfect; and being perfect, he cannot change for the worse.” To put it another way. God never stops being himself. We change, either we grow too big for our clothes, or maybe once in a while we grow too small for them, so alterations have to be made. God never changes thus he never has to alter himself. The One true eternal God has no addition, or subtraction, no decay or rejuvenation. God eternally remains the One he is…“I am that I am.”

What true religion is.

2010-05-27T09:18:00.000-04:00

I'v been reading through Richard A. Muller's great project, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics. In it he sights Johannes Marckius' defintion of religion. I think it's worth citing.

"'True religion is the right way of knowing and honoring God, for the purpose of the salvation of sinners and the glory of God'. This definition, writes Marckius, draws directly on the sequence implied in Titus 1:1-2, for true knowledge of God leads to right worship, worship to slavation, salvation to the glory of God, while the completion or fullness of God's glory in salvation produces worship and worship yields knowledge." (Muller, PRRD. vol.1. Pg. 173).

A preacher’s awesome responsibility.

2010-01-27T10:14:00.000-05:00

I was talking with a friend of mine about how little people in the church know and love the gospel of God’s grace in Christ. He mentioned the greatest confusion and worry came in understanding the relationship between law and gospel; and preachers added to the confusion.

This reminded me of a minister’s great responsibility to preach Jesus Christ in order to help God’s people know and love the gospel. I then read this excerpt from George H. Tavard’s work, The Starting Point of Calvin’s Theology. In this quote Tavard summarizes Calvin’s view of the ministry. It’s a great encouragement to press on to help God’s church mature in the knowledge of God, even the relationship between law and gospel. Now I think we should be aware Calvin does not promote the CEO, the facilitator, or the ‘be a winning leader’ model. He says be a shepherd, a father, a leader, a guardian and back it all up with a life filled with the love of the gospel. Here is the quote.

"Rather, a true bishop is a guardian of the people of God, entrusted with its care, watching over its salvation. His administration is geared to the dispensation of the divine mysteries and the building of the house of God. Since preaching is itself call 'power of God for salvation to every believer' (Rom 1:16), and 'kingdom of God' (Mt 4:17), the chief duty of bishops is to proclaim the Word of God. They must give the people 'the taste of the word of God,' not any kind of taste, but the one that the Lord wants. They have also to become the providence of the people, their voice, and 'the eyes of the church.' As 'shepherds' they must be more than 'father, president, leader, or guardian.' Or rather, 'the shepherd not only has the task of leading, ruling, and serving, but somehow also being father.' This may be summed up in three functions: 'to feed the church with the food of the word, to protect it from Satan's incursions with the resources of the word, and then through holiness of life to show the way that should be followed by those who aspire and strive after the Kingdom of God.'" G.H. Tavard, The Starting Point of Calvin's Theology. Pg, 147.

Torrance on the revelation of God. God giving himself.

2010-01-20T16:31:00.001-05:00

Since I am blogging on God's revelation I thought I would post this great thought from T.F. Torrance on the revelation of God.

“ In him, the Word of God made flesh, God brought his long historical interaction and revelatory dialogue with Israel to its consummation in revealing, not just something further about himself, but now his very Self as the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and gave specific personal content to his Name ‘I am who I am / I will be who I will be’ by identifying himself as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this final revelation of himself God proclaims himself to all mankind as the one Lord God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, who in his overflowing love will not be without us human beings but has freely come among us to be one of us and one with us in order to reconcile us to himself and to bring us into communion with himself.” Thomas F. Thorance, The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons (Edinburgh, Scotland: T&T Clark, 1996). 15.

God gives and he gives himself, Pt.3. The chosen one: Jesus Christ.

2010-01-19T09:31:00.002-05:00

This is the third post on the topic of God’s revelation. This is what we have seen so far.

First, remember, God is a giving God, but what present does he give? God gives himself in Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit. Both Jesus Christ and the bible show us this.

Secondly, to unpack the above point we read about election. God chooses people in order to reveal himself. Think of the OT stories. In all of them in one way or another we learn that God the Giver gave to give himself. He gave when he went after sinners and chose a special people he would call his own through whom he would reveal himself to the world.

Now we come to point number three and we still have to talk about election…the election not of a people, but the election of a Person. It is Jesus Christ.

In him he gave himself. He is the Word of God. He that has seen him, has seen the Father. Thinking back to the story of David and the Temple in 1 Chronicles 29 and how it connects with Jesus Christ we remember that he is the Son of David, the true Israel of God. He is the true Temple of God for he is greater than the Temple, and wiser than Solomon. The temple was destroyed and Solomon was not the eternal king, for the Lord had set up Christ Jesus his Son for this. In him the glory of God dwells. Jesus Christ brings us into fellowship with the Father and the Spirit. In him we worship God in the Spirit and in truth. And of course through Christ we are cleansed from guilt and sin, forgiven freely and made new. Jesus is the Word of God whom we are to hear and can hear by the Spirit’s work. In him we are the new Temple being built up into the dwelling place of God and so God dwells with us and we with God. God chose Christ from before the foundation of the world so he could give himself to us, and be our Savior. God the Son offered himself as our sacrifice, in the power of Spirit, according to the Father’s will. As God gave to the people so they could give to God for the building of the Temple (1 Chr 29), so God gave himself as a sacrifice for sin so he could give himself in forgiveness and love to his people. This giving of God brings us to praise him.

Here in Christ is God’s revelation of himself. “What God is toward us in Christ and the Holy Spirit he is eternally in himself.” T.F. Torrance.

God gives and he gives himself, Pt.2. The role of election in revelation.

2010-01-14T09:37:00.002-05:00

Been busy over the past week and had no time to blog. But back at it today.

Here is part 2 of my thoughts on God giving himself to us in revelation.

We have to talk about election at this point. God chooses people. You might ask what does that have to do with God’s giving of himself in revelation? Well, let me put it this way, when man rebelled against God he freely took every effort to come to us. From Seth, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob God gave himself. In revelation, in his promises, by his protection, and in his guidance God gave to them. Then think of Israel the nation. God chose them not because of anything in them, but for his names sake. He gave them Moses, through Moses his name; he gave them his presence in the tabernacle and gave them his leadership. From there he gave Israel the judges, and gave these judges his call, his power, his promise to them to do his work amongst his people. And what of Israel’s king!? God himself would give his king. Yes, the people chose Saul and God anointed him, but this Saul failed even as Judas did; yet, this failure served to show how much God needed to give his king…and he did.

In all this we learn that God the Giver gave to give himself. He gave when he went after sinners and chose a special people he would call his own through whom he would reveal himself to the world. Look at the story in 1 Chronicles 29. Here God gave to his people so that Israel could give for the building of the Temple. David and these people were part of that election. And in his grace he gave to them so they could serve him to build the Temple where God would give himself. In a true sense God giving himself is the whole story of the OT. Th2 1 Chronicles 29 account was one part, one brick in that plan.

But what plan? To give himself. He would come in the fullness of time, not in dreams, visions, or other gifts; he would come himself. He would be the chosen one who would be the very revelation of God. It was Jesus Christ.

Calvin’s Institutes: Doctrine of Justification Pt.3. “By faith not by works”

2010-01-07T14:51:00.002-05:00

Here is today’s summary.

1. Justification is by faith alone, only! Sinners are not justified by faith and works, but only by faith alone. Justification must be either by one of the other. If we are justified by works then it is not by faith. If by faith alone, then it is not by works. (Phil. 3:8-9)

2. If we achieve our own righteousness by our own works, then we must do away with God’s gift of grace in Christ because it will be of no value to us…we don’t need grace. So if God does not put us right by Christ then boasting in who we are is not excluded but rather encouraged.

3. This is completely against God’s grace. We receive righteousness from God by grace through faith alone. (Rom.3:25-27; 4:2-4; Gal 2:21) Calvin says, “Righteousness according to grace is owed to faith. Therefore it does not arise from the merit of works. Farewell, then, to the dream of those who think up a righteousness flowing together out of faith and works” (Pg., 744).

4. This grace of justification which we receive by faith alone is God freely imputing to us the righteousness of Christ. It is not an infusion of Christ’s righteousness to us, thus enabling us to co-operate with God in salvation.

5. The Bible witnesses that God the Father first purposes to embrace the sinner whom he has elected in Christ his Son. The Father then draws that sinner to his Son by the Spirit’s power giving him a sense of God’s goodness and his own sinfulness, thus despairing of his own goodness flees to Christ. “This is the experience of faith through which the sinner comes into possession of his salvation when from the teaching of the gospel he acknowledges that he has been reconciled to God: that with Christ’s righteousness interceding and forgiveness of sins accomplished he is justified” (Pg., 746).

6. Is there such a thing as law righteousness? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that the law of God is God and true and would give life if it could. However, it cannot because of human sin. That leads to the no! No, because law righteousness does not and cannot save the sinner because he cannot attain to law righteousness. We must know the distinction between the righteousness of the law and gospel; and the differences between the promises of the law and gospel.

The righteousness (being put right) that comes by the law attributes being put right to works. The promises of the law depend upon human obedience. It is different with the gospel. Being put right by the gospel means God himself puts us right by giving us the righteousness of Christ, apart form the help of works. The promises of the gospel are free and freeing, and dependent solely upon God’s mercy.

7. It is obvious from Scripture that the law is different from faith. (Rom. 10:5-6; Gal. 3:18; Hab. 2:4; Gal 3:11-12) Why? Because, works are mandatory for law righteousness, but faith righteousness demands no works, it is all of grace. Calvin writes, “Now the gospel differs from the law in that it does not link righteousness to works but lodges if solely in God’s mercy” (Pg., 748).

8. But the question arises, “What about good works?” More on that latter in Calvin, but at this juncture it should be understood that, “Moral works are also excluded from the power of justifying. Why, ‘since through the law comes the knowledge of sin’ [Rom 3:20], therefore not righteousness. Because the law does not make conscience certain, it cannot confer righteousness either. Because faith is imputed as righteousness, righteousness is therefore no the reward of works but is given unearned [Rom. 4:4-5]. Because we are justified by faith our boasting is cut off [Rom 3:27] and ‘if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.’ [Gal 3:21-22]” (Pg., 749).

9. One last thing but the most important thing is this, by faith alone means, by Jesus Christ alone!.

God gives and he gives himself, Pt.1. Introduction

2010-01-07T10:00:00.002-05:00

I’m starting a series of posts on the revelation of God, and how we can come to know him. Today is the introduction. This reminds me of the joke from Ireland. A young man asks a girl he would like to get to know, “Is this seat empty?” To which she abruptly said, “Yes, and this one will be if you sit down.” I hope this introduction will not cause you to leave your computer seat.

Our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a giving God. He gave, and his giving continues. Over and over again Scripture tells of God, his mighty works, and what he is up to as it takes place in this place where we live. In all of this, this truth comes up: God is a giving God.

But what present does he give? Here we can’t give him any ideas, or a list. We can tell idols what to give and even give him a list. People do that, which is why Santa Clause is so popular. But you can’t give God in the Highest any ideas about giving. He is free. “Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?” (Is 40:14). No, only God himself teaches us about himself as giver and what he gives.

And this really brings us to the heart of what God has shown us about himself as Giver and his gift – both in the bible, and in Jesus Christ, namely that God gives, and that he gives himself.

The Bible testifies beyond doubt that God is a God of providence for a reason. You know what providence is? Simply it means God rules, and looks after all he has made in his wisdom, goodness and sovereign will. Scripture speaks of this providence this way; he feeds the birds of the field, he clothes the flowers, he gives the sun by day the moon by night. In other words God gives himself to care for this world. He gave creation, and even though sin came into it, he was not going to let it go. So God’s providence (sovereign rule & care over this world) is here because God gave himself as this world’s creator and he is giving it to us still…sustaining it.

Now we human beings should know this from what we see around us. Take for example the snowflake. Snowflakes are all six-sided. They start as hexagonal shapes and then grow forming an infinite variety of designs to delight us. No two are alike. This should cause us to see some the awesomeness of God. But sadly in man’s sinful nature, we sinfully twist it all around to our own purposes. Like someone who steels your camera, erases all your pictures and then uses it for himself, so man in his sin steels nature for himself and erases God from the picture; and sets up evolution, freedom of choice, dictatorships, etc. Scripture shines differently. It does not try to prove God, it declares God and in God’s grace, here we see God gave creation and gives himself to care for it, because he says it’s very good.

But there is more, Jesus Christ…and actually all of God’s creation and providence serve to give us Christ. Think of a watch, the whole thing all the wheels, springs, rods, and gears are for the hands. Now think of all the stories in the bible. From Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to the exile. Think of God allowing sin in, his feeding the fish, his confusing the languages at Babel. Think even of Saul and Judas; these all served his giving purposes, the giving of his very self for us to enjoy, worship, fear, and trust. “For God so loved the world, that he gave….” And he still does that. Just think of how God gave himself for you? There on the cross…and then now in a sermon, at the sacrament, sometimes even a song, or a severe trial and God by the Spirit makes the lights go on and you see what God the Son has done for you so you can have God as your Father.

Calvin’s Institutes: Doctrine of Justification Pt.2. “Union with Christ”

2009-12-29T15:36:00.000-05:00

Through the advent, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the forgiveness of God and justification of sinners has come to those who repent and believe the gospel.

That brings me to continue my summary of Calvin’s doctrine of justification by faith. Christ was born so we would be put right with God. Amazing is it not? God himself in his self-giving in his Son put us right with him so he could be our Father.

1. Andreas Osiander (1498-1552), a German guy thought and wrote about justification, but Calvin thougth it was wrong so he took him on. Basically Osiander taught that the sinner is justified by Christ by becoming essentially one with him ontologically; having Christ’s essence mixed, co-mingled with the sinner.
Calvin defines the idea this way, “He (Osiander) pretends that we are substantially righteous in God by the infusion both of his essence and of his quality... Then he throws in a mixture of substances by which God ‘transfusing himself into us, as it were,’ makes us part of himself” (Pg., 730,731).

2. Now it is very true that the justified sinner partakes of Christ’s nature, possesses the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is a member of Christ and has Christ as his Head; in short he is in union with Christ. But a distinction must be made. By faith we receive the righteousness of Christ’s Person, not His very essence.

3. Osiander also asserted that if the sinner does not receive the essence of Christ, a sinner’s nature will remain corrupt and sinful vices will grow. Osiander was mistaken and many still are on this point. Why, by failing to realize that righteousness and sanctification are “jointly inseparable” (Pg., 732).

For Calvin, the goal of justification was sanctification. Calvin is very clear that there is no justification without sanctification. Karl Barth explains that for Calvin, "It is certainly not in virtue of our holiness that we enter into fellowship with God. We have to stand in this already if, engulfed by His holiness, we are to follow where He calls. But it belongs to His glory that this should take place, for there can be no consortium between Him and our iniquity. We cannot, therefore, glory in God without—and this is for Calvin the basic act of penitence and the new life—renouncing all self-glorying and thus beginning to live to God’s glory. Thus the righteousness of God calls for symmetry, a consensus, which must be actualized in the obedience of the believer. It calls for a confirmation of our adoption to divine sonship. For this reason the one grace of God is necessarily sanctifying grace as well." Church Dogmatics Vol.4. Pt.2. Pg 506.

Calvin when on to say too, that there is no sanctification without justification. After all as Calvin said, "Repentance cannot exist without true faith." For how can a man truly repent before God if he does not know he belongs to God, and how can he know he belongs to God until has been grasped by God's grace? “Whomever, therefore, God receives into grace, on them he at the same time bestows the spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15), by whose power he remakes them to his own image” (Pg., 732).

4. What about faith itself? Does it of itself possess the power to justify? No. Why? “For if faith justified of itself or through some intrinsic power, so to speak, as it is always weak and imperfect it would effect this only in part; thus the righteousness that conferred a fragment of salvation upon us would be defective” (Pg., 733).

5. Properly speaking it is God through Christ who justifies and faith is “a kind of vessel” (Pg., 733); the instrumental cause of justification.

6. Now about union with Jesus Christ. This justification which is wrought by God, through the Person and work of Christ brings with it a mystical union with Christ, but not a union with him in his essence. Calvin explains this union in these words. “Christ, having been made ours, makes us sharers with him in the gifts with which he has been endowed...because we put on Christ and are engrafted into his body, because he deigns to make us one with him. For this reason, we glory that we have fellowship of righteousness with him” (Pg., 737). We rejoice, not that we are him (we are not united to him in his essence), but that we are his brothers, his joint heirs, his servants, God’s sons, and part of the Temple of God in Christ.

Jesus is Lord even at Christmas.

2009-12-29T10:00:00.003-05:00

Hope all of you had a fun and refreshing time over the holidays. In talking about Christmas with my kids the big question was… “What is it? Is it a tradition about having a certain “spirit,” buying gifts and spending time with the family, or is it a Christian holiday?”

For the majority in Canada it is the former. The stores, the buyers, the gift-givers consciously refrain from speaking about the birth of Jesus, and if there is a nativity scene, or wise men and so on, it is mostly for Christmas decorations; not a symbol of the gift of Israel’s God to the world. Then there is the god many want at this time of year, namely the god of good-will, of sentimental memories where we want the Christmas spirit, as Faith Hill sings to, “never go away.” She asks, “Why have you gone away Christmas, I’m changing does that mean you’re changing too?” Add to this the other religions which also use this season as a time of celebration, and the predominance of Christ in Christmas shrinks even more. The Hindu’s have Sakranti, the Jews Hanukah, and the Muslims Al-Hijira.

Should Christians lament this? We should mournful over the sin involved, but not because somehow our concept of Christmas has been spoiled! The fact is Christians and the church too often participates gladly in the "spirit" of Christmas, the stuff, and the sentamentalism. So actually, now even in the face of Christmas we can live and speak the good news of Christ. We can say he is Lord, not the “spirit” of Christmas etc.

Instead of Christians being concerned that the Christmas holiday is going bad and getting worse we should remember and by faith declare that the birth of Jesus Christ is a great work of God which calls us to worship him.

Calvin’s Institutes: Doctrine of Justification Pt.1

2009-12-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

Chapter 11 of Book 3 starts the big section of justification by faith. It goes all the way to chapter 18. This was a big subject for Calvin, and all the Reformers. It’s still a big subject today. Just google justification by faith and you’ll step into a huge discussion. From N.T Wright to John Piper to Guy Waters to Pope Benedict XVI this issue is examined, reasserted, some would say being redefined.

I want to simply review what Calvin in his Institutes. I will make four posts on Chapter 11.

1. Justification by faith alone is the article upon which the church stands or falls and the article upon which the sinner stands or falls. This was both Luther and Calvin’s position.

2. The sinner partakes of Christ, not by any merit of his own, but by faith which is itself a gift of God’s grace. As Calvin writes, “Christ was given to us by God’s generosity, to be grasped and possessed by us in faith” (Pg., 725).

3. If the sinner is given grace to embrace Christ by faith alone, he receives a double grace, as Calvin says, “By partaking of him, we principally receive a double grace: first, that being reconciled to God through Christ’s blamelessness, we may have in heaven instead of a Judge an gracious Father…and secondly, that sanctified by Christ’s spirit we may cultivate blamelessness and purity of life” (Pg., 725).

4. To understand this doctrine, two terms must be understood.

First. What does it mean to be justified in God’s sight? Calvin gives the meaning. “He is said to be justified in God’s sight who is both reckoned righteous in God’s judgment and has been accepted on account of his righteousness” (Pg., 726). However, man is a sinner, guilty before God. God cannot accept him as righteousness simply because he is not righteous. The wrath of God is what he deserves. But if God reckons him as righteous by giving him righteousness, that sinner will stand before God, while all the others will justly fall before God. That righteousness is Christ’s righteousness imputed to the elect sinner, and is received by faith alone.

Second. Is a person justified by faith or works? It cannot be by works because a sinner cannot “meet and satisfy God’s judgment” (Pg., 726). “Justified by faith is he who, excluded from the righteousness of works, grasps the righteousness of Christ through faith, and clothed in it, appears in God’s sight not as a sinner but as a righteous man” (Pg., 726). All “in Christ.”

5. Calvin clearly sums up justification this way: “We explain justification simply as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as righteous men. And we say that it consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness” (Pg., 727). This is what the Bible teaches. (Gal. 3:8,26; Rom. 8:33-34; Ps. 32:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:18-20; Rom. 5:19; 4; 3:20-25)

6. In conclusion, “to justify means nothing else than to acquit of guilt him who was accused, as if his innocence were confirmed...he absolves us not by the confirmation of our own innocence but by the imputation of righteousness, so that we who are not righteous in ourselves may be reckoned as such in Christ” (Pg., 728).

Calvin’s Institutes: We can enjoy this life.

2009-12-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

My entry last Friday indicated I was summarizing Book 3, chapter 8. Wrong. It was chapter 9. So this summary summarizes Book 3, chapter 10 of the Institutes. Its title is, How we Must Use the Present Life and Its Helps.

Here Calvin is down to earth giving us good advice about how we can live our Christian life here and now. In the last entry I mentioned Calvin’s eschatology does not consistently lean toward the blessing and power of the resurrection and the age of the Spirit. In this chapter he is leaning more than he did in the last chapter. There is a good worldview here.

1. God’s children are pilgrims travelling to the Heavenly Kingdom (Lev. 25:23; 1 Chr 29:15; Ps. 39:13; 119:19; Heb. 11:8-10, 13-16; 13:14; 1 Peter 2:11). But another thing is certain as well. “If we must simply pass through this world, there is no doubt we ought to use its good things in so far as they help rather than hinder our course” (Pg., 719).

2. Because of the human propensity to self indulgence, we must be careful to maintain a proper balance in the use of the good things God has given. Persons can slide into the area of intemperance and covetousness, or they can slide into severe asceticism and not rejoice in those good things God has given them to enjoy.

3. Calvin says the principle to remember is “that the use of God’s gifts is not wrongly directed when it is referred to that end to which the Author himself created and destined them for us, since he created them for our good, not for our ruin. Accordingly, no one will hold to a straighter path than he who diligently looks to this end” (Pg., 720).

4. Though men and women at times overflow in asceticism, intemperance and the lust of the flesh is they easier sin to fall into. “Unless they are kept in order, they overflow without measure” (Pg., 721). No person can recognize God, and be grateful to him, if his mind is filled with the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Remember Paul’s verse in Rom. 13:14; “if we yield too much to these (desires), they boil up without measure or control” (Pg., 722).

Here the medieval mysticism and devotio mederna come out again. Self-discipline was the key to a godly life. Obviously, there is some truth to this. Proverbs makes it clear that a man who can control himself is better than a general with all the tactical acumen and strength who can take a city (Prov 16:23).

5. To control wrong cravings, pride, substances, and other passions Calvin writes that we should first put on the bridle of recognizing that all things are created for us, for the express purpose of revealing God as Creator and rendering thanksgiving in our hearts for his kindnesses to us. As we look for Christ the king and that eternal city whose builder and maker is God, we can use the good things in this life with temperance and to the glory of God.

6. Well, the question comes up, “How do we handle what we can enjoy?”

First, humility. Remember the flesh, meaning our wishes or our passions, is never satisfied. Calvin writes that the Christian should “indulge oneself as little as possible; but on the contrary, with unflagging effort of mind to insist upon cutting off all show of superfluous wealth, not to mention licentiousness” (Pg 723).

Second, wisdom. Be wise enough about yourself and Scripture to “diligently to guard against turning helps into hindrances” (Pg., 723). Here the subject of Christian liberty comes up. A believer can be free to do certain things, but in this freedom they must not let any activity become a hinderance.

Third, contentment. To control lust of the flesh, Calvin tells us to put on the bridle of “being content with what you have!” “They who have narrow and slender resources should know how to go without things patiently, lest they be troubled by an immoderate desire for them” (Pg., 723). (Phil. 4:12)

Fourth, stewardship. God in his great love and mercy has given us a calling in life. Therefore, knowing the love and kindness of God in giving us that particular status, vocation, or monetary condition, let us be good stewards, disciplined for the glory of God. (Lk. 16:2)

Calvin’s Institutes: Calvin wants heaven.

2009-12-18T09:33:00.001-05:00

Calvin was a Reformer practicing and pleading for ad fontes. Nevertheless, he was a man of his times, and as George H. Tavard has shown his spirituality in connection with how we should view heaven and this earthly life is reminiscent of medieval mysticism and of the devotio mederna. That is seen in this chapter of his Institutes (Book 3, Chapter 8).

Here is my summary.

1. Heaven is the place we seek and long for as Christians. That is, we seek and long for it only as God by tribulation and sore chastisements faithfully teach us the vanity of this life.

2. Why do we so easily forget about heaven? Calvin tells us “our blockishness arises from the fact that our minds, stunned by the empty dazzlement of riches, power, and honors, become so deadened that they can see no farther...In fine, the whole soul, enmeshed in the allurements of the flesh, seeks its happiness on earth” (Pg., 712).

3. God in love for his elect continually proves and demonstrates the miseries of this world, giving us tribulations and sore chastisements.

4. This does not mean we should hate this life. Life is a gift from God which teaches us of God’s love, goodness, and authority over us.
Calvin: “When we are certain that the earthly life we live is a gift of God’s kindness, as we are beholden to him for it we ought to remember it and be thankful. Then we shall come in good time to consider its most unhappy condition in order that we may, indeed, be freed from too much desire of it” (Pg., 715).

5. Paul longed for the life to come, but he also served God while he was living in this world. This is to be the stance of the Christian. As Calvin puts it, “We are now, by God’s will, at our sentry post” (Pg., 716). We serve God in joy on this earth until we die. [2 Cor. 5:6; Rom 7:24 w/ Phil 1:23-24; Rom 14:8]

6. But are not many scared to death of death itself? Yes. Only godly knowledge overcomes this fear, and the believer must heartily apply his mind and heart to God’s promise if he will escape this cold fear.

7. Does not faith seek what we naturally dread? Believers desire to be clothed with immortality (2 Cor. 5:2-3), and those filled with God’s Spirit look for a city whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11). Believers joyfully await the day of resurrection (Tit. 2:3 w/ 2 Tim. 4:8) and praise God as their redemption draws closer, day by day. (Lk. 21:28)

8. We must not envy the wicked and their seeming comfort in this life (Ps.73:2-3). They will not be blessed in the next life, they will be punished. (Isa. 66:24; Matt. 25:41; Mark 9:43,46; Rev. 21:8; 2 Thess. 1:6-

7). However, God’s children are and will be victorious through Christ. Calvin writes: “If believers’ eyes are turned to the power of the resurrection, in their hearts the cross of Christ will at last triumph over the devil, flesh, sin, and wicked men” (Pg., 719).

9. In conclusion, “Let the aim of believers in judging mortal life, then, be that while they understand it to be of itself nothing but misery, they may with greater eagerness and dispatch betake themselves wholly to meditate upon that eternal life to come” (Pg., 716).

This is my comment. Calvin’s eschatology does not consistently lean toward the blessing and power of the resurrection and the age of the Spirit. Yes Calvin is a theologian of the Spirit and gives bright sunshine to the Spirit’s role in our union with Christ, sacraments, and Christian sanctification, but in this section of the Institutes we are not left with a clear hope or a healthy outlook for our present life. The already but not yet does not come out clearly. This life is miserable, but we need to make the best of it for God, but real life is always in heaven. This is the devotion moderna.
The NT teaches us the victory of Jesus Christ. What is bad about this world is sin; but that sin has been overcome and is being overcome through Christ’ gospel. Through this gospel the world will be made new as the gospel spreads to all even as the waters cover the sea.

Calvin’s Institutes: Calvin’s Theology of Christian suffering.

2009-12-17T09:19:00.001-05:00

In the previous post on Calvin’s Institutes, Calvin explained how Jesus Christ set sinners free to live a life of glad self denial. In this chapter (Chapter 8, Book 3), he sets up Jesus Christ as an example of godly self denial. For Calvin Jesus is the human example for us because he became and still is, human.

1. Jesus “learned obedience through what He suffered” (Heb. 5:8). His disciples can now can deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. As Calvin writes, “In harsh and difficult conditions (Rom 8:28), regarded as adverse and evil, a great comfort comes to us: we share Christ’s sufferings in order that s he has passed from a labyrinth of all evils into heavenly glory, we may in like manner be led through various tribulations to the same glory (Acts 14:22)” (Pg., 702).

2. Why must we have and be under the weight of suffering? Calvin gives five reasons from Scripture.

3. First, because we have a “stupid and empty confidence in the flesh” (Pg., 703). Sinners by nature want to say “I did it my way.”

Well, cross bearing “can best restrain this arrogance when he proves to us by experience not only the great incapacity but also the frailty under which we labor....Thus humbled, we learn to call upon his power, which alone makes us stand fast under the weight of afflictions” (Pg., 703).

4. Secondly, cross bearing teaches us patience and obedience. (Rom 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 1:4; Gen. 22:1,12; 1 Peter 1:7)

5. Thirdly, cross bearing is medicine for our pride and love for comfort. If God were to make everything rosy for us, we would be like fattened horses. That is, “fattened and made flabby, we kick against him who has fed and nourished us” (Pg., 705).

Suffering keeps us thankful and dependent upon him. Calvin writes, “The Lord himself, according as he sees it expedient, confronts us and subjects and restrains our unrestrained flesh with the remedy of the cross” (Pg., 706).

6. Fourthly, cross bearing is fatherly chastisement. “For he afflicts us not to ruin or destroy us but, rather, to free us from the condemnation of the world...When we have fallen away from him, God destroys us unless by reproof he recalls us” (Pg., 706).

7. Fifth, cross bearing is suffering for righteousness sake. “Therefore, whether in declaring God’s truth against Satan’s falsehoods or in taking up the protection of the good and the innocent against the wrongs of the wicked, we must undergo the offences and hatred of the world, which may imperil either our life, our fortunes, or our honour” (Pg., 707).

Calvin’s Institutes: Obedience and self-denial.

2009-12-15T13:47:00.002-05:00

The doctrine of repentance has been Calvin’s main subject since chapter three of Book 3. Even in this chapter (chapter seven) it is behind what is said. The chapter is entitled, The Sum of the Christian Life: The Denial of Ourselves. Obviously if this is the sum of what it is to be a Christian then repentance must be an ongoing practice. To deny ourselves involves turning away from sin (denying sin), and turning to God (denying the self).

Of course Calvin said God’s law guides us in this. Now, in union with Christ we are free to love that law. He believed Jesus freed us from the debt and curse of God’s law. In him we don’t come to Mt. Sinai that swirls with judgment. But rather we come to Mt. Zion. And Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Now, that law is written in our hearts by the Spirit as his GPS for us. This gospel centered understanding of the law is found throughout the Institutes.

Here is the summary today.

1. God’s law is the Christian’s guide in life. Love must have expression; therefore love for God is expressed by keeping God’s commandments. (Jn. 14:15, 21-24; 1 Jn. 5:3).

2. But loving obedience to that law is always accompanied with self denial, “A presenting your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” (Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 6:19). We are God’s people therefore, “let us therefore live for him and die for him... let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions...let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal (Rom. 14:8; cf. 1 Cor. 6:19)” (Pg., 690).

3. The Christian must not seek his self meaning or will. God’s will and glory must be his goal. Christian maturity comes as we forget ourselves. “Surely subordinating our self-concern, we try faithfully to devote our zeal to God and his commandments” (Pg., 691).

4. Grace teaches us to deny ourselves (Titus 2:11-14). This grace teaches our flesh and mind to say no to irreligion and sinful passions; and yes to soberness, joy, righteousness and godliness.

5. Grace teaches us to deny ourselves and love others. You will never love others unless you renounce the “kingdom you think lies in your breast” (pride), and unless “you give up all thought of self and, so to speak, get out of yourself, you will accomplish nothing here” (Pg., 695).

6. Remember everything we have received comes from God (1 Cor. 4:7; James 1:17), but also remember that these gifts of grace are to be used for God and for the benefit of others. (1 Peter 4:10) Again, self must be denied. (1 Cor. 12;12ff; Ps. 16:2-3; Heb. 13:16).

7. God’s grace, and the freedom it brings, teaches us to deny ourselves and love God and his will. “Scripture calls us to resign ourselves and all our possessions to the Lord’s will, and to yield to him the desires of our hearts to be tamed and subjugated” (Pg., 698).

God has given us this freedom in Christ. Paul said in Gal 5:1, “For freedom, Christ has set us free.” We are free to obey God. Our obedience is a free obedience. Our discipleship is a glad one. We present our selves to God freely. That is, we are perfectly satisfied with what God has chosen for us. We are willingly in agreement with God’s sovereign will. We have the freedom to make the right choice by the power of the Spirit. He has written God’s law in our hearts and we agree with it. This is the law of life in Christ Jesus which sets us free from the law of sin and death. Christ’s gospel brings us simply to live as true human beings…thinking God’s thoughts after him and agreeing with him on everything.

8. Love of money, love of prestige, or love of self comfort must not control us. Calvin tells us, “We are always to look to the Lord so that by his guidance we may be led to whatever lot he has provided for us” (Pg., 699). This faith expressing itself in love enables believers to worship God in the midst of adversity.

The work of a pastor and the theologian.

2009-12-14T17:25:00.000-05:00

Just read a great post on the pastor as theologian. Theology is the fuel that keeps a minister going, which is say God and his revelation in Jesus Christ is the real joy of pastoral work. Speaking about him to people, not people brings the smile to ministry. People are actually more encouraged and helped when God is spoken of then when we try to comfort them with some sentimental, scientific, or psychological advice.
This post is a great encouragement to ministers. Read it here.
http://cruciality.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/theology-for-the-community/

Calvin’s Institutes: The Christian life can be lived.

2009-12-14T17:07:00.000-05:00

Christian repentance and its life in the Christian’s life is Calvin’s subject in chapter six, Book 3 of Calvin’s Institutes. There is a lot of hope here. To Calvin the holy repentant life is possible because of the gospel.

1. What kind of life are the repentant to live? Calvin beautifully answers this question by saying that the whole object of regeneration “is to manifest in the life of believers a harmony and agreement between God’s righteousness and their obedience, and thus to confirm the adoption that they have received as sons (Gal. 4:5; cf. II Peter 1:10)” (Pg., 684).

2 God’s Scripture gives direction and content for this object. It gives us “goods and helps in order that those who heartily repent may not err in their zeal” (Pg., 684).

3. The Bible addresses two inseparable truths in connection with the Christian’s pursuit of holiness.

a. The love for righteousness

b. The commandments of God which are the Christian’s guide.

But these two truths are inseparable to the believer’s union with Christ. This union with Christ by the Spirit is actually the fountain head of Christian holiness. It is obvious that the natural man has no natural love for righteousness; hence any person who pursues holiness does so because of God’s work of grace quickening his dead heart, and shedding the love of God upon the heart of a regenerate sinner (Rom 5). Because of this grace the sinner’s life out of gratitude and love must “express the bond of their adoption” (Pg., 687).

4. Because God has revealed himself to us, and Christ has cleansed us, and grafted us into his body, and ascended into heaven to be our Mediator, and since he has made us God’s temples, and since God has promised us an incorruptible inheritance, we who are objects of these graces ought to strive, with love to live holy unto God. (Mal. 1:6; Eph. 5:1; 1 John 3:1; Heb. 10:10; 1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Peter 1:15,19; Eph. 5:23-33; 1 Cor. 6:15; John 15:3-6; Col. 3:1 ff; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Thess. 5:23; Phil. 1:10)

5. Christianity is a heart religion! That is, Christianity is not lived in mere words or confessions; it is lived in a life of love to God and man. As Calvin said, “We detest these trifling Sophists who are content to roll the gospel on the tips of their tongues when its efficacy ought to penetrate the inmost affections of the heart, take its seat in the soul, and affect the whole man” (Pg., 688).

6. Is this love perfect in us? No. The Christian strives, longs, works and presses on praying, “Lord I love you, help me to love you more.”

7. Can the Christian life be lived if perfection is out of reach in this life? Yes! Calvin rightly says, “The beginning of right living is spiritual, where the inner feeling of the mind is unfeignedly dedicated to God for the cultivation of holiness and righteousness” (Pg., 688).

8. In our pursuit of holiness we are weak, but God is strong. Let us not become weary in well doing, nor excuse our sins; but press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3)

Calvin’s Institutes: The error of indulging in indulgences and purgatory

2009-12-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

I did not disappear. After a week and a half of computer trouble I am finally up and blogging again. This blog entry is on Calvin's dissertation on purgatory. Having computer problems is purgatory. It's a trouble for sure.

Here is my entry.

Calvin’s polemic against Rome, which began in chapter four of Book 3, chapter four continues here in chapter five. In chapter four he dealt with the Roman doctrines of repentance, and confession. Here he deals with the Roman doctrine of indulgences, or to put it another way, the idea of satisfaction for sin. Luther nailed his 95 theses against indulgences on a church door; Calvin writes his thesis against indulgences in this chapter of his Institutes.

1. It stands to reason that if church officers can retain or forgive sins, the people under their tyranny will look to them for a prescription, a list of do’s, something they perhaps could give so that they could be forgiven! Enter giving of indulgences.

2. Calvin calls all indulgences, “A profanation of the blood of Christ, a Satanic mockery, to lead the Christian people away from God’s grace, away from the life that is in Christ, and turn them aside from the true way of salvation” (Pg., 671).

3. These indulgences had taken the place of Christ’s atoning work at this period in the Roman Church. That is, they declare Christ’s atonement to be insufficient, unable to forgive sins and unable to save. But the Bible clearly teaches that salvation is through the sacrifice of Christ. (1 John 1:7; 1 Cor. 5:21; 1 Cor. 1:13; Acts 20:28; Heb. 10:14; Rev. 7:14). The sacrifices of the martyrs by their martyrdom did not add to the atonement for their sin.

4. Was there something lacking in Christ’s suffering, thus necessitating Paul to complete it with his own suffering (Col.1:24)? No! But this was one of the texts the Romanists used to support indulgences.

5. Calvin explains what this verse means. “Here he refers to that lack or that supplement not to the work of redemption, satisfaction, and expiation but to those afflictions with which the members of Christ ‘namely, all believers’ must be exercised so long as they live in this flesh....what once for all he suffered in himself he daily suffers in his members” (Pg., 673).

6. What about the Romish doctrine of purgatory? Calvin calls it a “deadly fiction of Satan, which nullifies the cross of Christ, inflicts unbearable contempt upon God’s mercy, and overturns and destroys our faith” (Pg., 676). Why? Because by purgatory the Romanists mean another way for dead people to make satisfaction for their own sins, and this is an attack against the sufficiency of Christ.

7. There is no New Testament passage to support the existence of purgatory, but the Bible is replete with descriptions of the sufficiency of Christ’s work in bringing the gospel.

Calvin’s Institutes: The way off teachings Pt 2. More types of sin than one?

2009-12-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

The focus in today’s summary is on Calvin’s polemic against the Roman Catholic doctrine of sin, sin’s penalty, and guilt.

1. The Roman Catholics further confuse repentance and consequently true salvation by their compartmentalizing sins in either the venial category or mortal category. There are more types of sin than one.

2. Mortal sins are deadly sins from which there is no forgiveness. Venial sins “can be purged by easier remedies by the Lord’s Prayer, by the sprinkling of holy water, by the absolution afforded by the Mass” (Pg., 654).

3. Of course scripture is very plain in saying that all sins are deadly, yet for those who are imputed with Christ’s righteousness, sins kill them no longer. Calvin wrote “that the sins of believers are venial, not because they do not deserve death, but because by God’s mercy ‘there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’” (Rom. 8:1) (Pg., 654).

4. Roman Catholic theology also “fashions a distinction between penalty and guilt” (Pg., 655). Guilt, they say is remitted by God’s mercy. Penalty is that remaining thing which must be paid for according to the demands of God’s justice; even after God has remitted the guilt.

5. Calvin exposed the fallacy of this distinction when he said, “They admit that forgiveness of guilt is freely available, yet repeatedly teach men to deserve it through prayers and tears, and all sorts of other preparations. And yet all we are taught in Scripture concerning forgiveness of sins directly opposes this distinction” (Pg., 655).

6. Complete forgiveness both of the guilt and penalty of sin is given to the sinner redeemed by the gospel of Christ. (Jer. 31:31,34; Ezek. 18:24,21-22,27; Isa. 38:17; 44:22; Micah 7:19; Ps. 32:1-2; Isa. 1:18)

7. But doesn’t it seem that God punishes the saints and therefore these same saints must suffer the penalty for their sin and must pay for that sin by acts of penance?

8. Calvin helps us here. There are two types of judgements which God executes.

a. Judgements of vengeance. “God should be understood as taking vengeance upon his enemies; so that he exercises his wrath against them, he confounds them, he scatters them, he brings them to nought” (Pg., 659).

b. Judgements of chastisement. Here God “is not so harsh as to be angry nor does he take vengeance so as to blast with destruction. Consequently, it is not, properly speaking, punishment or vengeance, but correction and admonition. The one is the act of a judge; the other, of a father” (Pg., 659). (Job 5:17; Prov. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:5-6; Ps. 118:18; 119:71; Jer. 10:24-25; Ps. 6:1,2; 38:2; 37:2)

9. The wicked receive just punishment from God for their iniquity, but those who are his adopted children “are afflicted by the hand of the heavenly Father, this is not a penalty to confound us, but only a chastisement to instruct us” (Pg., 662). In chastising us God does not urge to make our satisfaction before Him!

Calvin’s Institutes: The way off teachings Pt1. Repentance in Roman Catholic doctrine

2009-12-02T08:56:00.001-05:00

The summaries for Book 3, chapter 4 now begin. Calvin is in refutation mode here. He aims his language at the Roman Catholic Church, or to put it another way, the medieval scholastic doctrines of repentance, confession, and satisfaction.
Calvin’s polemics are still applicable today. Though the Roman Catholic Church made sweeping changes at Vatican II she still did not embrace the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone. For this reason she still believes and practices the medieval doctrines of repentance, confession, and satisfaction or purgatory. Therefore, Calvin’s refutions are still needed and helpful.

1. Calvin explains that the Roman Catholic Church divides repentance into three parts.

a. Contrition.
b. Confession.
c. Satisfaction.
These parts, the Roman Catholic Church asserts, are necessary to attain salvation. Calvin’s overall message is that this error should be repented of.

2. Let’s focus on contrition first. They demand contrition to be just and full. Who can do this? It will either be pretended contrition, or the person will become desperate and hate the name and truth of God, because they cannot give what they are asked to give – perfect contrition.

This is not the gospel. The gospel teaches “that the sinner does not dwell upon his own compunction or tears, but fixes both eyes upon the Lord’s mercy alone” (Pg., 626). Perfect contrition is not redemption, Jesus Christ is. And all who call upon his name in with the grace repentance and faith will be saved.

3. Let’s focus on confession next. The Roman Catholic Church demands it to occur in the confessional to be heard and absolved by a human priest! They base this practice on pure allegorical interpretation, not on the specific command of Christ.

4. God’s people have an High Priest who is eternal and perfect. They do not have a mere man for a priest. Hence, confession of sin is truly done when that confession is made to Jesus Christ. Calvin writes, “it is the Lord who forgives, forgets, and wipes out, sins, let us confess our sins to him in order to obtain pardon” (Pg., 634).

5. The Roman Catholics claim integrity for their confessional system, from the Word of Christ in reference to the power of the keys in binding and loosening. Does this refer to priests having the power and knowledge to forgive or to retain forgiveness? No.

6. The third focus is satisfaction. What does the Roman Catholic Church believe about this? With satisfaction they mean that though a person is contrite, and has made confession to the priest certain specified works must be performed in order to satisfy God for particular sins.

7. Calvin describes their position this way: “We indeed obtain pardon for our transgressions from God’s kindness, but only through the intervening merit of works, by which the offence of our sins may be paid for, in order that due satisfaction may be made to God’s justice” (Pg., 651)

8. In Jesus Christ sinners are freely given the remission of sins. (Isa. 52:3; Rom. 3:24-25; 5:8; Col. 2:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5; Acts 10:43) Christ is the sinner’s satisfaction. By the merit and work of Christ alone is God satisfied, not by our merit or work. God has made Christ a “perpetual advocate in order that by his intercession he may always restore us to the Father’s favour; an everlasting propitiation by which sins may be expiated” (Pg., 652). (1 John 2:1-2,12; 1:29)

Calvin’s Institutes: Repentance, Pt.5. Repentance and reprobation.

2009-12-01T15:49:00.002-05:00

The majesty of God is a reoccurring phrase in Calvin’s Institutes. By it he means to describe the super abounding grace and gifts of God, and honest awesome authority of God. In his discussion on repentance this concept of God’s majesty is not lost. Repentance comes to mankind in their sinfulness from his grace and command.

However, what about those not chosen by God? Calvin calls them the reprobate. Calvin’s whole discussion on election and predestination in connection with those who will and will not be saved comes in full later on in chapters 21 to 24, but he brings it up here in connection to repentance and the unpardonable sin.

It would be good to understand what Calvin means by the reprobate. They are the non-elect, those whom God does not chose to give his saving grace to, those whom God passes by in mercy but visits in just judgement. To Calvin all mankind, the elect and reprobate deserve God’s justice; not his gift of repentance. The reprobates are not treated unfairly because they are given their justice. The elect are not treated fairly either because they should deserve justice, but are given grace.

1. The repentance which brings forgiveness and eternal life is a grace, a gift of God. (Acts 11:18; 2 Cor. 7:10; 2 Tim 2:25-26; Ps. 80:3,17,19; Jer. 31:18; Acts 5:31)

2. Yes, God commands all to repent but the gift of repentance is given only to the elect. The hard hearted will not turn to God that they might be saved. (Isa. 63:17; Heb. 6:4-6)

3. However, those whom God has predestined will turn from their sin unto God, due to God graciously turning them. Calvin writes, “For obviously God, renewing those he wills not to perish, shows the sign of his fatherly favour and, so to speak, draws them to himself with the rays of his calm and joyous countenance” (Pg., 616). It is this connection of repentance as a gift of God to the elect, that Calvin discusses the unpardonable sin.

4. Can we pardon the unpardonable sin as though it were nothing? What is it, if anything? Augustine says it is “persistent stubbornness even to death, with distrust of pardon” (Pg., 617). Others have said it consists in envy, which is coveting the grace bestowed upon his brother. This was Bede’s understanding.

5. Calvin proclaims it to be a striving against the illumination of the Holy Spirit. He says, “they sin against the Holy Spirit who, with evil intention, resist God’s truth, although by its brightness they are so touched that they cannot claim ignorance. Such resistance alone constitutes this sin” (Pg., 617).

6. This striving and resistance is practiced universally by the reprobate. They sinfully, blindly and hatefully resist God and His Son. (1 John 2:19; Heb. 6:6, 10:26)

The Freedom of the Christian: Freedom number three.

2009-12-01T11:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday a friend of mine who reads this blog said, “This study on freedom is an amazing study.” What I think he meant was that Jesus Christ’s gospel is amazing. How true. It’s amazing because it not only sets us free from the dictatorship of sin, and free from the law as a curse and debt (See my previous posts), but also because in Christ we are free to obey God.

The freedom of the Christ means we are free to obey God. Our obedience is a free obedience. Our discipleship is a glad one. We present our selves to God freely. That is, we are perfectly satisfied with what God has chosen for us. We are willingly in agreement with God’s sovereign will. We have the freedom to make the right choice by the power of the Spirit. He has written God’s law in our hearts and we agree with it. This is the law of life in Christ Jesus which sets us free from the law of sin and death. Christ’s gospel brings us simply to live as true human beings…thinking God’s thoughts after him and agreeing with him on everything.

Scripture explains this freedom in many ways. The commandments are not a burden (1 Jn 5:3). Being in Christ, Christians actually don’t see them as a weight, but as way forward in life. They don’t slow us down, they actually speed us up to a life of peace and joy now that the Spirit has and is changing us to make the right choices.

The Freedom of the Christ: Freedom number two.

2009-11-27T16:00:00.002-05:00

In Christ we are free from the law as a debt and curse. The law of God is good, but in our sin without Christ it is a weight greater than we can bear. It is a both a grace and a terror. A terror for it shows us we are not free after all, for we would not have known, “You shall not commit adultery,” except God’s law said so. But it is a grace even as it shows us that we can’t stand under it’s condemnation, but need Jesus Christ to save us. Jesus frees us from the debt and curse of God’s law. In him we don’t come to Mt. Sinai that burns with fire, swirls with judgment. But rather we come to Mt. Zion (Heb 12).

Paul’s point in Romans 5 is that when the law came to Israel, it did not mark the beginning of holiness in them, it accentually intensified the problem of the old Adam. The law intensified, drew attention to man’s sin (even in Israel), like an oven intensifies and makes us pay attention to heat. But the law by itself could and can do nothing to stop sin. Paul said this earlier in ch.3 and in Gal 3. And he said this to bring his fellow Jews to the free gospel of grace in Jesus.

Where sin abounds grace super abounds. The law intensifies sin, God’s grace is great than all sin and death for his answer is not the law, but the new Adam – Jesus. Yes, sin reigned in death. It destroyed slowly, seeking to lay waste man and creation. It raised it’s ugly head to grind men away from God. It stood up as some dumb king, to make all it’s subjects selfish, cruel, inhuman. BUT grace came in Christ…now grace reigns and there is a new kingdom, a new life, a world of God given possibility of a reign of righteousness, holiness, and love; all because of Jesus through whom sinners are justified, made righteous with God. For the curse of God is not directed to us, for Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.
Status: Through Jesus we are justified by faith. We are in the new Adam. This was not accomplished by Torah, but by God’s grace through Jesus…so now grace reigns through Jesus’ faithfulness (righteousness), which leads to eternal life in him.

Calvin’s Institutes: Repentance, Pt.4. True repentance moves us to action.

2009-11-26T13:43:00.000-05:00

I continue with Calvin’s doctrine of repentance. Having established a definition of biblical repentance, Calvin now describes the fruits of repentance.

1. He writes “the fruits of repentance are the duties of piety toward God, of charity toward men, and in the whole of life, holiness and purity. Briefly, the more earnestly any man measures his life by the standard of God’s law, the surer are the signs of repentance that he shows” (Pg., 609).

I should be remembered that central to Calvin’s doctrine of the Christian life is union with Jesus Christ. The piety, charity, holiness, purity, and obedience to God’s law take place in the context of union with Jesus Christ through faith.

2. We must keep the Biblical balance before us: Outward fruits of repentance must come from the repentant heart. If outward shows of penance are mere forms of movements flowing from a heart of mere duty and fear of men; it is not repentance. Remember Esau.

Genuine repentance is a tangible repentance. It moves to action. Secondly, it is also difficult. It involves serving the Lord only. It means you make your heart steadfast toward the Lord. We cannot leave sin if we are not prepared to do the difficult - leave all false gods and serve the Lord only. We might just as well try to cure poison ivy by scratching, than try to serve the Lord faithfully when we have idols in our heart

3. God looks to the heart. The heart must be turned to God, and from this, God-ward movements (fruits of repentance) are brought about.

4. For the believer the “whole of life” consists in continual confession of sin before God, and when demanded, confession of sin before men.

5. “We must judge ourselves” (1 Cor. 11:31), meaning we must examine ourselves in order to repent from our sins.

6. Repentance and forgiveness go together. (Matt. 11:10; 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3; Mark 1:15; Luke 24:26, 46-47; Acts 5:30-31; 1 Cor. 1:30)

7. “Repentance is preached in the name of Christ when, through the teaching of the gospel, men hear that all their thoughts, all their inclinations, all their efforts, are corrupt and vicious. Accordingly, they must be reborn if they would enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Pg., 614).

8. “Forgiveness of sins is preached when men are taught that for them Christ became redemption, righteousness, salvation, and life (1 Cor. 1:30), by whose name they are freely accounted righteous and innocent in God’s sight” (Pg., 614).

The freedom of the Christian: Freedom number one.

2009-11-26T13:40:00.001-05:00

Paul said in Gal 5:1, “For freedom, Christ has set us free.” Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (Jn 8:32). And, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn8:36). Freedom comes from and through the truth of God, through the Son of God. The Spirit of God was upon him anointing him to proclaim liberty to the captives. Through his cross and resurrection we are delivered from the bondage of sin and kingdom of darkness. Where the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is there is liberty, and where Christ’s Spirit has been sent into the hearts of those who repent of sin and believe in him, they can cry Abba Father, and are no longer a slave, but a son.

If we put these and other Scripture witnesses together we could sum up the NT teaching on freedom the way Peter Eicher did. “God’s choice is our freedom.” If we have freedom we owe it to God, and his choice, not to the choice of our own. Genuine freedom, as Eberard Bush explained, “Is the freedom that is granted to us as a gift by the grace of God in Jesus Christ!” If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. Water and rain go together, and so do freedom and Jesus Christ.

But freedom for what? Over the next few days I will attempt to give answers to that question. I’ll begin with freedom number one.

Christians are freed from the dictatorship of sin (Rom 6). "True Christian freedom is the freedom of the children of God – and that is not the freedom to sin, but the freedom from sin in Jesus Christ" -Kim Fabricius. Jesus Christ came to reconcile us to God, not to our sins. He came to destroy Satan and sin, not his Lordship. Jesus Christ does not make us more rebellious, greedier, or more hateful. He did not come to teach us to be alone to choose ourselves. No, he came to give us new life and crucify the old self. He took our guilty and sin which we loved and nailed it to the cross. We are unshackled from its bondage. Rom 6:4.

Calvin’s Institutes: Repentance, Pt.3. Elements in repentance

2009-11-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

Genuine repentance is a tangible repentance. It moves to action. Secondly, it is also difficult. It involves serving the Lord only. It means you make your heart steadfast toward the Lord. We cannot leave sin if we are not prepared to do the difficult - leave all false gods and serve the Lord only. We might just as well try to cure poison ivy by scratching, than try to serve the Lord faithfully without repentance from idolatry or any other sin.

Calvin described biblical repentance in a very tangible way. Here is the summary for today.

1. Those that turn from their sin to God mortify their flesh, and are alive to the things of God, yet traces of sinful corruption still remain. Calvin said, “There remains in a regenerate man a smouldering cinder of evil” (Pg., 602).

2. Some have called this remaining corruption weakness rather than sinfulness because the corrupt inclinations in believers are not sinful in themselves, until the will yields to them.

3. This is wrong. Calvin explains that even these corrupt inclinations in the Christian are sinful. “We label sin that very depravity which begets in us desires of this sort. We accordingly teach that in the saints, until they are divested of mortal bodies, there is always sin; for in their flesh there resides that depravity of inordinate desiring which contends against righteousness” (Pg., 603).

4. This does not mean God’s people remain under the dominion of sin. They do not. [Rom. 6; Eph. 5:26-27] God has promised to give delivering grace to free his adopted children from sin’s reign. “Sin does remain, but no longer reigns,” Professor John Murray said. [Rom. 6:6; 8:2; 7:6]

5. Not only are we freed from the reign of sin, but we are also freed from its awful guilt, because Christ was our substitute. [Eph. 5:26-27; Rom. 8:1]

6. In 2 Cor. 7:11 Paul gives seven elements involved in repentance. “They are earnestness or carefulness, excuse, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and avenging” (Pg., 607). Calvin explained them in these ways…

- By carefulness is meant a sorrow over sin, which brings self dissatisfaction and a diligent fight against sin.

- By excuse or “clearing of yourselves” (KJV) is meant “purification, which relies more on asking pardon than on confidence in one’s own cause” (Pg., 608).

- By fear it is meant that trembling which occurs in the mind when one truly understands the severity of his sin before the holy God, and the just severity of God’s wrath toward that sin.

- By longing and zeal, it is meant a desire and readiness to obey God; to plunge into God’s mercy.

- By avenging it is meant a sort of self attack on sin. We declare war on our remaining corruption desiring to avenge it by good works and love to God. However, we must beware and not slip into despair during the process.

Calvin’s Institutes: Repentance, Pt.2. Life and death

2009-11-18T10:04:00.005-05:00

After a couple of days off, my summary of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion continues. I am on Book 3, chapter 3.

1. To Biblically define repentance, we must distinguish it from faith. Faith and repentance are two different things. They are inseparable yet distinct truths. [Acts 20:21]

2. On the basis of the Hebrew and Greek etymology of the word Calvin defines biblical repentance as “the true turning of our life to God, a turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of him; and it consists in the mortification of our flesh and of the old man, and in the vivification of the Spirit” (Pg., 587).

Let’s look at this definition point by point.

3. First, the meaning of “turning of our life to God.” By this is meant a transformation, both of the outward life and inward soul. The soul by the gift and power of repentance must be turned to God, first. When the old man is put off and renewed, then the renewed mind, the repentant man will “bring forth the fruits of works in harmony with its renewal” (Pg., 598). [Ezek. 18:31; Deut. 6:5; 10:12; 30:2,6,10; Jer. 24:7; Deut. 10:16; Jer 4]

4. Secondly, the meaning, “turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of him.” By this is meant that “before the mind of the sinner inclines to repentance, it must be aroused by thinking upon divine judgement” (Pg., 599).
The Bible frequently discusses God’s judgement when sinners are admonished to repent, and the Bible declares God to be the judge. [Jer. 4:4; Acts 17:30-31; Deut. 29:19 ff; 2 Cor. 7:10]

Why? Calvin explains. “For if we were not sharply pricked, the slothfulness of our flesh could not be corrected. Indeed, these prickings would not have sufficed against its dullness and blockishness had God not penetrated more deeply in unsheathing his rods....Therefore, the depravity of our nature compels God to use severity in threatening us” (Pg., 599).

5. Third, the meaning of “mortification of our flesh, vivification of the Spirit.” Both of these are component parts of biblical repentance.
“mortification of our flesh.” By this we simply mean we must continually turn from and deny our remaining sin. Though we are renewed in Jesus Christ, we still struggle with remaining sin. Actually the struggle comes preceisely because of the new birth. [Ps. 36:8,3,27; Isa. 1:16-17; Gal 5]
“vivification of the Spirit.” By this we simply mean we are made alive to turn to God and his righteousness. Calvin writes, “That comes to pass when the Spirit of God so imbues our souls, steeped in his holiness, with both new thoughts and feelings, that they can be rightly considered new” (Pg., 600).

6. The great work of repentance in all its parts happens to us by participation in Christ. The true child of God participates in both his death (mortification) and resurrection (vivification). [Rom. 6:6; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:23,24; Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 4:4]

Calvin’s Institutes: Repentance, Pt.1. Gospel repentance.

2009-11-14T15:03:00.001-05:00

In the summaries so far we have not come specifically to the doctrine of justification, so why did Calvin put repentance here after faith? A thorough explanation of justification does not come until chapter 11. It comes only after he has discussed, 1) the fruit of repentance, 2) the error of the Roman Catholic doctrine of confession, indulgences and purgatory in relation to repentance, 3) the Christian life of self-denial, 5) the Christian’s future life with God, and 4) how we must use this present life for holiness. Wow, all this before justification by faith.

Why? McNeill in his note on page 593 asks, “Why this surprising order?” Well, as he explains what holiness and the Christian life consists of we realize that our only hope of salvation is Jesus Christ. “For when this topic (repentance and holiness of life) is rightly understood it will better appear how man is justified by faith alone, and simple pardon; nevertheless actual holiness of life, so to speak, is not separated from free imputation of righteousness” (Pg., 593).

At first I thought we turn the order around today, but then I realized we don’t. Rather, we leave out one or the other. We either preach a holiness without the gospel, or we preach a gospel without holiness.

Let’s begin with Calvin on repentance in Chapter 3, Book 3. Again I will make a number of entries here.

1. Faith and repentance go together like husband and wife because both are in the gospel. [Lk. 24:47; Acts 5:31] True faith is accompanied by repentance and repentance, as saving grace, is executed due to the presence of faith.

2. Calvin writes, "Now it ought to be a fact beyond controversy that repentance not only constantly follows faith, but is also born of faith. ...surely no one can embrace the grace of the gospel without betaking himself from the errors of his past life into the right way, and applying his whole effort to the practice of repentance" (Pg., 593).

3. Before Calvin dives into the definition and movement of repentance, he makes some important particulars concerning repentance.

4. First the origin of repentance. Understanding it to be a saving grace springing up from faith, one concludes that, "a man cannot apply himself seriously to repentance without knowing himself to belong to God. But no one is truly persuaded that he belongs to God unless he has first recognized God=s grace" (Pg., 594). This work the Spirit must do, and it comes when he reveals Jesus Christ as the answer for man’s sin.

5. Second, repentance and mortification. By mortification, we mean a sorrow in the soul and mind, which has resulted from a true awareness and knowledge of sin. This knowledge and sorrow over sin brings with it a hate for sin, displeasure of self, and confusion of the miserable state of the sinner.

6. Third, repentance and vivification. By vivification is meant the comfort which comes from faith. "That is, when a man is laid low by the consciousness of sin and stricken by the fear of God, and afterward looks to the goodness of God 'to his mercy, grace, salvation, which is through Christ' he raises himself up, he takes heart, he recovers courage, and as it were, returns from death to life" (Pg., 595).

7. Fourthly, we must understand the term "repentance of the law." By this Calvin refers to the convicting work of God's law. That is, the sinner gets caught by his sin, feels the wickedness of his sin, and realizes its reigning power; all because the law reveals it to him.

8. Fifth, the term "repentance of the gospel." Those who have been wounded and destroyed of self righteousness by the law, through the "repentance unto the gospel" turns, grasps, and rests upon Christ alone to heal his wounds, comfort his fear, and be the haven of his misery” (Pg., 596).

9. "We see ‘gospel repentance’ in all those who, made sore by the sting of sin but aroused and refreshed by trust in God's mercy, have turned to the Lord" (Pg., 596). [2 Kings 20:2; Isa. 38:2; Jonah 3:5,9; 2 Sam. 24:10; 12:13,16; Acts 2:37, Matt. 26:75; Luke 22:62]

A Position Needs Filling: A Master craftsman for the craft of the Christian life needed.

2009-11-11T16:20:00.002-05:00

I read an excellent article by Stanley Hauerwas called, Discipleship as a Craft, Church as a Disciplined Community. It was a great reminder to me that in the church we need a Master.

In it he uses the illustration of a bricklayer. To be a bricklayer requires you to take an apprenticeship to be taught by a master craftsman. He teaches you all that is involved; including the language. This is also true for playing baseball, being a cook, or carpenter etc.

But should this not be true for a Christian or a church? Yes. Sadly however, in our modern democratic infatuation and demand for individualism we don’t want a master to train us in life. To quote Hauerwas, “the accounts of morality sponsored by democracy want to deny the necessity of a master. It is assumed that we each in and of ourselves have all we need to be moral. No master is necessary for us to become moral, for being moral is a condition that does not require initiation or training.” We think we can set our own course in morality, and actually in our love to discover things by ourselves we think a valuable morality only comes when we discover it by ourselves.

Hauerwas goes on to say that there are less and less bricklayers because contractors are building more practical, cheaper plastic and glass covered buildings. The end result of course is less and less master bricklayers are needed. What will happen if in our democratic self made morality endeavour we get more and more morality? We will need a master less and less. To put it plainly, we will need Jesus and all he has set in place to nurture us less and less; namely Christian friends less and less, pastors and elders less and less, and the Christian community less and less.

Christian bookstores and conferences are full of self-help books for democratic reasons…people need to have these things available so they can discover the morality that suites them for themselves. No conversion to Jesus is necessary, and to submit to him as Master and Lord is seen as undemocratic. “After all he is to lend a hand to achieve my happiness, not be my Lord.” Following this way will leave us untransformed. There is no gospel in this whatsoever. Being made new by the Master is actually shunned out of a love and goal to renew ourselves. We can’t be failures because then we would have to go to the Master and admit we need his guidance.

The fact is we need the Master, Jesus Christ, and his body the church through which he works. This means…

1. Being a Christian is not about having all beliefs and behaviour right. It is about being born again into the craft of a new creation, or new life in Christ.

2. Following Jesus as the Master craftsmen of life comes from this grace of God.

3. He by his Spirit will train us in the art of humility. He will train us that we are sinners in need of his grace all the time.

4. From this he will train us to forgive. If we have been forgiven by him, he will lead us to forgive others too.

5. At this juncture, having humbled us to receive his forgiveness and having inspired us to forgive others around us who are failures like us; in his grace he teaches us to be creatures. That we are God’s creations set free from a self determining democracy and called to live his way in the world he has made.
This is antithetical to democratic Christianity. Most Christians live as if this world was theirs, and if in their belief about the end times they can’t wait to get out of this bad place and reach heaven; well, they make heaven theirs also. And no surprise because they have been taught Jesus and Christianity is about a democratic choice that the individual makes. Hauerwas was correct in identifying a huge problem in the Western church. His basic idea was that the great problem of modernity (post-modernity too) is how the church can declare Jesus is Lord, give Jesus centered discipleship, and practice biblical discipline in a democratic society? The answer he gave was simple…follow the Master, and grieve not the Holy Spirit. Live in his world as his child! To not have faith as a little child, but maintain a democratic right before God is tantamount to “grieving the Spirit of God.” To says Jesus is for me, church is for me, this world exists for my happiness alone, or that I need to master the Christian life on my own is to grieve the Spirit of God.

Discipleship and discipline are a gift of God’s grace. They come to us from the triune God, the Master of the world. However, if we need him less and less because of our successful morality we will live less and less too.

Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.7. The Siamese twins, faith and hope.

2009-11-11T09:11:00.000-05:00

I now come to consider the relationship between faith and the two comforting virtues hope and love. To understand this relationship the essential nature of faith itself must be known. In simple terms it is a secure trust in the promises of God. Hope is similar. It anticipates the promises of God. For Calvin hope and faith were focused on the Person and reward of God’s grace…Jesus.

1. From Hebrews 11:1, Calvin explains the essential nature of faith four ways.

a. Substance of faith is a sort of “support upon which the godly mind may lean and rest. It is as if he were to say that faith itself is a sure and secure possession of those things which God has promised us, unless someone prefers to understand ‘hypostasis’ as confidence!” (Pg., 588).

b. These promises are not perceived by our immediate senses, therefore we do not group these promises “any other way than if we transcend all the limits of our senses and direct our perception beyond all things of this world and, in short, surpass ourselves. Therefore he adds that this assurance of possession is on those things which lie in hope, and are therefore not seen” (Pg., 588).

c. Hence faith is “an evidence of things not appearing, a seeing of things not seen, a clearness of things obscure, a presence of things absent, a showing forth of things hidden.”

d. Therefore faith understands, knows, trusts, and rests upon the real promises of God, which cannot be seen by the naked eye, but are tangible, alive, and already done to the eye of saving faith.

2. Obviously, those who see and believe the promises of God are aroused to hope and love for God.

3. Hope in God and what he has promised in Scripture, “is nothing else than the expectation of those things which faith has believed to have been truly promised by God” (Pg., 590).

4. How do faith and hope work together? “Faith knows God to be true, hope waits for the time this truth will be manifest; faith believes that he is our Father, hope anticipates that he will ever show himself to be a Father toward us; faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, hope anticipates that it will some time be revealed; faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, hope nourishes and sustains faith…(This is because, ‘Faith must be sustained and nourished by patient hope and expectation, lest it fail and grow faint.’) Hope restrains faith that it may not fail headlong from to much hast...Hope strengthens faith that it may not waver in God’s promises…Hope refreshes faith, that it may not become weary. In short, by unremitting renewing and restoring, it (hope) invigorates faith again and again with perseverance” (Pg., 590).

5. Hope also supports faith through periods of testing and waiting. [Hab. 2:3; Isa. 8:7; 2 Peter 3:3,4; Ps. 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8]

6. Faith and Hope are inseparably linked together. “Because, embracing the testimony of the gospel concerning freely given love, we look for the time when God will openly show that which is now hidden under hope” (Pg., 591).

7. The believer has faith and hope in God, for the express purpose to embrace his mercy. The Spirit gives faith and hope for this reason. As Calvin writes, “The single goal of faith is the mercy of God” (Pg., 592). Faith and hope are like Siamese twins.

Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.6. Faith and the Holy Spirit.

2009-11-07T11:23:00.002-05:00

We now come to consider the Holy Spirit's work in connection with faith. To put it differently, can Scripture and man by themselves bring faith, or is this God’s work? Yes, God the Holy Spirit must take Scripture and illuminate it into and upon the darkened heart. "Without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the Word can do nothing" (Pg., 580). I would add without the Holy Spirit we can not know Jesus Christ.

Here is today’s summary.

1. Blind men can not see the blinding sun unless their eyes are made to see. Sinful men cannot see their sin or the truth of God in Jesus, unless they are allowed by grace to see the truth. [1 Cor. 2:9-11,14,16; Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21; Matt. 16:17; Rom. 11:34; John 6:44,45; John 1:18 and 5:37; Luke 24:27,45; John 16:13]

2. As man cannot initiate faith by himself, so he cannot beam the light of the Scripture upon his mind and heart, so as to love, believe and embrace Jesus Christ and be united to God.

3. Calvin sums it up. "Christ, when he illumines us into faith be the power of his Spirit, at the same time so engrafts us into his body that we become partakers of every good" (Pg., 583).

4. Saving Faith reaches both the mind and heart. To put it another way, the understanding must be illuminated in God's truth to such an extent that truth is grasped, loved, and followed by the heart.

5. The Spirit's illumination and "efficacious winning" of the heart will drive out those deep seated doubts, distrusts and blackness. The Spirit will seal God's truth in the believer's heart, being the guarantee. "The Spirit accordingly serves as a seal, to seal up in our hearts those very promises the certainty of which it has previously impressed upon our minds; and takes the place of a guarantee to confirm and establish them. After Ayou believed" (the apostle declares), "you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance" (Pg., 584). [Eph. 1:13-14. See Calvin’s Commentary on Ephesians]

6. Scripture tells us God's children confidently rejoice and persevere in their faith through the indwelling Holy Spirit. [1 Cor. 2:12; Rom. 8:9,11,14,16; 1 John 3:24, 4:13; Isa. 44:3; cf. Joel 2:28; Rom. 8:38,39]

7. God the Holy Spirit takes Scripture and illumines the mind and heart of his people to see God, but not only to see God…to also be at rest in God.

8. Again as Calvin said, "That the root of faith can never be torn from the godly breast, but clings so fast to the inmost parts that, however faith seems to be shaken or to bend this way or that, its light is never so extinguished or snuffed out that it does not at least lurk as it were beneath the ashes."

The soul’s death…wanting to hide from God.

2009-11-05T09:31:00.001-05:00

“Adam, where are you?” (Gen 3:9), was God’s judgment on Adam’s sin, and it showed that Adam had died as God had said. He hid himself from God, and all mankind after him has sought to do hide from God in as many ways as there are people on earth. To want to hide from God is a spiritual catastrophe, a misery, a total confusion, a ruin, a depravity and, yes, a death. The question God asked sounded horrible to Adam because it carried judgment. Of course grace was with God here too in the coming to and finding Adam. But notice, Adam preferred to hide from this judgement and grace. This was truly the death of the soul.

George H. Tavard in his work on John Calvin’s Psychopannychia entitled, The Starting Point of Calvin’s Theology summarized how Calvin understood the soul’s death. “Calvin in his Psychopannychia wrote, ‘Do you wish to know what the soul’s death is? It is to miss God, to be forsaken by God, to be left to itself. For if God is the soul’s life, the soul that loses God’s presence loses its own life.’ Such a spiritual death is experienced when God’s love presence has been withdrawn. Since there is no light outside of God that is able to illumine our night, ‘our soul, buried in its darkness, is blind’ when the divine light sets. This blindness entails other tragic defects, for by the same token the soul is dumb, ‘unable to make saving confession.’ It is also deaf, ‘unable to hear the living voice.’ And finally it limps, ‘unable to function.’ Calvin asks, ‘What more do you require for death.’ All these decays of the human spirit can already be experienced by sinners in the present life” (Pg., 85-85)

Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.5. Faith is trusting Jesus Christ.

2009-11-03T16:28:00.000-05:00

I was talking with the kids about faith the other day. One of them said, “Sometimes Christian pastors and teachers make faith so hard to understand. What is it really?” Someone said in response, “Faith is simply trusting and depending on the Lord. After all he sent Jesus didn’t he?”

Calvin wrote about faith as trust years ago. Here is the gist of his discussion.

1. Faith is repose upon God's promises. The promises of God are the foundation of our faith. "Faith properly begins with the promise, rests in it, and ends in it" (Pg., 575).

2. Calvin says Christians do have faith in God's commands, threatenings, and prohibitions but true faith does not find its nourishment here. Why? "For in God faith seeks life: a life that is not found in commandments or declarations of penalties, but in the promise of mercy, and only in a freely given promise" (Pg., 575).

3. "Therefore, if we would not have our faith tremble and waver, we must buttress it with the promise of salvation, which is willingly and freely offered to us by the Lord in consideration of our misery rather than our deserts" (Pg., 575).

4. These promises of God are found in Jesus Christ, and Scripture witnesses to him. We are again reminded of the necessary connection between faith and Scripture. The Scriptures direct us to the verity that these promises are found in Jesus Christ. (Rom. 1:17; 2 Cor. 1:20) "The reason for this fact is at hand; for if God promises anything, by it he witnesses his benevolence, so that there is no promise of his which is not a testimony of his love" (Pg., 579).

5. It must be understood; even the wicked receive gifts from the goodness of God's providing hand. However, they reject these gifts of common grace as coming from God's hand and therefore hate and spurn the promise contained in Christ. Rather than the goodness of God leading them to repentance, it leads them to rebellion.

6. "Nothing prevents them, in habitually rejecting the promises intended for them, from thereby bringing upon themselves a greater vengeance" (Pg., 579).

7. Those promises which manifest God's love to man, wicked men are commanded to believe and obey. But if they are not elect in Christ, they will themselves disregard those promises, and not be loved by the Father. "It is indisputable that no one is loved by God apart from Christ" (Pg., 579). [Eph. 1:6; Eph. 2:14; Rom. 8:3 ff]

8. The elect of God have great and exceeding and precious promise, upon which to rest and practise faith.

Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.4. Faith and peace.

2009-10-29T09:19:00.003-04:00

Peace and faith go together. We don’t often think of faith as the way to peace. Knowledge, science, medicine, politics or technologies are the keys to peace, we think. However, faith or trust in the word and will of God brings true peace. Here are Calvin’s thoughts on the relationship between faith and peace.

I should remind my readers that I am using the John T. McNeill edition of Calvin’s Institutes found in The Library of Christian Classics. The summary below covers pages 561-66.

1. Faith and inward peace. From Scripture's testimony we realize that true faith brings and grows the fruit of peace. Actually, peace is a part of faith, due to faith's embracing the gospel. [Rom. 5:1]

2. Calvin says that the "hinge on which faith turns is that a person individually embraces God's promises of mercy. Hence, at last is born that confidence which Paul elsewhere calls 'peace'"(Pg., 561).

3. Yet it must be remembered, as Calvin reminds us, that this faith can be, and is assailed by temptations of the mind and our own conflict with unbelief. But Calvin quickly adds, "we deny that, in whatever way they are afflicted, they fall away and depart from the certain assurance received from God's mercy"(Pg., 562).

4. David is an example of persevering faith. (See, Pg. 563) "So David, even when he might have seemed overwhelmed, in rebuking himself did not cease to rise up to God. He who, struggling with his own weakness, presses toward faith in his moments of anxiety is already in large part victorious"(Pg., 563).

5. From David's life, from the life of other saints in the Bible and our own life we understand that there is a conflict between faith and unbelief. Why? Calvin gives 2 reasons.
a. The division between flesh and spirit.
b. The godly heart feels itself divided between a love for God's goodness and hatred of our own sin, a restful reliance upon God's promises and an awareness of our "restless reliance," and a great expectation of eternal life, and fear of death.

6. However, Calvin is quick to remind us that, "the end of the conflict is always this: that faith ultimately triumphs over those difficulties which besiege and seem to imperil it" (Pg., 564).

7. Weak faith however is still real faith; hence faith is weak and strong at times. [1 Cor. 13:9-12] For the weakness to be cured and faith to be strengthened "we must constantly keep at learning," from the Scriptures (Pg., 565).

8. The Scripture fortifies faith. "The Word, which is an incorruptible seed, brings forth fruit like itself, whose fertility never wholly dries up and dies" (Pg. 567).

9. "Holy fear" also strengthens faith and peace. [1 Cor. 10:11, Ps 5:7, Phil 2:12-13] Calvin explains how this occurs. "This happens when believers, considering that the examples of divine wrath are executed upon the ungodly as warnings to them, take special care not to provoke God=s wrath against them by the same offences; or, when inwardly contemplating their own misery, learn to depend wholly upon the Lord, without whom they see themselves more unstable and fleeting than any wind" (Pg., 568).

10. Faith and peace live together. [Ps. 23:4] We must be "content with this certainty: that, however many things fail us that have to do with the maintenance of this life, God will never fail. Rather, the chief assurance of faith rests in the expectation of the life to come, which has been placed beyond doubt through the Word of God. Yet whatever earthly miseries and calamities await those whom God has embraced in his love, these cannot hinder his benevolence from being their full happiness" (Pg., 574).

Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.3. Faith and knowledge.

2009-10-28T09:01:00.003-04:00

Beginning with the Enlightenment to the present day the West has had anxiety over the relation, or lack thereof, between faith and reason. The worried language has set itself in terms of “faith and science,” or “religion and reason,” or even “conservatives and liberals.” Now that western civilization has “fallen,” it seems we are coming around to understand that faith is a gate to knowledge, and is actually not without knowledge at all. Of course this has given rise to a new resurgent and militant atheism; the likes of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens to mention a few.

Calvin and those before him did not believe real faith was empty or disconnected with knowledge. He tackled this issue in Chapter 3, Bk.2. Here I summarize that section.

1. Biblical faith has more than one component. The Bible speaks of faith in terms of knowledge, inward peace and a full repose upon the promises of God. Calvin explains all three with great clarity.

2. Faith and knowledge. They are not contradictions but rather inseparable friends.

3. First of all, when faith is called knowledge, it refers to that apprehension which grasps and “really, lovingly knows the infinite truth of God. [Eph 3:18-19]

4. Secondly, faith is called recognition [Eph 1:17; 4:13; Col 1:9; 3:10; 1 Tim 2:4; Titus 1:1; Philemon 6; 2 Pet 2:21]. John asserts that God’s children can have the knowledge (recognition) that they are God’s children. “But, as Calvin writes, they are more strengthened by the persuasion of divine truth than instructed by rational proof” (Pg., 560).

The mistake we have fallen into since the rise of Christian liberalism and its affront against the reality of God’s work in incarnation, miracle, and atonement is that we have sought proof for persuasion rather than be persuaded by God’s promises by the Spirit. Calvin has good advice to help us here.

5. Third, this faith called knowledge can and often does come with great certainty due to the sureness of God’s promises. [Rom 4:16; Ps 19:7]

6. Calvin says, “As faith is not content with a doubtful and changeable opinion, so is it not content with an obscure and confused conception; but requires full and fixed certainty, such as men are wont to have from things experienced and proved” (Pg., 560).

7. Calvin essentially demands that true faith and knowledge always includes certainty! His reason for this is twofold.
a. “For unbelief is so deeply rooted in our hearts, and we are so inclined to it, that not without hard struggle is each one able to persuade himself of what all confess with the mouth: namely, that God is faithful” (Pg., 560).

b. Going half-way in faith leaves the human soul in great fear. That is, God in his goodness is manifested to us so as to leave us without doubt; therefore those who do doubt do not stand before God with tranquil hearts. “This kind of faith,” says Calvin, “is no right faith” (Pg., 561).

8. Is Calvin completely correct? Can a person have true faith and still not have confidence, or at least struggle with assurance from time to time? Yes. Calvin was not completely correct and a person can struggle and still have true faith. (See WCF, XVIII)

9. However, we must always cleave to Calvin’s advice when he says, “Surely, as often as God commends his Word to us, he indirectly rebukes us for our unbelief, for he has no other intention than to uproot perverse doubts from our hearts” (Pg., 560-561). God says we can boldly claim His promises and come before his presence. [Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:15-16]

Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.2.

2009-10-27T09:33:00.003-04:00

We had a good weekend. Saturday I had the privilege of sharing the faith of Jesus with a number of prisoners at our local jail; and Sunday, as always, our faith was built up and re-aligned to Jesus Christ again. So I am glad to start with this summary on what Calvin said about faith itself in Book 3, chapter 2 of his Institutes.

By the way if you are interested in a good book on Calvin’s doctrine of faith read Victor Shepherd’s, The Nature and Function of Faith in the Theology of John Calvin. You can purchase it here
http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/books_by_victor_shepherd.htm

“Everybody has a faith” is a common statement of faith today! As a result, faith is defined many ways for many people, and as a result, true saving faith is misunderstood. This was a problem in Calvin’s day as well, thus he spends some time refuting false concepts of faith in order to clear the road for understanding true faith.

1. The first kind of false faith he refutes is what he terms “shadow-shapes of faith” (Pg., 554), or “image faith”(Pg., 554), or “unformed faith” (Pg., 551). What is it? “People who are touched by no fear of God, no sense of piety, nevertheless believe whatever it is necessary to know for salvation” (Pg., 551).

2. In a nut shell, this “shadow-shaped faith” is belief that faith without works is still true faith. Or to put it another, this “shadow-shaped faith” is justification without sanctification. This is false faith [Acts 8:13; Lk 8:6-13; Jn 8:29-59; James 2].

For Calvin the goal of justification was sanctification. Thus the whole point of faith was not just justification, but justification for sanctification. Justification is strategically first, but the goal is sanctification. Karl Barth clearly explained this in his Church Dogmatics. In the CD. Vol.IV. Pt.2, he says, “Calvin in Bk III does deal with the order. Calvin basically teaches here that, "God renews those whom he freely reckons as righteous for the cultivation of righteousness (Bk III, 11:6).” Barth says Calvin is the theologian of sanctification because he seeks to answer a very biblical question, "What is it that God by his grace and will, wills to accomplish in man?" Yet, as a study of the Institutes shows Calvin hinges everything on justification. Without this foundation there is neither assurance or sanctification. In all his explanation of the life of the Christian he never loses sight of justification. So we can and must say Calvin was the theologian of justification too. So…"we can and should learn from the classical example of his mode of treatment that we can give only a twofold answer to the question of priority in the relationship of these two moments and aspects. Calvin was quite in earnest when he gave sanctification a strategic precedence over justification. He was also quite in earnest when he gave the latter a tactical precedence." Pg, 510.

Back to the summary.

3. Calvin’s biblical refutation. “Since faith embraces Christ, as offered to us by the Father [cf. Jn 6:29] - that is, since he is offered not only for righteousness, forgiveness of sins, and peace, but also for sanctification [cf. 1 Cor 1:30] and the fountain of the water of life [Jn 7:38; cf. 4:14] - without a doubt, no one can duly know him without at the same time apprehending the sanctification of the Spirit....And Christ cannot be known apart from the sanctification of his Spirit. It follows that faith can in no wise be separated from a devout disposition” (Pg., 552).

4. How is false faith distinguished from true faith? Calvin gives 5 marks.
a) True faith flourishes confidence; false faith divided allegiance. [Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15]

b) The elect are regenerated with incorruptible seed, forever [1Pet 1:23]; the reprobate are not regenerated at all and hence are not steady in life or faith - they do not persevere.

c) “The reprobate never receive anything but a confused awareness of grace, so that they grasp a shadow rather than the firm body of it. For the Spirit, strictly speaking, seals the forgiveness of sins in the elect alone, so that they apply it by special faith to their own use” (Pg., 555).

d) He does not show Himself merciful to them, to the extent of truly snatching them from death and receiving them into His keeping, but only manifests to them His mercy for the time being. Only His elect does He account worthy of receiving the living root of faith so that they may endure to the end [Matt 24:13]” (Pg., 556).

e) True faith grasps and grows in the truths of Scripture, but false faith cannot penetrate into the Scriptures. That is, they cannot know them - lovingly.

5. Calvin sums it up this way. “However deficient or weak faith may be in the elect, still, because the Spirit of God is for them the sure guarantee and seal of their adoption [Eph 1:14; cf. 2 Cor 1:22], the mark He has engraved can never be erased from their hearts; but on the wicked such light is shed as may afterward pass away” (Pg., 556). [see pg., 557 for the discussion on God’s chastisement]

6. Calvin advises us to understand the many definitions of faith so that we can distinguish saving faith from other forms of faith.

7. Faith means doctrine. “Faith is rightly extended to the whole sum of heavenly doctrine, from which it cannot be separated” (Pg., 558). [1 Tim 4:6; Col 2:3 ]

8. Faith refers to an object [Matt 9:2; 8:10]; faith is connected with the performance of miracles [1 Cor 13], and faith is connected with the activity of teaching in the church. [see pg., 559 for an explanation of this.]

9. But what is that faith; what are the aspects of true saving faith, through and by which we call upon God, are justified and receive all the benefits of redemption? Calvin answers this question in the remainder of this chapter. I will summarize the answers in the next entry.

Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.1.

2009-10-24T13:50:00.002-04:00

The Canadian Presbyterian theologian Walter W. Bryden said, "The Christian is an optimist…because he believes God has come and does come into this world. The Christian's faith and hope lie in the fact that the Word was made flesh." This faith, like Jesus, is a gift God gives us so that by his gift we can come into his presence and live out our human lives as new creations. Knowing that faith is the principle work of the Spirit, what is its object, what is faith and how does the Spirit bring faith to the sinner? Calvin answers these questions in this great “faith chapter” of his Institutes.

Because of the size of the chapter I will summarize it over at least 5 entries. It really is a great chapter.

1. The object of faith. It is not the law of God or human ability. Rather, the object of true faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the express revelation of God. [2 Cor 4:6; Jn 17:3; Heb 1:3]

2. God in all his power and redemptive grace would have remained hidden from us if he had not purposed to reveal himself by Christ. Christ is the life, the living water, living bread and way. He is the One sent from and by God to be the Saviour. In short, he is the revelation of God himself, and thus true faith looks to Christ alone.

3. “As God he is the destination to which we move; as man, the path by which we go. Both are found in Christ alone. But, while Paul proclaims faith in God, he does not have in mind to overturn what he so often emphasizes concerning faith: namely, that all its stability rests in Christ” (Pg., 544).

4. This faith must rest explicitly upon Christ alone and simultaneously be dressed with true knowledge of Christ. Implicit faith, which is simultaneously covered with ignorance requires a person to “submit their feelings, obediently to the whim of a church” (Pg., 545), or person. This is not true faith, it is a blind fold used to cover and hide Christ as revealed by the Spirit in Scripture. Calvin writes, “Faith consists n the knowledge of God and Christ [Jn 17:3], not in reverence for the church” (Pg., 545).

Of course this does not mean the church should not preach Jesus. She must, and therefore she must judge herself to see what her “whim” is. If the whim is church growth, or psychological self-help (I could list countless other things), then she is not helping people have an explicit faith in the Lord of the world, and she needs to repent.

And if her “whim” is to preach Christ Jesus, well then she must still judge herself so she can stay on track and give people what Hauerwas once wrote, “the interpretive skills, a truthful understanding of how to see the world under the banner of Jesus Christ.”

5. Does this mean all implicit faith is wrong? No. Implicit faith is wrong when persons in a position of authority demand the “blind faith” of others, while teaching them error or not teaching them at all. Implicit faith is legitimate when it is “strictly nothing but the preparation of faith” (Pg., 547). [i.e Jn 4:50-53; 42; Lk 24:11-12; Jn 20:8]

6. The disciples are an example of this legitimate implicit faith. Notice their whole attitude about the resurrection. Jesus had told them of this truth, but they did not finally believe until they discerned for themselves the truth Jesus’ words by the resurrection fact itself. Calvin says, “Not that they then began to believe, but because the seed of hidden faith - which had been dead, as it were, in their hearts - at that time burst through with renewed vigour! For there was in them a true but implicit faith because they had reverently embraced Christ as their sole teacher” (Pg., 547).

7. Anselm sums up the meaning of true implicit faith in the phrase “Faith seeks understanding.” Because we are surrounded by many obstacles and clouds, our faith is not complete. But we must strive to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, and teachers of the church must seek to make the members of Christ, scholars of Christ who abound in the knowledge of the object of true faith, namely Jesus Christ.

The church has climate

2009-10-23T09:28:00.001-04:00

An ethos is a tone, sentiment, or climate of a people or community. I like the word climate the best. Denominations and individual churches throughout history have had a myriad of climates; from war to greed, from gospel to legalism, from fundamentalism to 19th century Victorian acceptability etc. The question is not whether we should have an ethos; the question is which one, and who or what will give us this ethos.

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer traveled in America in 1930-31 he said this about the American church ethos. "The church is really no longer the place where the congregation hears and preaches God's word, but rather the place where one acquires secondary significance as a social entity for this or that purpose." Imagine coming to church only to hear about ourselves and our reason for having church!

No wonder people left the church from the 1950’s on. Why go when the climate is so bad or boring. Praise the Lord this is slowly changing.

God in Jesus Christ is true, challenging, divine, judging, holy, and world-changing. This is not bad or boring. To be in Christ and have him proclaimed in church is to be in an exciting environment, in a good climate.

Calvin’s Institutes: God’s Spirit works to bring us faith in Christ.

2009-10-22T20:46:00.002-04:00

I am at Book 3 in my summaries of Calvin's Institutes.

Having considered who God is, what we are (Bk. 1), and Christ the Redeemer (Bk 2); we now have the blessing and responsibility, as Calvin writes, to understand, “how we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on His only begotten Son” (Pg., 537).

Because the main message of Bk.3 is how a sinner receives the blessing of God’s grace of salvation the main concepts of faith, prayer, and election are discussed. With the study of faith comes justification, merit, Christian liberty and all that. And when we talk of prayer, of course, the Christian engaged in faith asks God for forgiveness and salvation in Jesus name. All this raises the question of who will receive faith, and who is really heard of God. This brings us to election.

Well, here is the summary of ch.1

1. To have the Son is to have eternal life. However, to be without the Son is to be without God forever, and experience an existence without God’s love and blessing. This existence is in the Lake of Fire, and is truly hell because God in his love and mercy are not there. Calvin in all his ministry laboured to bring the gospel to men to bring them to Jesus’ blessing of life. May we do the same.

2. “All that he (Christ) possesses is nothing to us until we grow into one body with him” (Pg., 537). [Eph 4:15; Rom 8:29; Rom 11:17; Gal 3:27] And we will not grow into one body with him apart from the revealing work of the Holy Spirit.

3. Well, we are sitting at the edge of our seats. That is, those whom the Spirit is effectually calling want to know and embrace Christ.

Christ, our Redeemer, came to this earth with the fullness of the Spirit. [Jn 3:34] Calvin teaches that this special endowment of the Spirit upon Christ was for the express purpose of separating His people from the world and gather them “unto the hope of the eternal inheritance” (Pg., 538). [see section # 2. Pg., 538]

4. Also, “God the Father gives us the Holy Spirit for his Son’s sake” (Pg., 538). We receive the revelation of life and hope through the same Spirit Christ possessed; “without which no one can taste either the fatherly favour of God or the beneficence of Christ” (Pg., 539).

5. God the Holy Spirit has one great principle work. It is the giving, establishing and strengthening of faith, so that through faith in Christ we may have life in Christ. He is “the inner teacher by whose effort the promise of salvation penetrates into our minds” (Pg., 541).

6. True faith, “has not other source than the Spirit” (Pg., 541). [2 Thess 2:13; 1 Jn 4:34; 1 Jn 4:13; Jn 14:17] He is the Illuminator, the Teacher who draws to Christ those whom the Father has given to Christ. [Jn 6:44; 12:32; 17:6]

7. That we might be saved, Jesus, “ ‘Baptizes us in the Holy Spirit and fire’ [Lk 3:16], bringing us into the light of faith in his gospel and so regenerating us that we become new creatures [cf. 2 Cor 5:17]; and he consecrates us, purges us of uncleanness to be temples holy to God [cf. 1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21]” (Pg., 542).

Does the church know the definitions?

2009-10-22T15:22:00.001-04:00

The church and unbelieving world can and do use the same words. A few of the most popular words today are justice, peace, equality, relationship, and freedom. This is not bad. What’s bad is when the church uses these words in the same way as unbelieving society. Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon brought this out in their book, Resident Aliens.

“Big words like ‘peace’ and ‘justice,’ slogans the church adopts under the presumption that, even if people do not know what ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ means, they will know what peace and justice means, are words awaiting content. The church really does not know what these words mean apart from the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth…It is Jesus’ story that gives content to our faith, judges any institutional embodiment of our faith, and teaches us to be suspicious of any political slogan that does not need God to make itself credible” (Pg, 38).

Jesus Christ is the Word of God, and therefore also the defining shape for our words of justice, peace, relationship, and so on. The trouble for the believer in our Western Culture is in part that we are afraid to say Jesus Christ is Lord. Therefore, we have no more meaning to our justice, or peace, or relationship than today’s mere economist, politician, or democratic defender.

So the question does the church know the definitions? Not if we do not know the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Thankfully, many, many churches around the world are learning the Word of God.

Calvin’s Institutes: Jesus our Mediator, our way to God.

2009-10-21T20:39:00.002-04:00

We are at Book 2, chapter 17 in our ongoing summary of Calvin’s Institutes. It’s the last chapter of Book 2, and what a great ending it is. The topic is the merit of Christ and how he properly merited our salvation as our Mediator.

A few weeks ago I purchased T.F. Torrance’s, The Mediation of Christ. In it he recaptures the doctrine which was largely forgotten in 19th and 20th century theology. Torrance clearly shows that Athanasius, Calvin, and Barth asserted that only Christ and Christ alone is the bridge and way to God. Torrance also connects the mediatorship of Jesus to the Trinity. A great work to read along with Calvin.

1. God in his wisdom and purpose elected Jesus Christ to be our Mediator to gain salvation and new creation for his people. Calvin wrote, "In discussing Christ's merit, we do not consider the beginning of merit to be in him, but we go back to God's ordinance, the first cause. For God solely of his own good pleasure appointed him Mediator to obtain salvation for us" (Pg., 529).

2. Again. "Both God's free favor and Christ's obedience, each in its degree, are fitly opposed to our works. Apart from God's good pleasure Christ could not merit anything; but did so because he had been appointed to appease God's wrath with His sacrifice, and to blot out our transgressions with His obedience" (Pg., 529). Scripture testifies to the work of Christ in these passages. [Eph 4-5; 1 Jn 4:10; 2 Cor 5:21 etc.]

3. At this juncture Calvin asks how could God choose us in Christ and love us to such a degree that he ordains Jesus to be our Mediator. To put the question another way, “How could God love us in eternity past?”

Calvin said the answer was found in God’s purpose of reconciliation by the Person and work of Jesus. God contemplated the world as fallen; then according to his good pleasure he predestinated some of those sinners to salvation; then he decreed to redeem the elect by the atoning work of Christ; then in time, God decreed to apply Christ's redemptive work to the elect.

4. Through this Christ's grace is joined to God's love. In this work of Jesus, satisfaction, substitution and redemption were accomplished on the sinner's behalf, by Christ's work. God loved us so he gave Jesus Christ for our salvation. Jesus worked on our behalf as our Mediator to join us, or bring us to that love.

5. To explain this joining a little more we should remember Christ's work was also propitiatory. "If he paid the penalty owed by us, if he appeased God by his obedience - in short, if as a righteous man he suffered for unrighteous men - then he acquired salvation for us by his righteousness, which is tantamount to deserving it" (Pg., 530).

6. Christ's work was substitutionary. "Christ became a curse for us" [Gal 3:13]. "It was superfluous, even absurd, for Christ to be burdened with a curse, unless it was to acquire righteousness for others by paying what they owed" (Pg., 532). [Is 53:5, 8; 1 Pet 2:24]

7. Christ's work was redemptive. In our stead, Jesus paid what we could not nor would not pay. "God has given the price of redemption in the death of Christ [Rom 3:24]; then he bids us take refuge in Christ's blood, that having acquired righteousness we may stand secure before God's judgment [Rom 3:25]" (Pg., 532). [1 Pet 1:18-19; 1 Cor 6:20; 1 Tim 2:5-6; Col 1:14; 1 Jn 2:12; Eh 5:2; Gal 4:4-5]

Calvin’s Institutes. His Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, Part 4: Jesus the Resurrection, King, and Judge.

2009-10-16T09:14:00.002-04:00

1. The Apostles Creed, like the bible does not stop with the trial, death and burial of the Redeemer. “On the third day He rose again from the dead” [1 Cor 15:4]. There must be more than death for our salvation; there must be resurrection.

2. Why? Calvin explains. “For since only weakness appears in the cross, death, and burial of Christ, faith must leap over all these things to attain its full strength. We have in His death the completed fulfilment of salvation, for through it we are reconciled to God, His righteous judgment is satisfied, the curse is removed, and the penalty paid in full. Nevertheless, we are said to ‘have been born anew to a living hope,’ not through His death but ‘through His resurrection’ [1 Pet 1:3]” (Pg., 520).

3. There would have been no hope of the glorious resurrection if Christ had been conquered by death rather than conquering death. [Rom 1:4; 2 Cor 13:4; 1 Cor 15:54-57]

4. The resurrected Christ is our Mediator [Rom 8:34]; the believer is raised with Christ [Rom 6:4; Col 3:1-5]. These words tell us plainly that we are to follow after holiness, and that we have been “reborn into righteousness through Christ’s power” (Pg., 522).

5. By his resurrection, “we are assured of our won resurrection by receiving a sort of guarantee substantiated by His” (Pg., 522). [1 Cor 15:12-26]

6. The Apostles Creed declares that Christ “ascended into heaven.” Calvin says that at this event “He truly inaugurated His Kingdom” (Pg., 522).

Calvin gives five reasons for this statement.
a) Jesus ascended into heaven that he might fill all things. (Eph 4:10)
b) He left us that he might be more useful to us; being our Mediator, our Advocate, and Intercessor. See section 16 on page 524.
c) Jesus went to the Father that he might send the fullness of the Spirit. (Jn 16:7)
d) Jesus was fully glorified. (Jn 7:39)
e) He went away so that he might come again in glory. (Jn 14:18-19; 16:14)

7. Calvin sums it up this way: “Carried up into heaven, therefore, He withdrew His bodily presence from our sight [Acts 1:9], not to cease to be present with believers still on their earthly pilgrimage, but to rule heaven and earth with more immediate power. But by His ascension He fulfilled what He had promised: that He would be with us even unto the end of the world” (Pg., 523).

8. The Apostles Creed then follows with the declaration that Jesus was “seated at the right hand of the Father.” Clearly this is the seat of sovereign authority. From here King Jesus rules His kingdom. [Eph 1:20-22 cf. Phil 2:9; 1 Cor 15:27]

9. Jesus the Redeemer is “sitting, enthroned that both heavenly and earthly creatures may look with admiration upon His majesty, be ruled by His hand, obey His nod, and submit to His power” (Pg., 524).

10. This Apostles Creed also gives us wonderful, yet sober news concerning the judging activity of our Redeemer: “From whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.” In that last day, Christ will visibly come to judge and consequently, “No one - living or dead - shall escape His judgment” (Pg., 525). Hebrews 9:27 “And it is appointed for man to die once, but after this the judgment.”

11. Calvin gave wonderful consolation to the redeemed by telling them that the redeemed will never be destroyed by the great judge of heaven and earth.

12. “We perceive judgment to be in the hands of Him who has already destined us to share with Him the honour of judging [cf. Matt 19:28]! Far indeed is He from mounting His judgment seat to condemn us! How could our most merciful Ruler destroy His people” (Pg., 526).

13. From what the creed heralds concerning the work of the Redeemer, it is obvious that all of salvation and reconciliation is achieved and found in Christ alone. [Acts 4:12; 1 Cor 1:30]

A great book on church growth.

2009-10-14T10:51:00.002-04:00

Last night I read Dr. Jack C. Whytock’s book, Continental Calvinian Influences on the Scottish Reformation. You can purchase it from here http://www.haddingtonhouse.org/

Yes, as you probably guessed from the title this is a scholarly work on how the continental Reformers, particularly John a Lasco, Valerand Poullain, and the French Reformed Church impacted the 1560 Scottish Book of Discipline. So, it is about how church discipline was formulated in the old days. Sound dry and boring? No it is not.

Dr. Whytock shows that the Reformation was no monolithic affair. There were similarities (Calvinian similarities), but there was also great adaptability as the church grew. The Reformation Church sought to apply the bible to ad hoc situations and this brought with it both similarity and diversity. Dr. Whytock brings this out and then gives a dynamic conclusion. The conclusion is worth the book.

For the church to grow she needs to be growing; that is reforming. Dr. Whytock shows that the Reformation Church was not “institutionalized” but was growing as she grew. She sought to be a healthy church, organically alive for the sake of the gospel. The fact is we need in our day a healthy ecclesiology where we "define the church within God's mission." (Pg, 104). And to do that we must keep the church the body of Christ; not make it our institution by our institutionalism. We must keep on reforming.

When it comes to church discipline Dr. Whytock gives sound advice both to the libertines who would reject its practice, and the legalists who would abuse it. In the church he writes, "We are struggling with a new spirit of libertinism in much of the visible Christian community. The practice of discipline is to be undertaken in love; but a love which offers no restraints, correction, admonition and discipline is no love at all….A household cannot function well and for the good of all concerned with limitless libertine practices….Yet, at the same time a balance must be found between freedom and regulation – total freedom leads to problems; total regulation leads to problems” (Pg, 101). This is applied to the church. If there is no discipline and order; what will happen to the gospel? To put anther way, if there is no theology what will happen to the gospel? Our modern church needs to judge herself in this regard.

But on the other hand there is legalism. Dr. Whytock warns against this too. He correctly writes, “a legalistic spirit in the application of church discipline...leads to abuse." This legalism seeks to institutionalize discipline and then we make a machine out of the church. To institutionalize church discipline, "can lead to a fossilization of uniformity rather than a careful consideration of cultural context, providential circumstances, growth in wisdom and balanced diversity in the body of Christ" (Pg, 102). I think this can be applied to methods of preaching, church order, patterns of worship, or even a specific pietism. The church is different in different places after all.

This book helped me to realize that the Reformers were not institutionalized! They regulated themselves to the Scriptures in regards to the gospel, Christ, etc., but at the same time were free to incorporate methods needful to spread that gospel and help the church grow. The 16th century Reformers practiced semper reformanda in its study of Scripture and church life.

So why is this a good book on church growth? It is a story about the church in the 16th century which had one goal…to spread the gospel of Jesus by upholding it’s truth, helping it to be lived out in the lives of the people, and by setting the church as a place of organic growth where ministers, people, and church discipline are practiced in truth and love for the sake of the gospel.

To accomplish this multi-faceted goal the Reformers didn't box themselves in to their culture or another culture. They were flexible as they served to get the unchanging gospel to the people. That is why this book is helpful for us.

Calvin’s Institutes. His Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, Part 3: The life and obedience of Jesus for our salvation continued…

2009-10-14T09:26:00.003-04:00

1. In his work of atonement and redemption, Christ was "crucified, died and was buried." Why did this take place? "For the price of our redemption" (pg., 511), and glorious sanctification.

2. In hanging upon the cross he became a curse in our stead. Our sin was put on him, by the Father’s gracious will [2 Cor 5:25;], in order that it would be taken away from us. This sacrifice was foreshadowed under Moses . “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” [1 Cor 15:3].

Calvin writes, "What was figuratively represented in the Mosaic sacrifices is manifested in Christ, the archetype of the figures. Therefore, to perform a perfect expiation, He gave His own life as an Asham, that is, as an expiatory offering for sin, as the prophet calls it in [Is 53:10 cf. v.5], upon which our stain and punishment might somehow be cast, and cease to be imputed to us" (Pg., 510).

3. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, because he was the sinners substitute. Calvin writes about this good news this way. "Christ was offered to the Father in death as an expiatory sacrifice that when He discharged all satisfaction through His sacrifice, we might cease to be afraid of God's wrath" (Pg., 510). [2 Cor 5:21; Rom 8:3; Is 53:6; 1 Pet 2:24; Gal 3:13-14; Col 2:14-15; Heb 9:14; Eph 5:26; Titus 3:5; Rev 1:51; Pet 3:18; 1 Jn 2:1-2; Gal 3:13; Rom 8:3].

4. Calvin gives six accomplishments Christ secured by His death.
a) He ensured that we would not die who are found in Him.
b) Redeemed us to life by His own death.
c) He engulfed death, which soon would have engulfed us.
d) Destroyed the power of death.
e) Destroyed the devil.
f) Mortified our earthly members. (we are crucified with Christ; Rom 6)

5. The Apostles' Creed reads that our Redeemer "asdescended into hell." How are we to understand this, when Jesus is our resurrection?

6. Calvin writes that not only did Christ suffer in the sight of man, but he also suffered in the sight of God. Calvin says, "No wonder, then, If He is said to have descended into hell, for He suffered the death that God in His wrath had inflicted upon the wicked" (Pg., 516).

7. "He bore the weight of divine severity, since He was stricken and afflicted [Is 53:5] by God's hand, and experienced all the signs of a wrathful and avenging God.......No more terrible abyss can be conceived than to feel yourself forsaken and estranged from God; and when you call upon Him, not to be heard. It is as if God Himself had plotted your ruin. We see that Christ was so cast down as to be compelled to cry out in deep anguish: 'My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?' [Ps 22:1; Matt 27:46]" (Pg., 517, 516).

Calvin’s Institutes. His Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, Part 2: The life and obedience of Jesus for our salvation.

2009-10-13T09:18:00.002-04:00

The Apostles’ Creed confesses what Jesus did while on earth. It does not recite his miracles, kind gestures to the children, or prayers. It simply says, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, and on the third day rose again from the dead.” Nevertheless this contains his whole work. Calvin asserts this in this section of his Institutes. My summary continues.

1. Christ the Redeemer abolished guilt, sin, alienation from God, and obtained righteousness and adoption for his people, “by the whole course of His obedience” (Pg., 507). [Rom 5:19; Gal 4:4-5; Matt 3:15]

2. Scripture does testify that Christ, by his life, death, first advent, and substitutionary sacrifice has redeemed His people [Matt 20:28; Rom 4:25; Jn 1:29; Rom 3:24-25; 5:9-10]. All these works are works of his obedience as God’s elect servant [Phil 2:7-8].

Some adamantly seek to maintain the two categories of the active and passive obedience of Christ. This seems as a matter of semantics to me because all of Christ’s work was active for our salvation.

3. As Calvin writes, “No proper sacrifice to God could have been offered unless Christ, disregarding his own feelings, subjected and yielded himself wholly to his Father’s will” (Pg., 508). [Heb 10:7-9] Calvin explains the obedience of Christ by explaining the Apostles Creed.

4. To what kind of death was he obedient to? It could not be an ordinary death. It had to be an atoning and propitiatory death. “To make satisfaction for our redemption a form of death had to be chosen in which he might free us both by transferring our condemnation to himself and by taking our guilt upon himself” (Pg., 509).

5. In his trial before Pilate, he took the role of a guilty man and an evil criminal.

6. In this trial there are two fulfilled prophecies which directly connect with the atoning work of Christ.

a. Jesus was nailed to the tree between two thieves fulfilling Is 53:12, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” “Why so? Surely that He might die in the place of the sinner, not of the righteous or innocent man. For He suffered death not because of innocence but because of sin” (Pg., 509).

b. Jesus was declared innocent by Pilot three times, fulfilling Psalm 69:4. Calvin explains, “Thus we shall behold the person of a sinner and evildoer represented in Christ, yet from his shining innocence it will at the same time be obvious that he was burdened with another’s sin rather than his own. This is our acquittal: the guilt that held us liable for punishment has been transferred to the head of the Son of God [Is 53:12]” (Pg., 509).

Great watermelon

2009-10-12T18:48:00.005-04:00

My two girls were siting on our steps eating watermelon this past summer. Here is a picture. The reason I posted it is because it is a picture of joy and satisfaction. However our source of joy and satisfaction was not only watermelon; it was theology too. I remember the many theological and discussions about God we had on the porch. And of course talking about God and learning of his glory is like a refreshing watermelon to the taste. It statifies and makes us joyful.

Calvin’s Institutes. His Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, Part 1: Election comes first.

2009-10-09T09:52:00.003-04:00

"How Christ Has Fulfilled the Function of Redeemer to Acquire Salvation for Us," is the first sentence in the title for Book II, chapter 16. The title is long and so is the chapter. Here Calvin basically gives his commentary on the Apostle’s Creed. Because of the length my summaries will span over a few entries.

But before Calvin gets to the Creed, election and predestination come up. Why? Well, if Jesus is the only Saviour who came to provide atonement for sin, who receives this atonement?

1. At the beginning of the chapter Calvin writes, “Condemned, dead, and lost in ourselves, we should seek righteousness, liberation, life and salvation in Him, as we are taught by that well-known saying of Peter: ‘There is not other name under heaven given to men in which we must be saved’ [Acts 4:12]” (Pg., 508).

2. The decree of God is that Christ alone is the Redeemer and “He has come to save His people form their sins.” [Matt 1:21]

3. Christ came to redeem us from the wrath and curse of God. However, the question of predestination and election always comes up at this point. Calvin writes, “it is fitting that God, who anticipates us by His mercy, should have been our enemy until He was reconciled to us through Christ. For how could He have given in His only-begotten Son a singular pledge of His love to us if He had not already embraced us with His free favour?” (Pg, 504).

4. Many think this is a contradiction, but it is not. The Bible teaches that all, even the elect of God are born in sin and under guilt [Rom 5:10; Gal 3:10, 13; Col 1:21-22; Eph 2:1-9]. These expressions are given so the elect, by and through the convicting work and effectual call of the Spirit, will understand their sinful condition and God’s salvation in Christ alone.

5. All that will ever be saved are saved because of eternal election and predestination. But it must be remembered that they are chosen by the Father’s love to be delivered from sin and wrath; and they are predestined to be redeemed from sin and holy wrath - in time.

6. Calvin sums it up: “Since our hearts cannot, in God’s mercy, either seize upon life ardently enough to accept it with the gratefulness we owe, unless our minds are first struck and overwhelmed by fear of God’s wrath and by dread of eternal death, we are taught by Scripture to perceive that apart from Christ, God is, so to speak, hostile to us, and His hand is armed for our destruction; to embrace His benevolence and fatherly love in Christ alone” (Pg., 505).

7. We are not loveable due to our sin. We deserve God’s judgement, because we have earned it by nature and action. However, because God’s people are predestined to be redeemed by Christ, “the Lord will not lose what is His in us” (Pg., 505).

8. We brought death upon ourselves through Adam, yet the elect remain God’ creatures. Yet, due to man’s sin and God’s holiness alienation exists between God and man.

9. “Therefore, to take away all cause for enmity and to reconcile us utterly to Himself, He wipes out all evil in us by the expiation set forth in the death of Christ; that we, who were previously unclean and impure, may show ourselves righteous and holy in His sight. Therefore, by His love God the Father goes before and anticipates our reconciliation in Christ. Indeed, ‘because He first loved us’ [1 Jn 4:19], He afterward reconciles us to Himself” (Pg., 506).

10. Calvin quotes, in my judgment one of the most beautiful passages from Augustine to explain how God can at the same time love and hate those whom he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world. Here it is.
“God’s love is incomprehensible and unchangeable. For it was not after we were reconciled to him through the blood of his Son that he began to love us. Rather, he has loved us before the world was created, that we also might be his sons along with his only begotten Son – before we became anything at all. The fact that we are reconciled through Christ’s death must not be understood as if his Son reconciled us to him that he might now begin to love those whom he had hated. Rather, we have already been reconciled to him who loves us, with whom we were enemies on account of sin. The Apostle will testify whether I am speaking the truth: ‘God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’ [Rom 5:8]. Therefore, he loved us even when we practiced enmity toward him and committed wickedness. Thus, in a marvellous and divine way he loved us even when he hated us. For he hated us for what we were that he had made; yet because our wickedness had not entirely consumed his handiwork, he knew how, at the same time, to hate in each one of us what we had made, and to love what he had made.” This is from Augustine’s work of John’s gospel, NPNV VII.411.

Calvin’s Institutes: Jesus the Prophet, King, and Priest.

2009-10-08T09:05:00.001-04:00

As promised in my last post...I'm back at it with Calvin's Institutes.

Chapter 15 of Book 2 describes Jesus’ threefold offices.

1. This God-man, our Redeemer perfectly executes the offices of Prophet, King, and Priest to secure redemption.

2. The prophet of Israel spoke of the coming true and eternal Prophet. [Is 55:4; 9:6; 28:29; Jer 32:19; Heb 1:1-2; Ps 74:9; Dan 9:24]

3. Jesus Christ the perfect Prophet proclaimed perfect truth. “The perfect doctrine He has brought has made an and to all prophecies....the prophetic dignity in Christ leads us to know that in the sum of doctrine as He has given it to us, all parts of perfect wisdom are contained” (Pg., 496).

4. Jesus the Mediator is also King. This Kingship is real, yet spiritual in nature. Therefore it is eternal and victorious. Christ’s kingdom is the church and “God surely promises here that through the hand of His Son He will be the eternal protector and defender of His church......Whenever we hear of Christ as armed with eternal power, let us remember that the perpetuity of the church is secure in this protection” (Pg., 497).

5. As Christ is King over his kingdom so is he king over his people. This means that he blesses us spiritually. He rules us “more for our own sake than for His” (Pg., 498).

6. What are these blessings? (1) Eternal salvation. (2) “Courage to stand unconquerable against all the assaults of spiritual enemies” (Pg., 498). (3) Victory over the world, flesh, and devil. (4) Spiritual hopes and Joys. (5) Eternal communion with the King Himself. [Rom 14:17] See the middle paragraph on page 499.

7. Christ is a sovereign King (1 Cor 8:6; Phil 2:9-11), and “believers stand unconquered through the strength of their King, and His spiritual riches abound in them. Hence they are justly called Christians” (Pg., 500).

8. Jesus the Mediator is also our great High Priest. He was and is great and high, because he was both Priest and sacrifice. He offered himself up to God. “The priestly office belongs to Christ alone because by the sacrifice of His death He blotted out our own guilt and made satisfaction for our sins [Heb 9:22]” (Pg., 502).

9. His sacrificial work was offered once and is not an eternal activity, but his priestly intercessory work is eternal. Not only is he our satisfaction and reconciliation before God; but he is now and forever receiving us as “his companions” in his priestly work. In other words, we through him are priests before God.

10. “For we who are defiled in ourselves, yet are priests in Him, offer ourselves and our all to God, and freely enter the heavenly sanctuary that the sacrifices of prayers and praise that we bring may be acceptable and sweet-smelling before God” (Pg., 502).

Time to start again & Calvin's early method

2009-10-08T07:04:00.003-04:00

If there are any readers out there who have come here to see what is up and have been disappointed to see nothing new, my apologies. I have been taken up with other projects. However, my work with Calvin's Institutes has continued and I am ready to begin posting again. Thanks for your patience.

Working on other projects I came accross Calvin's work entilted The Psycopanachia. In it Calvin defends the immortality of the soul against the Catabaptists who touted soul sleep or anhialationism. This is actually his first theological writing project and very few people have commented on this work. During this whole year of Calvin conferences and works I have not come accross any lecture or chapter discussin it. Anyway, what I want to highlight here is his method.

In his De Clementia (his commentary on Senec's De Clementia), and Psycopanachia Calvin uses the standard aristitelian, scholastic method. But he did not use that method in his Institutes, sermons, or commentatries. What makes this all the more interesting is that he began writing the Institutes when he was finishing the Psycopanachia. And you can tell at the end of the Psycopanachia, and in a new edition which he finished later he began moving away from this method.

One of the benefits of Calvin's Institutes and other works is his method. He uses reason and logic but always as servants of Christ and Scripture. Therefore, his Institutes still retains the mystery of God and his commentaries and sermons go where Scripture goes.

Back from vacation, and back to writing.

2009-08-05T16:42:00.002-04:00

Hi. Long time no blog. I have been off for the past four weeks, but am glad to be back to working in our church and writing.

I will be resuming my Calvin entries this week.

Hope needed today, and it comes.

2009-05-19T15:53:00.003-04:00

Honestly, I needed hope today. My faith was challenged. Sometimes the faith God has given tremers; not because God is unfaithful but because mankind is not. So much evil and pain is caused by pride and self-centered posturing. This happens outside and insiode the church. So I was glad when I came accross this passage today in my Calvin reading. It helped me, maybe it will help you to keep hoping and believing.

"Hope is nothing else than the expectation of those things which faith has believed to have been truly promised by God. Thus faith believes God to be true, hope awaits the time when his truth shall be manifested; faith believes that he is our Father, hope anticipates that he will ever show himself to be a Father toward us; faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, hope anticipates that it will some time be revealed; faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, hope nourishes and sustains faith. For as no one except him who already believes His promises can look for anything from God, so again the weakness of our faith must be sustained and nourished by patient hope and expectation, lest it fail and grow faint. For this reason Paul rightly sets our salvation in hope (Rom 8:24). For hope, while it awaits the Lord in silence, restrains faith that it may not fall headlong from too much haste. Hope strengthens faith, that it may not waver in God's promises, or begin to doubt concerning their truth. Hope refreshes faith, that it may not become weary. It sustains faith to the final goal, that it may not fail in mid-course, or even at the starting gate. In short, by unremitting renewing and restoring, it invigorates faith again and again with perseverance." John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Editor: John T. McNeill. Translator Ford Lewis Battles. (The Westminster Press, 1950). Pg,590.

Calvin’s Institutes. The Person of Jesus Christ Part 4: Very God, very man.

2009-05-19T15:08:00.001-04:00

Calvin continued to explain the hypostatic union of Christ in sections 4 to 8 of chapter 14. Why is this doctrine so important? Well, in 1 Jn 4:7; 2:22; and 2 Jn 1:7 we learn that to deny that Christ is both God and man who came in the flesh is to be anti-Christ.

True, Christ was not born the way we were, nor was he sinful in his humanness; yet he was truly human and truly divine.

Here are my points.

1. One of the greatest and longest controversies the church has been the struggle surrounding the doctrine of the Person of Christ. To some, the Scripture verses have been a bad plague, not good revelation. As soon as they read about his humanity, immediately they rob him of his divinity; and as soon as they read of his divinity, immediately they rob him of his true humanity.

2. Arians, Socinians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons etc., do not read the Bible properly. The Bible teaches that Jesus is God and man. “That Christ, as He is God and man, consisting of two natures united but not mingled, is our Lord and the true Son of God even according to, but not by reason of, His humanity” (Pg., 486).

3. These two natures in the one Person of Christ, cannot be so fused or co-mingled so as to come up with only “one” nature; nor can these two natures be so separated so as to come up with two persons; nor can they be a mixture, so as to come up with a half man and half God.

Francis Turretin put it this way. “It is the intimate and perpetual conjunction (coming together) of the nature of God and the nature of man in the unity of a person.” The divine remained divine and the human remained human. The divine nature and human nature are not mixed together like cream is mixed together in coffee, making your drink become part cream and part coffee. Jesus is not half man and half God. Nor is the divine and human nature fused together like a weld making one piece of steel one with another piece of steel. Jesus does not just have one nature. Nor is the divine and human nature so separated from each other like oil and water where the two have no relationship. Jesus is not two persons, a human person and a divine person. No in the hypostatic union the eternal divine Son of God took upon himself a true human nature “essence” and is therefore one holy Person with two natures. [Lk 8:22-25; Lk 2:6-7 with Mt 3:17; Lk 2:40; Php 2:5ff]

4. “The church’s definition stands firm: He is believed to be the Son of God because the Word begotten of the Father before all ages took human nature in a hypostatic union. Now the old writers defined ‘hypostatic union’ as that which constitutes one person our of two natures” (Pg., 488).

5. Scripture points us to the truth that Christ is the eternal Son of God, being the first begotten, being eternally generated by the Father. [Lk 1:35; Heb 13:8; Col 1:15ff; Jn 1:1]

6. Jesus did not become the “Son” of God at his conception in the virgin’s womb. First of all, he is the eternal Word [Jn 1:1]. Secondly, God has eternally been called “Father” [Eph 3:15].

7. Calvin concludes from the above evidence that Christ “was Son of God also under the Law and the Prophets, before this name became illustrious in the church....it is clearly proved that He was eternal God solely because He was the Word begotten by the eternal Father; and that this named belonged to the Person of the Mediator, which He had taken upon Himself, only because He was God manifest in the flesh” (Pg., 491).

8. Jesus Christ was not a mere idea of God’s mind brought into being by his Word as though he were a creature. Nor was Jesus’ body, which he took upon himself, converted from mere flesh to divinity. Jesus Christ our Saviour is God of very God and Man of very man.

9. “It was requisite that the Mediator, who was to reconcile God and man, should Himself be both God and man, and this in one Person, that the proper works of each nature might be accepted of God for us, and relied on by us, as the works of the whole Person. [WLC.#40]

Early in the 20th century archaeologists where exploring in Asia Minor and they found a Latin inscription chiselled in marble which bears testimony to the clear biblical teaching on the two natures of Christ.
“I am what I was – God
I was not what I am – man
He is now called both, he is God and man.”

God and man for our salvation and God’s glory. The hypostatic union for our salvation and God’s glory.

Calvin’s Institutes. The Person of Jesus Christ Part 3: Jesus both God and man.

2009-05-18T09:27:00.003-04:00

Calvin’s explanation of Christ’s humanity is still a classic. The hypostatic union truly is a miracle! Hypostatic union?! What is that? The hypostatic union is a biblical doctrine which teaches that in Christ there is a perfect union of a perfect human nature with the eternal God.

1. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14). Does this mean Jesus changed? Was He made flesh (man) and consequently ceased to be divinity? NO!

2. Calvin explains. “He chose for the Himself the virgin’s womb as a temple in which to dwell, He who was the Son of God became the Son of man - not by confusion of substance, but by unity of Person. For we affirm His divinity so joined and united with His humanity that each retains its distinctive nature unimpaired, and yet these two natures constitute one Christ” (Pg., 482).

3. There is what is called the community of attribute or the community of properties. This means that in the one Person of Christ the attributes of man and divinity commune together. Now, Christ’s humanity is perfect not fallen, and Christ’s divinity is perfect not fallen though he has taken on flesh. An example of this is in Matthew 8:23-27. Here God was sleeping on a boat.

4. Jesus Christ possesses the attributes of deity because he is the eternal Son of God. The bible ascribes divine attributes to him. Jesus has existed forever as God’s Son and will exist forever as God’s Son. Scripture speaks of the pre-incarnate Christ who was eternally with God the Father, co-equal with God the Father; and of the exalted Christ who is with God, co-equal with the Father. True, he did veil his deity during the incarnation but that did not mean he was no longer God. All the divine attributes attributed to God the Father are also attributed to God the Son. Here is a list of them.
1. Eternality (Jn 1:1,14,18; Jn 17:5; Heb 13:8; Col 1:17a;
Heb 1:10- 12; Rev 22:13)
2. Immutability (Heb 1:10-12; 13:8; Col 2:9)
3. Omnipresence (Mt 28:20; 18:20)
4. Omniscience (Jn 2:24-25; Rev 2:23)
5. Omnipotence (Is 9:6; Phil 3:20-21; Rev 1:8)

Scripture says he does divine works.
1. Creation (Jn 1:13; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2, 10)
2. Providence (Lk 10:22; Jn 3:35; 17:2; Eph 1:22; Heb 1:3)
3. Resurrection & Judgment (Mt 25:31-32; Jn 5:19-30; Acts 10:42;
17:31; Phil 3:21; 2 Tim 4:1)
4. Power to give eternal life (Jn 10:28; 17:2)
5. Power to forgive sins (Mk 2:5)
6. Power to renew all things (Heb 1:10-12; Rev 21:5; Col 1:19-20)

Scripture says Jesus receives divine worship (Matt 28:9; Lk 24:52; Phil 2:10)

John Stott in Basic Christianity said: “To know this Christ is to know God; to see his is to see God; to believe in him is to believe in God; to receive him is to receive God; and to honour him is to honour God.”

5. Jesus Christ possesses the attributes of humanity because He took upon Himself human nature. [Is 42:1; Is 53; Lk 2:52; Jn 8:50; Mk 13:32 cf. Matt 24:36; Jn 14:10; 6:38; Lk 24:39]

6. “In so far as He is God, he cannot increase in anything, and does all things for His own sake; nothing is hidden from Him; He does all things according to the decision of His will, and can neither been seen no handled. Yet He does not ascribe these qualities solely to His human nature, but takes them upon Himself as being in harmony with the Person of the Mediator” (Pg., 484).

7. These two natures work and communicate together perfectly. This is particularly seen in the work of atonement, which was the sole reason for the incarnation. [Acts 20:28; 1 Cor 2:8; 1 Jn 1:1; 3:16]

8. There is a glorious unity of the two natures in the Mediator, Jesus Christ. Many passages in John’s gospel, “comprehend both natures at once and set forth His true substance most clearly of all” (Pg., 484). [see Jn 1:1, 29; 5:21-23; 9:5; 8:12; 10:11, 9]

9. Jesus Christ is no mere man; He is both God and man.

10. But what about those passages that tell us that in the end God will be all in all? [1 Cor 15:24-28 cf. Mk 16:19; Rom 8:34]. Is Christ not God and all in all? Calvin explains this misunderstanding. “Those things which apply to the office of the Mediator are not spoken simply either of the divine nature or of the human. Until He comes forth as judge of the world Christ will therefore reign, joining us to the Father as the measure of our weakness permits. But when as partakes in heavenly glory we shall see God as He is, Christ, having then discharged the office of Mediator, will cease to be the ambassador of His Father, and will be satisfied with that glory which He enjoyed before the creation of the world” (Pg., 485).

Calvin’s Institutes. The Person of Jesus Christ Part 2: The same partner with us.

2009-05-15T08:54:00.001-04:00

Today I summarize chapter 13, in which Calvin explains and defends the humanity of Christ. He does this for the sake of the gospel.

1. The human nature and flesh Christ took upon himself at his incarnation were real. They were not illusions, phantoms, or tricks.

2. Jesus Christ is of the seed of Abraham and Jacob, not the seed of air or phantom.

3. Calvin says, “Nor is an eternal throne promised to a man of air, but to the Son of David and the fruit of his loins [Ps 45:6; 132:11]. Hence, when He was manifested in the flesh, He was called ‘the Son of David and of Abraham’ [Matt 1:1]. This is not only because He was born of the virgin’s womb…but because, according to Paul’s interpretation, He ‘was made of the seed of David according to the flesh’ [Rom 1:3]” (Pg., 475). [Heb 2:11, 14, 16; 2:17; 4:15; Jn 3:34; 1:16; 17:19]

4. How unholy it is to think or say that God revealed and actively lived his glorious essence in the Person of Jesus by some accidental gift rather than by Christ actually revealing and actively living the glory of God’s essence as the incarnate Word. [Heb 2:11, 14, 16; 2:17; 4:15; Jn 3:34; 1:16; 17:19]

5. How do we understand Phil 2:6-8? Calvin writes, “Here Paul is really teaching not what Christ was, but how He conducted Himself. From the whole context we may easily infer that Christ emptied Himself in a nature truly human. For what does ‘being found in fashion as a man’ mean [2:8], save that for a time the divine glory did not shine, but only human likeness was manifest in a lowly and abased condition” (Pg., 476).

6. Christ’s true humanity is described in Psalm 8:4 and Hebrews 2:6, 14. “Christ is clearly declared to be comrade and partner in the same nature with us” (Pg., 477).

7. Jesus, the eternal God is not ashamed to call the elect “his brethren” [Heb 2:11].

8. This Jesus, our “Elder brother”, is of course without sin.

9. Scriptures such as Rom 5:12, 15, 18; 1 Cor 15:47; Rom 8:3-4; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 Jn 3:5, teach us this. “Thus, so skilfully does Paul distinguish Christ from the common lot that He is true man but without fault...whenever Scripture calls our attention to the purity of Christ, it is to be understood of His true human nature, for it would have been superfluous to say that God is pure” (Pg., 481).

10. Calvin uses the adjective “marvellous,” to describe the truth of the incarnation. He writes, “Here is something marvellous: the Son of God descended from heaven in such a way that, without leaving heaven, He willed to be born in the virgin’s womb, to go about the earth, and to hang upon the cross; yet He continuously filled the world even as He had done from the beginning” (Pg., 481).

Calvin’s Institutes. The Person of Jesus Christ Part 1: The great Mediator for sinners.

2009-05-14T13:13:00.003-04:00

Calvin, in chapters and 10 and 11 explained that the promise of God’s grace culminated in the Person of Jesus Christ. God through him, the promised seed of Abraham (the fulfillment of the covenant), would redeem creation and all his people. In chapters 12 to 14, Calvin goes on to explain who this Person is. They are wonderfully written.

Here is my summary of chapter 12.

1. God is holy, man is utterly sinful. Man, due to his sinful nature is estranged from God, outside God’s Kingdom and against the Person and righteousness of God.

2. The result. Man is at war with God, and God has righteously condemned man for his sin. But God has had mercy and in that mercy God decreed to send a mediator to bring reconciliation to God’s elect.

3. Calvin commenting on man’s need for a Mediator writes, “The situation would surely have been hopeless had the very majesty of God not descended to us, since it was not in our power to ascend to Him. Hence, it was necessary for the Son of God to become for us ‘Immanuel,’ that is, God with us [Is 7:14; Matt 1:23], and in such a way that His divinity and our human nature might by mutual connection grow together” (Pg., 464).

4. Of course this Mediator is the God – man Jesus Christ. He is both God and man; two natures in one divine Person forever. [see WCF. Ch, VIII., sect 1, 2, 3]

5. God the Son became the God-man that he might be one with us, yet without sin, in order to give us adoption. Calvin writes, “Ungrudgingly He took our nature upon Himself to impart to us what was His, and to become both Son of God and Son of man in common with us” (Pg., 465).

6. Calvin beautifully explains what was required for man’s reconciliation. Read his explanation on page 466. A must.

7. From before the foundation of the world Christ was set forth as the Redeemer, and Restorer. “Therefore, under the law, Christ’s image was set forth in sacrifices to give believers the hope that God would be gracious toward them, after having been reconciled to them through atonement made for their sins....the Mediator never was promised without blood…we infer that He was appointed by God’s eternal plan to purge the uncleanness of men; for shedding of blood is a sign of expiation [Heb 9:22; Is 53:4-6]” (Pg., 467).

8. Other Scriptures clearly indicate that Christ took upon himself humanity and became Mediator to be our sacrifice, and satisfy the Father’s justice in our stead in order to expiate and cancel our sins. [Heb 5;1; 2 Cor 5;19ff; Rom 8:3-4; 3:20ff; Titus 2;11; Lk 24:46-47; Jn 10:17; 3:14; Lk 1:79.]

9. Jesus is the last Adam (1 Cor 14:47). Why? That He might redeem the elect under the first Adam. [see WCF. Ch VIII., sect., 5 & 8]

10. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a women, born under the law, to redeem them that are under the law. That we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4-5 NKJV).

Calvin’s Institutes. Old and New Testament Relationship Part 4: From Israel to the nations.

2009-05-14T08:31:00.002-04:00

In the last blog I began listing the differences between the Old and New Testaments as given by Calvin. In regards to terms, perhaps it would be better to say Old and New Covenant, instead of Old and New Testament. Old and New Covenants are the terms the churches, particularly the Reformed, use today.

We begin with difference number 4.

1. The fourth difference is explained by Calvin this way. “Scripture calls the Old Testament one of “bondage” because it produces fear in men’s minds; but the New Testament, one of “freedom” because it lifts them to trust and assurance” (Pg., 458).

2. Paul and the author of Hebrews teach our minds that the Old Covenant struck fear in men’s hearts and bound their consciences to observe rituals and ceremonies. However, the New brings joy and freedom in Christ. [Rom 8:15; Heb 12:18-22]

3. Before we go and consider the fifth distinction, let’s remind ourselves that these differences between the Old and New are not disagreements. The Covenant of Grace is one throughout all dispensations. The covenants of the Old Testament are subsidiaries of the Covenant of Grace. The New Covenant explained in the New Testament pages is really the full revelation of the eternal Covenant of Grace. [Heb 13:20; 2 Tim 1:9]

4. All children of God (children of promise, Rom 9:8), belong to the New Covenant. Their hope has always been Jesus Christ and eternal life.

5. Calvin writes, “All the saints whom Scripture mentions as being peculiarly chosen of God from the beginning of the world have shared with us the same blessing unto eternal life” (Pg., 459).

6. Were the shadows (ceremonies & buildings, etc), real? Did the slaughtered beasts forgive sin? Did the sprinkling of the water purify the soul? Was God delighted in burnt offerings? The writers of the New Testament answer these questions by an affirmative, no! (Heb 7-9)

7. Calvin correctly comments, “The holy patriarchs so lived under the Old Covenant as not to remain there but ever aspire to the New, and thus embrace a real share in it. The apostle condemns as blind and accursed those who, content with present shadows, did not stretch their minds to Christ” (Pg., 460). [Rom 2:27-29; Phil 3:2; Gal 1-2]. Of course the Jews in Jesus day rejected him. They could not see how he fulfilled all the promises of the Old Testament prophets.

8. The fifth difference is wonderful! The Old was given to one nation and the other. But now the New is extended and effectual to all nations. [Gal 4:4; 3:28; 6:15; Eph 2:14-17; Rom 11; Col 3:11; Ps 2:8; 72:8 cf. Zech 9:10]

9. God is now calling the Gentiles. Of course the prophets foretold of this great news. Jesus spoke of it. The apostles, though startled at first, also realized that under the New Covenant there is no more Jew or Gentile; all are one in Christ. [Is 42:6; 49:6-8; Jn 10:16; Eph 2; Gal 3; Acts 10; Rom 11]

10. This expansion of the Covenant of Grace is told to us in the Abrahamic Covenant. It’s expansion through Messiah was the great mystery, the glorious news that even the angels desire to look into. [Eph 3:9; 1 Pet 1:12]

Calvin’s Institutes. Old and New Testament Relationship Part 3: The suspense.

2009-05-13T15:13:00.002-04:00

In chapter 11 Calvin explains the differences between the two testaments or covenants.

1. These differences between the Old and New Testaments do not destroy the unity and continuity of the two; they merely identify God’s dealings in different dispensations.

2. Calvin writes, “I say that all these (meaning the differences) pertain to the manner of dispensation rather than to substances” (Pg., 450).

3. The first difference. The promise of earthly blessings and care given in the Old, were a picture, a teacher to direct their minds toward heavenly and spiritual blessings. In the New, the gospel in its fullness “plainly and clearly reveals the grace of future life…the Lord leads our minds to meditate upon it directly, laying aside the lower mode of training that He used with the Israelites” (Pg., 450).

In the last post I mentioned Calvin’s dualistic outlook. Here it comes up again. He regulates the gospel as the grace of future life. Not that he thinks the gospel is only given as a ticket to the next life; far from it. In other places he speaks of the gospel ethic and how it brings the kingdom into this world. But here it is not his focus, and I think it weakens his argument.

4. Calvin copies the biblical teaching when he says, “in the earthly possession they enjoyed, they looked, as in a mirror, upon the future inheritance they believed to have been prepared for them in heaven” (Pg., 450). [ Gen 15:1; Ps 73:26; 84:2; 16:5; 142:5; 133:3]

5. The second difference consists in the fact that in the Old, the truths of the gospel were communicated in figures, types and shadows. The reality of the physical incarnation had not yet come. The New Covenant deals with the true substance, the real incarnate Christ which before was spiritually anticipated.

6. The truth of Christ and his promises are the same in both testaments; though in the Old they are portrayed by figures while in the New by the anti-type, the reality.

7. “The Old Covenant’s fulfilment, by which it is finally and confirmed and ratified, is Christ....“Old Testament” means the solemn manner of confirming the covenant, comprised in ceremonies and sacrifices” (Pg., 454).

8. “The Old Testament of the Lord was the covenant wrapped up in the shadowy and ineffectual observance of ceremonies and delivered to the Jews; it was temporary because it remained, as it were, in suspense until it might rest upon a firm and substantial confirmation. It became new and eternal only after it was consecrated and established by the blood of Christ” (Pg., 454).

9. The third difference lies in the verity that the Old contains much that is literal whereas in the New, every doctrine is spiritual. [2 Cor 3:6-11]

10. Paul tells us that the Old was written on stone, whereas the New on fleshly hearts; the Old “is the preaching of death,” whereas the new is the gospel of life; the Old condemns because it is the holy law, however, the New gives righteousness because of Christ; the Old was temporary, whereas the New is eternal. See Section 8 on page 457.

Calvin’s Institutes. Old and New Testament Relationship Part 2: A spiritual outlook.

2009-05-13T14:20:00.004-04:00

Below is the second instalment summarizing chapter 10 of Calvin’s Institutes. To him the key element in the continuity between the Old and New Testament believers was the spiritual character of faith. He takes Abraham, “who looked for a city who’s builder and makes was God,” as a paradigm indicating that the Old Testament saints were looking for redemption and its corollary, heaven.

On this point I disagree with Calvin. Yes, Abraham sought for the God-built city, and was justified by faith but he did not just look for heaven. He and the subsequent prophets foretold of salvation for the world. Through Messiah all nations would be subdued and ruled from Zion. Here I think Calvin posited a dualistic construct back onto the Old Testament. He should have let the Old Testament speak its eschatology and he would have even seen the continuity of the covenants more clearly. Not that he didn’t see the eschatology of the Old Testament; at times he did, it just did not take centre place in his thinking. After all he was a man affected by Medieval dualisms.

Having said all that, here is the summary.

1. The Old Testament saints were Christians. Why, because they had the word of the gospel.

2. The promise was given them by the Word of God [1 Pet 1:23-24 cf. Is 40:6]. “Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, and the other patriarchs cleaved to God by such illumination of the Word. Therefore, I say without any doubt they entered into God’s immortal kingdom. For theirs was a real participation in God, which cannot be without the blessing of eternal life” (Pg., 434).

3. The Old Testament Christians were God’s eternal possession for he covenanted with them to be their God. [Lev 26:11-12; Ps 144:15; Hab 1:12; Is 33:22; Deut 33:29; Ex 6:7]

4. Abraham, the father of all the faithful saw Christ’s day and rejoiced; and sought for a city who’s builder and maker was God. Abraham knew the covenant promises contained eternal life.

5. Isaac and Jacob were the elect of God. They too were primarily looking and waiting for the promise of eternal life. They did not see God’s covenant only as a deed to a land in this life.

6. All the patriarchs of old died in faith, because they were justified by faith. They expected God’s promises to be fulfilled elsewhere than this world [Heb 11:9-10; 13-16]. These men and women understood the spiritual character of the covenants.

7. When one studies David, Job, Ezekiel and the other prophets, one finds that, “In them eternal life and Christ’s Kingdom are revealed in fullest splendour” (Pg., 441). [See the Scripture references on pages 441-448]

8. It is obvious that the Old Testament saints have the Christian hope of eternal life. Why, because they were Christians, saved by the same gospel and same Christ.

9. It is obvious that the O.T saints had “(1) Christ as pledge of their covenant, and (2) put in Him all trust of future blessedness” (Pg., 448).

I agree with number 8 & 9, but would want to emphasize that they would have had the hope God would also redeem the whole world. Compare Gen 12:1-3 with Rom 4:13.

10. This is the principle: “The Old Testament or Covenant that the Lord had made with the Israelites had not been limited to earthly things, but contained a promise of spiritual and eternal life” (Pg., 448).

Calvin’s Institutes. Old and New Testament Relationship Part 1: The same promises.

2009-05-12T21:39:00.003-04:00

In chapters 11 and 12 Calvin discusses the similarities and differences between the Old and New Covenants. The topic of continuity and discontinuity between the Old Testament and the new, between Israel and the church, and between the law and Jesus has produced volumes of books.

It truly is a key subject. It has to do with the question of God, the nature of revelation, and the gospel. From Lutheranism, to the Reformed, to the Roman Catholics this has been discussed. Well, what did Calvin say about it so many years ago?

This summary will try to capture his thought. It will come in a number of instalments.

1. By the word covenant we basically mean “promise.” God has given us a record of all his promises he has given to mankind in Scripture. He gave these promises by his free sovereign grace. He bound himself to man; mankind has not, nor do not force him to force himself upon us. In sin man does not seek after God, but God still seeks after man to redeem him by his grace.

2. All people redeemed from their sin and united with God are redeemed and united by Jesus through God’s covenant of grace. There has always been and always will be one gospel of grace, wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Some have argued that the Old Testament and its covenants are not the same as the New Testament and its grace. They say the Old Testament works by law and not by grace. They say in the Old Testament dispensation, grace and Christ were mere statues, dead and not active in a saving activity. What saved them was law, accompanied by a faith in God; not a faith in Christ, specifically or grace exclusively.

4. The Old and New covenants are the same. They are just subsidiaries of the one Covenant of Grace. The person of this covenant is Christ, by which all the elect are redeemed. As Calvin writes, “The covenant made with all the patriarchs is so much like ours in substance and reality that the two are actually one and the same. Yet they differ in the mode of dispensation” (Pg., 429).

5. The covenants made with the patriarchs were primarily spiritual in nature. Their main emphasis was not physical land, prosperity in this life or happiness in this existence. This spiritual emphasis is identical with the New Covenant.

6. The covenants made with the patriarchs were all of grace. Calvin says, “The covenant by which they were bound to the Lord was supported, not by their own merits, but solely by the mercy of the God who called them” (Pg., 429).

7. The patriarchs under the Old Covenant knew Messiah, “through whom they were joined to God and were to share in His promises” (Pg., 430).

8. In the New Testament we are told that the gospel of Christ and justification by Christ were promised and active in the Old Testament. [Rom 1:2-3; 3:21; Eph 1:13-14; Jn 8:56; Heb 13:8; Heb 9:15; Lk 1:54-55; 72-73]. In both testaments there are symbols which manifested the grace of God. In the Old there was circumcision and Passover. In the New there is baptism and Holy Communion.

9. Grace covers both Testaments. The gospel has always been the same. The gospel “declares nothing else than that sinners are justified apart from their own merit by God’s fatherly kindness; and the whole of it is summed up in Christ” (Pg., 431).

10. In conclusion: “The Lord not only communicated to the Jews the same promises of eternal and heavenly life as He now deigns to give us, but also sealed them with truly spiritual sacraments” (Pg., 433).

Calvin’s Institutes: The law and gospel.

2009-05-12T14:17:00.002-04:00

In Bk 2, ch.9 Calvin begins to explore the continuity between the Old Testament and the New; in particular the connection between law and gospel.

Here is the summary.

1. The Old Testament Scriptures reveal God’s work of creation, his promise and covenant, his election of Israel, his sovereignty over history, and his wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Do they hide Christ from us? No

2. Moses bore witness to Him (Jn 5:46; Heb 11:25-26), Abraham saw Christ’s day and was glad (Jn 8:56), and the prophets proclaimed Him (Mal 4:2; Lk 24:25).

3. Yet, “while the law serves to hold the godly in expectation of Christ’s coming, at His advent they (the godly) should hope for far more light” (Pg., 423). [1 Pet 1:10-12]

4. The saints of the old covenant glimpsed at those mysteries of the gospel “in shadowed outline” (Pg., 424). Every law and ordinance pointed to the coming Christ just as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:6.

5. The new covenant, promised even by God in the old covenant clearly reveals Christ. [Matt 4:17, 23; 9:23; 2 Tim 1:10; 2 Cor 1:20, 22; Jn 1:51]

6. The gospel in a broad sense “includes those testimonies of His mercy and fatherly favour which God gave to the patriarchs of old” (Pg., 425).

7. The gospel in its fulfilled sense refers “to the proclamation of the grace manifested in Christ” (Pg., 425).

8. As the law does not hid Christ from us, so the law also gives promises, which are not taken away because of the full revelation of the gospel. Again, we see that law and gospel are connected, not separate entities.

9. “The gospel did not supplant the entire law as to bring forward a different way of salvation. Rather, it confirmed and satisfied whatever the law had promised, and gave substance to the shadows.....where the whole law is concerned, the gospel differs from it only in clarity of manifestation” (Pg., 427). [Rom 1:16 cf, Rom 3:21; 16:25-26)

10. The law reveals Christ. It was the finger pointing hearts toward the great Lawgiver and Law-keeper Himself - Jesus Christ.

The Ten Commandments in Calvin’s Institutes, Part 5: The greatest commandment.

2009-05-12T11:00:00.002-04:00

God created man in his own image. “God has depicted his character in the law that if any man carries out in deeds whatever is enjoined there, he will express the image of God, as it were, in his own life” (Pg, 415). The question then is what will the Christian’s life look like? Simply, love. Love is the fulfillment of the law.

Calvin concludes Book II, Chapter 8 by explaining how love is the fulfillment of the law.

1. The summation of the Ten Commandments is explained in a four letter word - love (Rom 13:10; Gal 5:14). “If the love of God is shed abroad in your heart, it pours out and over everyone,” wrote J.H. Gerstner in his Handout Theology.

2. One cannot love Christ without loving his law. That is, loving the very nature and character and excellence of Christ.

3. In the law we find “all the duties of piety and love” (Pg., 415).

4. Calvin gives sound biblical teaching when he writes that a person “keeps the commandments not by loving ourselves but by loving God and neighbour…he lives the best and holiest life who lives and strives for himself as little as he can…and no one lives in a worse or more evil manner than he who lives and strives for himself alone, and thinks about and seeks only his own advantage” (Pg., 417).

5. We are to love our neighbour’s; but who is he or she? “We ought to embrace the whole human race without exception in a single feeling of love.....whatever the character of the man, we must yet love him because we love God” (Pg., 419).

6. The whole law is contained in loving your neighbour as yourself (Gal 5:14). But should we not love God more than man? Yes, but when we love man as we should it is because we love God as we should.

7. Loving our friend and our enemy reveals that we fear God. See section 52-57, pgs 416-15 for an excellent dissertation on loving our neighbour.

8. All sins are mortal because they are against God and his law. “Let the children of God hold that all sin is mortal. For it is rebellion against the will of God, which of necessity provokes God’s wrath, and it is a violation of the law, upon which God’s judgment is pronounced without exception” (Pg., 423). [Rom 6:23; Ezek 18:4,20]

9. “The sins of the saints are pardonable, not because of their nature as saints, but because they obtain pardon from God’s mercy” (Pg., 423).

10. Augustine said, “Let Him give what He commands, and command what He wills.” “To be Christians under the law of grace does not mean to wander unbridled outside the law, but to be engrafted in Christ, by whose grace we are free of the curse of the law, and by whose Spirit we have the law engraved upon our hearts [Jer 31:33]” (Pg., 421).

The Ten Commandments in Calvin’s Institutes, Part 4: The last six Commandments.

2009-04-22T11:40:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, in my ongoing summarizations of Calvin’s Institutes, I summarized Calvin’s understanding of the first four Commandments. Today I move ahead to the last six.

I don’t think these commandments were arranged by chance or accident. As the first table indicates, man and his relationship with God is cardinal. But this in no way diminishes man’s responsibility to love each other. Actually, loving God and loving our fellow man are so connected that how we treat each other, to a very large extent, reveals our relationship with God. If we love God we will love our neighbour. If we do not love God we will not love our neighbour. Why, because we fail to see the image of God in them, and because we love our selves more than we ought to.

On with the summary.

1. The fifth commandment (Ex 20:12). Mankind is to respect those whom God has placed over them.

2. Calvin: “This then is the sum: that we should look up to those whom God has placed over us, and would treat them with honour, obedience, and gratefulness. It follows from this that we are forbidden to detract from their dignity either by contempt, by stubbornness, or by ungratefulness” (Pg., 401).

3. The sixth commandment (Ex 20:13). Life is a gift from God. Therefore, to steal that life, either with the hands or with the heart, in an evil fashion is murder.

4. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is: the Lord has bound mankind together by a certain unity; hence each man ought to concern himself with the safety of all. To sum up, then, all violence, injury, and any harmful thing at all that may injure our neighbour=s body are forbidden to us” (Pg., 404).

5. The seventh commandment (Ex 20:14). Sex is a gift of God given to the married. To those who practice it outside the marriage relationship violates this commandment.

6. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is: because God loves modesty and purity, all uncleanliness must be far from us. To sum up, then: we should not become defiled with any filth or lustful intemperance of the flesh. To this corresponds the affirmative commandment that we chastely and continually regulate all parts of our life” (Pg., 405).

7. The eighth commandment (Ex 20:15). “The purpose of this commandment is: since injustice is an abomination to God, we should render to each man what belongs to him [Rom 13:7]. To sum up: we are forbidden to pant after the possessions of others, and consequently are commanded to strive faithfully to help every man to keep his own possessions” (Pg., 408).

8. The ninth commandment (Ex 20:16). “The purpose of this commandment is: since God (who is truth) abhors a lie, we must practice truth without deceit toward one another. To sum up then: let us not malign any one with slander or false charges, nor harm his substance by falsehood, in short, injure him by unbridled evils peaking and impudence....we should faithfully help everyone as much as we can in affirming the truth, in order to protect the integrity of his name and possessions” (Pg., 411).

9. The tenth commandment (Ex 20:17). Loves is the fulfilling of the law. Covetousness comes from a heart empty of love; hence, when we covet we break all the laws of God (Rom 7:7).

10. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is: since God wills that our whole soul be possessed with a disposition to love, we must banish from our hearts all desire contrary to love. To sum up, then: no thought should steal upon us to move our hearts to a harmful covetousness that tends to our neighbours loss.....whatever we conceive, deliberate, will, or attempt is to be linked to our neighbour’s good” (Pg., 413).