He is no mere spectator

Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest them all. Thou art Jehovah, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham (Nehemiah 9:6-7)

It was no accident that brought Rebecca to the well to welcome Abraham’s servant, or that sent Joseph into Egypt, or guided Pharaoh’s daughter to the baby in the Nile, or directed the millstone that crushed Abimelech’s head, or winged the arrow shot to smite the king in the joints of his armor. And it is no accident that God has providentially delivered my church into her current state of affairs. Every historical event is an item in the orderly carrying out of an underlying Divine purpose. We must be acutely aware of the real and controlling presence of Him who gives even the lightning a mark which to strike (Job 36:32). Our God is the God who secures the complete fulfillment of His plans. Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation was “to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Daniel 4:17) This precept in no way contradicts the free agency of men, but rather establishes it, for in His image were we made. Throughout the annals of history the varying fortunes of individuals are ever attributed to God’s providential control. He is Immanence and He is Transcendance. Almost everyone admits that God determines when, where and under what circumstances each individual is born and shall live and die. To some He gives riches, to some honor, to some health, and to some various talents. Others are poor, unknown, victims of disease, living lives of wretchedness. Some He brings through faith to salvation; others are left to perish in unbelief. Both Scripture and experience teach us that God gives to some what He withholds from others. And when we would ask “Why?” we would do well to look to our Savior’s words “Yea, Father, for so it was well pleasing in thy sight.” Beloved, remember these precepts of our Father today and exult in them, and be greatly encouraged, fueled by these truths to good works.

Assessment of the situation

It is clear to me that the only way there will be a win/win for the glory of God at my church is if there is no formal split. A split under any circumstance will at the very least say to the world that the church, in this case my church family specifically, is weak and factious and full of rebellious and self-seeking folk who refuse to repent and turn from their arrogance and be reconciled to each other. If we split, whether we like it or not, that is what the world (our community, association, etc) will see. That is what will have proven itself to be true about us. Most of you know me and where I stand with regard to the Truth. I refuse to compromise on the doctrine that has been passed down to me from my former pastor – because it is Bible doctrine. We must not compromise on the Truth. But I am convinced that there is a way that we can be reconciled to each other. If we have Christ and He has us, we can, we MUST be reconciled.

1 Peter 2

After teaching the faithful that their regeneration was by the very Word of God (1:22-25), he reminds us again that as we are regenerated by the Word, so also by it are we sustained and grown (2:1-3). In verses 4-10 he proceeds to teach principles which are foundational to understanding the church of Christ as the people of God. Peter identifies the living Stone – the cornerstone of the spiritual building he proceeds to describe – as Jesus Christ himself. He is the foundation of the living. Note the parallelism used by Peter in verse 5 to the OT sacrificial system. The OT dwelling place of God, the temple, was built with stones hewn by the hands of men. But this house Peter describes is made from “living stones” – those who have been made alive in Christ. The OT sacrificial system has been fulfilled in the person of Christ. The OT temple has been replaced by the church – God dwells among and in the midst of His people through the person of Jesus Christ. The comparison here is between the church and the OT temple. The type that was given by the institution of the OT temple has been realized in the church itself. O how this amplifies divine grace! How much more excellent is reality than the type! Peter then gives the reason that God has established this “spiritual house” (v.5) built from “living stones”: it is that we might “declare the virtues of the One who called you out of darkness into His amazing light.” (v.9)

Trouble in my church

As I had my quiet time this morning, I was grieving over the schism in my church and the Lord was gentle to remind me that for over a year now we have had a small group of men meeting every Tuesday morning to pray for revival for our church. The events which have unfolded are not what I had in mind when I thought of revival. But then God’s wisdom is so high above mine. The Lord reminded me of these confounding ways of His: barren Sarah is mother to a nation; Gideon’s 300 men defeat 100,000 Midianites; a little shepherd boy slays the giant; the prophet is married to the adulteress; through the hatred of politicians as well as the hordes, and the shame of a naked man's death on a cross, God saves His people. I was reminded of Job, who attributed the evil that crushed his children to death to the hand of the Lord. He said, “Shall I receive good at the hand of the Lord and not evil?” And the writer confirms that in all that Job said he did not sin against the Lord.

I was reminded also of a verse from William Cowper's great hymn "God moves in a mysterious way":
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace,
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

God bless you today, and God help us to think rightly about His goodness toward us. Please pray for my church.

Infallibility and authority

That God cannot lie or speak falsely is the essence of the authority of Scripture (2 Samuel 7:28; Titus 1:2). His words must always be trusted. This is the very essence of what authority is. Hebrews 6:17-18 mentions two immutable things: the promise and oath of God, “in which it is impossible for God to lie”. Therefore all the words of Scripture are completely true and without error in any part (which speaks to infallibility). “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” (Proverbs 30:5) With regard to authority, God’s words are the ultimate standard of truth. In John 17:17 Jesus prays “sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth.” Note that Jesus does not say “Your word is true”. He does not use an adjective but rather a noun (aletheia), to say that God’s word is not simply “true”, but that it is truth itself. This is significant because it establishes for us that the Bible is not simply “true” in the sense that it conforms to some higher standard of truth, but rather to understand the Bible as being itself the final standard of truth. Therefore, written Scripture is our final authority (1 Corinthians 14:37, 2 Timothy 3:16).

That the Bible will not lead us astray in matters of faith and practice is the essence of the infallibility of Scripture (Acts 24:14; Luke 24:25; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11). Infallibility says that the Bible is absolutely reliable. The texts just listed affirm that every part of Scripture is to be trusted and relied on completely. Infallibility and authority are very tightly related to each other. Scripture must be infallible due to the very nature of authority. If Scripture is truth, then it necessarily follows that it must be without fault or error either at any particular point or in any idea expressed. Therefore, the doctrine of infallibility flows logically out of the doctrine of authority and the doctrine of authority is in its many applications supported by the doctrine of infallibility.

If the Bible is fallible and contradicts itself, then there is no way to know what it means. In any given instance Scripture might mean exactly the opposite of what it says. If Scripture might mean the opposite of what it says, then there would be no way of knowing what the Bible intends for us to believe and do. If we can’t know what the Bible intends for us to believe or do, then in the most real and practical sense, it has no authority over our lives because we can’t know what it wants from us. A self-contradictory Bible undermines knowledge (epistemology), which undermines authority (ethics).

The doctrine of the Trinity

As God alone may know and reveal what He is, so we must accept His statements, however mysterious or incomprehensible they may be. God is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being (from Article III in The Abstract of Principles of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). God is revealed to us as Father, indicating a special relation between Him and another person whom the Scriptures call His only begotten Son, the Father being God (Matthew 3:17, 11:25-26, 15:13; Mark 1:1, 14:36; Luke 2:49, 10:21; John 3:16-17, 10:36, 12:26-28). Likewise the Son is called God (Matthew 1:23; John 1:1, 20:28; Romans 9:5; Titus 1:3; Hebrews 1:8). The distinctness of the attributes of the Father and the Son can be clearly seen in the character revealed in such passages as John 3:35, 5:20, 10:17, 14:31, 17:24, Hebrews 1:2, and Philippians 2:6. That the Holy Spirit is revealed as a person of the Godhead is evident in such passages as Matthew 12:18, Acts 5:3-9, 28:25-27, and 1 Corinthians 2:10. The three are one God. The divine essence in each of the persons is such that neither has his own separate divine essence, but each subsists in one divine essence, common to all three. The Scriptures teach everywhere both the unity of God and that there are three divine persons. That the word “Trinity” is nowhere found in Scripture is no objection to the doctrine so clearly set forth.

Use of Greek "rhema" in the New Testament

There are 70 places in the New Testament where the Greek word “rhema” is used. There is a distinct connection in my thinking between 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Ephesians 5:25-27, Ephesians 6:17, Romans 10:8,14-17, Hebrews 1:3, and Acts 5:30-32. It seems there is a sense in which the spoken word (rhema) has a superior beauty to it (Romans 10:15). The importance of the written word (logos) is everywhere made obvious (and necessary) in all of the scriptures, but it seems there is just something very special about the spoken word specifically in the life of the Christian. There is the “breathing-out” or “saying” of all the scriptures that is attributed to God, immediately followed by a summation of the very purpose of the scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So it is by the speaking of God (rhema) that we have the (written) sayings (logos) of God. Christ Himself is identified as both the “logos” of God (John 1:1) and the “rhema” of God (Matthew 4:4, John 6:63). It is obvious that one is not used at the expense of the other. If the Christian is to be an “imitator of God” (Ephesians 5:1) he must also “breathe-out” or speak the word of God. If he is to do that effectively, actively, this has at the very minimum the following implication: it must be resident within him. Its use in Ephesians 6:17, when considered contextually, is very practical - the sword is to be used. The idea here is not one of merely the written word, as if Paul were talking about the writings themselves, but the Writings written upon the heart and ready on the tip of the tongue. It is interesting to note that the spoken word is everywhere and in every practical way much more accessible to the masses than is the written word, and it is the specific means which God has set up to redeem men to Himself (Romans 10:14, 17). Therefore, too much emphasis can not be given to the necessity of the spiritual ingestion of the word of God in order that it might at every point in the life of the Christian be written upon his heart and ready on the tip of his tongue. Scripture memorization is absolutely essential.

The relationship between desire and sinful anger

There is a distinct relationship between desires (pleasures) and sinful anger according to James 4. Anger is produced anytime there is conflict. (Note that all anger is not sinful-Ephesians 4:26.) Anger proceeding from conflict is actually by God’s design and is intended to be used in destruction of the problem. Sinful anger proceeds from sinful desires. Sinful anger is expressed in “wars” and “fights”. According to James 4:1 this comes out of the desires of the heart. Anytime a desire takes priority in the heart over desire (love) for God it is sinful. Sinful desire is at the very heart of sinful anger.

The Inspiration of Scripture

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience. This doctrine, like every other, is based on Scripture and is not the invention of man. The Bible repeatedly affirms that all of Scripture is profitable for us (2 Timothy 3:16) and that all of it is “God-breathed.” It is completely pure (Psalm 12:6), perfect (Psalm 119:96), and true (Proverbs 30:5). The 66 books of the Bible are God’s written revelation to man, given to us by the Holy Spirit, inspired equally in all parts (1 Corinthians 2:7-14; 2 Peter 1:20-21). The truth of Scripture stands in judgment of men; never do men stand in judgment of it. The Spirit-given message is not merely the idea of a passage, but rather the very words (Deuteronomy 18:18-19; Jeremiah 1:9). This may be seen in the manner in which Jesus used the Bible. Consider the Lord’s reply to the Sadducees who denied the resurrection of the body (Mark 12:18-27). He refutes them by the use of one sole word from a historical passage: by the use of a single verb in the present tense instead of the same verb in the past tense. Not “I was”, but “I am the God of Abraham…” Those men therefore are still alive, and Christ has based his argument upon a single word. Another such example is found in John 10:34-35 where Jesus quotes Psalm 82, affirming its inspiration and authority. Upon even a cursory examination, it is surprising to see how frequently and emphatically the Bible speaks of itself.

An often-used verse for proof of the inspiration of Scripture is 2 Timothy 3:16 even though Paul is not addressing directly the proof of inspiration. In the greater context of the passage here, Paul is speaking to Timothy about the practical use of the Scriptures (2 Timothy 1:13-14, 2:1-2, 2:7-9, 2:14-15, 3:14). When studied in context, Paul’s mention of inspiration in verse 16 gives the impression that inspiration is clearly an assumed doctrine in need of no explanation here (which makes its teaching about inspiration all the more powerful – in this sense alone it might arguably be the strongest single verse in proof of the doctrine). Paul says that because God breathed the Scriptures out they are useful. The word in v. 16 translated “inspiration” or “inspired” (theopneustos) is probably better translated “God-exhaled” or “God-breathed”. Since it is writings which are said to be “breathed-out” this must be understood as God’s Word spoken in written form. Paul’s reference to inspiration is to emphasize the priority, authority, sufficiency, and power of God’s word in the four uses he immediately then defines: teaching, conviction (reproof), correction, and discipline in righteousness. These four identified uses serve further to prove the very doctrine of inspiration and the plenary nature of it. First, the Scriptures must be used for teaching. This principle is the very foundation of progressive sanctification. The teaching of the Scriptures reveals to the believer more of the character and attributes of God than he had known previously, as well as his own spiritual state and inability, naturally leading to the second defined use: conviction. The use of the Scriptures to convict the believer of his wrongdoing flows necessarily out of the use of them in teaching. Right thinking is born from the teaching of the Scriptures. The more rightly a believer thinks, the more he agrees with God’s holiness and his shortcoming of it. Conviction then leads the believer to the next logical question – What can be done to correct this situation? Third, the Scriptures then are clearly useful in correction. After crushing us through teaching and conviction, they tear the sin out of the believer’s life and offer in its place the correct response to God. Fourth, the Scriptures prove useful for the next logical need – sustenance. They work with the believer continually to help him order his life with the ultimate goal being godliness (1 Timothy 4:7). In these verses the Scriptures themselves clearly declare themselves both necessary and sufficient.

The effect of this evidence is cumulative. This doctrine of inspiration is not something tenuously deduced from two or three verses. No. It is the explicit, the repeated, the emphatic, the constant declaration of the Bible in all its parts.

Why did Christ die?

Christ died because his Father killed him. “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.” (Isaiah 53:10) One of the greatest paragraphs in all the Bible is Romans 3:23-26.

All have sinned and come short of God’s glory and must be justified without cost, by His grace, through the redemption that has been accomplished by Christ Jesus, Whom God publicly provided (by the shedding of his blood) as an appeasing sacrifice to be appropriated by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness because, in His tolerance, He had passed by sins committed previously in order to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He Himself might be just and the Justifier of the person who believes in Jesus.

Christ’s death was God’s justifying the ungodly (Romans 4:5). Yet Proverbs 17:15 tells us “He who justifies the wicked and condemns the just are equally hateful to Yahweh.” How can it be right for God to justify the ungodly? This is the very heart of the gospel – that God justifies the ungodly! Something so profound happened in Christ’s death that millions of sinners can be acquitted. It is God the Father who put forward Christ for slaughter (Romans 3:25). There is this eternal paradox: the Bible reveals God to be infinitely passionate about and joyful in His own name and glory and, at the same time, the Bible reveals Him placing His omnipotent affection on God-belittling sinners who despise His glory and cheapen His name. Is God crazy? Is He in need of counsel? No. The Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). It was not for Jesus’ sin that God crushed Him. It was because He wanted to show His people mercy. He wanted to forgive and heal and save and rejoice over us with loud singing. So in order to accomplish His purpose – to save sinners and at the same time magnify the worth of His glory – God lay on Jesus our sin and abandoned Him to death on a cross. There is a great heaviness to be grasped here. If God was going to acquit sinners then something awesomely terrible had to happen so that His unswerving passion for His glory might not be impugned. That is what Paul is talking about in Romans 3:25 when he refers to the demonstration of God’s righteousness. Christ, the God-man, must die for God to be the “just and the Justifier”. Jesus’ death glorified His Father’s name and saved His Father’s people.