Aphoristic Commentary: Isaiah 43:1

Isaiah 43:1, But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

By the Incarnation, the Creator said to creation, "Mine!"

Aphoristic Commentary: Psalm 120:6-7 and 1 John 4:4-6 & 13

Psalm 120:6-7, My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

1 John 4:4-6 & 13, Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error....Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

We can have an optimistic/postmillennial eschatology, so long as we allow it to organically flow from and bend before Scripture: even with an optimistic/postmillennial eschatology, we must never forget the antithetical relationship between Christ and his enemies, between the Church and the world. Thus, we must always remember, not in spite of, but because of our optimistic/postmillennial eschatology, that we are separated unto God by the Holy Spirit!

Aphoristic Commentary: 1 John 4:9-11

1 John 4:9-11, In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Penal-Substitutionary-Atonement = Love of God

A Christmas Carol: Mother and the Drake-Slaying Christ-Child

A Christmas Carol

- Mother and the Drake-Slaying Christ-Child -

the beauty and genesis

a mother and the Christ-child

if not for the Word of a prophet

the love and sacrifice of a virgin

the strength and holy-rage of a Drake-Slayer

would have been unknown, beforehand

however, the Word of a prophet

was, indeed

the life of ransom-pay

their image the muse of an epoch

as a line upon line upon line upon line

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the gospel-four the story they-four writ

of beauty and genesis

of mother and the Christ-child

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as a precept upon precept upon precept upon precept

their gift-art the delight of fellow-man

the artists of centuries bring

the mother and the Christ-child

(the art)

the beauty and genesis

(they delight)

On Price and Demand, and on Oil and Whale-Oil

Aphoristic Commentary: 1 John 4:2-3

1 John 4:2-3, Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

The Spirit of God is a Christmas-Spirit, teaching men to confess Advent, the incarnate Christ!

Merry Christmas!

Psalm 119:89, For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Isaiah 40:3-5, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Psalm 2:7-9, I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Matthew 1:23, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Luke 2:14, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Re-Thinking Family, Church, and Society: Peter J. Leithart on "Natural Society"

You can read Peter Leithart's recent thoughts on family, church, and society here, or below:

Christian political thought has historically gotten off on the wrong foot through misinterpretation of Genesis 1-2. Adam and Eve are taken as “family,” and hence the family becomes a “natural” institution. Families band together and soon there are cities and kingdoms, also natural institutions.

Augustine says this, and so, following him, does Isidore. And everyone of course follows Augustine and Isidore.

The church comes later, a top layer on nature, the supernatural society.

But the garden is not “home” but sanctuary; Adam and Eve are not “family” but worshiping community, created and placed in the place of God’s presence and offered the fruit of the tree of life.

There is no more natural society than the church.

The Christ-Child . . . The World's Desire

A Christmas Carol by G. K. Chesterton.

The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary were the world,
But here is all aright.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary's breast
His hair was like a star.
(O stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.) 

The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart,
His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
But here the world's desire.)

The Christ-child stood on Mary's knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at Him,
And all the stars looked down

9 Ways to Pray

From Justin Taylor's blog, 9 Ways to Pray for Churches and Pastors.

1. Expositional Preaching: pray that more pastors will commit to preaching the whole counsel of God, making the point of the passage the point of their sermons.

2. Biblical Theology: pray that more pastors will preach about the big God from the big Story of the Bible, protecting the church from false teaching.

3. The Gospel: pray that pastors will faithfully proclaim the gospel every chance they have. Pray their churches will ask for nothing more than the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

4. Conversion: pray that more churches would grasp the doctrine of conversion rightly, and shape their practices to promote born-again believers, not nominal believers.

5. Evangelism: pray that churches will be bold and faithful in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus.

6. Church Membership: pray that churches will take the biblical call to church membership seriously, and encourage the whole body of Christ toward holiness and active participation.

7. Church Discipline: pray that churches will grow in purity and holiness as they seek to warn, rebuke, and admonish lost sheep.

8. Discipleship and Growth: pray that Christians will grow in their knowledge of the Word, and their commitment to discipling one another.

9. Biblical Leadership: pray that God will raise up many faithful shepherds to guard, teach, and encourage his flock.

Sins of Youth

"Sin is the mother of all sorrow, and no sort of sin appears to give a man so much misery and pain as the sins of his youth" (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 15).

Aphoristic Commentary: Isaiah 33:22

Isaiah 33:22, For the LORD [lit. Jehovah] is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

John Calvin said, "Let us only yield to his [God's] authority, hear his voice, and obey him; and, on the other hand, he will shew that he is our protector and most faithful guardian."

John Calvin on Isaiah 33:22 (abstracted into bullet points):

• On the one hand
• Yield to God's authority
• Hear God's voice
• Obey God
• And on the other hand
• God will shew that he is our protector and most faithful guardian
• i.e., "God will save us"

Sin-Nurse

"Custom is the nurse of sin. Every fresh act of sin lessens fear remorse, hardens our hearts, blunts the edge of our conscience, and increases our evil inclination" (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 11).

Putting Lipstick on a Pig ... Things the Liar Does

"He [Devil] will paint, cover with gold, and dress up sin, in order to make you fall in love with it. He will deform, misrepresent, and fabricate true Christianity, in order to make you take a dislike to it. He will exalt the pleasures of wickedness--but he will hide from you the sting. He will lift up before your eyes the cross and its painfulness--but will keep you out of sight the eternal crown. He will promise you everything, as he did to Christ, if you will only serve Him. He will even help you to wear a form of Christianity, if you will only neglect the power. He will tell you at the beginning of your lives, it is too soon to serve God--he will tell you at the end, it is too late. Oh, do not be deceived!!" (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 13).

Powerful Habits

"Habits have deep roots. Once sin is allowed to settle in your heart, it will not be turned out at your bidding. Custom becomes second nature, and its chains are not easily broken" (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 10).

To-Build or Not-to-Build (And What to Build) - That is the Question

Thom S. Rainer reflects on current trending for how Christians are thinking about church-buildings.

Discipline Yourself

"The Bible is very plain about how godliness does come. Paul wrote about godliness to Timothy. In his first letter to that budding young minister, he said, in contrast to all the ways that will fail (mentioned in the first part of the verse), "Timothy, you must discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness" (I Timothy 4:7). Discipline is the secret of godliness" (Jay E. Adams, Godliness Through Discipline, 2).

Living

"Get close to God's covenant people. Get to know your neighbors, and those with whom you transact business. Be a neighbor, as Christ has commanded. Get out of the rat race. Find a sense of place, and when you have, you will know that you must never leave. . . . Put your heart where your home is, and you will never be sorry" (R.C. Sproul Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 30).

Thoughts for Young Men, Again

"Young men, do not be deceived. Don't think you can, at will, serve lusts and pleasures in your beginning and then go and serve God with ease at your latter end. Don't think you can live with Esau, and then die with Jacob. It is a mockery to deal with God and your souls in such a fashion" (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 9).

Thoughts for Young Men, Again

"What young men will be in all probability depends on what they are now, and they seem to forget this" (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 8).

Parenting

"I shelter my children. I would sooner have my children left out in a tornado than placed in the hands of a professional priest of the religion of the state, a government school teacher" (R.C. Sproul Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 23).

And government school teachers are professional priests of the religion of the state; fifty years ago this book demonstrated that function of American Education.

Preparing for Glorious Things

1 Corinthians 15:20,  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

Some day I'll die. How glorious will it be?--beholding the face of God and waiting for the full redemption of my body? And how much more glorious will it be at the last day when soul is united again to resurrected self-same body? How do I begin preparing now for such glorious things?

Thoughts for Young Men, Again

"Surely none are so crazy as those who are content to live unprepared to die" (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 7).

Parenting

"Children need to be sheltered, to be protected. They need to be protected from themselves, and from those who would lead them astray. They are not ready to reason out the will of God in all circumstances; far less are they ready to defeat temptation in whatever form it comes. While God certainly can and does use sin for god, just as He can use a storm, we cannot sin that providential grace might abound all the more" (R.C. Sproul Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 23).

Spiritual Reading

"Maybe force-feeding isn't the best way to convey the distinctive quality inherent in Bible reading, in spiritual reading" (Eugene H. Peterson, Eat This Book, 9).

Aphoristic Commentary: James 3:5-6

James 3:5-6, Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

God's tongue is the Holy Spirit, a fire that cleanses the whole body, but a sinner's tongue lacks the Holy Spirit, so it is a fire that defiles the whole body.

Thoughts for Young Men

"Leave nothing unsettled that is eternal. Run no risk when your soul is at stake. Believe me, the salvation of the soul is no easy matter. Every one needs a "great salvation," whether young or old; all need to be born again--all need to be washed in Christ's blood--all need to be sanctified by the Spirit. Happy is the man who does not leave these things uncertain, but never rests until he has the witness of the Spirit within him, testifying to him that he is a child of God" (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 6).

Aphoristic Commentary: Romans 5:19 & Psalm 111:1-3

Romans 5:19,  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Imputed Righteousness = "By the obedience of one [Jesus Christ] shall many be made righteous."

Psalm 111:1-3, Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

The doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness is praise-worthy and comforting: a Christian knows their righteousness is Christ's righteousness imputed to them, and, since Christ is Lord, that righteousness will endure for ever. Praise-worthy and comforting, indeed.

Parenting

"Some argue against homeschooling on the grounds that such is sheltering children. I always reply, "What are you going to accuse us of next--feeding and clothing our children?" This parenting philosophy, that we must throw our lambs to the wolves so that they might become brave, is thinly veiled folly" (R.C. Sproul Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 22).

Aphoristic Commentary: Jer. 31:31-33

Jeremiah 31:31-33, Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The Law is not written on our hearts with ink; it is written on our hearts by the Spirit of the Living God; God is the Wordsmithy of Wordsmiths.

Joyful Living

"For what we do with our time should be joyful. Play cards with your family. Read a good book . . . . Write a letter to an author. Try raising chickens--well, don't do that. Start musing, and you just might find it entertaining" (R. C. Sproul Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 21).

Aphoristic Commentary: 2 Cor. 3:2-5

2 Corinthians 3:2-5, Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God . . . 

This, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: . . . our sufficiency is of God,"  is an example of incarnational thinking: to be evangelical one must be incarnationally minded.

Scripture and Christian Formation

"The Christian Scriptures are the primary text for Christian spirituality. Christian spirituality is, in its entirety, rooted in and shaped by the scriptural text. We don't form our personal spiritual lives out of a random assemblage of favorite texts in combination with individual circumstances; we are formed by the Holy Spirit in accordance with the text of Holy Scripture. God does not put us in charge of forming our personal spiritualities. We grow in accordance with the revealed Word implanted in us by the Spirit" (Eugene H. Peterson, Eat This Book, 15).

Col. 3:16-17, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Worship, which is Spirit-led and Scripture-saturated, is corporate discipleship; by Spirit and Word, worship provides both corporate-formation and personal spiritual-formation.

Dog-with-a-Bone Kind of Reading

"Language, spoken and written, is the primary means for getting us in on what is, on what God is and is doing. But it is language of a certain stripe, not words external to our lives, the sort used in grocery lists, computer manuals, French grammars, and basketball rulebooks. These are words intended, whether confrontationally or obliquely, to get inside us, to deal with our souls, to form a life that is congruent with the world that God has created, the salvation that he has enacted, and the community that he has gathered. Such writing anticipates and counts on a certain kind of reading, a dog-with-a-bone kind of reading [Peterson equates this with Hebrew word hagah, that is, "meditate", cf., Ps. 1, Ps. 63, Isa. 31:4.]" (Eugene H. Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading, 3-4).

Parenting

"My children, like all children, are sinners; they were born that way. But that doesn't mean they need to become experts in sin. Wise, yes--jaded, no. While they are by no means innocent before the throne of God in themselves, I still want to maintain their 'innocence' as long as possible" (R.C. Sproul Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 23).

WCF. IV. Of Creation - Q & A - Sections 1-2

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Questions 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Questions 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - Questions 1-8.

Prior posts for WCF. IV. Questions 1-2.

Prior post for WCF. IV. Of Creation - 1.

Prior post for WCF. IV. Of Creation - 2.

WCF. IV. Of Creation - 2. Q & A

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - Sections 1-8.

Prior post for WCF. IV. Of Creation - Section 1.

WCF. IV. Of Creation - 2.

1. In what do evolutionists and Christians superficially agree?

Generally speaking, both agree that man is the crowning or highest creature on earth.

2. Why do we say this agreement is superficial?

An evolutionist believes that this range of lower to higher forms of creation is all derivative of blind and neutral mechanical forces. A Christian, however, believes God's immediate will and creative word is at back these forms of creation.

3. Is it anti-Christian to believe that God employed many basic structural designs in lower forms of life and then later in creating man?

No. It is not. We may see similar structural designs, but there was no man (human) until God formed him from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him and called him Adam. "But there can be no yielding at one point: man did not "gradually emerge" from the slime, but was created by an immediate divine act in which matter and spirit were fused together and given existence as a living soul" (57).

4. At what precise point must the Christian never yield respecting man's creation?

See answer above for Question 3.

5. Is it possible that man may have developed from lower forms of "semi-human" beings? Why?

Absolutely not. Man's spirit came directly from God. God fused spirit with matter so that man became a "living soul" (Genesis 2:7), that is, human.

6. What does evolutionary dogma say about "early" human existence?

Evolutionary dogma insists man's genesis being one of dim-wits, pertaining to the caveman variety. This is bogus. Man from the beginning, according to Scripture, was endowed with a highly developed intelligence. For example, evolutionists believe speech is a phenomenon of human evolution, but the Bible describes speech as intricate to man being made in the image of God. As A. W. Tozer said, "Thought and speech are God's gifts to creatures made in His image; these are intimately associated with Him and impossible apart from Him. It is highly significant that the first word was the Word: 'And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' We may speak because God spoke" (The Knowledge of the Holy, 2).

7. What does the Bible say about "early" human existence?

See answer above for Question 6, and Romans 2:15 says the work of the law is written in our hearts.

8. In what sense was Adam's knowledge primitive?

Adam's knowledge was primitive in a non-cumulative sense: Adam was created with genuine knowledge, albeit, knowledge that was not composite, i.e., Adam didn't know about the latest theories of quantum-physics, about the ocean's tides, etc.

9. Why do scientists believe in the unity of the human race?

Scientists believe in the unity of the human race because they believe man descended from an original pair (I don't know of any scientists who maintain that human-evolution occurred in-parallel and simultaneously in different geographic regions).

10. Why do Christians believe in the unity of the human race?

Christians believe in the unity of the human race because of God's revelation: Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. Referencing this truth, Williamson says, "And the Christian resists all racist pride, not on the basis of the evolutionary dogma of man's greatness, but the biblical doctrine of creation and the fall" (58).

11. Which is correct: the soul is the image of God, the soul contains the image of God, man has the image of God, or man is the image of God?

The correct formulation is "Man is the image of God." Williamson says, "It would seem to be more scriptural to simply affirm that man (in the totality of his physical-scriptural being) is (rather than merely contains) the image of God" (58).

12. Why may it be that the body has traditionally been excluded from the image?

Williamson thinks this may be the case because of "pagan holdovers" where the body (physical) is considered evil and the spirit (non-physical) is considered good.

13. If God is triune, and man is God's image, then what must we see in the unity of human personality?

In human personality we see "endowed capacity for knowledge, holiness, and righteousness" (59), that is, we see diversity. "Man has one personality, but various faculties - mind, heart, and will" (357). These three traits correspond to functions as a prophet, priest, and king. Adam was created in the image of the Triune God and was to function and fulfill duties of each of these offices: "As a prophet man was endowed with the physical sense and mental ability to learn the truth. As a priest he possessed the sensibility and desire to worship God in true holiness. And as a king he possessed the physical and mental power and ability to subject in righteousness all things to the purpose and will of God" (59).

14. Do you find Scripture evidence for this diversity?

"Yes, the Scriptures teach that man is a rational, emotional, volitional personality (Isa. 1:18; Acts 24:25; Col. 3:9-10; Rom. 12:10; Matt. 26:39; John 1:13)" (357).

Wrinkly Theology > Ironed Theology

Compelling but short observation made by Thomas J. Davis, who is reflecting on Luther's theology of the Lord's Supper: "But too much real insight is lost if wrinkles are simply ironed out of theology" (This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought, 108).

It is a great observation, and Davis' verbiage is premier. Theology is oftentimes constructed in a two-dimensional fashion, which gives theology a flattened-ironed-bland-boring and merely-propositional feel. But if Theology has wrinkles, e.g., pesky loci that refuse to be ironed flat, that refuse to fit well under this or that Trinitarian sub-heading, etc., then such wrinkly-nuances make for a three-dimensional(ish) theology. So, a Wrinkly Theology presents the doctrine of the knowledge of God, and the creation that is derivative, as a topological(ish)-tapestry.

Wrinkly Theology is like a great work of art: you can walk back and forth and around it; you can change your point of view and perspective; yet, from every new vantage point, you realize something new - some light-explosion-within-a-diamond like intricacy you hadn't noticed before. But an Ironed Theology (a flattened-two-dimensional/merely-propositional theology) has no such spark, no intricacy, no ebb-and-flow Holy Spirit jet-stream. Wrinkly Theology is something that can provide shape and posture to your life. Ironed Theology is too over-simplistic to meaningfully describe the fecundity of life.

Wrinkly Theology, indeed. Oodelally!

JC & MJ

"When I was in junior high I even had a picture of Jesus hanging on my wall right next to the poster of Michael Jordan. In some ways that is a visual example of how I would define my relationship with Jesus at the time. I was a fan of Jesus, like I was a fan of Mike. I had memorized his records and knew his stats, but I did not know him" (Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus, 46).

God Condescends

"In relating to us, the triune God creates the means by which he condescends to us. He takes on human language, meaning, experience, and even flesh (supremely in Christ) in order to faithfully maintain his covenant with us; and he does all of this while remaining fully and completely God" (K. Scott Oliphint, Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice in Defense of Our Faith, 96).

Regarding the condescension of God, John Calvin drew a correlation between how a nurse who speaks baby-talk with an infant and how God lisps in speaking to us - God condescends "far beneath his loftiness" in order to accommodate himself to us.

Watchful

"Spiritual warfare calls us to be watchful because Satan's chief means of destroying people is through deception (Gen. 3:1-5, 13; John 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14; Rev. 12:9)" (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 194).

Following Jesus

"If you read through the four Gospels that tell of Christ's life, you'll find that Jesus says "Believe in me" about five times. But care to guess how many times Jesus said "Follow me"? About twenty times. Now I'm not saying that following is more important that believing. What I am saying is that the two are firmly connected. They are the heart and lungs of faith. One can't live without the other. If you try and separate the message of follow from the message of believe, belief dies in the process. Our churches will continue to be full of fans until we break down the dichotomy between following and believing. Following is part of believing. To truly believe is to follow" (Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus, 32-33).

LOL: Kudos to Foot Locker

Frigid Teaching

"For nothing is more frigid than a teacher who shows his philosophy only in words: this is to act the part not of a teacher, but of a hypocrite" (St. Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, Homily I. NPNF1 11:4).

Frigid teaching is the worst, indeed. Yowsers!

Feminine Faith - Strength of Character

"In marriage, it takes a lot of strength of character to be a helpmate as the Bible describes it and not bail on the marriage. But you're not doing it alone or in your own strength. Never forget that the encouragement, correction, submission, honor, respect, and appreciation that you give your husband each day are lavishly supplied by the One who is also your helper!" (Carolyn McCulley, Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World, 90).

WCF. IV. Of Creation - 1. Q & A

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - Sections 1-8.

WCF. IV. Of Creation - 1.

1. Who created the world?

The true God created the world - the world derives its existence from the Triune Lord. According to Genesis 1:1, "The world is created, not self-existent, and it is God, the true God, who caused it to be" (53).

2. What are the basic points of dogma held by "modern science"?

Modern science teaches the world is "self-existent or eternal . . . that it does not have a derived existence . . . that the present form of the world is the result of a process of selection controlled, not by God, but by the 'principle' of 'the survival of the fittest' . . . that there is no 'ultimate' reason for it" (53). This also was axiom at back Greek-pagan-thought. Heraclitus (c. 500 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher, and, regarding reality, he said, "Neither has any god nor any human made this cosmos, rather it always was and is and will be" (frag. 30). Also, Heraclitus was admired by Cynics, Stoics, and, of course, Nietzsche (see Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy, 64).

3. Is there any proof for the theory of evolution? Why?

Williamson calls evolution a "theory" and a "dogma" that has been believed and accepted for over a century, but "there is still not one iota of "proof" that it is true" [italics original] (54). There can be no "proof" for the theory of evolution because . . . see answer below for Question 4.

4. What is truth?

 "Truth is simply that which really is. There is only one truth, because there is only one reality. Therefore, if the Scriptures are true, they merely tell us what really is (or was, or will yet be). When by investigation men also discover what really is in the world of nature, they simply grasp another aspect of the same total truth" (54).

5. Where is truth found?

Truth is found in the "book of life" (the Bible) and the "book of nature" - both have been authored by God.

6. What are some common false assumptions of those who accept modern scientific dogma?

That modern science can deduce truth from observing only the "book of nature". Truth is what really is . . . thus, you cannot deduce truth from the raw facts of nature alone. Truth involves both the thing and God's revelation (God's Word) regarding the thing. In addition to this, there are any number of false assumptions related to production of fossils, assumptions regarding vast stretches of time (i.e., "billions-and-billions-of-years-ago"), etc.

7. State concisely your reply to each of these false assumptions.

I prefer not to. If you address the epistemological presuppositions at back false assumptions, then you don't need to address each of the false assumptions.

8. What is your view of the "days" of Genesis 1?

These are 24-hour periods of time. I believe Genesis 1 is a historical narrative of a one-week-sequence of time.

9. Is the Hebrew term for "day" always used to denote a twenty-four hour period?

No, it is not. As any Lexicon will show.

10. Is there any good reason not to believe that God created the world in six twenty-four hour days? if so, state them.

No - there are no good reasons. The reasoning is always driven by an insipid-and-mildew Gnosticism, so it de facto cannot be good reasoning for a Christian.

Singing-and-Praying the Songs of Jesus

"Why . . . can Christians pray the Psalms? According to the ancient church, it is because it was always the Messiah at the head of his people who prayed them; in Augustine's fine phrase, it was always "the total Christ," the totus Christus, Christ as the head and his folk as the body, who gathered in the temple with these hymns and lamentations" (Robert W. Jenson, Canon and Creed, 23).

Four Prime Things

"Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan's devices, are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched" (Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies for Satan's Devices, in The Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander B. Grosart (1861-1867; repr., Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2001), 1:3).

Prayer

Regarding prayer, "God's name is not to be a stop-gap to make up for our want of words" (C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 58).

Genesis 2:18

"When the Bible uses the word helper, there is a divine context for it. When the word is first introduced in Genesis 2:18 -- "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him" -- it is the same Hebrew word ('ezer) that is used most often to refer to God throughout the Old Testament. If God, who is obviously and infinitely superior to us, unblushingly refers to Himself as our helper, we should be proud to use the same term" (Carolyn McCulley, Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World, 80).

Anticommitment

From Carolyn McCulley's Radical Womanhood (79).

Cohabitation by its definition is anticommitment. A prolonged "maybe" is not a commitment. It's sad that this is seen as a better option to God's gift of marriage. What Scripture portrays is a passionate, secure love between husband and wife, where commitment provides the freedom to celebrate one another and not hedge bets:

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with once glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice! (Song of Songs 4:9-10 NIV) 

CCS Reflections: Genuine-Gratitude

I recently read the following quote by C. H. Spurgeon:

Young men have flung away all hope of salvation in order that they might be thought to be men of culture; they have abjured faith in order to be esteemed "free-thinkers" by those whose opinions were not worth a pin's head. I charge you, dear friend, if you are beginning at all to be a slave of other people, break these wretched and degrading bonds.

This thought by Spurgeon struck a chord within me.

I remember struggling through the "intellectual" questions raised during coursework at university. (I was a Religion and Philosophy major.) I remember struggling with how best to reconcile (on the one hand) "faith" and (on the other hand) "intellectual integrity" -- e.g., the problem of Theodicy, inspiration of Scripture and the New Testament canon, etc. (I was afflicted with doubts regarding God's goodness, his existence, the perspicuity and truth of Scripture, etc. Those were dark days, indeed.)

However, I vividly remember when a compelling idea - nay! - it was a conviction - surfaced in my head: it was sometime during my senior year, I realized that "intellectual integrity" for a Christian was a myth, in so far as it is constructed as something that must be reconciled with one's faith. The fact of the matter is this: "intellectual integrity" for a Christian is part of the warp-and-woof of faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for; faith is the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is a Christian's "intellectual integrity" - faith is a gift from God, and accepting, receiving, clinging to, persevering in that gifted-faith is "intellectual integrity" for a Christian.

So. Genuine-Gratitude is Intellectual Integrity.

However, in general, the Higher-Education/Peer-Reviewed/Tenure-Seeking/"Free-thinkers"/Men-of-Culture Christian-subculture (whose opinions, as C. H. Spurgeon said, are "not worth a pin's head") have chosen to disagree. If you have genuine-gratitude, then, as I've said before, prepare yourself to be called names. *Shrug*

But the trick is to count it all joy: look beyond the name-calling, look beyond being mislabeled (e.g., Fundamentalist, Anti-Intellectual, etc.), look beyond the complexity of providence, look beyond and lose sight of yourself, and look solely to God who is the author and provider of all.

And if you are looking to God, then you will be able to "respond to each providence in an appropriate way" (see John Flavel's The Mystery of Providence).

Art of Dying and God's Peace

"Dying is one of the two most difficult acts of faith (the other is coming to Christ for the first time). But the dying believer who is able to rehearse the blessings of God's providence in his or her life will surely know God's peace" (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 177).

"A Strange State of Mind"

"The man who supposes that baptism . . . acts mechanically, like a medicine, and that godly and ungodly, praying and prayerless parents, all alike get the same benefit for their children, must be in a strange state of mind" (J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 55).

Snapshot of the Torah

Genesis - Creation

• Genesis 1 - Creation
• 1:28 - Dominion/Cultural Mandate
• Genesis 3 - Fall
• 3:15 - Inception of the Covenant of Grace
• Genesis 6-9 - Flood
• Genesis 10-11 - Nations/Tower of Babel
• Genesis 12-50 - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph
• 15:6 - Abraham believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Exodus - Redemption/Deliverance

• Exodus 3-4 - Moses Called
• 3:13-15 - I AM WHO I AM
• Exodus 7-11 - Ten Plagues
• Exodus 14 - Red Sea
• Exodus 19-40 - Sinai
• 19-24 - Marriage Ceremony (Israel wed to God)
• 20:1-17 - Ten Commandments (Marriage means new rules)
• 25-31 - House (God gives instructions for Tabernacle)
• Exodus 32 - Idolatry - Golden Calf
• 32-34 - Marriage Ceremony #2 (Covenant renewal after idolatry)
• 35-40 - Build House (Israel builds the Tabernacle)

Leviticus - Holiness

• Leviticus 1-10 - Sacrifices
• Leviticus 11-18 - Purity Regulations
• 17:11 - "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."
• Leviticus 19-27 - Holiness Laws
• 19:2 - "Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy."

Numbers - Unfaithful Israel

• Numbers 1-10 - Promise Land/Preparations
• Numbers 11-25 - Promise Land/Rebel - Thus, Wander in Wilderness
• 11 - Israel wants to eat meat - given meat and judgment
• 13 - Twelve spies scout out the land but ten spies provide evil report
• 21 - Rebellion - judgment by fiery serpents/deliverance by bronze snake lifted up
• Numbers 26-36 - Second Generation: Promise Land/Preparations

Deuteronomy - Covenant Renewal/Second Law

• Deuteronomy 1-30 - Moses Speaks to Second Generation
• 4:2 - "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."
• 5 - Ten Commandments reviewed
• 6:4-9 - The Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord..."
• 29:29 - "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."
• Deuteronomy 31-34 - Epilogue
• 32 - Song of Moses
• 34 - Death of Moses

Scripture is Sufficient

"We do not need the authority of personal experience to counsel one another because the Bible is sufficient for this task" (Carolyn McCulley, Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World, 75).

Holy Spirit Produces Real Effects

In interaction with John Owen's Communion with God: "The Holy Spirit produces consolation, peace, joy, and hope in believers. The Holy Spirit produces real effects in the experience of believers, experience revolving around Christ as revealed in Scripture. Thus Owen rejected both the rationalists who dismissed the experiential work of the Spirit and the fanatics whose "spirit" disregarded the Word and Christ" (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 112).

Listening

"The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love to God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 97).

Receiving and Seeking the Holy Spirit

"Thou the elect experience the Spirit's regeneration passively as so many dry bones (Ezek. 37:1-14), believers put their trust in the promises of the comfort of the Spirit and pray for Him and His work in them (Gal. 3:2, 14; John 7:37-39; Luke 11:13). Thus believers have a responsibility to seek the Spirit" (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 111).

Systematics and Preaching

"But systematics [Systematic Theology] helps ministers to preach the whole counsel of God, and thus to make God central in their work" (Cornelius Van Til, An Introduction to Systematic Theology (ed. William Edgar), 22).

Effectual Callings

"The first part of effectual calling is a right hearing of the Word by those who were dead in sin; their minds are illuminated by the Spirit with irresistible truth. The preaching of the Word accomplishes two things [following quotation from William Perkins' Golden Chaine]: 'the Law shewing a man his sin and the punishment thereof, which is eternal death' and 'the Gospel, shewing salvation by Christ Jesus, to such as believe.' Both become so real that 'the eyes of the mind are enlightened, the heart and ears opened, that he [the elect sinner] may see, hear, and understand the preaching of the word of God'" (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 126).

Liquidated Debts (i.e., Sin)

"Christ discharged the debt of sin. he bore our sins and purged them. he did not make a token payment which God accepts in place of the whole. Our debts are not cancelled; they are liquidated. Christ procured redemption and therefore he secured it" (John Murray, Redemption: Accomplished and Applied, 58).

"The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit" (Eccles. 7:8)

"The desire for one's own honor hinders faith. One who seeks his own honor is no longer seeking God and his neighbor. What does it matter if I suffer injustice? Would I not have deserved even worse punishment from God, if He had not dealt with me according to His mercy? Is not justice done to me a thousand times even in injustice? Must it not be wholesome and conducive to humility for me to learn to bear such petty evils silently and patiently?" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 95).

Intercessory Prayer

"I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner. This is a happy discovery for the Christian who begins to pray for others" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 86).

Spiral-Sin

"As a movement, feminism arose because women were being sinned against. I think that is a fair argument. But feminism also arose because women were sinning in response. That's a classic human problem: Sinners tend to sin in response to being sinned against. The glorious hope we have is that Christ came to rescue us from this spiral of sin and sinful response. Only the gospel can accurately diagnose the issues on both sides and offer both the good news of forgiveness for our sins and the restoration of our relationship first with God and then with each other" ( Carolyn McCulley, Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World, 47).

LOL: On Being a Passive-Aggressive Smoker

An anecdote.

"The electrical wizard" Charles Steinmetz was an inveterate smoker. Once a notice that forbade smoking was posted in the General Electric plant where he worked. Steinmetz ignored it till an executive asked if he wasn't aware of the rule. The answer was a cold indifferent stare. Next day Steinmetz didn't show up, and for two days none heard from him. Important work remained untouched. The company began a serious search. It ended in the lobby of a Buffalo hotel. There he was found sitting at ease in a huge chair, puffing a cigar. When told that the whole company was looking for him, and asked why he had left like that, he calmly said, "I came up here to have a smoke." After that the smoking rule was never applied to him. 

 

The Lord of Time and the Lords of Time

Peter Leithart offers some great reflections on God and time.

A Living Faith - A Living Wisdom

Doug Wilson on wisdom that is alive. An excerpt below, but you really should go read article in full.

"Like termites need wood, so also unbelief needs the structures of faith that a living faith once built. They can’t get at the wood when it is still alive and growing, but once the living truth has gone through the sawmill of accreditation and become a standardized two by four of truth — watch out. A brief review will make the point — just imagine Fuller sitting in on a few classes at Fuller Seminary, Carl Henry dropping in at CT after reading the three most recent issues, or Thomas Cranmer trying to make it through the homily of the most theologically-minded dyke in the diocese...."

And he concludes: "Unbelief drifts. Wisdom walks, and fights as it goes."

NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) Facts!

Although I have never been much of a gamer (for either Console or PC), I do have a soft spot in my heart for NES, particularly Super Mario 3. So, naturally, I enjoyed this NES Facts video.

Luther on Prayer, Again

Martin Luther on prayer: "Or we recall Martin Luther saying to his students, 'I wish I could get you to pray the way my dog goes after meat!'" (quoted by William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 29).

Luther on Prayer

Martin Luther on prayer: "As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray" (quoted by Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 68).

WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - Q & A - Questions 1-8.

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III. Questions 1-8.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 1-2.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 3-5.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 6.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 7-8.

WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 7-8. Q & A

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 1-2.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 3-5.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 6.

WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 7-8.

1. Precisely what has God determined to do with respect to the reprobate?

With respect to the reprobate, God has sovereignly determined to withhold his grace from some men, and this God does according to his perfect counsel.

2. Why has God passed by these particular persons?

God passes by the reprobate according to his good pleasure (see Romans 9:18 and Ephesians 1:5).

3. Why do they receive damnation?

The reason the reprobate receive damnation is wholly within God. i.e., the reason is known by the triune God - "God elects or passes by as, and because, it pleases him" (38). The reprobate are not passed over by God because of their sin; that cannot be the reason because "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23). However, the reprobate receive damnation because they have been left in their sin, which in the end brings upon them God's perfect and holy wrath.

4. How has this doctrine been abused?

This doctrine has been abused by those who say, "If God passes over the reprobate, then that means it is God's fault they receive punishment." G. I. Williamson says, "This [the abuse just mentioned] is diabolical for the simple reason that God's withholding of grace does not make the sinner guilty and liable to punishment; it merely leaves him in that condition. "The wrath of God abideth (i.e., remains) on him" (John 3:36)" (39).

5. Why has this doctrine been refused?

This doctrine is refused by those who say, "If God does this, then God is arbitrary, unfair/unjust, and unkind.

6. Is God "arbitrary" in his actions?

Yes. God is arbitrary, however, God is not unjust. Romans 9:18 - "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."

7. Is it wrong for God to be "arbitrary" in his actions?

No. He is God. God's decree determines what will be, and their is nothing higher than the will of the triune God. In his answers to the questions at the back of the book, G. I. Williamson says, "He has absolute right to do as he will with creatures he has made, especially in view of their sin" (275).

8. What text in Scripture shows that reprobation (God's withholding of grace, and passing by) does not make a sinner guilty and liable to punishment?

John 3:36 - "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

"God's sovereign discrimination concerns those who are already under his wrath and curse. His discrimination concerns who shall not be left in that condition" (275). This is declared by the Prophet Habakkuk: "O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy" (Habakkuk 3:2). This fact, that "in wrath remember mercy", is at back of the salvation of every Christian.

9. Should this doctrine be taught? Why? How?

Yes, Yes, three times I say, Yes. It should be taught to counter false presumption. It should be taught in a manner that spurs on diligence to our faithful-and-loving triune God; it should be taught in a manner that engenders humility before our merciful triune God.

 

God's Decree

"His decree determines what shall be done.... For there is nothing higher than his will."

Quotation from William Perkins, The Works of That Famous and Worthy Minister of Christ in the University of Cambridge, Mr. William Perkins (1:723), quoted by Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones in A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life (117).

Predestination

"It is impossible to understand predestination without realizing that God's decrees flow from the inner life of the triune God" (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 120).

The Love of Christ

"Christ woos and wins His bride in an ever-deepening relationship" (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 109).

J. Gresham Machen

It was a glorious Lord's Day. This afternoon I finished reading (first edition) Ned B. Stonehouse's J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir.

Machen (1881-1937) taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for over twenty years, was a world-class New Testament scholar, and was instrumental in the founding of Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Machen was a stalwart defender of the faith, and combated Modernism within the Presbyterian Church throughout his life. This book was an excellent and edifying read.

The German-Reformation

Below are a loose collection of thoughts, some talking points (largely dependent/derived from J. W. Nevin's History and Genius of the Heidelberg Catechism) from a short, high-overview talk that I gave about the German-Reformation at our church's annual Reformation Celebration.

1. The Reformation was not something that flared up overnight; it had been developing within the Roman Catholic Church for some time, e.g., Wycliffe - "the Morning Star of the Reformation" - was born nearly two-hundred years before Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the door at Wittenberg. Nevin calls the Middle Ages the "womb" of the Reformation; he says that the Church, by God's Spirit, gave birth to the Reformation. 
2. Because the Reformation was something birthed in the Church by God's Spirit, Nevin says, "[Luther and the other Reformers] did not make the Reformation. The Reformation made them."
3. Because the Reformation was something that God' Spirit was birthing within the church, we cannot say the Reformation was bound only to Germany (although German was the "proper cradle of the Reformation"). This was a movement that occurred across the board, i.e., in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, etc.
4. The "Reformed Church" found its initial distinction through opposition to Roman Catholicism in France; there it first known as the "Catholic Church Reformed" - in time it became a "technical term", a form of nomenclature that distinguished it from both Lutheranism and Romanism.
5. "The Reformed Church was the national Protestantism of Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Scotland and England, and eventually the German Palatinate (South-Western Germany)."
6. The Catechism of the Palatinate (aka - Heidelberg Catechism) was chiefly written by Zacharius Ursinus, who was trained at Wittenberg by Luther's successor (Melanchthon).
7. Heidelberg Catechism was "eagerly accepted by other Reformed Synods", e.g., Synod of Dort included the Catechism as one of the Three Forms of Unity, and even now its acceptance and use are widespread. 

Prayer

"Prayer is in one sense an expression of a Christian's unbroken relationship with the Father" (Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 67).

Doctrine + Exhortation

Thus saith C. H. Spurgeon: "Doctrine without exhortation makes men all brain, no heart; exhortation without doctrine makes the heart full, leaves the brain empty. Both together make a man."

Baptizing Babies

"One reason why we persist in baptizing babies - helpless, dependent, sinful, little things that babies are - because each of us, at any age, is helpless, dependent, in need of God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 28).

Amen, indeed.

Our Salvation - God's Idea First

"Baptism reminds us that all of us have been adopted. We call it grace. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people (1 Peter 2:10). Therefore it is never quite right to say things like, "Since I took Jesus into my heart," or "Since I gave my life to Christ." Our relationship to Jesus is his idea before it is ours. We don't take Jesus anywhere. He takes us places" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 27).

You Gotta Fight, Fight, Fight (Sometimes), Again

And speaking of war and fighting . . . I've always enjoyed this Vonnegut quote from Hocus Pocus:

If there really had been a Mercutio, and if there really were a Paradise, Mercutio might be hanging out with teenage Vietnam draftee casualties now, talking about what it felt like to die for other people's vanity and foolishness.

Petty squabbles ought to be avoided. The collateral damage, for both petty political wars and petty theological wars, is absolutely brutal.

You Gotta Fight, Fight, Fight (Sometimes)

In a chapter titled The Fight, J. C. Ryle says, "He that would understand the true nature of true holiness must know that the Christian is 'a man of war.' If we would be holy we must fight."

J. C. Ryle is elaborating on Paul's words to Timothy, 'Fight the good fight of faith,' and methinks Ryle provides the proper balance to cultivating a fighter-mentality when he says:

With whom is the Christian soldier meant to fight? Not with other Christians. Wretched indeed is that man's idea of religion who fancies that it consists in perpetual controversy! He who is never satisfied unless he is engaged in some strife between church and church, chapel and chapel, sect and sect, faction and faction, party and party, knows nothing yet as he ought to know. No doubt it may be absolutely needful sometime to appeal to law courts, in order to ascertain the right interpretation of a Church's Articles, and rubrics, and formularies. But, as a general rule, the cause of sin is never so much helped as when Christians waste their strength in quarreling with one another, and spend their time in petty squabbles (J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 52).

There is a danger in calling someone a soldier, i.e., like the young boy who is given his first hammer and sees a world-of-nails, so a Christian when called to be a soldier must remember they are a peacemaker-soldier.

Warfare is real; doctrinal battles need to be fought. We must remember, however, petty squabbles do not constituted legitimate war.

Imprecatory Psalms: For our Faith and Worship

Regarding the imprecatory Psalms: "Yes, these kinds of [imprecatory] prayers are uncomfortable (they are supposed to be!), but they are there, given by God and led by Christ, for us to sing. Curses in the Psalms are not provided for us to sing with relish, but even these hard lines are there for our faith and worship" (Michael LeFebvre, Singing the Songs of Jesus: Revisiting the Psalms, 115).

Happy Reformation Day!

For additional Reformation Day humor, check this out.

WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 6. Q & A

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts WCF. III.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 1-2.

III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 3-5.

WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - 6.

1. Read Acts 27:14-44. What divine end was promised by God (v. 24)? What means did the inspired apostle require for attaining this end (v. 31)? Was the end reached? Were the means used as required? Which then was ordained (decreed, or predetermined) by God, the end or the means?

God says in verse 24 that Paul's life will be preserved, because he must be brought to Caesar, and that the lives of "all them that sail with thee" will also be preserved. The means required for preservation were obeying the inspired Apostles command, "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved" (their lives will be preserved if they remain in the ship and obey Paul's instructions). Yes, the end was reached: verse 44 says, "And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land." Both the end and the means were decreed by God. God predetermined that all would be preserved through the storm and shipwreck, and God predetermined the means would be by listening and obeying Paul's instructions.

2. What is wrong with this popular statement: "If I'm elect then I will be saved no matter what I do?"

This popular statement is wrong and foolish because it denies that God predetermines the end as well as the means, i.e., "Paul links divine predestination (the end) with calling, justification and glorification (means to this end) (Rom. 8:30)" (35). The popular statement above is wrong because it is not a fully Biblical view, since God ordains both the end and the means. In light of Romans 8:30, you cannot say you will be saved (the end) no matter what you do (the means).

3. By what is the plan of God never contradicted?

"The plan of God is never contradicted by the works of God by which the plan is executed" (35). The Godhead is in perfect harmony, therefore, the Godhead's decree (end) and executed plan (means) are in perfect harmony. Their is no contradiction within the Godhead, therefore, there is no contradiction within the Godhead's decrees.

4. Why may we not say that Christ's death was intended for the salvation of all?

Scripture says that not all men will be saved, therefore, Christ's death (the means) cannot be intended for the salvation of all.

Listening to Sermons

"It is a mental exercise, when rightly performed, in which all the faculties of the spiritual man are called into devotional action. Reverent hearing the word [listening to sermons] exercises our humility, instructs our faith, irradiates us with joy, inflames us with love, inspires us with zeal, and lifts us up towards heaven" (C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures To My Students, 53).

Getting a Grip

"But we must come to grips with the fact that to be like Jesus we must pray" (Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 66).

Holiness

"There is not a brick nor a stone laid in the work of our sanctification till we go to Christ. Holiness is His special gift to His believing people. Holiness is the work He carries on in their hearts, by the Spirit whom He puts within them" (J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 50).

LOL: Snakebite Whiskey

An anecdote I came across today. I laughed-out-loud, naturally.

In one of our Southwestern proverbially dry states a couple of strangers in town asked a man on the street where they could get a drink. "Well," said the man, "in this town they only use whiskey for snake bite. There's only one snake in town, and it's getting kind of late. You'd better hurry down and git in line before it gits exhausted."

Diligence in Theology

Theology is controversial (you are making statements about God, anthropology, origin of the universe, morality and ethics, etc.), such that it is easy to be misunderstood. If you are going to speak-theology, then you need to put forth your best effort to do so with clarity, i.e., as the idiom goes,  you need to wax eloquent. However, if you're going to listen to someone, you too have a duty to be fair and charitable and put forth an effort to understand them in the best light possible.

Theology is controversial and it is hard work (it requires diligence), e.g., one ought to be nuanced when discussing faith and obedience (works).

Needing to speak with clarity regarding faith and obedience can be illustrated in the writings of William Ames, Puritan born in England in the late 1500s. In his writings, Ames emphasized the "will" of the Christian. He was passionate about maintaining the kinship between Christian thought and action. Because of this emphasis on the "will" of Christians, some (i.e., Kuyper, Kendall) argued that Ames departed "from the mainstream of Reformed Theology" (Joel R. Beeke and Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology - Doctrine for Life, 54). This, however, is not an accurate portrayal, as Beeke and Jones contend, Ames was well within the mainstream of Reformed Theology, but to gather this you must consider the covenantal framework within which Ames emphasized the role of the "will" of Christians.

But Ames, as a faithful son of the Reformation, continued to emphasize that "the final dependence of faith, as it designates the act of believing, is on the operation and inner persuasion of the Holy Spirit" ([The Marrow of Theology] 1.3.12.). . . . The key to properly combining sovereign grace with freely given faith and responsible obedience was to be found in the context of God's covenant. Under the covenant of grace, Ames expounded the harmony of faith and obedience, the gospel of Christ and the Ten Commandments, orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Rather than isolating Ames's statements about the will and crying "voluntarism," we must interpret each of his teachings in the light of his whole theology -- a Reformed theology of heart religion and humble obedience" (54-55)

Theological statements never occur within a vacuum - they always occur within a context that also needs to be examined and accounted for in order to understand the theological statements. Understanding a person's theology, like most things worth doing, takes effort and requires hard work. Like the philosopher Spinoza said, "All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare."

Gift

"Our relationship to God - that we can boldly come to God saying "Our Father" - is due to God's choice of us, rather than our choice of God. God's choice of us is a gift that we often speak of in the church as "grace" - amazing grace. It's amazing particularly in a culture in which we are taught to believe that anything important is earned, achieved, worked for. Yet faith in Jesus as Lord can only come as a gift" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 26).

Begin with Christ

"Would you be holy? Would you become a new creature? Then you must begin with Christ. You will do just nothing at all, and make no progress till you feel your sin and weakness, and flee to Him" (J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 49).

Repentance Leads to Strength

Beautiful, this. George Herbert on repentance and confession of sin, from The Temple - The Church (the 1st and 36th stanza):

Lord, I confess my sin is great;

... 

Fractures well cured make us more strong.

On God Being "Our" Father

"We say 'Our' because of the astounding recognition that this God, the one who created the universe and flung the planets into their courses, the great God of heaven and earth, has willed to become our God. Before we reached out to God, God reached out to us and claimed us, promised to be our God, promised to make us God's people. Thus, not because of what we are or what we have done, but rather because of what God in Jesus Christ has done, we are privileged to say, 'Our Father'" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 25).

Friday "How To Video" at Tree & The Seed: "How To" Create Demand for and Fund Death/Abortion Quotas

From the Alliance Defending Freedom website:

Abortion generates up to half of all of the income from the services at Planned Parenthood. In 2011 They committed 333,964 abortions which generated a minimum of $150 million. To continue to drive this revenue, they enforce abortion quotas which require all affiliates to conduct abortions. This is why 92% of pregnant women who go to Planned Parenthood get an abortion.

Alliance Defending Freedom is litigating lawsuits to protect the unborn, and restrict Planned Parenthood’s ability to do abortions until we drive them out of the abortion business.

Women

Discussing her personal departure from feminism, Carolyn McCulley, in her book, Radical Womanhood, says:

The light of God's Word showed me truth. What I thought as right and true didn't hold up to Scripture. Human observation and psychology could only point out a problem - proud women spar with men they deem to be weaker and not worthy of respect - but offered no credible solution to the tension between the sexes.

I didn't need to reconcile my pantheon of inner goddesses. I needed to repent of my sin.

As do men.

The kicker is that feminism is partially right. Men do sin. They can diminish women's accomplishments and limit women's freedoms for self-centered reasons. Some men sexually assault women. Some men abuse their wives and children. many men degrade women through pornography. Feminism didn't rise up because of fabricated offenses (25-26).

 So true. Feminism (and her best friend Egalitarianism)  did not rise up due to "fabricated offenses". Sinful men who lord over women are meatheads and blockheads. To rip off the song from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, "Your brain is full of spiders, you've got garlic in your soul, Mister [Blockhead]. / I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole."

If you want a high-view of women, then you need look no further than Genesis. Adam is a type of Christ, he is the federal-head that represents all of mankind, and he is placed in a garden-sanctuary. In this garden-sanctuary Adam has prophet-priest-king duties to fulfill. However, it is not good that Adam be alone, so God blesses Adam and gives him Eve. In Genesis 2:18 we learn that Eve was created to sustain Adam by a covenant-of-companionship that would eliminate Adam's loneliness. Eve is Adam's "helpmeet" - although "help" isn't the best translation, since the Hebrew 'ezer kenegdo connotes coming alongside another in order to actively sustain and assist, i.e., "helpmeet" = "sustainer beside him" (see Robert Alter, Genesis, 9). Also, Proverbs 31 describes a woman as a heroic, domestic warrior (see conclusion from sermon notes by Peter Leithart). A woman does much more than "help" - according to the Bible she is much, much more than an auxiliary to man. If you don't have a Biblical view of women, then, as McCulley reminds herself and her readers, you need to repent of your sin.

Bending Our Lives Toward God

"The Lord's Prayer is a lifelong act of bending our lives toward God in the way that God has offered -- "thy will be done, thy kingdom come" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 22).

Once-for-Allness of Atonement

"It is indeed highly necessary to recognize the continued high priestly activity of Christ in heaven. . . . We must distinguish between the offering of sacrifice and the subsequent activity of the high priest. What the New Testament stresses is the historical once-for-allness of the sacrifice that expiated guilt and reconciled to God (cf. Heb 1:3; 9:12, 25-28). To fail to assess the finality of this once-for-allness is to misconceive what atonement really is" (John Murray, Redemption - Accomplished and Applied, 54).

Puritan Hermeneutics and Exegesis

Excerpt from the conclusion to the second chapter ("Puritan Hermeneutics and Exegesis") in A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life by Joel R. Beeke and Mark Jones.

Thus, their [Puritan authors like John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, John Howe, Stephen Charnock, etc.] covenantal reading of the Bible, whereby history is divided into two basic covenants (i.e., works and grace) meant that they were consciously reading the Scriptures with a Christ-centered lens, which was seen in their use of typology and, at times, allegory. They rejected the many "sense" of Scripture (i.e., the so-called quadriga), but their writings certainly show that they were often keen to press home the "fuller sense" of certain passages, which may have multiple layers of meanings and was a legitimate application of the literal meaning (sensus literalis). Their view that the Scriptures were internally consistent and that most theological truths had to be gathered out of more than one place in the Bible made the basic principles of the analogy of faith and "good and necessary consequence" [WCF. I.] an indispensable part of their hermeneutic. These principles of interpretation are important, but if reason alone tries to make sense of the mystery of the gospel, a Christian will forever run into error and heresy. Only a Spirit-wrought, supernatural faith will allow a Christian to believe that God had a Son as old as Himself! And yet to come to formulate such a truth a host of interpretative techniques were required (40).

Atonement of which Scripture Speaks

"Our definition of atonement must be derived from the atonement of which Scripture speaks. And the atonement of which Scripture speaks is the vicarious obedience, expiation, propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption performed by the Lord of glory when, once for all, he purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high" (John Murray, Redemption - Accomplished and Applied, 55).

Blood-Friends: Faith and Works

J. C. Ryle quoting Samuel Rutherford: "Believing and doing are blood-friends" (J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 48).

Psalmody: Meditation and Praise

A lengthy excerpt, but much food-for-thought on the function and design of the Psalms.

And it is my thesis, in this chapter, that in the Psalms, praise is the expected outcome, but meditation is the underlying activity which we undertake in Psalm singing. Unlike modern church songs which are primarily about 'getting right to the point' and declaring praise, the Psalms are designed to help people who don't always feel like praising begin by meditating on the mess the world is in, and only through a full and robust process of meditation, to come out with praise.

Praise is so vital an outcome from psalmody that we use the word 'Psalms' (lit., 'Praises') to describe them. In Hebrew, the volume is called Tehilim, meaning 'praises,' and in Greek it is called Psalmoi, which likewise indicates songs of joy and praise. But even a cursory reading of the Psalms reveals that they are not all hymns of declarative praise. There is a lot of moaning and groaning going on in the Psalms. The book is called 'Praises,' not because each individual hymn contained in it is joyful. The book is called 'Praises' because the nature of the whole collection is to carry us from sorrow to praise.

We use a similar method for naming streets in our culture. I live on the edge of Indianapolis, just south of another city called Lafayette. One of the major north-south routes on my side of Indianapolis is a street called, 'Lafayette Rd.' It is called Lafayette, not because I live in the city of Lafayette (I live in Indianapolis), but it is so named because, if you follow that road where it leads, you will end up in the city of Lafayette.

In the same way, the book of Psalms is so named because these are sung meditations, which meet us in the 'city of confusion and trouble' where we live and, if we follow them where they take us, they carry us ultimately to the 'city of praise and rejoicing.' This is true of each Psalm within its own compass on the small scale (each Psalm, generally trends to lift us from questions to answers). This is also true of the Psalmbook as a whole. In fact, the Early Church Father Gregory of Nyssa, wrote a book [Inscriptions of the Psalms] in the fourth century to describe how the Psalter carries us from the sorrow of living in a place of ungodly, sinners, and scorners (in Ps. 1) to the heavenly assembly of joy (in Ps. 150) (Michael LeFebvre, Singing the Songs of Jesus: Revisiting the Psalms, 96-98).