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).