What God Says You Is

Know thy Bible. And know thyself. But just a heads up: you have to know thy Bible, first, in order to begin to know thyself. 

The Bible is a great book. Grand, indeed. We learn about God (theology). We learn about ourselves (anthropology). We learn about the rest of creation (cosmology).

But we don't only learn about all these things, we also learn what God thinks about them, which in some corners of this world, where they (typically) use archaic, big words and obscure phrases, is referred to as the "doctrine of the knowledge of God." And if you want to know thyself, then you have to begin with what God says you is.

Know Thy Bible and Know Thyself

Knowledge of God’s commands involves two things: knowing what the command is, i.e., "do this" or "do not do that," and also knowing something about the situation in which you apply the command, e.g., if you know the Ten Commandments, that is good, but you don’t know (keep) the commandments unless you know that coveting your friend's new car is a sin.

Application is a type of benchmark of whether or not you know God's commandments. The "application" dimension of knowing God's commandments is typically ignored by the self-righteous and the legalistic; they crave the binary, raw commands ("do this" or "do not do that"). That is how the Pharisees thought—in tight, little, rigid-and-wooden, monad-like, static ethical categories. Jesus had a beef with the Pharisees because they were levering the overly-wooden commands for personal benefit (Matt. 23:23).

So, step number one in Bible Study is to know what the Bible says, and then step number two is to find out how to apply "this" (God's Word) to "that" (your life).

Creation

In the Bible "creation" is an alpha and omega theme: in the Book of Genesis we learn about the original creation when "God created the heaven and earth" and in the Book of Revelation we see the glorified creation (re-creation) when the one who "sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5).

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Second Adam who by way of obedience and righteousness will make new all the things that the First Adam corrupted by way of sin and rebellion: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22); "For if by one man's offence [Adam's] death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17).

"Creation" is an alpha and omega theme because all of Scripture speaks of the Creator-Christ: Christ is the "Alpha" Creator, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:1-4), and Christ is the "Omega" Creator, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. . . . And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; I will be his God, and he shall be my son" (Revelation 21:1-2, 5-7).

Words of the Bible and the Word made flesh

"The words of the Bible and the Word made flesh [John 1:14] are distinct, but they are also inseparable. Every act of redemption--from the exodus, to the return from exile, to the cross itself--is also revelation. They tell us something about the nature of sin, the way of salvation, and the character of God. Likewise, the point of revelation is always to redeem. The words of the prophets and the apostles are not meant to make us smart, but to get us saved. Redemption reveals. Revelation redeems" (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God At His Word, 50).

"A dialog between a complementarian, a feminist, and a patriarch..."

You can read the full article at Baylyblog.com 

Complementarian: I’m a complementarian! 

Feminist: A complementarian? What is that? 

Complementarian: A complementarian spelled with an ‘e.’ It means I believe the genders complete each other. That God made Adam and Eve to be mutually beneficial as husband and wife. Each of them were given gifts the other needs and together they are more than the sum of their parts. 

Feminist: Well of course different genders are different! Who says they’re not? But your new word gives me no indication what the difference is! 

Complementarian: Well, we can talk about that. But I want to make clear that I’m thankful for feminists’ work calling the church to repent of the oppression of women that has been characteristic of Christians and the Christian church for too, too long. I'm deeply sorry and I apologize. 

Feminist: That sounds good, but beyond that, what do you stand for? I can’t figure it out. 

Complementarian: Well, I believe that both man and woman equally bear the Image of God, and therefore both man and woman are equal. I love my wife and mother and daughters and I treat them with respect. 

Feminist: Again, that’s good. But I thought we disagreed with each other? 

Complementarian: Maybe, maybe not. Sounds like we both agree that women and men are equal, right? 

Feminist: Right. 

Complementarian: So we agree there! Isn’t that neat? 

Feminist: Maybe, but would you please get to the point! 

Complementarian: Well, I think maybe what you’re getting at is the fact that I believe that one part of the complementarian world God has created is that the husband and wife are each made to submit to each other in loving unity. That the wife is made by God to complete her husband and the husband is made by God to be a servant leader of his wife. Doesn’t that sound good? There’s no privileging there, is there? Do you like me now? 

Feminist: Ah, come on! Stop talking around the issue. Do you take me for a fool? You hold to patriarchy and I know it. You believe the husband is the head of the wife, don’t you? Come on, admit it! 

Complementarian: Well, you might put it that way but I take strong exception to that word ‘patriarchy.’ Across the centuries I believe the church has been wrong to hold to a patriarchal view of marriage and the home. It’s time for us to be the loving servants of our wives God made us to be. It’s about time for us to love our wives and treat them with respect as the equals God made them to be. Yes, I think the husband has a kind of headship in the home, but it’s not the way you think of it. It doesn’t mean the husband sits in his Lazy-Boy watching the football game and yells at his wife to go get him a beer smacking her on the bottom as she walks by. I’m quite sensitive and gentle and you can ask my children—I cry a lot. Do you see how different I am from my father and father’s father and father’s father’s father—those mean Christian men of past generations and centuries who hated and took advantage of their wives? I'm evolved! Progressive! Deeply integrated as a human being! Sensitive—very, very sensitive and engaging. 

Feminist: (pulling hair out) Look! Do you or do you not believe that the man is the head of the home—that he is the final authority in the home? Do you believe in father-rule? 

Complementarian: Wellll… Let me be very careful here because it’s so easy to be misunderstood in matters which are so very controversial. In one sense I suppose I could agree that the husband has some sort of tie-breaking authority… 

* * *
So now, do you see it? This is the complementarian. I know him well because I used to be one. He floats like a butterfly and stings like a butterfly, which is to say he dances around the issue and never says anything negative. 

Turning our backs on equivocation and misdirection and mollycoddling, let’s try another tack and see how it goes. 

* * *
Patriarch: I hold to patriarchy. 

Feminist: Patriarchy? You’ve gotta be kidding me! What cave did you just crawl out of? 

Patriarch: No, seriously; I believe in patriarchy, just like thousands of generations before me, and I’m alive today, right now standing here in front of you. Do you know what patriarchy means? 

Feminist: Of course I know what it means! It means the husband sits on his behind in the Lazy-Boy watching football, yelling at the kids to stop blocking the television, yelling at his wife to go get him a beer. And while she’s at it, to make him some guacamole. And smacking her on the bottom every time she walks by. 

Patriarch: Well, if we’re simply going to trade insults, you know how many feminists it takes to change a light bulb? 

Feminist: (silence) 

Patriarch: Hey! Did you hear me—how many feminists does it take to change a light bulb? 

Feminist: Alright, how many? 

Patriarch: THAT'S NOT FUNNY! (he chuckles) 

Feminist: (confused) What’s not funny? 

Patriarch: (cheerful) That’s the punch line—“that’s not funny!” 

Feminist: (silence) 

Patriarch: See, I told you and you didn’t laugh. 

Feminist: What’s there to laugh about? 

Patriarch: Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s not funny. 

Feminist: So why are you a patriarch? 

Patriarch: Because when God made Adam first, then Eve, He was decreeing that across all time man would reflect His Own Fatherhood, his loving rule and authority. You see, that’s what ‘patriarchy’ means. Literally, it’s the combining of the two Greek words ‘father’ and ‘rule.’ In the relations between the sexes, there are only three options: patriarchy, matriarchy, or anarchy. You hold to matriarchy and I hold to patriarchy. 

Feminist: How can you say those are the only three options? What’s wrong with mutuality? 

Patriarch: Are you going to tell me that you know couples where neither partner makes the decisions—everything is mutually agreed upon? 

Feminist: Sure, I know all kinds of couples where neither partner dominates the other. 

Patriarch: Ah, now we’re off and running. First, patriarchy never means the father dominates his wife or family. Patriarchy means the father serves his family by taking responsibility for them and leading them to understand and worship God the Father Almighty from Whom all fatherhood comes. 

Feminist: You mean to tell me you actually believe that every husband is the head of his wife? What about government—are you saying it’s wrong to have a woman president? If Hillary Clinton ran, are you saying you wouldn’t vote for her because she’s a woman and it’s wrong for a woman to hold authority over men? 

Patriarch: Good questions. The particular application of God's Order of Creation, or patriarchy, to different spheres of authority needs to be talked about carefully. Sex isn’t the only thing to take into consideration when voting for a president, as in “She’s a woman so that’s that—I won’t vote for her.” That’s not my position. If Hillary Clinton were pro-life and her opponent were male and pro-abortion, I might very well vote for Hillary Clinton. But back to the underlying principle: yes, since God made Adam (the man) first, and Eve (the woman) second, all sexual intimacy is to be heterosexual and all relations between the sexes are to start with that truth of patriarchy God wrote into mankind’s DNA flowing from the Father Almighty. As in “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.”
He placed his father-authority in the male of the species—not the female of the species, nor equally in the male and female of the species…

Dependence Deep In Your Bones

"In Amos's day the most severe punishment to fall on the people of God was a "famine . . . of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). There is no calamity like the silence of God. We cannot know God himself unless God speaks to us. Every true Christian should feel deep in his bones an utter dependence on God's self-revelation in the Scriptures. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4)" (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God At His Word, 21).

True Word, True God - True God, True Word

"There are many texts we could use to show that the Bible is without error, but here's the simplest argument: Scripture did not come from the will of man; it came from God. And if it is God's word then it must all be true, for in him there can be no error or deceit" (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God At His Word, 39).

Book of Acts: Story of All that Jesus Began and Continues to Do and Teach

This article by Timothy George (the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School) is about new biblical-theological commentaries, i.e., "the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Brazos Press); The Church’s Bible (Eerdmans); and two series in sequence from InterVarsity Press: the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the Reformation Commentary on Scripture," and reading The Book of Acts with the Reformers. From the conclusion to the article:

The Book of Acts is the only New Testament writing that ends with an adverb: akolutos, “unhindered.” Paul’s evangelical odyssey has led him from Jerusalem to Rome. He is under house arrest, still in chains, but able to proclaim the Good News of God’s kingdom, “no man forbidding him” (KJV), “with all boldness and without hindrance” (NIV). This is the end of Acts, but not its conclusion. For, as Eugene Peterson has written: "The story of Jesus doesn't end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in him. The supernatural does not stop with Jesus. Luke makes it clear that these Christians he wrote about were no mere spectators of Jesus than Jesus was a spectator of God—they are in on the action of God, God acting in them, God living in them which also means, of course, in us."

Commentaries: Book of Acts

Ligonier recently ran a post with Dr. Keith Mathison's "top 5" commentaries for each book of the Bible. I've been preaching through Acts so I thought I would compare his recommendations against what I've been utilizing for sermon prep. Mathison's top 5 for Acts are:

• Darrell L. Bock — Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 2007).
• F.F. Bruce — The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament, 1988).
• C.K. Barrett. — Acts 1-14, Acts 15-28 (International Critical Commentary, 2004).
• Ben Witherington — The Acts of the Apostles (1997).
• I. Howard Marshall — Acts (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, 1980).

Mathison also gives some major kudos to Craig Keener's currently unfinished multi-volume commentary (he says when it is complete he will probably put it in his top 5), and also lists these other works as runners up: David Peterson, James Montgomery Boice, Dennis Johnson, J.A. Alexander, R. Kent Hughes, Ajith Fernando, Gordon Keddie, Richard N. Longenecker, William Larkin, John Polhill, and David Williams.

For sermon prep I have predominantly been leaning upon:

• Darrell L. Bock — Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 2007).
• F.F. Bruce — The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament, 1954).
• F.F. Bruce — The Book of Acts (The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary, 1973).
• Richard N. Longenecker — Acts (The Expositor's Bible Commentary, 1995).

Originally I was also using I. Howard Marshall's Acts, but eventually dropped it because in general he wasn't uncovering anything already addressed by Bock, Bruce, and Longenecker. And I did not find Fernando or Polhill to be helpful enough for frequent reference. In addition, I have referencing commentaries by Jaroslav Pelikan, John Calvin, Matthew Henry, William Willimon. In general, a good deal of overlap between my list and Dr. Mathison's recommendations. That is encouraging. 

Card of Circumcised Hearts Always the Trump Card

Within the household of God, circumcised foreskins never trump circumcised hearts. If a grazed woodlot is neither good woodlot nor good grazing, the halfway covenant is neither good covenant nor good halfway. The Lutheran priest who promises his baptism or Lord's Supper actually does something, and that something is eternal salvation, is lying through his teeth. Wise souls will run for their lives! (BaylyBlog)

Celebrations of a Sola Scripturist

"We should not attempt to escape from our embeddedness in the Christian tradition, but should rather celebrate it" (Stephen R. Holmes, Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology, 13).

In light of the doctrine of creation, Stephen Holmes is contemplating the goodness of "historical locatedness" (6).

Let me add that it is the doctrine of sola scriptura which enables the believer embedded in the Christian tradition to celebrate, to borrow a phrase, both "in spirit and in truth." God's revelation teaches us first and foremost that God is God and we are part of his creation. Scripture is our chief authority, it is God's Word given by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life (WCF. I. 2.), and in Scripture we learn to be thankful for "historical locatedness" (i.e., creatureliness) and to celebrate tradition, which is a "subsidiary authority" (6).

Read Your Bible

"The Bible is God's merciful provision for sinful man's soul, the map by which he must steer his course if he would attain eternal life. . . . Young men, I charge you to make a habit of reading the Bible, and not to let the habit be broken" (J. C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 56).

The Bible is Infallible and Normative Language

"The Bible is language. It describes itself. Not only is it preinterpreted by God (as all facts are), but it also interprets and describes its own facts. And Scripture's self-interpretations and self-descriptions are infallible and normative; in the most important sense, they cannot be improved upon" (John Frame, The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, 78).

 

Sola Scriptura - "The wisest council of advisors."

Peter Leithart's recent musings on sola scriptura. His concluding thought:

To open the Bible is to gather the wisest council of advisors: Moses and Samuel, David and Solomon and the Chronicler, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Ezekiel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Jesus, Paul, James and Jude and John. I’ll put that up against any list of theologians you’d care to compile.

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!

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).

Meditating on Scripture

Regarding the spiritual discipline of Bible intake and meditation, Donald S. Whitney quotes William Bridge: "Friends, there is an art, and a divine skill of meditation, which none can teach but God alone. Would you have it, go then to God, and beg of God these things" (Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 62).

Evangelical Christian

"We must learn to know the Scriptures again, as the Reformers and our fathers knew them. We must not grudge the time and the work that it takes. We must know the Scriptures first and foremost for our salvation. . . . But one who will not learn to handle the Bible for himself is not an evangelical Christian" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 54-55).

Friday "How To Video" at Tree & The Seed: "How To" Spread Wealth Around Like Jello On A Plate