Pray, Read, Study, Be Diligent

Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They do not pray; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture … The call is: watch, study attend to reading. In truth you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well … The devil … the world … and our flesh are raging and raving against us. Therefore, dear sirs and brothers, pastors and preachers, pray, read, study, be diligent … This evil, shameful time is not the season for being lazy, for sleeping and snoring. -  Martin Luther

Filed under: Uncategorized , Christianity, Martin Luther, Prayer, Preaching, Reading, Reformation

A Common Word: Response to Rick Love

Recently, International Director for Frontiers, Rick Love, responded to John Piper’s video on A Common Word, a document sent from Muslim scholars, which 300 Christian leaders have signed, expressing unity with Muslims on God’s command to love one another as central to both religions. For the full response see here. I do not question motives and I think it’s safe to assume that none who signed the document did so with any intent or motive to dishonor Christ, but were seeking that through open dialogue and discussion to share the gospel of Christ.

In his response, Rick Love mentions dialogue as a means of evangelism rather than replacing evangelism, and I find this very much agreeable. Yet dialogue presupposes common ground and I am hard-pressed to find any genuine points of agreement between the foundational beliefs of Islam and Christianity. According to Rick Love one common basis is God or Allah. Below is a portion of his response to Piper’s video and I while much of it sounds good, I think that to hold to the common ground that the document calls for is to abandon the fundamentals of Christianity.

Here’s Rick Love’s response as well as some commentary:

Q: The Yale Response seems to imply that Allah is the same God that Christians worship. Is this true?

A: I do not hesitate to refer to the God of the Bible as Allah, since Arab Christians before and after the birth of Islam use the term Allah to describe the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think if we’ve learned anything from our dealing with the Emerging Church it’s to define our terms. Over time words change their meanings, sometimes meaning something completely contrary to what it first meant. For instance, words like “bad” sometimes take on a radically different meaning and go from a negative word to a positive one. This can also occur with more important words, such as Allah. Though earlier Christians have used the word in reference to the Christian God, and some may use it even now in other cultures, I do not think it is wise nor completely honest for us, Western Christians, to refer to God as Allah for the sake of “common ground” and I think this becomes mere dishonesty if we use it with Muslims. If we are to use it we must make it absolutely clear (which Rick Love does, but this cannot be said for the general signers of the document) that the Christian “Allah” is the only God, the God of the Bible, and as it says in Scripture, He is the Triune God, one God, three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Christian and Muslim views of God are similar in that we both worship the one true God, creator of the heavens and the earth. We both believe this God will judge all peoples at the end of history. We both believe this God has sent His prophets into the world to guide His people. Christian and Muslim views of God differ primarily regarding the Fatherhood of God, the Trinity, and especially regarding the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Here Rick Love seems to contradict himself. If a Christian Allah is Triune, while the Allah of Islam is not, if Islam does not acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, the image of the Father, then we cannot properly say that we are both worshiping the same God, much less, the one true God unless we throw out any form of rationality. Until Muslims agree that Allah is the Triune God we cannot say, and ought not dare come close to saying that we worship the same God lest we dishonor the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And if God is to judge all peoples at the end of history, according to what standard will He judge? Based only on works based righteousness? Will God forgive those whom He chose through Jesus Christ His Son whom He reconciled to Himself through the propitiation of Christ? Or will He unjustly allow imperfect sinners who try hard to enter into heaven? We both believe God has sent His prophets, but to what end? And was Jesus Christ merely a prophet? Was Mohammed a prophet? The fact that Christians and Muslims differ on their views of the Fatherhood of God, the Trinity and life, teaching, death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ means that they disagree with all of Christianity. What has Christ to do with Belial?

I believe that Muslims worship the true God. But I also believe that their view of God falls short of His perfections and beauty as described in the Bible. Thus, I try to model my approach to Muslims after the apostle Paul who said to the Athenians: “What you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23).

If Muslims deny the Deity of Christ, the exact representation of God’s nature, the image of the invisible God, then we cannot say that we are worshiping the same God. Their view is not a view that merely falls short, their view is completely contrary to the Christian God. When Paul was in Athens he said what he said because he saw an altar with an inscription “to an unknown God.” The Athenians were clearly lost and confused. They were searching for something they did not know. This cannot be said about Muslims. They have already declared that Christ Jesus is not the Son of God. They do not worship in ignorance, they are very clear about their beliefs and so it would require turning our backs to what is plain to say that they are not at this moment worshiping in ignorance. Muslims do not claim to be seeking anything more than what they have, just as Christians do not claim to seek more truth outside of Scripture. Unless we show them that the basis of their entire faith is contrary to Christ, rather than encouraging them to continue in their ways, then we cannot lead them to the truth.

Muslim background believers all over the world testify that they were previously worshiping God in ignorance and now they have come to know him in Jesus Christ.

I know that Rick Love is sincere in wanting to see Muslims come to Christ, and we all should be. Yet the way to win the lost is not to give in to undefined, vague commonalities. If we are to establish dialogue with Muslims it must be on honest and open truth. We must state at the forefront what it is that we believe about the fundamentals, about Scripture, the Deity of Christ, the Triune God, etc. God is the one who changes the heart, He grants repentance. It will not come about through compromises but through the upholding of the message of Christ. Namely, we need to preach repentance to all men that they may turn to Christ. All men are under sin and no matter how religious one is, they still need to realize that they are not just confused people heading in the right direction. No, all have sinned and there is no one who seeks after God. Muslims, Hindus, atheists, Buddhists, agnostics, all men everywhere must repent. Why? Because we are all sinful people who have rebelled against a holy God. And the only way to get to a holy God is through His perfect Son who came and died to be punished as a substitute. And it was necessary that He be God, for none but God can pay the penalty of the Father’s wrath which we deserved. It was necessary for Christ to die and be raised again to life to demonstrate His victory over death. The message of Christ is not a message of encouraging rebellious sinners to continue in their obstinate ways but to turn to Christ! We must not peddle the gospel, but must preach the word of God without fear. Yes, people will be offended, yes, there will be those who hate us for it, but Christ has promised that persecution would come to those who followed Him. Because the world hated Him they will hate us as well.

I know that those who signed the document did so with good intentions and to win over the lost. But how will we convince Muslims of the supremacy of Christ when we leave Him out of the main discussion? We must show that there is no one greater than Christ and that He is all in all, and we cannot do this unless we refuse any form or hint of compromise. We will not allow anyone to even begin to think that Christ is not the Son of God, that He did not die, that He was not raised again, that He does not sit at the right hand of God, for to compromise Christ is to compromise the entirety of our hope and faith.

Solus Christus
Soli Deo Gloria

Filed under: Uncategorized , Christianity, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Islam, Missions, Theology

Without Wounding There is No Saving

“Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think . . . . It is wounding work, of course, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving. . . . Where there is grafting there is a cutting, the scion must be let in with a wound; to stick it on to the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. Heart must be set to heart and back to back, or there will be no sap from root to branch, and this I say, must be done by a wound.” – John Bunyan, The Excellency of a Wounded Heart

Filed under: Uncategorized , Christianity, John Bunyan, Puritans, Suffering, Theology

A Word from Machen

Just picked up Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism. Read two pages and am excited to see what this book has to offer. Despite it’s being published about ten years shy of a century ago, it seems to offer much needed commentary on current  issues. Here’s a short quote:

Light may seem at times to be an impertinent intruder, but it is always beneficial in the end. The type of religion which rejoices in the pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of their meanings, or shrinks from “controversial” matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life. In the sphere of religion as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight. – J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, 1-2.

Filed under: Reformed Theology , Christianity, J. Gresham Machen, Theology

True Calvinism According to Abraham Kuyper

“He only is the real Calvinist, and may raise the Calvinistic banner, who in his own soul, personally, has been struck by the Majesty of the Almighty, and yielding to the overpowering might of his eternal Love, has dared to proclaim this majestic love, over against Satan and the world, and the worldliness of his own heart, in the personal conviction of being chosen by God Himself, and therefore of having to thank Him and Him alone, for every grace everlasting. Such an one could not but tremble before the might and the majesty of God, as a matter of course accepting His Word as the ruling principle of His conduct in life…” – Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism, 69.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Abraham Kuyper, Calvinism, Christianity, Lordship, Theology

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

Speaking very generally, I think most Christians can fall into either of two extremes. One side overemphasizes the love of God to the neglect of God’s holiness, while the other emphasizes holiness to the neglect of love. I’ll be honest and just say from the start that, more often than not, I fall into the latter category. In this day and age when the name of God is so often profaned, and holiness abandoned because of its lack of appeal to the masses, it seems natural that those who recoil would jump to the other side and do away with any sort of love or anything even slightly “emotional.” There certainly is fault in this and it is a misrepresentation of God only to portray His holiness without portraying His love.

I do not believe, however, that both sides err equally. Those who emphasize the love of God while neglecting His holiness are in greater error and completely misrepresent God. The God of the Bible is in no way a compromising God, He does not allow sin to go unpunished. Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.” I daresay that anyone who downplays the holiness of God creates an idol and does not worship God at all. Without condemnation of sin there is no need of salvation, and if there is no need of salvation then there is no need for the gospel. God never ceases to be holy and even in His greatest act of love we see His greatest act of holiness.

Having said that much, I do believe that those who downplay the love of God seriously err. There is, however, an order in our approaching God. We cannot understand the love of God without first understanding His holiness. Where the holiness-type people often fail is that they stop at holiness while leaving out love for fear of becoming like the love-type people. This results in many despairing Christians who squirm before a holy and just God rather than approach the throne of grace with confidence. I’ve been there, fearful of God’s holy wrath, the same that came down upon Nadab and Abihu for burning strange fire before God rather than having that love that casts out fear. This is very serious because it deals with assurance of salvation. A high view of God’s holiness is always good, but without a proper view of His love things tend towards despair and despondency. It is here that one wonders whether God can really forgive every single sin, or if enough has been done to show repentance. Just from that you can see how dangerous it is to lack or have an improper view of the love of God. This is all necessary in order for the gospel to do its work. Everyone must come to a point of hopelessness in his own righteousness before the righteousness of Christ is all that we hope in and cling to. Yet, having been justified by faith alone, we are not to remain in this state of hopelessness.

The solution seems to be in rightly “balancing” God’s love and holiness. The love-type people seem to ignore God’s holiness and are falsely assured that all is well with God when it is not, and the holiness-type people give heed to it rightly, but see nothing of the love of God so that there is no hope.

I suggest that it is not a matter of balance, but a matter of perspective. For God’s holiness is not in competition with His love, both are essential attributes of God, and God does not contradict Himself. How do we fix our perspective? Well, in Pierced for Our Transgressions the authors confront this very issue. It is vital that we confront our sin head on without ignoring God’s absolute hatred towards it, but there is only one way to do this without succumbing to despair. Our solution lies in the atonement of Christ, or what is called penal substitution:

that God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin. – Pierced for Our Transgressions, 21.

Thus, the cross of Christ does two things, first it “stands as a memorial to the inexpressible horror of sin; it will not allow us to escape into self-deceiving optimism” but “…at the same time, the cross banishes our despair by declaring God’s comprehensive solution to our plight” (159). At the cross the love and holiness of God meet. There is no greater act of love than Christ, the righteous, dying for His enemies, the ungodly and wicked, who in no wise deserve such mercy and grace. Herein does the Christian stand: on an uncompromising, holy love of God. In this we see His faithfulness to do all that He says, He will maintain His righteousness and punish every sin becoming just and justifier, and we also see very clearly His love for us, that He would send His Son to bear our sin, and become sin for us.

Trembling sinner, look to Jesus, and thou art saved. Dost thou say, ‘My sins are many’? His atonement is wondrous. Dost thou cry, ‘My heart is hard’? Jesus can soften it. Dost thou exclaim, ‘Alas, I am so unworthy’? Jesus loves the unworthy. Dost thou feel, ‘I am so vile’? It is the vile Jesus came to save. Down with thee, sinner; down, down with thyself, and up with Christ, who hath suffered for thy sins upon Calvary’s cross. Turn thine eye thither; see Jesus only. He suffers. He bleeds. He dies. He is buried. He rises again. he ascends on high. Trust Him, and thou art safe. Give up all other trusts , and rely on Jesus alone, alone on Jesus, and thou halt pass from death unto life. This is the sure sign, the certain evidence of the Spirit’s indwelling, of the Father’s election, of the Son’s redemption, when the soul is brought simply and wholly to rest and trust in Jesus Christ, who ‘hath once suffered for sins, the Just of the unjust, that He might bring us to God.’” – C.H. Spurgeon, Our Suffering Substitute: A Sermon on 1 Peter 3:18.

The cross keeps us from ignoring the holiness of God thus downplaying sin, or from ignoring God’s love and becoming despondent or Pharisaical. Our boast is nothing but the cross.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Filed under: Reformed Theology , Assurance, Atonement, Calvinism, Charles H. Spurgeon, Christianity, Definite Atonement, Depression, Eternal Security, Imputation, Justification, Limited Atonement, Lordship, Love, Particular Redemption, Penal Substitution, Perseverance of the Saints, Theology

The Complete Atonement of Christ: Colossians 2:13-14

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. – Colossians 2:13-14

In the quoted passage Paul speaks to the Church in Colossae, reminding them of their pre-Christian state. He writes so that the believers might not be taken captive through worldly philosophy or empty deception but rather that they might be taken captive by Christ. To this end Paul speaks of the gospel, namely, that they were dead in transgressions and uncircumcision, that they were utterly hopeless, for what can a dead man do? But while in such a state of spiritual deadness God made them alive together with Him. We, as Christians, share in this work of God’s grace. For all apart from Christ are dead in sin. Yet, while in such a sad and pathetic state He made us “alive together with Him.”

And how could a just God do such a thing to those who were in transgressions, those who were defiled, impure, who are described as uncircumcised in the flesh? For God to give life to one undeserving would be unjust if there is no forgiveness. But God made us alive, “having forgiven us all our transgressions.” Thus, as Paul says in Romans, God, through Christ, is both “just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

The next question arises: how did God forgive us all our transgressions, for such is no small feat. Paul responds: “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us.” Those decrees against us, which condemned us for our transgressions, God canceled so that we no longer are indebted to Him. For these decrees were “hostile to us” and showed us to be, by nature, “children of wrath.” And here I would like to dwell for a short while. It is difficult to imagine that which is taking place in the mentioned passage: namely, that God cancels out our debt. To anyone who understands the holiness of God as well as the sinfulness of sin, it is a hard thing to believe that our sins, which are many, can be removed at all. And God has not only forgiven us of our wrong-doing towards Him, but He has completely put aside that which was owed to Him by us. Thus, what was once a dividing wall between us and God has been removed and no longer stands. What, then, exists that will keep us from God but repentance and faith? And once God has forgiven us, what do we owe but praise? For our debt has been canceled. It is not as though Christ has simply paid a debt which we can again fall into, but through Christ our debt has been put aside! Therefore those who are in Christ Jesus have every right to come before God with confidence.

There are, however, those who yet remain wondering how a just God can simply let sin go. Wouldn’t this be akin to pardoning a serial killer? How has our debt been canceled? How has it been taken away? God canceled it “having nailed it to the cross.” Here, every mouth is stopped. For it is not as though God simply forgot about our sins and swept them under the rug, for anything resulting from that would be no grace at all but unrighteousness, and God cannot be unjust. But we see here that God nailed them to the cross. What does that mean? How can sin, something intangible, be nailed to a cross? We would be left in darkness unless we saw through Scripture what this means. For in the Gospels we see Christ, the Son of God nailed to a cross. The only way that any man has a right standing before God is through Christ, our substitute. Because Christ was nailed to the cross, and He did so as our sin are our transgressions justly forgiven. Here we see the complete atonement of Christ, that all was accomplished on the cross. For it was not merely as an example that Christ died, but He accomplished something on the cross, through which we have forgiveness, and righteousness before God. It was because our transgressions were nailed to the cross that we are set free and forgiven and not only that, but made alive together with God. And on this truth do we as Christians stand, and on this truth do we gain full assurance of our salvation, that Christ paid our penalty.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. – Romans 5:6

Filed under: Uncategorized , Assurance, Atonement, Calvinism, Definite Atonement, Eternal Security, Imputation, Justification, Limited Atonement, Particular Redemption, Perseverance of the Saints, Theology

What Every Christian Owes to the Reformation: Why We Must Understand Church History

Ryle wrote the following to an audience of Englishmen, but I think it fair to take “Englishmen” and apply to all who call themselves Christian. Though Ryle speaks specifically of the English Reformation, if there were no Reformation (whether in England or in Europe) there is no sign that anyone but the Pope would have had access to Scripture. It would be wise, therefore, for any Bible believing Christian to go back to the Reformation and resist what Ryle calls the “unprotestantizing” of our Churches.

“To the Reformation Englishmen owe an English Bible, and liberty for every man to read it. To the Reformation they owe the knowledge of the way of peace with God, and of the right of every sinner to go standing in his way. To the Reformation they owe a Scriptural standard of morality and holiness, such as our ancestors never dreamed of. For ever let us be thankful for these inestimable mercies! For ever let us grasp them firmly, and refuse to let them go! For my part, I hold that he who would rob us of these privileges, and draw us back to Pre-Reformation ignorance, superstition, and unholiness, is an enemy to England, and ought to be firmly opposed.” – J.C. Ryle, Five English Reformers, 43-44.

Here is what Ryle strives against:

“Let us not go back to ignorance, superstition, priestcraft, and immorality. Our forefathers tried Popery long ago, and threw it off with disgust and indignation. Let us not put the clock back and return to Egypt. Let us have no peace with Rome, till Rome abjures her errors and is at peace with Christ.
“Let us read our Bibles, and be armed with Scriptural arguments. A Bible-reading laity is a nation’s surest defence against error. I have no fear for English Protestantism, if the laity will only do their duty.
“Let us read history, and see what Rome did in days gone by. Read how she trampled on your country’s liberties, plundered your forefather’s pockets, and kept the whole nation ignorant and immoral. Read Foxe, Strype, and Burnet, and Soames, and Blunt. And do not forget that Rome never changes. It is her boast and glory that she is always the same. Only give her absolute power in England, and she would soon put out the eyes of our country, and make her like Samson, a degraded slave.” – 67-68.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Calvinism, Christianity, Church History, Evangelicalism, False Teaching, Heresy, J.C. Ryle, Local Church, Reading, Reformation, Roman Catholicism, Theology