Here Follows Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspectives

Jesus’ Teaching On False Prophets/Teachers

One passage in the Sermon on the Mount that stands out to me as supremely important today is Jesus’ teaching on false preachers in Matthew 7:15-20. He says:

¹⁵“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. read more

May 2, 2024

On Theology

The LAW for Christians

Contra theologians such as Charles Ryrie, who said, “the law was never given to the Gentiles and is expressly done away for the Christian,” ¹ – Christ did not come to abolish the law (Matthew 5:17). The law is a gift to all men who are in Christ though it was received first in the form of commandments by the ancient people of Israel.

If we take Jesus’ words seriously in Matthew 5:17-20, we must conclude that every law in the Old Testament remains valid until and unless God Himself cancels it. And the New Testament clearly indicates which kinds of laws no longer apply. The book of Hebrews, for example, expressly teaches that the ceremonial laws of sacrifice have been fulfilled because Jesus was the final sacrifice. But Scripture nowhere indicates that the moral law, as summarized in the Ten Commandments, has been done away with. Jesus even said all the law and prophets hang on love of God and neighbor. This is a far cry from saying all the law and prophets are annulled. The sermon on the mount is the moral Law spoken and recapitulated by Christ. read more

Notes

1
Ryrie, Balancing the Christian Life, 88.

April 18, 2024

Missio Dei (The Mission of God) / Reading the Bible

Misreading the Bible Misses the Mark

A pastor search committee interviewed a recent seminary graduate. The candidate was young, and the committee wondered about his level of Bible knowledge. The chairman of the committee asked the student, “Do you know the Bible?”
“Of course,” he replied, “I just graduated from seminary!”

“Then tell us a story of the Bible—how about the ‘Good Samaritan’?” replied the chairman.
“No problem,” said the pastoral candidate.

“There was a man of the Samaritans named Nicodemus. He went down to Jerusalem by night, and he fell among the stony ground, and the thorns choked him half to death. “So he said, ‘What shall I do? I will arise and go to my father’s house.’ So he arose and climbed up into a sycamore tree. The next day the three wise men came and got him and carried him to the ark for Moses to take care of him. But, as he was going into the eastern gate into the ark, he caught his hair in a limb, and he hung there for forty days and forty nights. Afterward he was hungry, and the ravens came and fed him. read more

April 18, 2024

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman

Introduction and Summary

Robert Coleman, Ph.D., presents to his readers an examination of the topic of evangelism as observed from the life and times of Jesus Christ, the very one who started the task of evangelism and in whom the evangel is all about. Inside, the author intends to communicate principles of evangelism based on the mission of Christ and his work with his disciples. Rather than communicate methods or programs, he examines the way that Jesus prepared his disciples for a life of evangelism. Thus, the book is aimed at developing the priesthood of all believers in the area of evangelism. In other words, Coleman desires to develop the Church, and his purpose is to provide a principle-centered approach in which the Church can rightly take up the call in which “every member is a missionary. ¹” read more

Notes

1
This quote does not originate with Coleman, nor is used in his book. However, it is appropriated to describe the audience that Coleman is after. To read a personal evangelism resource that uses this quote as its thesis, see Alvin Reid, Evangelism Handbook: Biblical, Spiritual, Intentional, Missional. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2009.

December 10, 2023

group of people raising hands silhouette photography

Imaginative Theology

Screwtape Advises: Teach them Modern Worship Songs

My Dear Wormwood,

We have yet to talk about what the humans now call ‘worship.’ While a rather recent phenomenon, it is to our advantage. Help them forget that true worship requires sacrifice, and that the singing of songs is for his glory. The enemy knows that if they don’t give their life up to him, they will worship themselves instead. In contrast, our father knows this tendency and loves it; he is always willing to share his glory unlike our enemy’s desire that they only give it to him. read more

November 28, 2023

Missio Dei (The Mission of God)

You are a Salt Lamp: Salt and Light….

³“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.¹ read more

Picture attribution: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons [↩]

September 22, 2023

On Theology / Questions

What is Scripture?

Is it Inspired, Inerrant, Authoritative, the Word of God, or is it just Part of Tradition?

The answer to these questions is: yes.

Scripture is the divinely Inspired, authoritative, word of God (revelation of God) which is free from mistake and falsehood, and it is a reliable rule and guide for all matters pertaining to the Christian faith. ¹ This makes Scripture a part of the Christian tradition that is passed down.

Furthermore, I would affirm the language of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith which states, “The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.” ² read more

Notes

1
The Chicago Statements on Inerrancy and Hermeneutics,” Defending Inerrancy (blog), accessed October 17, 2021, https://defendinginerrancy.com/chicago-statements/.
2
Stan Reeves, The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in Modern English (Cape Coral, Florida: Founders Press, 2021), 11.

September 8, 2023

Reading the Bible

Narrative Context: A Principle of Biblical Interpretation

One issue that we find challenging in our times is reading the Bible correctly as it has been given to us. Where context should play a much larger role than it does, we lose meaning by chopping up our Bible into verses and small sections.

There are many ways in which we don’t even realize how often we chop up narrative teachings in the Gospels. This is likely due to the impact of artificial divisions arising from the addition of chapter and verse numbers. Chapters and verses are not part of Scripture- they are additions. read more

September 5, 2023

Questions

Is something ‘good’ because God wills it to be good, or does God will things because they are ‘good’ on their own?

When Christians make claims to an objective moral standard, are they making a claim that things are good because God has said they are good? Or is the opposite true? Does God issue commands because those things are good in the first place?

This is a classic question/argument that poses a dilemma between two options. The Euthyphro dilemma asks whether something is good because God commands it, or does God commands things because they are good? In other words, is goodness merely the product of the commands of God, or is God aligning his commands to a standard of goodness that exits exterior to God. read more

September 4, 2023

On Theology

Do we choose God, or does God choose us?

If we are to say that anyone is free to accept or reject God, then we carry with that an assumption that human beings have within them the ability to make such a choice and we further presume that some human beings will make that choice.

I have no problem asserting that human beings have free will in that they make choices each and every day- even unregenerate man can make the choice to do some good thing on any given day.

In the end, I think the question that needs to be asked is, would a human being who is in bondage to sin have the desire to choose God? read more

September 3, 2023

On Theology

Six Reasons Why We Struggle with the Doctrine of Predestination

Why is it that we struggle with this doctrine of predestination?

Here are some thoughts I have on this issue:

1. First, and most likely the key reason: we want to be in charge of our destiny — and not God. This explains our uncomfortable feeling of not being in charge of the salvation that Christ provides. This is the primary sin of mankind from Adam onwards and none of us are exempt from this issue since all have fallen in Adam.

2. We misunderstand what the gospel is. Many understand that the gospel is your get out of hell free card. This is a reduction of the gospel message. The gospel is the proclamation that the King of the Universe (the King of Glory) has condescended his heavenly throne to join himself to humanity- living among his people, dying a sinner’s death and through his death, defeating the powers of sin, death, and the devil; then raising from the dead opening the way to life for all of those who are and would be in Him; And finally, ascending to the throne at the right hand of the Father to take his proper place as judge of all mankind — establishing the kingdom that will last forever. This is the gospel message. The point is- the gospel is all about Jesus and not about me. Jesus is the center of the story and therefore, our eternal place is a consequence of his work, not ours. Given that what we do has no role in who Jesus is or his work, then it follows that we have no role in who Jesus is to us, or what Jesus does for us (including those thing prepared ahead of time). read more

September 2, 2023

Imaginative Theology

The Failure of Frodo

Frodo (a Hobbit in the Lord of the Ring series by JRR Tolkien), the unassuming reluctant bearer of the One Ring reaches the climax of his life-quest: standing at the end, peering into the fires of Mount Doom, he failed. For all the long journey, he did not accomplish the mission. ¹

He couldn’t destroy the ring. He wanted the ring for himself.

It was only a matter of sovereignty and providence that saved him and Middle Earth. In a fateful twist, Gollum was spared from death decades before because of the compassion that Bilbo had for the creature. Inadvertently, Gollum became the agent that destroyed the ring in a violent final attempt to posses it for himself. What Frodo couldn’t do, Gollum accomplished it, but not of his own will. Evil intent was transformed into a great good. The fate of the world hung on a divine insight into the darkness of a creature and the transformed conscience of a Hobbit who had compassion on a monster. Frodo’s predecessor Bilbo spared the creature Gollum and provided the means to the ring’s destruction. In the end, an act of compassion led to salvation. read more

Notes

1
Image Credit: Image by Wolfgang Orthgieß from Pixabay.

September 1, 2023