Onward and Upward

Since March of this year I've seen ministry opportunities close and others open.  I believe the Lord is moving me back to finishing a seminary degree I started in 1989 at RTS.  The culture has steadily degenerated into further and further Spiritual decline and this has affected our Christian faith substantially.  We are thinking more and more in line with the world instead of the Bible.  We need a modern-day reformation in truth so as to understand the truth of Scripture.

Instead of debating the issues I am hoping to move onward and upward toward a degree and an opportunity for another ministry after I retire from my current employment.  It will be more like a redeployment instead of a retirement.  Many years ago I also started writing a paper that I now hope to complete and use for a master's thesis.  It will be something about truth and the truth of God.  In our high-tech and secularistic society we can hardly even understand objective truth and how this relates to our faith and sanctification.

The news media frames the arguments of the culture wars along the lines of "anti-abortion" and "homophobic" language, instead of "pro-life" and "pro-morality."  A century ago there was no question about these social issues because morality was understood from the Bible.  Today there's lots of work to do to help people throughout the culture and the church to understand unchanging truth and the truth of Scripture.  There's lots of work to do to help people understand the veracity of the Bible through a truth hermeneutic instead of a contemporary worldview.  So, it's onward and upward.

Hebrews 4:12 declares, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."  The Bible is the living word of God and through its truth, we can move onward and upward, and discover life that is truly life indeed.

For Purity and Peace

Those of us who have been ordained as Ruling Elders have taken vows to work for the "Peace and Purity" of the church.  This is essential for the health and vitality of the church as back bitings, criticisms, and in-fighting can ruin the work of ministry.  I believe to really attain the peace that is from God one must first receive the grace of Christ and then work for the purity that comes from that grace.  It is imperative to set the priority to the purity of our faith and then the peace will follow from that purity.  For sin divides and causes conflicts of every sort, but purity in faith leads us to God and his peace.  The leaders of the church must follow this paradigm and not let worldly desires distort their priorities.

The teaching of Paul in Colossians 3 makes this priority clear.  We read in vs.1-2, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  Paul instructs us to "seek the things that are above" as our identity now is being "in Christ."  The reason is "you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  We have been raised with Christ, we are called to turn away from the flesh and the natural life, for we have been made alive by the Holy Spirit.  We are new people, and we should focus our lives on Christ.

Even more, we read in v.5, "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."  After we are called to seek the things above, we are called to "put to death therefore what is earthly in you."  Paul is calling us to sanctification in our lives, by putting off sinful habits and desires.  Sins of the flesh include covetousness, which corresponds to the tenth commandment, and is set on par with sexual immorality, which is so often considered a far greater sin.  Covetousness is an attitude of the heart that corrupts all of our desires in our lives.

The list of sins continues until we read in v.12, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience."  Now Paul instructs us, once we have put off the sinful practices of this world, to "put on then ... compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, and patience."  The work of sanctification involves two steps, putting off the sinful desires, and putting on the holy habits of being Christ-like.  Our purity is always a matter of God taking away our sins and imputing his righteousness in Christ.  And we are called by the Holy Spirit to appropriate this transformation of life by living obediently to him.

This process includes putting on love as we see in vs.14-15, "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."  The peace of Christ can only rule in our hearts after we have the conflict of sin dispersed from our desires.  The peace of God comes from our justification in Christ after we have been given the righteousness of Christ, and this is manifested by living in the Spirit.  We can have Spiritual peace only in Christ as we live in his grace and as he is in us.  Paul calls us to let this peace rule in our hearts and to walk in faith, but this can only happen when we take conscientious steps of obedience to his commandments.

Life in Christ is further described in v.16-17, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."  We see that "the word of Christ" is the key element for our sanctification, in that we are instructed to "do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus," so as to bring glory to God.  The word of Christ is the doctrine or teachings for this new life, it is the entire Bible understood through the lens of the grace and truth of Christ.

The peace of Christ then will resonate through the Body of Christ as we grow in the purity and sanctification of the Lord.  Purity must be the priority therefore for the Elders of the church so as to lead in righteousness and give an example of the life of Christ in our day.  We must die to our own sinful desires and set our hearts and minds on Christ.  This example we see in Colossians 3:1-2 where we are admonished to "seek the things that are above" and, "set your minds on things that are above."  And also in vs.15-16, "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts," and "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."  If we set our hearts and minds on these truths we will walk in purity through the power of the Holy Spirit, which in turn brings peace with God.  This purity and peace will then lead to the building up of the Body of Christ.  Amen!

True North

Have you ever had a problem finding your way through a busy city?  On several occasions, I've been confused by someone's directions as I didn't have the same orientation as the person giving the directions.  I've discovered how important it is to understand a person's language and to have a common starting point to make references.  The work of navigation requires clear directions, the same definitions of words, and a common point to start from. We also need to know the difference between magnetic north which is a shifting position, with true north where latitudes meet longitudes that don't change with time.

As a young college graduate many years ago I once was making my way into downtown Boston from outside the city and discovered the traffic was worse than expected causing me to be late for an appointment.  I parked my car in a hurry and worked my way through the skyscrapers without paying much attention to the location of the parking garage.  Hours later I tried to find my way back and could only remember the street name of the garage but not the direction to turn to get there.  Did I need to turn left on that street or right to find my way?  And coming from the opposite direction did a left turn mean turning east or west?  It all depended on whether I was coming from the north or the south, as from the north it meant a left turn but from the south, it meant a right turn.

Our understanding of truth can be objective or subjective depending on the reality of something and our perspective of that reality.  For me that day in Boston the parking garage hadn't changed locations from when I first parked my car, but my perspective of where it was had changed.  My car was still parked in the same location but I was turned around and saw things completely differently.  In today's world, I could have pulled out my smartphone and checked the directions on my map, and been back to my car quickly.  But back then it took me a long time to get my orientation and some real anxiety to find my way.

The GPS in our smartphones allows us to find out where we are based on the objective point of the triangulation of many satellites.  And with Inertial Navigation Systems we can pinpoint exact positions with accelerometers and gyroscopes.  These are great developments in the world of navigation and they serve as tangible illustrations for our understanding of truth.  For if the truth is completely subjective and tied simply to each of our own perspectives we could not find our way through the skyscrapers of the city.  But because truth is also objective, it is something factual that is outside of us, we can reference it and understand reality as it really is.

It's important to acknowledge the subjective truth that we all have with our perspectives as we see things initially through our own eyes.  But it's even more important to proclaim objective truth, the true-truth that also exists throughout the universe.  Even the truth of subjectivity is an objective truth that proves objectivity.  The truth of truth is irrefutable therefore just as we know there is a true north for navigation.

This discovery of truth is essential in navigating through all of life and not just finding our way in a busy city.  And this is one of the most important characteristics of the Christian faith, that it is based upon the true north that comes from God.  God alone is purely objective with no biases, no lack of understanding, or shadow of turnings at all.  He is the one who has the perfect perspective in all of life, and he is in complete control of all things.  Because of this truth, we know we can trust him.  And because of this, we need to seek the objective truth of God to find our way.

The prophets of old were inspired to proclaim the truth of God's word.  And those who seek to teach the objective truth of the Bible are the true prophets of our day.  Jesus himself said in John 8:31-32, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set your free."  True freedom and spiritual liberty come from knowing the truth of God's word and living by it.  Amen.

Spiritual Reconciliation

I really don’t understand the ‘Racial Reconciliation’ movement in the PCA.  Apparently, it started at the GA in 2015 as a time to seek forgiveness for being non-active during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.  It seems that it has turned into a denominational-wide movement for the sins of some to which we may have all become guilty.  My question then for the people leading this movement is, ‘What are the charges that are being made against us today that require reconciliation?’  For if there is to be reconciliation, we first need to identify our sins and then make confessions and repentance of them.  

Many more questions come to mind in the discussion of reconciliation.  Do we see that the primary need of all people is not racial reconciliation but Spiritual reconciliation?  Do we distinguish between the injustice of racism between men, and the offense of sin that all mankind has before a holy God?  Are we teaching that even the political realm needs to come under the Lordship of Christ?  Did the leaders of the Civil Rights movement persuade men to trust in Christ or to seek legislation from the federal government?  It’s one thing to fight for civil rights and it’s a completely different matter to proclaim the gospel of Christ.  I believe the church’s primary responsibility is in proclaiming the need for salvation and Spiritual reconciliation in Christ alone.  From this foundation, all ministries found in Scripture can be developed.

The church should ask what priority, therefore, the Racial Reconciliation movement comes under.  We should first consider the priorities from the Scriptures of – the Gospel, Discipleship, Family, Vocation, and then Missions.  In the inner cities or suburban areas, all churches are called to the Word of God and the whole counsel of God.  We must worship God in all of life because of the gospel of grace in his Son Jesus.  Then we are called to grow in our knowledge and Spirituality as disciples in all aspects of faith and practice.  We are also called to Christian marriage and family, to be responsible to protect and provide for our children, and to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  In addition, we are called to fulfill the vocation of the creation mandate in being fruitful and multiplying and having dominion over all creation and to seek first the kingdom of God.  This all leads to the various missions we are called to by going into the world with the gospel to all people.  Foreign missions and mercy ministries are just two aspects of missions for which Christians are called.  But we are first called to be reconciled with God and then with our fellow men.

The Spiritual reconciliation of the sinner to Christ is the only reconciliation that will bring a change to the broken and sinful heart.  Before all the various aspects of ministry that the Christian church will be engaged in, we must first remember the words of Jesus in John 3:3, “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  We must also proclaim that all people and races need Christ because we all are sinners.  For Paul reminds us in Romans 3:9-12, “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”  And Paul continues in Romans 3:22-23, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”  The primary mission of the Christian church is always to proclaim the Spiritual reconciliation that comes from the gospel of Christ alone.

This gospel of Christ proclaims that “both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,” which means all races are sinful, that we all need Christ for salvation.  Spiritual reconciliation also refocuses all our ministries toward Christ as he taught in Mark 12:29-31, “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Our primary calling is to love the Lord God with all our being, and this becomes our joy and strength.  The second then is, as Jesus taught, to love our neighbor.  

This is the perspective that all Christian churches need whether in urban or rural areas, whether in our country or in foreign missions.  In this love for God, by the love we have from God, we are then able to love our neighbor with the same agape love we have been given in Christ.  Spiritual reconciliation gives us a Spiritual orientation for all of life so that we then can seek to do all things to advance the kingdom of God.  The church must recognize the first priority of loving God and proclaiming the gospel of Christ as this also empowers us for ministry.  I believe that ‘Spiritual Reconciliation' is the primary mission of the church from which nothing can compare, and by which the gospel can truly reform the city of man.  

The "Evangel" of Evangelicalism

In our modern world there is often confusion about what Christmas is all about. It's good to remember the Christ of Christmas as the "Evangel" of God. An "evangel" is a messenger of God, particularly one who is heralding the "good news" of salvation.  Jesus is the great Evangel of God, and the good news is his salvation by grace from our sins, through faith in him.

To be an “Evangelical” then is to proclaim this great truth as we discover from Scripture. We see in Luke 2:10-11, “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”” These angels were the first to proclaim the good news that the Savior was Jesus born in Bethlehem. 

Evangelicals are those who rejoice in this good news that there is salvation in Jesus because he is the Christ, the Savior of all who call upon his name. Evangelicals also proclaim that Christ can sanctify us into his image and character. We can be transformed and strengthened by His Spirit from our sinful nature into a Christ-like nature in this life if we follow him in faithfulness. We can live a new Spiritual life in the grace of Christ in the here and now. 

Even more, we Evangelicals proclaim the good news that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords over everything in the world today. We can only find peace amidst the changing times and chaos of our world in Christ because he has conquered death itself. In Christ, we find the truth that changes our worldview from the brokenness of this life to the vision of the majesty of God. Here we see that God is sovereign over all things, he is building a Spiritual kingdom, and he is working everything together for his glory. 

God is seeking his glory by bringing salvation into the world through the Evangel, Christ, and Savior of the world. We also see in Luke 2:13-14, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”” The birth and life of Jesus still brings great glory to God. This “Evangel” is the Christ of Christmas, and eternal salvation is through faith in him.

Semper Reformanda

One of the great slogans that came out of the Protestant Reformation was the Latin term, "Semper Reformanda," or 'always reforming'.  The reformers of the sixteenth century Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli, all saw the necessity of the reformation of the Roman church at that time.  They realized there was much church tradition that needed to be changed because it was blocking the truth of Scripture.  The truth of the gospel itself had been changed because it had been reinterpreted through church tradition.

Challenging the traditions of a church can be a dangerous business.  It can be erroneous too as everyone is imperfect and no one has a pure understanding of all doctrines.  We can make mistakes in trying to correct religious dogmas with our own dogmas.  And the business of hermeneutics is complicated in many ways, to say the least.  Who's to say that they understand the Scriptures better than anyone else?  Who's to say one interpretation is better than another's?

But it is precisely because we all are human and we all have limited understanding, and we all look through a glass dimly, that we all are prone to error.  We also have biases and distortions.  We may have personal agendas, seeking to advance a program or policy that we prefer and favor.  This is the reason why we all must be open to correction and possible errors that we have made.  We must all be teachable as no one has complete knowledge except God.  We must therefore never establish a policy that would block a correction to our perspective of Scripture.  On the contrary, we must all submit to God's Word to understand it and always be on the lookout for mistakes.

The key to a good translation or interpretation of the Bible lies with a truth hermeneutic.  We all must appeal to the Truth that is outside of us, and the truth of Scripture.  We must not seek to interpret the Scriptures with our own opinions, perspectives, or priorities.  We must let Scripture interpret Scripture, and let the logic of the law of non-contradiction guide us.  This law says that something cannot be in contradiction with itself and be true.  So it is with the interpretation of the Bible, there cannot be a contradiction from one part of Scripture to another.  The Word of Truth must be understood from a truth foundation and perspective.

So, in each generation, the people of God must seek to understand the truth of Scripture and be wary of personal opinions or influences from secular culture.  We must 'always be reforming' our understanding back to the original meaning of Scripture.  We need to constantly seek to conform our preferences to the truth of Scripture and not to conform the Scriptures to our own preferences or those of the world.  We must seek "Semper Reformanda" to Scripture for this is as vital for us as it was for the first disciples.

When difficulties arose in Jesus' ministry some of his disciples did not keep his perspective.  In John 6:66-68 we read, "After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  So Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?"  Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  The twelve realized that the perspective of those who left Jesus was temporal, they did not see the eternal truth of his words.

The twelve disciples knew there was nowhere else to go but to the Lord and his word, even if it was unpopular.  So it is now, we must always return to the Scriptures to seek and understand its truth.  We must always be "reforming" our faith, perspectives, and agendas away from the world and be conformed to the Word of God.  These are the words of eternal life for us always.  It is in the truth of Scripture that we can find the greatest blessings in our lives.

Covenants and Reformation

What's the difference between Covenant Theology and Reformed Theology?  Often they are considered to be pretty much the same, with maybe just a little bit of difference in perspectives.  But there is an important distinction to make between the two.

From the beginning of creation, God has made covenants with man.  In Genesis 1:28, Adam was told, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."  Adam was also instructed in Gen. 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.""  The covenant of works was established at the beginning with Adam.

We know that this covenant was broken with the disobedience of Adam and Eve, and then God, in his great mercy, instituted the covenant of grace.  We read in Genesis 3:15, that God promises and foretells the coming of the Seed and Savior of man, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring (Seed); he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  This is the first declaration of the gospel, the covenant of grace, where the Seed is promised to destroy the enemy and bring redemption to mankind from their sin.

The covenant of grace is developed with Abraham as God promised him in his old age not only a son but a great lineage as we see in Genesis 15:5-6.  "And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them."  Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."  And he believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness."  This faith in God and his promises, this faith alone, is at the heart of Covenant Theology as salvation is not from works.  It is all of the faith in God and the promise of salvation through his Savior.

God did fulfill the promise to Abraham with a son but it was in the line of Isaac instead of Ishmael that the Messiah would come.  In Genesis 17:19 we read, "God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.  I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him."  God chose Isaac to be the promised son for the inheritance, and this was his sovereign choice.  Here we begin to understand God's sovereignty in the covenant of grace as it is developed through the OT.

In the NT the understanding of Covenant Theology finds its culmination in the birth of Jesus, the promised Messiah.  His fulfillment of the covenant of grace is the 'new covenant', as it was through his life and death that the righteous requirements of God were met.  Jesus taught that salvation is received through faith and not works, nor in the traditions of men, as no one is able to earn salvation through good works.  In Matt 15:1-3 Jesus even spoke against outward religious tradition.  "Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?"  Here Jesus clarified that the commandments of God, and thus the covenants of God, are sovereign over the religious traditions of men.  In the new covenant, we must seek grace and salvation through Jesus who alone has lived a perfect life and has fulfilled all righteousness.

The new covenant of grace is in Christ alone, extends to all nations as it was promised to Abraham, and also is through God's sovereign grace.  Paul describes in Romans 4:16, "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all."  In Romans 9:6-8 Paul also explains the sovereign grace of God just as it was in choosing even the Patriarchs. "But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring."  So the children of promise and the gift of salvation are given to those who are of the covenant of grace, just as in Isaac.

Paul further describes God's sovereign grace in Jacob's life in Romans 9:10-13.  "And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”  This is the election of grace, "in order that God's purpose" may be known.  God sovereignly chose Jacob over Esau even before they were born.  The covenant of grace therefore does not come from the merits or birth rights of man, it is from the sovereign will of God alone.

This covenant of grace was also rediscovered by the Reformers of the sixteenth century, as they again proclaimed as Jesus did, that the religious traditions of men did not rule over God.  They were reminded that the covenant of grace is complete without the works or traditions of men.  This can only be through God's sovereign grace, by his hand alone.  This transformation in perspective in the gospel from any form of self-righteousness to the sovereign grace of God alone is the great Spiritual 'reformation' which is Reformed Theology.  And this is at the heart of the true gospel.

This sovereign grace should reform all of our lives as we need redemption from all forms of sin, traditions, and good works.  Yet we inherently want to live autonomous lives before a sovereign God.  But God, in his great mercy, grants salvation simply as a gift of his grace.  Paul clarifies, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast," Ephesians 2:8-9.  And previously in Ephesians 1:4, we see this is an eternal grace, "... just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world."  God is sovereign throughout all creation and time, and when we understand the magnitude of this majesty, it dispels any form of idolatry and it can only drive us to our knees in prayer for grace and mercy.

Covenant Theology, therefore, is a subset of Reformed Theology, as the first describes the covenant of grace and the second describes the sovereignty of God.  Salvation is a free gift to all who will receive it, but ultimately God is sovereign over all things.  We must understand the grace of God in our salvation as an immeasurable and eternal gift.  We also need to remember the sovereignty of God in our salvation and live for Christ in all our lives, with great humility and praise to God for his sovereign choice.

This is the reformation that proclaims the glory of God just as the Apostle Paul affirms in Romans 11:36, "For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever.  Amen."