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Post by Admin on Feb 1, 2024 15:30:55 GMT -5
A Compelling Case for a Confession of Faith – Part 1
ALLEN S NELSON IV
A Compelling Case for a Confession of Faith – Part 1
Every Local Church’s Duty
In Ephesians 6:14, Paul instructs the church at Ephesus to gird themselves with truth. Similarly, 1 Timothy 3:15 calls the church the pillar and buttress of the truth.
It is the church’s job to:
1. Protect the truth – the truth has enemies. Chief of which is Satan and his lies.
2. Promote the truth – the church is not just on the defensive. We are storming the gates of hell and proclaiming the truth of God in Christ.
3. Perpetuate the truth – the church in each generation is responsible pass on the truth to the next generation.
In order to accomplish these sacred duties, our triune God has given the church a Book. A Book that we affirm is the inerrant, infallible, necessary, clear, authoritative, and sufficient Word of the living God. This Book has been attacked. It has been confiscated. It has been burned. It has been torn to pieces. And yet, here it remains today.
With that being said, let me share a little quote here and see if you agree with it: “Our appeal is to the Bible for Truth.”
I agree wholeheartedly with this quote at face value, but there is a grave problem. This quote actually comes from a book written in 1946 seeking to defend the false religion of the Jehovah Witnesses. Thus, the problem. Both the Baptist and the Jehovah Witness appeal to the Scriptures as their final authority.
Now, this does not give us a problem for the Bible. Men’s misuse of the Bible is not a problem of the Bible, but a problem of fallen man. This, then, is where I will make the case for a confession of faith.
A confession of faith is meant to be a servant of the Bible. It is subservient to the Bible and seeks to point us to the Bible and say, essentially, “We are not only saying the Bible is the highest authority here but also that we are not ashamed to actually say in writing what we believe this Book teaches.”
So, a confession of faith is simply man’s attempt to say, “Here is what we confess the Bible teaches.” The Bible ultimately needs no defender. It is, as they say, the anvil that has broken many hammers. But a confession of faith is saying to the world, “When we gird ourselves with truth, this is what we mean by truth. This is what we believe the Bible says.”
Spurgeon once preached, “Whatever we find in this Book, that we are to state.” And so, this is what a confessional church seeks to do. We lay out our doctrine. We confess these truths. And we don’t just give vague or nuanced positions, but rather stand for what it is we believe the Scriptures teach.
A Simple Reality
Truthfully, a confession of faith is not a necessity so much as it is just a reality. That is, everyone believes something about the Bible. You can write down what you believe, or you can choose not to write it down, but it doesn’t change the fact that you confess something about the Bible.
So, to reject a confession of faith denies reality. Thus, a confessional church acknowledges this reality and says, “we are going to actually own this and articulate what we believe instead of pretending that we don’t have beliefs about the Bible.”
With that said, let me give you 4 problems with rejecting a confession of faith:
1. It denies reality – as mentioned, everyone believes something about the Bible. To say something like “No Creed but the Bible!” is actually, a creedal statement. To say you don’t like confessions of faith is to pretend as though you don’t have already have a confession of faith. But you do. Everyone has a set of beliefs.
So, to reject a confession of faith denies reality. Thus, a confessional church acknowledges this reality and says, “we are going to actually own this and articulate what we believe instead of pretending that we don’t have beliefs about the Bible.”
2. It is Historical Snobbery – that is, it says in the 21st century we are smarter than everyone else in history and we don’t need them.
3. It is an adoption of hyper-individuality. In essence, it says well, all that matters is what I personally believe, and I don’t need to confess truth along with the church.
4. It ignores our present condition –
We live in a world today, an American culture I should say, that is apostatizing before our eyes. We are watching the SBC, the largest once staunchly conservative evangelical denomination, drift before our eyes.
We are watching the phenomenon of what people call “deconstructing” from the faith, people who claim they grew up evangelical, but now are walking away from the faith or embracing all sorts of unbiblical things to add to Christianity.
Who could look at this current state and say, “What we need today is less truth. Less clarity. Less precision.”? It is foolish to look at our present condition and to say we just need to keep making the tent bigger to let more people in. No! All this has done is play right into the Evil One’s hands.
Thus, it is every local church’s responsibility before God to gird ourselves with truth. We must protect the truth, promote the truth, and perpetuate the truth until Jesus returns for His Bride.
Serving Not Shaping
A good confession of faith is merely a servant to the Scriptures. A biblical confession of faith does not shape the Bible, but serves it. Don’t press these analogies too far, but let me give a couple of illustrations:
1. If the Bible is a delicious steak, a good confession of faith is a plate, knife, and fork. It helps serve the steak. It helps digest the steak. It does not add to or stand in authority over the steak.
2. If the Bible is gold, a good confession of faith is a chest to carry it in. It helps pass the gold on from one generation to the next. It helps keep nefarious characters from trying to scuff up or steal or harm the gold in some way. The chest serves the gold. It does not add value to it.
Ultimately, what a good confession of faith does is help us use the truth rightly in order stand against the Evil One’s lies.
So far, we’ve covered introductory issues on why ever local church should have a confession of faith. In the next post, I’ll give you 5 positive reasons for a local church to have a good confession.
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Post by Admin on Feb 6, 2024 23:00:25 GMT -5
A Compelling Case for a Confession of Faith – Part 2
ALLEN S NELSON IV
A Compelling Case for a Confession of Faith – Part 2
In the last post, we considered some introductory reasons for every local church to have a healthy confession of faith. In this post, I’ll give you 5 positive reasons for having a confession of faith.
First, because:
We Have a Conviction
Robert Paul Martin wrote, “An unwillingness to define with precision the faith that it professes to believe is a symptom that something is desperately wrong with a church and its leadership.”
Local churches are not Milton Bradly. We are not inventing, producing, or playing games. We have a conviction regarding the truth of God. Here we stand; We can do no other!
We aren’t looking down at the ground kicking our foot saying “Ah shucks, I guess we sort of believe this or that…” No! It is the duty of every local church to boldly proclaim, this is what the Bible says!
Churches that embrace historic confessions of faith, like the 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession, declare, “While everyone is progressing and minimalizing and moving to the shallow end of the pool, we are going to regress. We are going to go backward to our roots. We are going to maximize. We are going to go deeper and fuller and more thorough.”
No matter your church’s confession, you must, in a world that is trying to customize and personalize truth, stand on God’s truth unapologetically.
No doubt confessions like the 1689 are thorough. But consider what Baptist B.H. Carroll wrote,
“A church with a little creed is a church with a little life. The more divine doctrines a church can agree on, the greater its power, and the wider its usefulness. The fewer its articles of faith, the fewer its bonds of union and compactness. The modern cry, ‘Less creed and more liberty,’ is a degeneration from the vertebrate to the jellyfish, and means less unity and less morality, and it means more heresy. Definitive truth does not create heresy—it only exposes and corrects. Shut off the creed and the Christian work would fill up with heresy unsuspected and uncorrected, but none the less deadly.”
Local churches should love thorough, biblical, Baptist confessions of faith because we love the truth. Because we have real conviction.
I love the first line of the 1689 because it sets the tone for everything else:
The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.
This confession of faith serves the Bible. It is not equal to it. It is not above it. It’s an arrow that points to the Scriptures. If ever we find a conflict between the Bible and the Confession, we go with the Bible, since it is supreme.
Confessions of faith are important because we have a conviction. 2ndly, because
We Have a Commission
Here is the gospel: The Son of God took on human flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit., and was born of the Virgin Mary. He grew up in obedience to His earthly parents and His heavenly Father. He began His ministry around age 30. In everything He did He fulfilled all righteousness.
He proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God. He called sinners to repentance. He showed us the truth. He Himself is the truth.
He then died for the lawless sinners. Covenant breakers. He bore God’s wrath justly due our sins. He was buried and rose again on the 3rd day in victory. All who embrace this truth by faith and turn from their sins in repentance will be saved.
Upon His resurrection and before His ascension, Christ gave His church a commission (cf. Matt. 28:18-20). That commission is one of making disciples. We cannot make disciples apart from teaching.
Thus, a confession of faith helps the church fulfill this commission. It sets forth what we believe Jesus taught us to teach the nations. About the Bible. About God. Aboud sin. About redemption. About the church.
Because we take the Great Commission seriously, we have put down in writing what we believe so that we can teach it. A good confession of faith helps us do this rightly. It helps us form good ways to talk about the Trinity, the gospel, God’s governance of the universe, Christ, covenant theology, and the list goes on and on. All these precious truths we believe and hold so dear, we are to teach to others.
A confession of faith is useful because we have a Conviction, a Commission, 3rdly, because
We Have a Contention
The church today is the church militant. We are at war. We are contending for the faith (cf. Jude 1:3). We are contending for the truth. The world, flesh, and devil are constantly striving to minimize, change, or eradicate the truth.
New warped aphorisms are invented all the time that say things like: “Love over verses.”
You understand what that’s trying to do? Chip away at our foundation. It’s saying look past what God says in His Word and just “love” people. Ignore the Bible’s definitions and embrace a 21st century standard.
But this is where a good confession of faith comes in and helps us protect the truth. It helps us say, “Nope!” It helps us say, “Here is the faith once delivered that we are contending for.”
Individual Christians and churches are called to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. What is that faith? Someone may say, “Well, it’s what the Bible teaches!” Yes, this is true. But a lot of people say a lot of weird things about what the Bible teaches.
So, a confession of faith essentially says, here is what the Bible teaches. Here is the faith once delivered and passed down from generation to generation. Here is the truth that we are contending for.
5thly, a confession of faith is useful because
We Have a Commemoration
1 Samuel 7:12says,: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Till now the LORD has helped us.’”
A healthy confession of faith is an Ebenezer. It is a rock of remembrance. It is a commemoration. It is a reminder that we have only arrived where we are today by God’s help, that He has helped generations past, and that by His sovereign grace He will help generations future.
Holding to a historical confession of faith says, we stand in a long line of godly men and women who have been anchored in the same truth. Furthermore, by God’s grace, our children and grandchildren and their grandchildren will continue to hold the line and continue to gird themselves up in truth.
We have a confession of faith because we have a conviction, a commission, a contention, a commemoration, and finally, because
We Have a Congregation
Every local church is to be a pillar and buttress of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15). We are not just a bunch of individuals, but a body and we are called to a corporate faith.
This is certainly not dismissing the necessity of an individual and personal faith in Christ. You cannot be saved by someone else’s faith. You must personally put your faith in the person and work of Christ. In His life, death, burial, and resurrection. There is no salvation without personal faith in Jesus.
But this personal faith is not a privatized faith. You confess what the church confesses because the church confesses the truth.
Ditches to Avoid
We have a conviction, commission, contention, commemoration, and congregation. This is why every local church should use a healthy and historical confession of faith. Practically, when it comes to a church using a confession of faith there are two ditches to avoid:
Hyper-confessionalism
This is when a church treats a confession of faith in word or deed as on par with the Bible. Remember, a confession of faith is under the Bible’s authority and is to serve the Bible. A local church reserves the right to amend, reword, or add to a confession of faith as necessary, though it should do so with the utmost care. Yet, we can never amend, reword, or add to the Bible!
We must avoid hyper-confessionalism. But 2ndly, we must avoid:
Nominal Confessionalism
This is when a church has a confession, like, say, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, but no one actually knows what it says. It is literally or metaphorically stuffed back in some ancient file in a closet somewhere in the church building that no one every uses anymore.
Thus, it has become a confession of faith in name but not practice. This is why confessional churches should be committed to reading, studying, teaching their confessions. In this age of religious pluralism, of the wild west where everyone can just believe whatever they want for whatever reason they want to, in this wicked age, every faithful church should have a confession of faith. And every member of the church should strive to know what that confession teaches and why. Truth matters.
Now, this doesn’t mean there won’t be disagreements at times with members over portions of a confession of faith, and that’s okay.
At our local church, no one is required to be a 1689 scholar or in strict agreement with every single sentence to be a member of the church. Within the life of the church there is liberty of conscience on certain issues. Some people are going to look at things differently. Some are going to need to be taught better. And everyone must be seeking to mature in the faith.
However, the 1689 helps us because upfront it says, “This is what we believe.” This is how our elders are going to teach. If you desire to be divisive over issues or cannot accept the teaching, then this would not be the best place for you.
It’s one thing to disagree and be willing to learn or to disagree and be willing to strive for unity, it’s one thing to be like that and it’s a different thing to just seek to sow division among the Body.
Conclusion
The strategy of churches over the last few decades has been to be as “big tent” as possible so as to include the largest number of people possible in the church. What our world needs, though, is churches willing to be dogmatic over the truth.
We need to obey verses like Eph. 6:14. Stand firm. Gird yourselves in truth. These are not the days for minimizing truths. These are not the days for nuance and ambiguity.
It’s like those who profess to be in Christ’s army are trying to hide which side they are on. They are covering up their uniforms so as not to stick out.
But I’m saying, wear the armor of Christ boldly. Let’s take out the biggest, most visible, flag for Christ that we can and let’s plant that thing firmly and unapologetically in the ground.
This is not because we want division or brashness. It is because we know that Christ is worthy of a church that loves His truth. It is because we know the only antidote, the only hope, the only thing that will turn our communities, our homes, our nation around, is truth.
Gird up church. Let us protect. Let us proclaim. Let us perpetuate God’s truth.
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Post by Admin on Apr 19, 2024 0:20:33 GMT -5
Bunyan, Belief, and the New Birth: Why Regeneration Precedes Faith
ALLEN S NELSON IV
Bunyan, Belief, and the New Birth: Why Regeneration Precedes Faith
Regeneration is Necessary to Believe
In the last sermon he ever preached, August 19, 1688, John Bunyan said, “Believing is the consequence of the new birth.”[1] I would point out here, like Bunyan would, that this is casually rather than temporally. And the point is what is “in man” (cf. John 2:24-25) is so corrupted and evil that in and ourselves we will not savingly believe on Christ. Believing savingly on Jesus then, is the consequence, rather than the cause, of the new birth.
Throughout Church History, not everyone has agreed with this assessment. But take note of Jesus’s words in John 6:63 – “It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all” (emphasis mine). To further substantiate Bunyan’s claim of regeneration preceding faith, we turn to the Apostle John’s first epistle. To build our case, we will examine 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, and finally, 5:1. Take note of the repeated phrase in each verse in italics.
“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.” (1 John 2:29, emphasis mine)
“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9, emphasis mine)
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7, emphasis mine)
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” (1 John 5:1, emphasis mine)
Fruits of the New Birth
The Apostle John writes to reveal to his readers the fruits of being born again. First, he shows that practicing righteousness is a fruit of being born again (1 John 2:29). Next, he shows that not making a practice of sinning is a fruit of being born again (1 John 3:9). Thirdly, he shows that love of the brethren is a fruit of those who have been born again.
Now, we will stop there for a moment. Because what I have just written is not controversial to any conservative Bible believing Christian. No one is making grammatical arguments for why John might really mean that practicing righteousness precedes regeneration. In other words, a holy life, fighting sin, and loving God and the brethren are not things one does in order to be born again but because he has been born of God.
Regeneration is not the effect of these acts but the cause. As Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) wrote, “You must first have Union with him, before you can bring forth Fruit to God; you must act from Life, and not for Life.”[2] The acts John mentions are not for life, but flow from new life.
1 John 5:1
But when we get to 1 John 5:1, things get a little controversial. This is not because John has changed his style. He uses the same construction in 1 John 5 that he has used in chapters 2, 3, and 4. The problem for some is that now he has said everyone who believes – the same word for “belief” in John 3:16 – has been born of God.
No, John is not writing a systematic theology on the Ordo Salutis. But he is showing that one telltale sign of regeneration is that we savingly believe on Christ. It is important to John to show his readers that faith is another fruit of being born of God rather than the other way around.
Grammatically, “has been” in any of these 1 John verses could be simply translated “is” like it is in the NASB or the KJV in 1 John 5:1. And thus, one might make the argument that it does not matter to John in this verse which comes first – belief or regeneration. But I would argue that his whole case in this epistle is showing forth evidences of regeneration so that Christians can know that they are saved (cf. 1 John 5:13). Therefore, righteousness, a practice of not sinning, love, and faith all flow from regeneration rather than being the cause of regeneration.
Charles Spurgeon notes on 1 John 5:1,
[T]his faith, wherever it exists, is in every case, without exception, the gift of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. A man has never believed in Jesus with the faith here intended unless the Holy Spirit led him to do so. He has wrought all our works in us, and our faith too. Faith is too celestial a grace to spring up in human nature until it is renewed; faith is in every believer “the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).[3]
A Contrast
In contrast to Bunyan’s view, Dr. David Allen writes,
[W]ith respect to 1 John 5:1, contextually the simple initial act of believing is not under consideration by John. John is talking about the ongoing life of faith as a believer. Obviously, the new birth precedes the ongoing life of faith. But that is something altogether different from saying the new birth precedes the initial act of faith. John’s use of ‘born’ nowhere precludes the possibility of faith preceding regeneration. One may argue for regeneration preceding faith, but one cannot argue against faith preceding regeneration. The most that can be said from the Greek present participle and perfect tense verb combination is that the actions are contemporaneous. [4]
In response, while I appreciate Dr. David Allen’s love for Christ and his commitment to the Scriptures, he misses the wider argument John is making. 1 John 5:1 is not only about a present participle and perfect tense verb combination, but a wider argument that is central to the purpose of his writing, namely, this is what those born of God look like – they practice righteousness, they do not practice sinning, they love God and the brethren, and they believe on Christ.
Further, merely having the new birth precede the ongoing life of faith but not the initial act of faith is not a convincing argument. It is tantamount to saying that in order for someone to “keep believing” they must have been born of God, but in order to initially believe regeneration is unnecessary. This simply does not square with John’s epistle (or his gospel). And to say that “John’s use of ‘born’ nowhere precludes the possibility of faith preceding regeneration” is really an argument from silence.
A Test
John Piper says of 1 John 5:1 that “New birth precedes and is the enabling power behind our faith.” [5] I like this statement because it presents us with a test of sorts. If what Piper is saying about 1 John 5:1 is correct, then it should also work with 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7 since they are similarly constructed and part of the Apostle John’s overarching argument for his epistle.
Let’s take a moment and try this out. We will use Piper’s original statement and replace the word “faith” with what 1 John 2:29, 3:9, and 4:7 say.
New birth precedes and is the enabling power behind our practicing righteousness (2:29)
New birth precedes and is the enabling power behind our not practicing sinning (3:9)
New birth precedes and is the enabling power behind our love for fellow believers (4:7)
When we examine these verses like this we see that this is precisely what the Apostle is communicating! See, whatever you say of one of these statements in 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, and 5:1, you need to be able to say of them all. For example, would Dr. Allen say that 1 John 2:29 “does not preclude” our righteous deeds preceding our new birth? Of course not! I think this reveals the inconsistency of any position that tries to force faith to precede regeneration.
Therefore, if we take 1 John 5:1 in its wider context we see that John is arguing for faith being a fruit of regeneration instead of regeneration being a fruit of faith. And the point in examining these realities is to see the absolute necessity of the new birth. How could righteous acts be a fruit of being born of God but yet one make a righteous act (believing) in order to first be born of God? Man’s will does not move the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God moves (frees) the will of men (John 3:8). Because of our sinful unwillingness and hostility to Jesus and all things righteous, being born again is necessary for any person to savingly believe on Christ.
John Bunyan was spot on in his final sermon. And though not all have embraced this truth, it is still the reality. As gospel preachers we are fully dependent on the Spirit of God to use the gospel we proclaim to awaken dead hearts that sinners may look to Christ to be saved. Therefore, may we preach the gospel and pleading with all to come to Christ knowing the Holy Spirit is pleased to use our stammering to bring many sons and daughters into the kingdom.
[1] John Bunyan, Bunyan’s Last Sermon, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2006), 756.
[2] Benjamin Keach, The Marrow of True Justification, Or, Justification without Works (London: Dorman Newman, 1692), 37.
[3] Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon Commentary: 1 John, ed. Elliot Ritzema, Spurgeon Commentary Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), 1 Jn 5:1.
[4] David L. Allen, “Does Regeneration Precede Faith? ,” Journal of Baptist Theology and Missions 11 11, no. 2 (2014): 41.
[5] John Piper, Look at the Book Labs (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014–2015), 1 Jn 5:1–4.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2024 12:53:12 GMT -5
Small Town, Great Commission: Heralding Christ in Rural America
ALLEN S NELSON IV
Small Town, Great Commission: Heralding Christ in Rural America
One of the joys of the reformed faith is its evangelistic pedigree. From Calvin’s Geneva to Judson’s love for Burma, those who embrace the doctrines of grace have a long history of commitment to sharing Christ with the nations.
When it comes to rural America, evangelism has its challenges. Today’s post focuses on 4 commitments we must have for biblical evangelism in small towns.
Presupposition
We begin with a non-negotiable presupposition: Christ is worthy to be preached in every place. From popular urban centers to remote villages, our Lord Jesus is worthy to be heralded to all creation.
It is statistically less likely for your church to see large numbers of persons converted in rural settings. For example, in a city with 100,000 people, if 1% responded positively to the gospel, you’d see 1,000 converts. If the math held true for a town with 1,000 people, you’d see 10 converts.
God is sovereign. He will save whom He will for His own glory. But this presupposition, the worthiness of Christ to be proclaimed in all places, will help you from any discouragement associated with lack of “success” in evangelism in small towns. When we preach Christ rightly, there is no lack of success! Christ is being proclaimed, and He is worthy.
Prayer
Secondly, evangelism should not be separated from prayer. Paul asks the Colossian church to “pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ…” (Col. 4:3).
Churches in small towns must be committed to praying for opportunities for evangelism. They must also be committed to pray specifically for lost souls in their community. Periodically, the church ought to gather to intentionally pray for the banner of Christ to be lifted high within the town that you are located.
God has placed your church in your rural community for a reason. And one of those reasons is that you would be concerned for the lost there and seek the Lord’s mercy on their behalf confident that God has “many in this city who are[His] people” (Acts 18:10).
Proclamation
We must remember that evangelism is not ultimately an event or program, but proclamation of the gospel, which includes telling sinners what they must do to be saved, namely, repent and believe the gospel (cf. Mark 1:15).
I’ve seen churches go wrong here in hosting well intentioned events that ultimately left out the gospel. Passing out water bottles with bible verses on them is certainly not a bad thing, but don’t confuse that with evangelism. In order to evangelize, we must communicate the gospel and a call to sinners to repent and trust it.
There are three primary ways our church has sought to do this. First, we have committed to going door to door once a month for the purpose of sharing the gospel. This can be uncomfortable and there is certainly prudence that must be exercised here in terms of time of day, number of people going to the home, safety, etc. However, it is our belief that the church must seek to get the gospel out rather than merely expecting lost persons to walk in our doors.
Is it not a shame that the heretical Jehovah Witnesses are the ones known for going door to door while too many of us with the true gospel of Christ stay at home? However this may look in your community, consider regularly and intentionally taking the gospel to the homes of your area.
Secondly, we try to preach at our local grocery store once a month. This too can seem uncomfortable, but I encourage churches to consider their own local community and see whether or not something like this would be feasible. For years I had convinced myself that street preaching was just for the big cities. But this goes back to our presupposition: Christ is worthy to be proclaimed even if the crowd is not the size of George Whitefield’s! Find a store, or gas station, or street corner, and proclaim the gospel. You may be surprised by what God does. One thing we’ve noticed is that other churches have reached out to us encouraged by our evangelism. What if your faithfulness inspires other churches to be more serious about evangelism too?
Finally, we like to flood our community with tracts. Tracts are not the be all end all of evangelism. They are really a low bar. You simply hand a tract to a cashier, or friend at the ball game, or man in line at the local donut shop. We make our own tracts and put our church website on them in hopes that some will check out more about the gospel and our local church.
Persistence
The final encouragement I have for evangelism in small towns is don’t give up. Ecclesiastes 11:1 says, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” I once heard a pastor friend preach from that text exhorting us to sow many seeds when it comes to evangelism and to remember this important truth: “sow nothing, reap nothing.”
You can convince yourself that your evangelistic efforts are weak and pathetic and will never return any fruit. But can I encourage you that weak evangelistic efforts are always better than no evangelistic efforts? So, don’t give up!
You may hand out a tract, or preach on the corner, or knock on a door and no one come to Christ. Yet, I can assure you that it is 100% guaranteed that no one will come to Christ if we do not proclaim the gospel (cf. Rom. 10:14-17). So, do not be discouraged. Continue to sow seeds and trust God with the return.
Continue to look for opportunities that are unique to your area. For us, we’ve preached in our local Christmas and Fair Parades. We’ve preached at local festivals our town has hosted. We’ve gone to local events to pass out gospel tracts and talk with people. We’ve done some Christmas Caroling, which is not the same as evangelism, but we did use the opportunity to pass out gospel tracts. Last Christmas we also did “evangelistic letter writing” where we gathered one Sunday evening at our church, I shared the gospel, and then we wrote letters to lost persons in our community (and beyond) imploring them to understand what Christmas is about and to repent and believe the gospel.
Each rural area is going to look a little different. But this truth remains: Your community is in desperate need of the gospel. Will your church commit to having the presupposition, prayer, proclamation, and persistence necessary to make Christ known in your specific area?
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2024 12:54:21 GMT -5
Restraining or Renewing Grace?
ALLEN S NELSON IV
In Volume 9 of The Works of John Owen, the renowned theologian and pastor talks about restraining and renewing grace. Restraining grace is that work of God that keeps people in “fear of shame, danger, death, and hell.” It is similar to what God told Abimelech in Genesis 20:6, “it was I who kept you from sinning against me.”
Renewing grace, on the other hand, “is faith and love,—faith working by love. A man who hath a spiritual understanding may examine himself, and find under what conduct he is.”[1]
The question for today’s post is simply this: Are you merely under the influence of restraining grace or have you experienced the power and hope of renewing grace?
Restraining Grace
True, in the context of our Nation’s current cultural crisis, we see the walls of restraining grace crumbling all around us. Sins committed today were similarly, perhaps, committed 100 years ago. The difference is that today they are (literally) paraded down main street while in the last century they were done in secret.
Of course, as technology has increased and the boldness of wicked men and women has increased, new sins are participated in today that sinners of past generations could not have even fully fathomed.
Yet, in the mercy of God, restraining grace, at least some measure of it, still prevails in many places. That is, as wicked as our current culture is, it is not as wicked as it could possibly be. And there are many places around the country and the world where people, with the moral law of God upon their hearts and consciences (Romans 2:15), seek to try to live some sort of outwardly respectable life.
In the midst of declining morality, there remain people who “by nature do what the law requires” (Romans 2:14). Paul does not mean they actually “keep” the moral law of God, but that there are times when it is clear their Imago Dei is showing. Their efforts at morality show that they know, at least in part, that God requires something of them.
Renewing Grace
This circles us back to the point of today’s post. Restraining grace is not enough for a person to have true peace with God. Restraining grace may allow a person in their own sinfulness to suppress their guilt and feel worthy of heaven, but it will not bring a person to savingly surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ.
For that, we need renewing grace. We need the grace of Ezekiel 36:25-27 whereby God does not merely “keep us form sinning” but goes beyond that to remove our hearts of stone and replace them with a heart of flesh. This is renewing grace. Grace that produces in us a total change. We must be born again.
How do you know you’re born again? Because you love Christ. You believe on Christ. You walk with Christ. You have been transformed by the power of God in the gospel. You obey from the heart (cf. Rom. 6:17). His will becomes more important than your own. You seek to walk the ancient paths He has set before you (cf. Jer. 6:16).
This is the difference between restraining grace and renewing grace. Restraining grace keeps you from sin out of fear of cultural ramifications. Renewing grace keeps you from sin out of fear of God. The desire of the heart moves from seeking conformity to a standard of self or society to seeking conformity to the standard of God.
Those under the influence of restraining grace may go to great lengths to justify themselves. They may regularly attend church. They may dabble in philanthropy. They may avoid more of the egregious sins so prevalent today.
But it is only those under the sovereign influence of renewing grace who are savingly and lastingly converted to Christ.
Examine Yourself
The Bible instructs us to examine ourselves (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5). We would do well to consider Owen’s categories, which I find to be biblical, and make serious effort today to contemplate whether we are under the control of restraining or renewing grace.
If you find yourself only under the power of restraint, then I remind you of the words of that old hymn…
Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a Crimson Tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
Look to Christ today and find in Him, “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).
[1] John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 9 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 385.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2024 13:11:31 GMT -5
The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures: The Meaning and Method of Inspiration
ALLEN S NELSON IV
Baptists love the Bible. This is not to diminish the love other orthodox traditions have for the sacred Scriptures, but it is only to highlight that present-day particular Baptists come from a long line of godly men who have given their lives to studying, preaching, translating, and submitting to God’s Holy Word.
In this post we want to consider the theology of inspiration. That is, what do we believe it means that the Bible is “inspired” and how did this “inspiration” come to be?
The Meaning of Inspiration
The go to passage for the inspiration of the Bible is 2 Timothy 3:16. There Paul says that all Scripture is “breathed out” by God. Thus, the various connotations of the English word “inspiration” do not fully capture what we are communicating when we say the Bible is inspired by God.
We are not merely saying that the Bible is “inspirational.” Nor are we saying that the Holy Spirit gave the Biblical authors good ideas to write about. We are not saying that the Bible “contains” the Word of God. Instead, what we are saying is that the Biblical authors were moved by the Spirit of God in such a way as to write down the very words He would have them to write.
Louis Berkhof puts it this way, “By inspiration we understand that supernatural influence exerted on the sacred writers by the Holy Spirit, by virtue of which their writings are given divine truthfulness, and constitute an infallible and sufficient rule of faith and practice.”
Inspiration, then, means that the Bible is God’s Book containing all of God’s Words that He desires His people to have. The Scriptures are God’s Words in such a way that, in the words of Joel Beeke, “when we read the Bible…we hear the voice of the living God.”
This is what the Apostles believed (see Acts 1:16, 4:25, 28:25, 2 Peter 3:14-16, 2 Tim. 3:16). This is what Jesus believed (see Mark 12:36, Matthew 22:31). This is what Christians believe.
The Method of Inspiration
The Holy Spirit didn’t just send down the Bible from heaven. Nor did He overtake men’s brains in such a way as to put them in a trance and have them write without thinking. The method of inspiration is a beautiful mystery affirming the sovereign praiseworthiness of the Holy Spirit.
What is the method of inspiration of the Bible? I have 4 points here for us to consider.
Providence
I want to mention here that not only is the Holy Spirit responsible for the writings of the Scriptures themselves, but also the circumstances surrounding the writings.
What would the book of Ephesians be like if Paul wasn’t writing under Roman guard? What would Revelation be like if John wasn’t in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day? What would the letter of 1 Corinthians be like if the church at Corinth wasn’t in such a mess?
What I mean here is that the Holy Spirit has ordered the circumstances, timing, audience, and culture surrounding the writing of the Scriptures in a sovereign way so as to give us the 66 books that make up the Bible.
Partnership
The theological term here is concurrence. The idea is this: The Holy Spirit moved in and through the biblical authors in such a way that what they wrote is what they wanted to write while simultaneously being the very words that He had for them to write.
As the writers were writing the Scriptures they were “carried along” by the Holy Spirit as He was working in and through them and their circumstances to breathe out His Word (see 2 Peter 1:19-21).
The Spirit carried the writers in such a way that what they wrote is what He wrote. It’s not that He physically carried them or put them into a trance but worked through all of their circumstances in such a way as that when they produced the final product, it was the very Word of God, breathed out by the Holy Spirit of God.
Louis Berkhof notes, “The term ‘writing’ must be taken in a comprehensive sense. It includes the investigation of documents, the collection of facts, the arrangement of material, the very choice of words, in fact all the processes that enter into the composition of a book.”
So, as Luke is doing his investigative work into the life of Jesus, as David is writing his poetry in the Psalms, as the Chronicler of 1 and 2 Chronicles is putting together facts and information, as Paul is penning his letters to the churches, as John is writing down what he saw in heaven, in all of this, the Holy Spirit of God is working through the different circumstances, personalities, cultures, investigations, compilations, research, and languages of these writers. The Holy Spirit worked through all of these events and processes in such a way so as to give us not only the words of these men, but through the words of these men, His own very words.
In the Bible sometimes you have divine dictation. God spoke and said write this down. Sometimes you have a dream or a letter or a poem or a prophecy or a historical account. But what I am saying is that in all of this the human authors wrote even as the Holy Spirit worked by, in, through, and upon them.
Perhaps some read this and say, “I hear you preacher, but these were sinful humans, so the Bible must be tainted.” The reality is that God did use fallen men to write the Bible. Isaiah, Moses, Matthew, Jeremiah: Yes these were fallen men, as were all the biblical authors. But the Holy Spirit used them, nonetheless. And He used them in such a way so as to keep their sin out of the Bible.
I don’t mean the Bible doesn’t record their sin. Of course, it does. What I mean is that the Bible is not tainted or corrupted by the hands of fallen men. John Macarthur put it beautifully this way: “As a person can draw a straight line with a crooked stick, God produced an inerrant Bible through imperfect men.”
So, we are discussing the method of inspiration. And we have seen Providence and we have seen Partnership. 3rdly I want to mention:
Precision
Here is what I mean by precision: The Holy Spirit breathed out not just the ideas into the minds of the biblical writers, but the very words. Do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:18? “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
The very dots and marks on the very letters of words were given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit – these very letters comprising the very words they composed were breathed out by God.
This is what we call the Verbal Plenary Inspiration of the Bible. That is, the Holy Spirit breathed out the words of the whole Bible so that every word and the entirety of the Bible is the Word of God. The words and sentences and syntax and grammar – it is all from the Holy Spirit, breathed out precisely as He wanted it to be.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy puts it this way: “We affirm that the whole of Scripture and all its parts, down to the very words of the original, were given by divine inspiration. We deny that the inspiration of Scripture can rightly be affirmed of the whole without the parts, or of some parts but not the whole.”
So, in every song, in every prophecy, in every epistle, in every historical narrative, the Holy Spirit is not giving the Biblical authors big ideas, but actually words – the precise words that He would have them write.
And so, while He uses their numerous circumstances, individual personalities, and various genres of writing, the Holy Spirit is doing so in such a way as to give us His own very words. Precision.
This brings me to my 4th point here. We have considered Providence, Partnership, Precision, and now:
Power
There is power in the Word of God for sure. But that’s for another post. Consider here for a moment the power of the Holy Spirit in giving us His Word. The power over every circumstance. The power over every jot and tittle. The power over the preservation of His Word.
Put 40 authors in a room and tell them to write a unified story. And then make them speak different languages. And then make some of them kings and some of them paupers. And then demand each of them write in a different genre. And then separate these authors geographically over 3 continents where they cannot communicate and separate them historically over a span of 1500 years.
You’re not going to get a unified story. You are going to get a mess. It would be like taking some of the pieces of 40 different puzzles and trying to cram them together to make one picture. Whatever you get its going to be ugly.
But this is not the case with the Bible. Why? The power of the Holy Spirit! He took these men and these time periods and these languages and these circumstances and He produced this beautiful Book that tells a cohesive, unified story.
The story of Christ! This inerrant, infallible, authoritative, sufficient Book tells us of Christ. Praise the Holy Spirit for giving us this Book. But what the Book points to is exactly what the Holy Spirit wants us to see: Christ! (cf. John 16:14)
Now, I have one more point here that I will mention briefly and then we will close. We have considered the Meaning of Inspiration, the Method of Inspiration, and finally let me just mention:
The Mystery of Inspiration
Here I just mean that while we’ve worked through this and seen the Biblical position on inspiration, there is still some mystery here, isn’t there?
I understand Paul writing and the Holy Spirit writing but fitting this all together takes us ultimately to the mysterious workings of our sovereign God. And yet we see the veracity and beauty of the Scriptures and we trust them.
What a glory it is to trust the Holy Spirit giving us His necessary, authoritative, sufficient, and clear Word. How wonderful that we have an inerrant and infallible Bible!
But this brings up another mystery to me. Since the Scriptures are the very Word of our great and glorious triune God, why are our bibles so dusty? Spurgeon said, “There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write ‘damnation’ with your fingers.”
Let me close this post with some serious implications regarding all I’ve said. If the Bible really is the breathed-out words of the living God (and it is!),
Why do you not bring your Bible to church? Or why do you at times leave it there?
Why are you not reading it every day? If you do not read your Bible every day but still have a social media account and Netflix, you are living in folly.
Why do you not read the Bible with your spouse and children?
How much contempt must we have for the Holy Spirit and our own children not to read the Good Book with them?
Why do you buy your children new clothes but not furnish them with good Bibles? Do you only care to clothe their bodies and not their souls?
Why do you disregard its precepts, its promises, its warnings?
Why do you treat this Book so frivolously and cavalierly?
Why do you not trust it as sufficient and obey it as the authority that it is? Since the Bible is God’s Word, to disbelieve or disobey the Bible is to disbelieve or disobey God.
We could go on ad infinitum with questions like these! But please consider today, what a Book God has blessed you with. His very words! Do you not think He will hold you accountable for your lack of knowing His Book? You have time for so many things but not for His Book?
Will we prize this grand possession that the Holy Spirit has given us? Will we repent of any disregard practically or theologically that we have had concerning this great Book?
Beloved, let us cherish these 66 Books that tell us the story of Jesus. Let us give our lives to trusting these words. Let us give our time, energy, and resources to knowing all this Book has for us and teaching it to others for the glory of our triune God.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2024 13:13:10 GMT -5
4 Responses Every Local Church Must Have to the Gospel
ALLEN S NELSON IV
Romans 1:16 is central to the Book of Romans, central to the teaching of the New Testament, and central to the entirety of the Bible. Here we find the theme of Romans, the focal point of the Bible, and the fundamental foundation of Christianity.
The gospel, the good news of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for sinners, is the power of God for salvation. Further, the power of God in the gospel does not stop at the work of Christ, but even with the Holy Spirit taking this gospel and applying it to our hearts by sovereign grace through faith.
Now, since all of this is true, why would we be ashamed of the gospel as Paul says he is not in Romans 1:16?
It is because when we really understand the gospel, it is both offensive and foolish to a lost and dying world. The real temptation every generation of Christians face is to alter the gospel ever so slightly so as to find ourselves in better harmony with the world around us.
The impulse for many today is to nuance the gospel into oblivion. Remove the offense. Remove the foolishness. Winsome it into something more palatable. But if we do these things, we ultimately lose the gospel.
The real temptation every generation of Christians face is to alter the gospel ever so slightly so as to find ourselves in better harmony with the world around us.
Churches today must not be ashamed of the gospel. Here are four ways, then, every local church must respond to it:
Believe it
The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Faith is not merely understanding the facts of the gospel and believing they are true. It is letting go of every work and it is turning from our sins, and it is trusting Christ personally as our only way to God. As the only means of the forgiveness of sins. As the only way to be counted righteous with a righteousness that is not our own but Christ’s imputed to us by grace through faith.
Pastors and church members must remember this is our only way to God. Your morals, your works, your politeness – none of these things will bring you salvation. None of these things will satisfy God’s holy justice. You must stake all that you are and all that you have and all that you do upon this bedrock foundation
Two reasons to remind us of this:
First, there is such a thing as unconverted church members and even pastors. My favorite story might be that Elias Keach the son of Benjamin Keach who was preaching one day in 1686 and suddenly became aware of his sin and was converted by his own preaching.
The Scriptures warn us repeatedly of false conversions (see Matthew 7:21-23). Anything else in this post about the gospel is superfluous if we do not first embrace it by faith.
The second reason I remind us about believing the gospel is to remind us that our churches do not need our power, but God’s. The power of the church is not in our creativity or in the public approval of the masses. The power of the church is the power of God in the gospel. Do you believe this? We are not the ones who make the gospel work. God is.
First response, then, believe it. 2nd response:
Defend it
There are millions of false gospels in the world today. There is the false gospel of abortion that says the child must die so I can live how I want. My salvation is in my autonomy. There is the false gospel of the Roman Catholic Church or the false gospel of Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons, or the false religion of Islam or the list goes on and on and on and on.
Because the gospel is the power of the church, we must draw a hard line here in defending it. We must carefully guard the church from false gospels ranging from open and blatant heresy to the subtle idolatry of the age.
We must make sure that all we are doing from our worship to our outreach to our fellowship is centered around the gospel and not something else. We must be willing to cut out anything that is detracting from the gospel or anything that is seeking to replace the gospel or anything that is seeking to add to or take away from the gospel.
This also means we must care about church discipline because church discipline is dealing with people whose lives are not adorning the gospel. Caring about church discipline is defending the gospel. If we do not care about defending the gospel, our churches will eventually lose it.
The man who buys a car and puts thousands of dollars in the stereo system every year, neglecting the engine, will eventually have a loud car with no power. That’s what a church is that focuses on all the external things and neglects or distorts the gospel: A lot of noise with no power.
Believe it. Defend it. 3rdly:
Grow in it
Since the gospel is the power of God for salvation and the power of the local church, then I must give my life to growing in it. We serve one another by growing in the gospel together.
First, I mean growing in knowledge of the gospel. Don’t you long to know God more deeply? I must study the sound doctrine of the Bible. I must read the Bible daily. I must study the glories of Christ, the wretchedness of sin, the beauty of the church, the work of the Holy Spirit, the sovereignty of the Father, and so on and so forth.
Secondly, though, I also mean growing in the application of the gospel to my heart, mind, soul, and entire life. The power of God in the gospel is not only for our regeneration and justification, but also our sanctification.
Thus, I seek to apply the gospel to my life daily. I apply the gospel to my marriage. I lead through Christ. I repent before my wife and children when I sin. I apply the gospel to relationships in the church in cultivating patience in my heart like God is patient with me. I apply the gospel to prayer. I am weak and needy, but Christ is mediating for me, and the Spirit is groaning with me.
The point is, local churches desire to show the world that the gospel is not only these great truths of the Scripture but that these truths come to bear in our homes and in our jobs and in our worship and in our fellowship and in our lives.
Believe it. Defend it. Grow in it. And finally, every local church must respond to the gospel with a commitment to:
Preach it
Now, in one sense church members preach the gospel to each other regularly in conversations and fellowship with one another. They also preach the gospel through the visible actions of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
But I also mean here for the church to actually preach the gospel and encourage its pastors to faithfully preach the gospel. John Gill says those ashamed of the gospel are all those
“who hide and conceal it, who have abilities to preach it, and do not: or who preach, but not the Gospel; or who preach the Gospel only in part, who own…in private, [what] they will not preach in public, and use ambiguous words…to cover themselves; who blend the Gospel with their own inventions, seek to please men, and live upon popular applause, regard their own interest, and not Christ’s, and can’t bear the reproach of his Gospel.”
There are so many ways that we can be ashamed in preaching the gospel and some of the ways we might not even realize. We can preach the hope of heaven without the demands of repentance. We can minimize certain sins afraid of offending someone or a group of people. We can scale back on the sovereignty of God because someone might disagree with us. We can tolerate easy-believism because we are weary of fighting the battle over the biblical definition of a Christian.
But I am pleading with local churches to not only love the gospel but to hold pastors accountable to passionately, unambiguously, and courageously preach the Gospel. Preach the gospel, the whole gospel, and nothing but the gospel.
This doesn’t mean we don’t preach secondary issues. I’m a Baptist. Of course, I love secondary issues! But it means all that I preach flows out of and connects back to, the gospel.
For example, do you know why I believe in believer’s baptism by immersion? Yes, it is the biblical way to practice the ordinance, but this is because only believer’s baptism by immersion accurately and consistently adorns the gospel. Only believer’s baptism displays a proper sign and symbol of the work of Christ.
I’m simply saying here that all of our preaching must be saturated with the gospel. We’ve got nothing to preach without the gospel. And we must remember the power is not in the preaching in and of itself. If our hope was in our preaching, we would be miserable. But our hope is not in the power of preaching. We preach, and we preach powerfully and passionately, because our hope is in the power of God in the gospel.
Additionally, I also mean in this point that the church must proclaim the gospel verbally to a lost a dying world. We must go and we must proclaim the gospel to the masses. The Word of God is living and active and as we proclaim it extolling the victory of Christ over death, over sin, over the devil, over governments, over all, we can have supreme confidence that God is using it.
And there will be seasons of Whitefield preaching where people are coming to Christ in droves it seems. And there may be seasons of Judson preaching where you labor in the gospel for 7 years before even seeing 1 convert.
But whether our proclamation results in one or one million converts, we rejoice, because it is all about God’s power and for God’s glory. It is the power of God in the gospel that saves sinners. Therefore, I must preach it. I must share it. I must pass out tracts and have the tough conversations with coworkers or family members and stand my ground here.
Imagine a restaurant owner ashamed of the menu. How much worse a church ashamed of the gospel! A fish ashamed of the water or a dog ashamed of his bark is better than a local church ashamed of the gospel.
We must preach the gospel. When a church tries to do mission or outreach without actually proclaiming the gospel, we are exposing that we think we know a better strategy for reaching the world than God. We are saying that the power of our ingenuity or the power of our kindness is more central and more of a priority than the proclamation of the gospel.
The Word of God is living and active and as we proclaim it extolling the victory of Christ over death, over sin, over the devil, over governments, over all, we can have supreme confidence that God is using it..
I am communicating to us a very simple truth but one that can profoundly transform our churches and our communities. Do not be ashamed. Let us preach the gospel.
I’m not saying try to winsomely convince people to try out Jesus. I’m not saying attempt to influence people by how nice you are. I’m not saying preach the gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.
No. I’m saying words are necessary. Extol the excellencies of King Jesus, all that He is, all that He has done, and all that He commands form the world. John Gill says, to be unashamed of the gospel is “to preach it…fully and faithfully, plainly and consistently, openly and publicly, and boldly, in the face of all opposition.”
Local churches, then, must preach the gospel this way. Preach the gospel unashamedly inside your church. Preach it boldly outside your church. And preach it all places in between. Preach it to your own soul. Preach it to your children. Preach it to your family. Preach it to the lost man serving you coffee. Preach it to the godless men and women God has placed in your town.
Preach, preach, preach, and preach and then: keep preaching. The ministry of the local church is gospel ministry. And true gospel ministry is local church ministry.
Let us take our stand here. Let the culture throw at us what it may. Let them do their worst. Let them laugh and scorn and get angry. They may be able to cancel us, but they cannot cancel the gospel.
Arrest us. Try us. Beat us. Kill us. But we aren’t stopping. We have a message to proclaim in the name of our King. And our King says, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.
In the 7th-Century B.C. the city of Troy stood strong against Greek armies for a decade. The big city gates were impenetrable. But the Greeks got sneaky, deceived the Trojans into thinking they had left, and snuck in with a wooden horse.
But this is not the church’s practice with he gates of hell, which are far stronger than Troy’s gates. We don’t sneak in. We confidently announce we are coming in. We are charging right through, and you can’t do anything about it. We are rescuing sinners. We are snatching some form the very flames. And there is nothing you can do to stop us because of the power of God in the gospel.
Therefore, brethren, we will not soften the message. We will not skirt the issue. We will not tamper with the Word. We will not attempt to make it more palatable.
We will preach the gospel and rest in its power for our church. We are not interested in pragmatism. We are not interested in worldly ideas. We are not interested in adaptation. We are not interested in surrender or compromise in any way.
We are unashamed. Therefore, we will believe the gospel. We will defend the gospel. We will grow in the gospel. And we will preach the gospel.
Christ is King.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2024 13:59:28 GMT -5
A Case for Credobaptism
ALLEN S NELSON IV
A Case for Credobaptism
One of the most important things you need to know about the ordinances is that they are visible. They are visible symbols. They are objects to be seen, felt, and in the case of the Lord’s Supper, tasted.
This post, though, is only about the first ordinance, baptism. I say first not because it is more important, but because baptism marks one’s entrance into the visible church. Something most Christians, regardless of their views on the proper subjects of baptism, would agree on.
The credobaptist position states that baptism is an ordinance reserved for believers. Note the Baptist Faith and Message (2000):
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
Samuel Renihan notes, “Baptism is…a two-way declaration. On the one hand, it is God’s visible promise that all who are in His Son are new creations by virtue of their union with Christ in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5). And on the other hand, it is the individual’s profession of faith in those very promises (1 Pt. 3:21-22).”[1]
Not For Infants
The argument between credo and paedobaptists over the subjects and mode of baptism goes much deeper than water. Phillip Griffiths comments on the baptism debate that being a Baptist should mean more than just “the mode of baptism…Reformed Baptists need to rediscover their rich heritage.”[2] Part of that heritage is understanding Baptist covenant theology. Volumes have been written on the subject, so there is not space here to treat it in any sort of fullness.
However, it needs to be said that, historically, Baptists have understood only believers as being in God’s covenant of grace. Both paedobaptists and dispensationalists, ironically, want to assign unregenerate people as being part of the people of God. Reformed Baptists reject this and assign only those born again as comprising the one body of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:4).
So, in the Old Testament, infants were circumcised in the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants, ultimately under a covenant of works.[3] This circumcision, though certainly in some senses a gracious sign, did not bring someone into God’s covenant of grace. If circumcision was not kept, the children would be cut off from the physical people of God (Gen. 17:14). Circumcision was another work that’s essential point was to remind the physical people of God that they stood in desperate need of One who could fulfill God’s Law and then be cut off for the sake of those who would put their faith in Him (cf. Isaiah 53:4-5).
The argument between credo and paedobaptists over the subjects and mode of baptism goes much deeper than water.
The true Israel of both the Old and New Testaments has always and only been believers (cf. Romans 9:6-7). And the only way anyone can savingly believe the promises of God is by being born again. So, yes, even members of the covenant of grace in the Old Testament were born again.
Though there are similarities between baptism and circumcision in some ways, Griffiths writes, “Baptism…is both a sign and a seal, marking one as belonging to the spiritual seed of Abraham; sealing the fact that he is united to Christ. The one prerequisite for baptism is that the individual repent and believe. These different criteria hardly suggest parity between these two rites [of circumcision and baptism].”[4] The members of the covenant of grace, then, have always and only been regenerate people, not of a mixed nature. That is, the covenant of grace has never consisted of believers and unbelievers.
New Testament Baptism
The New Covenant, ratified in the blood of Christ, has established water baptism as the outward sign and symbol of the inward reality of the Spirit’s application of Christ’s work to the Christian. The signification of baptism is clearly only for those who have already been born again. Even 19th century paedobaptist, James Bannerman, writes, “The immersion in water of the persons of those who are baptized is set forth as their burial with Christ in His grave because of sin; and their being raised again out of the water is their resurrection with Christ in His rising again from the dead because of their justification.”[5]
Bannerman goes on to say of the signage of baptism that
[T]heir [those baptized] burial in water, when dying with Christ was the washing away of the corruptness of the old man beneath the water; and their coming forth from the water in the image of His resurrection was their leaving behind them the old man with his sins and emerging into newness of life. Their immersion beneath the water, and their emerging again, were the putting off the corruption of nature and rising again into holiness, or their sanctification.[6]
Similarly, Louis Berkhof, also a paedobaptist, writing about Christ’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, says that “They who accepted Christ by faith were to be baptized in the name of the triune God, as a sign and seal of the fact that they had entered into a new relation to God and as such were obliged to live according to the laws of the Kingdom of God.”[7]
The New Covenant, ratified in the blood of Christ, has established water baptism as the outward sign and symbol of the inward reality of the Spirit’s application of Christ’s work to the Christian.
Though writing centuries before Berkhof and Bannerman, 17th Century Baptist, John Spilsbery, pulls no punches in responding to this type of faulty paedobaptist argumentation when he writes,
to Baptize Infants, makes the holy ordinance of God a lying sign, because none of those things can be expected in an Infant which the said ordinance holds forth or signifies in the administration thereof, which is the parties Regeneration and spiritual new birth; a dying and burying with Christ in respect of sin, and a rising with him in a new life to God, and a confirmation of faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, and a free remission of sin by the same; as 1 Cor. 15:29. Rom. 6:3, 4. Col. 2:12. 1 Pet. 3:21. Act. 2:38. none of all which can be expected in an Infant.[8]
There is an incontrovertible connection between the ordinance of baptism and regeneration. The latter is inward and performed by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. The former is performed by the local church only to those born again as a sign and symbol of what has happened to the new believer. That is, New Testament water baptism is not an “anticipation” of what might happen to a child in later years. It is specifically designed by the wisdom of God to signify what has already happened!
Do we have to have “regeneration goggles” then in order to know who to Baptize?[9] Of course not. The local church ought to do her best in only baptizing believers by examining the confession and life of those wishing to be baptized. Sadly, in a fallen world, sometimes local churches can “baptize” unbelievers.
But, do I Have to Be Baptized?
Jeff Johnson writes,
Although baptism is not essential to salvation, it is highly unlikely that a person has been truly born again without an eager desire to follow the Lord in this first command that God gives the new Christian (Acts 2:38). Baptism is a public confession of Christ (Matt. 10:32-33) that evidences to the church and the world that there has been a radical transformation within. Baptism is also a visible sermon. It demonstrates a spiritual reality of one’s death to sin and resurrection to the newness of life in Christ Jesus.[10]
Baptism is for those who have already received the Holy Spirit, and it is not what effects or brings about our regeneration. Rather, baptism is something that the regenerate do. Those already born again desire to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism[11] because baptism, in the words of Sam Waldron, “says he or she is in union with Christ, is forgiven and has a cleansed heart.”[12]
Baptism is not what brings the Holy Spirit’s work of effectual calling and regeneration about, but it is a physical symbol of the inward spiritual realities that have already taken place. So, baptism is an ordinance only for those already born again. It does not have the power to bring about a change of heart.
When Jesus talks about being born of the water and the Spirit (John 3:5), He doesn’t mean baptism and the Spirit mixed together creates a saving formula. Rather, being “born of the water” is the inward renewal and cleansing we need as prophesied in Ezekiel 36:25-27 and mentioned again in Titus 3:5.
This is also a reason we should be cautious about baptizing young children. I do think young children can be born again. It takes the same grace to save a 4-year-old as it does a 44-year-old. But the biblical issue is the church being sure of what has taken place and in our society, I think a lot of people have unfortunately been baptized when they were very young but have since walked away because they had never actually been born again.
The symbolism in baptism matters. This is why we should not sprinkle or pour water over baptismal candidates but instead immerse the person fully in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism shows how the person has already been spiritually cleansed and is symbolically buried with Christ and raised again to the newness of life. And has now been publicly and visibly marked as a follower of King Jesus.
[1] The Mystery of Christ, 204.
[2] Phillip D.R. Griffiths, Covenant Theology: A Reformed Baptist Perspective, (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016), 4.
[3] Reformed Baptists have different views on this. Some see the Abrahamic Covenant as dichotomous in nature. Some early Baptists saw it as two covenants.
[4] Covenant Theology: A Reformed Baptist Perspective, 68.
[5] James Bannerman, The Church of Christ: A Treatise on the Nature, Powers, Ordinances, Discipline, and Government of the Christian Church, (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2016), 557.
[6] Bannerman, The Church of Christ, 557.
[7] L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co., 1938), 624. Berkhof goes on to write, “there is no explicit command in the Bible to baptize children, and that there is not a single instance in which we are plainly told that children were baptized”, 632.
[8] John Spilsbery, A Treatise Concerning the Lawfull Subject of Baptism, Second Edition Corrected and Enlarged. (London: Henry Hills, 1652), 41.
[9] “Regeneration Goggles” is a phrase some Paedobaptists have used on social media to accuse Baptists of needing to see the invisible church before being willing to admit someone to the ordinance of baptism.
[10] Jeffrey D. Johnson, The Church: Her Nature, Authority, Purpose, and Worship, (New Albany, MS Media Gratiae, 2020), 206.
[11] I do not mean to imply that convinced paedobaptists are not born again! Though they are wrong about a very important matter.
[12] A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, 407-408.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2024 21:35:31 GMT -5
Gender Roles Before the Fall and in the Church
ALLEN S NELSON IV
Gender Roles Before the Fall and in the Church
Genesis 2 is an important chapter for a number of reasons. Not all of these can be addressed in one blog post. But one crucial reason Genesis 2 is important is because it presents to us the very first marriage – the union of Adam and Eve in holy matrimony in a very good world that had not yet been subjected to the curse of the Fall.
Consider Genesis 2:22-25:
And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Marriage is foundational to humanity because it is God’s gift to humanity for our good and His glory.
How is Marriage Lived Out
Marriage is foundational to humanity. This doesn’t mean you aren’t human if you don’t marry. Paul talks about the gift of singleness. And sometimes we have to live a time without our spouses because of death. So, you’re not less human if you’re single.
But marriage is foundational to humanity because it is God’s gift to humanity for our good and His glory. Male and female are equal under God but carry out different roles. We see this reality in the very first marriage in human history.
What I want to do is lay out these roles briefly and encourage us as husbands and wives to carry out these roles for God’s glory and the good of our families and the church and society as a whole. At the end I also want to show how these gender roles apply to the local church.
The Husband’s Role
The husband is to be a provider for his family. Adam was to work the Garden and keep it (Genesis 2:15). As a general rule, a husband must be the primary provider for his family.
Also, in Genesis 2:15, we see that Adam was to guard the garden and by implication to guard his family. Again, generally speaking, the husband is to be the protector of his family. When you hear the bump in the night, let the husband check it out.
I would also mention that the husband is the pursuer. He is the one to take initiative. He is the one who leaves and cleaves. Take note of Genesis 2:24. We should teach our sons that when they get older and are ready for a relationship that the woman should not have to wonder what their intentions are. They should be open and honest and be the primary pursuer of the relationship.
And then even in marriage we can’t quit courting can we? Like, well, I won the girl, so now I’m good. No, we should still pursue our wives as the Bible commands us to understand them and love them well.
Finally, I would mention that the husband must be the pastor of his home. In Genesis 2:16-17 God gave Adam instruction that He didn’t give Eve with the understanding that Adam was to teach his wife God’s Word. Therefore, in a very real sense, every husband is the pastor of his home. He should teach the truth of God to his wife and children. He should take the primary role in this.
This does not mean that a wife should not read her Bible or seek the Lord herself. It simply means that in the marriage economy, the husband is charged with the responsibility of shepherding his wife. Adam was formed first, given explicit instruction, and then along came Eve who would learn this instruction from her husband.
I want to mention that God considers these roles extremely important and will hold the husband accountable. The husband is the provider, protector, pursuer, and pastor of his marriage. The buck stops with him and he will give an account before God for how he has stewarded these responsibilities given to him by almighty God. We must take these God ordained responsibilities seriously.
And we are charged by God to love our wives well with compassion, sacrifice, and understanding. When we abuse or neglect our role as husband, we commit great wickedness against our holy God.
The Wife’s Roles
Now, as counter cultural as this is, we need to see what God says about the woman’s role in marriage. In Genesis 2:18 the Lord says “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
The Hebrew word for “helper” is not an inferior term. God is called a helper in the Old Testament. The husband and wife are co-heirs of grace. There is no inferiority between male and female. Rather, there is complementarity in how men and women are to carry out their specific God ordained roles.
Now, a few words I might mention here to understand this term of “helper” –
First, the wife is to be a teammate. I know sports analogies aren’t the best to everyone. But perhaps, in a reverent manner, we can think of Christ as the coach, the husband as the captain of the team, and the wife as the teammate.
She is not inferior. She comes alongside the husband and assists him as they together seek to execute Christ’s game plan for life and marriage.
The wife is also a follower. I don’t mean that women in general must follow men in general. I mean in the context of marriage a man should take the lead in love and a wife should follow in love. This is a good and harmonious design.
In Genesis 2:23, prior to the Fall, the man names the woman and there is authority here. The man leads. This is a good design by God. It doesn’t mean a wife never makes a decision. It means at the end of the day the man is charged by God to shepherd and lead his home and a wife complements her husband in following.
Furthermore, all husbands should be thankful, that our wives offer valuable insight and perspective that we might not always see. That’s why she is an invaluable helper. A good husband listens to his wife. A husband who won’t listen to his wife is in sin.
And also, a wife sometimes has to follow her husband even if she’s not totally sure it’s the best decision. A wife is not under obligation to follow her husband into sin. But sometimes there are decisions that need to be made, neither option being sinful. When things are discussed, and options are weighed, and prayer has been made, sometimes an unsure decision has to be made.
But a wife cannot only submit to her husband’s leadership when she wants to, because that’s not biblical submission. And a husband can’t only love his wife in compassion and sacrifice merely when she’s acting the way he wants because that’s not biblical love.
Finally, a wife is a helper by being a supporter. A wife supports her husband in his providing, protecting, pursuing, and pastoring. A husband simply cannot carry out these roles without the help and support of his wife. This is one reason why both male and female are needed to carry out God’s purposes for marriage.
Martin Luther’s quote is helpful here: ““Let the wife make her husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to see him leave.”
In the midst of cultural chaos it is ok for us to make a stand here and say androgyny is foolish rebellion – that is blending the genders into something that is really neither male nor female. Marriage roles matter. This is God’s good design.
It’s ok for little boys to get dirty and play army. One day, they will be a protector and a provider for their own family. And it’s ok for little girls to dress up as princesses and play house. Maybe little girls dream of princesses and play house because it’s rooted in the creation of the first woman.
I don’t mean for these stereotypes to come across demeaning. I mean that we must seek to understand God’s good purpose in creation and in marriage and not rebel against that for the purpose of God’s glory and human flourishing.
Marriage is designed to glorify God. A husband and wife are to live joyfully under the ultimate authority of God. The problem of course is that sin enters the world in Genesis 3. And when a man and woman marry today, they marry a sinner. The perfect “unashamedness” that Adam and Eve possessed is gone.
Marriage is hard, and takes hard work, because we live in a fallen world. We are all broken. We are all weak. And we are all guilty. All mankind now stands before God with guilt and shame.
And so, not just for marriages, but for every soul, the solution to our guilt and shame is not to deny it. And it’s not to drown it in sinful practices or to forsake our God given role. The solution to our guilt and shame is to look to Christ in faith as we repent of our sins.
Application to the Local Church
We see the roles Adam and Eve were to carry out pre fall and how that applies to marriages today. But it’s also important to note that Christ doesn’t come to erase these roles. He comes to restore them in Him. Meaning, in Christ a husband isn’t free to abuse his wife. Rather, he’s free to be the husband he has been designed by God to be from the very beginning.
Similarly, a Christian wife isn’t free to abdicate her role as helper, but free to fulfill it in joy as she has been designed.
In the local church, therefore, we should expect a full Christ centered expression of these roles in specific areas. For example, how could we expect that in the home a husband is to be the pastor and teacher over his wife, but in the church the wife would become the pastor and teacher over the husband?
Even if we did not possess clear New Testament instruction on the roles of men and women in the church we would have a foundational understanding of husbands and wives that would lead us to implement these roles in the church as we see them in the home.
When homes or churches confuse the roles of men and women there will inevitably be heartache and adverse consequences faced in this life, and in some cases will even echo into eternity.
But, in fact, we do have clear New Testament instruction in places like 1 Timothy 2:12-13 where Paul roots the roles of men and women in the church in the creation of man and woman back in Genesis 1-2. What we would expect based on what we know about the roles of men and women in marriage is exactly what the Holy Spirit instructs in the New Testament. God doesn’t switch or confuse the roles of men and women between the home and the church, but rather keeps them the same and gives them an even fuller purpose in Christ. This is a beautiful design that is for our good and His glory.
This doesn’t mean that all men are apt to teach. Nor does it mean that women don’t have crucial roles in the life of the church. What it does mean is that the pastors of local churches are qualified men, in office and in function, and not women and this is part of God’s very good design for His creation.
When homes or churches confuse the roles of men and women there will inevitably be heartache and adverse consequences faced in this life, and in some cases will even echo into eternity.
How each local church navigates the roles of men and women in the church will perhaps look different in some contexts. But, there is a clear line that cannot be crossed in terms of leadership. In no scenario is having a woman replace a man in the pastoral role or function helpful to the body of Christ or honoring to the Lord who has given us a clear word on this matter.
May the Lord be glorified in how the local church seeks to order itself according to His precious, necessary, authoritative, inerrant, infallible and wholly sufficient Word.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2024 22:47:50 GMT -5
Pleasing Christ in Uncertain Days
ALLEN S NELSON IV
Pleasing Christ in Uncertain Days
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:9 that he makes it his aim to please Christ. His goal, ambition, and great desire was to please his blessed King. May this be ours as well. In today’s post, I’d like to give you for exhortations for pleasing Christ in the midst of these uncertain days.
First, be a:
Glory Zealot
You want to make it your aim to please the Lord? Then be zealous for glory. I’m not talking about your glory or mine, of course. I am talking about the glory of God.
If you want to have a Christ-pleasing home or church or ministry it starts with being a glory zealot. One who is zealous for the glory of God.
More than any vision put forth by men, we need to recover the vision of God He reveals to us in His Word. High and lifted up! Holy, holy, holy! By the Spirit put to death the idols of your heart. Mortify ungodly ambitions. Make it your aim to please Him above all else.
Let us then recover this great phrase, Soli Deo Gloria, as more than just something to slap on t-shirts or coffee mugs. This great phrase is so much more than a hashtag. Let us live our lives for this wonderful end: the glory of God in all things.
Secondly, if you want to make it your aim to please the Lord, be a:
Bible Fanatic
It is our great aim to please Christ. Not another church. Not the SBC or any other denominational group. Not a coalition within the church. Not The Gospel Coalition either. Not the world. Not the culture. Not the government.
It is our aim to please Christ the King. It is our hope that others will be pleased along the way, but honestly, it doesn’t matter who is displeased so long as Christ is pleased. And that is our aim.
And so, this means we must be unwaveringly committed to His Word. Since He is Lord and King, He has all authority over us, and He has communicated that authority in His Book. If your aim is to please Him, be a Bible fanatic.
What am I saying here? Simply this: believe and do what the Good Book says! J.C. Ryle said, “Let us read our Bibles reverently and diligently, with an honest determination to believe and practice all we find in them. It is no light matter how we use this book.”
So, if the Bible calls it a sin, it’s a sin. Don’t try to nuance the Bible into oblivion. Open the Book and let it speak! Be so fanatical that you take this Book for what it says and how it says it. Be a Bible man or Bible woman.
It’s okay to be a weird young earther. Moses was. Paul was. Jesus is. I’m content siding with them.
If it’s the “simple-minded” who’re willing to believe what the Bible says, count me among them. I’ll make my home with the pig farmers over the professors. Count me among the cultural exiles rather than the capitulating elites.
Give me the degree from the Strip Mall Seminary over one says I need to read the Bible with a certain amount of melanin or different gender to really get it.
So, this is my plain and humble exhortation: take up and read the Bible and believe it and obey it. This is the inerrant, infallible, authoritative, sufficient Word of the living God. It has a Word fit for every season, every trial, every sin. As the culture seeks to silence the church today this Book is strong enough to turn their persecution into repentance.
Preach this Book without equivocation and see hard hearts break as God saves. Or if the Lord wills, this Book has the power to put a song in our heart even as they burn us at the stake. So, whether they are converted or kill us, preach the Bible and let the Lord be pleased – To Him be the glory.
Let me exhort you to get in this Book frequently. And get this book in you. Read it daily. Store it up in your heart. Please Him! Be a Bible fanatic.
Those who stand steadfastly on the historic principles of the Christian faith will eventually be called extremists by the ones blown about by the winds of cultural change.
Thirdly, as we make it our aim to please Him, be a:
Gospel Radical
To be a gospel radical is simply to believe this: What the homosexual needs, what the transgender person needs, what the glutton needs, what the drunkard needs, the liar, thief, and idolater need, and what I need, is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I have no hope for reconciliation with God based on my merits or my work or my ministry. Oh, but what a blessed and enduring hope there is in Christ! Christ did not merely carry sin to the cross. He did not merely pay a debt for sin on the cross. No, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, He was made sin.
That is, our sin was imputed to Christ. On the Cross Jesus was treated as us.
You already know the most important thing to know about every person you meet. In and of themselves, they were so vile, filthy, depraved, and wicked that their only hope of reconciliation with a holy God was for Him to slay His Son on the cross as a substitute.
And because Jesus rose from the dead, we know that any who have faith in Him are clothed with His righteousness. This is what has been called the great exchange. On the cross Jesus received our sin and by faith we are credited with His righteousness.
I know the next great church planting book will tell you how to reach your town or millennials or Gen Z or this or that demographic. But I’m telling you right now how to win them: The gospel of propitiation.
Be a gospel radical. Tell the men and women and boys and girls in your community to repent of their sins and trust Christ alone as their only suitable and all sufficient Savior. Tell your family. Tell your coworkers. Tell the masses: Jesus Christ saves sinners.
Worry far less about this or that ethnic percentage in your church and instead preach the gospel to 100% of the people in your community and see God save for His glory.
The foulest sinner in your town or in your home or God forbid, on your deacon board, is no match for the power of God in the gospel. Preach the gospel to the self-righteous, the down and out, the poor, the rich, the affluent, and the illiterate. And trust that it is the power of God for salvation for all who believe.
No breathing sinner is beyond the reach of God. So, be a gospel radical.
Finally, be a:
Local Church Extremist
It is impossible to have a ministry pleasing to Christ without being committed to the local church. Be so committed to the local church that the world questions your sanity. Be so committed they just wonder if you’re in a cult or something.
Be committed to regenerate church membership. That is, only those born again are eligible for membership in the church upon their profession of faith and believers baptism.
Be committed to restorative church discipline. Take sin seriously and membership seriously.
Be committed to life together with your church.
The local church has fallen on hard times, but I assure you this: When the Lord returns you do not want to be on the side of those who have disparaged her. Who have mocked her. Who have neglected her. Who have treated her shamefully.
Christ is King. Christ is head of the church. We must listen to Him in His Word on how we are to order the church and worship in the church and live together with the church.
You want to please Christ? Be a churchman. Love the local church. Train your men to love the church. Train them to lead in the church.
Now is the time to do your part to get the church you are part of in order because one day soon, you might just have to meet in a barn or in a basement or at night and in secret. And if you wait until that day to get serious about the church, it’ll be too late.
Maybe not for you per se. But the blood of some of your flock will be on your hands because u neglected to do now what needs to be done out of the fear of man.
But men are not who we are to be afraid of. And men are not who we are aiming to please. Believe in and commit to and teach your people the glorious necessity of the local church.
It is impossible to have a ministry pleasing to Christ without being committed to the local church.
Conclusion
2 Corinthians 5:10 reminds us that we won’t stand before earthly kings or presidents or networks one day. No. It will be the King of kings Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ.
Will we be found faithful? Will we be found loyal?
I’ve used these punchy words, but you know really, I’m just saying be an ordinary Christian. When they toss you in the gulags make it be for these reasons we’ve examined in this post.
And you better know that other professing Christians are going to be lined up applauding your arrest. You’re just trying to be an ordinary Christian living to please your great King, but they are going to say you are too zealous. Too fanatical. Too radical. Too extreme.
Those who stand steadfastly on the historic principles of the Christian faith will eventually be called extremists by the ones blown about by the winds of cultural change.
They are going to say you should have toned it down. While they were doing varying sorts of idolatrous and sensual practices in the name of evangelicalism, you should have just been quiet about it.
You’ll be tempted to believe them. You’ll be tempted to compromise. You’ll be tempted to conform to their squishy, middle of the road, fence riding, world pleasing, vacillating ways.
You’ll be tempted to get in the car with them and drive to destination nowhere on the road of indecision. But you must remember this:
Your aim is not to please them.
Your aim is not to please the world.
Your aim is not to please self.
You don’t need endorsements from Black Lives Matter or the evangelical elites.
You don’t need the approval of your local Mayor
Your aim is to please Christ. Your goal, your desire, your ambition is to please the King for the glory of His Name.
Carry that motto to the guillotine.
It’s alright to lose your head.
Just don’t lose your heart.
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Post by Admin on Apr 28, 2024 11:36:45 GMT -5
Gender Roles Before the Fall and in the Church
ALLEN S NELSON IV
Gender Roles Before the Fall and in the Church
Genesis 2 is an important chapter for a number of reasons. Not all of these can be addressed in one blog post. But one crucial reason Genesis 2 is important is because it presents to us the very first marriage – the union of Adam and Eve in holy matrimony in a very good world that had not yet been subjected to the curse of the Fall.
Consider Genesis 2:22-25:
And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Marriage is foundational to humanity because it is God’s gift to humanity for our good and His glory.
How is Marriage Lived Out
Marriage is foundational to humanity. This doesn’t mean you aren’t human if you don’t marry. Paul talks about the gift of singleness. And sometimes we have to live a time without our spouses because of death. So, you’re not less human if you’re single.
But marriage is foundational to humanity because it is God’s gift to humanity for our good and His glory. Male and female are equal under God but carry out different roles. We see this reality in the very first marriage in human history.
What I want to do is lay out these roles briefly and encourage us as husbands and wives to carry out these roles for God’s glory and the good of our families and the church and society as a whole. At the end I also want to show how these gender roles apply to the local church.
The Husband’s Role
The husband is to be a provider for his family. Adam was to work the Garden and keep it (Genesis 2:15). As a general rule, a husband must be the primary provider for his family.
Also, in Genesis 2:15, we see that Adam was to guard the garden and by implication to guard his family. Again, generally speaking, the husband is to be the protector of his family. When you hear the bump in the night, let the husband check it out.
I would also mention that the husband is the pursuer. He is the one to take initiative. He is the one who leaves and cleaves. Take note of Genesis 2:24. We should teach our sons that when they get older and are ready for a relationship that the woman should not have to wonder what their intentions are. They should be open and honest and be the primary pursuer of the relationship.
And then even in marriage we can’t quit courting can we? Like, well, I won the girl, so now I’m good. No, we should still pursue our wives as the Bible commands us to understand them and love them well.
Finally, I would mention that the husband must be the pastor of his home. In Genesis 2:16-17 God gave Adam instruction that He didn’t give Eve with the understanding that Adam was to teach his wife God’s Word. Therefore, in a very real sense, every husband is the pastor of his home. He should teach the truth of God to his wife and children. He should take the primary role in this.
This does not mean that a wife should not read her Bible or seek the Lord herself. It simply means that in the marriage economy, the husband is charged with the responsibility of shepherding his wife. Adam was formed first, given explicit instruction, and then along came Eve who would learn this instruction from her husband.
I want to mention that God considers these roles extremely important and will hold the husband accountable. The husband is the provider, protector, pursuer, and pastor of his marriage. The buck stops with him and he will give an account before God for how he has stewarded these responsibilities given to him by almighty God. We must take these God ordained responsibilities seriously.
And we are charged by God to love our wives well with compassion, sacrifice, and understanding. When we abuse or neglect our role as husband, we commit great wickedness against our holy God.
The Wife’s Roles
Now, as counter cultural as this is, we need to see what God says about the woman’s role in marriage. In Genesis 2:18 the Lord says “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
The Hebrew word for “helper” is not an inferior term. God is called a helper in the Old Testament. The husband and wife are co-heirs of grace. There is no inferiority between male and female. Rather, there is complementarity in how men and women are to carry out their specific God ordained roles.
Now, a few words I might mention here to understand this term of “helper” –
First, the wife is to be a teammate. I know sports analogies aren’t the best to everyone. But perhaps, in a reverent manner, we can think of Christ as the coach, the husband as the captain of the team, and the wife as the teammate.
She is not inferior. She comes alongside the husband and assists him as they together seek to execute Christ’s game plan for life and marriage.
The wife is also a follower. I don’t mean that women in general must follow men in general. I mean in the context of marriage a man should take the lead in love and a wife should follow in love. This is a good and harmonious design.
In Genesis 2:23, prior to the Fall, the man names the woman and there is authority here. The man leads. This is a good design by God. It doesn’t mean a wife never makes a decision. It means at the end of the day the man is charged by God to shepherd and lead his home and a wife complements her husband in following.
Furthermore, all husbands should be thankful, that our wives offer valuable insight and perspective that we might not always see. That’s why she is an invaluable helper. A good husband listens to his wife. A husband who won’t listen to his wife is in sin.
And also, a wife sometimes has to follow her husband even if she’s not totally sure it’s the best decision. A wife is not under obligation to follow her husband into sin. But sometimes there are decisions that need to be made, neither option being sinful. When things are discussed, and options are weighed, and prayer has been made, sometimes an unsure decision has to be made.
But a wife cannot only submit to her husband’s leadership when she wants to, because that’s not biblical submission. And a husband can’t only love his wife in compassion and sacrifice merely when she’s acting the way he wants because that’s not biblical love.
Finally, a wife is a helper by being a supporter. A wife supports her husband in his providing, protecting, pursuing, and pastoring. A husband simply cannot carry out these roles without the help and support of his wife. This is one reason why both male and female are needed to carry out God’s purposes for marriage.
Martin Luther’s quote is helpful here: ““Let the wife make her husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to see him leave.”
In the midst of cultural chaos it is ok for us to make a stand here and say androgyny is foolish rebellion – that is blending the genders into something that is really neither male nor female. Marriage roles matter. This is God’s good design.
It’s ok for little boys to get dirty and play army. One day, they will be a protector and a provider for their own family. And it’s ok for little girls to dress up as princesses and play house. Maybe little girls dream of princesses and play house because it’s rooted in the creation of the first woman.
I don’t mean for these stereotypes to come across demeaning. I mean that we must seek to understand God’s good purpose in creation and in marriage and not rebel against that for the purpose of God’s glory and human flourishing.
Marriage is designed to glorify God. A husband and wife are to live joyfully under the ultimate authority of God. The problem of course is that sin enters the world in Genesis 3. And when a man and woman marry today, they marry a sinner. The perfect “unashamedness” that Adam and Eve possessed is gone.
Marriage is hard, and takes hard work, because we live in a fallen world. We are all broken. We are all weak. And we are all guilty. All mankind now stands before God with guilt and shame.
And so, not just for marriages, but for every soul, the solution to our guilt and shame is not to deny it. And it’s not to drown it in sinful practices or to forsake our God given role. The solution to our guilt and shame is to look to Christ in faith as we repent of our sins.
Application to the Local Church
We see the roles Adam and Eve were to carry out pre fall and how that applies to marriages today. But it’s also important to note that Christ doesn’t come to erase these roles. He comes to restore them in Him. Meaning, in Christ a husband isn’t free to abuse his wife. Rather, he’s free to be the husband he has been designed by God to be from the very beginning.
Similarly, a Christian wife isn’t free to abdicate her role as helper, but free to fulfill it in joy as she has been designed.
In the local church, therefore, we should expect a full Christ centered expression of these roles in specific areas. For example, how could we expect that in the home a husband is to be the pastor and teacher over his wife, but in the church the wife would become the pastor and teacher over the husband?
Even if we did not possess clear New Testament instruction on the roles of men and women in the church we would have a foundational understanding of husbands and wives that would lead us to implement these roles in the church as we see them in the home.
When homes or churches confuse the roles of men and women there will inevitably be heartache and adverse consequences faced in this life, and in some cases will even echo into eternity.
But, in fact, we do have clear New Testament instruction in places like 1 Timothy 2:12-13 where Paul roots the roles of men and women in the church in the creation of man and woman back in Genesis 1-2. What we would expect based on what we know about the roles of men and women in marriage is exactly what the Holy Spirit instructs in the New Testament. God doesn’t switch or confuse the roles of men and women between the home and the church, but rather keeps them the same and gives them an even fuller purpose in Christ. This is a beautiful design that is for our good and His glory.
This doesn’t mean that all men are apt to teach. Nor does it mean that women don’t have crucial roles in the life of the church. What it does mean is that the pastors of local churches are qualified men, in office and in function, and not women and this is part of God’s very good design for His creation.
When homes or churches confuse the roles of men and women there will inevitably be heartache and adverse consequences faced in this life, and in some cases will even echo into eternity.
How each local church navigates the roles of men and women in the church will perhaps look different in some contexts. But, there is a clear line that cannot be crossed in terms of leadership. In no scenario is having a woman replace a man in the pastoral role or function helpful to the body of Christ or honoring to the Lord who has given us a clear word on this matter.
May the Lord be glorified in how the local church seeks to order itself according to His precious, necessary, authoritative, inerrant, infallible and wholly sufficient Word.
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