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The Public Gospel

March 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

One of the hallmarks of Peter Leithart’s work has been the public nature of the Christian faith. To say that Jesus is King is to make a highly charged political claim. Worship is a political act. The sacraments are public, objective realities that proclaim cosmic truth to power regardless of and often despite the intentions of the people involved in them. Baptism means that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus. The Supper proclaims the victorious and vicarious death of Jesus to the world until He comes. And this is all because the Word of God is living and powerful and thunders from heaven and demands obedience, allegiance, loyalty. God’s truth trumps all pretenders.

The last couple of weeks Pastor Leithart has continued his series through the book of Isaiah, and he has reminded us particularly that the prophet Isaiah was not foretelling a future for Israel that could exist only in their hearts. The prophet’s burden is not something that might remain safely within the confines of the minds of certain exiled Jews. Isaiah was not trying to calm everyone down, giving them a religious pacifier to suck on while the uncircumcised rejoice over the destruction of Jerusalem. No, if anything, Isaiah is trying to get the people worked up, excited, rambunctious. Yes, he promises peace and comfort, but this is the peace and comfort of victory, the peace and comfort of deliverance from their enemies, the peace and comfort of coming home. In other words, the salvation Isaiah foretold can’t leave Israel in exile, can’t leave Jerusalem in ruins, and therefore cannot be a merely private experience. God’s justice is public. God’s righteousness is always for everyone to see. It stops the mouths of kings, and it does so because they read about it in the morning paper.

What follows is my own ruminations on this fact: Over the last two hundred years (at least) the Church has been in retreat in America. We have sown the wind and now we are reaping the whirlwind politically, culturally, economically, etc. If you do the math that means that probably right around the founding of America, the retreat was already beginning. Some of the faithful old guard could see it coming and put up the best fight they knew how, but plenty were already hedging their bets, compromising, and still others were already in apostasy and full blown naturalism was on the rise. And the net result over time has been for many professing Christians to hunker down in the bunkers of a private, personal, and overly spiritualized version of the faith Jesus bled and died for. This happened in some quarters under the guise of highly emotional experiences of revival and spiritual renewal which did not (for the most part) translate into much momentum publicly. Others hunkered down with fat books and systematic theologies, and while they may have said many true things, all the pointy edges were sandpapered with the proper scholarly apparatus, footnotes, and Greek word studies. Nobody but their closest friends and relatives read them (and mostly to be polite). Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Bible - Isaiah, Culture, Federal Vision, Manalive, TRC

Communion, Baptism, and the Messiness of the Church

September 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

The Church is a messy place, and that means that not everything rolls out in the order that we might believe best fits with the patterns laid out in Scripture. Jesus is loving us into perfection, washing us with the water of His Word. But we’re not there yet, and in the mean time we have to be faithful when and where God has placed us.

So let me give you an example. I am told that in some communions it is common for children to begin taking the Lord’s Supper from a young age (or when parents deem appropriate) while withholding baptism until such an age that those in authority believe a true conversion has taken place.

Now in Presbyterian churches, it is frequently the opposite: babies are baptized and welcomed into the covenant and then later welcomed to the table when they are deemed old enough and/or mature enough to make a credible profession of faith in Jesus as Savior.

Now I happen to believe that both of these scenarios aren’t the best, though as far as I can tell, the latter Presbyterian practice at least has a good deal of historic precedent going for it. I have only become aware of the former practice in recent years and as far as I know hasn’t been a very widely held practice in the history of the church.

So in my ideal biblical world, I believe infants ought to be baptized and then when they begin sitting at their family dinner table at home and eating with their families, they ought to also be welcomed to the table of the Lord. In the course of things, this would probably mean that most kids would start taking communion around a year old, some earlier, maybe some a little later. Because the promises of the covenant are for us and for our children, believing those promises means naming our children in baptism into the family of Jesus and then teaching our children loyalty to that grace from their earliest days. It is absolutely necessary that they learn to trust and obey for themselves, but that is something that they learn by encouragement and discipline from faithful, believing parents. We ought to pray and trust that God’s promises are true for our children from an early age. This is not natural; it is supernatural. But God is often pleased to work His supernatural grace in little ones: for of such is the Kingdom of God. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Church Polity, Federal Vision, Grace, Pastoral Theology, Theology - Sacraments, Wisdom

Liturgy, Glory, and Homosexuality

July 24, 2012 — 10 Comments

So a few days a go I posted a quote from private correspondance by Rich Bledsoe concerning the connection between liturgical worship and homosexuals. His thoughts came in response to some recent posts like this and this.

For what it’s worth, the broader context of his comments actually included the point that the Orthodox Church is finally coming out into the open, coming out of the various cultural ghettos she has tended to hide away in for centuries. And part of coming out into the mainstream of western culture means dealing with all the same sins that all the rest of us have been dealing with already. Part of the “pristine” reputation of EO is bound up in the fact that lots of their churches spoke Russian and Ethiopian and worked (in some measure) to stay separated from mainstream American culture. The point wasn’t to point at EO and laugh, the point was in part to say, “hey, look who decided to show up to the party.” Now you get to fight along side the rest of us Bible believing Christians. So in one sense, you could take the whole comment as a compliment.

But the point I zeroed in on was relative to liturgy, glory, and homosexuality. Now here’s the argument, and I really would like to hear honest feedback. I thought the argument made good sense.

We know from Scripture that the woman is the glory of man. She is his crown. In fact, in the Hebrew this is underlined. The man is called “dirt” because he was taken out of the ground, and then God rips a rib out of his side and “builds” the woman. Literally, God builds a “fire” (Ishshah), and then (and only then) the man is called a “fire” (Ish). In other words, man becomes glorious when he has a woman at his side. He becomes a fire, when the fire-babe becomes his crown. The woman is the glory of the man. We might wonder what it is about a woman that is glorious: Paul points to her hair (1 Cor. 11), Solomon says it’s her wisdom (Proverbs), and elsewhere we gather that she is created to be beautiful physically and make and do beautiful things (like magically making babies inside of her). Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Church, Creation, Culture, Family, Federal Vision, Marriage Bed, Why I Won't Convert, Worship

Why Liturgical Churches Attract Homosexuals

July 17, 2012 — 29 Comments

One of the things that all liturgical churches have to come to grips with is that we have been so de-glorified for so long, that the very glory of the liturgy attracts a faux following, a fake following. To be blunt, a homosexual following. If the woman is the glory of the man, the homosexual is the faux glory of the man. He is false, fake, faux glory. He is a fake woman, so he is fake glory. But, like it or not, homosexuals are going to be attracted to all that glory in Eastern Orthodoxy. “Smells, bells,” and long beautiful gowns with candles, incense, and chanting, is going to attract a lot of faux glory seekers.

It is no mistake that Oscar Wilde was not a Presbyterian or Congregationalist. Smells and bells are where it’s at.

-Rich Bledsoe

In Against Christianity, Culture, Federal Vision, Pastoral Theology, Why I Won't Convert

Preaching into the Grave

July 11, 2012 — 5 Comments

I tweeted yesterday something to the effect that all true repentance begins by being struck down by the fact of the prodigal son’s confession: I’m not worthy to be called your son. This really is the heart of my concern for how we talk about salvation in relation to the sacraments, pastoral theology, covenant theology, federal vision, etc.

The short hand of this is: I want to be able to say everything that the Bible says. A longer version is that pastorally, we want to see people gripped by the grace of God and transformed by that grace. I know there are all kinds of cliches and overused mantras in every tradition, but I just mean that we want to know God and walk with Him together. But from Genesis to Revelation, one of the fundamental obstacles to walking with God is idolatry. And it is idolatry that arises in the heart, in individuals who prize their own understanding, their own wisdom, their own instincts, their own pleasure and apparent security over the Word of God, over and in place of Jesus.

This means that one of man’s most basic problems is that we don’t think we’re as bad as we are. We’re “pretty bad” “sort of bad” maybe “kind of bad,” but one of the most offensive aspects of the Gospel, the Good News, is that people apart from the grace of God are sick, disgusting creatures. Our hearts are infested with the foul maggots of lust and lies. Paul says we were dead in our sins and trespasses. Apart from Jesus commanding us to rise up and walk, we are corpses, complete with the stench of death. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Evangelism, Federal Vision, Pastoral Theology, Theology - Sacraments, Theology - Soteriology, Wisdom

Warnings & Promises

July 4, 2012 — Leave a comment

Seems to me that one of the things we’re talking about in this whole regeneration discussion is the proper pastoral balance between warnings and promises for the covenant people of God. And that’s a huge wisdom call for pastors who have to regularly, prayerful seek the Spirit’s guidance for applying God’s word to their people. Different circumstances will call for different Biblical “mixtures.”

The promises of God include the promise of the finished work of Christ on our behalf, the forgiveness of sins, the promise of perseverance, the promise of eternal life, the certainty of salvation, etc. Jesus says that He came to bring eternal life, and all those whom the Father has given Him cannot be lost but will surely be raised up on the last day. That’s a fixed, guaranteed inheritance, a gift given, sealed with the Spirit that cannot be lost. Part of a pastor’s job is regularly, repeatedly exhorting his congregation to believe the promises and rejoice.

At the same time, God also warns His people repeatedly that He judges and prunes His people. Fruitless branches will get cut out and thrown into the fire. Some false prophets will sound an awful lot like gospel preachers, and wolves will creep into flocks doing their best sheep impersonations. Some pigs will get washed and return to their wallowing in the mire. Some will taste the powers of the age to come and then fall away. Some will believe for a time and then the pleasures of this world will choke that faith out. Faithful pastors have to preach the warnings as well as the promises. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Federal Vision, Grace, Pastoral Theology, Preaching, Theology - Soteriology

Rihanna, Regeneration, and the Words of God

July 4, 2012 — 1 Comment

Been on something of a hiatus the last month or so, but Lord willing, I’m getting back into a blogging routine again. And for starters, there’s been a pleasant conversation going on in the blogosphere regarding regeneration, the new birth, new hearts, and what exactly we mean by those words. My friend Jim Jordan has questioned whether the Bible really pictures the “new birth” as some sort of permanent change in the nature of individuals. He prefers to describe salvation as the Spirit wrestling with all baptized individuals in various ways, some persevering, some falling away, though recognizing that people are reoriented in their affections and desires toward God. My friend Doug Wilson has wanted to preserve the idea that something does in fact change in the person, though recognizing that we ought not become a soul gestapo, nor do we denigrate the real, normative grace of the covenant, the sacraments, and the many ways the Spirit works through fellowship and families, formal discipline, etc.

Seems to me that 95% or more of both perspectives are completely compatible. The Bible describes salvation in terms of once-for-all conversions and rebirths, and the history of the church is full of these testimonies. At the same time, many of us covenant kids grow up and experience dozens of “mini-conversions” to Jesus (maybe mostly in the wood shed with faithful moms and dads), but with a fundamental loyalty to God as far back as we can remember. And three cheers for that. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, bible - John, Creation, Federal Vision, Grace, Pastoral Theology, Theology - Sacraments, Theology - Soteriology

Assurances of Salvation

June 6, 2012 — 1 Comment

Pastor Jim Wilson has a great little booklet entitled Assurances of Salvation, available here in Kindle format and available here for free download, along with a few other goodies.

The booklet lists 8 ways to have assurance of salvation but begins with the recommendation to read 1 John which is written “so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:13).

Pastor Wilson continues with the following assurances:

1. The Holy Spirit seals, guarantees, and assures us (1 Jn. 4:13, Rom. 8:16-17, Eph. 1:13-14, 2 Cor. 5:5, 1 Cor. 2:11-16).
2. Change of Character: read the lists of the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:19-25. Which list characterizes you? Jesus saves out of the first list into the second.
3. Confessing Jesus as Lord (1 Cor. 12:3, Rom. 10:9-10, Lk. 6:45).
4. Obedience: People who are saved obey Jesus (1 Jn. 3:6, 3:9-10, 5:18, 2:3).
5. Discipline: If you are getting away with disobedience, you are not a child of God. If you are being disciplined, pay attention and repent (Heb. 12:5-11). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Corinthians, Bible - 1 John, Bible - 2 Corinthians, Bible - Colossians, Bible - Ephesians, Bible - Galatians, Bible - Hebrews, bible - John, Bible - Luke, Federal Vision, Pastoral Theology, Theology - Pneumatology, Theology - Soteriology

How Regeneration Makes Orphans & Eunuchs

May 21, 2012 — 2 Comments

In Isaiah 56, the Lord says that foreigners and eunuchs who keep Sabbath and hold fast God’s covenant will be given a place in the Lord’s house and a name better than sons and daughters, an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. He says that He will bring them to His holy mountain and make them joyful in His house of prayer. In the Old Covenant, the house of God was fiercely guarded. The ugliness of sin was underlined by the fact that anyone with a defect, blindness, physical marring, missing limbs, hunchback, or eunuchs were prohibited from going near the presence of God. But baptism is the sign of the New Covenant that Isaiah foretold. It is the gracious promise of God to all nations, all people, all outcasts, all the broken, blind, lame, eunuchs, that by the blood of Christ and His life-giving Holy Spirit all may enter the house of God.

We might wonder: exactly what has changed? Sin is still sin; God is still holy; and all those defects are still real. There are still people in this world born broken. There are still barren women, blind men, disease ridden bodies. Why is it that they can now draw near? The Ascension of Jesus means that we all have a man in glory. We have an older brother at the right of the Father who is completely whole, who has no defect, whom death could not hold, who ever intercedes for us. He is our ticket, our passport, our guarantee of entrance. But God doesn’t leave us untouched. Isaiah says that eunuchs will be welcomed into God’s house and given a name better than sons and daughters, an everlasting name that shall never be cut off, and He will make them joyful in His house of prayer. This is only possible if people really can be born again. This is only possible if the Holy Spirit regenerates and heals the fundamental problem of sin and guilt and death in us, in our bodies. Continue Reading…

In Baptismal Meditation, Bible - Isaiah, Federal Vision, Theology - Sacraments, Theology - Soteriology, TRC

Wild Truth

May 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

Another follow up thought on the Douthat post below: This American “openness to heresy” seems to me to be a peculiarly Protestant stance, particularly, a sort of political/social manifestation of Sola Scriptura. Protestantism rejects human authority as supreme (whether in prelacy or tradition), and insists that Jesus is the head of the Church, ruling through His Spirit and Word in this world (though respecting tradition and human authority subordinated to the Word). In other words, despite the schismatic sins and fleshly rivalries wound through it, Protestantism has always, in principle, had this “openness to heresy” at least as much because of its confidence and delight in the freedom of the Spirit. As Douthat notes, it’s the heretics, the heterodox who are always trying to tidy up the faith, trying to make the Spirit tuck His shirt in and wipe the jelly smudges off His cheeks. But there is something of a symbiotic relationship between heresy and orthodoxy, such that heretics press in on the faithful in an ultimately sharpening, glorifying way, causing the Church to burn brighter with the truth, slowly, relentlessly leaving lies and distortions behind. Just as God is able to destroy death by death, just as sin and evil are able to be deftly wielded by the omnipotent competence of the author of this story we are in, so too, lies, misunderstanding, and false teachers are bent to the good purposes of the Spirit. And all this without striking a truce with any evil. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Federal Vision, History - Reformation, Sola Scriptura, Why I Won't Convert