I read a story about a Jewish man in Hungary who went to his rabbi and complained, “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?” The rabbi answered, “Take your goat into the room with you.” The man was incredulous, but the rabbi insisted, “Do as I say and come back in a week.” A week later the man returned looking more distraught than before. “We can’t stand it,” he told the rabbi. “The goat is filthy.” The rabbi said, “Go home and let the goat out, and come back in a week.” A week later the man returned, radiant, exclaiming, “Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there’s no goat--only the nine of us.”[1]
Read moreMust I Go, and Empty-Handed? Hymn Story and the Resurrection
Pastor Charles Luther in 1877 wrote the words to the hymn “Must I Go, and Empty Handed.” Before we discuss the story behind the hymn let’s consider the apostle Paul’s final application at the conclusion of his teaching on the resurrection of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul challenged us “be steadfast, immovable, always abound in the work of the Lord for you know that your labor is not in vain [without results] (15:58).” Our lives as Christians can have results if we serve our resurrected Lord faithfully. Or our lives can have no or little results if we serve unfaithfully. Paul draws this contrast when teaching on the future Judgement Seat of Christ where Christians will give an account of their service to the Lord. Some will “receive a reward (1 Cor. 3:14).” Their service was not in “vain” or without results. Others will “suffer loss” (3:15) and receive no reward or their lives will have been lived in “vain” with no rewards or crowns to cast at Jesus’ feet. We sometimes refer to this sad scene as entering heaven empty handed.
Read moreThe Doctrine of Propitiation defends Penal Substitution (Part ten)
The Doctrine of Redemption defends Penal Substitution (Part nine)
Redemption is the price God paid to set free sinners in bondage in the slave market of sin (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18). Not only have sinners been redeemed from slavery to sin (Romans 6:17-22) but sinners have been redeemed and set free as prisoners who were on death row (Exodus 21:29-30).[1]
Read moreThe Doctrine of Justification defends Penal Substitution (Part eight)
Despite all sinners falling short of God’s glory, the sinner can be “justified” in Romans 3:24 or declared righteous. Justification in Romans means to declared righteous not to make righteous. This legal or forensic meaning is found in Deuteronomy 25:1. In this courtroom scene,[1] the guilty were to be declared guilty and the innocent were justified or declared righteous.
Read moreThe Doctrine of the Deity of Christ defends Penal Substitution (Part seven)
The “glory of God” in Romans 3:23 is the manifestation of His presence. In the Old Testament, God’s presence was the outward Shekinah glory. In the New Testament, God’s glory was manifested in Christ about whom John could testify, “we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). Every sinner has fallen short of being Christ like. He is the standard against which every person must measure himself. Every believer is presently being changed into Christ image (Romans 8:28) and one day will perfectly “be changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthian 3:18).
Read moreThe Doctrine of Sin defends Penal Substitution (Part six)
Charles Ryrie showed the sinfulness of sinners by explaining the imputation of Adam’s sin directly to sinners and the inheritance of sin indirectly from Adam through the parents of each succeeding generation. Ryrie explained the difference:
Imputed sin is transmitted directly from Adam to each individual in every generation. Since I was in Adam, Adam’s sin was imputed to me directly, not through my parents and their parents. Imputed sin is an immediate imputation (that is, directly, not through mediators between Adam and me). This contrasts with how the inherited sin nature is transmitted. It comes to me from my parents, and theirs from their parents, and so on back to Adam. Inherited sin is a mediate transmission since it comes through all the mediators of generations between Adam and me.[1]
Read moreThe Doctrine of Faith defends the Penal Substitution (Part five)
Walter Rauschenbusch, Father of the Social Gospel, casting what he referred to as “old theology” in a bad light stated: “Wherever doctrine becomes rigid and is the pre-eminent thing in religion, ‘faith’ means submission of the mind to the affirmations of dogma and theology, and acceptance of the plan of salvation and trust in the vicarious atonement of Christ.”[1] While Rauschenbusch declared that faith in the atonement was antiquated, Paul affirmed saving faith indispensably necessary for salvation: “Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because, in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins” (Romans 3:25). Propitiation is appropriated by faith in Christ based on Christ’s shed “blood” in 3:25. It is better to connect “blood” with “propitiation” rather than as the object of faith.[2]
Read moreThe Doctrine of Prophets defends Penal Substitution (Part four)
Christ referred to the law and the prophets concerning their witness to his death to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “And he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27). What did Jesus mean in Luke 24:27 that he expounded all the Scriptures concerning himself “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets”? In the follow-up statement in 24:44 Jesus explained that what he previously spoke from the Old Testament “the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” was only what was “written about me.” Jesus probably preached the prophecies and the types from the Old Testament including Genesis 3:15, Psalm 22, and Isaiah 53 as well as the Passover Lamb in Exodus 12:5, the Rock that Moses struck in Exodus 17:6, and the Brazen serpent in Numbers 21:9. These anti-types are referred to in the New Testament in John 3:14-15, 1 Corinthians 5:7, and 1 Peter 1:19. Paul next in Romans three elaborated on the witness of the law and prophets to Christ’s death in Romans 3:21.
Read moreThe Immaculate Conception of Jesus
At Christmas, we celebrate the miraculous virgin birth of Christ. We also commemorate the immaculate conception of Christ. The angel spoke to Mary in Luke 1:28 of the supernatural conception: “And the angel said unto her, ‘Fear not, Mary: for you have found favor with God. And, behold, you shall conceive (emphasis added) in your womb, and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” Before we discuss what is called in Roman Catholic theology the Immaculate Conception, I want to remind you of what has been called the Immaculate Reception because of one NFL football pass or reception that was also considered immaculate or miraculous.
Read moreThe Influence on One Life
The influence of Jonathan Edward’s sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” is legendary. It has been called the most well-known sermon in American history. Edward’s influence, however, was greater with his family. Jonathan and Sarah had eleven children. For one hour before dinner, Edwards would gather his children together and help them with schoolwork and talk about their day. Edwards wrote, “Every house should be a little church.”
Read moreThe Three Kings of Christmas and the King of Kings
"Larry King, the former CNN talk show host, was once asked whom he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, 'Jesus Christ.' The questioner said, 'And what would you like to ask Him?' King replied, "I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me'" (From Just Thinking, RZIM, Winter 1998. Cited by ChristianAnswers.net).
We already have the answer to that question in God’s Word and the virgin birth of Jesus did define history. Luke the historian documents this defining moment in Luke 2. Jesus is one of three kings in the history of the Biblical account of His birth.
There are three kings in the Christmas story that Luke the historian documents in order to persuade us to worship the King of kings.
Read morePluralism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism: Which Is It?
Tim Keller writes a book defending the faith entitled The Reason for God. Keller addresses seven objections, which skeptics fire at Christianity.
Exclusivity is the first objections. This objection has been thrown at me when discussing religion with unbelievers. The objectors usually say, with rising blood pressure, something like: “You are arrogant and intolerant to think you are right and all other religions are wrong,” or “Your superior thinking about your religious views is dangerous and detrimental to world peace.”
Read moreThe Sinlessness of Christ
Bruce Ware in his book Bruce A. Ware, The Man Christ Jesus: Theological Questions on the Humanity of Christ (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013) teaches the impeccability of Christ, i.e., that Christ in His humanity could not have sinned because of His deity. Bruce A. Ware says Christ could not sin because His divine nature dominated His human nature but Christ did not sin in His humanity totally depended on the Word, the Holy Spirit, and His Father. This is a departure from the way the impeccability has been defended in the past. Before we examine this new defense of Christ’s inability to sin, let’s ask, “What has this theological debate have to do with my struggle with my particular nagging sin?” I mean, you might be saying, “Just yesterday, I lost again the battle with this sin. Today, I am guilt ridden. I need help not a theological discussion of whether Jesus was peccable or impeccable.” Good point. Let’s back up and get a running start on this problem and make it personal.
Read moreThe Three Kings of Christmas
"Larry King, the former CNN talk show host, was once asked whom he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, 'Jesus Christ.' The questioner said, 'And what would you like to ask Him?' King replied, "I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me'" (From Just Thinking, RZIM, Winter 1998. Cited by ChristianAnswers.net).
We already have the answer to that question in God’s Word and the virgin birth of Jesus did define history. Luke the historian documents this defining moment in Luke 2. Jesus is one of three kings in the history of the Biblical account of His birth.
Read moreThe Crucifixion of Christ, Part One
The Gospels give us the historical fact of Christ’s crucifixion. The Epistles explain the theological signification of His death. Wiersbe succinctly put it this way: “History states that ‘Christ died,’ but theology explains, ‘Christ died for our sins’ (1 Cor. 15:3).”
For example, in Philippians 2:8, Paul referred to the shame, the reproach of crucifixion when he said that Christ “humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross.”
Crucifixion was the torturous execution of a person by fixation to a cross. Alexander the Great introduced Crucifixion to the Mediterranean world. Although first practiced by the Persians, crucifixion was perfected by the Romans as the most degrading form of execution. No Roman citizen could be crucified, only murderers, thieves, rapists and the scum of the earth.
Read moreThe Crucifixion of Christ, Part Two
Previously, we traced the preliminaries that happened to Jesus on Good Friday before 9 a.m. First, Jesus was scourged (Matthew 27:26). Next, he was mocked (Matthew 27:27-30). Lastly came the six hours of crucifixion from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Read moreOld Testament Lexical Study of The Old Testament Word for Atonement kipper
C. H. Dodd contended that kipper or kopher in the OT and hilaskesthai in the LXX and in the NT meant expiation and the forgiveness of sins. Leon Morris argued that these words meant propitiation or an appeasing of God’s wrath. The overwhelming evidence is the meaning of propitiation of God’s wrath.
N. T. Wright has taken up the mantle of C. H. Dodd in his 2016 The Day The Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus Crucifixion. Throughout his book, Wright disparages the penal subsitutionary death of Christ and the doctrine of propitiation. For example, referring to kapporeth, Wright argues that “older interpretation suggested ‘covering.’ But recent research has challenged this, connecting the Hebrew word with the root kipper, meaning ‘cleanse’ or ‘purge.’…..”there is less, because this context, in and of itself, says nothing about punishment” (p. 328-329). Wright is correct when he writes that “the Hebrew word kapporeth was rendered in the Greek translations of Scripture as hilsasterion.” But then again following the argument of C. H. Dodd, Wright writes “So when Paul writes in Romans 3:25 God put Jesus forth as a hilasterion, he does not mean that God was punishing Jesus for the sins of Israel or the world” (pps. 328 and 330). Just a few other comments from Wright about Romans 3:21-26: “the ‘propitiation’ readings of 3:24-26 are straining” (p. 330). “Paul is not here saying, then, that God has punished former sins, whether of Israel or the Gentiles, certainly not that he has punished them in Jesus. There is no mention here of such a punishment then exhausting the divine wrath” (p. 331).
New Testament Lexical Study of the New Testament Word for Atonement
In our OT lexical study we examined kipper and kopher and demonstrated that the meaning of these words is the propitiation of God’s wrath. The Greek word group of hilaskomai, which is the most used Greek word in the LXX and the NT for the kipper word group, also contains the meaning of appeasing God’s wrath rather than expiating of sin.
Four primary sources were consulted: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, BDAG (Third Edition), New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Abridged Edition), and Leon Morris’ The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross.
Active and/or Passive Obedience of Christ
“So important is eternal life that the Bible gives us many illustrations so that no one will miss the message. To the farmers, Jesus talked about soil and seed. To the shepherds, He talked about sheep. To beggars, He talked about a great feast that God had spread. To lawyers, He talked abut justification. To the housewife, He talked about a coin that had been lost and had to be found. But when you use the word ‘imputation,’ you find God speaking to the banker, because it is a financial term . . .. Our English word ‘imputation’ comes from the Latin word which means ‘to reckon, or credit, to one’s account.’ When you go to the bank or the savings and loan association and deposit money, imputation takes place. They deposit that on your account, and they write it on your record . . .. Right in the middle of that word ‘impute’ you have p-u-t, righteousness put to our account” (Warren Wiersbe, Key Words of the Christian Life, Lincoln: Back to the Bible, 1982, pages 55, 56, 58).
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