Friday Features : Women and The Word - 2

Elsie Newell will be our featured teacher through out this month on Fridays, as she teaches the importance of the Word of God, especially for women. She comes to us with a wealth of experience, a true heart for the Lord, and a desire to help women understand the importance of loving, studying, and teaching the Word of God. She has been in ministry for over 30 years; teaching and leading Bible studies. Currently she teaches a weekly study to the women in her church, another to drug addicted women at a local shelter in Anderson, and a third to teenage girls. She has also written a number of small group Bible studies, one of which was published in 2008, The Amazing Promises of God. Elsie has been married to Newt for 50 years, and has 3 children and 12 grandchildren, who she helps home school. She is a member of Christ Reformed Church in Anderson, SC.

Deeply practical, she speaks from a rich experience of knowing God through the Scriptures. Her main thrust is on the discipline of meditation. In the first part, she introduced the discipline of meditation with an emphasis on the wondrous end of meditation, namely knowing the wonderful God of the Scriptures. In this second part, she turns her attention to 2 Peter 1:3, specifically on God's promises and how to apply them in our lives.

God’s Precious and Magnificent Promises  Listen  |  Download 

Thursday Theology : Understanding Charismatic Theology -2

In the past 50 years, the Charismatic movement has made much progress, in terms of expanding all over the world, being the most popular form of Christianity in the wider culture, saturating the media of satellite television and of course, of having congregations with stupendous membership. In spite of all these seemingly great advances, it is the firm conviction of conservative Evangelicals around the world that this movement is a misleading one and many a times, very dangerous too.  In the first part of our analysis of the Charismatic theology, we turned to Dr. Trevor Craigen, Professor of Theology at Master’s Seminary, for his overview of the experience-driven theology of this movement

In our second part, Dr.Richard Mayhue, Senior Vice President and Dean, of Master’s Seminary will speak on gaining a biblical perspective on Charismatic theology. He believes, all experience must submit itself to the Scripture’s test for authenticity. He enlists four essential theological elements in the neo-pentecostal or charismatic movement - 1) continuing revelation, (2) Spirit baptism subsequent to salvation, (3) tongues, and (4) healing. Without these features, the charismatic brethren would not exist as a distinguishable element of Christendom. For each of these features, he offers a biblical analysis, to help us gain a biblical perspective of the whole movement. 

Combating Charismatic Theology   Read  |  Download 

Tuesday Trainings : Redemptive-Historical Preaching - 3

Redemptive-historical preaching is preaching every passage of Scripture, in light of its redemptive-historical context, showing how each passage relates to the grace of God which is ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ. This Christ-centered approach to preaching is much needed if one desires to see gospel-centered ministries flourish in our day and age. 

In his first part, Dr. Bryan Chapell, president of Covenant Theological Seminary, spoke about the necessity of Christ-centered preaching, if we are to be true to Christ’s own hermeneutic. Then, last week, he began to talk about how that Christ centeredness can be excavated from all the Scriptures. He talked particularly about that grace message in its various forms that either prepares for or predicts or reflects or results from the work of Christ. Dr. Chapell also discussed macro-interpretation and micro-interpretation. A “macro” way of looking at the text would be when we ask where a text fits in the grand scheme of Genesis to Revelation. “Micro” ways of looking at the text involve when we ask whether there is a doctrinal statement there that is reflective of the grace of God or whether there are relationships, either of God toward His people or them toward one another, relational reflections of God’s grace that will ultimately be more fully represented in the work of Christ.

In this third part on Redemptive-Historical preaching, Dr.Chapell moves to the issue of using redemptive principles in the application of Scripture in order to provide biblical motivation and enablement.  Dr.Chapell explores the many dominant themes that come from the excavating the grace from all of Scriptures and discusses how the Bible motivates believers to obedience and holiness. He discusses at quite a good length, what could rightly be described as a Christ-centered theology of change. Very insightful and beneficial for preachers to preach Christ-centered sermons with powerful application of Scripture that is inline with redemptive principles.

Christ-Centered Interpretation for Redemptive Application Read |  Listen  |  Download 

Friday Features : Women and The Word - 1

Elsie Newell will be our featured teacher through out this month on Fridays, as she teaches the importance of the Word of God, especially for women. She comes to us with a wealth of experience, a true heart for the Lord, and a desire to help women understand the importance of loving, studying, and teaching the Word of God. She has been in ministry for over 30 years; teaching and leading Bible studies. Currently she teaches a weekly study to the women in her church, another to drug addicted women at a local shelter in Anderson, and a third to teenage girls. She has also written a number of small group Bible studies, one of which was published in 2008, The Amazing Promises of God. Elsie has been married to Newt for 50 years, and has 3 children and 12 grandchildren, who she helps home school. She is a member of Christ Reformed Church in Anderson, SC.

Deeply practical, she speaks from a rich experience of knowing God through the Scriptures. Her main thrust is on the discipline of meditation. In this first part, she introduces the discipline of meditation with an emphasis on the wondrous end of meditation, namely knowing the wonderful God of the Scriptures. She wants this and this alone to be our motivation behind our meditation of the Scriptures. Her warmth, wonder and even her wittiness are so evident in this presentation, revealing her humble, genuine and joyful godliness, grown out of years of knowing God through the Scriptures.

The Importance of God’s Word   Listen  |  Download 

Thursday Theology : Understanding Charismatic Theology -1

In the past 50 years, the Charismatic movement has made much progress, in terms of expanding all over the world, being the most popular form of Christianity in the wider culture, saturating the media of satellite television and of course, of having congregations with stupendous membership. In spite of all these seemingly great advances, it is the firm conviction of conservative Evangelicals around the world that this movement is a misleading one and many a times, very dangerous too. 

The issue is primarily a theological one. Growing out of Pentacostalism, which was a wild child of Second-Blessing teachings of Holiness movements, Charismaticism, true to its legacy has very little to do with the sufficiency and efficacy of the First Blessing – The Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only when there has been a serious lack of understanding of the perfections of Christ’s work for His people, that people seek after second and subsequent blessings. Had they realized the sufficiency of Christ’s work and how our first and only blessing is the gospel, there needs no discussion for any blessing subsequent to salvation. The Bible knows no blessing that a believer ought to seek, subsequent to his salvation. The newness of the New Covenant is the great blessing of the indwelling of the Spirit in all believers, which  they receive at their conversion and only (in the sense, exclusively) because Christ gained it for them. If it is asserted that, even after Christ gained the promise of the Father and poured it onto His church at Pentecost, individual believers subsequent to their conversion, are to follow some "steps" to get filled by the Spirit, then it is a clear denial of the efficacy and sufficiency of Christ’s work for the church. This is the linchpin argument against Pentecostal and Charismatic theology. However Charismaticism goes beyond this issue. Issues dealing with ongoing revelation, ongoing apostolate, ongoing signs and wonders etc are also crucial to this whole discussion. 

In the first part of our analysis of the Charismatic theology, we turn to Dr. Trevor Craigen, Professor of Theology at Master’s Seminary, for his overview of the experience-driven theology of this movement. Dr. Craigen notes the need for this overview as follows, “The burgeoning of the Charismatic Movement [C.M.] in the last decade together with the publication of its own theological literature mandates at the very least an overview of its significant theological breakpoints. By breakpoint is meant that which makes this movement break from traditional evangelicalism--although, really, it never was ‘in.’ For sake of an overview, no distinction is being drawn between Pentecostalism and the C.M.”  His presentation gives a detailed overview of each of the significant and unique theological convictions of the Charismatics. He organizes these into four basic questions which frame the major emphases of this movement. In addition to this overview, he gives a five-point theological response to these emphases of the Charismatics.  Though not exhaustive, these preliminary considerations make up an excellent initial response to the theological emphases of the Charismatic movement.

Charismatic Theology  -  An Overview   Read  |  Download 

Wednesday Word : Jesus and The Fourth Commandment

The fourth commandment to observe the Sabbath is one over which Christians are divided. Some believe in a literal observance of it as a day, while others believe it is the spiritual meaning of it that we should understand and observe. Perhaps the group of Christians who were best known for their defense of a literal observation of it  as on the Lord’s Day were the Puritans. All forms of Puritan religion – Anglican, Presbyterian, Congregational and Particular Baptist, unanimously confessed the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath, a day for remembering not only the rest the Lord took when He completed creation but also the deliverance of His people in Christ.  It is a day for taking rest from all other work, to delight in the finished work of the Lord, both in His creation and redemption. However this understanding of the Lord’s Day has been criticized by many as mere Puritan legalism. While acknowledging that some lesser known of the Puritans did write very legalistic works on Christian Sabbath, which even Puritan giants like John Owen detested, if properly understood, Puritan Sabbatarianism does have biblical grounds.

To explore this, the pertinent question to be asked is what was the relationship of our Lord Jesus Christ to the fourth commandment. For invariably, the argument of those who oppose Puritan Sabbatarianism is that Jesus Christ did not keep the fourth commandment literally. Moreover, they argue, He was displaying the need to keep it only spiritually, by His many healings on the Sabbath day. Is this argument an exegetically valid one? Was our Lord teaching His people to not keep it literally, but only spiritually? Is the Sabbath merely a type or shadow of the eschatological rest in Christ, which His believers have a foretaste of even now? Would Jesus view Sabbatarianism as legalism? Did Jesus Christ repeal the Sabbath?

Dr. Robert R. Gonzales Jr., the academic dean and a professor at Reformed Baptist Seminary, expounds Matthew 12:1-14 to explain what Jesus Christ really taught about the Sabbath. He demonstrates how Jesus Christ not only upholds the fourth commandment, but also demonstrates the true significance of it and restores its intended purpose.

Jesus and The Fourth Commandment  - 1  Listen  |  Download 

Jesus and The Fourth Commandment  - 2  Listen  |  Download 

Tuesday Trainings : Redemptive-Historical Preaching - 2

Redemptive-historical preaching is preaching every passage of Scripture, in light of its redemptive-historical context, showing how each passage relates to the grace of God which is ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ. This Christ-centered approach to preaching is much needed if one desires to see gospel-centered ministries flourish in our day and age In his first part last week, Dr. Bryan Chapell, president of Covenant Theological Seminary, introduced the redemptive-historical approach to preaching, its necessity, what it entails and how it is different from other approaches.

In his second part, Dr.Chapell deals with developing Redemptive-Historical sermons. He begins with a three-step basic process for preaching Christ from any text in the Bible. He then discusses interpretive approaches to be employed in Christ-centered preaching. His third and final section in this study is dealing with expounding historical narratives with Christ-centered lenses. He concludes with recognizing the entire bible as comprised of texts falling into four main categories  – 1. Predictive of the Work of Christ, 2. Preparatory of the Work of Christ, 3. Reflective of the Work of Christ and 4. Resultant of the Work of Christ.

Developing Redemptive Messages   Listen |  Download  |  Read

Friday Features : Reformed Theology – 12

Lecture 12, Perseverance of the Saints :

Can people who are saved lose their salvation? If not, then how do we explain those people who have fallen away? In this final message of this series on Reformed Theology, Dr. R.C Sproul thinks about these questions as he looks at “Perseverance of the Saints.”

Video :

Audio : Listen

Thursday Theology : Biblical Theology Vindicated

Graeme Goldsworthy, Australian Anglican and Old Testament scholar is well known for his passion for biblical Theology. Goldsworthy was formerly the lecturer in Old Testament, biblical theology and hermeneutics at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia.  Speaking for the Gheens Lectures, delivered on March 18-20, 2008, at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Goldsworthy spoke first on the necessity and viability of biblical Theology. Goldsworthy’s lecture has four points – 1. Biblical Theology and the doctrine of Scripture, 2. The role of the gospel in biblical theology, 3. Challenges to biblical theology and 4. Summary conclusion: The necessity of biblical theology.  

Goldsworthy defines the discipline of biblical theology as follows : “Biblical theology is the study of how every text in the Bible relates to every other text in the Bible. It is the study of the matrix of divine revelation. At the heart of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ; he is the word of God come in the flesh. The nature of the gospel is such that it demands that it be at the centre of the biblical message. Biblical theology is, then, the study of how every text in the Bible relates to Jesus and his gospel. Thus we start with Christ so that we may end with Christ. Biblical theology is Christological, for its subject matter is the Scriptures as God's testimony to Christ. It is therefore, from start to finish, a study of Christ. Biblical theology is much more than simply relating the events of the story in chronological order, even if accompanied by theological comment in the process. It needs to be analytical of the theological dynamics within the big story. What is the nature of the progressiveness of revelation? Is it a gradual dawning of the light, or is it a series of discreet steps? What is the relationship between the two Testaments? In biblical theology there needs to be the kind of theological reflection that would help us to see the great recurring themes, both in their unity and their diversity. We observe the way in which the prophets deliberately recapitulate the earlier history of redemption in their eschatological projections. We seek to analyze the dynamics of prophetic fulfilment and typology. biblical theology involves first of all the close reading or exegesis of the parts in order to understand the theological perspectives contained. These must then be synthesized into an understanding of the unity of the theology of the whole canon. The wider synthesis will then affect our understanding of the significance of the parts. But, why should we have any confidence that such a task can be realized? Such confidence can only come from the gospel itself. The writers of the four Gospels point the way by their handling of distinct aspects of the relationship of the person and ministry of Jesus to the Old Testament Scriptures..”

This gospel-centered approach to biblical theology is what makes listening to Goldsworthy so profitable. Gaining insights from him would lead any pastor or even a lay Christian to see the “the coherence of the canon, its inner unity”, making our doctrine of scripture robust and mature. When one learns how everything in scripture is centered on the gospel and tastes the integrity of the canon in declaring the one good news of God, one cannot help but bow in rich adoration of the One Mind behind this wondrous Book. A high view of the Scriptures thus depend on one’s appreciation of the coherence of the canon. Goldsworthy notes, “our doctrine of Scripture, to be robust and maturing, needs to involve more than an abstract concept of authority and inspiration. It needs shape, and it is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that gives it that shape. In this regard hermeneutics intersects with dogmatics, and both intersect with biblical theology. We cannot really have any useful concept of the authority of the Bible unless we have some notion of what the authoritative word is telling us. The doctrine of Scripture as the written word of God must focus on both authority and structure. The doctrine of the authority of the Bible demands the task of biblical theology, which is to seek to understand the structure of Scripture. “

This is a very excellent introduction to and vindication of this very vital theological discipline of biblical theology. Properly done, it would help Evangelicals regain an understanding of the gospel-centered structure of the Scriptures.  

The Necessity and Viability of Biblical Theology Listen |  Download  |  Read

Wednesday Word : What is Gospel-Centered Ministry?

“Gospel-centered” is  a popular term these days, used by many Evangelicals, predominantly Reformed who give much emphasis on the centrality of the gospel in one's theology, life and ministry. Here at Beacon of Truth, we have Jay Dharan’s articulation of the centrality of the gospel as follows: “Doctrinally, canonically and thematically, the center of the Bible is the gospel. The gospel thus dictates our understanding of every single doctrine, orients our hermeneutics and brings coherence to our grasp of the Bible storyline. Thus it is only by keeping the gospel at the center of our theology, life and ministry, we would faithfully uphold the supremacy and sufficiency of the gospel. We thus want to be as gospel-centered as the Bible is.”[1] Thus being gospel-centered affects our systematics (understanding of doctrine) and makes it thoroughly Evangelical; affects our hermeneutics (understanding of texts) and makes it thoroughly redemptive-historical in approach; and finally it affects our understanding of the biblical metanarrative (understanding of the whole story line) and makes it Christocentric.

What kind of a ministry would this result in the church? Tim Keller, very much a veteran in gospel-centered ministry expounds 1 Peter 1-2 to explain how a ministry profoundly shaped by the gospel will look like. He lists seven aspects of the gospel from this passage and then reflects on ministry implications of each of these. The seven facets of the gospel that Keller expounds from this passage are  :  Historical, Doxological, Christocentrical, Personal, Cultural, Transformational and Wonderful. For each of these, Keller has a very profound ministry application and thus lets the listener see how each of these ought to shape the ministry of a church. When the gospel shapes the ministry of a church, it is a gospel faithful ministry and as Evangelicals, the people of the Evangel, that is what we should yearn for the most in our churches.

Gospel Centered Ministry  Listen |  Download  |  Watch

Footnotes  

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[1] Jay Dharan, The Gospel and Worshipping The Lord At Any Cost, Beacon of Truth.

Tuesday Trainings : Redemptive-Historical Preaching – 1

Redemptive-historical preaching is preaching every passage of Scripture, in light of its redemptive-historical context, showing how each passage relates to the grace of God which is ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ.  In Luke 24:27, our Lord Jesus Himself employed this approach to the Scriptures, while preaching to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and showed how beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, spoke ultimately about Him. Thus according to our Lord, “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” were pointing ultimately to Him (Lk 24:44). Hence to properly interpret the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is to see every text in its redemptive-historical context.

This Christ-centered approach to preaching is much needed if one desires to see gospel-centered ministries flourish in our day and age. Despite the many objections hurled against redemptive-historical preaching, it is the approach which the New Testament itself follows in interpreting and applying texts. Redemptive-historical does not mean no application for the listener, as some have opposed, rather it is applying the text  within the bounds of the redemptive-historical, Christocentric and eschatological nature of the text.

Dr. Bryan Chapell, president of Covenant Theological Seminary, is well known for his teaching of redemptive-historical preaching. His book Christ-Centered Preaching won "Book of the Year" from Preaching Magazine and has established him as one of the most recognized teachers of homiletics. In this first part of his teaching on redemptive-historical preaching, Dr Chapell introduces the redemptive-historical approach to preaching, what it entails and how it is different from other approaches. He bases this theology of preaching directly on the New Testament. Chapell says “Jesus Himself said.. in Luke 24:27. The scene is after the resurrection. Jesus was walking with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. There we read, ‘Beginning with Moses and all the prophets he said what was in all the Scriptures concerning himself.’ For a biblical theologian, those “all’s” are all important. “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets he said what was in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Since Jesus says that all Scripture is about Him, when we try to explain a text without explaining His redeeming work, then we neglect to expound the very thing Jesus said the text reveals. That is a rather amazing hermeneutical principle. He says it is about Him. So if we are explaining the text and fail to relate it to Him, then we have failed to say the very thing He said it is about. Not to relate the text to Jesus is to fail to say what the text is about… The point is not to force the text to mention Jesus. It is to identify where the text stands in relation to Jesus. Where does the text stand in relation to what God will be accomplishing in His Son?”

In light of this understanding Chapell calls redemptive-historical preaching as Christ-centered preaching. He says,  “The term “Christ centered” is synecdoche for all of God’s redeeming work that makes us know and depend on His grace, ultimately provided in Christ. A Christ-centered sermon does not attempt to make Jesus appear where the text does not speak of Him. It rather demonstrates the relation of the text to either His person or His work or both. Thus these are also referred to as redemptive messages or grace-focused messages. Our goal in Christ-centered preaching is not to make Jesus magically or allegorically appear in every text. It is rather to demonstrate the redemptive principles evident in the text that are most fully revealed in Christ’s person or work and are necessary for our growth in Christ-likeness”. Here is the first of this four part series and it is hoped that pastors and preachers will benefit much from this outstanding and significant contribution of  Dr. Bryan Chapell to homiletics. May much gospel-centered preaching be fueled and fostered by God in our day and age.  

A Redemptive Approach to Preaching  Listen | Download  |  Read

Monday Musings : Fighting For Doctrine

It was a normal Sunday morning and the preacher was busy pounding on the pulpit, exhorting the people to persevere in their faith in God. Along with his passionate pleas, he threw the words of Paul in 2Timothy 4:7 as a proof text of what he was saying. The frequency at  which this verse was used to season the sermon was increasing as time went by and after a while the preacher just had to begin the verse, the congregation completed it. Even though the exhortation of the preacher – to persevere in faith till the end, is legitimate, the use of 2Timothy 4:7 for it is not. If we analyze the context of 2Timothy4:7, both its immediate and wider, we would see that 2Timothy 4:7 is not a message primarily for the pew, but rather to be preached to men who stand in the pulpit. 

Take a look at the wider context of this verse. 2Timothy is most probably the last epistle written by Paul and can very much be considered as his “will and testament”. However it is written to his favorite co-worker and thus contains abiding principles and exhortations for gospel ministry.  In chapter 1, Paul reminds Timothy of his calling to ministry and how he ought to suffer gladly for the gospel, by retaining the standard or pattern of sound words heard from the apostle (2Tim 1:13). Thus in chapter 1 itself, Paul is encouraging Timothy to follow the apostolic[1] faith in all its sound, doctrinal standards. Then in chapter 2, Paul  enlists a number of personal responsibilities to be a faithful workman of the gospel, all of which involves hard work  and then asks him to rightly divide the Word.(2Tim 2:15). In other words, in chapter 2, Paul is exhorting Timothy to suffer for the gospel, by laboring hard to teach the apostolic faith, interpret the scriptures diligently and live a pure life in accordance to his calling. In the third chapter, Paul moves onto warnings regarding the last days and it is one which is marked with a mere appearance of godliness and lacking any knowledge of truth. Paul again exhorts Timothy to suffer for the gospel by persevering in the apostolic faith and practice (2Tim 3:10). Paul does this by reminding him two things – 1. The example of Paul himself (2Tim 3:10-12) and 2. Timothy’s own personal experience of the power of the Scriptures (2Tim 3:14-17). Then in the last chapter, Paul exhorts Timothy to that one delightful duty to which every minister ought to give his whole being, in season and out of season, namely, the preaching of the Word (2Tim4:1-2). Thus the whole book can be seen as Paul’s final message to his dear Timothy to be a faithful gospel minister. His message can be summarized as suffering for the gospel – its purity, its protection, its perseverance and its proclamation.

It is in light of this wider context that we should approach 2 Timothy 4:7. As pointed earlier, he begins the chapter with perhaps the most serious and solemn charge in the whole of the Bible. Paul charges Timothy in the name of God and Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, to preach the Word. Pause a moment and think on this. The most serious and solemn charge, unlike no other in the Bible is given by Paul, when he gives Timothy, the responsibility to preach the Word. In our day and age, preaching has fallen on hard times, with even Evangelicals belittling the centrality and primacy of its ministry. We ought to spend more time just meditating this pressing and solemn charge of Paul in verse 1. Paul wants Timothy to approach this responsibility of preaching the Word with proper reverence and fear of God, Who will judge his ministry. It could be argued that Paul gave this solemn a charge to Timothy, as preaching the Word, in difficult times mentioned in the previous chapter, requires an appeal so solemn and serious. This is a valuable lesson for all preachers, that we should approach our ministry with God and Jesus Christ in mind, as our Judge, to whom we are accountable. Hence even if difficult times arises, a preacher of the gospel should continue in preaching the Word in all its doctrinal fullness.

Paul moves onto his reason in verse 3, as to why he wants Timothy to continue preaching the Word in season or not, knowing God to be His judge. The reason is precisely the one which he explained in chapter 3 – dangerous times. However in this verse, he explains in specific, what the problem of these times is. The apostle says very clearly that people in these times do not want sound doctrine, but they go after preachers who will tickle their ears with myths (2Tim 4:3-4). It is worthwhile for us to read the description of dangerous times in chapter 3, in light of this verse. Why do we have people who are lovers of themselves and not lovers of God? Because they do not love sound doctrine. Why do we have people who only have an appearance of godliness and not its power? Because they do not love sound doctrine. Why do we have people who are always attending meetings, but never coming to a knowledge of truth? Because they are listening to myths, no serious exposition of sound doctrinal truths. This one verse is very helpful to diagnose the myriad of problems seen in many contemporary churches which belittle sound doctrine.

In verse 5, Paul exhorts Timothy to be not swept away by what goes on in these popular circles and calls him to endure in his ministry with all soberness. In verse 6, Paul gives another reason why Timothy should take this matter of suffering for the gospel seriously, which is Paul’s time of departure is at hand. The apostle is leaving and he is depending on Timothy to take over the responsibility of guarding, heralding and instructing the gospel. In light of this impending departure, Paul joyfully cries out his triumphant boast as a servant of God in verse 7. Some seem to take these as referring to three things – fighting, racing and keeping. However it is possible that Paul was referring to the same thing, but putting it in different pictures. This is something which biblical writers often do and one which Paul used in the second chapter of this epistle too.[2] 

John Piper says, “I don’t think we should view fighting the fight and finishing the race as different from keeping the faith. They are simply pictures that Paul used to describe what is involved in keeping the faith. The reason I think this is that when Paul commanded Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12 to fight the good fight, he called it the fight of faith: “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold on eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession.” So when Paul uses the very same phrase of his own experience in 2 Timothy 4:7, followed by the phrase, “I have kept the faith,” we have good reason to believe he meant: I have fought the good fight of faith. The two pictures of a fight and a race illustrate what is involved in keeping the faith.”[3]

The valid question that needs to be asked here is, what does the word ‘faith’ mean in this verse. Does it mean one’s subjective belief or the objective body of truth? Whenever the definite article ‘the” is found before the word ‘faith’, it is usually considered to be referring to the objective body of truth. However, is that the only reason for us to consider here. What does the context teach us? John Stott says, faith here “may conceivably mean ‘I have kept faith with my Master’. But in the context of this letter, which emphasizes so strongly the importance of guarding the deposit of revealed truth, it is more likely that Paul is affirming his faithfulness in this respect. ‘I have safely preserved, as a guardian or steward, the gospel treasure committed to my trust.”[4] Moreover Paul uses the word “the faith” in this objective sense in his first epistle to Timothy also. (1Ti 3:9,4:1, 5:8, 6:10).

It is also noteworthy that the word used by Paul for “fight” (ἀγωνίζομαι) is exactly the same root word used in Jude 3, where we are exhorted to contend (ἐπαγωνίζομαι) earnestly for the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. The etymology of our English word ‘agony’ has been attributed by some to this Greek word, which means to fight, to exert oneself, labor or strive hard, to struggle or contend with an opponent.  Since we have already established the fact that, fighting the good fight, finishing the course and keeping the faith are referring to one and the same thing, we can consider this use of αγωνίζομαι by Paul here as referring to the same fight for the faith as in Jude 3. In other words, Paul is emphatically affirming his victory in the fight for the protection of the revealed body of truth, upon which the Christian faith is built.

So in light of the wider and immediate context, the structure of this verse, the words used here and elsewhere in the Bible, we can conclude that Paul is encouraging Timothy to agonizingly contend for the body of apostolic truth that has been entrusted to him and thus guard the gospel from all doctrinal perversions. Only then, would he be like Paul, glad about his death and soon to be revealed reward for his faithfulness. Thus 2 Timothy 4:7 is a call to Christians, especially those who are in ministry to follow the apostolic example of doctrinal purity (fighting the fight), fidelity (finishing the course) and integrity (keeping the faith). May God enable His men to do so and also raise up a new generation of leaders who are committed to Sola Scriptura. Amen.

Footnotes  

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[1] Through out this article, the author has used the word “apostolic” to refer to that which is apostolic in origin, either of doctrines or practices, all of which has now been inscripturated for us in the New Testament. Therefore please keep in mind that this word ‘apostolic’ does not refer to any extra-biblical notions as some extreme Charismatics mean.

[2] Paul uses the illustrations of a soldier, athlete and farmer as pictures of diligence in Christian service.

[3] John Piper, I Have Kept The Faith, December 28, 1980, Bethlehem Baptist Church.

[4] Stott, J. R. W, Guard the Gospel. The message of 2 Timothy. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter Varsity Press.

Friday Features : Reformed Theology – 11

Lecture 11, Irresistible Grace :

How is it that you who hated God so much now love him so much? What did you do to change your heart so radically? Do you remember resisting grace? Do you remember when you received it? Was it before or after you had faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation? In this message, Dr. R.C Sproul considers these questions as he examines the doctrine of “Irresistible Grace.”

Video: 

Audio : Listen