Thursday Theology : Love of God

There have been times when Christians found it easy to believe in the justice of God, but found it difficult to believe in the love of God. In most of the Western world, this is no longer the case. If people believe in God at all, they assume he is a God of love, but often presuppose largely sentimental conceptions of love, with little space for holiness, justice, or wrath. Moreover, believers have often embraced only one of the several ways the Bible speaks of the love of God, and read that one pattern into every biblical text that speaks of God's love, unwittingly producing some astonishingly nonsensical theology. This workshop by renowned New Testament scholar D.A Carson, attempts to explore some of the different ways the Bible speaks of the love of God, how they function, how they are integrated, and how they are related to all of the perfections of the God of the Bible.

OUTLINE

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Introduction

(1) Some ways in which the Bible speaks of God's love:

     (a) God's intra-Trinitarian love

     (b) God's providential love

     (c) God's yearning, inviting, love

     (d) God's electing love

     (e) God's covenantal, conditional, love

(2) Some theological implications

(3) Some ethical implications for Christians

Conclusion

The Love of God    Listen  |  Download

The Heart of The Gospel

One doctrine that may rightly be called the heart of the gospel, so much so that if a church has it, it has the gospel and if a church loses it, it does not have the gospel, is but the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone.  Luther called it the "doctrine by which the church stands or falls"[1].  If that is true, then we have to lament over the fact that today, vast majority of Evangelical churches have fallen. For there is no deep and proper grasp of this fundamental and foundational doctrine either in the pulpit or the pew.  As a result of this horrendous condition, many a professing Christian is caught up in a performance driven Christian life. They claim to have peace and joy when they keep all the religious rules their denomination has taught them.  Or be drowning in gloom and doom, if they fail to keep up with it. On the one hand, they claim to live by faith in Christ and yet on the other hand, live like pagans trusting in their own works.

What is often forgotten by these legalistic Christians is, that no matter how sanctified one be, the righteousness one has, be it the Spirit-wrought righteousness, is not a perfect righteousness, that would give us the liberty to do away with the perfect righteousness of Christ. Unless one has some unbiblical notions of becoming perfectly sanctified while on earth, our righteousness, even the Spirit-wrought one, is never perfect and only progressing to be perfect. Hence all through our Christian life, we need to base our acceptance before God simply on the basis of Christ alone. Remember a legalist is not merely someone who is going around condemning people with erroneous understanding of the law, rather a legalist is anyone who trusts in his own obedience and not in the obedience of Christ for us. His death as our pardon and His life as our perfection is the exclusive and firm gospel-foundation, on which one needs to live the Christian life. It is quite grievous that most churches these days do not teach anything about this liberating and gracious goodness of the good news. They are all so caught up in heralding one imperative after another. 

D.A Carson, research professor of the New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, expounds Galatians 2:11-21 and unpacks in a very gripping manner this truth of justification in Christ alone. After his exegesis, he then moves onto real practical aspects of what it means to believe in our acceptance and standing before God on the basis of Another's Perfect Righteousness. It is quite alarming that this truth about Christ's imputed righteousness alone being our Perfection before God is not carefully studied or appreciated by today's pastors. Thus churches are full of people who are struggling to please God with their own works. Moreover these pastors who are ignorant of the gospel are rather preaching only rules, regulations, imperatives and obligations.  The role of the gospel in motivating us to good works is merely assumed or sometimes even forgotten. Thus the church is lost in this ocean of legalism, forgetting the gospel truth that our standing before God is not based on our righteousness. As John Piper said,  "our good works is never the root but the fruit of our justification."[2] 

Carson's exposition is rich with exegetical insights and theological precision. His  deep knowledge of the original languages and years of experience in exegesis in these languages, makes his sermon exegetically sound and sensitive. May this sermon awaken the hearts and minds of Christians who are lost in a paganistic understanding of living their Christian life. For as Carson says, “We are justified because 'Christ loved me and gave His life for me.' And everything else is paganism”. [3]

An Apostolic Disputation – and Justification  Listen | Download

Footnotes  

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[1]  Traditionally attributed to have been said by Luther, though many modern scholars do not agree with this. However it could very well be a derivative of Luther’s writings on justification, like the one quoted here from his introduction to Galatians,

In this epistle, therefore, Paul is concerned to instruct, comfort, and sustain us diligently in a perfect knowledge of this most excellent and Christian righteousness. For if the doctrine of justification is lost, the whole of Christian doctrine is lost. And those in the world who do not teach it are either Jews or Turks or papists or sectarians. For between these two kinds of righteousness, the active righteousness of the Law and the passive righteousness of Christ, there is no middle ground. Therefore he who has strayed away from this Christian righteousness will necessarily relapse into the active righteousness; that is, when he has lost Christ, he must fall into a trust in his own works. (Martin Luther, Luther’s Works – Volume 26: Lectures On Galatians 1535, trans. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 9.)

[2] John Piper, Did Jesus preach the gospel of Paul, T4G 2010.

[3] D.A Carson,  An Apostolic Disputation – and Justification, Clarus 2008

Biblical Exegesis

R.C. Sproul interviews D.A. Carson on Biblical Exegesis.

An Exegetical Response to D.A Carson

Theoblogy highly recommends D.A Carson, for he is a fine exegete, scholar and preacher. He is Reformed, Baptistic and above all very passionate about being gospel-centered in all things. God be praised for gifting the church with such a blessed leader.

However Carson’s exegesis of Matthew 5:17-48 is considered by many as undermining the traditional Reformed view of the passage, and then the fact that most New Covenant Theologians appeal to Carson’s exegesis as the exegetical basis for their teachings have made things only worse. 

It is important to note here that Carson does not belong to the NCT camp.  Two aspects of Carson as an exegete may tempt his listeners to think he is promoting NCT. They are :

1. When it comes to exegetical discussions, Carson is critical of using the tripartite division of the Law as Moral, Civil and Ceremonial, as a textually warranted division.

This however does not mean he does not believe in this classification. He rather wants to consider the historic development of this thought and calls it as rightly developed by Thomas Aquinas. In his lecture on the OT use in NT, he does say that the classification of Law like this and especially the category of Moral Law, is an important one and to be considered, especially in discussions after we have done our exegesis. He says, ‘that part of revelation of God which undergoes minimum change over the plain of redemptive history can be a posteriori defined as Moral Law.' Carson is however hesitant to consider moral law as an a priori category in his exegetical discussions.

2. His exegesis of "fulfillment" language in Matthew 5:17-48

When it comes to understanding the word “fulfill” (πληρόω, plēroō), Carson makes a case in showing that Jesus is speaking of Him being the eschatological fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Carson feels that the reading of Scripture in classic Reformed exegesis, where you see the command to not hate embedded in the command to not murder is a bit flat. He rather opts for a prophetical overshadowing of the teachings of Christ, where the command to not murder did envision an eschatological abolition of hatred too.

Now the noteworthy thing is, Carson himself admits that in terms of moral and ethical consequences, there is little difference between the two readings. In other words he is not denying the use of moral law for Christians. He does not do that. He rather feels he is making some cases for a more textually faithful reading of scriptures within the framework of redemptive historical trajectory model. Unlike an NCT guy, Carson does not criticize the use of Decalogue for the Christian or promote any Law-of-Christ alone for Christians.

In spite of these reasons, Carson’s exegesis of Matthew 5 is still the intellectual and exegetical foundation for the NCT movement. This alarming reality calls for a response from exegetes who favor the traditional Reformed view.

Dr. Greg Welty, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has written a very thorough and fair response to Carson, where he shows how Carson’s exegesis can only be considered as a “conceptual innovation”, and thus defends the classic Reformed exegesis of the passage. After critiquing Carson, Welty closes by providing a positive account of Mt 5:17-48 which both incorporates one of Carson’s key insights from v. 17, and yet retains the traditionally Reformed interpretation of the antitheses.  He argues that it is precisely because Jesus is the eschatological fulfillment of the law and the prophets, that we would expect Him to confirm the Mosaic laws He treats in the antitheses, and to defend such laws from Pharisaic distortion and misinterpretation. The paper has an Appendix which then addresses the slightly different view of NCT exegete Fred Zaspel, in light of the preceding discussion.

Eschatological Fulfillment and the Confirmation of Mosaic Law  Read

What Is the Gospel?

D.A Carson’s contribution to  For the Fame of God’s Name : Essays in Honor of John Piper is a must read essay entitled, “What Is the Gospel?—Revisited”. Carson emphatically defines the gospel as that which God has done for us in Christ Jesus and nothing else.  He says,

The heart of the gospel is what God has done in Jesus, supremely in his death and resurrection. Period. It is not personal testimony about our repentance; it is not a few words about our faith response; it is not obedience; it is not the cultural mandate or any other mandate. Repentance, faith, and obedience are of course essential, and must be rightly related in the light of Scripture, but they are not the good news. The gospel is the good news about what God has done. Because of what God has done in Christ Jesus, the gospel necessarily includes the good that has been secured by Christ and his cross work. Thus it has a present and an eschatological dimension. We announce the gospel. [1]

Read the table of contents of this book, and Carson’s essay here:

Or download the free, 32-page PDF here.

Footnotes

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[1] D.A Carson,  For the Fame of God’s Name  (Crossway, 2010)  pg 162

Remembering Roger Nicole

Renowned Reformed theologian Roger Nicole went to be with the Lord last Friday. He was 95 years old. Theoblogy pointed its readers to his study on the atonement just a week earlier his demise. The Evangelical church has truly lost one of its finest heroes. In this post, Theoblogy wants to point its readers to some of the best tributes Reformed Christians have written in memory of Dr. Nicole.

Justin Taylor has written a very good obituary, where he notes the significant works of Dr.Nicole and gives an overall picture of his life. In this eulogy, Taylor also gives a lot of details on various resources of Dr. Nicole that are available online and in print.

Roger Nicole (1915-2010) by Justin Taylor  | Read

In a short blog post, R.C Sproul reflects upon some of his personal experiences with Dr. Nicole. Sproul calls Nicole “one of the greatest titans of Christian faith” who for him was also “one of the legendary voices for the Reformed faith in the past century”.

Roger Nicole (1915–2010) — A Reflection from R.C. Sproul | Read

Colin Hansen has got the reactions of D.A Carson, Tim Keller and Mark Dever on Dr. Nicole’s death. Keller and Dever are also former students of Dr. Nicole. All three affirms his faithful service and profound scholarship.

Carson, Keller, and Dever Remember Roger Nicole by Colin Hansen | Read

Preaching Psalms - 2

Psalm 2

In this second sermon from the Preaching Psalm series, Don Carson focuses his attention on the second Psalm. He aims to “understand the psalm, its flow before reflecting upon it and understanding how its picked up in the New Testament and how it applies to us.” In keeping with this aim, he begins with straightforward exegesis of the Psalm. After that he moves on to making some theological reflections, the most noteworthy being the use of this Psalm in the New Testament. He focuses his entire attention on the use of Psalm 2:7 in the New Testament and tries to make sense of the apostolic hermeneutics.  If you have a special interest in the study of the use of Old Testament in New Testament, then this is a recommended resource for you. Even otherwise, all Bible loving Christians will find the insights drawn by Dr. Carson very profitable.

Link :  Psalm 2

OUTLINE

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-       Preface

-       1. Kings rebel (v1-3)

o    Explanation of Messiah

o    The transcendental realm of rebelling against the Lord’s anointed King.

-       2. God laughs (v4-6)

o    The folly of rebelling against God

o    The moral anarchy of rebelling against the Providential reigning Monarch, the ultimate Judge.

o    God rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath.

o    Location of this anointed King makes it clear that it is a Davidic King.

-       3. God decrees (v7-9)

o    The change of speaker from God to the Davidic King in the psalm

o    The use of Sonship language.

(i)     Recognizing it as a functional category

(ii)    Illustration of God’s covenant people called Son in Exodus

(iii)   More narrowly how the King when he is enthroned is called the Son of God

(iv)  Accession to the Davidic throne and being called the Son of God

o    How this promised conquering Davidic King cannot be David or Solomon or any historical King

-       4. Kings are warned (v.10-12)

o    Warning to kings to recognize that it is the Lord is who is reigning and not to rebel.

o    The inclusion between Psalm 1 and Psalm 2

(i)     Dividing the righteous from the unrighteous

(ii)    Establishing the Kingship of God mediated through a Davidic King

-       Reflections

-       1. We must see that this theme of God being a King, indeed a warrior King is a major Old Testament theme.

-       2. How this Psalm is used in the New Testament

o    It is first quoted in Acts 4, when the church is persecuted.

(i)     The church saw persecution as a fulfillment of this Psalm

(ii)    Persecution of God’s people is a mark of rebellion against God and His Messiah

o    Psalm 2:7 in New Testament

(i)     Hebrews 1:5

a)     The argument is Psalm 2:7 proves Jesus is superior to angels.

(ii)    Hebrews 5 :5

a)     The argument is Psalm 2:7 proves Jesus does not take on the priesthood of Himself, but God appoints Him.

(iii)    Acts 13:32

a)     The argument is Psalm 2:7 proves that Jesus must be raised from the dead.

o    On the face of it, Psalm 2:7 does not seem to be saying any of the above.

o    Making sense of the apostolic logic in quoting Psalm 2:7

(i)     2 Samuel 7- promise of an enduring Davidic dynasty

(ii)    Isaiah 9, Ezekiel 34- gradually there is built up in Old Testament trajectories, an anticipation of an enduring, eternal Davidic King that outstrips all possible notions of an earthly kingship.

(iii)   At what point does Jesus become King in the New Testament –

a)     There is a centrality to His coming to the throne that is bound up with his death and resurrection.

b)    When He thus becomes the Davidic King, by virtue of His resurrection, He also becomes the great High Priest

c)     He then also shows Himself to be the uniquely authoritative One, far above all other voices in heaven or on earth, above the angels or in the realm of necromancies;  above the earth or below the earth, it makes no difference He alone is Sovereign.

(iv)  Seeing what the author of Hebrews saw

(v)   Noting that there is no simple proof texting logic, yet in seed form it is all there in Psalm 2 – God’s appointment, God’s anointed, God’s Messiah for us.

-       3. Our place in this warrior King’s reign

o    We too are involved in a war

o    Bound up with this Davidic King who under the authority of His Heavenly Father is appointed to go forth to war until all enemies are crushed including death itself

o    We are in the same struggle today

Preaching Psalms - 1

Psalm 1

During his recent ministry in Australia, D.A Carson gave a series of sermons on preaching from the psalms. He took five psalms and worked out through them. In the first one, he begins at the beginning of the Psalter and works through Psalm 1. In his own words, he is trying to "Work through the psalm and then think about the psalm in the larger canonical framework." So he begins by working through each of the verses in straight forward exegesis. He makes some theological reflections along the way. Once he is done with that, he does what we normally do not hear when someone works through Psalm 1. He asks some penetrating questions regarding  the polarities found in this psalm and  our sin stained reality. Based on it, he then works out a way to put this psalm in the larger canon and thus gives answers to the problems we face in putting the two together, namely, passages on moral absolutes and narratives of admitted moral ambiguity. This thus leads us ultimately to our only hope - the cross. Carson thus gives us a model for preaching this psalm faithfully, without tending ourselves to any particular polarity found in the canon, but holding both the standard and the grace of God in equal tension as found in Scripture. It is thus an excellent resource for all pastors and preachers.

 

Link : Psalm 1

OUTLINE:

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Psalm 1

-       Introduction

-       The righteous person (v1-3)

1.     Described negatively (v.1)

o    What the righteous person is not

o    The progression from receiving counsel to scoffing

2.     Described positively (v.2)

o    What the righteous person is

o    Intentional break from the expected antithesis but one simple antithesis suffices

o    Reflection on how one’s delight in the Word affects who one is.

3.     Described metaphorically (v.3)

o    Explanation of the imagery used.

o    “He prospers” does not refer to the prosperity gospel but rather is working things out in the world of the metaphor.

o     Making note of the same metaphor found else where in the canon

-       The unrighteous person (v4-5)

-       Strong negation of everything said so far regarding the righteous. (v.4a)

-       They are instead like the chaff :

o    Lifeless

o    Rootless

o    Fruitless

o    Insignificant

o    Not enduring

o    Useless

-       Unpacking of the metaphor (v.5)

-       Summarizing contrast (v.6)

o    Antithesis between the way of the righteous and the way of the unrighteous

o    Note of this polarity at the beginning of the Psalter.

-       Working out the psalm in the larger canonical framework

o    Figuring out this type of antithetical ways of thinking when we are such mixed bags.

o    Theological reflections that place this psalm in the canon of Scripture, to preach it faithfully :

(i)     Recognizing how our culture is biased and how that inclines us to read Scripture in a particular way.

(ii)    Recognizing that part of the contrast between different parts of Scripture is grounded in literary genre.

(iii)   Recognizing that the preacher in New Testament who is most powerfully given to Wisdom polarities is the Lord Jesus Christ.

o    How to put the two together, namely, passages on moral absolutes and narratives of admitted moral ambiguity :

(i)     The need for both these in the canon for our theology and experience

(ii)    An Illustration from I John where these two powerfully come together.

(iii)   The ultimate hope being found in the cross alone.