October 31, 2006
The Imputation of Christ's Righteousness
One day before J. Gresham Machen died, he sent a note to his friend John Murray saying: "I am so thankful for the active obedience of Christ; no hope without it." Yet it seems this doctrine of the imputation of Christ's active obedience (the idea that Christ's death, in addition to paying for all the sins of His people, also granted them the record of his perfect, lifelong obedience to God the Father) is continually under attack these days from within evangelical theological circles.
I am glad to announce--on Reformation Day, no less--that Dr. Brian Vickers has just published the fruit of his Ph.D. dissertation with Crossway. The book is titled Jesus' Blood and Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Imputation. Endorsers include Dr. Bruce Ware, Dr. Ligon Duncan, Dr. Robert Petersen (Covenant Theological Seminary), Dr. Michael Haykin (Toronto Baptist Seminary), and Dr. Tom Schreiner.
Excerpts can be read here.
Here are the Table of Contents:
Partial List of Abbreviations 11
Preface 13
Introduction 15
1. Tracing Trajectories: The History of Imputation 23
2. The Reckoning of Righteousness: Abraham, Faith, and Imputation 71
3. The Foundation of Righteousness: Romans 5:19 113
4. The Provision of Righteousness: 2 Corinthians 5:21 159
5. The Imputation of Christ's Righteousness: A Pauline Synthesis 191
6. Conclusion: "No Hope without It"? 233
Bibliography 239
Person Index 251
The entire book can also now be browsed or purchased.
[HT: Nick Nowalk for enthusiastic support of this book!]
Curtis Allen at Bethlehem Baptist Church
You might know that my friend Curtis Allen--known as "Voice"--was in Bethlehem Baptist Church this past weekend. Here's a great video clip of Curtis rapping "Unstoppable" during one of the weekend worship services.
October 27, 2006
Review of With One Voice
Justin Taylor posts a guest review of my book With One Voice, written by his friend and colleague, author Lydia Brownback.
More on Halloween
Motte Brown writes an articulate response to Tim Challies' thoughts on Halloween. I do think Motte is on to something when he notes that the "social etiquette" of our day ought not to limit Christians:
"Just because Challies is constricted from being neighborly every other day of the year because of "social etiquette" doesn't mean everyone is. Besides, if we all based our decisions on the etiquette of our day then we would never participate in what some would consider to be the pinnacle of rudeness -- sharing the Gospel."
In fact, my wife was just telling me last night that she planned to bring cookies to our neighbors and to invite the other stay-at-home moms to a morning tea the following week.
(HT: Tim Challies)
October 26, 2006
Vineyard church embraces female pastors
Jeff Robinson of CBMW reports.
The two-paragraph statement [from the Vineyard leadership] reads:
"In response to the message of the kingdom, the leadership of the Vineyard movement will encourage, train, and empower women at all levels of leadership both local and trans-local. The movement as a whole welcomes the participation of women in leadership in all areas of ministry.
"We also recognize and understand that some Vineyard pastors have a different understanding of the scriptures. Each local church retains the right to make its own decisions regarding ordination and appointment of senior pastors."
Here is the letter released by Vineyard's leadership.
A Primer on Indwelling Sin & Total Depravity
Here's a message from John Piper that we all need to hear.
Warning: Do not play this video until you are ready to bust a gut laughing.
(HT: Mike Busch)
October 25, 2006
Islam - Religion of Peace?
I posted on John Piper's response to the Pope's speech in Germany. That generated a few good comments. (Note that I just posted a question to William Taylor Sr.)
Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting a Muslim convert at our church. I won't say his name in case it is not appropriate. Anyway, his thinking was that, yes, if the Qur'an is properly interpreted, it does invoke violence. Matt notes that Kim Riddlebarger points to this article as evidence that Islam is not a religion of peace. Matt Wireman offers this insightful reflection:
"After traveling to the Middle East, I can say that all Muslims are not terrorists. It is foolish to think so. That would be like assuming everyone who goes to church in the United States is a Christ-follower. [But] Just because people who call themselves Christians aren’t living consistently with Christ’s teaching, does this mean we make value judgments on the religion? No. We point to the teachings [of Islam?] and show the person that he is inconsistent [with both Islam and the truth?] and he should get his knee bowed to Jesus’ lordship. How long will it take until the imams do the same with their inconsistent parishioners?" [bracketed comments mine; I'm not certain they reflect Matt's thinking.]
Update: My comments do not reflect Matt's thinking. Please see Matt's comment. Thanks for the correction Matt!
So while the religion may teach one thing, its adherents may not practice their faith in its undiluted form. Yet that does not prove Islam teaches peace. Rather, it opens a path to evangelism: a comparison of the "fundamentals" of Christianity and Islam. Along those lines, some report that Muslim conversions to Christ are highest in regions where Sharai Law is held (i.e., where, arguably, the Qur'an is taken most seriously).
October 24, 2006
A new path to theological liberalism?
Albert Mohler reviews Wayne Grudem's latest book, Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism?
I previously offered a few observations.
The Merits of Celebrating Halloween
An interesting discussion at Challies.com on the merits of utilizing Halloween as an opportunity to love one's neighbors and increase interaction with them.
October 21, 2006
Interview with Ligon Duncan
It was an honor to be interviewed by Pastor Ligon Duncan yesterday. The interview, which I previously mentioned, was a week late as I had a nasty cold last week. Unfortunately, Dr. Derek Thomas was unable to join us as he was in San Diego preparing to preach at another church.
By way of reminder, in case you are interested, my interview with Ligon Duncan will be aired on a radio program called First Things. Here's some information on the program:
First Things. 9:00 am - 9:30 am Sunday. First Things is the weekly radio program carried live on Jackson radio station WJNT News/Talk 1180 AM. Format consists of interviews, devotional messages and panel discussion of contemporary social and theological subjects. You will need Real Audio to listen, which may be downloaded from the WJNT web site.
An audio archive of a number of these interviews with folks like Gene Veith, Mark Noll, and Sinclair Ferguson is retained here, by the leadership of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi, at which Ligon Duncan serves as Senior Minister.
October 19, 2006
Logos Bible software
If you are a seminary student looking at Bible software, Tim Challies provides a thorough and positive review of the Logos/Libronix system, which I've been using for over a year now.
October 16, 2006
Marriage Households in the Minority?
Yes, according to a recent N.Y. Times story. Highlights:
The American Community Survey, released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau, indicated that 49.7 percent, or 55.2 million, of the nation's 111.1 million households last year were made up of married couples, just shy of a majority and down from more than 52 percent five years earlier.
The author suggests that while "the total number of married couples is higher than ever, and most Americans eventually marry, increasing numbers of adults are spending more of their lives single or living unmarried with partners, and the potential social and economic implications are profound."
(HT: Steve Watters)
Update: Michael Medved calls the NY Times report "just another lie." Albert Mohler weighs in with a strong reaction as well. His conclusion:
"These statistics can be very misleading -- and some will attempt to present a misleading picture. Marriage is not falling out of favor. It has been weakened by social trends and divorce, but one big reason that fewer households are reported as married couples is longevity. Put simply, the fact that people live longer means that more persons will spend more years as a widow or widower. This is not due to any weakening of the marriage bond. This trend will be even more significant as the Baby Boomers reach senior adult years.
We should be honest about the challenges now faced in a culture that has progressively weakened marriage over the past four decades. These factors represent very real challenges. But the idea that marriage is falling out of favor with the American people is just not sustained by the data. By common grace, social tradition, and human intuition, most adults find their way into marriage. That ought to tell us something."
I should have pointed this out earlier: Some of the media reports that are covering the decline of marriage have a specific agenda of promoting the "normality" of cohabitation and/or same-sex domestic partner living arrangements. This leads them to, in a sense, claim victory by presenting data in a distorted fashion. In this study, for example, they counted households, not individuals. To quote Medved:
"To get some sense of the difference [between households and individuals], imagine a block on a suburban cul de sac that includes six homes. Three of them are occupied by married couples; the other three are in inhabited by an elderly widow, living alone; a struggling single mom with her kids, and a swinging bachelor with a succession of glamorous dates. In other words, there are a total of six households on “Wisteria Court” and, like the national figures, only half of them feature married couples. But of the nine adults (total) who reside on this block, two thirds are currently married."
So while it is true that people are marrying later (and sometimes for poor reasons), most still marry (85%) and many others look forward to doing so. So the sky isn't falling!
How Important is a Parental Blessing?
One of the most reoccurring questions in college ministry is the issue of a Christian's obligations to one's parents. When does, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right" (Eph. 6:1) come to an end? After all, most thirty year-olds don't call their folks to check when curfew is. And what is the difference between children obeying (vs. 1) and "honoring" (Eph. 6:2), which the text implies is a life-long duty (“that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land").
Things are more cut and dry in high school, when teenagers are under their parents' roof. But college seems like an in-between phase in many ways. Students have differing levels of financial independence from their parents. Some are totally paying their own way. Others are living at home all-year to save money. Still others live where they want, and mom-and-dad pick up the tuition and rent tab.
The issue can be particularly excruciating when it comes to seeking parental blessings to marry a boyfriend/girlfriend. Candice Watters does a great job tackling the issue of unresolved differences between a twenty-year old college student, who is apparently paying all her own bills, and her parents, who refuse to bless her desire to marry a boyfriend of two years until graduation.
October 12, 2006
Free Audio Messages by D.A. Carson
My friend Nick Nowalk sent me this great link to a list of free D.A. Carson audio messages.
October 10, 2006
Paper on Biblical Eldership
I previously blogged about the eldership seminar that Pastor John Piper conducted. The apprentices were asked to write a 2-3 page response paper to the seminar and to our reading of Alex Strauch's book, Biblical Eldership.
In case you are interested, I am posting my paper.
What Makes Humans Different?
Time Magazine recently posed this question in a cover story dealing with DNA and genomic similarities between apes and humans. I was reminded of the Time article when reading an insightful post from Chuck Colson that dealt with the question of "Why music?" Excerpt:
A worldview that insists that we are merely animals must be able to explain those traits that most set us apart from animals in terms that are consistent with that materialistic worldview. That leaves us with Stone Age groupies and “kumbaya” as preparation for hunting mammoths. What nonsense!
Truth is, these “explanations” are the best you can do if you will not entertain the possibility that the imago Dei, the image of God implanted in humans, is what makes us distinct from animals and makes us capable of appreciating truth, beauty, and goodness. It’s what gave Bach his creative genius for us to appreciate.
October 08, 2006
Evangelical Feminism and Liberalism (again)
Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? by Wayne Grudem is "an expression of deep concern about a widespread undermining of the authority of Scripture in the arguments that are frequently used to support evangelical feminism. And it is also a way of posing a question: can a movement that espouses this many ways of undermining the authority of Scripture possibly be right?" (from the Preface)
Chapter 2 does a good job showing that denominations which move away from a position of biblical inerrancy seem to also embrace the ordination of women. Grudem names a few denominations, such as the United Methodist Church, the United Presbyterian Church (which is now the PC-USA), and the Episcopal Church, who are following a predictable sequence (though only the Episcopal Church has reached point #7):
1. Abandoning biblical inerrancy.
2. Endorsing the ordination of women.
3. Abandoning the Bible's teaching on male headship in marriage.
4. Excluding clergy who are opposed to women's ordination.
5. Approving homosexual conduct as morally valid in some cases.
6. Approving homosexual ordination.
7. Ordaining homosexuals to high leadership positions in the denomination.
Several ways to read this material:
1. On pp. 35-84 is an article from the Spring 2004 issue of the Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, whose content was later adapted and expanded into the recent book.
2. Looks like the entire book can be browsed at Crossway's website.
3. It can be purchased for only $7.99!
Some of the blurbs:
"Biblical authority is at stake in the debate between complementarianism and egalitarianism--because if you can get egalitarianism from the Bible, you can get anything from the Bible. The weight of Grudem's cumulative argument is considerable, and cannot easily be dismissed."
- J. Ligon Duncan III, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi
Adjunct Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary
"The egalitarian ideology is one of the most significant theological challenges in our time. Wayne Grudem presents a careful and systematic study of the cause and ramifications of this shift. In his persistent and gentle tone, Grudem challenges egalitarian thinking. While authors and scholars sympathetic to egalitarianism may be loath to consider they may in fact be wrong, Grudem pleads with his readers to reconsider their position."
--Michael Easley, President, Moody Bible Institute
October 07, 2006
Joe Carter on The Party of Death
Joe Carter gives a strong positive review to The Party of Death by Ramesh Ponnuru. An excerpt:
If human beings have an intrinsic dignity and worth, then they have this dignity and worth simply because they are human beings. It follows that all human beings have this dignity and worth. They are equal in the fundamental rights that attach to being human.
In contrast, the “party of death” has created the concept of “human non-persons” in order to justify the taking of innocent human life. They believe that human organisms have basic rights because of certain qualities they possess, such as the capacity for abstract mental functioning. But by basing dignity on such qualitative conditions it becomes impossible to explain why people who have more of a quality (i.e., artists, geniuses) should not be regarded as having more worth. As Ponnuru notes, “The notion that all human beings are created equal becomes a self-evident lie.”
Mark Dever speaks at J.I. Packer's 80th Birthday
Mark Dever was one of the speakers at the recent Beeson Divinity School conference entitled "J. I. Packer and the Evangelical Future." The conference took place on the occasion of J.I. Packer's 80th Birthday. As reported by Ligon Duncan, Dever "bravely and kindly expressed his concerns about Packer's endorsement of ECT [Evangelicals and Catholics Together], and gave the best presentation on Packer, justification and ECT that I've ever read." Apparently, there is a conference book forthcoming which will contain Dever's address.
Also present at the conference were Chuck Colson, Bruce Hindmarsh, Edith Humphrey, Richard John Neuhaus, James Earl Massey, and Beeson's own Timothy George. John Wilson of Christianity Today provides this report of the event.
October 05, 2006
Speaker Panels at DG Conference
Pastor Paul Martin (pastor of some guy named Tim Challies....ever heard of him?) did a great job live blogging the speaker panels.
Thabiti M. Anyabwile
Thabiti M. Anyabwile is the senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. I had the pleasure of listening to his testimony a few weeks ago. The content was engaging and its delivery Christ-centered. I'm delighted that Focus on the Family's Boundless.org ministry has now published his testimony.
Also, Pastor Thabiti is the Pastoral speaker at the 2007 Desiring God Pastors Conference (February 5-7, 2007).
Upcoming Interview with Ligon Duncan and Derek Thomas
Next Friday (Oct. 13) I will have the pleasure of being interviewed by Lig Duncan and Derek Thomas. We will be discussing issues related to With One Voice and the pro-marriage article I wrote for boundless.org.
The interview will be aired on a radio program called First Things. Here's some information on the program:
First Things. 9:00 am - 9:30 am Sunday. First Things is the weekly radio program carried live on Jackson radio station WJNT News/Talk 1180 AM. Format consists of interviews, devotional messagesand panel discussion of contemporary social and theological subjects. You will need Real Audio to listen, which may be downloaded from the WJNT web site.
An audio archive of a number of these interviews with folks like Gene Veith, Mark Noll, and Sinclair Ferguson is retained here, by the leadership of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi, at which Ligon Duncan serves as Senior Minister.
October 03, 2006
Picture of Human Depravity
One consequence of the Fall is that people do things when nobody is looking that display a profound degree of lawlessness. We've seen a number of random killings in schools recently (girls are still dying in the recent Amish shooting). Of course, this is a picture of human depravity. It seems molestation was an aim.
But I was struck by a perhaps more graphic manifestation of man's depravity in watching a portion of 60 Minutes this past Sunday. There is supposedly a national trend of high school boys going out and violently beating homeless men. One gentleman in the story makes the observation that one possible motive is that these high school boys are less powerful than almost everyone else in the culture, yet they are more powerful than homeless men. So they exert that power in a most horrific fashion. Disgustingly, these beatings seem inspired by a commercially available DVD called "BumFights" (which has sold over 300,000 copies) in which a rookie producer induced homeless men to do dangerous and foolish things in exchange for money and alcohol. The producer is now being sued.
Sin is deceptive and irrational, and sin begets increasingly severe sins. Thank God for saving grace that gave us a new heart and caused us to fly to Christ for salvation, having realized that all our wicked thoughts and deeds are laid bare before Him to whom we must give account.
"That phrase [total depravity] is a bit misleading, because it suggests that everybody is as bad as he could be. That's not true. As we have seen, some sins are worse than others, and not everybody chooses the worst sins. God keeps people from doing that. But it is important to recognize that depravity, sinfulness, extends to all areas of our lives. It includes our best deeds, even those that seem to conform to the law. It extends to our thinking, our understanding, so that we don't even understand the things of God correctly." - John Frame on total depravity in Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology
Looking back on the Desiring God Conference
I really enjoyed and was blessed by the Desiring God National Conference. Hosting Mark Driscoll was fun. We had a good time chatting about the 10 year anniversary of Mars Hill Church, his upcoming writing projects (Death by Love, and an essay in a multiviews book on the Trinity, the atonement, and one other big topic....the multiviews book is ready to go, and it comes out in January), and general church/culture stuff. The funniest moment came about 30 minutes before the Friday evening Q&A session when he asked me to please run and get him a couple cans of Red Bull. To accomplish this in a timely manner, I said "excuse me" a number of times to work my way through the crowd to get out of the Auditorium (of course, we were sitting at the front), then I jogged all the way to the nearest hotel through the indoor tunnel system, ordered the Red Bull at a bar (where else would Mark have got it?), and ran all the way back. 10 minutes, round trip. Mark expressed gratitude, noting that "with this and the Holy Spirit, I'll be good to go." And he was.
All the messages from this weekend are now online.
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