Concerning Spiritual Gifts and Cessationism

Both of these men (Doug Wilson and Mark Driscoll) have been subject to much attack in recent exchanges on the internet. I am well aware of that and don’t wish to rehash those issues here. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see such an interesting and intelligent discussion take place between the two, which I thought could perhaps be helpful to many who might listen in on their conversation. Doug Wilson is asking the questions and Mark Driscoll is answering.

Doug Wilson Interviews Mark Driscoll | Part II – Spiritual Gifts & Cessationism from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

Miscellaneous Quotes (25)

“He that hath slight thoughts of sin never had great thoughts of God.” – John Owen

“We know but little of true Christianity, if we do not feel a deep concern about the souls of unconverted people.” – J.C. Ryle

“When a Christian is weak, and can hardly pray for himself, Jesus Christ is praying for him; and he prays for three things.

First, that the saints may be kept from sin (John 17:15). “I pray that thou shouldest keep them from evil.” We live in the world as in a pest-house; Christ prays that his saints may not be infected with the contagious evil of the times.

Second, for his people’s progress in holiness. “Sanctify them” (John 17:17). Let them have constant supplies of the Spirit, and be anointed with fresh oil.

Third, for their glorification: “Father, I will that those which thou hast given me, be with me where I am” (John 17:24). Christ is not content till the saints are in his arms. This prayer, which he made on earth, is the copy and pattern of his prayer in heaven. What a comfort is this; when Satan is tempting, Christ is praying! This works for good.” – Thomas Watson: All Things for Good, 1663, (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2008), 23

“If you feel that you are empty, if you feel you are nothing, if you feel you are poor and wretched and blind, if you hate your inclination to sin and have any suspicion of a feeling of self-loathing and hatred, you can take it from me that you have eternal life, for no one ever experiences such things until the life of God comes into his or her soul.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“If, however, you feel and are inclined to think you have made it, flattering yourself with your own little books, teaching, or writing, because you have done it beautifully and preached excellently; if you are highly pleased when someone praises you in the presence of others; if you perhaps look for praise, and would sulk or quit what you are doing if you did not get it—if you are of that stripe, dear friend, then take yourself by the ears, and if you do this in the right way you will find a beautiful pair of big, long, shaggy donkey ears.

Then do not spare any expense! Decorate them with golden bells, so that people will be able to hear you wherever you go, point their fingers at you, and say, “See, see! There goes that clever beast, who can write such exquisite books and preach so remarkably well.” That very moment you will be blessed and blessed beyond measure in the kingdom of heaven. Yes, in that heaven where hellfire is ready for the devil and his angels.” – Martin Luther, LW 34:287-288.

“Whatever works we perform are the results of our justification and in no way the grounds of it or the cause of it.” – R.C. Sproul

“Let God have your life; he can do more with it than you can.” – D.L. Moody

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” – C.S. Lewis

“The article of justification must be sounded in our ears incessantly because the frailty of our flesh will not permit us to take hold of it perfectly and to believe it with all our heart.” – Martin Luther

“Even the best things we do have something in them to be pardoned.” – J.C. Ryle

“There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.” – Mark Twain

“The specter of death haunts the symphony of life like a cello. The trumpet, however, herald of the King, will triumph in the end.” – R. C. Sproul, Jr

“No man ever fell into error through being too watchful.” – Charles Spurgeon

“If we could only see our souls as the ten afflicted lepers saw their bodies, we would pray far better than we do.” — J.C. Ryle
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No… don’t do it!

Wanting to relax last night by watching a good clean, “This classic children’s tale tells the story of a young farmer’s son who inherits a strange talking cat with magical boots. With his cunning wit, Puss helps him win the heart of the Princess while battling devious suitors that are after the throne. Please note: This is NOT the same version as the Antonio Banderas film coming to theaters in November. Rated G by the Motion Picture Association of America.”

But do most people read all that? When others might be standing behind them at the redbox, patiently waiting in line to rent, and with many other movies to look at to see if there might be something worthwhile to watch – does everyone read through to the end to see that it is NOT the version they think it is? I dont think so.

So a few of us sat down to start watching the DVD… well, I usually don’t review movies here, but I feel I need to make an exception in this case. For the mental health and welfare of humanity I must speak up and make the following heartfelt and sincere plea – DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES RENT THIS MOVIE. There is nothing redeemable about it.. nothing good I can say about it. It is BAD! VERY BAD! Actually, it was a lot worse than that!

I went to the redbox website to issue a complaint and soon realised that I did not need to. After reading this random selection of comments below, I think you might agree that others have made their feelings known pretty well:
This movie is hideous. My kids hate me now.

WORST MOVIE EVER!!! Watched 5 mins and had to turn it off. My fault for not reading the info and thinking it was the Puss from Shrek. Regardless, it was not even entertaining – William Shatner’s voice for Puss was horrible – sounded like a dying cat. NOT worth the $1.08 – DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!

This is so bad I kept it two nights to spare anybody else the trauma of renting it. Bad, bad,bad! No stars.

I just learned a lesson. Always read the reviews before renting. I assumed the voice of the cat would be the same as it was on shrek. I was wrong. William Shatner murdered the voice of the cat. This movie wasn’t worth the dvd it was put on. Not worth the half star I gave it.

I can’t believe William Shatner was part of this scam. Many like me thought this was the Puss in Boots from Shriek and I let my kids watch. My daughter said it was horrible. Shame on you William Shatner, shame on you.

Biggest movie-renting mistake of our lives! Right up there with Daniel the Dolphin. We also made the mistake of not reading the details – assumed this movie was related to Shrek. Wow, we got duped. We all need therapy after that horrible experience. 0 stars should be a rating option for this one.

William Shatner should be ashamed of himself. He should never be allowed near a movie again!!!! The voice of the cat was the most annoying I have ever heard. He suckered us into believing this was the same Puss n Boots as the one from Shreck. WRONG!!!! This movie deserves a minus 10 stars!!!

This movie was AWFUL!! NOT for little ones. I thought it was Puss from Shrek, as well. It’s NOT. Very dark characters. I don’t believe that this movie should be rated G, too scary looking

Always, always, always read the reviews first!

This movie was horrible! I can’t believe I actually wasted a dollar on this moive. This movie is not kid appropriate in anyway. Shame on me for not paying better attention to the reviews. I tried to think it would get better but it just got painfully worse. My daughter lost interest in a minute.

WORST MOVIE EVER!!! I wish I had read the reviews. This is not the Shrek character. Horrible, horrible voice work by Captain Kirk. Oh God Make it STOP! I had to leave the room, kids got up a few minutes later and said, “hey dad, this is a bad movie”. DO NOT RENT!!!!

I dont usually write reviews, but I had to take the time to warn people about this one! DO NOT RENT…THIS IS NOT THE SHREK CAT! It is absolutely awful. My children say “This is weird”? BE WARNED-DO NOT RENT!

“Disturbing” is the word my children used while watching this “knock off” to the real Puss ‘N Boots Movie. Shame on me, I should have known the real movie was not released yet. Save your dollar, it is not even worth that. The music is creepy and will scare little children, beware.

This creepy movie made my hard to scare 5 year old cry! It’s a very poorly done movie with bad characters. First review I’ve ever wrote I disliked this so much. Really wish I would have read sooner that it wasn’t the dreamworks version, misleading.

We set up a slumber party sleepover and chose this movie – awful! We watched about 10 minutes of it and turned it off to watch normal tv. Not worth a penny!

Super stinky movie. They trick you by making you think this is the Dreamworks version. This cat’s voice is the most annoying thing ever… the animation is horrendous.. very low budget. My six year old asked us to turn it off and watch another movie.

Um… I got scammed out of a dollar! I thought this was the Shrek version. I wish I could give this movie negative stars. Didn’t even get through the first five minutes.

Weird, weird weird, my kids were super bored. Looks more like an animation experiment than a movie.

this is what they would use to torment captured terrorist with to make them talk. this is the lowest rating they would let me give but i would give it negative 10 stars if i could

What a joke! Truly an unwatchable film. Shatners completely creepy cat voice ruined the movie from the get go, however, character after character added to the movies unbelivable creepyness! Worst movie ever! Nothing cute, sweet or enjoyable at all,,,,,not one moment!

Awful… could not watch more than 15 mins.. my 10 year old begged me to turn it off… Poor Captain Kirk, you have fallen so low…

You will not like this movie because it won’t be what you are expecting. It is NOT the cat from Shrek, and the movie is very, very bad. Please, for your own sake, take everyone’s advice and don’t rent this movie. Redbox, please do everyone a favor and remove it from your machines.

I’d pay to never have to see it again! I think I’d rather gouge my eyes out.

Definitely not the Shrek Puss in Boots. The voices are awful and it was basically the creepiest worst thing ever!

This movie is even worse then the other reviews said it was. Never made it past the first 5 minutes.

AWFUL! The disclaimer that this movie is NOT the Shrek Puss In Boots needs to be ALOT bigger!!! It’s weird and creepy and poorly done. So much so that we shut off the movie and quit watching it. I would have given NO stars if possible.

Don’t watch this movie if you are feeling in any way suicidal. It just might send you over the edge. Its that bad.

Munus Triplex – The Triple Cure – Christ as Prophet, Priest and King

In the Old Testament, a man could be a prophet, a priest or a King, but it was impossible to be all three. Yet Scripture attributes all three of these offices to Christ. To discover what He does for us as He fulfills these three differing roles is a wonderfully enriching biblical study.

As the ultimate revelation of the Prophet, Christ speaks the word of God to us; as Priest, He represents us fully to the Father and brings the supreme atoning sacrifice (of Himself) that placates the Father’s holy and just wrath against us for our sin; and as the conquering and reigning King, He is forever worthy of our worship and adoration. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Christ’s threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King is a central teaching in Reformed Theology, but it is a much neglected theme in much of the modern day Church. The Latin theological term for this is Munus Triplex, also known as “the Triple Cure,” referring to these offices of Christ providing the remedy for us in our fallen condition.

As far as we can tell, it was Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History (1.3.8) who first described the concept of these three fold offices of Christ. He said that Jesus is “the only high priest of all, and the only king of every creature, and the Father’s only supreme prophet of prophets.” Yet as with most things, it was John Calvin who made the concept widely known by his teaching in the Institutes:

“Therefore, in order that faith may find a firm basis for salvation in Christ, and thus rest in him, this principle must be laid down: the office enjoined upon Christ by the Father consists of three parts. For he was given to be prophet, king and priest.” – Institutes II. xv. 1

This concept was then taken up by others in the Reformation, including Herman Bavinck, as seen in this quote:

“…Christ, both as the Son and as the image of God, for Himself and also as our Mediator and Saviour, had to bear all three offices. He had to be a prophet to know and to disclose the truth of God; a priest, to devote Himself to God and, in our place, to offer Himself up to God; a king, to govern and protect us according to God’s will. To teach, to reconcile, and to lead; to instruct, to acquire and to apply salvation; wisdom, righteousness, and redemption; truth, love, and power – all three are essential to the completeness of our salvation. In Christ’s God-to-humanity relation, He is a prophet; in His humanity-to-God relation He is a priest; in His headship over all humanity He is a king. Rationalism acknowledges only His prophetic office; mysticism only His priestly office; millennialism only His royal office. But Scripture, consistently and simultaneously attributing all three offices to Him, describes Him as our chief prophet, our only [High] priest, and our eternal king. Though a king, He rules not by the sword but by His Word and Spirit. He is a prophet, but His word is power and really happens. He is a priest but lives by dying, conquers by suffering, and is all-powerful by His love. He is always all these things in conjunction, never the one without the other: mighty in speech and action as a king and full of grace and truth in His royal rule.”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism: refers to it in questions 23-26:

Q. 23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?

A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet (Deut 18:18, Heb 1:1-2), of a priest (Heb 4:14-15, Heb 5:5-6),and of a king (Is 9:6-7, Lk 1:32-33, John 18:37, 1 Cor 15:25), both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

Q. 24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?

A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word (Heb 2:3) and Spirit (1 Peter 1:11), the will of God for our salvation.

Q. 25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?

A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice (Acts 8:32-35), and reconcile us to God (Col 1:21-22), and in making continual intercession for us (Heb 9:24).

Q. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?

A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us (Col 1:13), and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies (Col 2:15).

Here is Dr. Kim Riddlebarger teaching on the three fold offices of Christ: Prophet, Priest and King:

I look to You

Psalm 121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

This is a remarkably beautiful song by Whitney Houston. Whitney’s own personal struggles have been well documented in the media, but here she points us all to the One who does not just have the answer; He actually IS the answer. This song is a cry from the heart. Sometimes God brings us to the end of ourselves so that we can’t? turn anywhere else but to Him, and when we do, we find that He is all we ever needed.

As I lay me down
Heaven hear me now
I’m lost without a cause
After giving it my all

Winter storms have come
And darkened my sun
After all that I’ve been through
Who on earth can I turn to?

Chorus:
I look to you,
I look to you
After all my strength is gone
In you I can be strong
I look to you,
I look to you
And when melodies are gone In you I hear a song
I look to you

Have to lose my breath
There’s no more fighting left
Sinking to rise no more
Searching for that open door

And every road that I’ve taken
Led to my regret
And I don’t know if I’m go’nna make it
Nothing to do but lift my head

Chorus

My levees are broken
My walls are coming down on me
My rain is falling
Defeat is calling
I need you to set me free
Take me far away from the battle
I need you
Shine on me!

Chorus

… and what do we cling to when no earthly remedy is in sight?

Let Andrae Crouch remind us of the answer one more time…

“through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His word.”

A Call to Anguish

David Wilkerson went home to be with the Lord earlier this year. Though I would have some theological differences with him, there is no doubting that he was a true man of God. The fruit of his ministry is well known – decades of faithful service and countless people won to Christ.

One of the tests of true ministry is to question where it leaves us after encountering it. Did it leave us merely intellectually stimulated, filled up with head knowledge, or did it do more than that and leave us closer to God than before?

Some of us reformed people are right in the head but wrong in the heart. We have right and correct doctrine but yet we have cold and calloused hearts. We wax eloquent about the doctrines of grace but there is very little grace flowing from us to others. People who encounter us do not catch on fire for God, to burn with a Holy Spirit ignited passion, zealous for God and for people, aflame for the Gospel of Christ….and how indeed could they, for there is no evidence of a flicker of a flame in our own personal lives. Oh God, save and deliver us from passionless and lukewarm religion!

I can think of no greater acolade to give to a preacher than this one: This brief excerpt of a sermon by David Wilkerson spoke directly to my heart and provoked in me a burning desire to seek God for Himself.

Today, if you also hear His voice in this, do not harden your heart.

It is time to seek the Lord.

What He does for us

One can stand in a Swiss Alpine valley and be mesmerized by looking upwards at the rugged majesty of a single mountain peak on display.

One can also take a plane ride over the entire Alpine range and from the plane’s window see that what was intriguing and totally captivating from the ground, is but one stunning enchantment amongst a thousand others of equal splendor. To gaze upwards from the ground as well as downwards from above, is to see the Alps as they should be seen. I have had the joy of doing both.

I love the Alpine mountains of Switzerland. I also love Romans chapter eight.

It is easy to run out of superlatives when describing the amazing insights contained in the passage. Sometimes though, perhaps even because each word and each sentence is so poignant and pregnant with meaning, we can fail to see the grandeur of the larger picture. As we scrutinize each word, we see intricate and stunning beauty; but when we take a step back, so to speak, and view the passage as a whole, a breath taking truth emerges.

The big picture from verses 26 to 38 is the unfolding revelation of God’s love for His people. These are the ones He chose to draw to Himself even before the world was ever made. God’s plan would never be thwarted, despite all the opposition hell could fashion against it. Though these same elect ones endure famine, nakedness or sword; and though they face everything life, death and all that satanic principalties might throw their way, these loved ones remain super conquerors through the One who loved them. Nothing can separate them from the love of God.

As the text is outlined before us now, allow me just to highlight in bold capitals the phrases that show just what God is doing for His elect:

26 Likewise the Spirit helps US in our weakness. For WE do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for US with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because THE SPIRIT INTERCEDES FOR THE SAINTS according to the will of God. 28 And WE know that FOR THOSE WHO LOVE GOD all things work together for good for THOSE WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. 29 For THOSE WHOM HE FOREKNEW he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among MANY BROTHERS. 30 And THOSE WHOM HE PREDESTINED he also called, and THOSE WHOM HE CALLED he also justified, and THOSE WHOM HE JUSTIFIED HE ALSO GLORIFIED.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for US, who can be against US?

32 He who did not spare his own Son but GAVE HIM UP FOR US ALL, how will he not also with him GRACIOUSLY GIVE US ALL THINGS? 33 WHO SHALL BRING ANY CHARGE AGAINST GOD’S ELECT? It is God who justifies.

34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, WHO INDEED IS INTERCEDING FOR US. 35 Who shall separate US from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake WE are being killed all the day long; WE are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things WE are more than conquerors through him who loved US. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate US from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Doctrine of the Trinity: No Christianity Without It

By Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan – original source: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/the-doctrine-of-the-trinity-no-christianity-without-it/

If any doctrine makes Christianity Christian, then surely it is the doctrine of the Trinity. The three great ecumenical creeds—the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed—are all structured around our three in one God, underlying the essential importance of Trinitarian theology. Augustine once commented about the Trinity that “in no other subject is error more dangerous, or inquiry more laborious, or the discovery of truth more profitable.” More recently, Sinclair Ferguson has reflected on “the rather obvious thought that when his disciples were about to have the world collapse in on them, our Lord spent so much time in the Upper Room speaking to them about the mystery of the Trinity. If anything could underline the necessity of Trinitarianism for practical Christianity, that must surely be it!”

Yet, when it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity, most Christians are poor in their understanding, poorer in their articulation, and poorest of all in seeing any way in which the doctrine matters in real life. One theologian said, tongue in cheek, “The trinity is a matter of five notions or properties, four relations, three persons, two processions, one substance or nature, and no understanding.” All the talk of essence and persons and co-this and co-that seem like theological gobbledy-gook reserved for philosophers and scholars-maybe for thinky bookish types, but certainly not for moms and mechanics and middle-class college students.

So in a few hundred words let me try to explain what the doctrine of the Trinity means, where it is found in the Bible, and why it matters.
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Friday Round Up

(1) ‘180’ is a wake up call to all Christians in America: Its become something of a vastly overused and worn out cliche to say that something is “life changing”, but if there ever was a movie made which could lay claim to such a term, surely this is it.

Its now been seen by more than 300,000 people just on youtube since it was released this week. Lets spread the word far and wide about this powerful movie and get it into the hands of as many people as we can. May God bless and strengthen Ray Comfort and all involved in this amazing project.

For more information or to order “180” on DVD, please go to this link.

Here’s one person’s outreach. He says, “Giving away 180 is easy, all you need are some DVDs and a servant’s heart.”

(2) This coming Tuesday (October 4) from 1:00pm to 3:30pm MST (appx), Dr. James White will conduct an online course in Christology for Christians: A Study of the History and Theology of the Person of Christ. James writes:

On Tuesday beginning at 1pm MST we will have the equivalent of a seminary level class on Christology on The Dividing Line. Christology should be a fundamental area of study of any serious believer, yet it is often an area of profound ignorance amongst many who name the name of Christ. We would like to help our listeners to have a much better grasp of this vital area. So, we will do at least two full hours of lecture on this topic, with a brief break halfway through the lecture.

To prepare for this, James has suggested some online reading material. Full details here.

(3) Once again, Ligonier has some SUPER deals today in this week’s $5 Friday sale. The online sale starts at 8 a.m. EST and goes on for 24 hours or until items are sold out. Check out the $5 Ligonier sale here.

(4) Dane Ortlund has come up with an innovative literary device, writing about an imaginary interview he would have with Jonathan Edwards, basing the answers on Edwards’ own writings and sermons:

A few questions on the Christian life. (I requested one to two word answers only).

Jon, what ignites the Christian life? How does it all get started?

JE: New birth.

Having begun, what then is the essence of the Christian life? What’s the heart and soul of Christian living? What is most definitive of it?

JE: Love.

What is the fuel for the Christian life? How do we keep loving? What’s the non-negotiable of all non-negotiables that will keep us going?

JE: Joy.

Where do I go to get this joy? How can I find it? What, concretely, sustains it, through all the ups and downs of life?

JE: The Bible.

But as I go to the Bible, what do I do with it as I read? How do I own it, make it mine, turn it into this joy-fueled love?

JE: Prayer.

What then is the overall flavor of the Christian life? How would you describe the aroma, the feel, of following Christ?

JE: Pilgrimage.

If joy, Bible, prayer, and all the rest go in, all under the flavor of pilgrimage, what comes out? What is the result of Christian life?

JE: Obedience.

Broadening out our scope, then, how do we make sense of the all this in a macro way? What is the context for the Christian life?

JE: Redemptive history.

What then, finally, does all this funnel into? What, above all else, is the hope of the Christian life?

JE: Heaven.

(5) An important quote to add to last week’s article concerning justification in the early Church Fathers (by Nathan Busenitz):

Chrysostom (349-407): What does he mean when he says: “I have declared your justice?” He did not simply say: “I have given,” but “I have declared.” What does this mean? That he has justified our race not by right actions, not by toils, not by barter and exchange, but by grace alone. Paul, too, made this clear when he said: “But now the justice of God has been made manifest independently of the Law.” But the justice of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ and not through any labor and suffering.

Greek text: ?? ???? ?????, ????????????? ???????????? ??? ????? ?????, ?????, ???’, ?????????????. ?? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ????????????, ???? ?????, ???? ???????, ???? ??? ??????? ????? ?? ????? ????????? ?? ????????. ???? ??? ??? ? ?????? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ????? ????? ?????????? ???? ???????????? ?????????? ?? ???? ??? ??????? ????? ???????, ?? ??? ??????? ????? ??? ?????.

Adversus Judaeos, VII, §3, PG 48:919; translation in Fathers of the Church, Vol. 68, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, Disc. 7.3.2 (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1979), pp. 186-187.

Sola Scriptura – By the Scriptures Alone (3)

Continued from if we look at the word “authority,” the first six letters spell the word “author.”

Christians believe the Bible to be the Vox Dei (the voice of God), or the Verbum Dei (the word of God). Yet the Bible did not come down out of heaven on a parachute, and we do not believe that the Bible was actually penned by God. The actual writing was done by human beings. However, the Bible is God’s message.

GOD’S GOSPEL

Romans 1:1 – “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the Gospel of God.”

In the phrase “the Gospel of God,” the word “of” usually means “about,” but in this particular case, the original construction of the language (Greek) does not allow for that understanding. The “of” here is possessive. It does not refer to the Gospel about God, but rather it is talking of the Gospel belonging to God, or “God’s Gospel.” Paul declared that he was set apart to announce God’s Good News, or announce God’s announcement. God is the Source of the announcement – it is God’s Gospel.

CONSIDER THE SOURCE

In Luke 1:11-25, the angel Gabriel announces to Zacharias that his wife Elizabeth is to have a son (who we will come to know as John the Baptist). Zacharias protests that his wife is too old and that he also is an old man. Note Gabriel’s response in verse 19, “I am Gabriel. I come from the Presence of God.”

He was saying in unmistakable terms: Zacharias, consider the Source of this announcement. I am Gabriel, and I’ve just come from the immediate Presence of the Lord. The message therefore comes with the highest possible authority, so don’t think you are too old! My announcement destroys all human limitations.

Zacharias probably said something like, “Oh!” and if you remember the rest of that story, that’s about all he would say for the next nine months!

But let’s not fail to notice the point being made here – the claim Scripture makes for itself is that it is the very word of God Almighty.

But simply making a claim doesn’t make it so. Anyone can claim to be speaking for God. But what would happen to our confidence in a claim such as this, if someone claimed to be speaking with the authority of God but we were able to find obvious mistakes, discrepancies and errors? What would happen to our confidence in his claim to be speaking with the authority of God?

I think we all know the answer. We would begin to question the fact that he is speaking for God.

Why? Because although we expect human beings to make mistakes; we don’t expect God to make mistakes. If the Bible claims to be the Word of God and it is not the word of God, it could still be generally true, but the claim would be exposed as a fraud.

I certainly would not devote my life to worshipping and serving a man, about whom all I know comes from a source that has proven to be fraudulent. I’d have to commit intellectual suicide to do that!

The point then is that when a claim is made that something is the word of God, the stakes are very high. Either it demands our complete attention and obedience or else it is a fraud and would not even be considered a “good book” to read.
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