The Prophetic Character of the Feast of Tabernacles
Numerous sacrifices were offered in the Temple - bullocks, rams and goats - for a sin-offering. The first day of the Feast thirteen bullocks were offered, twelve the next day, eleven the third, diminishing every day until seven bullocks were offered on the seventh day, making a total of seventy.
The Rabbis explain that this number of seventy bullocks was a sacrifice on behalf of the seventy nations of the world, looking toward their conversion to the God of Israel and their gathering under the Shekinah glory.
The Feast of Tabernacles, like the other feasts of Israel, focuses the attention of God's people both on the past, on what God has done, and on the future, on what God will do. The prophetic message of the Feast of Tabernacles is that there is shelter in the Tabernacle of God under the wings of the Shekinah glory, for the Jew first, and also the Gentile nations.
Wells of Salvation
There were two outstanding features which characterised the Temple service of the Feast of Tabernacles. (1) The pouring of water in the Temple. (2) The brilliant illumination of the Temple.
A specially appointed priest was sent to the Pool of Siloam with a golden pitcher to bring water from the Pool. This was poured by the high priest into a basin at the foot of the altar. From another pitcher wine was poured into the same basin. These mingled together and flowed through special pipes back to the Brook of Kidron again.
The significance of the pouring of water was twofold. First, it was a symbolic and ritual prayer for abundant rain. Summer was at an end. Winter and the rainy season was about to begin. Upon abundant rain Israel then depended as now for her daily bread. Hence the prayers for the gates of Heaven to open and for abundant rain. Even today in the synagogue much prayer for rain is offered at this time. The pouring of water was a visual interpretation of God's grace in sending rain.
Secondly, the ritual of water libation went beyond the merely physical; it was prophetic and Messianic in its hope, looking toward the outpouring of the Holy Spirit not only upon Israel, but also the believers of all the nations under the reign of Messiah King.
The Day of the Great Hosanna
The ritual of water pouring lasted six days, climaxing on the seventh day, which concluded the Feast of Tabernacles. This day was called Hoshana Rabba, The Day of the Great Hosanna. It has a special messianic significance. The pouring of the water from the golden pitcher took place amidst the blasting of the trumpets by the priests and the singing of sacred music by the Levites, while the people, waving their lulavs, or palm branches, chanted the Hallel, Psalms 113-118.
The closing words of Psalm 118 are these:
"Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee."
From the words "Save Now" (in Hebrew "Hoshana"), this day was known as the "Great Hosanna". It was peculiarly Messianic in nature, a prayer for the speedy salvation through the Messiah. This is why our Saviour was greeted on another occasion with the waving of palm branches and the words, "Hosanna to the son of David," meaning, "Save us Son of David." This is important for the understanding of what happened when the Lord attended the Temple service on the day of the "Great Hosanna".
It was while all this was going on, the pouring of the water from the Pool of Siloam into the altar basin, the blasting of the trumpets by the priests, the singing of the Psalms by the Levites, and the prayers of the people, "Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord," when the Messianic fervour was at the highest pitch, that the Lord Jesus stood in the Temple crying:
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" - John 7:38. What our Saviour said by implication was: "I am the answer to your prayers."
The Messianic claim of our Saviour was clearly understood by all. It must have come like a bolt from the blue. Here was the One claiming to be the answer to the fervent hope and prayer of long centuries and many generations. Could He, the carpenter's son of Nazareth, be the long expected Messiah?
Temple Lights and the Light of the World
Another central feature of the Feast of Tabernacles was the illumination of the Temple in Jerusalem. The festive pilgrims came to the Temple bearing lights and torches, while in the Temple itself the golden candlesticks were lighted, transforming the Temple into one brilliant focus of light which illuminated most of Jerusalem and surroundings. What an eloquent symbol of the Sanctuary of God which was to be a light of the world!
Amidst all this splendour and the brilliant lights of the Temple, our Saviour stood proclaiming: "I am the light of the world."
Without true knowledge of the rites and symbols of the Feast of Tabernacles, we miss the profound significance of our Lord's pronouncements in the Temple.
- Victor Buksbazen, The Gospel in the Feasts of Israel
The Interpretation of Signs
In S. John's Gospel we find also that Christ states the interpretation of His signs. Signs are treated in an exactly parallel manner to the parables, or rather to the parables that are strictly symbolic, such as the Sower and the Tares. The Feeding of the Five Thousand is interpreted, "I am the Bread of Life"; the recovery of sight to the Blind Man is interpreted, "I am the Light of the World"; the Raising of Lazarus is interpreted, "I am the Resurrection and the Life."
Some of the interpretations are peculiarly significant. The great declaration, "I am the Light of the World," is repeated before the healing of the blind man in a special form - "I am the Light of (or to) the World," as if this sign were a particular illustration of the principle before enunciated. The Walking on the Sea is interpreted, "I am; be not afraid," meaning that there is no impossibility of His presence, but that He ever comes to the help of those who believe in Him.
It is worth repeating here that each of these interpretations begins with the words "I am," recalling the ancient name of Jehovah, and in themselves constituting a claim to divinity.
- A. Allen Brockington, Old Testament Miracles in the Light of the Gospel
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
The Greatest Enemy of Hunger for God
God's Greatest Adversaries are His Gifts
The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20).
The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognisable, and almost incurable...
Why Did God Create Bread and Hunger?
One of the reasons food has this amazing power is that it is so basic to our existence. Why is this? I mean, why did God create bread and design human beings to need it for life? He could have created life that has no need of food. He is God. He could have done it any way he pleased. Why bread? And why hunger and thirst?
My answer is very simple: He created bread so that we would have some idea of what the Son of God is like when he says, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). And he created the rhythm of thirst and satisfaction so that we would have some idea of what faith in Christ is like when Jesus said, "He who believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). God did not have to create beings who need food and water and who have capacities for pleasant tastes.
But man is not the centre of the universe, God is. And everything, as Paul says, is "from him and through him and to him" (Romans 11:36). "To him" means everything exists to call attention to him and to bring admiration to him. In Colossians 1:16, Paul says more specifically that "all things were created by [Christ] and for [Christ]." Therefore bread was created for the glory of Christ. Hunger and thirst were created for the glory of Christ. And fasting was created for the glory of Christ.
Which means that bread magnifies Christ in two ways: by being eaten with gratitude for his goodness, and by being forfeited out of hunger for God himself. When we eat, we taste the emblem of our heavenly food - the Bread of Life. And when we fast we say, "I love the Reality above the emblem."
In the heart of the saint both eating and fasting are worship. Both magnify Christ. Both send the heart - grateful and yearning - to the Giver. Each has its appointed place, and each has its danger. The danger of eating is that we fall in love with the gift; the danger of fasting is that we belittle the gift and glory in our willpower.
- John Piper, A Hunger for God
True Fasting
"Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?'
"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
"Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
"The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- Isaiah 58 (NIV)
Link: A Hunger for God (2 Mar 10)
The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20).
The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognisable, and almost incurable...
Why Did God Create Bread and Hunger?
One of the reasons food has this amazing power is that it is so basic to our existence. Why is this? I mean, why did God create bread and design human beings to need it for life? He could have created life that has no need of food. He is God. He could have done it any way he pleased. Why bread? And why hunger and thirst?
My answer is very simple: He created bread so that we would have some idea of what the Son of God is like when he says, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). And he created the rhythm of thirst and satisfaction so that we would have some idea of what faith in Christ is like when Jesus said, "He who believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). God did not have to create beings who need food and water and who have capacities for pleasant tastes.
But man is not the centre of the universe, God is. And everything, as Paul says, is "from him and through him and to him" (Romans 11:36). "To him" means everything exists to call attention to him and to bring admiration to him. In Colossians 1:16, Paul says more specifically that "all things were created by [Christ] and for [Christ]." Therefore bread was created for the glory of Christ. Hunger and thirst were created for the glory of Christ. And fasting was created for the glory of Christ.
Which means that bread magnifies Christ in two ways: by being eaten with gratitude for his goodness, and by being forfeited out of hunger for God himself. When we eat, we taste the emblem of our heavenly food - the Bread of Life. And when we fast we say, "I love the Reality above the emblem."
In the heart of the saint both eating and fasting are worship. Both magnify Christ. Both send the heart - grateful and yearning - to the Giver. Each has its appointed place, and each has its danger. The danger of eating is that we fall in love with the gift; the danger of fasting is that we belittle the gift and glory in our willpower.
- John Piper, A Hunger for God
True Fasting
"Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?'
"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
"Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
"The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- Isaiah 58 (NIV)
Link: A Hunger for God (2 Mar 10)
Monday, 29 March 2010
Book Aid London
I visited some friends in Cambridge last week. I originally planned to come back to York on Fri morning, but since it was my friends' last week in the UK on exchange, I made a short detour and brought them to Book Aid London on Fri afternoon, before coming back to York on Fri night.
Of course, visiting Book Aid London was one of the things which I had at the back of my mind from the time I visited Book Aid Ranskill. I wonder if I'll be able to visit all the Book Aid bookshops in the UK before returning to Singapore for good this Jul...
The building
The bookshop
The bounty (not as many books as before)
Incidentally, Book Aid London does not usually open on Fri. However, the lady who works there was extremely accommodating when I called on Thu and mentioned that it was my friends' last week in the UK on exchange.
If we ask, we might or might not receive what we ask for. If we don't ask, we will definitely not receive what we don't ask for.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" - Matthew 7:7-11 (NIV)
If we receive what we ask for even on a worldly level, how much more will we receive what we ask for in Jesus' name! Furthermore, if God gives us good gifts even when we don't ask, how much more will He give us good gifts when we do ask!
Links: The SKS of the UK (19 Mar 10), Book Aid Warrington (13 Jul 10)
Of course, visiting Book Aid London was one of the things which I had at the back of my mind from the time I visited Book Aid Ranskill. I wonder if I'll be able to visit all the Book Aid bookshops in the UK before returning to Singapore for good this Jul...
The building
The bookshop
The bounty (not as many books as before)Incidentally, Book Aid London does not usually open on Fri. However, the lady who works there was extremely accommodating when I called on Thu and mentioned that it was my friends' last week in the UK on exchange.
If we ask, we might or might not receive what we ask for. If we don't ask, we will definitely not receive what we don't ask for.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" - Matthew 7:7-11 (NIV)
If we receive what we ask for even on a worldly level, how much more will we receive what we ask for in Jesus' name! Furthermore, if God gives us good gifts even when we don't ask, how much more will He give us good gifts when we do ask!
Links: The SKS of the UK (19 Mar 10), Book Aid Warrington (13 Jul 10)
Sunday, 28 March 2010
The Nature of Faith
The faith that changes the life and connects to God is best conveyed by the word 'trust'. Imagine you are on a high cliff and you lose your footing and begin to fall. Just beside you as you fall is a branch sticking out of the very edge of the cliff. It is your only hope and it is more than strong enough to support your weight.
How can it save you? If your mind is filled with intellectual certainty that the branch can support you, but you don't actually reach out and grab it, you are lost. If your mind is instead filled with doubts and uncertainty that the branch can hold you, but you reach out and grab it anyway, you will be saved. Why?
It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch.
- Tim Keller, The Reason for God
Link: I am weak but He is strong (20 Dec 09)
How can it save you? If your mind is filled with intellectual certainty that the branch can support you, but you don't actually reach out and grab it, you are lost. If your mind is instead filled with doubts and uncertainty that the branch can hold you, but you reach out and grab it anyway, you will be saved. Why?
It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch.
- Tim Keller, The Reason for God
Link: I am weak but He is strong (20 Dec 09)
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Duty and Delight
A friend of C. S. Lewis' was once asked, 'Is it easy to love God?' and he replied, 'It is easy to those who do it.' That is not as paradoxical as it sounds.
When you fall deeply in love, you want to please the beloved. You don't wait for the person to ask you to do something for her. You eagerly research and learn every little thing that brings her pleasure. Then you get it for her, even if it costs you money or great inconvenience. 'Your wish is my command,' you feel - and it doesn't feel oppressive at all. From the outside, bemused friends may think, 'She's leading him around by the nose,' but from the inside it feels like heaven.
For a Christian, it's the same with Jesus. The love of Christ constrains. Once you realise how Jesus changed for you and gave himself for you, you aren't afraid of giving up your freedom and therefore finding your freedom in him.
- Tim Keller, The Reason for God
When you fall deeply in love, you want to please the beloved. You don't wait for the person to ask you to do something for her. You eagerly research and learn every little thing that brings her pleasure. Then you get it for her, even if it costs you money or great inconvenience. 'Your wish is my command,' you feel - and it doesn't feel oppressive at all. From the outside, bemused friends may think, 'She's leading him around by the nose,' but from the inside it feels like heaven.
For a Christian, it's the same with Jesus. The love of Christ constrains. Once you realise how Jesus changed for you and gave himself for you, you aren't afraid of giving up your freedom and therefore finding your freedom in him.
- Tim Keller, The Reason for God
Friday, 26 March 2010
After After Virtue
Each of us being a main character in his own drama plays subordinate parts in the dramas of others, and each drama constrains the others...
Like characters in a fictional narrative we do not know what will happen next, but nonetheless our lives have a certain form which projects itself towards our future...
The good life for man is the life spent in seeking for the good life for man, and the virtues necessary for the seeking are those which will enable us to understand what more and what else the good life for man is.
- Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue
It's time now to look at... the two main theories for how we might think about what to do: either you obey rules imposed from the outside, or you discover the deepest longings of your own heart and try to go with them. Most of us wobble about between the two, obeying at least some of the rules either because we think God wants us to or because of social convention, but going back to following our own dreams, our own fulfillment, when given the chance...
But what we notice in Mark 10 is something which seems to operate in a different dimension. For a start, it is a call, not to specific acts of behaviour, but to a type of character. For another thing, it is a call to see oneself as having a role to play within a story - and a story where, to join up with the first point, there is one supreme Character whose life is to be followed. And that Character seems to have his eye on a goal, and to be shaping his own life, and those of his followers, in relation to that goal.
All of this suggests that Mark's gospel, with Jesus himself as the great Character who stands behind it, is inviting us to something not so much like rule-keeping on the one hand or following our own dreams on the other, but a way of being human to which philosophers ancient and modern have given a particular name.
My contention in this book is that the New Testament invites its readers to learn how to be human in this particular way, which will both inform our moral judgments and form our characters so that we can live by their guidance. The name for this way of being human, this kind of transformation of character, is virtue. And when the early Christians, following Jesus himself, developed this notion, they did so in a way which transformed not only their characters but the notion of virtue itself. Hence the title of this book: Virtue Reborn.
- Tom Wright, Virtue Reborn
Sin and evil are self-centredness and pride that lead to oppression against others, but there are two forms of this. One form is being very bad and breaking all the rules, and the other form is being very good and keeping all the rules and becoming self-righteous.
There are two ways to be your own Saviour and Lord. The first is by saying, 'I am going to live my life the way I want.' The second is described by Flannery O'Connor, who wrote about one of her characters, Hazel Motes, that 'he knew that the best way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin'. If you are avoiding sin and living morally so that God will have to bless and save you, then ironically, you may be looking to Jesus as a teacher, model and helper but you are avoiding him as Saviour. You are trusting in your own goodness rather than in Jesus for your standing with God. You are trying to save yourself by following Jesus. That, ironically, is a rejection of the gospel of Jesus. It is a Christianised form of religion. It is possible to avoid Jesus as Saviour as much by keeping all the biblical rules as by breaking them.
Both religion (in which you build your identity on your moral achievements) and irreligion (in which you build your identity on some other secular pursuit or relationship) are, ultimately, spiritually identical courses to take. Both are 'sin'. Self-salvation through good works may produce a great deal of moral behaviour in your life, but inside you are filled with self-righteousness, cruelty and bigotry, and you are miserable. You are always comparing yourself to other people, and you are never sure you are being good enough. You cannot, therefore, deal with your hideousness and self-absorption through the moral law, by trying to be a good person through an act of the will. You need a complete transformation of the very motives of your heart.
The devil, if anything, prefers Pharisees - men and women who try to save themselves. They are more unhappy than either mature Christians or irreligious people, and they do a lot more spiritual damage.
- Tim Keller, The Reason for God
Link: Virtue Reborn (7 Jan 10)
Like characters in a fictional narrative we do not know what will happen next, but nonetheless our lives have a certain form which projects itself towards our future...
The good life for man is the life spent in seeking for the good life for man, and the virtues necessary for the seeking are those which will enable us to understand what more and what else the good life for man is.
- Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue
It's time now to look at... the two main theories for how we might think about what to do: either you obey rules imposed from the outside, or you discover the deepest longings of your own heart and try to go with them. Most of us wobble about between the two, obeying at least some of the rules either because we think God wants us to or because of social convention, but going back to following our own dreams, our own fulfillment, when given the chance...
But what we notice in Mark 10 is something which seems to operate in a different dimension. For a start, it is a call, not to specific acts of behaviour, but to a type of character. For another thing, it is a call to see oneself as having a role to play within a story - and a story where, to join up with the first point, there is one supreme Character whose life is to be followed. And that Character seems to have his eye on a goal, and to be shaping his own life, and those of his followers, in relation to that goal.
All of this suggests that Mark's gospel, with Jesus himself as the great Character who stands behind it, is inviting us to something not so much like rule-keeping on the one hand or following our own dreams on the other, but a way of being human to which philosophers ancient and modern have given a particular name.
My contention in this book is that the New Testament invites its readers to learn how to be human in this particular way, which will both inform our moral judgments and form our characters so that we can live by their guidance. The name for this way of being human, this kind of transformation of character, is virtue. And when the early Christians, following Jesus himself, developed this notion, they did so in a way which transformed not only their characters but the notion of virtue itself. Hence the title of this book: Virtue Reborn.
- Tom Wright, Virtue Reborn
Sin and evil are self-centredness and pride that lead to oppression against others, but there are two forms of this. One form is being very bad and breaking all the rules, and the other form is being very good and keeping all the rules and becoming self-righteous.
There are two ways to be your own Saviour and Lord. The first is by saying, 'I am going to live my life the way I want.' The second is described by Flannery O'Connor, who wrote about one of her characters, Hazel Motes, that 'he knew that the best way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin'. If you are avoiding sin and living morally so that God will have to bless and save you, then ironically, you may be looking to Jesus as a teacher, model and helper but you are avoiding him as Saviour. You are trusting in your own goodness rather than in Jesus for your standing with God. You are trying to save yourself by following Jesus. That, ironically, is a rejection of the gospel of Jesus. It is a Christianised form of religion. It is possible to avoid Jesus as Saviour as much by keeping all the biblical rules as by breaking them.
Both religion (in which you build your identity on your moral achievements) and irreligion (in which you build your identity on some other secular pursuit or relationship) are, ultimately, spiritually identical courses to take. Both are 'sin'. Self-salvation through good works may produce a great deal of moral behaviour in your life, but inside you are filled with self-righteousness, cruelty and bigotry, and you are miserable. You are always comparing yourself to other people, and you are never sure you are being good enough. You cannot, therefore, deal with your hideousness and self-absorption through the moral law, by trying to be a good person through an act of the will. You need a complete transformation of the very motives of your heart.
The devil, if anything, prefers Pharisees - men and women who try to save themselves. They are more unhappy than either mature Christians or irreligious people, and they do a lot more spiritual damage.
- Tim Keller, The Reason for God
Link: Virtue Reborn (7 Jan 10)
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Another Anti-Calvinist Argument
(1) God commands all to repent only if He makes it possible for all to repent.
(2) God commands all to repent.
(3) Therefore, God makes it possible for all to repent.
(4) God makes it possible for all to repent only if Jesus died for all.
(5) God makes it possible for all to repent - from (3).
(6) Therefore, Jesus died for all.
(7) Limited Atonement is true only if Jesus did not die for all.
(8) Jesus died for all - from (6).
(9) Therefore, Limited Atonement is not true.
(10) 5-point Calvinism is true only if Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints are true.
(11) Limited Atonement is not true - from (9).
(12) Therefore, 5-point Calvinism is not true.
Link: An Anti-Calvinist Argument (13 Feb 10)
(2) God commands all to repent.
(3) Therefore, God makes it possible for all to repent.
(4) God makes it possible for all to repent only if Jesus died for all.
(5) God makes it possible for all to repent - from (3).
(6) Therefore, Jesus died for all.
(7) Limited Atonement is true only if Jesus did not die for all.
(8) Jesus died for all - from (6).
(9) Therefore, Limited Atonement is not true.
(10) 5-point Calvinism is true only if Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints are true.
(11) Limited Atonement is not true - from (9).
(12) Therefore, 5-point Calvinism is not true.
Link: An Anti-Calvinist Argument (13 Feb 10)
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Life Through the Spirit
"When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Then [Jesus] said to [His disciples]: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."" - Luke 9:23-26 (NIV)
We talk all the time about relying on God. But what do we really mean when we say that?
To rely on God is not to rely on God to give us what we desire; to rely on God is to put our desires to death and rely on God to raise them from the dead!
"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." - Romans 8:9-11 (NIV)
The only way to know that we are relying on God, that we have been crucified with Christ, that we are living by the Spirit, is to put our desires to death and see whether we are still living for anything after that.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
Either it is God's will or it is not God's will. If it is God's will, God will make a way. If it is not God's will, why do you want to make your own way?
If our desires are of God, God will raise them from the dead, in which case we will know that they are of God and not of ourselves. But we have to put them to death first.
Of course, God might not raise our desires from the dead, in which case we will find out that they are not of God in the first place. But in that case, they are not worth living for anyway.
"Then [Jesus] said to [His disciples]: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."" - Luke 9:23-26 (NIV)
We talk all the time about relying on God. But what do we really mean when we say that?
To rely on God is not to rely on God to give us what we desire; to rely on God is to put our desires to death and rely on God to raise them from the dead!
"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." - Romans 8:9-11 (NIV)
The only way to know that we are relying on God, that we have been crucified with Christ, that we are living by the Spirit, is to put our desires to death and see whether we are still living for anything after that.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
Either it is God's will or it is not God's will. If it is God's will, God will make a way. If it is not God's will, why do you want to make your own way?
If our desires are of God, God will raise them from the dead, in which case we will know that they are of God and not of ourselves. But we have to put them to death first.
Of course, God might not raise our desires from the dead, in which case we will find out that they are not of God in the first place. But in that case, they are not worth living for anyway.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach (Part 3)
If Molinism were simply the overlaying of a philosophical grid on top of Scripture, then it would be a very bad idea and should not be done. Rather, Molinism is a precise philosophical system that arose out of a commitment to certain principles clearly taught in the Bible: (1) God can and has created beings with significant and genuine creaturely freedom; (2) God can and does exhaustively know what free creatures would do in every possible scenario; and (3) God can and does sovereignly and meticulously accomplish His will through His omniscience - namely that aspect of His knowledge we call middle knowledge.
The Bible teaches a high view of divine sovereignty: God has exhaustive knowledge of all things, meticulous control over all things, sovereign freedom above all things, and yet at the same time He is perfectly free from the sin and evil of this world. Scripture also declares a robust view of human freedom, choice, and agency: there are contingent events; certain contingent events are conditioned by our decisions; and God uses His counterfactual knowledge of our free decisions to accomplish His will. Molinism - and its advocacy of the concept of middle knowledge - is the one view of providence that holds to a consistent view of both biblical teachings.
- Kenneth Keathley, Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach
Links: ROSES vs TULIP (19 Mar 10), Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach (Part 1) (20 Mar 10), Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach (Part 2) (21 Mar 10)
The Bible teaches a high view of divine sovereignty: God has exhaustive knowledge of all things, meticulous control over all things, sovereign freedom above all things, and yet at the same time He is perfectly free from the sin and evil of this world. Scripture also declares a robust view of human freedom, choice, and agency: there are contingent events; certain contingent events are conditioned by our decisions; and God uses His counterfactual knowledge of our free decisions to accomplish His will. Molinism - and its advocacy of the concept of middle knowledge - is the one view of providence that holds to a consistent view of both biblical teachings.
- Kenneth Keathley, Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach
Links: ROSES vs TULIP (19 Mar 10), Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach (Part 1) (20 Mar 10), Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach (Part 2) (21 Mar 10)
Monday, 22 March 2010
Mar 15 to 21
Mar 15: "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." - Psalm 34:8-10 (NIV)
Mar 16: "The LORD is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." - Psalm 34:18 (NIV)
Mar 17: "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)
Mar 18: "And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." - Luke 2:40 (NIV)
Mar 19: "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men." - Luke 2:52 (NIV)
Mar 20: "At the LORD's command they encamped, and at the LORD's command they set out. They obeyed the LORD's order, in accordance with his command through Moses." - Numbers 9:23 (NIV)
Mar 21: "The LORD answered Moses, "Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you."" - Numbers 11:23 (NIV)
Mar 16: "The LORD is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." - Psalm 34:18 (NIV)
Mar 17: "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)
Mar 18: "And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." - Luke 2:40 (NIV)
Mar 19: "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men." - Luke 2:52 (NIV)
Mar 20: "At the LORD's command they encamped, and at the LORD's command they set out. They obeyed the LORD's order, in accordance with his command through Moses." - Numbers 9:23 (NIV)
Mar 21: "The LORD answered Moses, "Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you."" - Numbers 11:23 (NIV)
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