Lessons

Justified by faith or by works? (James 2:14-26) – Part 2

POST OVERVIEW. The second in a series of articles on James 2:14-26. The purpose of these articles is to give the believer a correct understanding of this passage by providing a number of different approaches to this text. The goal is that, through these studies, the believer will see that James’ teaching here does not conflict with the New Testament’s doctrine of justification by faith. (See also Post #652, 5/24,2023.)

A STUDY OF THE WORD “JUSTIFY”

Having given an introduction to this series of studies (See Post #652, 5/24/2023), we will begin with an examination of “justify.” This portion of our study will be a little technical, but it is necessary for us to look at definitions and to understand how this word and its related terms are used in the New Testament.

THE FIRST USE OF “JUSTIFY.” As we mentioned above, in the New Testament, the English word “justify” is a translation of the Greek word “δικαιόω.” This word is of profound significance in the gospel of salvation, because its most common usage has the meaning of “declare righteous.” The main message of the gospel is that any sinner who believes (“places their faith”) in the Lord Jesus Christ is immediately declared righteous, forgiven of all their sins, saved from the wrath of God, and has eternal life. In short, by faith he “has been justified.” (This is the passive use of the word “justify.”) This entire set of effects of faith in Jesus has been abbreviated as “justification by faith.” The consistent and abundant teaching of the New Testament is that we are “justified” (declared righteous, etc.) by faith and by faith alone in Christ alone and not on the basis of works. (See later in this series for a deeper understanding of “works” and also for how many times the Bible insists that being justified/justification is not by works.) This use of “justify” (declare righteous) is what the apostle Paul uses almost exclusively in his doctrinal teaching about the gospel of the Lord Jesus and his letters of Romans and Galatians are particularly filled with this doctrine. For this reason, most believers automatically think of “justify” and “to be justified” in terms of “not by works” and “justification by faith alone,” and become concerned and vocal when someone suggests that a sinner can earn salvation (be justified) based on his works. It thus becomes obvious why James 2:21-25 has created some confusion and controversy among believers because James blatantly affirms that Abraham and Rahab were justified by their works. What do we do with that?

A SECOND USE OF “JUSTIFY.” And here it is necessary for us to realize that, while the overwhelming majority of uses of “justify” or “be justified” relates to declaring someone righteous based on their professed faith in the Lord Jesus, there is also a minority use of the word, and it is this minority use of “justify” that James uses in our study passage. James uses “justify” in the sense of “giving outward evidence of an inward reality” or of “supporting a claim to possess an invisible quality.” Other synonyms could be “exhibited,” “demonstrated,” “proved,” or “gave evidence for.”

AN ILLUSTRATION OF “JUSTIFY”

When I was a purchasing manager several years ago, I had a supplier whose name was Jim Cooper. Jim was a big man. He was probably 6’ 5” and was broad and “thick.” When I shook his hand, my hand almost disappeared into his. He was big. One day we were talking and he mentioned that he was having some pain in his knees. “Yeah, it was probably from too many years playing football.” I paused for a second, then asked, “When did you play football? Were you ever a professional football player?” He said, “I played for the Dallas Cowboys in the late 70’s and 80’s.” I remembered the Cowboys of that era and that they were powerful teams, so I asked, “Do you have a Super Bowl ring?” “Yes, as a matter of fact I do. Super Bowl XII for the 1977 season.” “Would you mind bringing that ring in so I could see it? I have never seen a Super Bowl ring.” “Sure thing. Next time I come over I will bring it.”

Now, I did not doubt for a second that Jim could produce that ring. First, he was an honest man, so he was not lying to me, but second, he was a big man, and the possibility that he had played for the world champion Dallas Cowboys was not a stretch, at all. But at that point in time, Jim’s claim of having a Super Bowl ring was not justified. Jim would not “be justified” until his invisible claim of being on the 1977 Dallas Cowboys was validated (“justified”) by the visible evidence of a Super Bowl ring from Super Bowl XII.

And, true to his word, the next time Jim and I got together, he put his Super Bowl XII ring on the conference table so I could take pictures of it with my phone. Because he had produced tangible visible evidence of his unseeable claim, he was fully “justified.” Jim Cooper claimed to be a member of the World Champion Dallas Cowboys and then produced the ring that proved his claim. In this way, he was “justified.”

If, on the other hand, Jim had claimed to be on the Dallas Cowboys in 1977 but had no Super Bowl ring, there would have been a lot of doubt about his claim. Without tangible, visible evidence to validate his claim, his football career would remain a mere claim, a mere maybe.

This is the way that James uses the word “justify” in 2:21, 24, and 25. If a man claims to have saving faith, then he needs to “justify” (prove, validate) that claim by giving tangible supporting evidence. And the tangible evidence that James is seeking is the evidence of “works.”

SUMMARY OF “JUSTIFY”

After carefully examining the word “justify” and seeing that James uses the word in a very different sense than Paul and the other New Testament writers, we can conclude that there is no conflict or contradiction in James 2:14-26 when compared to other New Testament doctrinal teaching.

NEXT ARTICLE. In this article we have carefully looked at the word “justify.” In the next article, we will examine “works” by first defining what the biblical writers mean by “works” and second, by considering what the role of works is both before and after salvation (Point #2 in our list in Post #652, 5/24/2023). We will conclude the next article by documenting the verses in the New Testament which explicitly teach that “being justified” (“declared righteous”) and justification are always “by faith” and are never “by works.”

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/25/2023                   #653

Justified by faith or by works? (James 2:14-26) – Part 1

POST OVERVIEW. The first in a series of articles on James 2:14-26. The purpose of these articles is to give the believer a correct understanding of this passage by providing a number of different approaches to this text. Through these studies, the believer will see that James’ teaching here does not conflict with the New Testament’s doctrine of justification by faith. (Also see previous Post #393, 4/26/2021, on this same passage.)

“But how can a man be in the right before God?” – Job 9:2

THE CRUCIAL QUESTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

From the time of the fall of man in Genesis 3 until the apostolic preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Job’s crucial question went unanswered. But after Pentecost, first the apostles and then the faithful church began to proclaim the good news that, now that Jesus has atoned for sins on the cross, all who repent and believe in Him can be declared righteous and can receive eternal life. That is the gospel we proclaim and by which we are saved. We are justified by faith alone in Christ alone.

HOW ARE WE JUSTIFIED?

But with this as a background, how do we understand James when he declares in his epistle, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works?” (James 2:21)? Perhaps even more unsettling is what we read a few verses later in James 2:24: “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Then finally James writes, “Was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works?” (2:25). Is James teaching another gospel in which the sinner is justified by faith plus his own works? Has James abandoned “justification by faith alone,” the central doctrine of the Reformation? Does the Holy Spirit-inspired Bible teach that there are actually two ways to be saved, one by faith in Jesus and another by faith plus works?

These are important questions that I want to address in a series of articles which consider James 2:14-26 and discern what James is teaching in this section of his epistle. As we go through these teaching articles, there are several key points that we will consider.

  1. The word that is translated “justify” (δικαιόω in Greek) or, in the passive, “to be justified,” has two different meanings depending upon the author’s intent. Therefore, we need to understand more about this word “justify.”
  2. An understanding of “works” in the New Testament. What do we mean by “works?” The difference between the role of works before salvation and the role of works after salvation must be considered.
  3. The personal relationship between Paul and James and their complete agreement on the content of the gospel.
  4. The New Testament’s abundant, explicit teaching that justification (God’s declaration of righteousness) is never by works.
  5. A comparison of Hebrews 11 with James 2 allows us to conclusively determine that James is using “justify” in a non-salvific sense.
  6. Finally, a careful, unbiased reading of James 2:14-26 makes the author’s purpose and meaning unambiguously clear.

This, then, will serve as an introduction to this mini-series on James 2:14-26. My plan is to work through each of these points in the list above (not necessarily in order) so that we remove any confusion about justification that might be created by this passage and we also pay attention to the warning that James is communicating here.

My next post will be about the meanings of “justify.” (Point #1 from the list above.)

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/24/2023                   #652

Resurrection lessons from 1 Corinthians 15 (Part 3)

POST OVERVIEW. The third of a three-part study of 1 Corinthians 15, the great chapter on the Resurrection of the righteous that will occur on the last day. (See Post #648, 5/8/2023 and #649, 5/11/2023, for the first two parts of this study.) The objective of this series of posts is to give the Bible student a firm grasp of the doctrine of the Resurrection.

The previous post in this series (#649, 5/11/2023) finished with the “problem” presented by Paul at the end of 15:50; namely, that no believer in Christ who has a natural, earthly body, whether alive or dead, can inherit the kingdom of God. How, then, does a believer inherit the kingdom of God?

15:51. The solution to the problem is that, in the Resurrection, all believers will receive a glorified body that can inherit the kingdom of heaven.

PAUL’S “MYSTERY” OF THE RESURRECTION

KEY CONCEPT. In this verse, Paul “tells us a mystery.” In the New Testament, a “mystery” is an event or a detail that is currently unknown but that is certain to be revealed in the future. So here, the mystery that is yet to be revealed will explain what happens to those who are still alive when the Resurrection occurs.

THE DEAD ARE RAISED

Here is what I mean. Up to this point in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul has only been talking about believers who are dead in Christ when the Resurrection occurs (e.g., 15:42). We also note that the Bible’s supreme example of resurrection, the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead, was obviously a raising from the dead. Thus, by the undeniable fact of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead as “first fruits” (15:23), we can understand how the dead in Christ would likewise be raised from the dead at the final Resurrection. As Jesus was raised from the dead with a glorified body, so the dead in Christ will also be raised from the dead with glorified bodies. We can readily grasp this analogy.

It is also interesting that other prominent biblical pictures of the Resurrection are pictures of saints who are raised from the dead. In Isaiah 26:19, we see a picture of the Resurrection as “Your dead will live, their corpses will rise.” Isaiah gives us a picture of the dead being raised. In Ezekiel 37, the prophet is “in the middle of a valley and it was full of bones. Behold, there were very many bones on the surface of the ground, and very dry” (37:2). But then the Lord GOD says, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves” (37:12). This is obviously a vision of God raising His people from the dead. When Jesus speaks of the Resurrection in the gospel of John (5:28-29), He says, “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice (the Son of Man), and (all) will come forth.” Jesus is speaking about the dead being raised in the Resurrection. All these are pictures of those who are dead in Christ being raised from the dead on the last day.

But what about those who are still alive when the Resurrection occurs? We have no solid example from Scripture or analogy from nature that pictures this. How can those “who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:15) be raised from the dead in the Resurrection? It doesn’t seem to make sense. And so this is the “mystery” that Paul is going to discuss. To repeat the question from above, “What happens to those who are still alive when the Resurrection occurs?”

To answer this question, two things are required. First, we must remember the biblical definition of Resurrection. As we have already seen, it is common for believers to mistakenly think of resurrection only in terms of “being raised from the dead” because Jesus was raised from the dead in His resurrection (see above), but the biblical definition of Resurrection is “the receiving of our glorified bodies.” Being glorified is the primary event of the Resurrection, and both those who are dead in Christ and those who are alive are guaranteed to receive their “spiritual body” (15:44). So first, remember what you have already learned.

But second, we must read our Bible carefully and thoughtfully to understand what Paul is teaching. Paul has told us he is going to be teaching us about a mystery. Therefore, our attitude in reading these verses is to understand exactly what the apostle is telling us about the resurrection of those in Christ who are alive on the last day. Except for what is revealed to us in the Scriptures, we are wholly ignorant of this subject. We are “strangers on the earth” (Psalm 119:19), therefore we come to the Scriptures humbly to gain knowledge and understanding. What, then, does Paul teach us here about those who are alive at the Resurrection?

 Paul announces the mystery: “we will not all sleep,” which simply means that not all believers will physically die before they are resurrected. Some believers will sleep, but some will be physically alive at the Resurrection. (see 1 Thess. 4:15-17). But all believers, whether asleep or alive, will receive a glorified body because “we will all be changed.”

15:52. Paul gives a number of details of the Resurrection in this verse.

The Resurrection (“the change”) will be instantaneous, for it will happen “in the twinkling of an eye.”

The Resurrection will occur when the last trumpet sounds (see “trumpet” in Isa. 27:13, “in that day;” Matt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16). 

“The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” The dead in Christ (the “perishable”) are raised with glorified (“imperishable”) bodies, and those who are alive (“flesh and blood,” 15:50) are instantly glorified (“changed”). (This latter occurrence is the mystery.)

Note that this description of the Resurrection is in perfect agreement with what Paul writes in 1 Thess. 4:16-17. The dead in Christ are raised and glorified and those who are alive in Christ are changed and glorified. (See also Isaiah 26:19; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2.)

It is also important to note that, although Paul does not mention Christ’s coming (παρουσία) in this passage, the Scriptures make plain that the Resurrection occurs simultaneously with Jesus’ coming. From the lips of Jesus Himself, we also know that these events of the Resurrection occur on the last day (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54).

15:53. We know that “this perishable” refers to those who are dead in Christ (15:42, 52). What must occur for them? “This perishable must put on the imperishable.” The “imperishable” refers to the glorified body (15:42). The dead in Christ must put on their glorified bodies.

The Greek word for “must” is δεῖ, which can be translated “is (absolutely) necessary,” “is inevitable,” or “must.” What is being communicated here is that the only way that “the perishable” (those who are dead in Christ) can inherit the kingdom of God (see 15:50) is for them to “put on the imperishable.” For them to be fit for eternity in heaven, the dead in Christ must receive their glorified body. There is no other way.

Likewise, “this mortal must put on immortality.” “Mortal” here refers to those who are still subject to death, which is those who are still alive. The only way that “the mortal” can inherit the kingdom of God (see 15:50) is for them to “put on immortality.” For them to be fit for eternity in heaven, they must receive their glorified body. There is no other way.

15:54. When all the dead in Christ are raised in their imperishable glorified bodies, and when all those who are alive in Christ have been quickly changed into their immortal glorified bodies, then death will have been swallowed up in victory. All “those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor 15:23) will have donned their eternal glorified bodies and death will have been forever defeated.

SUMMARY

We should take a moment after this study to summarize what we have learned, for we have received strong teaching about the doctrine of the Resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15.

  • The Resurrection of all the righteous will occur on the last day (15:23-24).
  • The Resurrection occurs at the same time that the Lord Jesus descends from heaven. So it includes all “those who are Christ’s at His coming” (15:23).
  • The Resurrection speaks primarily about the event when those who are in Christ receive their glorified bodies.
  • All those who are in Christ are guaranteed to receive a glorified body at the Resurrection (15:44, 49).
  • The Resurrection will include the glorification of all the “dead in Christ” and all those who are “alive and remain.”
  • The Resurrection will be instantaneous (15:52).
  • The Resurrection will occur at the sounding of the last trumpet (15:52).

Finally, it is important to remember that, although we have discovered these doctrinal truths by carefully studying 1 Corinthians 15, the truths we have discovered are universal truths. That is, the doctrinal truths about the Resurrection discovered in 1 Corinthians 15 are true for the Resurrection wherever it is mentioned in the Bible. So there is not the doctrine of the Resurrection according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and a different set of doctrines in Isaiah or in the gospel of John or in 1 Thessalonians. The events of the Resurrection as described in 1 Corinthians 15 must agree with the events surrounding the Resurrection in the other passages in Scripture because the Holy Spirit is the author of all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16) and He does not contradict Himself. Other Scriptural passages about the Resurrection may add new details or may present the truths with other word pictures, but other Scripture cannot present a different Resurrection. An interpretation of the Resurrection that conflicts with the one taught in 1 Corinthians 15 should be replaced with the one taught in the Scriptures.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/15/2023                   #650

The planned evangelistic encounter

A friend and I have been going through Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J I Packer. This study has taken me to the place where I am thinking in terms of a “planned evangelistic encounter” as the way to regularly be engaged in witnessing for Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8) and to be an active “fisher of men” (Matt. 4:19). The following are notes as they appear on my working page.

The gospel has complexity (astute quote from Packer in chapter 3). This means that the evangelist must plan in advance what portion of the full gospel he is going to present in the evangelistic encounter.

THE PLANNED EVANGELISTIC ENCOUNTER

In the “entire gospel,” there are many complex ideas to communicate to the other person (God, sin, fallen man, judgment, Jesus Christ, death on a cross, resurrection, repentance, forgiveness of sins, heaven and hell, eternity, guilt, born again, the church, etc.). Because it is impossible to communicate this information in a short time or in a single sitting, I am proposing that the one who is “sowing seeds” (Matt. 13:3ff) and who is “fishing for men” (Matt. 4:19) on a regular, intentional basis (shouldn’t this be every disciple of Jesus?) should develop a “planned encounter” containing a “desired message.” That is, I am proposing that the evangelist plans the evangelistic encounter from initial contact through disengagement so that:

  1. The evangelist’s DESIRED MESSAGE is clearly communicated.
  2. The hearer has been given a clear opportunity to respond to the message.
  3. The hearer’s response can be evaluated.
  4. The hearer has been given a “next step” which they can pursue if they so desire (this would most appropriately be information about our church that was consistent with the evangelist’s message).
  5. The overall encounter can be evaluated and improved.

THE DESIRED MESSAGE

Note that the DESIRED MESSAGE must be drawn from the gospel message as communicated in the New Testament. Therefore, in this sense, the DESIRED MESSAGE is the most constrained portion of the evangelistic encounter. This message is the heart and soul of the encounter. Indeed, it is the entire reason for the encounter. The other variables and components (see below) that make up the evangelistic encounter are largely up to the personality and creativity of the evangelist and are, therefore, not tightly constrained. For these variables, there is no right or wrong. There is no eternal truth at stake. But the DESIRED MESSAGE portion of the encounter is not like that. This gospel message contains essential truth that must be understood and believed for the hearer to be delivered from the wrath to come. For this message, the evangelist is accountable to the Lord (Romans 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 1:23-24; 2:2; 15:1-2; 2 Cor. 4:7; Gal. 1:8,9; 2 Tim. 1:14).

THE COMPONENTS OF THE ENCOUNTER

Here are the components of the evangelistic encounter that should be planned.

  1. Venue. Where will this encounter take place? In a park? On a plane? On a street corner? At the beach? At work? In a café? Homeless shelter? Food pantry?
  2. Hearer. Whom do you envision as your hearer, the one who will hear your DESIRED MESSAGE? Having your hearer in view can help you anticipate roadblocks to your DESIRED MESSAGE.
  3. What is the means of engagement or initial contact? This is an important part of the encounter to consider. How do you plan to gain the person’s attention so they will even listen to you? How directly do you move to your message? You are in control of this part of the encounter. How do you move from stranger to person worth listening to? Thought-provoking question? “What is your opinion” on something related to the gospel or to Jesus? Short opinion survey that leads to the DESIRED MESSAGE?
  4. DESIRED MESSAGE. What is the good-news gospel message you are going to proclaim? The message must contain enough information to point to Jesus, to His death and resurrection and His offer of salvation and eternal life for all who turn from their sin and trust in Him. Remember, this is the main purpose of the encounter. The evangelist should aim to proclaim the DESIRED MESSAGE in every evangelistic encounter, whether that is done fluently and according to plan or done awkwardly. It is the message that has the power to save (Romans 1:16) and so it is the message that must be communicated.
  5. Interaction and reaction to the message. How will you continue the conversation after the message is proclaimed? How will you seek a clear response from the hearer? What follow-up questions will you ask? What reactions might you anticipate?
  6. Disengagement and end the conversation. At some point, either the evangelist or the hearer will seek to disengage from the conversation. The aim here is to make sure that the contact is not wasted. Prolong the conversation until you believe you have been heard and the hearer has given you an acceptable response. When it is time to disengage, do so graciously and be sure to hand out a deliverable that gives the hearer a follow-up opportunity, like information about a local church with service times and church address. It would be appropriate to include a gospel tract with the follow-up information.

BRAINSTORMING. Planning and developing ideas for these evangelistic encounters would very profitably be done in brainstorming sessions, where six to ten disciples from the church gathered on a Saturday morning for training and brainstorming workshops.

The next post related to this topic will focus on the contents and the delivery of the DESIRED MESSAGE.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/1/2023                     #645

Hebrews: An introduction and an overview

POST OVERVIEW. This article gives an introduction to the letter of Hebrews with thoughts about the author’s purposes, the recipients, the author and the date of writing.

FORM OF A SERMON. The letter to the Hebrews takes the form of a sermon from the displaced pastor to his congregation.

TWO DIFFERENT PURPOSES FOR THE LETTER

The author preaches his sermon with two different purposes.

ENCOURAGED BY CHRIST AND OTHER BELIEVERS. His first purpose is to encourage the genuine believer and to urge that believer to persevere by faith in the face of persecution. The author’s primary means of encouraging the true believers in his flock is to present Jesus Christ in all His glory and majesty as the model we are to follow. The author also spurs his flock on by reminding them of others from the past who have persevered and who have remained steadfast despite great difficulty and suffering. We can press on and not shrink back because we have “a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us” (12:1).

APPLICATION – As we read about the glory of Jesus Christ, about His holiness and His power and His sinlessness and His sacrifice on the cross, true believers should take heart that we have such a High Priest (7:25) and, knowing that Jesus is our substitute, we should resolve to not shrink back but press on to maturity and persevere to the end.

DO NOT COME SHORT. But there is a second purpose in this epistle that is manifested in the warning passages which characterize this letter. The author is intent on warning the pretender, the one who is blending in with the believing crowd while still holding back from real faith in Jesus. These people are probably not aware themselves that they are unsaved. After all, they are doing the same things that the rest of the congregation does, so why would they not also be saved? But the author’s warnings are intended to make clear that it is possible to come short of salvation. It is possible to drift away, to go through all the motions and then fall away because you never, by faith, trusted in Jesus Christ. The issue is not to check off all the religious boxes and have all the “Christian experiences,” but the critical issue is to come to Christ by faith. With all your heart, mind, and strength, believe in the Lord Jesus without reservation. The author warns that anything short of that is an eternity away from salvation.

APPLICATION – In much the same way that we read 1 John, so we read Hebrews and examine our own profession of faith in light of the warning passages. “Do I exhibit any of the danger signs about which the author is warning us here?” Therefore, when we encounter a warning text, we compare our faith to the warning and see if there are any similarities. We should allow the text of holy Scripture to warn us away from the disastrous consequences of a formal false “faith” that falls short of salvation. We, therefore, put our faith in the balances and allow the Scriptures to determine its saving weight.

SUMMARY. Thus the author writes to his beloved congregation to encourage genuine believers to remain steadfast in their faith in the face of opposition and to warn those who are relying on their religious performance and on their association with the faith community as evidence of true salvation that they must place all their trust in Jesus Christ.

This overview will serve as a good template for understanding the individual sections of the letter. The author is either encouraging the perseverance of genuine believers or he is urging the pretenders to come all the way to faith in Christ, and he is using the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as his means of accomplishing both.

OTHER INTRODUCTORY DETAILS

AUTHOR. We do not know the author of this letter. Before canonicity was fully established, Paul was given as the author in order to justify the letter’s inclusion in the canon, but once the epistle was universally accepted as canonical, the need for Pauline authorship was removed. Thus, modern translations simply refer to it as the letter to the Hebrews.

Apollos seems to be the most likely author of this sermon. All the quotes are from the LXX (Septuagint), which was written in Alexandria, and Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria. We know that Apollos was “mighty in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24). He was also an eloquent man (18:24), which would seem to suggest he was a good orator who would have been a strong preacher of sermons. Based on the breadth of quotes used in the letter, the author of Hebrews obviously had a comprehensive knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. He also uses the most complex Greek in the New Testament, indicating the author was a very eloquent man. Although Paul is not the author of Hebrews, it is evident that Paul’s person and ministry influenced the author, which would also fit Apollos (1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4, 5, 6, 22; 16:12; Titus 3:13). The author was well-acquainted with Timothy (Hebrews 13:23) and so was a well-known figure in the early Christian church, particularly in Asia Minor and Achaia. One of the most likely reasons that the author did not identify himself is that he needed no introduction. Those who were reading the letter immediately knew who he was, so he just went right into his sermon. All of these are clues that the author may very well have been Apollos.

AUDIENCE. The original recipients are also unknown. The audience did know Timothy (Hebrews 13:23), so they almost certainly knew Paul. The letter is referred to as “the letter to the Hebrews,” but it is inconclusive that the original recipients were Hebrews (Jewish). There is no mention in the letter of circumcision, of ceremonial foods, of the Law, or of Jews and Gentiles, so there is nothing here that we would expect in a distinctively Jewish letter.

Some have suggested that the author’s teaching about the tabernacle and the elements of the Day of Atonement are things that only the Jews would understand, but I would counter that with the fact that pastors today teach the Old Testament Law to Gentiles in order to help all believers know the Scriptures and know the glory of Christ in His fulfillment of the Old Testament types. In other words, that the author teaches how Christ fulfilled the foreshadows of the Day of Atonement reveals almost nothing about the audience.

My best guess is that the original recipients were located far away from Jerusalem and were probably mostly Gentiles. Maybe in Ephesus or Corinth?

DATE. The letter was probably written in the early 70’s AD. Since Paul is not mentioned in the letter, then I assume that Paul was dead by now. If he is not dead, he is far removed from this congregation. But Timothy is alive and is apparently in a leadership position. Nothing is mentioned about the destruction of Jerusalem, but Jerusalem is not mentioned in the New Testament unless someone is going to that city or is coming from that city.

The next post will use our template to give a preview of the letters contents.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 3/30/2023                   #637

Vanquishing perfectionism

POST OVERVIEW. A post about the sin of perfectionism and a strategy for vanquishing it and removing it from your life.

I must have been under the burden of perfectionism long before I realized it, but that seems to usually be the case with these types of sins. The attitudes of my parents, particularly my father’s demands for performance, and my own personality definitely predisposed me to perfectionism, and it is likely that I had been a perfectionist for decades before I finally recognized my disease when I was in my forties.

But regardless of the reasons, I finally realized that I was a victim of perfectionism. My demand for perfect performance manifested itself in my being critical of the efforts, the performance, and the accomplishments of others, and in my being especially hard on myself for constantly falling short of the elusive “perfect” outcomes that I imagined for myself.

DEFINITION. I should try to define what I mean by “perfectionism.” This is the tendency to view all outcomes as binary, as either perfection or failure. All performance is to be evaluated on that absolute scale, as either perfect or literally as a failure. In extreme cases, even excellence is unacceptable since the goal was perfection.

This demon of perfectionism, this poison root, produces evil fruit.

  • There is constant sense of discontent and disappointment because NOTHING ever meets the requirement of perfection.
  • Indecision and second-guessing are produced because there is no choice without problems and there is no perfect alternative.
  • A tendency to judge everything and compare all people and all actions and all performance against an imaginary “perfect” ideal and then to criticize when the ideal is not achieved.
  • Seeing people’s faults and shortcomings, rather than seeing their strengths and their good qualities.

The purpose of this article is to help those who are perfectionists, like me, to develop a strategy for getting free of this sin and for reaching that place where grace replaces law in how you view your own performance and the performance of others.

ADMIT AND CONFESS. The first step is to recognize that you are a perfectionist and to confess that this is a sinful behavior. Perfectionism assumes that I am capable of perfect performance and that all I need to do to achieve perfection is work harder. Thus perfectionism is works based and performance based and denies my fallenness and denies my need for a perfect God who will have mercy on my sin and my failure. So, confession of perfectionism must mark the first step of the deliverance strategy. Confess your sin to God (Psalm 32:5), but also confess your sin to others (James 5:16). Just taking this first step will begin to loosen perfectionism’s grip and will also bring others into the battle against it.

STRATEGY FOR REPENTANCE. Battling perfectionism requires a two-pronged approach of earnest repenting prayer for deliverance coupled with an aggressive action plan. Prayer is necessary for making the necessary changes. Any serious strategy must involve crying out to God for His help. But the perfectionist must also resolve to act. You must change your behavior so that the enemy will be defeated.

SUGGESTED PRAYER. “O God, I long to be delivered from this evil trait. Holy Spirit, I ask You to change me and to change my mind, to transform me so that this characteristic of perfectionism and its devastating effects are removed from my life.” (Verses to pray through: Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 10:5; Eph. 4:22-24, 29, 32; remember Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23; Galatians 2:21)

ACTION PLAN. Here are some suggested steps for an action plan.

  • Develop the habit of thanking God often. Wake up every day thanking God.
  • Make it a rule to never criticize other people’s efforts. Instead, give other people compliments. Never, ever ridicule others!
  • Never speak with cynicism or sarcasm (Eph. 4:29).
  • Stop grumbling and complaining (Phil. 2:14).
  • Before you begin to judge someone’s effort, remember that all God requires of His people is their best effort.
  • When tempted to judge others, remember Romans 14:4 – “Who are you to judge the servant of another?” This verse is quite profound. Think about it.
  • Strive to be kind and tender-hearted to other people (Eph. 4:32). This world has enough pain without me adding to it with my unwarranted demands for perfection.
  • Encourage all sincere effort, regardless of the results.
  • Before you begin some project or task, have clearly defined, realistic expectations of outcomes. “Clearly defined” because this provides a goal for the effort and prevents an open-ended comparison with some vague “perfection;” “realistic” because a realistic expectation can often be achieved.
  • Celebrate and praise all accomplishment.
  • This world is fallen and only Jesus Christ is perfect. Accept this as an undeniable, theological fact and live like this is a fact.
  • God required perfection of His Son, Jesus Christ, so that He could be a perfect sinless sacrifice for sinners. Because Jesus Christ is perfect, I don’t need to be and neither does anyone else.
  • See people as amazing, complex creations of God who need to know the savior. My mission is to reflect Christ so that others can know Him, not to judge others until they meet my performance criteria.
  • Determine to face challenges with my best efforts and with fervent prayer and trust the Lord for the outcome. He is sovereign over all things.

With this strategy of prayer and action, and with perseverance (Romans 15:4-5; Hebrews 12:1), the sharp sin of perfectionism may be vanquished and removed from your life.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 3/24/2023                   #636

Satan will be cast out (John 12:31-32; Rev. 20:2-3)

POST OVERVIEW. A study of John 12:31-32 (“Satan will be cast out”) and the relation of those verses to Satan being thrown into the abyss for the thousand years in Revelation 20:2-3.

Recently, during my preparation for a Bible study of the gospel of John, I observed that Jesus declared, “The ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). As I considered this section of Scripture, I began to see a connection between these verses and Revelation 20:1-3, when Satan is thrown into the abyss by “the angel” (Jesus) at the start of the thousand years. This post is a study of those connections.

REVIEW OF THE INTERPRETATION OF REVELATION 20:1-3

In other posts on this site and in my book, The Last Act of the Drama, I have presented my interpretation of Revelation 20:1-3, a passage about the binding of Satan and the inauguration of the thousand years. In this passage, Christ (“the angel”) “bound Satan for a thousand years and he threw him into the abyss, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer.” I maintain that this binding of Satan occurs during Christ’s ascension to heaven (Acts 1:9; Rev. 5:6ff) at the very beginning of the gospel age so that the church can accomplish its commission to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19-20) without Satan’s interference. Satan is thrown into the abyss so that he cannot hinder the gospel advance and the church then rides out into the world (Rev. 6:1-2) proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

The passage in Rev. 20, therefore, presents Christ restraining Satan during the thousand years (church age) so that the gospel can be proclaimed to the Gentiles (“the nations”) without Satan’s hindrance.

A PARALLEL TEXT IN JOHN 12:31-32

Now we turn our attention to our study text in John 12:31-32. In John 12:31, Jesus says that Satan “will be cast out.” Clearly implied here is that Satan will be cast out of this world, since “of this world” appears twice in John 12:31. Also apparent in this verse is that Jesus will be the one who will cast Satan out.

Now, as we consider what Jesus says here in John 12:31, we must ask some questions. First, what does it mean for Satan to be “cast out?” Does it mean that he is completely eliminated or does it mean something less absolute? And second, we must ask, “When did this happen?” When did Jesus cast Satan out of this world? Or was Jesus just speaking figuratively about casting Satan out?

Before we answer these questions, however, we should also notice that the results of John 12:32 are connected to the events of John 12:31. That is, the “lifting up” of Jesus and the “drawing all men to Myself” in 12:32 are dependent upon or derived from the “ruler of this world being cast out” in 12:31. A closer examination of these two verses reveals that the casting out of the ruler of this world (Satan) enables or facilitates the drawing of all men to Jesus. In other words, Christ casts Satan out (12:31) so that the preaching of the gospel (“Jesus is lifted up”) will draw men to Jesus from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (12:32) without Satan’s interference.

“CAST OUT.” In this context, then, “cast out” (John 12:31) should be understood to mean “taken off the playing field” or “removed from being an obstacle to the gospel and to the salvation of the nations.” “Cast out” does not mean complete elimination or destruction but is better understood as “limiting or restraining his activity.” If this understanding of “cast out” is accurate, then “cast out” in John 12:31 is virtually identical in meaning to binding Satan and throwing him into the abyss we see in Rev. 20:2-3. In fact, at this point we can say that binding Satan and throwing him in the abyss (Rev. 20:2-3) was the means that the Lord Jesus used to cast Satan out (John 12:31).

SUMMARY

In John 12:31-32 Jesus is speaking prophetically and His prophecy spoken there is fulfilled in Rev. 20:1-3. Both these passages are teaching that Christ restrains Satan’s activities and abilities during the thousand years so that Satan cannot hinder (“deceive”) the nations (Gentiles) from being drawn to Jesus.

Christ has declared, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18) and He has also commissioned His church as those who will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). By restraining Satan for the thousand years, Christ makes certain that His church will accomplish their task.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 3/22/2023                   #634

Evaluating the case for evolution – Part 1 (Hebrews 11:3)

POST OVERVIEW. The first in a series of posts evaluating the case for evolution from the perspective of a biblical creationist.

EXPLORING THE EVIDENCE, ASKING THE QUESTIONS

In these posts, I will be attempting to objectively explore the fundamental ideas of evolution and then to examine the validity and credibility of these ideas. My purpose for this exercise is to set up the situation where a person like me who holds to a biblical view of creation can examine the case for evolution and see if the evidence for evolution is persuasive. In this exploration, I will also be asking questions of the evolutionist to prompt dialog.

I will begin presenting a small piece of evidence that supports biblical creation. In Hebrews 11:3, the Bible speaks directly to the means by which God created the universe.

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Here in this verse the Bible states that God created what is seen out of that which is unseen. This means that God created our universe out of nothing, ex nihilo. God used just the power and authority of His word to bring the universe into being.

The teaching of this verse separates those who, by faith, believe the Bible to be the word of God from those who, lacking faith, do not. This verse drives us back to the very start of the Scriptures, to the first words of Genesis when creation is being described and requires us to make a decision. Do we believe that God created the worlds out of that which did not exist or do we think that some form of evolution was responsible for all we see in the creation? The answer to this question reveals whether you have saving faith or you lack it.

Of course, the evolutionist readily admits he does not have faith in God and does not believe the Bible, but we will see that this verse presents a problem for him, nevertheless.

THE PROBLEM OF ORIGINAL MATERIAL

While the proponent of evolution can reject the biblical explanation about God’s creation, he cannot avoid the problem of original material. Why do I say that? I say that because of the very nature of and definition of evolution. Evolution always begins with what already exists and modifies it. Evolution always starts with an existing species and then somehow conceives of an “improvement” in that species to make it more fit to survive. The theory of evolution describes a process whereby existing species improve. Thus evolution requires existing material. For evolution to operate, there must be something already existing that can be evolved. This means that the proponents of evolution must address the issue of origin. What is the source of the original material that was originally subject to “improvement”?

Even if it could be shown that the existence of the breathtaking variety of animals and birds and fish and plants and rocks and mountains and trees on our planet and the spectacular beauty of the uncountable stars in the heavens is the result of an evolutionary process (see below), those who promote evolution must still answer the question of original material. And simply saying, “The big bang,” does not answer the question, but merely throws it into the realm of myth.

THE NATURE OF EVOLUTION’S ABILITIES

As we consider “evolution” more deeply, we see that the nature of evolution itself is mysterious. For example, to make the theory of evolution function, proponents of the theory give to evolution a personality and a will that results in a purpose. It seems that evolution’s one purpose in life is to improve flawed species and make them better able to survive. According to the experts, evolution has been doing this for hundreds of millions or billions of years. To equip evolution for its vital role in our universe, it has also been given the remarkable ability to detect design flaws in any creature in any corner of the earth. And evolution never sleeps. Wherever there is a “design flaw” in any living creature, plant or animal, anywhere on the seven continents, there evolution will be found, working tirelessly over millions of years if necessary to ultimately “create” an improved species. And evolution does all this without any intelligent input from anything outside of itself. What I mean is that evolution appears to do all its remarkable work perpetually and as if by instinct. Evolution just does what it does automatically, spontaneously, perpetually, and independently. This seems like a stretch to me.

THE NATURE OF EVOLUTION’S IMPROVEMENTS

Equally curious to me are the “improvements” that evolution makes. According to proponents, evolution is responsible for all the spectacular variety of plant and animal life we see displayed in every corner of the globe. Birds, fish, mammals, insects of all types, trees, plants, grasses, bacteria. Everywhere we see life in all its infinite diversity, there we know that evolution has been at work.

An example of this concept at work requires that at some point in time and for some unknown reason, evolution “decided” that some species of fish was flawed or needed to be improved so that it could become a bird. And so evolution began the process of making incremental changes (“improvements”) over millions of years such that a male and a female of this species of fish would eventually shed their scales and the gills needed for breathing in water, and would abandon the sources of food that they ate as fish, and would emerge from the ocean waves with hollow bones and feather-covered wings with the ability to fly and to make nests and to lay eggs and to breathe air and to eat an entirely new diet of food that just happened to be available right at the place where they emerged from the water.

This seems like a stretch to me. There does not seems to be any evidence to support this sort of evolution ever taking place, nor does this process seem to be possible. But the other question would be, “Why would this ever happen?” In our example, the fish species was functioning and surviving perfectly well before they “evolved.” They had food to survive, they reproduced, they did all they needed to do to live out their days. Why would the fish need to be changed into birds? How would their becoming birds be an improvement? More than that, how would the seismic changes in these fish be sustained over the thousands of generations needed to change a fish to a bird, since at each change, there would need to be a male and a female of the intermediate fish-bird species to keep it going? Again, it seems to be a stretch.

SUMMARY. So far, we have presented three ideas that threaten the credibility of evolution: the origin of matter, evolution’s abilities, and evolution’s improvements. I will continue this examination of evolution in the next post by asking some questions of the evolutionist.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 3/20/2023                   #633

The disciple learns obedience (Hebrews 5:8)

POST OVERVIEW. An article on how we as disciples can learn obedience and thus have victory over persistent sins. These ideas will be included in my future book on discipleship.

Obedience is one of the most fundamental characteristics of the disciple of Jesus. In fact, to profess to follow Jesus as His disciple and to be disobedient to His commands is impossible. The disciple cannot continue in sin (Romans 6:2). Jesus makes it clear that to be His disciple is to be obedient to His commands (John 15:14). And these are just the very tip of the iceberg. It is without question that a disciple of Jesus will be obedient to Jesus.

But regarding obedience we find that Jesus not only demands obedience from His disciples, but Jesus also learned obedience. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Yes, the incarnate Son of God learned obedience. Of course, Jesus sinlessly and perfectly learned obedience. He obeyed without ever once uttering a word or having a thought that was not perfectly in accord with His Father’s will. At no moment was there ever the least element of disobedience from the Lord Jesus. But Jesus was called to fulfill His mission by “being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8), and so He had to learn perfect obedience to atone for our sin.

In this post, I want to show that the disciple of Jesus must likewise learn obedience.

FOUR GROWTH AREAS

Before the year is out, I hope to write a book on the subject of discipleship and obedience will certainly occupy a prominent place in that work. In discipleship, the goal is growth in Christlikeness, and that involves growth in four areas.

  • KNOWLEDGE. Obedience is only possible after knowledge of God’s commands is obtained, so knowledge is primary. The primary and authoritative source of the disciple’s knowledge is the word of God, the Bible.
  • OBEDIENCE. When man’s will joyfully does what God commands. When knowledge of God’s commands results in doing what God commands. When the Spirit-given desire to please God is fulfilled by willful, joyful acts.
  • HOLINESS. When persistent, ongoing obedience has begun to transform the heart and mind of the disciple such that their presence exudes godly behavior.
  • USEFULNESS. When the disciple performs good works (Eph. 2:10) which edify other believers and which bear fruit for the kingdom of God.

Here, we are going to focus on the area of obedience.

Obedience is usually measurable. “Here is the command. It applies to you. Are you doing what the command says? Yes or no.” Obedience grows as knowledge of God’s commands grows. The more commands you know, the more you can obey. Therefore, the disciple must spend much time in the Word learning what he is expected to obey.

But obedience also grows as we learn to obey. Let’s consider an example. In Matthew 6:25, the Lord gives the command, “Stop being worried.” Now let’s assume that a newly converted disciple who is in the habit of worrying and being anxious reads Matthew 6 and discovers this command. Now the disciple has gained the knowledge of this command from his King and now knows that worrying is a sin. Since worrying is a sin, the disciple should obey and stop worrying. But despite the knowledge of sin and despite the disciple’s desire to obey God, what may occur is that the disciple continues to experience worry and anxiety. That is, the professing disciple of Jesus continues in disobedience. What is going on here? For Paul says in Romans 6:2, “How will we who died to sin (were saved) still live in it?” It is a rhetorical question that demands the answer, “We cannot continue in sin if we are a disciple of Jesus!” So, how do we explain this situation where a professing disciple is not seeing victory over this sin of worry?

THE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO OBEY

First, ongoing sin is always a serious concern in the church of Jesus Christ and any situation of ongoing disobedience needs to be addressed. Also, we should acknowledge that there are several possible explanations for this, including the possibility that this person is not genuinely converted and therefore is unable to repent of their sin. But there is also the possibility that this is a genuine disciple of Jesus who has never learned obedience. That is, this disciple has not learned how to vanquish the sin so that he can obey. What I am suggesting is that, for sins that are deeply ingrained or that are difficult to identify by individual acts, obedience may be delayed because the disciple needs to be coached or discipled in their obedience.

To illustrate this, let’s go back to the person who is disobedient with regard to anxiety and worry, and this disciple knows that it is sinful. The first necessary ingredient is the disciple’s own desire for victory over the sin and his desire to walk in obedience. Assuming there is an earnest desire for obedience, the first step would be for the disciple to confess his sin and acknowledge his sin to God (Psalm 32:5) and to others (James 5:16) and thus bring the sin out into the light (1 John 1:7). “Yes, Lord, and yes, brothers, I know this is sin and I hate this sin.” Just this obedient confession of the sin will drain the sin of at least some of its power.

Next, the disciple learns from the Puritan, Thomas Watson, by reading his book Doctrine of Repentance and discovering the power of genuine repentance and putting that power to work against his worry. Additionally, the disciple develops a specific strategy for “fleeing” the sin of worry and anxiety when his “anxious thoughts multiply within him” (Psalm 94:19). So, when he begins to feel anxious or worried, he responds with his strategy. He consciously, willfully turns his mind until it is fixed either on an obedient action or on a God-breathed truth. For me, since I want to keep my strategy as simple as possible, my defense strategy consists in executing an obedient action. So I think, “Rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16). Then I spend the next five minutes reading Psalm 148, out loud if possible, and praising the Lord for all the good things He has given me and has done for me. And the sin that was trying to insinuate itself into my mind and cause me to disobey is expelled.

The point that I am making is that the local church should be aware of the need to instruct especially newer believers in the path of repentance so that they can see victory and learn obedience.

It is extremely discouraging, even depressing, and even eventually faith-threatening for the disciple of Jesus to continue long in “unwilful disobedience,” to long engage in what the disciple knows to be sin while his earnest longing with heart and soul is to be rid of the sin and to be obedient. The ideas presented in this article should help in training disciples how to learn obedience.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 3/17/2023                   #632

Romans 1:18-25: The General Revelation Cannot Save

POST OVERVIEW. An article considering how the creation clearly reveals the existence of a powerful creating God but does not present the gospel so that man can be saved.

After declaring that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16), Paul launches into the prosecution of all mankind because of their sin and unrighteousness. Romans 1:18 declares that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and then Paul talks about “general revelation,” which is the term for what creation reveals to us about God.

“Because that which may be known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” – Romans 1:19-20

But while the creation “declares the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1-6), and while what has been made by the creative hand of God gives anyone but a fool (Psalm 14:1) overwhelming evidence of a supreme Creator (Romans 1:19-20), the creation and general revelation will never bring a sinner to repentance and faith, and this for many reasons.

First, for the fallen and unredeemed man, the creation does not reveal the one true God, but merely evidences some power much greater than the creature. That this is true is displayed by pantheism and polytheism and even through the foolishness of evolution, in which modern man denies what his senses and his intellect make unambiguously clear to him. To move a sinner to salvation, the sinner must be pointed to the one true God, indeed, must be pointed to the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the gospel. The sinner must encounter the God who saves sinners.

Second, the creation does not reveal the fallenness and the wickedness of every human heart and does not reveal that man is by nature sinful. Through the creation alone any man and every man is free to behave as he pleases, because the creation is not moral. It displays God’s power, but it does not proclaim His holiness. Without the Law there is no concept of sin (Romans 3:20; etc.), and so there is no awareness of how wicked we are. The Law was given to display God’s holiness and our unholiness.

Third, the creation does not make clear that God’s holy wrath is directed against my sin and that my sin deserves to be judged. Only the gospel declares to the sinner that their sin deserves the judgment of death and presents to the sinner the certainty of hell for those who will not respond to the gospel message.

Fourth, there is nothing in the natural creation that would point to the Lord Jesus Christ and would declare Him to be the Savior of sinners. The Lord is not presented through what has been made, but rather through those who have been chosen to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8, etc.). Paul declares in Romans that the Lord Jesus must be presented or no one can ever believe (Romans 10:14-15). The gospel is where the Lord Jesus is proclaimed.

Fifth, the creation does not tell the sinner what to do in order to be saved. It must be acknowledged that the plan of salvation wrought through the Incarnation and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is completely unlikely and would never be conceived by the mind of man. But even if there was history that told of Jesus, nowhere would man know of the significance of that life and what to do to respond to Jesus. Only the gospel tells us that we must respond by believing on Christ as Lord and Savior to be saved.

Sixth, the creation brings no conviction of sin, because the creation is not empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that brings conviction of sin (John 16:8ff) and without His power, the man does not experience conviction. By contrast, the Holy Spirit is empowered to bring about conviction of sin.

Seventh and finally, the creation gives the sinner no power to repent and believe. The creation is powerless to move the sinner to repentance and faith. Without the Holy Spirit’s moving through the gospel the sinner is left dead in transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1-7). But the gospel brings with it the power to stir the dead heart of the sinner and to remove the heart of stone and to create a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36).

Thus we must conclude that there is no way that “the native in Africa” who has never heard the gospel can come to faith in Christ and be saved, for there is nothing in their experience that can bring them to saving faith in Jesus Christ. All of this information and all of these steps listed are necessary for salvation, but it is “the gospel that is the power of God to salvation” (Romans 1:16). Without the gospel being preached and understood and without the response of faith no one is saved. Thus the person holding a Bible in a stadium in Houston who has never been convicted of their personal sin and who therefore has never come to repentance and faith is no better off than “the native in Africa” who has never been exposed to one word of the gospel. Both are equally lost.

In our next post, we will consider the implications of these ideas about the creation for our evangelism and for our apologetics.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 3/6/2023                     #630