Brenz on the Gospel

By nature human beings are made in such a way that they do not want to accept anything from God free of charge but want to earn it by their works and their righteousness. It is diabolical arrogance not to want to get anything from God free of charge but to earn everything, because this is saying that we want to be God ourselves. This is what Adam began in the garden and from there it has spread to the entire human race. 

Admittedly there is a danger in teaching justification by faith to people who are rebellious and despisers of religion. But just because there is a danger in doing this, it does not follow that the church should be deprived of what is necessary for its salvation. There is danger in producing wine, because people get drunk on wine. Yet God has created wine, which is healthy if used in the right way... No work of the moral or ceremonial law can justify us in the sight of God because no work can be done by us with the degree of perfection and integrity that would be needed for God to accept it. All our good works are imperfect and corrupt. Therefore they cannot justify us... When it is said that the Gentiles are not justified by the works of the law, this does not mean that good works that are moral or part of the natural law are not to be encouraged. Of course the natural law must be observed, and anyone who does not follow it is ungodly and worse than an infidel. What it means is that the merits of our good works have no validity in the judgment of God, nor do they delivery us from the sentence of condemnation. So we must do the works of the natural law but not think that they can save us from perishing or acquit us before the judgment seat of God. There is another kind of righteousness, namely the righteousness of Christ, which is perfect and which is received by faith.

Johannes Brenz, from The Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Galatians, Pg. 70-71

Who Wrote the Gospels?

One Less Quiver in the Preacher's Arrow

In his commentary on the Gospel of Mark from the NIGTC series, R.T. France (on pg 430), speaking about the composition of the crowd at the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem in Mark 11, points out that the crowd which praised Jesus, singing "Hosanna" is not the same crowd who would later crucify him. He bases this on the fact that the processional following Jesus to Jerusalem began in Jericho. The Greek phrase, putting their identities beyond doubt, according to France, is proagontes kai oi akolouthountes - the ones going before and the ones following. This is the same pilgrim group that has been traveling with Jesus throughout Act Two of Mark's Gospel.

There is no warrant here for the preacher's favorite comment on the fickleness of a crowd which could shout 'Hosanna' one day and 'Crucify him' a few days later. They are not the same crowd. The Galilean pilgrims shouted 'Hosanna' as they approached the city; the Jerusalem crowd shouted, 'Crucify him'.

The Good News for the Whole World

I've been reading Philip Jenkins' The Lost History of Christianity (which in most respects I recommend), and seeing this video causes me to react in a couple of ways. Yes, missions needs to happen - that is essential. However, reading Jenkins' book causes me to be suspicious that many areas and people groups whom we believe to be without the Gospel actually had it at one point. I'll talk about this after completing Jenkins' book, but for years Christians were arriving in places they thought did not know Jesus (Japan, for instance) only to find that there was already a centuries-old indigenous Christian presence in these places. This should be both a cause for optimism and also greater humility on the part of us western Christians - though such knowledge should not cause us to be lax at all in our enthusiasm to share Jesus with the world.

Jesus Questions Peter

D.A. Carson points out the following with regards to Jesus' questioning of Peter, "Do you love me?" (John 21:15-19):

Jesus' initial question probes Peter to the depth of his being. He does not try to answer in terms of the relative strength of his love as compared with that of other disciples. He appeals rather to the Lord's knowledge. Despite my bitter failure, he says in effect, I love you - you know that I love you. Jesus accepts his declaration, doubtless to Peter's relief, and commissions him: Feed my lambs.

[Pillar Commentary on John, Pg. 677-678]

Fighting Against Distraction and Wasted Time

On top of the half-dozen or so books which I am reading and perpetually never completing, a friend and I are reading through John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. One of the most potent sections of the book is where Piper talks about the things which distract us from having a wartime mentality. Particularly, television. And since I touched on this last week, I thought I would share what Piper says here:

"Television is one of the greatest life-wasters of the modern age. And, of course, the Internet is running to catch up, and may have caught up. You can be more selective on the Internet, but you can also select worse things with only the Judge of the universe watching. TV still reigns as the great life-waster. The main problem with TV is not how much smut is available, though that is a problem. Just the ads are enough to sow fertile seeds of greed and lust, no matter what program you’re watching. The greater problem is banality. A mind fed daily on TV diminishes. Your mind was made to know and love God. Its facility for this great is ruined by excessive TV. The content is so trivial and so shallow that the capacity of the mind to think worthy thoughts withers, and the capacity of the heart to feel deep emotions shrivels. Neil Postman shows why.

What is happening in America is that television is transforming all serious public business into junk. . . . Television disdains exposition, which is serious, sequential, rational, and complex. It offers instead a mode of discourse in which everything is accessible, simplistic, concrete, and above all, entertaining. As a result, America is the world’s first culture in jeopardy of amusing itself to death."

Now, if we're feeling cynical, we might just say that Piper is being an irrelevant old-timer here, and Piper needs to lighten up and see that they times are a'changing. However, as a twenty-something who finds himself perpetually distracted while attempting to be perpetually focused, I have begun to realize that many of the things we enjoy do, in fact, form a fog obscuring our thinking. Let me give an example.

How many times have you come to the computer with a particular task, only to moments later forget why you came to the computer... You check your email, facebook, our blog... only to forget why you actually sat down in that chair. My strategy that I've been developing (and I'm still working on this) is to look at the clock, decide when I'm going to be done, and to mentally settle what tasks I'm at the computer to accomplish.

Sometimes it's just time to check my RSS feeds. But even my RSS feeds can be distracting, so I've had to shed a lot of them. For example, I dropped my daily updates from Mises.org since economics and general anger with the government has dropped on my priority list. This helps me to spend less time sorting through things which I simply shouldn't bother wasting time thinking about.

Sometimes I'm at the computer working on a blog post. As an example, since that is that task I am performing right now, I have settled that no matter what, I'm getting up from the computer at 8:45 am. If I'm not done, I'll have to come back later. This keeps me from finishing my task, then wandering around the internet looking for videos of bulldogs licking window panes.

One of my other personal rules/practices is that I do not use the computer, check email, etc. until I have finished my Bible reading for the day. I've been using the ESV Bible Daily Reading Plan for several months now, and I make it a priority that The Bible is number one in my daily activities. Only after I have finished with the highest priority activities will I deal in less important affairs such as writing about how I prioritize my daily activities on Bring the Books.

I am interested to see/hear/read about some of the ways that our readers try to fight the lethargic draw of the internet while actually using the internet. For my part, I can honestly say I haven't gotten the balance figured out yet, but if we as Christians are to survive in this age of distraction, we have to find strategies, methods, and practices which we can take with us through life since, unless Al Gore shuts it down, the internet is probably here to stay.

Chris Farley and Divine Grace

The notion of love is something that would be a wonderful thing. I don't think I've ever experienced it, other than the love of my family. At this point, it's something beyond my grasp. But I can imagine it, and longing for it makes me sad. -Chris Farley

I've just finished reading The Chris Farley Show, which was written by his brother, Tom Farley, Jr. The book is largely interviews with friends and associates of Chris, and it chronicles his life in show business up to his fateful death in the Hancock Building in Chicago.

What struck me most about Farley's life - especially his later struggles - was his constant consumption. His end desire was love and delight and joy, and yet that desire was something to be found within himself. Especially in his later days, he expressed in private conversations with friends, his desire to be free, to have joy, to find real love. And then he would time and time again go on benders, consuming all of the food that he could, drinking all day long, consuming copious amounts of drugs - all with the end goal of personal fulfillment. He would have nights where he would start drinking at 8 p.m. and he would still be partying and drinking by the next morning at 11 a.m.

In many ways, like King Solomon, Chris Farley did not deny himself even the slightest desire. He would use his money to ride around the biggest cities, hiring prostitutes, purchasing heroine, cocaine, and weed, and drinking far beyond what any of those with him could consume. All the while, he was a dreadful wreck, seeing occasional breaks in the clouds, through which he could glimpse the joy he sensed in his heart was out there, beyond his grasp (and it is most certainly beyond all our grasps without the power of God).

When Chris Farley died, he had been awake for four days straight, drinking, snorting coke, spending lots of money on prostitutes. As he was dying, the prostitute took a photo of him, stole his watch and started leaving the room. He then said to her the last thing he ever said to anybody: "Please, don't leave me."

He was a spiritual man who took some solace in his Catholic faith, but many reflected that Farley felt a constant need to prove himself worthy to God. According to his priest, Farley never seemed to move beyond this need to prove his worth to God. If only someone had told Chris that only by surrendering to Christ and admitting his inability to be worthy of God's love could one find freedom, joy, and unconditional love. In this book, one sees the frustration his friends have with Chris' poor decisions, but none of them have the framework of truth and reality to share in a way that is helpful or conducive to lasting joy. And of course, only Chris could have ultimately been responsible for his bad decisions and his destructive lifestyle.

When we consider that without the grace of God, none of us would practice restraint or moderation - lost or saved, I can't help but think that Farley's latter days illustrate all too well the place that we would all be at, given the means and the opportunity. Apart from the grace of God, none of us has the ability to bring joy into our lives. Without this grace, man can only turn inward to find fulfillment and satisfaction.

Left Speechless By The Suffering in Haiti

Last night, I was preparing some things to say about the devastation in Haiti. I was planning on dealing with the issue of the sovereignty of God and the suffering of the people there. Then, this morning, my wife and I watched this special sermon from Mark Driscoll, and I've been left nearly speechless. I still have a lot of theological thoughts, but John Piper is right in saying that these are things we need to teach ourselves and others BEFORE the earthquake strikes. Now is a time for the Church to pastorally minister and to give. There may come a time where we can discuss suffering and the sovereignty of God, I just don't feel, after watching this video, that now is the time for me, personally, to tackle the issue.

A few days after the earthquake happened, Driscoll was in Haiti, seeing the state of the Haitian church, and honestly, after watching it, all I can say is that the Church universal needs to see this video.

I felt convicted about a dozen times during the course of watching and hearing the things that are happening there. The most convicting part of the video was when Driscoll encountered a pastor whose daughter had been badly injured. He waited in a makeshift tent while his daughter suffered for seven days (a cinderblock had fallen on her face), and all because he didn't have the $15 needed to take a cab to get medical assistance for her. For me, at this stage in life, $15 still feels like a lot of money. But we are so wealthy here in the United States that even meager giving on my part, I'm convinced, can do a lot of good. I hope that the events in Haiti will continue to receive the utmost giving and attention by the Church around the world.

I am convinced that because the Haitian government is all by non-existent, the people of Haiti will be looking to the Church to see how much we love Jesus, and we need to show it by our generosity. This has been a tremendously convicting time for me, and I hope that you will all take the time to watch Driscoll's sermon as he relates the 36 hours that he spent in Haiti.

King and Servant Show 6

Jonathan and Bryan discuss Christian evangelism and why many Christians struggle to share and proclaim the gospel.

Others shows can now be found at www.kingandservant.com

Sermons by Jonathan Goundry

As many of you know, Jonathan Goundry is one of the bloggers here at Bring the Books. But what you might not know is that Jonathan is also an elder at Great Oak Baptist Church. His sermons preached there (and elsewhere I presume) can be found here. I would recommend giving them a listen. Jonathan is a great communicator and solid in his understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Well worth the time spent!

Jonathan Edwards learned it, John Piper learned it, and so did John Owen

I couldn't help but be reminded of Jonathan Edwards' famous sermon on Divine Light while reading John Owen today. John Owen writes:

Moreover, be not contented to have right notions of the love of Christ in your minds unless you can attain a gracious taste of it in your hearts; no more than you would be to see a feast or banquet richly prepared and not partake of it for your refreshment. It is of that nature that we may have a spiritual sensation of it in our minds; whence it is compared by the Spouse to apples and flagons of wine. We may taste that the Lord is gracious; and if we find nor a relish of it in our hearts, we shall not long retain the notion of it in our minds. Christ is the meat, the bread, the food of our souls. Nothing in Him is of a higher spiritual nourishment than His love, which we should always desire.

In this love He is glorious; for it is such as no creatures, angels or men, could have the least conception of, before its manifestation by its effects; and, after its manifestation, it is in this world absolutely incomprehensible. (1:338)

Jonathan Edwards 50 years later would write:

Thus there is a difference between having an opinion, that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness. A man may have the former, that knows not how honey tastes; but a man cannot have the latter unless he has an idea of the taste of honey in his mind. So there is a difference between believing that a person is beautiful, and having a sense of his beauty. The former may be obtained by hearsay, but the latter only by seeing the countenance. There is a wide difference between mere speculative rational judging any thing to be excellent, and having a sense of its sweetness and beauty. The former rests only in the head, speculation only is concerned in it; but the heart is concerned in the latter. When the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension. It is implied in a person's being heartily sensible of the loveliness of a thing, that the idea of it is sweet and pleasant to his soul; which is a far different thing from having a rational opinion that it is excellent.

Gospel Coalition 2009 Audio

The video and audio are now available here for the 2009 Gospel Coalition. The conference was great. The speakers were excellent. I would make sure to listen to Bryan Chapell and Ligon Duncan. Keep in mind, when listening to Chapell, he had no notes with him, amazing!

I was able to have dinner with Ligon Duncan. That was great. We talk about everything from PCA polity to Ph.D. programs. I was also about to steal about 30 minutes of Phil Ryken's time. Thanks to fellow staff member Mike Lynch, I was able to tour the IPV warehouse. That was pretty neat to see how that all work. Also, Mike and I had lunch at a haunted restaurant, the Country House. We sat at table 13, the one that is said to be haunted (but I do not buy it). I was able to get tons of free books (thank you Steve from P&R). Free books are always cool. As you can tell, I had a blast. I would highly recommend attending the Gospel Coalition next time.

Gospel Coalition 2009

Since my schedule was not busy enough, I decided to attended two conferences back to back this month. Last week I attended the Twin Lakes Fellowship (see the posts below). This week I am attending the Gospel Coalition conference in Chicago. Two friends (Jason Hollister and Jason Dalton) and myself leave tomorrow morning at 7:30 am for an eleven hour plus drive from Jackson, MS to Chicago, IL. I will be part of a group from Reformed Theological Seminary that will be exhibiting at the conference. If you are attending look for the RTS booth and stop by to say hello. I will try to post while I am in Chicago, but if not, I will post a review when I return home.

Perspicuity of Scripture and its Implications

London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 1 Paragraph 77.
All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them.( 2 Peter 3:16; Psalms 19:7; Psalms 119:130)

I begin with the LBCF Chapter 1 Paragraph 7 that clearly (no pun intended) teaches the perspicuity of scripture on the matters of salvation and redemption. This biblical truth sets Christianity above all other religious claims. For example, the Bahai faith teaches that revelation is a manifestation of divine ideas that don't actually give transcendent unchanging truth. Or Islam that teaches that Allah is unknowable, or the Gnostics who believes in secret knowledge, or Buddhist that believe you should empty yourself of thought in order to reach nirvana. All such views of revelation are self defeating, undermining the very claim of having divine revelation. But in Scripture we have the very thoughts of God communicated to man by way of revelation in the form of propositional truths (Deut 18:18, 1 Cor 2:16b, Col 1:26). This of course is what makes the gospel news (Rom 1:16). We know that it is news because it disclosures the truth of the only way of man's salvation, which others wise would not be knowable (Eph 2:12). This is a wonderful truth that we can know truth! And that those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them. This has many implications. It means that the gospel is to be known and understood; it is not meant to be some unsolvable conundrum or paradox. But rather it is the very Word of God spoken to man that is able to save our very souls! (Jam 1:21) With this being the case it means that churches have no excuse in getting the essential gospel message wrong. It can not be the failure of the all wise God who has sufficiently communicate his will to man through the faith once and for all delivered to the saints (Jud 3). But rather the failure of the saints, or supposed saints, who have in some cases for some reason, decided to distort gospel truth in order to promote some ulterior agenda.

But that being said, true saints love the gospel, some are willing even to die for it. However, there are still some challenging implications for churches that have the gospel and believe in the perspicuity scripture. First, it implies that we should be busy with evangelism, after all we have the good news (Mark 16:15). But secondly, and this is where I have observed some deficiencies, we should be training up other man in order that the gospel can impact the church of tomorrow. Paul instructed Timothy that he was to entrust the gospel to other faithful man, who in turn would be able to teach others (2 Tim 2:2). How could Paul say this to Timothy if he didn't have a degree in theology? The reason he could instruct Timothy this way is because of what he was entrusting to him; namely the perspicuous teachings of Scripture concerning salvation in Jesus Christ. Now of course there is much need for scholarship and higher academic training today, but we can't make such training the necessary prerequisite for church leadership or missionary work.

So my challenge would be this: Does your church right now have men ready to the lead after the current leadership is no longer there? Thank God for the perspicuity of scripture, which allows us teach timeless transcendent understandable truth to all people from every walk of life. Lets us make the most of what God has revealed to us in scripture for the generations to come. Enough said.

What is the Gospel?

I have been having a conversation with a few of my fellow seminary students. We have been discussing what are the necessary elements of the Gospel. In other words, what must be given and said in order for the Gospel to be preached? So, I wanted to let our readers join in on this conversation. I ask you, the reader, what are the necessary pieces of the Gospel? What truths must be given to a person so that at the end we can say that the Gospel has been preached?