Scripture warns, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8, ESV). As followers of Christ, we need to be vigilant, constantly on guard, and discerning good from evil. One of the ways that the worldly system “takes us captive” is by marginalizing truth or eliminating it altogether. It is important to understand that the worldly system militates against the Christian view of truth. Is it any wonder, then, that the importance of truth is highlighted so much in Scripture?
David Understood the Importance of Truth
King David acknowledged that since God is truth, he expects his people to live truthful lives. He writes, “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart” (Ps. 51:6, ESV).
The implications of David’s words are massive as we consider our inward motivations, conversations, and the way we conduct our lives. Ask yourself, “Am I a person that is committed to the truth?” “Does the love for truth undergird my life and worldview?”
Paul Spoke Often About the Truth
The apostle begins the book of Titus with these revealing words: “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness” (Titus 1:1, ESV) . Notice the relationship between truth and godliness. Indeed, they are intimately connected. “The truth of the Gospel,” writes Warren Wiersbe, “changes a life from ungodliness.”1 As Christians, we unapologetically adhere to the truth. We must not only adhere to the truth; it must stand at the very center of our lives.
Additionally, Paul referred to the church as ” … a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15, ESV). The church, then, is God’s appointed means of declaring the word of God to the nations. Ask yourself, “How is God using me to declare the truth to my community?” “How is God using me to declare the truth to the nations?”
Paul Warned People Who Abandon the Truth
Scripture is packed with examples of people who abandoned the truth. Paul writes, “This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth” (Titus 1:13–14, ESV). Tragically, this trend continues in our generation. Young people are turning away from the truth by the thousands. College students are manipulated and deceived by professors who peddle a worldview that opposes historic Christianity. Hearts are cold to God’s revealed truth. Ask yourself, “Am I pursuing the truth or am I fleeing from the truth?” “Do I have a sinful unbelieving heart that is turning away from the living God?” (Heb. 3:12).
Peter Pressed Home the Importance of Truth.
Peter is an interesting character to be sure. Here is a man who denied Jesus, the very embodiment of truth – three times! Yet, he was forgiven and restored and was used in a mighty way to spread a passion for the truth of God:
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart … (1 Peter 1:22, ESV).
Ask yourself, “Do I obey the truth?” “Am I established in the truth?”
John Had a Passion for the Truth.
The apostle John was a warm-hearted Christian thinker who had a passion for the truth. Listen to how this God-centered man expressed his love for the truth:
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18, ESV).
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth (3 John 4, ESV) .
Jesus Spoke Plainly About the Truth
Finally, we turn our attention to Jesus, the One who made the startling claim that he was in fact the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The importance that Jesus attaches to truth cannot be denied:
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth (John 17:17, ESV).
… and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32, ESV)
Conclusion
All spiritual growth is based on a knowledge of truth. Yet countless people, even people in the church are discarding truth and walking down paths that fail to honor and glorify God. Al Mohler warns, “Departing a Christian worldview leads to a distrust of final truth and a rejection of universal authority, which then hides the way back to the God of the Bible.”2 As followers of Jesus Christ, may we cling to the truth, proclaim the truth, and defend the truth. May we stand with the men and women throughout redemptive history who were willing to lay their lives down for the great cause of truth. May the cry of our hearts be, “nothing but the truth!”
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 260). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. ↩
Albert Mohler, The Gathering Storm: Secularism: Culture, and the Church (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2020), 11. ↩
In Doug Pagitt’s book, Flipped, the author sets out to fundamentally transform the classical view of God. This transformation is creative and innovative. It is intuitive and will attract the attention of many readers.
Pagitt sets forth three goals at the beginning of the book:
To see that changing your mind, drawing new conclusions, and engaging new ideas all lie at the heart of Jesus’s message and life.
To behold the big, beautiful story of God as you find new ways to live in it.
To invite readers to a full and vibrant life in God.
The basic idea that runs through this book is what the author refers to as a “flip” – which is nothing short of revising one’s views about God, Scripture, and the Christian life in general. Pagitt adds, “The Flip at the center of this book is one that turned me around as a pastor and a Christian writer as well as my personal life and faith.”
The Flip That Flopped
Several “flips” are addressed in this work. But the one that keeps surfacing concerns a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of God. At the heart of this book is a commitment to panentheism. This worldview, also known as process theology is a radical departure from the traditional understanding of God, yet is receiving a hearing in the emergent church and some liberal churches. One might consider such a view a halfway house between theism and pantheism. But make no mistake – panentheism is outside the scope of historical orthodoxy.
All is in God?
To be fair, the author never uses the word, panentheism. Yet this panentheistic theme runs throughout the book. Pagitt argues, “God is not a separate single subject … If God were not a separate being from all things in the cosmos, then we need not simply say God exists. We can say that God is existence. All is in God.” Such language is the classic lingo of panentheism.
My initial impression: Surely this is a typo! The author can’t possibly mean what he is saying. But as I continued to read, my suspicions were confirmed. “… All that exists is In God,” writes Pagitt. He tries to justify this “flip” by appealing to the rationale from Acts 17:28 where Paul quotes Epimenides of Crete: “In him, we live and move and have our being.”
In addition to promoting panentheism, the author posits the notion of universalism: “Beyond that, the power of God that was alive in Jesus is alive in us. In short, the fullness of God is active in humanity without assistance from any religious system.” He continues, “Instead, we can recognize that all people live, move, and exist In God.”
Evaluation
Flipped is a radical departure from the biblical understanding of God. The notion that all people “exist In God” simply fails to match the biblical data. Much to the contrary, we find a distinction between the Creator and the creature. Whenever one denies such a distinction he makes a dangerous theological move with several critical implications. What are the implications of denying the Creator-creature distinction?
Misreads and misinterprets Scripture.
Compromises God’s character.
Compromises biblical authority.
Minimizes the transcendence of God and emphasizes the immanence of God in biblically inappropriate ways.
Readers should recall how God is truly presented in Scripture. He is never presented in a panentheistic scheme – ever! Rather, he is presented as the absolute personal God. This absolute God is transcendent; that is to say, he is over and above the scope of the universe. He is distinct and independent of his creation (Isa. 57:15; Isa. 40:10). He is preeminent (Isa. 40:25-28; 44:6-8). Jonathan Edwards adds, “His power is infinite, and none can resist him. His riches are immense and inexhaustible. His majesty is infinitely awful.” And God carries supreme authority over all. Nothing rivals the supreme authority of God (Job 41:10; 37:9-14).
The Triune God holds all things together. In a few words, St. Paul demonstrates both the transcendence and the imminence of God: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible; whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him, all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17, ESV). God is sovereign (Dan. 4:34-35). Nothing can thwart his sovereign decrees! He isdistinct from the created order (Acts 17:24-29). And the Bible tells us that God is wholly other (Isa. 46:9). This is a far cry from people who “exist In God.”
God is not only absolute; he is personal. He cares for his creation. He is intimately involved with his creation and he delights to meet the needs of his creatures.
God is the Sustainer (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). He is the Healer (2 Chron. 7:14). He is the Protector (2 Sam. 22:2). He is the Shepherd (Ps. 23:1-6). He is the Forgiver (Rom. 5:1). And Scripture demonstrates the ultimate love that God expressed on the Cross when Jesus died for sinners (Rom. 5:8).
Flipped will likely attract many readers; especially readers who are committed to theological liberalism. The author seeks to fundamentally transform the vision of God by convincing readers that “… All that exists is In God.” The only problem: The view presented here is dead wrong.
A.W. Tozer understood the importance of getting God right. He rightly noted in his best-selling book, The Knowledge of God:
The gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most [awe-inspiring] fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his heart conceives God to be like … So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards decline along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.
May followers of Christ heed Tozer’s advice. We certainly do not need to flip our views of God. Any deviation from the biblical vision of God will have tragic consequences in the church and the culture in which she seeks to minister. Any flip will become a flop that ignores the clear teaching of Scripture.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
Dr. R.C. Sproul was a theological titan, teacher, preacher, and defender of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He articulated the deep realities of the gospel in simple terms and invited anyone with ears to hear to come along for the ride. R.C. urged us to memorize Luther’s famous line that “justification is the article upon which the church stands or falls.” Nate Pickowicz captures the essence of Sproul’s life and legacy in his outstanding book, R.C. Sproul: Defender of the Reformed Faith.
Pickowicz beautifully summarizes Sproul’s life, theological commitments, and accomplishments in a short readable volume. Readers unfamiliar with R.C. Sproul will be implored to get busy reading; those who followed Sproul’s ministry will be drawn in, challenged intellectually, and moved deeply in the heart.
I urge followers of Christ to read and reflect on R.C. Sproul: Defender of the Reformed Faith.
The opening verses of Psalm 2 unveil the rebels who resist the authority of God. This passage reveals the posture of rebels who are poised to dethrone God. These rebels rage against God and plot against him (v. 1). They oppose the LORD and his anointed (v. 2). These rebels make autonomy their ultimate goal (v. 3). They want to be free from God’s demands. They want to be free from God’s laws. And these recalcitrant rebels seek freedom from God’s reign and his rule.
Here’s the fascinating irony: Every rebel who searches for freedom apart from God is in bondage, and will, in the final analysis, be subjected to the almighty wrath of God. When you flee from Christ to be free from Christ you build a self-imposed prison around your life. Stated another way, when you submit to Christ’s lordship, you will rest securely in your newfound freedom.
The essential message of Psalm 2:1-5 is this: We enter the danger zone when we resist God’s rule and reign in our lives. How then, should people live before God? Psalm 2:6-12 provides an important answer. We will learn that rebels must recognize Christ’s right to rule and respond reverently to his kingly authority. Then and only then, will we find ourselves in the safety zone.
RECOGNIZE HIS RIGHT TO RULE
God possesses royal authority. He is a transcendent and majestic God who deserves our unhindered reverence and obedience. Notice several aspects of his kingly reign.
The Components of God’s Kingly Reign
First, the installation of the King (v. 6). There is a crucial distinction here between the Father and the Son: “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, on my holy hill.” Note the exalted status of his kingly reign. To set someone in a particular place suggests a unique position.
Christ is presented as his enemies’ King. C.H. Spurgeon says, “What are all the mighty men, the great, the honorable men of the earth to Jesus Christ? They are but like a little bubble in the water; for if all the nations, in comparison to God, be but as the drop in the bucket, or the dust in the balance (Isa. 40:25), how little they must be the kings of the earth!”1 Christ is presented as his saints’ King. Christ rules “over their wills, over their affections, over their judgments and understandings, and nobody hath anything to do here but Christ,” writes Spurgeon.2 Christ is presented as his Father’s King. Christ not only rules in the hearts of his people; he rules over a “providential kingdom, by which he rules the affairs of this world, and so he is the king of nations.”3
Psalm 99:1-5 emphasizes this reign. Indeed, his reign is righteous, sovereign, and omnipotent. His is a just and holy reign. This is the kind of King you would want to serve. This is the kind of King you would want to submit to. This is the kind of King you can find refuge in!
Second, we learn about the position of the King (v. 7). The Son speaks of a decree: “God’s decrees are the wise, free, and holy acts of the counsel of his will, whereby, from all eternity, he hath, for his own glory, unchangeably foreordained whatsoever comes to pass in time.”4
The decree tells of the eternal begetting of the Son. The Nicene Creed (revised in 381) confesses faith in “one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from the Father before all time, Light from Light true God from true God, begotten not created.”
John Frame helps us understand the meaning of the term, begotten:
Among human beings, begetting normally occurs in a sexual relationship. It occurs in time so that a human being who did not exist at one time comes into existence at a later time. But eternal begetting is surely neither sexual nor temporal, nor does it bring into existence someone who otherwise would not have existed, for God is a necessary being, and all three divine persons share the attribute of necessary existence.5
Third, Psalm 2:8 describes the inheritance of the King: “As of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” The inheritance of Christ is absolutely comprehensive. There is nothing outside the scope of his sovereign control. That is, his kingly reign knows no bounds. He owns everything; he rules over everything and everyone. He is sovereign over the nations; he is sovereign over rulers; he is sovereign over our decisions; he is sovereign over our wills; he is sovereign over all. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory, forever. Amen” (Rom. 12:36). Abraham Kuyper rightly observes, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”
Fourth, Psalm 2:9 describes the judgment of the King. The focus on verse 9 is on them. The focus is on the rebels who resist God’s rightful rule and reign in their lives. The focus is on the rebels who refuse to recognize Christ’s right to rule. John Stott describes the judgment of God as his “steady, unrelenting, unremitting, uncompromising, antagonism to evil in all its forms and manifestations.”6
Are you numbered among the rebels who refuse to recognize Christ’s right to rule and reign in your life? There comes a time when every person is faced with a reality check. Christ has been installed as the King. He has a high and holy position. Indeed, he is exalted above everything and everyone. He will judge every person who resists his rightful rule and reign. His wrath will fall on every person who refuses to recognize his sovereign rule. With the reality before us, the psalmist helps rebels understand this important principle: We must not only recognize Christ’s right to rule; we must respond reverently to his kingly authority!
RESPOND REVERENTLY TO HIS KINGLY AUTHORITY
Pay careful attention! This passage is marked off by the words, “Now, therefore” (v. 10). The psalmist urges us to “be wise.” He urges us to “be warned.” Three responses, therefore, are appropriate from those who respond reverently to his kingly authority.
Three Responses
First, serve Christ. ”Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Ps. 2:11). The Hebrew term for serve means “to work; to toil; to accomplish something.” But the word also has the flavor of worship:
““And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” (Deuteronomy 10:12, ESV).
“You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 13:4, ESV)
“Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (Psalm 100:2, ESV)
Serving Christ, according to Psalm 2:11 involves serving the LORD with fear. “Genuine faith is expressed in, and animated by, a reverential awe, and this is the basic meaning of the biblical idea of the fear of God. Unless there is personal awareness of the awesome and majestic sovereignty of God, it is impossible to have a meaningful faith existing in one’s heart.”7 God-centered fear is struck with the majesty of God, which expresses reverence to him. God-centered fear involves a mixture of rejoicing and trembling. When we come into his presence, we are filled with joy and Christ-exalting awe!
Second, submit to Christ. ”Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way …” (v. 12a). Remember, this King as been installed. His is a lofty position. And his inheritance includes all things. Our responsibility, then, is to kiss the Son. That is, we must submit to the One who is sovereign over all things:
We submit to him when he calls us to love our neighbors.
We submit to him when he calls us to love our enemies.
We submit to him when he calls us to put him first – above all things.
We submit to him when he demands us to repudiate our idols.
We submit to Christ by laying down our arms, turning from our rebellion, and by turning to him in faith.
We kiss the Son.
The consequences are terrible and traumatic for anyone who refuses to submit to God and kiss the Son, namely, the almighty wrath of God. This is a punishment that the unrepentant will endure eternally. John writes, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36, ESV).
Responding reverently to Christ’s authority involves serving him and submitting to him. But there is a third requirement, namely, satisfaction in Christ. The Bible speaks of the one who takes refuge in Christ. To seek refuge is to find safety. To find safety is to be satisfied and to find refuge under his wings (Ps. 36:7; Ruth 2:12). God is called a child for those who take refuge in him (2 Sam. 22:31). Over and over again, we are told in Scripture that the one who takes refuge in Christ will be blessed:
“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.” (Psalm 5:11, ESV)
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8, ESV)
“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” (Nahum 1:7, ESV)
The sum total of service, submission, and finding satisfaction in Christ boils down to this: it involves living a repentant life; one that responds reverently to his kingly authority. You show me a person who refuses to serve Christ, submit to Christ, and find satisfaction in him and I’ll show you a person who has no clue about living a repentant life. Robert Letham says, “In short, the believer is a repentant believer or he is no believer at all.”
But you show me a person who recognizes Christ’s right to rule and responds reverently to his kingly authority, I’ll show you a person who is truly blessed; a person who is living in the safety zone.
What is the proper response to Christ’s kingly authority? We are to respond reverently by serving him, submitting to him, and finding our satisfaction in him. Each response is an act of worship.
Are you responding reverently to Christ’s kingly authority? Can you say that your service to God is a reflection of how you respond to him? Do you submit to his authority? Do you humbly submit to the authority of your employer? Wives, do you humbly submit to the authority of your husband? Children, do you humbly submit to the authority of your parents? Each of these questions is a snapshot of how you respond to the kingly authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
We must recognize Christ’s right to rule and respondreverently to his kingly authority. And we respond reverently to his kingly authority by serving Christ, submitting to Christ, and finding our satisfaction in Christ.
Recognizing Christ’s right to rule and responding reverently to his kingly authority is another way of saying that you are exercising faith in God. Several years ago, I served at a church that tore down a building that was packed with asbestos. We hired a firm to remove the hazardous material. Here’s what we were told: Anyone on the premises must wear a hazmat (hazardous materials) suit which is combined with a self-contained breathing apparatus.
Faith in Christ is the “hazmat suit” that shields us from the wrath of God. Don’t presume upon God’s grace. All rebels will face God’s almighty wrath. But everyone who believes in Christ and his triumphant work on the cross will know eternal life and stand secure in the safety zone!
We must recognize Christ’s right to rule and respond reverently to his kingly authority. And we respond reverently to his kingly authority by serving Christ, submitting to Christ, and finding our satisfaction in Christ. Then and only then, will we find ourselves standing in the safety zone.
Soli Deo Gloria!
C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David (Peabody: Hendrickson), 16. ↩
Scripture affirms that men and women are equal in importance and personhood, created in the image of God, and created to reflect his glory (Gen. 1:26-27; Isa. 43:7).
Scripture affirms important distinctions of roles between men and women and establishes a biblical framework for authority, including male headship, which was instituted prior to the Fall (1 Cor. 11:7-9; Eph. 5:21-33; Col. 3:18-19; 1 Tim. 2:11-15).
While the Fall created gender confusion and distorted God’s intended design for men and women, the redemptive work of God in Christ seeks to erase the distortions that were inaugurated at the curse.
In this biblical model, husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25-30). Wives happily submit to this sacrificial love (Eph. 5:22-24). When men and women fulfill their God-ordained roles by living according to his design, namely, for husbands to love their wives and for wives to respect their husbands, they put the glory of God on display!
The Trinity provides a model for interpersonal relationships.
The Trinity helps us see equality that exists among men and women, clergy and laypeople, employers and employees, etc.
The Trinity helps us see the role distinctions between men and women.
The Trinity provides us with a framework for authority; i.e. the Son submits to the Father, and the Holy Spirit submits to the Son, etc.
The Trinity shows how to find joy in a relationship where there are clearly defined role distinctions.
As a complementarian, I affirm the responsibility of biblically qualified men to serve as elders in the household of God and to lead and shepherd the people of God (1 Tim. 2:11-15; 1 Cor. 14:34-36; 11:2-16).1 Therefore, the office of elder/pastor is reserved for men.
I deny an egalitarian framework that rejects role distinctions between men and women.2
“1 Timothy 2:8-15 imposes two restrictions on the ministry of women: they are not to teach Christian doctrine to men and they are not to exercise authority directly over men in the church.” See Douglas Moo, John Piper and Wayne Grudem, Ed. Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood (Wheaton: Crossway, 1991), 180. ↩
Mark Dever alerts us to the troubling trend of egalitarianism: “… There may be no way the authority of Scripture is being undermined more quickly or more thoroughly in our day than through the hermeneutics of egalitarian readings of the Bible. And when the authority of Scripture is undermined, the gospel will not long be acknowledged.” Cited in Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism (Wheaton: Crossway, 2006), 19. ↩
On this day March 22, 1758, Jonathan Edwards reached the shores of the Celestial City. Edwards reminds readers that there are on a journey towards heaven. The title of the message is The Christian Pilgrim.
Section 1 – A Pilgrimage to Heaven
“We ought above all things to desire a heavenly happiness; to be with God; and dwell with Jesus Christ,” argues the Puritan divine. This is a journey to heaven, which is the way of holiness. Such a journey requires travelers to set aside anything that hinders progress to our heavenly home (Heb. 12:1). Edwards continues,
We should travel on in the way of obedience to all God’s commands, even the difficult as well as the easy; denying all our sinful inclinations and interests. The way to heaven is ascending; we must be content to travel up hill, though it be hard and tiresome, and contrary to the natural bias of our flesh. We should follow Christ; the path he travelled, was the right way to heaven … The way to heaven is a heavenly life; an imitation of those who are in heaven, in their holy enjoyments, loving, adoring, serving, and praising God and the Lamb. Even if we could go to heaven with the gratification of our lusts, we should prefer a way of holiness and conformity to the spiritual self-denying rules of the gospel.
The highway to heaven is a difficult journey; one that will be met with hardship along the way. However difficult the journey may be, travelers must be constantly growing in holiness: “We should be endeavoring to come nearer to heaven, in being more heavenly; becoming more and more like the inhabitants of heaven … We ought to be hungering and thirsting after righteousness; after an increase in righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:2).
Section 2 – Why the Christian’s Life is a Pilgrimage
Edwards marks out four specific reasons that our life on this earth is a mere pilgrimage.
This world is not our abiding place.
The future world was designed to be our settled and everlasting abode.
Heaven is that place alone where our highest end, and highest good, is to be obtained.
Our present state, and all that belongs to it, is designed by him that made all things, to be wholly in order to another world.
Section 3 – Instruction Afforded by the Consideration that Life is a Pilgrimage to Heaven
Edwards infuses his readers with heavenly perspective in section three. He is quick to remind them of the heavenly lot of Christ-followers: “If they lived a holy life, then their lives were a journey towards heaven. And why should we be immoderate in mourning, when they are got to their journey’s end? Death, though it appears to us with a frightful aspect, is to them a great blessing. Their end is happy, and better than their beginning.”
Section 4 – An Exhortation in the Journey to Heaven
Edwards concludes by encouraging his readers to think much about heaven: “Labour to obtain such a disposition of mind that you may choose heaven for your inheritance and home; and may earnestly long for it, and be willing to change this world, and all its enjoyments, for heaven.”
Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 3: Spirit and Salvation (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2022), 1171 pp.
Theology should draw readers close to the heart of God. It should stimulate and stretch the mind. It should warm and elevate the affections. It should soothe the soul. It should convict the heart. And it should move hands and feet forward in Christian service. Indeed, theology should prompt the unhindered and passionate worship of the living God.
The third volume of Reformed Systematic Theology by Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley accomplishes all of the above objectives. It has been my pleasure to read and review each volume in this excellent series. Like the first two volumes, the authors draw from the deep well of Reformed thought and alert readers to the importance of systematic theology. Volume 3 focuses on pneumatology and soteriology. The chapters have a rigorous, yet devotional feel. The authors leave no stone unturned. They wrestle with competing views with grace and respect but are also quick to reveal their own convictions.
I’m happy to offer a wholehearted endorsement of this installment. It is a treasure chest, filled with biblical jewels that will encourage and equip followers of Jesus Christ for many years to come.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
Nancy Pearcey, Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions About Life and Sexuality Grand Rapids: Baker, 2018, 337 pp. $15.31
The publication of Nancy Pearcey’s book, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity sent shockwaves throughout the evangelical world and help equip a new generation of apologists. Total Truth confronted the notion that scientific knowledge and moral knowledge are separated into two domains. The lower story includes objective truths that are public and valid for all people. This is the realm of empirical science. These truths are true and verifiable. The upper story includes the realm of moral knowledge which is private, relative, and subjective. Hence, the so-called unified concept of truth was obliterated and separated into two domains.
Pearcey’s previous works, Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning and Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes have also left an indelible mark on the church and culture at large. The impact of these books on me personally, cannot be overstated. My suspicion is that many people would concur.
Nancy Pearcey’s newest offering, Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality pick up where the other titles left off. The overarching goal of Love Thy Body is to “uncover the worldview that drives the secular ethic.” Ultimately, the book is designed to “show that a secular morality doesn’t fit the real universe.”
Readers familiar with Pearcey will quickly see the influence of Francis Schaeffer on her thought. It was Schaeffer who originally exposed the so-called “fact/value” split which has created a fractured epistemology that continues to be propagated today.
Pearcey shows the practical outgrowth of this fragmented worldview (or the two-story worldview) by pointing to several contemporary culture matters including abortion, euthanasia, “same-sex marriage,” and transgenderism. She helps readers understand how these various worldviews have been smuggled into our culture and links each of them to the two-story dichotomy.
Readers will be encouraged and challenged to walk through the argument of Love Thy Body and will be better equipped to not only contend with culture but also reach out to people who have been deceived by a pagan worldview.
Readers will discover that Pearcey’s argument is not combative. Rather, her heart cries for people who have been co-opted by this deviant worldview. She pleads with readers to reach out and love people with Christ-centered love: “Christians must present biblical morality in a way that reveals the beauty of the biblical view of the human person so that people actually want it to be true.”
Love Thy Body is a book that is filled with description and prescription. Facts and figures run through the book but the author is not content to leave her readers with data alone. She sets forth a workable prescription which is set on helping people and healing them at the deepest level. Therefore, “We must work to educate and persuade on a worldview level,” writes Pearcey. Such an approach is imperative if Christ-followers have any hope of reaching a lost world with the saving message of the gospel. Running through the book is a mindset that Pearcey, no doubt, learned from Schaeffer, namely, sharing the gospel with a tear in one’s eye.
Love Thy Body is riveting, challenging, educational, a shot to the heart, a challenge for the mind, and bold push for the feet. It will spark controversy in some venues and may even precipitate debate in the local church. Surely, this kind of debate is necessary as Christians seek to influence culture for God’s glory.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
It has been said that one of the greatest problems that plagues contemporary people is unresolved guilt. Sin squeezes the life out of unwitting victims. Sins of omission, sins of commission, sins of regret, neglect, fear, ungodly anger, broken relationships, and insubordination pose a massive threat to the well-being of well-meaning people.
No one is excluded from this sinful parade. We have all committed sin. We are sinners by nature and by choice – and as a result, guilt rears its ugly head. Sometimes the guilt waits to surface until we’re all alone. For some of us, guilt is a constant note on the musical score sheet of our lives. For others, the only time we feel guilt is when we hear a preacher remind us about our sin.
Here is the problem: Apart from the grace of God, we all stand before the bar of God’s justice – and we stand condemned. Apart from the grace of God – we are guilty.
The sound of the gavel is unmistakable in a courtroom setting. When the gavel falls, it reminds us that a verdict has been reached. It announces the guilt or innocence of the defendant.
In 1 John 2, the apostle John ushers us into the celestial courtroom and answers the question, “What is the greatest need of sinners when the gavel falls?” As we enter the heavenly tribunal, I invite you to encounter the divine standard and the divine representative.
THE DIVINE STANDARD
If you ever have the opportunity to attend a trial in a courtroom one of the first memories you will have is when the Judge enters the courtroom. The bailiff announces, “All rise!” John the apostle introduces the presiding Judge of the universe in 1 John 1:5. He writes, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
The Presiding Judge of the Divine Standard
He is the majestic God of the universe. The psalmist proclaims, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens” (Ps. 8:1, ESV). Moses says, “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exod. 15:11).
He is the transcendent God of the universe. “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isa. 57:15).
He is the sovereign God of the universe. The psalmist reminds us, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Ps. 115:3,). Daniel 4:34-35 says, “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?””
And he is the holy God of the universe. “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). The psalmists adds, “But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness” (Psalm 9:7–8). The heavenly Judge has the authority to issue the particulars of the divine standard. This is the divine standard we turn our attention to.
The Particulars of the Divine Standard
John gives his readers an inside look at the motivation for his writing: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin …” (v. 1). John calls his readers to live holy lives, what he refers to as “walking in the light.” Notice the particulars, then, of this divine standard.
First, the call to holiness began in eternity past. Scripture reveals that God chose his people before the creation of the cosmos: “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him …” (Eph. 1:4).
Second, we are called out of darkness to proclaim the excellencies of God. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
Third, we are called to conduct ourselves in a holy manner. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy”” (1 Pet. 1:14–16).
The heart of the apostle John is to communicate the divine standard to Christians: “so that you may not sin.” Indeed, this is God’s standard – this is the divine standard. But there is a problem we must acknowledge: we do sin (1 John 1:5-10).
To sin means to miss the mark, specifically in our relationship to God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law God.”1 “Sin is disobedience to God’s revealed law,” writes Martyn Lloyd-Jones.2 And John Piper summarizes, “What does not come from satisfaction in God, and through the guidance of God, and for the glory of God, is God-less – it is sin.”3
Since we fail to the divine standard in every respect, John introduces the Divine Representative.
THE DIVINE REPRESENTATIVE
The apostle John presents three marks of the Divine Representative: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
First, Jesus is righteous. The author of Hebrews helps us understand that the Divine Representative is sinless: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus is without sin. Jesus is righteous.
Second, Jesus stands face-to-face with the Father. In the Gospel of John, in the book that bears his name, the apostle writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The preposition translated “with” comes from the Greek term prós which means “face-to-face.” From all eternity, Jesus has been with the Father.
Third, Jesus is our Advocate. An advocate is a helper or an intercessor. An advocate acts as a representative for someone. In this case, the advocate stands before the Father and represents sinners like you and me. This Advocate stands in our defense. He pleads our case. Lloyd-Jones adds, “Unlike a defense attorney who may argue that his client is innocent of all charges, this defense attorney recognizes your guilt before God. The Advocate turns to the Father and says, ‘… I am here just to remind You that the law has been fulfilled, that the death has died, the punishment has been enacted; they are free because I died for them.”4
And so we fail to meet the divine standard. The Divine Representative stands in our defense. All these things clear the path for the divine accomplishment, which John unfolds in 1 John 2:2 – “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
When the gavel falls, a verdict will be rendered. Will you bear the weight of your sin and thus, endure 10,000 degrees of white-hot wrath? Or will you trust Jesus to stand in your defense? When the gavel falls, will you stand condemned or will Christ’s sacrificial death pardon you, grant peace (Rom. 5:1), and welcome you into his presence where you will enjoy the pleasures of God forever (Ps. 16:11)?
Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation by Candace Owens will irritate and offend many people. But this is a book that needed to be written. More importantly, this is a book that deserves to be read and internalized.
Owens explores how liberals have consistently manipulated and marginalized black Americans. She tackles controversial subjects ranging from family, faith, and feminism. But she also focuses her attention on socialism, education, media, culture, and slavery.
Owens is an unashamed black conservative woman. She has a dizzying intellect and a charismatic personality. But the most impressive thing about Owens is that she is bold and courageous. She is willing to tell the truth about the liberal elites and is more than prepared for the fallout.
The author is deeply in touch with the plight of the black community. And she links that plight to the purposeful ploy of leftists who have and continue to pander to African Americans and hold them captive to their liberal worldview and ideology.
Owens passionately encourages black America to stand and be counted. She urges black America to make its second escape from the Democrat plantation: “If black America finds its free voice; if there is a blackout from the liberal establishment, and if the occasional voices of those freed from the mental slavery of the left turn instead into a chorus, then black America will finally find that its suffering may turn a corner …”
Owens raises the banner and admonishes black America to reclaim their freedom and move forward with bold and courageous resolve:
The gates of the castle are under attack. We must now batter them down and storm the fortress of the liberal order. Join the ideological battle now. Let us turn the lights off in the liberal establishments of America as we shut the door behind us. Let us make this blackout a reality.
Blackout should be required reading for every thinking American – both black and white and everyone in between. It should certainly be read by every high school and university student. Those who read with an open mind will be challenged and moved to action.
Thanks to Candace Owens for courageously wielding the sword of truth in these perilous times!
Nancy Pearcey, Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions About Life and Sexuality Grand Rapids: Baker, 2018, 337 pp. $15.31
Veritas et Lux 