Blogogetics

Giving an apologia (defense) for the faith we have

Archive for August, 2008

Pastoral Thoughts on Politics

Aug 19

Posted by Duane Smets in Goverment | 1 Comment

Biblical Government – Theocracy

1 Samuel 8:7 “The LORD said to Samuel…they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” The Biblical worldview combined with the common grace of general revelation teaches man that God is King and ruler over the earth and that mankind ought to worship and serve him as governing King over our lives, families, and societies.

Biblical Theocrat – Jesus is King

John 18:37 “Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’” For Christians, Jesus is our God and King and we listen to his voice. Jesus clearly demonstrated and stated that he is king, regardless of whatever current men may be ruling in a particular geographical local or country.

The Dual Advent of King Jesus – A Kenotic Incarnation

Philippians 2:5-8 ” Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. In Jesus’ first coming he refrained from displaying his military power and political glory in order to live a perfect life and die for those he came to save.
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New Testament Deacon

Aug 18

Posted by Luke Shiras in Reading | No Comments

A short essay on Alexander Strauch’s The New Testament Deacon: The Church’s Minister of Mercy

When I began reading this book, I had now idea what a Deacon was supposed to be and therefore had no idea there was a question about it. Having read the book, I see why Alexander Strauch calls them “Ministers of Mercy” and also why there is a question as to their roles and responsibilities. Scripture does not come right out and say; “Deacons are this and they do that”. But Strauch makes a strong argument for the roles of deacons as “Ministers of Mercy”. Unfortunately, I think he (and many others) may be coming to the wrong conclusion.

First, I have to admit that while my head is quite large, my brain is rather small, so I might (just this once) be wrong about my own conclusions. Strauch makes the connection between the Deacons mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 and the Seven described in Acts 6:3. This does not seem to me to be supported by scripture but rather, inferred from the relationship between the Greek words diakonia, diakoneō, and diakonos. Since I haven’t studied Greek, I can’t confidently validate this conclusion, so I will accept this as possible so that I may address my main concern which is; the role of deacons.

If Deacons are the byproduct of the Seven from Acts 6:1-6, then the question that comes to mind is; what is the role and responsibility of the deacon? Now, my church clearly supports the connection made between the Seven from Acts 6 and the Deacons from 1 Timothy. This is seen in their own list of qualifications for deacons. Again, I do not have a problem with that. What I disagree with is Strauch’s description of deacons as “Ministers of Mercy”. Strauch clearly believes that Deacons are to serve the needs of the Church’s poor but I would be inclined to believe they are to serve the Church by freeing the shepherds from administrative duties. “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables” Acts 6:2. I find Stauch’s interpretation too limiting in scope and far too specialized.

The Seven were called to take the burden of service off the Apostles by handling the charitable distribution issues facing the church. Does this mean that they, as Deacons, are simply to serve the needy of the Church or to serve the Shepherds by reducing their administrative burdens and thus allowing them to “give [themselves] continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4)? What this comes down to is a basic example of principle and method. The principle is that the Seven took on the burden of serving so the Shepherds could focus on studying and teaching of the word of God (which ultimately serves the Church, too). Strauch is letting the method (distributing charity) define the principle (supporting the Shepherds).

What does this mean for Kaleo and our Deacons? Simply put, they are to serve the Church in many ways. Deacons are to serve the Church by taking charge of our various ministries as Strauch believes, but also by developing and updating our website and doing building and property management. Deacons are to organize and facilitate the different programs we offer from children’s study to Film & Theology. All these things and more serve the Church directly through the benefits they bring but also indirectly by allowing our Elders to continue in their studies so that they may continually teach us (and others through us) the wonderful Word of God.

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God

Aug 11

Posted by Sam Shin in General Info | No Comments

Introduction

God’s nature and character have been the central topic for many theologians throughout the centuries. This is not to assume that anyone is able to completely understand and know God for His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). However, it is to say that there is no greater joy than to desire to know God.

This section is only a cursory glance at the attributes of God, as this whole study will be examined for weeks to come. May the Lord grant you His wisdom as you worship Him in the study of His Word.

His Nature and Character

Incommunicable Attributes – Those attributes that God does not have in common or “communicate” to human beings.

1. Independence – God does not need anything from human beings to make up who He is. God is completely independent from His creatures. (cf. Acts 17:24-25; Job 41:11; Psalm 50:10-12). God never “needs” human beings to satisfy loneliness. Indeed, God’s glory was always full and wondrous even before the creation of the world: “5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). This correlates to the community nature of the Trinity, which assumes that there is full independence from creation, in light of the dependence between Father, Son, and Spirit.

2. Unchangeableness/Immutability – J.I. Packer writes:
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A Response to The New Perspective of Paul (NPP)

Aug 5

Posted by Duane Smets in General Info | 2 Comments

apostle-paul

The New Perspective of Paul (NPP):
A scholarly re-interpretation of Paul’s thought concerning justification by faith which has been held by Protestants since the reformation. The new interpretation is that justification is not a legal status of one’s standing before God but rather filial declaration by God that Jesus is the messiah of God’s people.

Main Points of NPP:
- Judaism was a religion of grace and inclusivism rather exclusivistic communal competition and striving for individual righteousness with God.
- Law was not something one used to earn favor with God but was merely a Jew’s identity mark as being a people of God.
- Jews boasting that they were elect/favored/chosen was the main problem Paul is addressing in Romans.
- Justification does not have to do with one’s standing before God but one’s identity with a people group of God.
- Jesus does not satisfy the wrath of God and then transfer that acquired righteousness to us.
- A person does not need to individually put faith in Jesus but just realize God accepts them as they are and join the community of God.

Main Proponents of NPP:
- Dr. James D.G. Dunn
- Dr. E.P. Sanders
- Dr. N.T. Wright

My Contentions:
- Judaism was clearly one of exclusivism and religious competition both according to Jesus and Paul and this is not eisogesis (Mat 5:17-20, Phil 3:4-8 ). Notice Jesus distinction of the individual ["whoever" vs. "others" and what they are called] and notice Paul’s use of “I” and “myself.”
- “Law” is used in three different ways in Romans. To minimalize these contextual and exegetical observations and to reduce them to merely being a “boundary marker” is to do violence to the text.

- The main problem Paul is addressing in Romans is sin, idolatry deep in mankind’s heart, not boasting (Rom 1:18-:24).
- A thorough study of the Greek word, dikaisune clearly shows that righteousness is not merely communal identity. Here is a link to my work on the diakio word group in Romans 1-8: dikaiosune.pdf
- A study of the word “propitation” in Rom 3:25 and a study of the word “counts” in Rom 4:23-24 clearly teach the imputed righteousness of Christ. Here are links to my work dealing with these passages: propitiation.pdf and imputation.pdf
- Propenents of NPP utilize a form of “chronological snobbery” as C.S. Lewis once described it. Basically this means they caricaturize the classical reformed view of
justication by faith as being primitive and scholastically unwarranted and that if one was to believe this “new” theory, only then could they claim intellectual warrant.
- I believe NPP is self-refuting in its charges against cultural eisogesis. NPP reeks of the postmodern virtue of pluralistic inclusivism and is not the result of solid exegesis but rather the attempt to force Paul and Romans into a postmodern framework.
- I believe that NPP is dangerous and is heresy because it eliminates not only the Jew’s need for Jesus but as a result all other’s need. Faith is not merely a realization of what you already are. This is a serious conflagration between the doctrines of justification and sanctification.
- An acceptance of this doctrine will set the church back to a pre-reformation setting and the gospel will be lost. As Martin Luther said, “justification by faith” is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls.

Below is a brief bibliography on the subject:

In favor of NPP:
_ James Dunn, Jesus, Paul, and the Law: Studies in Mark and Galatians.
(Louisville:Westminster/John Knox, 1990) ISBN 0664250955
_ E.P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism. (Fortress, 1977) ISBN 0800618998
_ N.T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of
Christianity?. (Eerdmans, 1997) ISBN 0802844456

Refuting NPP:
_ D.A. Carson, Peter O’Brien, and Mark Seifrid (eds.), Justification And Variegated Nomism. 2 volumes (Baker Academic, 2001 & 2004) vol. 1 – ISBN 080102272X / vol. 2 – ISBN 0801027411
_ Piper, John. The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright. (Crossway, 2007) ISBN 9781581349641

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