R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 6

The Privileges That Are Ours

The letter to the Hebrews, as our studies throughout the year have shown, is full of Old Testament language and ritual. Running throughout it is an ongoing sense that as believers we are on the move, on a pilgrimage through the wilderness. This motif echoes in our ears as we turn the pages. We are seeking to reach the land of rest (4:1). Indeed we can already come near enough to see the throne of its King (4:16; 10:19). It is the throne of grace before which Christ our High Priest stands. So we run the race before us with perseverance, our eyes fixed on Him (12:1–2).

All this lies behind the remarkable words of Hebrews 12:18–28. We have come to Mount Zion — not to Mount Sinai, as Moses and the first pilgrim people did. As participants in the new exodus accomplished by Christ (see Luke 9:31, where “departure” literally means exodus), we have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. We have already received a kingdom that cannot be shaken (12:28). That is why we must see to it that we “do not refuse him who is speaking.”

This sustained use of Old Testament imagery is all-pervasive in Hebrews, although elements of it obviously appear throughout the New Testament. But the underlying structures of thought are the same in three ways. First, the promise of the old has been fulfilled in the new, in Christ. Second, another grammatical pattern is evident, one which we usually associate with the apostle Paul; namely, the indicatives of grace give rise to the imperatives of obedience. Third, this principle is also evident in the way in which Christians are urged to live in the light of the privileges they enjoy already and therefore to persevere to enter those they do not yet fully experience. Thus promise leads to fulfillment, grace leads to obedience, already is linked to not yet.

Now, as the author comes to the final warning passage in Hebrews 12:25–29, it helps if we see its apparent severity in the light of this third principle. “You have not come . . . But you have come” (Heb. 12:18, 22). What are our privileges? They are truly amazing. Rather than come — as did believers in the day of promise and shadow — to an assembly convened at a mountain engulfed with a sense of awful judgment, we have come to the abiding city of God. Indeed we have come to God Himself, not with Moses, but with Jesus. For we have received the new covenant in His shed blood.

This is the assembly in which we gather for worship to hear the voice of Christ in His Word, to lift our voices under His choral direction in praise, to share His trust in His Father, and to gather around Christ as His brothers and sisters (see Heb. 2:10–13). Consequently, this is also our family — composed of the redeemed from among all mankind and the elect among the angelic host. This is the kingdom in which we are enrolled as citizens (12:23). Moreover, it is a kingdom, unlike all the kingdoms and empires of this world, that cannot be shaken (12:27–28). What riches are ours in these three dimensions of the life of grace! And they are already ours in Christ! Here and now, our lives are punctuated by special visiting rights to heaven’s glory as we assemble with our fellow believers.

“See that you do not refuse Him” (Heb. 12:25ff.). Here is the final extended warning passage in Hebrews. They have often been regarded as “problem” passages because of the implication they seem to carry, namely, that believers might fall away from Christ and be lost. But to read these passages in such a way is to abstract them from their contexts in the letter and from the covenant dynamic of the Gospel. For when we read these passages in the context of the letter as a whole, we come to realize that they belong to an ongoing series of exhortations to be read in the light of the privileges of grace.

In fact, the author of Hebrews thought of his entire letter as a word of encouragement to persevere (13:22). As any father would do, so the author, as a spiritual father, and speaking on behalf of the “Father of spirits” (12:9), encourages his spiritual children with exhortations that are both positive and negative.

The key here is the new covenant structure of the Gospel. It is built on a better Mediator and better promises than the old. But it remains a covenant. Its dynamic is the same: God gives His promise of grace (fulfilled now in Christ); His promise is life through faith in Christ, and death for any who spurn the blood of the new covenant (see 10:26–31).

So, we have already “come to Mount Zion … the heavenly Jerusalem.” But we have not yet finally entered it. We hear its worship, we experience its power; its light enlightens our camping ground (Heb. 6:4–5). But there is a River still to be crossed. The doors of the City are never shut (Rev. 21:5), but we do not yet dwell inside the city gates. We must still wade through the River. Like Christian, (in virtually the last words of The Pilgrim’s Progress, part one), we know that there is “a way to Hell, even from the Gates of Heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction.” God’s covenant faithfulness calls for faith that perseveres to the end.

When we have seen the privileges that are already ours, we have every reason to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and persevere in penitential faith until that which is now ours in part becomes ours in whole and forever.

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

The Creation of the Household

Here’s an excerpt from The Creation of the Household, Michael G. McKelvey's contribution to the July issue of Tabletalk:

You cannot read the Scriptures without encountering the central importance of the family in God’s purpose for both creation and redemption. The union of husband and wife forms the foundation on which the family grows and future generations develop. We can see that not only is the family the basis for the procreation of humanity, but it is also the basis for culture and its flourishing. Even though history testifies to the dysfunctional nature of families in the past and present, God’s creational purpose for the family has not changed. By examining the creation of the household, we will see its purpose as the first institution for human society and hopefully elevate our perception of this crucial cornerstone of humanity for today and the future.

Continue reading The Creation of the Household, or begin receiving Tabletalk magazine by signing up for a free 3-month trial.

 

What book of the Bible can I study to help me in evangelism or apologetics?

Is there one book of the Bible that can especially help us present the gospel to a friend or defend our faith against critics? From an online youth conference hosted in partnership with Reformation Bible College, Stephen Nichols puts forward the book he would choose.

To get real-time answers to your biblical and theological questions, just ask Ligonier.

Read the Transcript

How Do We Know the Bible Is True?

That's an excellent question because so much is at stake in the Christian faith in terms of the truthfulness of Scripture. The Bible is our primary source of information about Jesus and about all of those things we embrace as elements of our faith. Of course, if the Bible isn't true, then professing Christians are in serious trouble. I believe the Bible is true. I believe it is the Word of God. As Jesus Himself declared of the Scripture, "Your word is truth." But why am I persuaded that the Bible is the truth?

We need to ask a broader question first. How do we know that anything is true? We're asking a technical question in epistemology. How do we test claims of truth? There is a certain kind of truth that we test through observation, experimentation, eyewitness, examination, and scientific evidence. As far as the history of Jesus is concerned, as far as we know any history, we want to check the stories of Scripture using those means by which historical evidence can be tested—through archaeology, for example. There are certain elements of the Scripture, such as historical claims, that are to be measured by the common standards of historiography. I invite people to do that—to check it out.

Second, we want to test the claims of truth through the test of rationality. Is it logically consistent, or does it speak with a "forked tongue"? We examine the content of Scripture to see if it is coherent. That's another test of truth. One of the most astonishing things, of course, is that the Bible has literally thousands of testable historical prophecies, cases in which events were clearly foretold, and both the foretelling and the fulfillment are a matter of historical record. The very dimension of the sheer fulfillment of prophecy of the Old Testament Scriptures should be enough to convince anyone that we are dealing with a supernatural piece of literature.

Of course, some theologians have said that with all of the evidence there is that Scripture is true, we can truly embrace it only with the Holy Spirit working in us to overcome our biases and prejudices against Scripture, against God. In theology, this is called the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. I want to stress at this point that when the Holy Spirit helps me to see the truth of Scripture and to embrace the truth of Scripture, it's not because the Holy Spirit is giving me some special insight that he doesn't give to somebody else or is giving me special information that nobody else can have. All the Holy Spirit does is change my heart, change my disposition toward the evidence that is already there. I think that God Himself has planted within the Scriptures an internal consistency that bears witness that this is His Word.

This excerpt is adapted from Now, That’s a Good Question! by R.C. Sproul.

Will You Pray for Awakening? Download Your Free Prayer Guide

We live in a world that needs awakening. Millions of people do not know Jesus Christ. The church itself needs renewed zeal for the truth, for spiritual growth, and for missions. Scripture reveals how this awakening comes about: by a powerful movement of the Spirit of God. It also tells us that when just two men—Paul and Silas—prayed, the earth itself shook (Acts 16:25–26). So we are dedicating the entire year of 2021 to pray for awakening, and we hope you will, too.

To help as many people as possible, we produced this free prayer guide. Download it today at PrayForAwakening.com, find it in the PrayerMate app, or order the prayer booklet in packs of ten to share with your loved ones.

To use the guide, find the prayer that corresponds to the current week. Each week of the month focuses on a different group to pray for, starting with you and your family and expanding to the world and the global church. You can also share your desire to #PrayForAwakening on social media.

JULY PRAYER FOCUS:

Week 1: Pray that you and your family will put no confidence in the flesh or human methods but rather lean on God to bring awakening. “We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” (Phil. 3:3)Week 2: Pray that your church will be committed to making true disciples of the next generation so that renewal continues. “You shall teach [God’s commandments] diligently to your children.” (Deut. 6:7)Week 3: Pray that your nation will be turned upside down and changed through the preaching of the biblical gospel. “They dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.’” (Acts 17:6)Week 4: Pray that God will raise up Christians who are willing to go to the ends of the earth, to the most out-of-the-way places in order to proclaim the gospel to those who haven’t heard it. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

We hope this prayer guide encourages you this year and in future years. Join us in praying fervently for a mighty movement of God’s Spirit today, thankful that He has graciously promised to hear us, and confident that He will answer our prayers according to His will.

DOWNLOAD NOW

The Relationship between Thoughts and Actions

Have you ever wondered how your thoughts turn into actions? In this brief clip, R.C. Sproul discusses how René Descartes wrestled with this question as he considered the relationship between science and philosophy. Today, watch the entire message for free.

Transcript:

We have a tendency in our day to make a sharp distinction between science (or physics) and philosophy (engaging in the quest for metaphysical knowledge), as if these were two completely separate categories of investigation that never really meet. But the reality is that in the scientific world, all kinds of assumptions are being made constantly that are really philosophical in nature. Let me give a simple illustration of that. When you go to the doctor, and you’re not feeling well, and you’re looking for diagnosis and treatment of whatever it is that ails you, one of the concerns that you have and one of the concerns that your doctor has is trying to determine what caused this malfunction or your illness. It is the same thing that you encounter when you go and take your car in to the mechanic. He wants to find the cause of the problem. So much of what we are concerned about in the realm of real science is the whole question of causality or of cause and effect. Now, the underlying assumptions behind this question are assumptions that were challenged with great depth in the seventeenth century. Descartes, whom we’ve already introduced as the leading figure of seventeenth-century Rationalism, was very much concerned about this question. He wasn’t simply concerned about epistemology and self-consciousness that we’ve already looked at. But he was interested in how things related to each other in terms of causality. Descartes asked questions like this: “How is it that I can think about doing something and then translate that thought into action?” For example, if I decide right now to take this piece of chalk and throw it to Roger here in the first row, and then Roger decides to throw it back to me, and I catch it (without error of course), as we have this little exchange, how is it that I translated the idea, or the thought of an action, into a physical response, into a physical action? I decided to throw the chalk. He caught it. He threw it back, and I decided to catch it. That thought generated an action of response. So, we can see that thoughts can result in actions, and conversely, actions can give rise to thoughts. Now, we then ask the question, “What is an action, and what is a thought?” And maybe we don’t think about thought that much, but we have to at some point ask ourselves the question, “What is thought?” Is thought merely a physiological response with synapses and that sort of thing, or are ideas non-physical? We’re asking about the relationship between mind and matter.

Will Christians receive rewards in heaven?

Will God’s redeemed people receive rewards in heaven? From one of our Ask Ligonier events, Derek Thomas addresses an important biblical teaching that is avoided by many people today. Get answers to your biblical and theological questions online as they arise at ask.Ligonier.org.

Read the Transcript

 

Is Christ Enough for You?

In the letter he wrote to the Colossians, Paul had to deal with a false teaching that scholars often refer to as "the heresy of Colossae." This designation is due to the unique character of the teaching and the fact that it seems to have flourished only in that region. It was a combination of Jewish elements with ascetic and mystical practices—all connected by an incipient Gnosticism. Its supporters had managed to infiltrate the Christian churches in Colossae and probably churches of other cities located in the Lycus River Valley as well. We have no evidence that this sect settled in other places.

It seems that the appeal of this dangerous sect to the Christians was the promise made of fullness, perfection, and satisfaction in God by a certain knowledge (gnōsis) that had not been previously revealed by the ministry of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. This gnōsis involved Jewish practices such as circumcision, their dietary laws and their religious calendar, together with ascetic practices and mystical worship based on contact with the angels. We can deduce that the Christians at Colossae had begun to listen to the proponents of these ideas. Paul writes this letter in order to prevent them from fully adopting these teachings.

The Centrality of Christ

The central argument of Paul in the letter is that in Jesus Christ, Christians already have everything that the sect falsely offered: wholeness, fullness, perfection, and satisfaction in God. In other words, Paul responds to false teachers by presenting the sufficiency of Christ.

Paul's argument is first presented from the person of Christ. He is "the image of the invisible God" (1:15) in whom, through whom, and for whom all things were created (v. 16). He is before all things; in Him all things are held together (v. 17). He is the firstborn from the dead who takes precedence over all things (v. 18). It pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell (v. 19), and through Him God should reconcile all things to Himself (v. 20). In Christ dwells the whole fullness of deity (2:9).

As a result of being united to Christ, believers have already received graciously from God perfection, wholeness, fullness, and satisfaction. The ultimate gnōsis of God is actually in Christ. He is the mystery of God, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (2:2–3), something infinitely superior to the gnōsis offered by the false teachers.

The Superiority of Christ

The teaching of these teachers was based on subtle philosophical arguments. Among them was what Paul calls the "elemental spirits of the world," a possible reference to spiritual, angelic beings who, according to Gnostic teaching, dominated the planets and other celestial bodies and filled the space (fullness) between men and God, functioning as mediators. Paul's answer to this teaching is that in Christ dwells the fullness of deity bodily (2:8–9). Jesus Christ is God Himself incarnate as a man. There is no need for angelic mediators to reach up to God and reach perfection. Those who are in Christ by faith are already perfected (v. 10).

Similarly, requirements like the practice of the works of the law are unnecessary. Circumcision has been fulfilled through the baptism in Jesus' name and is a superior circumcision (vv. 11–12). In His life, Christ fulfilled all the requirements of the law for His people. On the cross, He paid their debt (v. 14). The works of the law, such as dietary rules and the keeping of holy days, were like a shadow cast by the body of Christ, and once the body arrived, the shadow became unnecessary (v. 17).

Christ also triumphed over the principalities and powers, the angelic beings that, according to Gnostic teaching, dominated the basic elements of the universe (v. 15). Therefore, believers should reject the idea that it is necessary to worship the angels. Such teaching is the result of hallucinations of a sensuous mind (v. 18). In Christ, believers are dead to the "elemental spirits of the world" (v. 20).

The Sufficiency of Christ

And finally, the ascetic practices demanded by the false teachers as necessary to dominate sensuality and other sinful passions are useless. Actually, the ascetic rigor exhibited by the proponents of this teaching is self-worship or self-made religion. It has no power to stop the passions of the flesh (vv. 20–23). However, through union with Christ in His death and resurrection, believers can mortify the flesh and live for God (3:1–17).

Thus, Paul teaches the believers in Colossae that Jesus Christ is sufficient to meet all the needs of those who are His. Christ satisfies our thirst for wholeness. He satisfies our longing to know God, our deepest yearnings to be full. By daily communion with Christ through the means of grace, we find full satisfaction for all our needs. This satisfaction enables the Christian to serve God here in this world with a heart full of fervor and dedication. A happy heart in Christ empowers the believer to overcome sin and dedicate himself entirely to the service of his Lord and Redeemer.

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

$5 Friday (And More): The Holy Spirit, Prayer, & Faith

It’s time for our weekly $5 Friday sale. This week’s resources include such topics as the Holy Spirit, prayer, faith, assurance of faith, the Psalms, and more.

Plus, several bonus resources are also available for more than $5. These have been significantly discounted from their original price. This week’s bonus resources include:

The Last Days According to Jesus by R.C. Sproul, $16 $10 Just Do Something , by Kevin DeYoung $12 $8 If There’s a God, Why Are There Atheists? by R.C. Sproul, $13 $9 Let’s Study James , by Sinclair Ferguson $14 $10 Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes , by Voddie Baucham $17 $11And More

Sale runs through 12:01 a.m.–11:59 p.m. Friday ET.

VIEW TODAY'S $5 FRIDAY ITEMS

 

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, July 2021

The July issue of Tabletalk provides an overview of the Bible’s teaching on the household. Around the world and in every culture, the household has served as the basic foundation of human society. Healthy households are essential to a healthy culture, and unhealthy households create all sorts of societal problems, as even secular research has recognized. To have healthy and right-functioning households, however, we must understand the purpose of the household, God’s rules for the household, and the final realization of God’s perfect household in glory. This issue considers Scripture’s teaching on the household and provide guidance for helping believers structure their households in a manner that glorifies the Lord.

You can purchase the issue or subscribe to get the print issue every month.

The Tradition of the Household by Burk ParsonsThe Creation of the Household by Michael G. McKelveyThe Function of the Household by Tedd TrippThe Fifth Commandment and the Household by Iain DuguidChildren in the Household by Robert W. CarverThey Call Her Blessed by Mary BeekeMen in the Household by Scotty AndersonProviding for the Household by Drew DiNardoHousehold Solidarity by Ra McLaughlinThe Eschatological Household by Camden M. Bucey

Subscribe to Tabletalk today for only $23 a year, and $20 to renew. You save even more if you get a 2- or 3-year subscription (as little as $1.36 per issue). Get your subscription to Tabletalk today by calling one of Ligonier Ministries’ resource consultants at 800-435-4343 or by subscribing online.