Theodore Zachariades's Blog, page 11
November 17, 2012
The Grammar of the Cross
Of course, as Christians that affirm the historic creeds of Christendom, Jesus “for us and our salvation came down and was crucified under Pontius Pilate” is a non-negotiable axiom. But if the redemptive purpose of the cross is the reason Jesus endured it, then that redemptive goal must be achieved given the way Jesus said, “it is finished.” The completion of redemption is not found when a sinner does something in his life to “activate,” “make effective,” “apply” or otherwise make the Atonement work. No. No. Did I say, “no?” Yes, a thousand times “NO!”
The cross itself guarantees the salvation for those Christ came to save otherwise his statement on the cross is evacuated of its meaning. Indeed, that is the goal of some Bible readers. They would much rather that Jesus uttered: “it is started,” or “it is begun.” Then we could cry tetelestai when we, ever so smugly, believe, repent, get baptized, confess, submit or whatever else, or all the above we think that we contribute to the synergism of our redemption. Oh, how much “fairer” that would be clamors the sound of the majority evangelical voice in the land: Jesus did his part and we must do ours! But I will continue to listen to the cry of a derelict man, the man of sorrows, who for us and our salvation died and in the second before he expired re-assured us once and for all that everything necessary for the salvation of God’s people is finished. It’s completed. He only uttered one word before he died; But what a word? It is a simple word yet has the backing of Heaven and the power of the Almighty guaranteeing the efficacy of its claim. One word, the grammar of the cross: τετέλεσται.
TZ
SDG.
The Grammar of the Cross
When Jesus died on the cross he uttered several statements. According to John’s Gospel the last of his words were “it is finished” (John 19:30). In the Greek text this is only one word! That is, τετέλεσται (tetelestai). This is a perfect passive indicative in form. What it denotes is completion. Nothing is left uncertain, all is accomplished. Does this “grammar of the Cross” help us with understanding of the nature of the atonement? I believe it does.
Of course, as Christians that affirm the historic creeds of Christendom, Jesus “for us and our salvation came down and was crucified under Pontius Pilate” is a non-negotiable axiom. But if the redemptive purpose of the cross is the reason Jesus endured it, then that redemptive goal must be achieved given the way Jesus said, “it is finished.” The completion of redemption is not found when a sinner does something in his life to “activate,” “make effective,” “apply” or otherwise make the Atonement work. No. No. Did I say, “no?” Yes, a thousand times “NO!”
The cross itself guarantees the salvation for those Christ came to save otherwise his statement on the cross is evacuated of its meaning. Indeed, that is the goal of some Bible readers. They would much rather that Jesus uttered: “it is started,” or “it is begun.” Then we could cry tetelestai when we, ever so smugly, believe, repent, get baptized, confess, submit or whatever else, or all the above we think that we contribute to the synergism of our redemption. Oh, how much “fairer” that would be clamors the sound of the majority evangelical voice in the land: Jesus did his part and we must do ours! But I will continue to listen to the cry of a derelict man, the man of sorrows, who for us and our salvation died and in the second before he expired re-assured us once and for all that everything necessary for the salvation of God’s people is finished. It’s completed. He only uttered one word before he died; But what a word? It is a simple word yet has the backing of Heaven and the power of the Almighty guaranteeing the efficacy of its claim. One word, the grammar of the cross: τετέλεσται.
TZ
SDG.
November 15, 2012
November 7, 2012
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Every blessing, all in Christ.
TZ
SDG
November 4, 2012
Christ Alone: A Sampling of Reformation Quotes.
Christ Alone: A Sampling of Reformation Quotes.
Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther’s Works, Vol. 26 : Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4. Saint Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1963 (Luther’s Works 26), S. 26:vii-138
Thus we must learn to distinguish all laws, even those of God, and all works from faith and from Christ, if we are to define Christ accurately. Christ is not the Law, and therefore He is not a taskmaster for the Law and for works; but He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). This is grasped by faith alone, not by love, which nevertheless must follow faith as a kind of gratitude. Therefore victory over sin and death, salvation, and eternal life do not come by the Law or by the deeds of the Law or by our will but by Jesus Christ alone. Hence faith alone justifies when it takes hold of this, as becomes evident from a sufficient division and induction: Victory over sin and death does not come by the works of the Law or by our will; therefore it comes by Jesus Christ alone. Here we are perfectly willing to have ourselves called “solafideists” by our opponents, who do not understand anything of Paul’s argument. You who are to be the consolers of consciences that are afflicted, should teach this doctrine diligently, study it continually, and defend it vigorously against the abominations of the papists, Jews, Turks, and all the rest.
Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther’s Works, Vol. 26 : Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4. Saint Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1963 (Luther’s Works 26), S. 26:vii-394
Paul always has Christ on his lips and cannot forget Him. For he foresaw that in the world, even among those who claimed to be Christians, nothing would be less well known than Christ and His Gospel. Therefore he continually inculcates Him and presents Him to our view. Whenever he speaks about grace, righteousness, the promise, sonship, and the inheritance, he always makes a practice of adding “in” or “through” Christ, at the same time taking a sidelong look at the Law, as though he were saying: “We do not obtain these things through the Law and its works, much less through our own abilities or the works of human tradition, but through Christ alone.”
Editor, Timothy F. Lull ; Second Edition Editor, William R. Russell: Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings. Fortress Press, 2005; 2005
The Freedom of a Christian (1520)
This faith cannot exist in connection with works—that is to say, if you at the same time claim to be justified by works, whatever their character—for that would be the same as “limping with two different opinions” [I Kings 18:21], as worshipping Baal and kissing one’s own hand [Job 31:27–28], which, as Job says, is a very great iniquity. Therefore the moment you begin to have faith you learn that all things in you are altogether blameworthy, sinful, and damnable, as the Apostle says in Rom. 3[:23], “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and, “None is righteous, no, not one…; all have turned aside, together they have gone wrong” (Rom. 3:10–12). When you have learned this you will know that you need Christ, who suffered and rose again for you so that, if you believe in him, you may through this faith become a new man in so far as your sins are forgiven and you are justified by the merits of another, namely, of Christ alone.
Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther’s Works, Vol. 44 : The Christian in Society I. Philadelphia : Fortress Press, 1999, c1966 (Luther’s Works 44), S. 44:iii-320
The Judgment of Martin Luther on Monastic Vows
The very thing which sanctifies everything else, the holy name of God! They blot out the name Christian and set up their own in its place. They want to be saved in the name of their own order when a man can be saved and ought to be saved only in Christ’s name. As Peter says in Acts 15 [4:12], “Neither is any other name given to us under heaven in which we can be saved.”
Just as it is impossible for a man who depends on faith in Christ to seek salvation in his own name (for he knows the works and merits of no person save Christ alone and therefore does not have any name by which he may be saved and sanctified except that of Christ alone), so is it impossible for him who relies on works and vows not to seek salvation in his own name. Such a man has works and merits over and above the works and merits of Christ; therefore, he also has a name other than the name of Christ. What else is this then but stealing the name of Christ and appropriating it to oneself, saying, “I am Christ,” as we have shown earlier in Matthew 24[:5].91 What could be a greater sacrilege than that? The man who says, “I shall be saved by my own works” says nothing else than “I shall be Christ,” since the works of Christ alone save as many as are saved. That blasphemy of the name of the Lord among the nations is when holiness and sanctification are everywhere attributed to a name other than that of God. They all say that their orders are holy, as if orders made those who observed them holy, or as if it were something holy to live under their order, when only the name of the Lord sanctifies and when holiness consists in walking in him alone. They themselves are the authors of this widespread blasphemy in their sacrilegious acts by which they lay hold of the name of the Lord and the work of the Lord’s name. They seduce and ensnare the whole world by this blasphemy.
Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther’s Works, Vol. 3 : Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 15-20. Saint Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1961 (Luther’s Works 3), S. 3:25
Learn, therefore, not to attribute righteousness to your love or to your works and merits; for they are always unclean, imperfect, and polluted. Consequently, they call for a confession of our unworthiness and for humbling ourselves with a prayer for forgiveness. But attribute your righteousness to mercy alone, to the promise concerning Christ alone, the promise which faith accepts and by means of which it protects and defends itself against conscience when God sits in judgment.
Tappert, Theodore G.: The Book of Concord : The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia : Fortress Press, 2000, c1959, S. 472
III. The Righteousness of Faith before God
The Question at Issue
1 It is the unanimous confession of our churches according to the Word of God and the content of the Augsburg Confession that we poor sinners are justified before God and saved solely by faith in Christ, so that Christ alone is our righteousness. He is truly God and man since in him the divine and human natures are personally united to one another (Jer. 23:6; 1 Cor. 1:30, 2 Cor. 5:21).
Tappert, Theodore G.: The Book of Concord : The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia : Fortress Press, 2000, c1959, S. 294
Article II. [The Mass]
12 The first is purgatory. They were so occupied with requiem Masses, with vigils, with the weekly, monthly, and yearly celebrations of requiems,3 with the common week,4 with All Souls’ Day, and with soul-baths5 that the Mass was used almost exclusively for the dead although Christ instituted the sacrament for the living alone. Consequently purgatory and all the pomp, services, and business transactions associated with it are to be regarded as nothing else than illusions of the devil, for purgatory, too, is contrary to the fundamental article that Christ alone, and not the work of man, can help souls. Besides, nothing has been commanded or enjoined upon us with reference to the dead. All this may consequently be discarded, apart entirely from the fact that it is error and idolatry.
Calvin, John ; Beveridge, Henry: Institutes of the Christian Religion. electronic ed. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, 1996, S. II, vi, 2
REDEMPTION FOR MAN LOST TO BE SOUGHT IN CHRIST.
2. Hence it is that God never showed himself propitious to his ancient people, nor gave them any hope of grace without a Mediator. I say nothing of the sacrifices of the Law, by which believers were plainly and openly taught that salvation was not to be found anywhere but in the expiation which Christ alone completed. All I maintain is that the prosperous and happy state of the Church was always founded in the person of Christ. For although God embraced the whole posterity of Abraham in his covenant, yet Paul properly argues (Gal. 3:16), that Christ was truly the seed in which all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, since we know that all who were born of Abraham, according to the flesh, were not accounted the seed.
HOW CHRIST PERFORMED THE OFFICE OF REDEEMER IN PROCURING OUR SALVATION. THE DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST.
Calvin, John ; Beveridge, Henry: Institutes of the Christian Religion. electronic ed. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, 1996, II, xvi, 2-3
2. But before we proceed farther, we must see in passing, how can it be said that God, who prevents us with his mercy, was our enemy until he was reconciled to us by Christ. For how could he have given us in his only-begotten Son a singular pledge of his love, if he had not previously embraced us with free favour? As there thus arises some appearance of contradiction, I will explain the difficulty. The mode in which the Spirit usually speaks in Scripture is, that God was the enemy of men until they were restored to favour by the death of Christ (Rom. 5:10); that they were cursed until their iniquity was expiated by the sacrifice of Christ (Gal. 3:10, 13); that they were separated from God, until by means of Christ’s body they were received into union (Col. 1:21, 22). Such modes of expression are accommodated to our capacity, that we may the better understand how miserable and calamitous our condition is without Christ. For were it not said in clear terms, that Divine wrath, and vengeance, and eternal death, lay upon us, we should be less sensible of our wretchedness without the mercy of God, and less disposed to value the blessing of deliverance. For example, let a person be told, Had God at the time you were a sinner hated you, and cast you off as you deserved, horrible destruction must have been your doom; but spontaneously and of free indulgence he retained you in his favour, not suffering you to be estranged from him, and in this way rescued you from danger,—the person will indeed be affected, and made sensible in some degree how much he owes to the mercy of God. But again, let him be told, as Scripture teaches, that he was estranged from God by sin, an heir of wrath, exposed to the curse of eternal death, excluded from all hope of salvation, a complete alien from the blessing of God, the slave of Satan, captive under the yoke of sin; in fine, doomed to horrible destruction, and already involved in it; that then Christ interposed, took the punishment upon himself and bore what by the just judgment of God was impending over sinners; with his own blood expiated the sins which rendered them hateful to God, by this expiation satisfied and duly propitiated God the Father, by this intercession appeased his anger, on this basis founded peace between God and men, and by this tie secured the Divine benevolence toward them; will not these considerations move him the more deeply, the more strikingly they represent the greatness of the calamity from which he was delivered? In short, since our mind cannot lay hold of life through the mercy of God with sufficient eagerness, or receive it with becoming gratitude, unless previously impressed with fear of the Divine anger, and dismayed at the thought of eternal death, we are so instructed by divine truth, as to perceive that without Christ God is in a manner hostile to us, and has his arm raised for our destruction. Thus taught, we look to Christ alone for divine favour and paternal love.
3. Though this is said in accommodation to the weakness of our capacity, it is not said falsely. For God, who is perfect righteousness, cannot love the iniquity which he sees in all. All of us, therefore, have that within which deserves the hatred of God. Hence, in respect, first, of our corrupt nature; and, secondly, of the depraved conduct following upon it, we are all offensive to God, guilty in his sight, and by nature the children of hell. But as the Lord wills not to destroy in us that which is his own, he still finds something in us which in kindness he can love. For though it is by our own fault that we are sinners, we are still his creatures; though we have brought death upon ourselves he had created us for life. Thus, mere gratuitous love prompts him to receive us into favour. But if there is a perpetual and irreconcilable repugnance between righteousness and iniquity, so long as we remain sinners we cannot be completely received. Therefore, in order that all ground of offence may be removed, and he may completely reconcile us to himself, he, by means of the expiation set forth in the death of Christ, abolishes all the evil that is in us, so that we, formerly impure and unclean, now appear in his sight just and holy. Accordingly, God the Father, by his love, prevents and anticipates our reconciliation in Christ. Nay, it is because he first loves us, that he afterwards reconciles us to himself. But because the iniquity, which deserves the indignation of God, remains in us until the death of Christ comes to our aid, and that iniquity is in his sight accursed and condemned, we are not admitted to full and sure communion with God, unless, in so far as Christ unites us. And, therefore, if we would indulge the hope of having God placable and propitious to us, we must fix our eyes and minds on Christ alone, as it is to him alone it is owing that our sins, which necessarily provoked the wrath of God, are not imputed to us.
November 2, 2012
Election Before Evangelism
It is simply stunning that Jesus places before one of his most explicit evangelistic appeals not a preface about the wonderful plan God has for us but specifically the doctrine of election. “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:27-30). Clearly, a doctrine of election that is personal and unconditional!
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But What Does That Mean?
A Wise man once said:
“Every author has a meaning in which all the contradictory passages agree or he has no meaning at all. We cannot affirm the latter of Scripture and the prophets; they undoubtedly are full of good sense. We must then seek for a meaning which reconciles all discrepancies.”
Pascal, Pensées. Quoted in James V. Schall, The Life of the Mind: On the Joys and Travails of Thinking (Wilmington, DL: ISI Books), 171.
This reassures me that the proper approach to comprehensive Bible study and the subsequent theologizing that is dependent on such study must not easily fall prey to the allure of paradox and mystery! We need to do much and hard work to reconcile the “seeming” contradictions within the pages of Holy Writ. Of course, we will still have to acknowledge much that we cannot fully grasp in our attempts at understanding. But this should not deter us a priori from setting high goals of comprehension of the Sacred Oracles. God’s word is a “revelation.” It is not a puzzle book or a literary labyrinth. We can and should master the Bible’s contents and disclose its meaning to all for the glory of the Triune God its true author.
TZ
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Crumbs
Dear Brother,
Never was a poor sinner more unworthy of favor from God or His people than
myself. I deserve not a name and a place among the children, but am as vile as
a dog, and would be glad for crumbs of mercy that fall from the children’s
table. But such is the free grace of God towards me, through the slain Lamb,
that He deals with me as a child, a dear child, and feasts me as a prince with
Him according to the royalty, the dignity of His own infinite state. If salvation
in all its parts were not all of grace, it would not suit such a wretched,
miserable sinner as I am. But oh, blessed be God, there is salvation enough for
me in Christ to be had of the freest grace—of grace in which there is no
scantiness, but an immense and eternal fullness to fill my needy soul, through
all time and to eternity! And glad am I, under all my sins, miseries and needs,
to live under the reign of grace—of this grace which reigns through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ my Lord!
Anne Dutton (1692-1765).
October 24, 2012
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Warmest Greetings.
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October 23, 2012
Why Christ?
Why Christ?
Always More.
Christology is an interesting but never-ending field. You will always discover more and more about the person of Jesus Christ as you ponder the New Testament. One writer said that “there isn’t a theologian worthy of Him.” I am all too aware of that truth. Nonetheless, I am constrained by the principle: “I believe and therefore must speak.” What I have to say is more a confession of faith than it is anything else. Jesus has been my savior for twenty six years. I have grown in my knowledge both through discipleship and educational endeavors. And I hope that Christ, himself, is pleased with my statements.
The Person of Christ is eternal.
With Jesus we have to do with someone who pre-existed their birth. Now this seems paradoxical and somewhat self-refuting. But with Christ we are dealing with an eternal person. Prior to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Godhead always existed as three persons in one nature or essence. This is conceptually difficult and will merely be assumed for our present discussion. So the Eternal God the Son, or as is better known to us “Son of God, the second person of the trinity” already exists when Jesus is born as a man. So after the birth you have one person in two natures. The already existing Son of God takes a human nature into his personal existence and thus one of the triune persons is incarnate as the God-man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Though the humanity or human nature of Jesus is new and a created being, the person is eternal. This is why Jesus could say, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). In church history the dual nature of Christ was codified in the famous Chalcedon Definition of 451.
The Person of Christ is Human.
Jesus was born as a real man in time. His conception, of course, was miraculous. Popularly, we hear about the Virgin birth, though in actuality we are really speaking of the virginal conception. Mary conceives Jesus without the instrumentality of a male father. As such, in the New Testaments we see God is his father (see Luke 1:24-38). As a boy Jesus accompanies his family to the celebrations in Jerusalem every year. He grows in wisdom as a human individual, and when he reaches manhood at around thirty years old, he announces himself for public ministry. The very first thing that his first disciples encountered about him was that he was human. He was a regular guy but there was something different about him. He drank wine and shared in meals with some folks of ill repute. He slept soundly when tired. Once on a boat the calm quickly evaporated as a storm quickly arose. He remained steadfast sleeping like a baby. There was no doubting it, Jesus was a man. Indeed, he was a man’s man.
The Person of Christ is Unique.
Religious leaders have loomed large on the horizon of history. Yet despite their many similarities and common notions of justice and equity, one among them stands apart. The uniqueness is not so much in Christianity’s ethical teachings or its philosophy of life. As has been shown by many, perhaps nowhere better than in C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man (appendix), that similarity in ethical teaching is not what makes Christianity unique. The distinction lies with Christ Himself! He claimed things about his own being that would be blasphemous if they came from the lips of any other man. Indeed, these claims are precisely what got Jesus in trouble with the religious teachers of his day. He was accused of standing in the place of God, with claims that God was his father. Moreover, Jesus claimed he was the only way, the truth and the life, and that salvation was found in him alone and that he was to judge mankind. These are truly stupendous claims. But Jesus was and is God manifest in the flesh (John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16).
The Person of Christ Saves.
Jesus died on the cross to save his people from their sins. This was given as the reason that he was to be born in the first instance. He alone could be the redeemer because he alone was able to furnish the honor to God that was owed because of our transgressions (ala Anselm of Canterbury) because he was God, and he was able to absorb the wrath of God in our place as a substitution for atonement (ala John Owen) because he was human. This is the crux of the matter. Paul’s emphasis on this is found in Romans (see 3:21-28; and 1 John 2:1-2, 4:9-10).
The Person of Christ Stands.
All this to say that thinking about the person of Christ is one of the greatest privileges given to man. But greater still than seeking him in Scripture is serving Him in life. Christ looms large. He alone conquered death and is the Living Lord of all. What will you do with Christ? “Who do you say that I am?” he once asked his followers. That question still beckons. You have no other savior to hope in for an eternal redemption as there is no one else that can truly offer it in actuality. Many may claim to be the solution but only Christ is the true God and true man that can truly save. “Jesus is Lord” can be uttered only by those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. I do not mean simply repeating the words, but the true confession from a regenerated heart that “Jesus is my Lord” reflects the only hope open to mankind. Can you, along with the Apostle Paul testify that Jesus “loved me and gave himself for me?” I pray that you will.
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