Justin Taylor's Blog, page 127

Charles Wesley’s “And Can It Be”: Background and Scriptural Allusions

According to the editor of The Oxford Edition of the Works of John Wesley (Oxford: Clarendon, 1975-1983, vol. 7), “And Can It Be” was written immediately after Charles Wesley’s conversion (May 21, 1738). Wesley knew his Bible well prior to this time, but had not yet experienced assurance of new birth or the fulness of grace in his life.

The editor also that it was probably this hymn, or “Where Should My Wond’ring Soul Begin?” that was sung late on the evening of his brother John’s Aldersgate Street conversion just three days later on May 24.

John Lawson, in A Thousand Tongues: The Wesley Hymns as a Guide to Scriptural Teaching (London: Paternoster, 1987), says this “is perhaps the best known and best loved of all the Methodist hymns associated with the conversion experience.”

Wesley begins the first stanza by expressing amazement over the love expressed in God the Son dying for him; it is a mystery that we who caused his death now benefit from it.

In the second stanza, Wesley calls for adoration at the incomprehensibility of God’s love and mercy in this sacrifice.

In the third stanza, Wesley recounts the infinite grace and mercy of Christ’s love and humility in the incarnation, death, and finding of lost sinners.

Now in the fourth stanza, Wesley turns his attention to the bondage of his own sin and the freedom he found in Christ.

Finally, he explores the results of Christ’s amazing and merciful work: there is no condemnation for those made alive in Christ and clothed in his righteousness; rather, there is bold access to the throne as we have the right to claim the eschatological crown.

Using and adapting the notations in the reference works cited above, I have sought to identify probable biblical allusions (in the KJV) that probably implicitly or explicitly informed Wesley’s wording and concepts in this great hymn:

1. And can it be that I should gain

An interest in the Saviour’s blood?[1]

Died he for me? who caused his pain![2]

For me—who him to death pursued?[3]

Amazing love! How can it be[4]

That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?[5]

 

2. ‘Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:[6]

Who can explore his strange design?[7]

In vain the first-born seraph tries[8]

To sound the depths of love divine.[9]

‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore![10]

Let angel minds inquire no more.[11]

 

3. He left His Father’s throne above[12]

So free, so infinite his grace![13]

Emptied Himself of all but love,[14]

And bled for Adam’s helpless race.[15]

‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,[16]

For O my God! it found out me![17]

 

4. Long my imprisoned spirit lay,[18]

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;[19]

Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray[20]

I woke; the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed thee.[21]

 

5. No condemnation now I dread;[22]

Jesus, and all in him, is mine;[23]

Alive in Him, my living head,[24]

And clothed in righteousness divine,[25]

Bold I approach th’eternal throne,[26]

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.[27]

 

[1] Eph 1:7, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” Eph 1:14, “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

[2] Gal 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

[3] Acts 9:4-5, “And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

[4] Isa 29:14, “Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”

[5] Gal 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

[6] 1 Cor 2:7-8, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Phil 2:6-8, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation [=emptied himself], and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

[7] Isa 28:21, “For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.”

[8] Job 38:7, “ When the morning stars [=angels] sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Isa 6:2, “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”

[9] Eph 3:18-19, “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

[10] Hab 2:20, “But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.”

[11] 1 Pet 1:12, “Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.”

[12] John 6:38, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” Rev 22:3, “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.”

[13] 2 Cor 8:9, “ For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”

[14] Eph 2:7, “But made himself of no reputation [=emptied himself], and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”

[15] Rom 5:12, 14, “Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned . . . Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come.” Rev 5:9, “And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

[16] Ps 145:9, “Jehovah is good to all; And his tender mercies are over all his works.” Rom 11:32, “For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.”

[17] Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel.” Gal 1:15-16, “But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood.”

[18] Ps 107:10, “Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron.” John 8:34, “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” Acts 12:6-9, “And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.”

[19] Rom 6:17, “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” 1 Cor 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

[20] John 1:4, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

[21] Acts 2:7-8, “And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.” Luke 5:28, “And he left all, rose up, and followed him.” John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Rom 6:18, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

[22] Rom 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

[23] Rom 8:32, “ He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” 1 Cor 3:22, “Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your’s.”

[24] 1 Cor 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Col 1:18, “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

[25] Phil 3:9, Isa 68:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” Phil 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

[26] Eph 3:12, “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.” Heb 4:6, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb 10:19-22, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

[27]  2 Tim 4:8, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” James 1:12, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” Rev 2:10, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

 

How Do We Know the Holy Spirit Is a Person?

One potential argument that the Holy Spirit is a person is to look at the Greek words in John 14:26, 15:26, and 16:13-14. There we see that the antecedent of the masculine ἐκεῖνος (a masculine word for “that person”) is πνεῦμα (a neuter word for “Spirit”). Hence, so the argument goes, the Spirit is a person. Unfortunately, that argument likely doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

A more fruitful approach is first to ask a question almost no one asks: how do we know that the Father is a person? How about the Son?

The answer is that the Bible presents a person as a substance that can do personal and relational things (such as speaking, thinking, feeling, acting). Something that does these personal things in relationship—like God, angels, and human beings—is a person.

How does the Holy Spirit fare up under this criteria?

1. The Spirit teaches and reminds.



John 14:26, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

1 Corinthians 2:13, “We impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

2. The Spirit speaks.

Acts 8:29, “the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’

Acts 13:2, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’”

3. The Spirit makes decisions.



Acts 15:28, “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements.”

3. The Spirit can be grieved.



Ephesians 4:30, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

4. The Spirit can be outraged.



Hebrews 10:29, “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has . . . outraged the Spirit of grace?”

5. The Spirit can be lied to.

Acts 5:3, 4, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? . . . You have not lied to men but to God‘”

6. The Spirit can forbid or prevent human speech and plans.



Acts 16:6-7, “they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.”

7. The Spirit searches everything and comprehends God’s thoughts.



1 Corinthians 2:10-11, “the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. . . . no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

8. The Spirit apportions spiritual gifts.



1 Corinthians 12:11, “the same Spirit . . . apportions [spiritual gifts] to each one individually as he wills.”

9. The Spirit helps us, intercedes for us, and has a mind.



Romans 8:26-27, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

10. The Spirit bears witness to believers about their adoption



Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

11. The Spirit bears witness to Christ.



“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

12. The Spirit glorifies Christ, takes what is Christ, and declares it to believers.



John 16:14, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing: An Important Theme in Lord of the Rings

Tim Keller:

This is a very important theme in Tolkien. The elves are often described as both old and young, both joyful and sad.

A more explicit expression of it is the description of Gandalf in Book 3-

. . . in the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.

And I agree—it is very helpful in describing the demeanor of Christians, who will feel the fallenness of the world most keenly because they know what God created the world to be, and who know that nothing in history will ever bring about any fundamental repair of things, and yet Christians also have an unquenchable, infallible assurance that in the end, everything will be joy and glory. So how else can we act, but “sad, but not unhappy,” “afflicted, but not crushed”—weeping, but rejoicing.

What Do You Think of When You Think of the New Calvinism?

Amen and amen to this post from Kevin DeYoung.

I encourage everyone to read it. Yes, “There are a number of legitimate dangers that need to be heeded when it comes to the New Calvinism. . . . We have all the problems that any movement has. . . . In other words, almost every critique has some merit; almost every warning should be considered.”

“But,” Kevin writes, “this is what I think of when I think of the New Calvinism: gratitude. That’s my jump-out-of-the-box disposition.  Not ‘yeah, but.’ Not suspicion. Not a roll of the eyes. Gratitude. I am thankful to God for what he seems to be doing in our day—immensely thankful.”

Again, I encourage you to read the whole thing.

An Interview on Sex, Dating, and Relationships

An interview with Gerald Hiestand on Sex, Dating, and Relationships: A Fresh Approach (Crossway, 2012), co-authored with Jay Thomas.

Your book looks at three fundamental male/female relationships: (1) the family relationship, (2) the neighbor relationship, and (3) the marriage relationship. But many add another category: (4) the dating relationship. Why do you find this last category problematic?

As you’ve noted, in our book we argue that Scripture recognizes three distinct types of male-female relationships—the “family” relationship, the “marriage” relationship, and the “neighbor” relationship (by “neighbor” we mean anyone who is neither a blood relative or a spouse). We mark these as distinct relationships based on the observation that each relationship carries with it an explicit sexual ethic. The Levitical sexual codes (Leviticus 18) clearly prohibit sexual relationships between blood relatives. And all throughout Scriptures (Proverbs, Song of Songs, 1 Corinthians 7) we see that sexual relations within marriage are not only permissible, but commanded.

Likewise, the sexual ethic of the “neighbor relationship” is detailed in 1 Corinthians 7:9 and 1 Timothy 5:2—namely, that sexual activity is prohibited. We go into this in more detail in the book, but the crucial observation here is that the sexual boundary for all non-married relationships is complete abstinence. And this doesn’t mean only abstinence from sexual intercourse, but abstinence from all sexual activity. So in chart form, it looks like the below.

The problem with viewing a dating relationship as its own distinct category of relationship is that—being a modern invention—it lacks any explicit scriptural boundary regarding sexual relations. Feeling left to our own devices, we have invented our own guidelines of sexual purity. And those guidelines are all over the map. Some are fairly conservative, while others are not. In either case, the legitimization of dating relationships as a distinct category of male-female relationship has introduced an enormous amount of subjectivity into Christian pre-marital relationships.

A main problem with contemporary dating relationships is that they tend to grant license to sexual activity that we would otherwise intuitively deem inappropriate. For instance, most Christian women won’t make out with just any guy; but they will make out with their boyfriend. And that, we believe, is a category mistake. The chart below illustrates the confusion.

In our book, we argue that a dating relationship is really just a subset of the neighbor relationship, and thus must be governed by its sexual guidelines. In short, we can’t slap the label “dating” on a male/female relationship and then justify engaging in sexual activity that we would otherwise deem inappropriate between unmarried men and women.

So if  “the bounds of the neighbor relationship are binding until marriage” (p. 139), what tensions will Christians experience who asking: How far is too far before marriage?

In many respects, the entire book is a theological and exegetical attempt to answer this question. Pastors and parents have, I think, dropped the ball here. We’ve tended to push the burden of this dilemma back onto teens and singles. Our typical line goes something like this: “The Bible doesn’t really speak about sexual boundaries in dating relationships, so you’ll have to prayerfully develop your own standard.” But this has been a disaster in our Christian sub-culture. Telling teens and singles to develop their own sexual ethic is not pastorally responsible.

Our conclusion in this matter is pretty countercultural, and so my temptation here is to provide a prolonged defense and justification. But since that would require an entire chapter’s worth, let me briefly state the argument and then hope people will go to the book for the details.

We work primarily from 1 Corinthians 7:9, where Paul instructs non-married individuals to pursue sexual fulfillment exclusively in marriage. The implications in this passage are clear: sexual activity is to be reserved for the marriage relationship. So far, not very groundbreaking.

But how do we determine which physical activities are sexual?

Clearly some physical activities (like shaking hands, a kiss on the cheek) are not inherently sexual.

And other physical activities (oral sex, fondling) are clearly sexual.

But what about something like passionate kissing? Is passionate kissing a sexual activity? A great way to judge the sexual nature of a physical activity is to consider the activity against the backdrop of the nuclear family. We call it the “family test”: if I wouldn’t engage in x activity with a biological relative because it would be sexually inappropriate to do so, then that activity is, by definition, a sexual activity. In other words, whatever activity would be sexually inappropriate between a brother and sister reveals what constitutes a sexual activity.

There’s more to sexual purity than this, but framing things in this way provides a good deal of clarity regarding appropriate sexual boundaries. By this definition, passionate kissing is clearly a sexual activity, and thus to be reserved for the marriage relationship. I’ve heard a number of creative attempts to work around this logic, but none are very convincing.

The great compromise of contemporary evangelical sexual ethics is that we have justified foreplay as a legitimate part of pre-marital relationships. This doesn’t hold up theologically or scripturally, and it certainly doesn’t work pragmatically. Foreplay is meant to propel us toward consummation. It shouldn’t surprise us that evangelical teens and singles are struggling to maintain sexual purity; we’ve basically said it’s OK to begin having sex, just as long as they don’t finish. And that’s not a recipe for chastity.

In addition to exacerbating sexual impropriety, you also argue that dating relationships tend to create unhealthy emotional expectations. Can you explain?

A primary concern of the book is to help pre-engaged couples keep their wits about them. We tell women, “Don’t give your heart away to a man who isn’t sure what he’s going to do with it.” And we tell men, “Don’t try to win the heart of a woman if you don’t know what you’re going to do with it.” We’re not against a man pursuing a woman. But we are against a man doing this irresponsibly. In bygone days, a man would woo a woman toward marriage. Nowadays a man woos a woman to be his girlfriend. Women are giving themselves away—emotionally, romantically, sexually—to men who have made no promises.

Ultimately, the “commitment” of a dating relationship is the commitment to be committed until one or the other doesn’t feel like being committed. When you peel away the veneer, the commitment of a dating relationships is pretty shallow. Yet we treat these relationships as though they were a quasi-marriage, and thus grant them a measure of security that isn’t really there. And of course this goes both ways. Men are often just as much a victim.

In the book you suggest that pre-marital relationships should only become romantic at engagement. You write, “To romantically woo a woman, or to give your heart away to a man, prior to a marriage commitment is to paint an unclear portrait of Christ and the church. . . . The time to bring on the romance is when you’re ready to bring on the ring!” (87, 106). However, you also argue that the standard of sexual purity for the neighbor relationship, even after engagement, remains the same. So there seems to be some tension here. Explain what this looks like.

Yes, the trick is to happily anticipate sexual intimacy in a way that it doesn’t lead to immorality. Certainly once a man and woman have agreed upon marriage, it is appropriate that they have a happy sense of longing and desire to experience the relational joy of sexual intimacy with one another. We are not suggesting that an engaged couple repress their sexual and romantic feelings for each other, or pretend that they are not sexually attracted to each other. It is never wrong to anticipate a good gift from God. But it is wrong to anticipate the gift in such a way that it breeds impatience or disobedience. Three times in the Song of Songs unmarried individuals are told not “to arouse or awaken love until it so desires” (2:7, 3:5, 8:4). In the context of these admonitions, sexual love does not desire to be awakened when it has no opportunity for consummation.

Since sexual activity must still be reserved for marriage, it is incumbent that an engaged couple exercise wisdom regarding the extent to which they “fan into flame” sexual desire through physical touch, spending time alone, discussing sexual intimacy, etc. Even within marriage there will be times when sex will not be possible for certain seasons, and such times are not made easier by fixating on sexual intimacy; to the surprise of many singles, continence will be required even in marriage! So I don’t recommend engaged couples, still months from their wedding, spending too much time thinking or talking about sexual intimacy, or even allowing their thoughts to wander in that direction for too long. The sexual tension will build naturally enough—no need to help it along to the point that it become unmanageable.

You argue that how we live as Christians in our sexual relationships broadcasts a message to the world about the gospel, either rightly or wrongly. What would you say to Christian singles? What does sexual purity before or outside of marriage say about the preciousness and beauty of our union with Christ?

This really is the theological core of the book, and where we begin in chapter 1. We argue from Ephesians 5:21-32 that sex is a “type” or image of Christ’s spiritual union with the church. In other words, God created the sexual relationship between the husband and wife to be a picture of Christ’s spiritual union with the church. It didn’t just work out this way; this is how God designed it from the beginning. This then explains Scripture sexual ethics. If the sexual relationships was created by God to picture Christ’s spiritual relationship with the church, then it is incumbent on us to behave sexually in ways that reflect this higher union. Christ and the church don’t divorce, so neither should we.

Christ is faithful to his bride, so likewise husbands should be faithful to their wives. Christ reserves himself exclusively for the church, so too we should reserves ourselves exclusively for our spouse. The point here is that God’s sexual ethics are not arbitrary, but point to the greater and higher reality of the gospel. Christian sexuality is grounded in a fixed norm that anchors our view of sexual ethics, as well as informs our self-understanding as sexual beings. Thus when a single person refrains from sexual activity, this celibacy points toward a higher reality—Christ saved himself for his spouse, and so too the single Christian saves himself or herself for a future spouse. Sexual chastity, then, is a great testimony to the gospel.

And it’s important to point out that sex is only a picture of the real thing, and not the real thing itself. Many Christians are single, but not by choice. This can be a painful situation. But the hope of the gospel is that marriage and sex, as wonderful as they are, are only a picture of the real thing. While one may be denied participation in the shadow relationship, everyone is granted access to the real thing through God’s grace. And it is the real thing that truly brings peace. We often have a hard time believing this, but it’s the truth.

What would you say to those who have fallen short of the high biblical standards for sexuality, or are struggling with a sense of shame from past mistakes?



The great beauty of sex and marriage is that they point beyond themselves to the gospel. And the glory of the gospel is that Christ made himself one with us, taking upon himself all that we are, and giving us all that he is. It is this glorious exchange—typified by human marriage—that speaks of our hope. All of us fall short of God’s ideal. The ravages of sin have left each of us with a disordered sexuality. The good news of the gospel is that, in our union with Christ, God forgives our past and empowers us to live beyond our natural selves. So while our book calls Christian singles to a high calling, we hope it also encourages and deepens their confidence in the grace, power, and mercy of God.

The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Audio Book Sale

Novelist Orson Scott Card (author of Ender’s Game):

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, as read by Rob Inglis

Ignore the absurdly overblown movie version of The Hobbit — Peter Jackson has never understood Tolkien and never will. Instead, experience Lord of the Rings — the greatest work of prose fiction in the 20th century — as it should be experienced, not as a movie, but as a book read and sung aloud. Readers tend to skip over the songs and poems, but they are a vital part of the world and culture Tolkien created. In Rob Inglis’s powerful reading, all the songs are performed — with melodies that Tolkien approved during his lifetime. Now that you can download the whole trilogy and listen to it on portable devices, it’s time to remind yourself what true storytelling is.

Christian Audio is currently having a sale where you can download these audio books, narrated by Inglis: $7.49 for The Hobbit and $7.49 for each book of the trilogy.

HT: @JRRTolkien

Simon Gathercole: Can Paul’s Theology of Atonement Be Defended?

In 2011 Simon J. Cathercole—Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies and Director of Studies at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University—delivered the Hayward Lectures at Acadia Divinity College.

Over the course of three lectures, Gathercole looked at (1) “Substitutionary Atonement and Its Challenges”; (2) Death for Sins ‘According to the Scriptures’”; and (3) “The Vicarious Death of Christ and Classical Parallels.”

I don’t see that audio is available, but if I’m wrong, feel free to note a link in the comments below.

Did God Sanction Slavery in the Old Testament?

Below is a talk by Paul Copan, professor and chair of philosophy and ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University and author of Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Baker, 2011), where he deals with this question in more depth.

Are You More Blessed than the Virgin Mary?

Can you imagine if you had been there? What would it have been like to be with our Lord Jesus face to face? To walk with him and to listen to him for hours on end. To hear the tone of his voice. To ask him any question you want.

What if, instead of just being one of the disciples in the outer circles, you were one of the key players: Mary the humble mother of God; Peter the exuberant bumbler turned repentant leader; John the Baptizer, who leaped for joy at Jesus in Elizabeth’s womb and then was able to baptize his cousin and Lord.

But if you are in Christ, the reality is that things are better for you know than it would have been to be any of these folks who knew Christ in the flesh.

For example, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt 11:11; cf. Luke 7:28).

Peter, recalling the Transfiguration and hearing the voice of the Father expressing pleasure in his Son, goes on to say that “we [including you and me] have the prophetic word more fully confirmed. . .” ( 2 Pet 1:17-19).

And at the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus tells his disciples, “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you” (John 16:7).Jonathan Edwards, in his landmark sermon series on 1 Corinthians 13, comments on this theme with a particular view to the blessed virgin Mary:

Great was the privilege which God bestowed on the blessed virgin Mary, in granting that of her should be born the Son of God; that a person who was infinitely more honorable than the angels, who was the Creator and King of heaven and earth and the great Savior of the world, should be conceived in her womb, born of her, and nursed at her breast, was a far greater privilege than to be the mother of the child of the greatest earthly prince that ever existed. But yet, surely that was not so great a privilege as it was to have the grace of God in the heart, to have Christ, as it were, born in the soul, as Christ himself does expressly teach us.

Edwards here cites Luke 11:27-28:

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Edwards continues:

And once when some told him that his mother and brethren stood without desiring to speak with him, he thence took occasion to let them know that there was a more blessed way of being related to him than that which consisted in being his mother and brethren according to the flesh, viz. in having grace in the heart, and bringing forth the fruits of it in the life.

And here he cites Matt. 12:46-50:

While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

—Jonathan Edwards, Charity and Its Fruits: Living in the Light of God’s Love, ed. Kyle Strobel (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 74-75.

Why the New Book by David Wells Is Different and How It Relates to His Earlier Works

In a new interview with Crossway, David Wells talks about his new book, God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-Love of God Reorients Our World. I recommend reading it to get a good feel for his book and what he’s seeking to accomplish.

It may help to put the book in context of her previous works.

Kevin Vanhoozer refers to David Wells’ magnum opus as “Courage Quintet.” By this he is referring to his four-volume work, plus a summary and update volume) published by Eerdmans from 1993-2008.

Although it is not widely recognized as such, Wells conceived of this series of volumes as an unconventional setting forth of theology:

1. Prolegomena to culture, so that our theology isn’t swallowed up by it: No Place for Truth, or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? (1993)

2. The doctrine of God: God in the Wasteland: Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (1994)

3. The human being as created and fallen: Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision (1998)

4. The person and work of Christ: Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World (2006)

This was summed up, then, in his last published book, The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-Lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Post-Modern World (2008).

These books were widely read, by both fans and critics. No Place for Truth was named Book of the Year in Christianity Today‘s Theology and Biblical Studies category when it was published.

WORLD Magazine included it in their top 100 books of the Millennium.

Albert Mohler has described the book as “the bomb that exploded on the evangelical playground.”

Cornelius Plantinga Jr. says that “Like that of Solzhenitsyn, David Wells’s cultural criticism will be read a century from now.” What strikes Plantinga most about Wells’s books, he writes, “is their desperately deep sense of loss. David Wells’s books are a prophet’s keys of the heart.” This is why Vanhoozer calls him “the weeping prophet of contemporary evangelicalism.”

In this new book, Wells explains that “some critics have complained that [these earlier five books] contain no answers to the church’s current parlous state. The criticism has some merit. In my mind, I assumed an answer to the dilemmas unearthed and was not always as explicit in setting this out as I should have been.”

This book is his answer—not merely a lament of where we have gone wrong but his positive vision of how we should go forward.

Wells argued that the church must recover an understanding of and encounter with the holy-love of God: his holiness bound to his love. And yet we often struggle to hold the paradox together.

Some of us tend to emphasize his holiness attributes (justice, righteousness, wrath) and others his love attributes (patience, goodness, kindness).

Historically the Church has tended to emphasize holiness at the expense of love (leading to moralism, Pharisaism) or love at the expense of holiness (liberalism, universalism). But Wells argues:

The deepest truths about God’s character are not simply about his holiness, or his love, but about his holiness in its bond to his love, the one expressing the other, each deepening the paradox of their belonging to each other, of belonging together. Each in relation to the other leads us into the glory of who God is in his character.

May the Lord would use this book to encourage and edify God’s people as they seek to live before our holy and loving Lord.

(For more information on the book, go here.)