Justin Taylor's Blog, page 182

How the Trinity Changes Everything

In this series of short video clips Mike Reeves—author of Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith and Theological Advisor for UCCF—explains how deeply relevant the Trinity is to the whole of Christian life, including prayer, gospel, assurance, and unity. (See also Fred Sanders’s excellent book, The Deep Things of God.)

HT: The Blue Fish

Free Live-stream: God’s Good Design in Disability

Here is the schedule for the disability conference going on right now. We all have much to learn about God and the gospel and love, and the speakers below are brokenhearted and grace-filled teachers who can help us.

You can watch it live.

John Piper, “When Jesus Meets Disability: How A Christian Hedonist Handles Deep Disappointment”

9:30 AM — 10:30 AM (EST)

Speaker Panel

11:15 AM — 12:15 PM (EST)

Nancy Guthrie, “Thinking Like Jesus about Disability”

2:00 PM — 3:00 PM (EST)

Mark Talbot, “Longing for Wholeness: Chronic Suffering and Christian Hope”

3:45 PM — 4:45 PM (EST)

Greg Lucas, “Parenting When Your Heart Is Continually Crushed”

5:00 PM — 6:00 PM (EST)

The Changing Moral Landscape in America

From Al Mohler’s election analysis:

Evangelical Christians must see the 2012 election as a catastrophe for crucial moral concerns. The election of President Obama returns a radically pro-abortion President to the White House, soon after he had endorsed same-sex marriage. President Obama is likely to have the opportunity to appoint one or more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, and they are almost sure to agree with his constitutional philosophy.

Furthermore, at least two states, Maine and Maryland, legalized same-sex marriage last night. Washington State is likely to join them once the votes there are counted. An effort to pass a constitutional amendment preventing same-sex marriage went down to defeat in Minnesota. These came after 33 states had passed some measure defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. After 33 victories, last night brought multiple defeats. Maine and Maryland (and probably Washington State) became the first states in the union to legalize same-sex marriage by action of the voters. There is no discounting the moral shift that momentous development represents.

Other states considered issues ranging from abortion and marijuana to assisted suicide. While not all were lost, the moral shift was evident in the voting patterns.

Clearly, we face a new moral landscape in America, and huge challenge to those of us who care passionately about these issues. We face a worldview challenge that is far greater than any political challenge, as we must learn how to winsomely convince Americans to share our moral convictions about marriage, sex, the sanctity of life, and a range of moral issues. This will not be easy. It is, however, an urgent call to action.

You can read the whole thing here.

The Two Articles Christians Should Read the Day After the Election

I recommend that you read Russell Moore’s “Christians, Let’s Honor the President” and Collin Hansen’s “From Me, Yesterday.” Both exemplify Christian engagement with politics in the best sense.

Here’s an excerpt from Moore:

We are going to disagree with the President on some (important) things; there will be other areas where we can work with the President. But whether in agreement or disagreement, we can honor. Honor doesn’t mean blanket endorsement.

I am always amazed by those Christians who will dispute the command to honor, arguing that “kings” in our system are the people, and therefore we’re called to honor the Constitution but not elected officials. But the Scripture doesn’t command honor simply for the ultimate authority (which is, of course, ultimately God, in any case). Humanly speaking, the ultimate political authority in the New Testament context was the Emperor. And yet, the Apostle Peter specifically calls the people of Christ not only to show submission to the emperor “as supreme” but also to “governors” (1 Pet. 2:13-14). The Apostle Paul calls on the churches to pray and to show thanksgiving for “kings” (plural) and for “all who are in high positions” (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

Paul imitated this when he showed due respect to the governor Felix, referring to him with the honorific title “his Excellency, the governor” (Acts 23:26) and “most excellent Felix” (Acts 24:2), even as he appealed his way up through the political process of the Roman Empire of his time. Paul showed thanksgiving for Felix, despite his part in a system with which Paul disagreed at some important points, for his “reforms” for the common good (24:3).

Behind that is a more general command to “honor everyone” (1 Pet. 2:17), to pray for “all people” (1 Tim. 2:1). We are to not only pay our taxes but give “respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Rom. 13:7).

Christians, above all people, should pray for and show respect for our President and all of our elected officials. After all, unlike those who see politics as ultimate, we recognize that our political structures are important, but temporal, before an inbreaking kingdom of Christ. We don’t then need to be fomented into the kind of faux outrage that passes for much of contemporary political discourse. And, unlike those who see history as impersonal or capricious, we see behind everything a God who is sovereign over his universe.

So let’s pray for President Obama. Let’s not give ourselves to terms of disrespect, or every crazy conspiracy theory that floats across the Internet.

You can read the whole thing here.

And here’s an excerpt from Hansen:

Dear Post-Election Self,

Reading this letter, you know which man will reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the next four years. But I don’t. I’m waiting for the election results to pour in from Cuyahoga and Waukesha and Arapahoe. Eerie calm awaits the coming political storm. But by the time you wake up, one party or the other will be apoplectic. Tens of millions of Americans will be devastated, following a cutthroat campaign that convinced them the other guy seeks this nation’s doom. Millions more around the world know the outcome affects them, too, but they can’t even vote to do anything about it. Literally billions of dollars have been spent by powerful men and women who believe their riches can dictate the course of human events. When you read this letter, about half of them will be demanding answers from ruined politicos for why their money failed to do the deed.

No matter what happens, I want you to remember how encouraged you were yesterday to see so many Christians testify to their faith in God alone. Today will be an especially good day to read 1 Peter. By professing trust in the God who makes rulers rise and fall, whether we understand his purposes or not, we “honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15). Gentleness and respect have been almost totally absent from the campaign. Slander begat slander. Evil has been celebrated as freedom. But you can in good conscience put to shame even the vile by doing good in Christ. You must not, under any circumstances, return evil for evil. “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (1 Pet. 3:17).

Nothing you will endure under the leadership of either leader—who both thumb their nose at God’s Word in many respects—can compare with the hardships faced by the elect exiles of the dispersion. Yet the chastened, impassioned apostle Peter told these harried believers, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Pet. 2:17). You may be rightly concerned that President Obama, if re-elected, will continue to restrict religious freedoms that, while protected by the Constitution, conflict with progressive priorities to redefine marriage and fund abortion. But not even your worst-case scenario can compare to what Jesus Christ has already endured. In fact, all who have been called to Christ have been called to suffer, “because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Pet 2:21). Unlike you, “he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:22).

If we suffer political defeat like those who have no hope but politics, we do not even commend ourselves, let alone the God who hung the moon and stars. But if we grieve as those who hope in the return of the King, those who trust in flawed politicians may one day see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. Jesus did not give his life so we could watch cable news as if our lives depended on it. Jesus submitted to death ordered by rulers so we might never fear them. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24.)

You can read the whole thing here.

Three Categories that Leaders Should Know

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld explains:

HT: @BobCarlton

Speaking of leadership, the latest “Authors on the Line” podcast, hosted by Tony Reinke, is a conversation with Albert Mohler about Christians leading in the secular world and his new book, The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters (currently 52% off at Amazon).

8 Theses on God and Government

Sam Storms:

(1) Human government is not inherently evil. The structures of authority in any particular political system are not per se wicked. All human governmental authority comes ultimately from the hand of God. Government is used for evil because people are sinful, not because the authority of the ruling party is wicked or should be abolished.

(2) God is absolutely sovereign and authoritative over who rules, where they exercise their power (its boundaries and extent), over whom they have authority, and for how long.

(3) God is not only sovereign in that he decides who shall rule and for how long, but he also can exert omnipotent and irresistible influence over the hearts and minds of kings and rulers and presidents to do what he wants done.

(4) Although we are ultimately citizens of a heavenly kingdom and only secondarily citizens of an earthly state, we are not for that reason exempt from submitting to the laws of the land where we live (1 Peter 2:13-17).

(5) Although we are submissive to the authority of government, Christians have a responsibility as citizens of both heaven and earth to influence for good the government under which they live.

(6) Although Christians are responsible to exert a positive influence on government, nowhere in the NT do we see that Elders in the local church, by virtue of their being Elders, have authority in or responsibility over local, state, or national government decision-making. Elders can certainly hold public office, but they do so as private citizens and not because of their office in the local church. Likewise, nowhere in the NT do we see governmental officials exerting authority over the local church or selecting its officers or dictating what it must believe or how its people must behave.

(7) No government or earthly authority or political party platform ever sent anyone to hell. Politics has no such power. On the other hand, unrepentant pride and immorality and rebellion and unbelief do send people to hell. They have precisely that power. Similarly, no government or earthly authority or political platform can save a single human soul. On the other hand, Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone can.

(8) The confession that “Jesus is Lord” is not simply a declaration of faith and an acknowledgement that He is the Master of our lives individually and as a church. It is also a political statement.

Read the whole thing for an explanation and defense of each point.

What God Is Always Aiming for in Our Adversity

2 Corinthians 1:9:

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

John Piper:

Adversity by its very nature is the removal of things on which our comfort and hope have rested and so it will either result in anger toward God or greater reliance on him alone for our peace.

And his purpose for us in adversity is not that we get angry or discouraged, but that our hope shift off earthly things onto God.

God’s main purpose in all adversity is to make us stop trusting in ourselves or any man.

Which Presidential Polls Were Most Accurate in 2008? (Updated)

Update: See the correction below from a commenter:

That “Initial Report” list is outdated and invalid. It was compiled in the hours immediately following the election, long before all votes had been counted. It was based on an estimate of a 6.15 percent Obama lead. However, Obama actually won by a 7.2 margin, 52.9 to 45.7 percent (FEC verified).

Fordham later released a complete analysis based on the official popular vote outcome. In this report, Pew and Rasmussen scored much lower, being beat out by eight other pollsters.

[Original post below.]

According to Fordham University political scientist Costas Panagopoulos, the most accurate pollsters in the 2008 presidential election were the Pew Research Center and Rasmussen Reports. Pollsters, on average, tended to overestimate Obama’s support, though not by much. 17 of the 23 pollsters overstated Obama’s final count; 4 of the 23 underestimated it; 2 of the 23 (Pew and Rasmussen) got it exactly right.

Here’s the ranking:

1T. Rasmussen (11/1-3)**

1T. Pew (10/29-11/1)**

3. YouGov/Polimetrix (10/18-11/1)

4. Harris Interactive (10/20-27)

5. GWU (Lake/Tarrance) (11/2-3)*

6T. Diageo/Hotline (10/31-11/2)*

6T. ARG (10/25-27)*

8T. CNN (10/30-11/1)

8T. Ipsos/McClatchy (10/30-11/1)

10. DailyKos.com (D)/Research 2000 (11/1-3)

11. AP/Yahoo/KN (10/17-27)

12. Democracy Corps (D) (10/30-11/2)

13. FOX (11/1-2)

14. Economist/YouGov (10/25-27)

15. IBD/TIPP (11/1-3)

16. NBC/WSJ (11/1-2)

17. ABC/Post (10/30-11/2)

18. Marist College (11/3)

19. CBS (10/31-11/2)

20. Gallup (10/31-11/2)

21. Reuters/ C-SPAN/ Zogby (10/31-11/3)

22. CBS/Times (10/25-29)

23. Newsweek (10/22-23)

HT: The List

Do You Realize What a Gift It Is to Have an Intercessor Today?

“Nothing serves to verify the intimacy and constancy of the Redeemer’s preoccupation with the security of his people, nothing assures us of his unchanging love more than the tenderness which his heavenly priesthood bespeaks and particularly as it comes to expression in intercession for us.”

—John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1968), 330.

The New ESVBible.org

I am very thankful for my colleagues at Crossway who serve the church with their remarkable gifting in design and technology. They’ve just released the latest (beta) version of the ESVBible.org.

You can read about some of the features here, including mobile compatibility.