Justin Taylor's Blog, page 248

The Most Riveting Description of the Goal of Christian Living I've Ever Read

David Powlison says that the last page or so of B. B. Warfield's sermon "Imitating the Incarnation" "offers the most riveting description of the goal of Christian living that I've ever read."

Here is an excerpt:

It is not to this that Christ's example calls us.

He did not cultivate self, even His divine self: He took no account of self.

He was not led by His divine impulse out of the world, driven back into the recesses of His own soul to brood morbidly over His own needs, until to gain His own seemed worth all sacrifice to Him.

He was led by His love for others into the world, to forget Himself in the needs of others, to sacrifice self once for all upon the altar of sympathy.

Self-sacrifice brought Christ into the world. And self-sacrifice will lead us, His followers, not away from but into the midst of men.

Wherever men suffer, there will we be to comfort.

Wherever men strive, there will we be to help.

Wherever men fail, there will be we to uplift. Wherever men succeed, there will we be to rejoice.

Self-sacrifice means not indifference to our times and our fellows: it means absorption in them.

It means forgetfulness of self in others.

It means entering into every man's hopes and fears, longings and despairs: it means manysidedness of spirit, multiform activity, multiplicity of sympathies.

It means richness of development.

It means not that we should live one life, but a thousand lives,—binding ourselves to a thousand souls by the filaments of so loving a sympathy that their lives become ours.

It means that all the experiences of men shall smite our souls and shall beat and batter these stubborn hearts of ours into fitness for their heavenly home.

It is, after all, then, the path to the highest possible development, by which alone we can be made truly men. Not that we shall undertake it with this end in view. This were to dry up its springs at their source. We cannot be self-consciously self-forgetful, selfishly unselfish.

Only, when we humbly walk this path, seeking truly in it not our own things but those of others, we shall find the promise true, that he who loses his life shall find it.

Only, when, like Christ, and in loving obedience to His call and example, we take no account of ourselves, but freely give ourselves to others, we shall find, each in his measure, the saying true of himself also: "Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him."

The path of self-sacrifice is the path to glory.

Steve Nichols: Three Classic Sermons Worth Reading

A while back I asked several pastors and theologians what sermons or essays they would recommend that had a special impact on them, or that they would seriously urge students and pastors to consider reading. I thought it might be helpful to repost some of these by individual author.

Here are suggestions from Stephen J. Nichols, professor of theology and church history at Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania:

J. Gresham Machen, "The Good Fight of Faith"
Jonathan Edwards, "The Most High, A Prayer-Hearing God"
John Chrysostom, "Homily 21, On Ephesians 6:1-4"

The Most Important Supreme Court Ruling on Religion in 20 Years

Ted Olsen:

In what some legal scholars were calling the most significant religion case in 20 years, the Supreme Court ruled today that a Lutheran school teacher was a "minister" who could not sue the church that fired her in 2005.

"The First Amendment provides, in part, that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,'" Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the unanimous opinion. "We have said that these two Clauses 'often exert conflicting pressures,' and that there can be 'internal tension … between the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.' Not so here. Both Religion Clauses bar the government from interfering with the decision of a religious group to fire one of its ministers."

"This is a huge win for religious liberty," said Douglas Laycock, a University of Virginia Law School professor who represented the church at the Supreme Court's oral arguments in October. "The Court has unanimously confirmed the right of churches to select their own ministers and religious leaders. It has unanimously held that the courts cannot inquire into whether the church had religious reasons for its decisions concerning a minister. The longstanding unanimity in the lower courts has now been confirmed by unanimity in the Supreme Court."

Today's decision marks the first time the justices have considered what is widely knows as "the ministerial exception" to antidiscrimination employment laws. While the top court has never directly ruled on whether such a exception exists or protects religious organizations from lawsuits on such matters, Roberts noted, appellate courts "have had extensive experience with this issue."

The court was unequivocal: "We agree that there is such a ministerial exception," Roberts wrote. "Requiring a church to accept or retain an unwanted minister, or punishing a church for failing to do so, intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs."

Keep reading. . . .

What We We Need Is a Hermeneutic of Nature

In the controversy surrounding the controversial "Can We _______?" chapter of Mark and Grace Driscoll's new book Real Marriage, I have been hoping that someone would raise the issue of natural law as it relates to sexual ethics. To my knowledge no one thus far has brought that up, and to my way of thinking it's the key issue at play.

So I'm thankful that Doug Wilson—who has significant praise for the book but a few serious concerns—raised the issue in the third installment of his ongoing review.

Here is an excerpt:

There are more words that we have to use in our evaluation than lawful, helpful, or enslaving. We should also consider natural, unnatural, honorable, dishonorable, shameful, and so on. Now it order to be able to say that a particular activity between a married man and woman is "unnatural," it should be obvious that we need to have a hermeneutic of nature.

You can read the whole thing here, but I should mention that this is an in-depth discussion of the most controversial thing in the Driscoll book, so I would encourage discretion and discernment, based on context and conscience, of whether a review like this will be necessary, edifying, and appropriate to read.

For those who would like to think a bit more about the role of natural law in ethics, J. Budziszewski says that C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man is the greatest work on natural law in the 20th century (also the shortest!).

Carl Trueman: Three Classic Articles Worth Reading

A while back I asked several pastors and theologians what sermons or essays they would recommend that had a special impact on them, or that they would seriously urge students and pastors to consider reading. I thought it might be helpful to repost some of these by individual author.

Here are recommendations from Carl Trueman, professor of church history and historical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia:

R. V. G. Tasker, "The Biblical Doctrine of the Wrath of God"
Martin Luther, "Two Kinds of Righteousness"
George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language" [Trueman writes: "This is the most brilliant statement (and example) of clear prose---something which pastors and theologians need to grasp."]

Bryan Chapell: Three Classic Articles Worth Reading

A while back I asked several pastors and theologians what sermons or essays they would recommend that had a special impact on them, or that they would seriously urge students and pastors to consider reading. I thought it might be helpful to repost some of these by individual author.

First up, Bryan Chapell, president of, and professor of practical theology at, Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

Here is what he passed along:

J.I. Packer, "What Did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution"
Francis Schaeffer, "A Day of Sober Rejoicing"
Thomas Chalmers, "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection"

Is the Bible More Than My Roadmap to Life?

Matt Chandler for the Gospel Project:

How Primary Elections Work in the US

HT: Andrew Sullivan

Warning and Assurance in the Book of Hebrews

Collin Hansen interviews Peter O'Brien about the warning passages in the book of Hebrews.

David Peterson explores the basis and nature of assurance in the book of Hebrews, and how it relates to apostasy.

And speaking of assurance, Kevin DeYoung has begun a series of blog posts looking at assurance in the Reformed confessions, beginning first with the Canon of Dordt and tomorrow looking at the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Holiness and Homosexuality

Three essays by David Peterson:

Holiness and God's Creation Purpose
Holiness and Sexuality in the Pauline Writings
Same-sex Unions and Romans 1

He summarizes:

Many people who write on the subject of homosexuality consider it within the framework of justice or love or tolerance or personal fulfilment, but holiness is the theological context and motivation for the teaching of the Mosaic law about sexual behaviour (Lv. 18:1-30; 20:7-26), and holiness is also the basis of the New Testament appeal for distinctive sexual behaviour in several key passages (e.g. 1 Thes. 4:1-8; 1 Cor. 6:9-20; 2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:2). The articles I have written consider the theological and  pastoral implications of viewing homosexual behaviour in this way.