Revelation, Four Views: A Parallel Commentary
Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997, 528 pages.
Don’t confuse this with a book with a similar title edited by Marvin Pate, which I also recently reviewed. That book allowed the proponents of each of four different views to present an overall summary of their approach to the book of Revelation. This book by Gregg, on the other hand, is a detailed, verse-by-verse commentary, with the text divided into paragraphs, and each paragraph followed by four parallel columns. Each column represents the interpretation of the text from one of the four major views. Gregg has studied over 60 commentaries (listed on pages 6-8) written from various perspectives, which basically fall into one of four major views advocated by evangelical students and scholars throughout church history.
Not only does he present four different views, he also includes the variations within each view, so that, for example, he will tell how John Walvoord’s view differs from Robert Mounce, although they are both in the futurist camp. The names of individual commentators are generally included, so you can see some of the variations within each camp, and check out the particular commentaries yourself if you want to go a little deeper.
This book is a tremendous tool for anyone wishing to understand how different schools of interpretation approach the book of Revelation. The four parallel columns allow the reader to compare the views and hopefully identify the strengths and weaknesses of each. In the Introduction, Gregg says that his object “has not been to advocate any position above another, so I hope that my own opinion will not be evident” (page 4). Rather he has “attempted to present the very best arguments and evidences for each view, (and ) to encourage Bible students to wrestle with the inspired text of Revelation and with the earnest efforts of godly interpreters to unfold its meaning for the people of God” (page 4).
Gregg says that whereas some readers may be curious about his own position, the commentary is not a showcase for his opinions, “which have changed a number of times and may do so again in the future” (page 4). Rather, he says that in his research, he has become increasingly convinced that , as Albertus Pieters wrote:
None of these schools of interpretation can claim any monopoly on scholarship or faith. Each group numbers many fine scholars and devout Christian believers. Therefore complete certainty in regard to the interpretation of the Apocalypse is not to be had. It is our duty to do the best we can, to study the various systems and accept the view that seems to us to be right, but always with a certain amount of reservation and of respect for the opinions of others (pages 4-5).
The format for the main body of Revelation, chapters 4 through 19, consists of four columns for the four major views: the historicist, the preterist, the futurist, and the spiritual approach. The historicist view sees Revelation as a record of the course of history from the time of the apostles to the end of the world; it is thus still in progress. The preterist view sees Revelation as future from the standpoint of the writer, but having been fulfilled not long after the author’s own time (generally 70 AD), and thus it is history from our standpoint. Some preterists believe the final chapters of Revelation still look forward to a future second coming of Christ, while others believe that all of Revelation has been fulfilled. The futurist view believes that the prophecies are of events which are yet future from our perspective. Everything after chapter 4 is usually held to refer to things that will occur in a short period (i.e. a 7- year period known as the Tribulation) before the return of Christ. Rather than seeking to find individual fulfillments of the visions, the spiritual view takes Revelation as a kind of drama, which depicts spiritual truths which may occur over and over throughout history, such as the conflicts “between Christ and Satan, between the saints and the antichristian world powers, and depicting the final victory of Christ and his saints” (page 3). Thus fulfillment may be seen as “entirely spiritual or as recurrent, finding representative expression throughout the age, rather than in one-time, specific fulfillments” (page 3). Thus the prophecies are applicable to Christians in any age.
Because there are not four distinct opinions among exegetes of chapters 1-3, those chapters do not lend themselves to the approach just discussed, and therefore the commentary for that portion of Revelation is not divided into four columns. It is not that commentators are in agreement, but rather the differences are on another basis. In fact, Gregg says that the views really do not part company until chapter 4, and “the radical differences apply only to chapters 6-19” (page 5). Still, a chart showing how each of the views generally approaches that section precedes the commentary on chapters 1-3 (see page 51).
In a similar manner, “evangelical debate over chapters 20-22 has not turned so much on whether one is a futurist or a historicist as on whether one is a millennialist, and if so, of what variety” (page 5). Therefore, in the commentary for those chapters, Gregg switches from the four column format to a three column format, presenting the premillenial, postmillennial , and amillennial views. The premillennial view holds that Christ’s second coming will precede (and thereby launch) a golden age in which the kingdom will be established on the earth for 1,000 years, with the final judgment and the eternal new heavens and new earth to follow. There are two principal varieties of premillennialists: historic and dispensational. The differences between those two perspectives center around a future place for national Israel (yes, says the dispensationalist), and anticipation of a rapture of Christians to heaven before the beginning of the Tribulation (yes, says the dispensationalist). The postmillennialist teaches that Christ will return after the millennial period, which is a quite different kingdom than the one envisioned by the premillennialist. The postmillennial’s golden age occurs as the world is gradually won over by the gospel, and is marked by a period of peace before Christ returns. Postmillennialists are often, though not always, inclined toward the preterist view. The amillennialist believes there is no literal millennium as understood by the other views, but rather that the 1,000 years of Revelation 20 corresponds to the entire span of time from the first coming of Christ until His second coming, and most aspects of Revelation are held to be symbolic.
The author emphasizes here that “it should be remembered that the various approaches to Revelation are not linked inseparably to any particular millennial position” (page 28). For example, “amillennialists have been found among adherents of several approaches to Revelation, including the historicist (e.g. Martin Luther), the preterist (e.g. Jay Adams), and the spiritualist (e.g. William Hendriksen), but only rarely of the futurist (Abraham Kuyper is an exception) (page 28). For another example, in the commentary on the sixth seal of 6:12-17, the author notes that “Matthew Henry, in most respects a historicist, applies this seal in a preterist manner (page 122). “
Here I will list some of the interesting points, or characteristics, I noted in reading the book:
1. The commentary on the text is preceded by a very helpful introduction (pages 9-50), which includes such discussions as literary type; authorship; date and historical setting; structural parallelism; Revelation’s use of the rest of scripture; additional interpretative considerations (geographical scope, meaning of the “coming” of Christ in Revelation, and the meaning of the “1000 years” in Revelation); history of interpretation; and an analysis of each of the four approaches (historicist, preterist, futurist, and spiritualist).
2. As regards the aforementioned section on structural parallelism, the author notes that some portions of Revelation “double back to cover the same ground that was covered in previous sections…(and) there are other indicators that the details of Revelation do not follow each other chronologically…(which) militates against making firm chronological predictions based on a passage’s position in the book” (pages 19-20).
3. In the previously mentioned section on the meaning of the “coming” of Christ in Revelation, the author notes the various ways in which a “coming” of God or Christ is used in scripture, whereby Christ is sometimes said to come in a spiritual sense (Rev 3:20, John 14:16-18, and John 14:23), or a visitation by God in temporal judgment is said to be a “coming”. This is relevant to the preterist view which holds that the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was a “coming” of Christ, as He had predicted in such passages as the Olivet discourse (Matt 24:34, et al). The author says that “while none of these considerations negate the doctrine of the Second Coming…they demonstrate that there is more than one event or phenomenon that can be spoken of as a ‘coming’ of Christ” (pages 24-27).
4. In the section in the introduction analyzing the four approaches, Gregg first analyzes the historicist view, and notes that while commentators from the past who held this position would make up an all-star list from church history (Wycliffe, Knox, Tyndale, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Whitefield, Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, et al), “modern commentaries presenting this approach are rare to nonexistent” (page 34). He does state, however, that he has heard of a small group of evangelicals who are trying to revive this view of the book of Revelation.
5. In analyzing preterism, he distinguishes between those who believe that all of Revelation was fulfilled in 70AD and those who believe “ that the first half of Revelation describes the fall of Jerusalem, the second half predicts the fall of the Roman empire, and the final chapters describe the second coming of Christ” (page 39). Later, in the commentary on 8:8-9, he notes that “the words of Josephus, who had never read Revelation, seem almost as if they were calculated to present the fulfillment of this trumpet judgment” (page 156). (Josephus was the historian who witnessed and recorded the events of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD).
6. In analyzing futurism, he notes that this approach “is held by the majority of the most popular contemporary evangelical writers and Bible teachers…(and) has so dominated the Christian media, in fact, that many Christians and virtually all non-Christians are unaware even of the existence of other approaches” (page 40). He also says that “belief in the futurist approach frees the reader to take a more literal view of the visions, reducing the difficulty of interpreting the symbols …(since) for example, there has never been a time in the past when a third of the sea turned to blood” (page 40). He does state, however, that “most of the elements of the scenario predicted by dispensationalists’ appeal to the book of Revelation do not arise from a literal application of any particular passage” (page 41), as for example, a seven-year Tribulation “divided in the middle by the Antichrist’s violating a treaty he had made with Israel” (page 40). He says that even dispensationalists often must allow for some symbolism in Revelation. He also discusses those futurists who are not dispensationalists, but who nevertheless “expect a future Antichrist to arise in a future Tribulation period to persecute the saints, and they do anticipate a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth” (page 42).
7. In analyzing the spiritualist view, he notes that it “has a character entirely of its own, and sees Revelation from an entirely different perspective than do the more strictly historico-eschatological approaches” (page 46).
8. It is here that we should note that the lines are not as clearly drawn as one might imagine. For example, one common tendency is to mix the spiritual approach with the preterist, such as Leon Morris and Michael Wilcock. Gregg also classifies William Hendriksen’s commentary as “essentially spiritual/idealist in character, with some preterist or historicist elements” (page 45). George Eldon Ladd is a futurist who believes that “the correct method of interpreting Revelation is the blending of the preterist and futurist methods” (page 46), but he also in some instances brings in spiritual/idealist views. The same can be said for futurist Robert Mounce.
9. The structure of Revelation is seen in Gregg’s major divisions of the book, which are as follows: The Seven Letters (chs. 1-3); the Seven-Sealed Scroll (chs. 4-7); The Seven Trumpets (chs. 8-10); The 1260 Days (chs. 11-13); The Seven Last Plagues (chs. 14-16); The Great Babylon (chs. 17-19); The Millennium (ch. 20); and The New Creation (chs. 21-22).
10. The major divisions are preceded by charts giving an overview of the section from the standpoint of each of the different views, and followed by charts giving a summary of the section according to each of the views. Other helpful charts and outlines are interspersed throughout the commentary. All of these combine to enhance the usefulness of this commentary, as the summaries can be reviewed at a glance.
In summary, this commentary is a terrific piece of work. I can’t imagine any student of Revelation being without it. It has a tremendous amount of useful information that will be readily accessible to compare the various views. The format is excellent, and Gregg goes to great lengths to present all sides.
In reading the commentary from cover to cover, I elected to read it as written, i.e. to read the text for each paragraph, and then read the comments from each perspective on that paragraph. That approach worked for me, although I did find my head swimming from time to time. An alternative, as suggested by the author, would be to read through the entire commentary from the perspective of one viewpoint at a time, as for example reading through the entire book from the historicist view, and then going back and reading it through from the next perspective (the preterist), and so on, until you have read all four views. That might help keep your head clear.
But whatever approach you take to this commentary, you will find it to be a great help in coming to an understanding of Revelation with an appreciation of the views of other evangelicals who differ from your interpretation.
Reviewed by:
Ron Maness
Related Topics: Eschatology (Things to Come)
She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall
Nashville: Word Publishing, 1999, 142 pages.
This is the story of the 17-year old high school student who was killed when she answered “yes” when asked if she believed in God. This of course occurred during the April 1999 tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. The person asking the question was one of the two troubled classmates who entered Columbine with the intent and purpose of killing as many of their fellow students and teachers as they could. Before ending their own lives, they killed Cassie plus 12 others.
The book was written by Cassie’s mother, and I read it on September 18, 1999, only a few days after a similar incident occurred at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, TX. In that latter incident, a troubled man entered that church and began shooting randomly, ultimately killing seven before turning the gun on himself. Reading about Columbine in the shadow of the recent incident made it even more chilling.
But the heart of the book is not the story of Cassie’s death, but rather her deliverance from an even more fearsome fate: unbelief and rebellion against God. It was this earlier deliverance that transformed (and perhaps led to) her martyr-like death. For before she died, Cassie had entered that relationship with God which deprives death of its sting.
The events that led to her transformation began about two and a half years earlier when Cassie was in the ninth grade, with her teenage rebellion growing more serious. One day her mother found in Cassie’s room some letters written by Mona, Cassie’s best friend. What she found horrified her. The letters contained unprintable sex talk, along with Mona’s expressed desire to murder one of her teachers, inviting Cassie to help her. There were other allusions to occult symbols and spells, drugs, self-mutilation, and the adventures of a classmate who went to a satanic church. One of the letters advised Cassie to kill her parents, and had grisly drawings portraying them being “strung up” and stabbed. Misty later learned from Mona’s mother that Cassie had written similar letters to Mona.
Having found the letters, Misty and her husband Brad were shocked into the realization that there was a whole side of Cassie’s life that they knew nothing about, although there had been signs. In fact, she said that Cassie “had been sliding away from us ever since the fifth or sixth grade, when she first began latching onto Mona and ignoring her other friends” (page 41). Earlier attempts to restrict contact between Cassie and Mona had met with opposition from Cassie and had been dropped.
This time though, Misty and Brad took action, contacting not only Mona’s mother, but also the sheriff’s department and their pastor. The letters were filed with the sheriff’s office.
They then confronted their daughter with their discovery of the letters. Her response was extreme anger, as to her mind her parents had overreacted, violated her privacy, and showed they had no love for her. She then said she would relieve them of the burden by running away and killing herself.
Pursuing their course, Misty and Brad met with Mona’s parents at the sheriff’s office. The detective supported their desire to obtain a restraining order to bar Mona from further contact with Cassie. Unfortunately, the response of Mona’s parents to the revelation was hostility toward Misty and Brad. In fact, it was later learned that they were ready to take Cassie into their home if she decided to run away.
The next months were rocky. Her parents immediately removed Cassie from the public school she was attending and put her in a private Christian school. They also imposed constraints on her activities, and even decided to move (ending up in a smaller home) in hopes of keeping Cassie away from her former friends. Misty later found vindication for their actions from Jamie, a friend Cassie met at the private school:
According to Jamie…Cassie herself said that her violent fantasies were more than talk. She felt gripped by a very real power of darkness, and it had taken her months to break free. Part of it was that she had apparently given her soul to Satan (page 63).
Although Jamie said she didn’t know if the transaction was real or symbolic, she said it didn’t matter, because in Cassie’s mind she had really put herself into that bondage. In fact, in an autobiographical essay Cassie later wrote, she said that during that period of her life “she hated her parents and God with the deepest, darkest hatred” (page 63).
When Cassie first met Jamie at the Christian school, her parents were somewhat uncomfortable at Jamie’s appearance: “Jamie had a short, bleached-blonde haircut, and big chains and metal beads around her neck, and was wearing the sort of grungy attire that alternative types buy from places like Goodwill”. Jamie was, according to Misty, “not my idea of a nice Christian girl” (page 72), and seemed to represent the “alternative” lifestyle that they were trying to get Cassie away from. However, in this case, appearances were deceiving, as it was Jamie’s invitation to Cassie to attend a youth retreat sponsored by her church that provided the circumstances that God used to cause a complete turnabout in Cassie’s life.
The themes of the retreat were overcoming the temptations of evil and breaking out of the selfish life. During a nighttime praise-and-worship service, Jamie recalls that “it was the singing that for some reason just broke down Cassie’s walls…it really seemed to change her” (page 81). Cassie was crying and asking God for forgiveness. After the service, Cassie, Jamie and several others went up the road, and stood out under the stars, “totally in awe of God…the bigness of God was so real” (page 82). Jamie later said that “Cassie’s whole face had changed…there was something new about her” (page 82).
When her parents picked her up after the retreat, Cassie came to her mother, hugged her, and said: “Mom, I’ve changed. I’ve totally changed. I know you aren’t going to believe it, but I’ll prove it” (page 82-83).
Her mother was at first skeptical, but later recalled:
From then on, Cassie became a totally different person. She never talked much about that weekend, and we never pressed her…Cassie still wore her heavy bead necklaces and her old clothes, but somehow those things didn’t matter much anymore. The important thing was the change in her spirit—her gentleness, her humility, and her happiness. She seemed to have found a freedom she had never had before. (page 85).
Cassie even regarded the date, March 6, 1997, as a sort of second birthday—the day she was ‘re-born’ (page 89).
It’s not that she was all-of-a sudden perfect. But she was all-of-a-sudden changed. There were the normal struggles, but her parents were spared further drama, and the last two years were uneventful. At the end of the summer of 1997, her parents had allowed Cassie to transfer from the private school to Columbine High. As she told her mother, she could witness and reach out to more kids in a public school than in her Christian school.
She also was active in the youth group at her family’s church, and was profoundly moved by some of the books on discipleship that they studied. She was well aware of her own imperfections, and a saint would likely have been the last thing she would have called herself. But the person who faced her killer on that fateful date in April of 1999 was a radically different person than she had been only slightly more than two years before. In fact, in a note written to a friend the night before she was killed, and handed to her friend the next morning at school, Cassie said: “Honestly, I want to live completely for God. It’s hard and scary, but totally worth it (quoted from preface).
As her mother said:
To lift up Cassie as a martyr…is unnecessary. It won’t change the facts of her life. For Brad and me it is enough that, whatever the reason, Cassie stood up for what she believed…The real issue raised by Cassie’s death is not what she said to her killers, but what it was that enabled her to face them as she did….She didn’t have a death wish, I’m sure, and it would be obscene to suggest otherwise. Yet when tragedy struck her out of the blue, she remained calm and courageous. She was ready to go (pages 118-119).
This is a timely book with a timeless message of what God’s grace can do in the most hopeless of situations. No one is so far lost as to be out of the reach of the Great Shepherd’s searching arms.
Reviewed by:
Ron Maness
Related Topics: Suffering, Trials, Persecution, Testimony & Biography
Almighty Over All: Understanding the Sovereignty of God
Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999, 184 pages.
When I purchased this book, I thought it was by R.C. Sproul, Senior, but quickly realized it was written by his son, R.C., Junior. But that’s okay, as R.C., Jr. appears to be a chip off the old block, and this is a very fine book on the subject of the sovereignty of God.
Each chapter begins with a citation from the Westminster Confession of Faith, and covers a different aspect of God’s sovereignty, or another aspect of the creation over which He is sovereign. So, God is shown by turns to be sovereign over Eternity, over Nothing (i.e., before the created world), over Authority, History, the Mighty, the Details, Men, the Devil, Suffering, Redemption, Sanctification, and sovereign from Eternity. However, the title of one chapter says He is “Not Almighty Over Himself.” This deals with such speculative conundrums as: “Can God make a rock so big that even He can’t move it”? Sproul recalls bringing up that question to a group of high-schoolers, and was surprised and pleased when a young lady rightly answered, “God can do all His holy will” (page 128). He said that there is “a critical distinction between saying God can do anything, and saying He can do all His holy will” (page 129). The problem with the first statement is that it affirms that God can do things that are against His nature. The issue is the interaction between God’s will and His character. When we say that God is omnipotent or almighty, “we are not saying He can do anything we can say but that he can do anything he wishes” (page 131), and since what God does proceeds out of His holy nature, He will not do anything contrary to it. He is not bound by anything outside Himself, but is “bound only by Himself” (page 133). And this is no limitation in any meaningful sense of the word.
Each of the chapters in the book peels forth another aspect of God’s strength, power, and sovereignty. The chapter titled “Who Saves? Almighty in Redemption” is particularly good. He begins by saying:
Let God control creation, history, suffering, let him even control the path of every electron in the universe, but when it comes to our salvation, we prefer to drive. We want to take the wheel at the intersection of providence and predestination” (page 151).
This of course, as Sproul goes on to say, is sheer folly—and thankfully, not the case. Fortunately, God is in full control of our salvation too, and this chapter sets forth the case.
Finally, in the book’s concluding sentences, Sproul says:
How strong is he? Stronger than all we could ever imagine. How strong was he? Stronger than all that ever was. How strong will he be? Strong enough to bring all things to pass, to conquer every enemy, and to stoop to us who are his children and wipe away every tear. He is coming. And he will come in all his strength and all his glory. Even so, come Lord Jesus (page 184).
Sproul’s book is highly recommended. We can never be reminded too often of the supreme sovereignty and power of our glorious God.
Reviewed by:
Ron Maness
Related Topics: Theology Proper (God)
Why the Cross Can Do What Politics Can’t
Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1999, 188 pages.
This is a very fine book on the centrality of the cross. The author begins by acknowledging that “it is tempting to wrap the cross of Christ in the flag, to equate the American dream with God’s dream for this nation”. He further says “we have attached a myriad of agendas to the cross of Christ, often clouding the one message that the world needs to hear with clarity and power” (pages 8-9).
Thus he feels that if you asked an average American what Christians believe, you will get a number of answers, but “few will say that the central doctrine of Christianity is that Christ came into the world to save sinners.” He asks if we have forgotten that “God’s power is more clearly seen in the message of the cross than in any political or social plan that we might devise” (pages 8-9).
Lutzer says his book is based on two fundamental premises:
1. That the problems of America are too far gone to be remedied by a change of administrations in Washington, and
2. That our so-called cultural war is really a spiritual war…(so that) as always, our greatest challenge is theological, not political or cultural (page 10-11).
Individual Christians should certainly be involved in our culture, working with other groups to attack the rampant evils in society, but we are not to “replace the primary mission of the church with these kinds of political or moral pursuits”, for gains brought about through legislation “will always be minimal” (page 140).
Some of the chapter titles include The Cross and Culture Clash, The Cross and the Flag, What God Thinks of the Cross, What Man Thinks of the Cross, The Cross-The Basis of Moral Sanity, and The Triumph of the Crucified. He closes the book with a quote from Peter Marshall:
It is better to fail in that which will ultimately succeed than to succeed in that which will ultimately fail (page 188).
In other words, it is better to fail while fighting for the city of God than “to succeed in promoting the city of man…we do not have to triumph in this life in order to triumph in the next”. Rather, we need to simply “be faithful in doing what God has asked us to do” (page 188).
Reviewed by:
Ron Maness
Related Topics: Soteriology (Salvation), Cultural Issues, Crucifixion
Getting the Gospel Right: The Tie That Binds Evangelicals Together
Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999, 207 pages.
This latest book from R.C. Sproul is a further result of the Roman Catholic/Evangelical dialogue of recent years, and the ongoing controversy which arose when certain prominent Evangelicals signed the first document which issued from that dialogue: Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT). The purpose was to set forth key elements of the Christian faith which both Catholics and Evangelicals could agree on, and use as a basis for cooperation in presenting a united front against the secularist and pagan trends in our culture. The document was signed in 1994, and the signatories included such Evangelical stalwarts as Charles Colson and J.I. Packer. However, other Evangelicals such as Sproul said that Evangelicals could not sign a common statement of faith with Catholics unless either Catholics or Evangelicals had changed their position over key aspects, particularly the doctrine of justification by faith (sola fide) which was the primary dividing issue which led to the Protestant Reformation. One negative impact of ECT was that Evangelical unity on the key issue of sola fide was now threatened. Sproul says that “the effort to seek unity and accord with Roman Catholics had the negative effect of driving a wedge between Evangelicals who once were closely allied” (page 10). Since both the Evangelical and Catholic signatories affirmed that they had not abandoned the historical position of their respective groups, then the document must have been flawed in affirming agreement on a key issue, when there was in fact no agreement.
One of the key flaws of ECT was that while unity was affirmed on the doctrine that we are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the word alone was conspicuously absent. Historic Evangelicalism has “insisted that justification is by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), and because of Christ alone (sola Christo)” (page 48). And so Sproul summarizes:
Since the Roman Catholic Church has always affirmed that justification is by grace, through faith, and because of Christ but has firmly rejected the solas of the Reformation, many Evangelicals viewed this joint declaration as a sad and tragic compromise of the Reformation and of Evangelical doctrine. Critical discussions of ECT focused on the absence of a clear affirmation of justification by faith alone (sola fide), which has been the hallmark of historic Evangelicalism (page 48).
And this is not needless quibbling over words, for as Sproul says:
The Roman Catholic Church has always affirmed that justification is by faith in the sense that faith is a necessary condition (though not a sufficient condition) for justification…Rome believes justification is through faith but not through faith alone (page 68).
Out of the tensions which resulted, and as an attempt to address this question, a further document was signed between Evangelicals and Catholics in 1997, called The Gift of Salvation (GOS, or as it is also referred to by some, ECT II). Sproul says GOS was a “self-conscious attempt on the part of the original draftees of ECT to clarify their first document and to answer many of the objections that had been leveled against it” (page 47). Many Evangelical signatories were elated by this second document, believing that it achieved a joint declaration of sola fide. However, others did not share the enthusiasm. James Montgomery Boice was quoted in Christianity Today magazine as stating that GOS “sells out the Reformation” (page 87), while the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (ACE) issued an open letter expressing distress at both the assertions and omissions of GOS. The ACE said that one of their chief concerns was the concept of imputation as it relates to justification; their assessment was that imputation had been sidestepped. So the rift was still there.
Discussions were held in early 1998 between those who supported GOS and those who rejected it. It was agreed that what was urgently needed was “a joint statement regarding the gospel and justification by faith alone that could reaffirm the unity that has existed historically among a wide and diverse body of evangelical Christians” (page 10). A drafting committee was selected which included Packer, Sproul, D.A. Carson, Timothy George, Erwin Lutzer, John Ankerberg, and John Armstrong, among others. The result was the recently signed document called The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration .
In addition to the drafting committee of 15, there was a “Confirmed Endorsing Committee” of 114 individuals drawn from a broad swath of Evangelicalism, which included among others: Bill Bright, Charles Colson, Jerry Falwell, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, Richard Land, Max Lucado, John MacArthur, Sinclair Ferguson, John Stott, David Wells, and Charles Swindoll (see complete list on pages 193-195).
Sproul’s book consists of three parts. Part one has two chapters on such surrounding issues as the visible versus the invisible church, the marks of a true church, the unity of believers, the history and changing meaning of the word “Evangelical,” and the causes of the Reformation.
Then, in part two of the book, there are three chapters containing the complete text of GOS, with a thorough discussion of it, paragraph by paragraph. One of the critical issues of the Reformation concerned whether the ground of our justification was the imputed righteousness of Christ (the Reformers’ position) or the infused righteousness of Christ (the Catholic position). Infused righteousness is that which is “poured into the soul sacramentally” (page 65). But GOS neither affirmed nor denied imputation; it sidestepped it. To this Sproul says: “Just as sola fide is essential to the gospel, so imputation is essential to sola fide. In summary, we believe that imputation is essential to the gospel and that without it you do not have the gospel or gospel unity” (page 66).
There are a number of other critical issues that are dealt with in these three chapters. But the paragraph which Sproul found “the most problematic of the entire document” was paragraph 17, labeled “Needlessly Divisive Disputes,” and consisted of a list of 10 issues which “require further and urgent discussion” (page 76). In other words, these unresolved issues were not deemed weighty enough to hinder an affirmation of unity. However, Sproul says that some of these issues which were left hanging “go right to the heart of the Reformation controversy over sola fide” (page 78). The list includes such issues as the meaning of baptismal regeneration; the eucharist; sacramental grace; the normative status of the doctrine of justification; diverse understandings of merit, reward, purgatory, and indulgences; Marian devotion; et al. Sproul says that “the greatest weakness of ecumenism is its tendency to use studied ambiguities as a means to achieve unity…(dodging) issues by using evasive language” (page 88). In other words, using ambiguous terminology that can be agreed to by people of differing positions. As Sproul says:
Imprecision, especially when intentional, does not resolve conflict. It merely seeks to mask it through the use of studied ambiguity and to provide a formula for dishonest ‘agreement’ (page 90).
Then, in part three of the book, there are six chapters on The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration, the recently signed document that affirms Evangelical unity on the gospel. Those six chapters include the complete text of the document, along with a thorough point-by-point exposition. And both the text and the exposition are simply grand! In the text and accompanying explanation, the glory of the gospel shines forth, and those six chapters were a delight to read. The format that was adopted is particularly helpful, utilizing articles of both affirmation and denial. The affirmation-and-denial format was used to make clear not only what was meant, but also what was not meant, thereby avoiding ambiguities.
This book is highly recommended. I think it succeeded in clearly showing the flaws in the ACT and GOS documents, and why it is important that we (as the book’s title says) get the gospel right. As the Preamble to The Gospel of Jesus Christ states:
This Gospel is the only Gospel: there is no other; and to change its substance is to pervert and indeed destroy it. This Gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches (page 100).
Reviewed by:
Ron Maness
Related Topics: Ecclesiology (The Church), Soteriology (Salvation)
Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality: The Gospel According to Abraham
Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1999, 167 pages.
This book is the first in a new series called “The Gospel According to the Old Testament.” In a quote contained on the book cover, D.A. Carson says that “one of the most urgent needs of the church is to grasp how the many parts of the Bible fit together to make one story-line that culminates in Jesus Christ…(and) this series of books goes a long way to meeting that need.” Sinclair Ferguson was quoted as saying “at last a series on the Old Testament designed to provide reliable exposition, biblical theology, and a focus on Christ.”
In the Foreword (pages x-xi), series editors Tremper Longman III and J. Alan Groves state the aims of the series as follows:
The Gospel According to the Old Testament Series is committed to the proposition that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is a unified revelation of God, and that its thematic unity is found in Christ. The individual books of the Old Testament exhibit diverse genres, styles, and individual theologies, but tying them all together is the constant foreshadowing of, and pointing forward to, Christ. Believing in the fundamentally Christocentric nature of the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, we offer this series of studies in the Old Testament with the following aims:
- To lay out the pervasiveness of the revelation of Christ in the Old Testament
- To promote a Christ-centered reading of the Old Testament
- To encourage Christ-centered preaching and teaching from the Old Testament
They also state that they have decided in most cases to focus on Old Testament characters, rather than on books or themes.
In his Introduction, the author takes us back to Jesus’ post-resurrection Emmaus road sermon, given to disciples who were distraught and perplexed over Jesus’ death on the cross, and who did not yet recognize their fellow traveler on the road. To them, Jesus said:
O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:25-27 KJV).
So Jesus said that the theme of suffering followed by glory is woven throughout the scriptures, beginning with the Pentateuch and extending through the prophets. Further he indicated that if they understood the Old Testament rightly, they would not have been so shocked at his crucifixion.
Surely in his sermon, especially that portion from the Pentateuch, Jesus talked about Abraham, who we know is referred to throughout the Bible as the exemplar of faith. In particular, his faith was demonstrated by the way he lived in the reality gap, i.e., the gap between promise and reality. But in this book, Duguid says he wants not only to show Abraham as the man of faith, but also how he acted as “a forerunner and a shadow, pointing forward to Christ …(as this) is, after all the central thrust of the Emmaus road sermon” (page 4). Jesus was interested in the writings of Moses and the prophets primarily because “they spoke of him” (page 4).
Specifically, they spoke of his sufferings and the glory that would follow. The whole Old Testament is thereby declared to be a thoroughly Christocentric book. This is true, not simply because there are superficial parallels between certain Old Testament events and events in the life of Jesus, but more profoundly because the whole Old Testament was designed by God to provide a context within which to understand the sufferings and glorification of Christ (pages 4-5).
So, the book’s first chapter begins with Terah, Abram’s father, setting out from Ur of the Chaldees for Canaan. Terah took his family with him, including Abram and his wife Sarai, who were childless (Gen 11). This was part of God’s plan that from the beginning was to “preserve for himself a godly line, through whom the promise of a redemptive offspring of Eve (Gen 3:15) would ultimately be granted” (page 10). Terah was a descendent of the line of Shem (the son of Noah). In the genealogies of Gen 5 and 11, it is the tenth name that is of key significance. Noah, through whom Adam’s line was preserved at the flood, was the tenth patriarch in the line from Adam, while Abram was the tenth patriarch in the line of Shem. So this is a key that God was planning another deliverance through Abram.
In the next chapter of the book, Abram receives the first installment of the promise, as God promises to make him into a nation, to make his name great, and to bless all peoples through him (Gen 12:2-3). But Duguid notes that this is not just about Abram, but points toward Christ, as stated by Paul in Galatians 3:16:
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ (KJV).
So Paul tells us that the promises made to Abram already have Christ in view. Abram “functions as a miniature picture, a representation of Christ ahead of time” (page 25). Abram left his home to go a faraway, backward land; Jesus left heaven to come to an insignificant town on earth. Abram and Jesus both did so on the strength of God’s promise. Abram received a great name, but Christ received the name that is above every name (Philip 2:9-10). God would curse those who curse Abram, and those who cursed Christ would themselves be cursed. When God said he would give the land to Abram’s offspring, it was Christ who was ultimately to be the heir.
Further, Jesus found that “following the way of promise took him through the reality gap” (page 26), the gap between promise and fulfillment. The exalted Son of God, who was to inherit all things, lived a life in humble circumstances, without a place to lay his head, was reviled by those he came to save, was judged by the Jewish court, and condemned to die an ignominious death on the cross. Yet in the resurrection, “the reality gap was bridged once and for all…(as) there the firstfruits of the glories that would follow Christ’s sufferings were revealed” (page 27).
In Gen 13, Abram demonstrated faith by allowing Lot to have first choice of the land to settle. Materialistic Lot chose the land “near Sodom,” which was “like the land of Egypt” (verse 10). That turned out to be a very bad choice. But Abram’s faith was rewarded by a renewed promise as God told him to look in all directions: “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever” (Gen 13:15), and further his offspring would be as numerous as the dust of the earth.
Yet he never did receive the full ownership of that property here on earth. Like Moses after him, Abram looked to an inheritance ultimately beyond this world…Abram’s hope had to be in something more substantial than a nice piece of property…It was an eternal hope. He was looking for a city with foundations, which God himself would build (see Heb 11:10) (page 37).
Jesus also made a choice, when the Devil tempted him with an offer of all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would just bow down and worship him. As Duguid says: “Satan was offering Jesus the promised land without the cross” (page 38). But unlike Lot, who chose to “take the money” (page 38), Jesus chose the path of faith, obedience, and suffering before glory.
In Gen 14, Abram functioned as a king (see “In the Days of Good King Abram,” page 41) as he gathered an army and pursued the allied armies of the king of Shinar (Babylonia) and three other Mesopotamian kings, who had kidnapped Abram’s nephew Lot. In rescuing an undeserving Lot, Abram reminds us of Christ. As Duguid says: “In all of this, do we not see a picture of Jesus Christ? He did not sit idly by in heaven, waiting for us to deserve to be redeemed” (page 45). Further, Duguid says of Abram, who was at this time a wandering nomad:
In this chapter, however, the veil is lifted for a moment, and we see Abram in his true colors, acting as the king of the land that is his by right, and that will be inherited by his offspring. This is Abram’s mount of transfiguration, when his glory is clearly—if briefly—revealed to those closest to him (pages 41-42).
After the victory, we see some very heavy Christology, as Melchizedek, king of Salem, came as a priest to bless Abram. In the New Testament, the author of Hebrews picks up on this idea, and spends considerable space showing how Melchizedek prefigured Christ, especially in his priesthood. Hebrews gives us three points of comparison between Melchizedek and Jesus (see pages 49-51), and in Hebrews 6:20 Jesus is declared to be a “high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
As we saw Abram as a king in Gen 14, we see him as a prophet in Gen 15 as he received a direct message from God. Though still childless, Abram “received a renewed promise of a son and of descendants like the stars” (page 55). Asking for a sign, he received the covenant commitment of God (verses 18-21), sealed by a strange ceremony (verses 9-17).
If we saw Abram the king in the previous chapter and Abram the prophet earlier in this chapter, here we see Abram the priest getting all the necessary items ready for the covenant ceremony (page 58).
So in these chapters of Genesis, Duguid sees a picture of Christ in his three offices of prophet, priest and king.
Moving along, we see Abram’s faith stumble in Gen 16. Tiring of waiting for God to fulfill his promise, Abram heeds his wife’s suggestion that in order to obtain an heir, he impregnate her Egyptian servant, Hagar. He follows this advice, and as a result Ishmael is born. But this child is the son of the flesh, not the promise, and he will not be the one through whom God’s promise is fulfilled (see Gal 4:22-31).
Despite Abram’s failure, God in Gen 17 renewed his covenant with Abram and gave circumcision (the cutting off of the flesh) as a covenant sign. In reaffirming the covenant, God also changed Abram’s name to Abraham.
As God in human flesh, Jesus fulfilled the picture of Gen 15; as the seed of Abraham, he fulfilled the picture of Gen 17. He was cut off for our sin, which enables our relationship with God, threatened by our sin, to stand (page 81).
So onward Duguid journeys chapter by chapter through Gen 25, demonstrating how the gospel and Jesus Christ are revealed in the book of Genesis. The high point, especially from the standpoint of Christology, is Gen 22. Isaac, the long-promised son had been born to Abraham and Sarah. But now God put Abraham’s faith to the ultimate test, commanding him to take Isaac to the mountain and sacrifice him. Then, just as he was preparing to plunge the knife into the chest of his beloved son, the Angel of the Lord told him to stop, that his faith had been shown to be real. And God provided a ram to take the place of Isaac.
So here is revealed the principle of substitutionary atonement. And by that principle, Jesus was offered in our place, to take upon himself our deserved punishment, and to die the death that should have been ours.
He could look up to heaven and see the knife in the Father’s hand poised above him, knowing that for him there would be no last minute reprieve. For him there would be no substitute, for he was himself the Lamb of God (page 138).
This book is a rich study, and is recommended as a means of gaining a deeper appreciation of the book of Genesis, and of learning to see how Christ and the gospel are revealed in it.
I might also note that a second volume in this series is also available: Faith in the Face of Apostasy: The Gospel According to Elijah and Elisha, by Raymond Dillard.
Reviewed by:
Ron Maness
Related Topics: Christology, Dispensational / Covenantal Theology, Soteriology (Salvation), Teaching the Bible
God’s Way, Not Ours: Isaiah 1
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999, 150 pages.)
This book contains nine sermons on the first chapter of Isaiah, originally delivered by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (MLJ) in 1963. While keeping the larger themes of Isaiah’s message to the people of his own day in view, MLJ primarily focuses on the one great message of the entire Bible, and he sees in Isa 1 a summary of that message. He begins with a sermon entitled God Has Spoken:
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me (Isa 1, verses 1-2).
MLJ notes that the book contains “a collection of prophecies delivered at different times, but they form one complete whole” (page 1). Isaiah wrote to people who lived in Judah and Jerusalem under these kings at various times, but who were in trouble, and who faced even worse trouble as destruction by the Babylonians loomed large on the horizon. Isaiah deals with the nature of the problem, the root cause, and in so doing delivers a message that is just as applicable to us.
This prophet, in this introduction, gives us a clear outline of his entire message. He shows the cause of the troubles, the false ways in which people were trying to deal with them and get out of them, and then announces the true and only way of deliverance…His message to the sinful Israelites at this particular juncture in history is therefore the message of God to the whole of the human race in its trouble and distress (pages 1,3).
And of course the problem for them, as well as for us, is the same: it is sin. The world as it is now is not the same as it was created, for sin entered in. God calls the heavens and the earth to witness, and He says: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me” (verse 2). MLJ says:
We have here…a masterly analysis of sin…here is the essence of all our ills…sin is not so much a matter of what we do as of our relationship to God…sin in its essence is the very thing that the prophet talks of here: it is rebellion, revolt against God, and we must put that first (page 16).
God created and nourished for Himself a people, or as St Augustine said: “Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee” (page 17).
And what does sin do? It makes people stop thinking, and it leads to ignorance, which is the topic of the second sermon.
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider (verse 3).
Even the dumbest of animals look to their masters for sustenance, and follow their instinct. But mankind fights against their “instinct of eternity” (page 27). Knowing within that they were not made just for this world, they nevertheless argue and reason against their instinct.
The third sermon finds “a people laden with iniquity” who have “forsaken the Lord” and who are “gone away backward” (verse 4).
The fourth and fifth sermons bring the focus to the consequences of sin—to the depth of the problem and the desolation that sin brings.
Why should ye be stricken anymore?…the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint…Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire (verses 5-8).
In all this, Isaiah paints a very realistic and very necessary picture of sin; necessary, because repentance must come first.
It is only as we understand sin, and see ourselves as sinners, that we have any hope whatsoever of being delivered. The Bible puts repentance before faith. We must go down before we can go up…So it is no use standing up and saying, ‘Come to Jesus.’ ‘Why should we come to Jesus?’ they say. And it is our business to show them why…The Bible says ‘Repent and believe the gospel’ (pages 16, 19-20).
The Bible insists upon our coming face to face with the cause of our ills, and only then does it tell us about the remedy—the gospel, the way of salvation—which alone can deal with and cure those ills (page 53).
And this was the problem with the people of Israel. They didn’t realize anything was wrong. Instead, they were listening to the false prophets who were saying “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jere 6:14).
So Isaiah went on probing and revealing the depths of sin—from the nature of sin in verse 2, to the consequences of sin in verses 5 and following. Verses 7-8 in particular picture the political, economic and social results in Israel.
Then in the sixth sermon comes the crucial ninth verse and the turning point in Isaiah’s message:
Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been as Gomorrah (verse 9) (emphasis reviewer’s).
In this verse, we are given a glimpse of hope. Isaiah had been presenting the character, nature and results of sin. But now comes a word of grace.
What a wonderful word is this word ‘except.’ It introduces the whole of the gospel…in this one verse we have a perfect synopsis of the Christian message, which is something that the Bible is very fond of doing. It likes to give a message in a summary form like this, so that we can remember it…There (in John 3:16) is the gospel in a nutshell. And it is exactly the same here…(and) I will summarize the statement of the gospel in this verse under three headings (page 86):
Sin merits and deserves the punishment of total destruction (pages 86-87)
Men and women are totally incapable of doing anything at all about their own salvation (page 92)
Our salvation is entirely of God (page 97)
The God whom we have scorned and offended, the God we have blasphemed, the God we have disobeyed and criticized, is the very One who himself delivers us. The One who has the power to consign us to perdition, this Lord of hosts, uses that selfsame power in our salvation and for our deliverance (page 98).
Then sermon seven is on the following verse with its call to repentance, as Israel is addressed in terms that epitomize evil:
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah (verse 10).
The salvation that God offers must be on His terms, not ours, and this is the subject of sermon eight. Verses 11-15 deliver a purely negative word, dashing Israel’s hopes if they were relying on themselves:
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? (verse 11).
External religious observances without the involvement of the heart earn no credit with God. Even when Israel followed right observances, they did it wrongly. And they further added observances that were not ordained by God.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth (verse 14).
So they not only did wrong things, but also right things in the wrong way and with the wrong attitude.
But in spite of all of this, grace still beckons. God still calls those who would repent and worship Him rightly. And so the title of the last sermon is God’s Final Word:
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil…learn to do well (verses 16-17)
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (verse 18).
MLJ says that the whole message of the Bible is summed up in that one word, “Come,” in verse 18.
Is it not astonishing that the great, almighty, and eternal God, existing from eternity to eternity, self-sufficient in himself, triune, the God who made humanity and all things, should appeal to us, that he should call upon us and ask us to listen? Is it not one of the most wonderful facts in this whole universe, that God should bother with us at all? …Here is the amazing thing, that God should still say, ‘Come’ (page 136).
This means that the almighty, eternal God, against whom we have sinned and rebelled, stoops down to our level, and says in effect, ‘Come let us have a discussion’ (page 137).
In his sovereign act of salvation, God does not dragoon people, he persuades them. Let us not misunderstand the great doctrine that tells us that we are saved by grace alone. We are not knocked on the head; we are not bludgeoned. Here is a wonderful display of the final reasonableness of God …(and of) God’s infinite condescension (page 138).
This is a perfect statement of the essence of the Christian gospel of salvation (page 138).
But we are not only forgiven, we are also justified. And how does God do that?
How is the scarlet turned into the whiteness of wool? And the answer is the alchemy of Gethsemane, the blood of Jesus Christ and the sweat; and then the cross, the shame and the suffering, the ignominy, the mocking of the crowd, the crown of thorns, everything that happened on that cross on Calvary’s hill (page 148).
This book contains a rich and full exposition of this marvelous first chapter of Isaiah, and of God’s way of salvation as it was depicted in the Old Testament. There is, and has always been, only one way of salvation—-and it must be God’s way, not ours.
Reviewed by:
Ron Maness
Related Topics: Bibliology (The Written Word), Theology Proper (God), Sermon Illustrations
John Stott, The Making of A Leader, The Early Years
Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999, 526 pages.
This, the first volume of the first full length biography of John R. W. Stott, will set the standard of excellence for the many biographies which will follow. Timothy Dudley-Smith's excellent biography paints a complete portrait of the public and private life of one of the greatest Christian leaders of the last one hundred years. Dudley-Smith draws extensively from Stott's diaries, letters and books and from interviews with both friends and adversaries. He captures the formative experiences that have shaped the life and ministry of John Stott.
Arranged in sections covering ten-year increments from the 1920s through the 1950s, the chapters within each section relate key friendships, public challenges and personal struggles. These engaging accounts bring into view a compelling story of the forces that have shaped and which drive Stott.
Far from the doting account of a saintly life by an admiring follower, Dudley-Smith frankly describes Stott's struggles and doubts as well as the excitement of his expanding ministry. Directness and sensitivity mark the recounting of Stott's lifelong rivalry with his sister and the years of alienation from his father. His concern for his local congregation at All Souls Church in London as he begins evangelistic tours of Great Britain, the United States, Australia and Africa reveal his pastor's heart and sensitivity.
The first volume of this biography projects a three dimensional picture of a man of God. Don't wait for the companion volume, not due out for at least another two years, before reading this book. This account of a contemporary Christian will hearten and challenge you.
Related Topics: Testimony & Biography
The Path to True Happiness: John 2
Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1999, 214 pages.
This is a collection of 12 sermons on the second chapter of John’s Gospel, originally preached by Dr. Lloyd-Jones (MLJ) in late 1995. MLJ notes that John’s theme is stated near the end of his Gospel:
…but these (i.e., the signs recounted in his gospel) are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ; and that by believing ye might have life through his name (20:30).
So there is a life that can be received through His name. And MLJ says that John’s theme is “perhaps never stated more gloriously” (page 8) than in our Lord’s own words recorded in the tenth chapter:
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (10:10)
Not just life, but an abundant life. A life which is characterized by its abundance, its richness, its fullness. And MLJ says that “in John’s Gospel the characteristic of the new is always abundance…This is the emphasis of this Gospel, as it is, of course, of all the New Testament” (page 9).
Of these twelve sermons, five are on the wedding at Cana (verses 1-11), two are on the cleansing of the temple (verses 13-17), one on seeking signs (verses 18-22), and three on true versus temporary believers (verses 23-25). If you noted that this does not add up to twelve, it is because the book also includes a Christmas sermon on “the temple of his body” (verse 21).
In the sermons on the wedding at Cana, there are several important lessons. How is this fullness to be received? First, there was a lack, a deficiency: “They have no wine” (verse 3), followed by wise counsel from Mary: “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it” (verse 5), and a command from Jesus: “Fill the waterpots with water” (verse 7). If we seek the fullness of life from Jesus, we must first of all obey, do what he tells us. Here there are two opposite errors to be avoided. The first error is too much self-reliant activity; the other is to emphasize God’s part to such a degree that we become completely passive. We can also fall short by being obedient in general, but not in the details. To know the details we must be constant in our study of the Bible, and MLJ says he means “the whole book, not snippets, not digests (or) little portions…(and not by) taking somebody else’s thoughts…(but) I mean really reading it and studying it (while) praying as you read that the Holy Spirit will enlighten you” (pages 36-37).
There has never been a great saint but that he or she has been a great reader of the Bible, a keen student of it, one who revels in it, has searched it, and his concentrated upon its detailed teaching (page 37).
And then we are to realize the blessing, as we draw the wine out: “Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast” (verse 8).
Now this is a vital element in the whole matter of seeking his fullness: keep the commandments, realize the possibilities, the precious promises, and when he speaks—act! What does it mean? Well, here it is: Trust and obey! For there’s no other way! (page 43).
And then he moves to the nature of the blessing: “thou hast kept the good wine until now” (verse 10).
It is, of course, a uniquely Christian emphasis that all blessings are in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not interested in a teaching or theory or rule of life which may be very good in and of itself, and may even say a lot about God the Father. If it does not include Christ, and make him central, we are not interested; it is not Christianity (page 48).
The fullness we are talking about comes through Jesus Christ alone. And it is a miraculous provision, just as the transforming of the water into wine was miraculous.
But MLJ emphasizes that the fullness he is talking about is not conversion.
You can be a Christian—let us be clear about this. I am not saying you are not a Christian—you can be a Christian without knowing this fullness. But I am showing the difference between existing in the Christian life and enjoying the life fully. I am drawing the distinction between the bread and butter of the Christian life and enjoying the banquet. We are dealing with the banquet (pages 71-72).
And this fullness brings in the whole aspect of assurance and security.
You can be a Christian, I say again, without having assurance of salvation, but you cannot partake of his fullness, in a real sense, without knowing that you have done so. In other words, this doctrine of assurance and certainty is vital to the whole teaching about fullness….Now that is it. You can be a believer, you can know that your sins are forgiven, yes, but the vital question is: Do you know that Jesus is dwelling in your heart? (pages 76-77).
The final sermon on the wedding at Cana is entitled “A Super-Abundance of Blessing”. MLJ says that we are not only interested in this account because it is an historical account of a miracle, but because it is also a parable, showing us how this fullness is received. He does more than merely perform a miracle of turning a little water into wine—rather there is a super-abundance. Like the twelve basketfuls that were left over after feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish (Matt 14:15-21). Or like the cup which “runneth over” (Psalm 23:5). God’s grace is characterized not only by its freedom, but by its fullness and abundance.
So there are the lessons of this first miracle performed by our Lord in Cana of Galilee. It is a picture which opens our eyes to the possibilities of the Christian life, which is life indeed, life more abundant. It is life developing and increasing until we find ourselves face to face with him, knowing no longer in part, but knowing even as we are already known, and filled and glorified and made like unto him. May God by his Spirit give us the understanding to realize that this is Christianity and all this is meant for us (pages 96-97).
In the two sermons on the cleansing of the temple, MLJ emphasizes the danger of taking those things God has appointed for us and using them to serve our own ends. He finds in the first sermon an application to the church, and in the second an application to us as individuals. To the unfaithful, compromising church, Jesus comes with discipline and judgment. As individuals, we must remember the basic proposition that “our souls are temples in which our Lord comes to dwell” (page 115).
Here each one of us is called upon to examine the state of our own soul, this place in which God wills to dwell. What is the condition of our soul as our Lord examines it at this moment?…What use are we making of the gospel of our Lord and Saviour? (pages 118-119).
In the sermon on seeking signs, MLJ deals with an interesting point:
Our Lord gave signs in order to attest to his own person, and in order to encourage belief. Yet at at the same time he condemned this request for signs, and that is where the problem lies. He gave signs, and yet when people asked for them, he would not give them (page 136).
How are these reconciled? We are to seek the Lord alone, and we are to concentrate on what we are given. We are to beware of seeking new experiences, of having a restless spirit.
He may work miracles, he may do all sorts of amazing things, but he laid it down at the very beginning, in the Temple at Jerusalem, that he only does such things in his own time and in his own way, and to people who seek to know him and his glory, people who have a spiritual insight and understanding, people who…he can trust. It is to them, and them alone, that he chooses to commit himself (pages 146-147; see verse 24).
The sermons in the last group are on verses 23-25, which begin by saying that many who saw his miracles believed in his name. “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man” (verses 24-25).
His first sermon on this passage deals with the difference between true believers on the one hand, and on the other, temporary believers or “false professors, a designation favoured by the Puritans in particular” (page 153). The second sermon is on the absolute necessity of a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Then the third, and last sermon in the book, is called “The Captain’s Inspection”.
Here we have a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ standing and looking at people, and not merely looking at them, but judging them, assessing them, and determining their fate (page 198).
A somber thought. But there is grace here too. For our Captain does not only inspect us when we enlist, but he keeps on doing so. And the knowledge that he is watching us even now should be the motivation for us to shape up.
Thank God for this review, for this inspection. He is giving us a chance. He is telling us: This is only a preliminary inspection. I have looked at you: you feel unworthy? Very well. Put yourself right. Repent. Acknowledge it all. Confess it all. Then abide in him, and go on serving him truly, so that when he comes you will not in any sense be ashamed (page 211).
This is a classic set of expositions on a marvelous portion of scripture, showing us the nature of, and means of attaining, the life that is life indeed, a life abundant and full of grace.
Reviewed by:
Ron Maness
Related Topics: Spiritual Life, Sermon Illustrations
Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. 512 pages March 1998.
This book was originally published in 1984 under the title Heresies : The Image of Christ in the Mirror of Heresy and Orthodoxy from the Apostles to the Present. There was a very good review by Joseph Sobran in the October 5, 1984 issue of “National Review” which led me to purchase the original book.
Dr. Brown is currently with the Reformed Theological Seminary Resident Faculty, in Charlotte NC. Heresies is a comprehensive history book as well as a copious treatise of various heresies since the first century A.D. This would explain its renaming for the current editions.
“Heresies” are defined by Dr. Brown as those beliefs that are so at odds with orthodox Christian theology that they are a direct threat to the basic beliefs necessary for adequately understanding God’s plan for personal salvation. They are more than differences of opinion, and the heretic must have some claim on calling himself Christian, some real original relationship to orthodoxy or the “FAITH ONCE REVEALED.” A non-believer cannot be a heretic. He can only be a non-believer. In this sense some “heresies” are not truly heretical but another religion.
Dr. Brown explains that all theological concepts subject to heretical interpretation are found in the Bible. These are primarily those on the Trinity and those on the nature of Jesus, as well as other subjects that became the basis for some heresies. The earliest Christians generally understood these concepts. However, until heretical beliefs started materializing and needed formal refuting these truths were not systematized and comprehensively presented in an understandable way. Yet these early orthodox beliefs are available to us through the analysis of the writings of the heretics themselves. (Hence the “...Mirror of Heresy...” in the original title of this work.)
It took several centuries for the early theologians to develop the ideas and vocabulary needed to present orthodox beliefs on the Trinity and on the nature of Jesus. When this was done the results were the various major creeds (Apostles, Nicene [AD 325/381], Athanasian, Chalcedonian [AD 451]) created for popular use. But even this is not enough. For though some will generally agree with the particular postulations, the intellectual need to further explain these basics in the extreme leads to heretical thought. And this leads to the subsequent (to AD 451) one thousand five hundred fifty years of repeating heresies. For most, if not all, modern heresies are revivals of or share assumptions with heresies of the first four and one half centuries of Christianity.
Dr. Brown brings this to us in a logical, well written, chronological narrative. It is easy reading, chockfull of interesting details and bibliography/footnoting par excellence. He discusses the early persecutions and shows that even some heretics were genuine martyrs. Most importantly to the layman, he explains clearly the ramifications of any particular heresy. He does not stop with an explanation of why it is wrong, but discusses thoroughly the logical implications, conclusions, even actions to which this variant belief brings the heretic.
The story progresses to the political successes of the church when it achieves official state recognition and eventually becomes an official state religion. He recounts with sadness the change of the church of the martyred saints into a government organization persecuting, or when not yet official, having the government persecute, its “enemies.”
These enemies were not always heretics, but often political rivals with minor differences of theological opinion. Even some of this difference of opinion was really the result of linguistic misinterpretation (willful or incidental depending on the goals of the personages) between Latin and Greek speakers. When the opponents actually were heretical there were instances when the persecutions strengthened opposition to orthodoxy much in the same way early persecutions strengthened the church. It was some of this attitude an prejudice that left varieties of North African and Middle Eastern Christians vulnerable to the wholesale conversions to Islam in the 7th and 8th Centuries. The author also shows a point in time when it is the state that is interested in Christian orthodoxy and unity, and the official Church is more interested in making war.
This newer publication was improved immensely with the addition of a more comprehensive index. One can now find and relocate entries dealing with the myriad of types of heresies and historical topics discussed. A glossary would improve reviewing the meanings of the sundry heresies and sub-heresies but might make the book, already at 512 pages, too unwieldy. Looking them up in the index is the next best. A companion book of terms with page references would be helpful. Even to find what the creeds say it is necessary to look them up from other sources. It is too bad some of the more explanatory footnotes cannot be parenthetically added to the text, for this also would make a large book even bigger. The reader needs to get used to flipping back to the footnotes from the beginning or he will miss a lot of information.
The book was not updated in any form since its original publication in 1984. Though cults are only touched on (and then only in historical perspective) notorious examples might be used to illustrate current heresy revivals.
I recommend this book most to conservative Christians, which is no surprise. Next are “moderate” Christian Protestants and Roman Catholics who are comfortable with their Salvation in Jesus. Roman Catholics who are wedded to the Church hierarchy and tradition add-ons will find parts of the work difficult to accept. Those who will be least pleased are liberal and universalist Christians whose doctrines and beliefs themselves border on the heretical.
I also highly recommend it to non-believers who have any interest in church history, or are interested in Christian beliefs and controversies. Everyone will find this a terrific source of excellently documented information.
Related Topics: Soteriology (Salvation), Scripture Twisting, History, False Teachers