- Here is a post from Don Carson giving four handles for how to work for justice but not undermine evangelism. I put a few questions after each point for personal application and reflection.
(1) By doing evangelism. I know numerous groups that claim to be engaging in “holistic” ministry because they are helping the poor in Chicago or because they are digging wells in the Sahel, even though few if any of the workers have taken the time to explain to anyone who Jesus is and what he has done to reconcile us to God. Their ministry isn’t holistic; it’s halfistic, or quarteristic.
- Why is Carson’s critique in this point so important? Where do you see yourself in danger of a “halfistic” or “quarteristic” ministry?
(2) By being careful not to malign believers of an earlier generation. The popular buzz is that evangelicals before this generation focused all their energies on proclamation and little or nothing on deeds of mercy. Doubtless one can find sad examples of such reductionism, but the sweeping condescension toward our evangelical forbears is neither true nor kind. To take but one example: The mission SIM has emphasized evangelism, church planting, and building indigenous churches for a century—yet without talking volubly of holistic ministry it built, and still operates, many of the best hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Do you believe the previous Christian generations were only concerned about conversions and not about deeds of mercy? Can you think of specific Christians or groups of Christians that freed slaves, built hospitals, started schools, cared for orphans?
(3) By learning, with careful study of Scripture, just what the gospel is, becoming passionately excited about this gospel, and then distinguishing between the gospel and its entailments. The gospel is the good news of what God has done, especially in Christ Jesus, especially in his cross and resurrection; it is not what we do. Because it is news, it is to be proclaimed. But because it is powerful, it not only reconciles us to God, but transforms us, and that necessarily shapes our behavior, priorities, values, relationships with people, and much more. These are not optional extras for the extremely sanctified, but entailments of the gospel. To preach moral duty without the underlying power of the gospel is moralism that is both pathetic and powerless; to preach a watered-down gospel as that which tips us into the kingdom, to be followed by discipleship and deeds of mercy, is an anemic shadow of the robust gospel of the Bible; to preach the gospel and social justice as equivalent demands is to misunderstand how the Bible hangs together.
- What is the Gospel? Why do we need the Gospel? What are some of the implications for the Gospel? Be careful not to conflate the need for the Gospel and the implications of the Gospel with the Gospel.
(4) By truly loving people in Jesus’ name—our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all people, especially those of the household of faith. That necessarily includes the alleviation of suffering, both temporal and eternal. Christians interested in alleviating only eternal suffering implicitly deny the place of love here and now; Christians who by their failure to proclaim the Christ of the gospel of the kingdom while they treat AIDS victims in their suffering here and now show themselves not really to believe all that the Bible says about fleeing the wrath to come. In the end, it is a practical atheism and a failure in love.
- How does the Gospel produce people who care deeply about both temporary and eternal suffering? Drawing from these four points what does it look like specifically/practically in your life to “work for justice and not undermine evangelism?”
Ray Ortlund is a good brother. He constantly points to the Gospel and has a gift of applying the Gospel. Below is a repost from Ray. Check out more of his Gospel saturated thinking here: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/rayortlund/2010/10/11/gospel-doctrine-gospel-culture-2/ Gospel Doctrine, Gospel Culture (Ray Ortlund)
Gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. The doctrines of grace create a culture of grace, healing, revival, because Jesus himself touches us through his truths. Without the doctrines, the culture alone is fragile. Without the culture, the doctrines alone appear pointless.
The doctrine of regeneration creates a culture of humility (Ephesians 2:1-9).
The doctrine of justification creates a culture of inclusion (Galatians 2:11-16).
The doctrine of reconciliation creates a culture of peace (Ephesians 2:14-16).
The doctrine of sanctification creates a culture of life (Romans 6:20-23).
The doctrine of glorification creates a culture of hope (Romans 5:2).
If we want this culture to thrive, we can’t take doctrinal short cuts. If we want this doctrine to be credible, we can’t disregard the culture. But churches where the doctrine and culture converge bear living witness to the power of Jesus.
The Grace of God in the Bible (By Dane Ortlund) (Repost From Dane's Blog) There is always a danger of squeezing the Bible into a mold we bring to it rather than letting the Bible mold us. And, there could hardly be more diversity within the Protestant canon--diverse genres, historical settings, authors, literary levels, ages of history.
But while the Bible is not uniform, it is unified. The many books of the one Bible are not like the many pennies in the one jar. The pennies in the jar look the same, yet are disconnected; the books of the Bible (like the organs of a body) look different, yet are interconnected. As the past two generations' recovery of biblical theology has shown time and again, certain motifs course through the Scripture from start to end, tying the whole thing together into a coherent tapestry--kingdom, temple, people of God, creation/new creation, and so on.
Yet underneath and undergirding all of these, it seems to me, is the motif of God's grace, his perplexing favor and love to the undeserving. Don't we see the grace of God in every book of the Bible? (NT books include the single verse that best crystallizes the point.)
Genesis shows God’s grace to a universally wicked world as he enters into relationship with a sinful family line (Abraham) and promises to bless the world through him.
Exodus shows God’s grace to his enslaved people in bringing them out of Egyptian bondage.
Leviticus shows God’s grace in providing his people with a sacrificial system to atone for their sins.
Numbers shows God’s grace in patiently sustaining his grumbling people in the wilderness and bringing them to the border of the promised land not because of them but in spite of them.
Deuteronomy shows God’s grace in giving the people the new land “not because of your righteousness” (ch. 9).
Joshua shows God’s grace in giving Israel victory after victory in their conquest of the land with neither superior numbers nor superior obedience on Israel’s part.
Judges shows God’s grace in taking sinful, weak Israelites as leaders and using them to purge the land, time and again, of foreign incursion and idolatry.
Ruth shows God’s grace in incorporating a poverty-stricken, desolate, foreign woman into the line of Christ.
1 and 2 Samuel show God’s grace in establishing the throne (forever—2 Sam 7) of an adulterous murderer.
1 and 2 Kings show God’s grace in repeatedly prolonging the exacting of justice and judgment for kingly sin “for the sake of” David. (And remember: by the ancient hermeneutical presupposition of corporate solidarity, by which the one stands for the many and the many for the one, the king represented the people; the people were in their king; as the king went, so went they.)
1 and 2 Chronicles show God’s grace by continually reassuring the returning exiles of God’s self-initiated promises to David and his sons.
Ezra shows God’s grace to Israel in working through the most powerful pagan ruler of the time (Cyrus) to bring his people back home to a rebuilt temple.
Nehemiah shows God’s grace in providing for the rebuilding of the walls of the city that represented the heart of God’s promises to his people.
Esther shows God’s grace in protecting his people from a Persian plot to eradicate them through a string of 'fortuitous' events.
Job shows God’s grace in vindicating the sufferer’s cry that his redeemer lives (19:25), who will put all things right in this world or the next.
Psalms shows God’s grace by reminding us of, and leading us in expressing, the hesed (relentless covenant love) God has for his people and the refuge that he is for them.
Proverbs shows us God’s grace by opening up to us a world of wisdom in leading a life of happy godliness.
Ecclesiastes shows God’s grace in its earthy reminder that the good things of life can never be pursued as the ultimate things of life and that it is God who in his mercy satisfies sinners (note 7:20; 8:11).
Song of Songs shows God’s grace and love for his bride by giving us a faint echo of it in the pleasures of faithful human sexuality.
Isaiah shows God’s grace by reassuring us of his presence with and restoration of contrite sinners.
Jeremiah shows God’s grace in promising a new and better covenant, one in which knowledge of God will be universally internalized.
Lamentations shows God’s grace in his unfailing faithfulness in the midst of sadness.
Ezekiel shows God’s grace in the divine heart surgery that cleansingly replaces stony hearts with fleshy ones.
Daniel shows God’s grace in its repeated miraculous preservation of his servants.
Hosea shows God’s grace in a real-live depiction of God’s unstoppable love toward his whoring wife.
Joel shows God’s grace in the promise to pour out his Spirit on all flesh.
Amos shows God’s grace in the Lord's climactic promise of restoration in spite of rampant corruption.
Obadiah shows God’s grace by promising judgment on Edom, Israel’s oppressor, and restoration of Israel to the land in spite of current Babylonian captivity.
Jonah shows God’s grace toward both immoral Nineveh and moral Jonah, irreligious pagans and a religious prophet, both of whom need and both of whom receive the grace of God.
Micah shows God’s grace in the prophecy’s repeated wonder at God’s strange insistence on “pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression” (7:18).
Nahum shows God’s grace in assuring Israel of “good news” and “peace,” promising that the Assyrians have tormented them for the last time.
Habakkuk shows God’s grace that requires nothing but trusting faith amid insurmountable opposition, freeing us to rejoice in God even in desolation.
Zephaniah shows God’s grace in the Lord's exultant singing over his recalcitrant yet beloved people.
Haggai shows God’s grace in promising a wayward people that the latter glory of God’s (temple-ing) presence with them will far surpass its former glory.
Zechariah shows God’s grace in the divine pledge to open up a fountain for God’s people to 'cleanse them from sin and uncleanness' (13:1).
Malachi shows God’s grace by declaring the Lord’s no-strings-attached love for his people.
Matthew shows God’s grace in fulfilling the Old Testament promises of a coming king. (5:17)
Mark shows God’s grace as this coming king suffers the fate of a common criminal to buy back sinners. (10:45)
Luke shows that God’s grace extends to all the people one would not expect: hookers, the poor, tax collectors, sinners, Gentiles ('younger sons'). (19:10)
John shows God’s grace in becoming one of us, flesh and blood (1:14), and dying and rising again so that by believing we might have life in his name. (20:31)
Acts shows God’s grace flooding out to all the world--starting in Jerusalem, ending in Rome; starting with Peter, apostle to the Jews, ending with Paul, apostle to the Gentiles. (1:8)
Romans shows God’s grace in Christ to the ungodly (4:5) while they were still sinners (5:8) that washes over both Jew and Gentile.
1 Corinthians shows God’s grace in favoring what is lowly and foolish in the world. (1:27)
2 Corinthians shows God’s grace in channeling his power through weakness rather than strength. (12:9)
Galatians shows God’s grace in justifying both Jew and Gentile by Christ-directed faith rather than self-directed performance. (2:16)
Ephesians shows God’s grace in the divine resolution to unite us to his Son before time began. (1:4)
Philippians shows God’s grace in Christ’s humiliating death on an instrument of torture—for us. (2:8)
Colossians shows God’s grace in nailing to the cross the record of debt that stood against us. (2:14)
1 Thessalonians shows God’s grace in providing the hope-igniting guarantee that Christ will return again. (4:13)
2 Thessalonians shows God’s grace in choosing us before time, that we might withstand Christ’s greatest enemy. (2:13)
1 Timothy shows God’s grace in the radical mercy shown to 'the chief of sinners.' (1:15)
2 Timothy shows God’s grace to be that which began (1:9) and that which fuels (2:1) the Christian life.
Titus shows God’s grace in saving us by his own cleansing mercy when we were most mired in sinful passions. (3:5)
Philemon shows God’s grace in transcending socially hierarchical structures with the deeper bond of Christ-won Christian brotherhood. (v. 16)
Hebrews shows God’s grace in giving his Son to be both our sacrifice to atone for us once and for all as well as our high priest to intercede for us forever. (9:12)
James shows us God’s grace by giving to those who have been born again 'of his own will' (1:18) 'wisdom from above' for meaningful godly living. (3:17)
1 Peter shows God’s grace in securing for us an unfading, imperishable inheritance no matter what we suffer in this life. (1:4)
2 Peter shows God’s grace in guaranteeing the inevitability that one day all will be put right as the evil that has masqueraded as good will be unmasked at the coming Day of the Lord. (3:10)
1 John shows God’s grace in adopting us as his children. (3:1)
2 and 3 John show God’s grace in reminding specific individuals of 'the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.' (2 Jn 2)
Jude shows God’s grace in the Christ who presents us blameless before God in a world rife with moral chaos. (v. 24)
Revelation shows God’s grace in preserving his people through cataclysmic suffering, a preservation founded on the shed blood of the lamb. (12:11)
One of the greatest things we can learn from the apostle Paul is how to pray. As we begin our journey through Philippians by focusing on one of Paul's heart-felt, Gospel-motivated, God-glorifying prayers, I thought I would repost a short collection of some of Paul's prayers. Pick some passages and pray them for Redeemer. Pick some other passages and pray them for some other churches. Romans 15.5-6 5May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15.13 13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Ephesians 1.16-19 15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 3.14-21 14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Philippians 1.3-11 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Colossians 1.9-12 9And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
2 Thessalonians 1.11-12 11To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 13.20-21
(I realize Paul’s authorship of this letter is contested but I couldn’t leave this prayer out of the short list.) 20Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
For the last month or so we have blogged through Fee and Stuart's book, How To Read The Bible For All It's Worth. The foundational lessons that Fee and Stuart provide are very helpful in studying God's Word, which is valuable beyond description. Above all helps that Fee and Stuart provide, our greatest need in understanding God's Word is the help of the Holy Spirit. The only way for God's Word to be wonderful to us is if God Himself opens our minds and hearts and eyes to cherish the Bible for what it is. Pray that God would show you wonderful things in His Word, and as He does, thank Him and praise Him. Here is a pdf of all the posts from Fee and Stuart's book.
The Nature of Revelation:The hermeneutical problems are intrinsic. The book is in the canon; thus it is God’s Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Yet when we come to hear that Word, most of us in the church today hardly know what to make of it. At the same time, however, there is a rich, diverse symbolism, some of which is manageable while some is obscure. Most of the problems stem from the symbols, plus the fact that the book deals with future events, but at the same time is set in a recognizable first-century context.
The first key to the exegesis of Revelation is to examine the kind of literature it is. Revelation is a unique, finely blended combination of three distinct literary types: apocalypse, prophecy, and letter. Furthermore, the basic type, apocalypse, is a literary form that does not exist today.
The Revelation as Apocalypse: The Revelation is primarily an apocalypse. Some of the common characteristics of an apocalypse follow.
1. Apocalyptic literature was concerned with judgment and salvation. Its great concern was no longer with God’s activity within history. The apocalyptics looked exclusively forward to the time that God would bring a violent end to history.
2. Apocalypses are literary works from the beginning. John was told to write what he had seen not to verbally communicate it.
3. Most frequently the stuff of apocalyptic is presented in the form of visions or dreams, and its language is cryptic and symbolic. Therefore, most of the apocalypses contained literary devices intended to give the book a sense of hoary age. The most important of these devices was pseudonymity, that is, they were given the appearance of having been written by ancient worthies, who were told to seal up their writing for a later day.
4. The images in this writing are often forms of fantasy, rather than reality.
5. Most are very formally stylized. There was a strong tendency to divide time and events into neat packages. There was also a great fondness for the symbolic use of numbers and symbols. As a consequence, the final product usually has the visions in carefully arranged, often numbered, sets. Frequently these sets, when put together, express something without necessarily trying to suggest that each separate picture follows hard on the heel of the former.
The Revelation of John fits all of these categories but one. And that one difference is so important that in some ways it becomes a world of its own. Revelation is not Pseudonymous. John made himself know to his readers. He also did not seal up the book because he was inspired to distribute the message now.
The Revelation as Prophecy: John calls his book “this prophecy,” and says that the “testimony of Jesus,” for which he and the churches are suffering “is the spirit of prophecy.” This probably means that the message of Jesus, attested by him and to which John and the churches bear witness, is the clear evidence that the prophetic Spirit had come. Therefore, what makes John’s Apocalypse different is the combination of apocalyptic and prophetic elements. John clearly intends this book to be a prophetic word to the church. It was a word from God for their present situation.
The Revelation as Epistle: It must be noted that this combination of apocalyptic and prophetic elements has been cast into the form of a letter. John speaks to his reader in the first/second person formula. The significance of this is that there is an occasional aspect to the Revelation. It was occasioned at least in part by the needs of the specific church to which it was addressed. Therefore, to interpret, we must try to understand its original historical context.
The Necessity of Exegesis: Exegesis is especially important when studying Revelation. It is the lack of this that has lead to so many speculative and bad interpretations.
1. The first task is to seek the author’s original intent. The primary meaning of Revelation is what John intended it to mean, which in turn must also have been something his readers could have understood it to mean.
2. Since the Revelation intends to be prophetic, one must be open to the possibility of a second, higher meaning, inspired by the Holy Spirit. However, such a meaning lies beyond what we can correctly define. Therefore, what we need to do is understand what John was intending his original readers to hear and understand.
3. One must be careful to not overuse the analogy of Scripture when interpreting Revelation. The analogy of Scripture means that Scripture is to be interpreted in the light of other Scripture. Therefore any keys to interpreting Revelation must be intrinsic to the text of the Revelation itself or otherwise available to the original recipients from their own historical context.
4. Because of the apocalyptic nature of the book there can be some exegetical problems specifically in regards to some on the imagery.
a. One must have sensitivity to the rich background of ideas that have gone into the composition of the Revelation. The chief source of these ideas and images is the Old Testament, but John has derived images from apocalyptic and even from ancient mythology.
b. Apocalyptic images are of several kinds
c. When John interprets his images, these interpreted images must be held firmly and must serve as a starting point for understanding others.
d. One must see the visions as wholes and not allegorically press all the details. In this matter the visions are like parables. The whole vision is trying to say something; the details are either (1) for dramatic effect, (2) to add to the picture of the whole so that the readers will not mistake the points of reference.
5. Apocalypses in general, and the Revelation in particular, seldom intend to give a detailed, chronological account of the future. John’s concern is that, despite present appearances, God is in control of history and the church. And even though the church will experience suffering and death, it will be triumphant in Christ, who will judge his enemies and save his people.
The Historical Context: The place to begin one’s exegesis is with provisional reconstruction of the situation that it was written. Try to read it all in one sitting, reading it for the big picture. As you read take notes on the main points, the author and his readers. Understanding that John wrote this book while in exile is crucial in understanding the occasion of the letter.
The main themes are abundantly clear. Church and state are on a collision course; and the initial victory will appear to belong to the state. But the prophetic word is one of encouragement; for God is in control of all things. God will finally pour out his wrath upon those who caused suffering and death and bring eternal rest to those who remain faithful.
It is also important to understand the distinction that John makes between tribulation and wrath. Tribulation (suffering and death) is clearly part of what the church was enduring and was yet to endure. God’s wrath on the other hand, is his judgment that is to be poured out upon those who have afflicted God’s people.
The Literary Context: To understand any one of the specific visions on the Revelation it is especially important not only to wrestle with the background and meaning of the images (the content questions) but also to ask how a particular vision functions in the book as a whole. One must think paragraphs because every paragraph is a building block for the whole argument. The book is creatively structured whole, and each vision is an integral part of that whole.
The Hermeneutical Questions: The hermeneutical difficulties with the Revelation are much like those of the prophetic books. As with all other genres, God’s Word to us is to be found first of all in his Word to them. But in contrast the Prophets the Revelation often speaks about things yet to be.
Our difficulties do not lie with understanding God’s Word of warning and comfort. Our difficulties lie with that other phenomenon of prophecy, namely that the temporal world is often so closely tied to the final eschatological realities.
1. We need to learn that pictures of the future are just that—pictures. Thus when the four trumpets proclaim calamities on nature as a part of God’s judgment, we must not necessarily expect a literal fulfillment of those pictures.
2. Some of the pictures that were intended primarily to express the certainty of God’s judgment must not also be interpreted to mean soon-ness, at least from our limited perspective.
3. The pictures where the temporal is closely tied to the eschatological should not be viewed as simultaneous. The eschatological dimension of the judgments and of the salvation should alert us to the possibility of a not-yet dimension to many of the pictures.
4. Although there are probably many instances where there is a second, yet to be fulfilled, dimension to the pictures, we have been given no keys as to how we are to pin these down.
5. The pictures that were intended to be totally eschatological are still to be taken so. This we should affirm as God’s Word yet to be fulfilled. But even these are pictures; the fulfillment will be in God’s own time, in his own way.
Just as the opening word of Scripture speaks of God and creation, so the concluding words speak of God and consummation. If there are some ambiguities for us as to how all the details are to work out, there is no ambiguity as to the certainty that God will work it all out—in his time and in his way. Such certainty should serve for us, as for them, to warn and to encourage.
(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)