Archives For Theology

Questions for Conservative American Christians to Ponder about Presidential Politics

February 1, 2012

As a fairly recent newcomer to American presidential politics, I have been pondering the very difficult challenges that our current political situation poses. Here are some thoughts that have come to me recently as I have been prayerfully trying to discern how God would have us to approach answering some important questions.

1. Had there been news polls at the time of Saul, David, and Goliath, what would they have said about David’s chances of beating Goliath?

2. Suppose that at that time there had been an 8-foot tall former Philistine warrior who nominally became pro-Israel and engaged in occasional worship of Jehovah but not in the same way as the Israelites did. This Philistine is an arms producer and decides to volunteer himself to go up for Israel against Goliath. Would the polls not have ranked him much higher than David? If so, would the establishment leaders in Israel not have clamored for him to be the Israelite’s choice to go up against Goliath instead of the comparatively speaking puny David?

3. Ephesians 2 teaches that the children of disobedience are being energized by the prince of the power of the air. Should the righteous support such presidential candidates as the ones who would best advance the kingdom of God and His righteousness in the US and the world because the polls say that they would fare best against the opposing parties’ candidates?

4. Just how exactly does the Bible itself teach us to vote for the lesser of two evils?

5. Does the Bible teach us that the character of a presidential candidate does not matter that much in view of other supposedly more important considerations because we are voting for a president and not for a preacher?

6. Is there not a God in heaven who can turn the hearts of the “precious” moderates to support a righteous candidate for president so that we do not have to settle again for a candidate that we have to tolerate because the polls say that he is the only one who can win?

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology
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The Marvelous Ending of Psalms

January 30, 2012

The book of Psalms ends with a profound emphasis on praising the Lord. This emphasis is revealed by the following points in the final five Psalms:

A. Each Psalm begins and ends with the same command, “Praise ye the LORD” (146:1, 10; 147:1, 20; 148:1, 14; 149:1, 9; 150:1, 6).

B. Commands to praise the Lord occur at least 36 times, with a magnificent crescendo consisting entirely of commands to praise Him in Psalm 150:

—146:1 [2x]; 10;

—147: 1, 12 [2x]; 20;

—148:1 [3x]; 2 [2x]; 3 [2x]; 4; 5; 7; 13; 14;

—149:1; 3; 6; 9;

—150: 1 [3x]; 2 [2x]; 3 [2x]; 4 [2x]; 5 [2x]; 6 [2x]).

C. Through these commands, God teaches us many truths about the theology of praise:

1. Praise must be given to the LORD, who is my God, your God, and our God: His name is to be praised!

2. The commands to praise Him are directed universally—all must praise Him: everyone who reads these Psalms; the believer’s own soul; Jerusalem and Zion; all His angels and His hosts; the sun, moon, and all the stars; the heaven of heavens; the waters that are above the heavens; the dragons and all deeps; fire, hail, snow, vapors, and stormy wind; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings and all people; princes and all judges; young men, maidens, old men, and children; everything that has breath.

3. God must be praised everywhere: from the earth and the heavens; in the heights; in the congregation of the saints; in the dance; in His sanctuary; in the firmament of His power.

4. God demands praising Him with singing and numerous musical instruments: upon the harp, the loud cymbals, and the high sounding cymbals; with the timbrel, harp, psaltery, the sound of the trumpet, stringed instruments and organs.

5. God must be praised for a vast number of reasons:

—He is the help and hope of His people;

—He keeps truth forever;

—He executes judgment for the oppressed, feeds the hungry, looses the prisoners, opens the eyes of the blind, raises up those who are bowed down, loves the righteous, preserves the strangers, relieves the fatherless and widows, and turns the way of the wicked upside down;

—He will reign forever;

—He builds up Jerusalem, gathers together the outcasts of Israel, heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, and tells the number of stars and calls them all by their names;

—He is great, of great power, and His understanding is infinite;

—He lifts up the meek and casts the wicked down to the ground;

—He covers the heaven with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass to grow on the mountains, and gives food to the beasts and the young ravens;

—He delights not in the strength of horses and does not take pleasure in the legs of man;

—He takes pleasure in those who fear Him and hope in His mercy;

—He has strengthened the bars of the gates of Jerusalem and blessed her children within her;

—He makes peace in her borders and fills her with the finest of wheat;

—He sends forth His commandment on the earth, and His Word runs very swiftly;

—He gives snow like wool, scatters the hoarfrost like ashes, casts forth His ice like morsels, and none can stand before His cold;

—He sends forth His Word and melts His ice;

—He causes His wind to blow and the waters flow;

—He shows His Word unto Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel;

—He has not dealt in this way with any other nation, and no other nation has known His judgments as Israel has;

—His name alone is excellent;

—His glory is above the earth and heaven;

—He exalts the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints, even the children of Israel, a people near Him;

—it is good to sing praises to our God;

—praising Him is pleasant and comely;

—He commanded and all things were created;

—He has also established His creation forever and made a decree that will not pass;

—He takes pleasure in His people and beautifies the meek with salvation;

—His mighty acts.

6. God specifies that we praise Him according to His excellent greatness, and with thanksgiving and dance.

7. All His saints have the honor of having His high praises in their mouth along with a two-edged sword in their hand in order to execute vengeance on the heathen and punishments upon the people, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, and to execute upon them the judgment written.

D. In addition to these commands, statements of resolve to praise the Lord occur two times (146:2 [2x]).

In view of the immense divine emphasis directing us to praise Him that we find in this marvelous ending of the book of Psalms, let us with the Psalmist resolve to praise Him while we live, while we have any being!

Praise ye the Lord.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exhortation, Music, Theology
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What 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Was Not in Its Original Historical Context

January 28, 2012

In order to deal with some among the Corinthians who were saying “that there is no resurrection of the dead” (15:12), Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 to reiterate the gospel that he had preached to them. As important as this passage is for our understanding of the gospel, it is vital that we keep the following points in mind about what this passage was not in its original historical context.

1. It was not a first-time revelation of what the gospel was to the Corinthians—Paul had already made the gospel known to them when he had evangelized them while he was with them. The Corinthian church thus did not need this passage to know what the gospel was!

2. It was not an initial revelation of what the gospel was to the apostles; the apostles had received the gospel message directly from Christ some twenty years prior to Paul’s writing this passage and had been preaching it ever since. Peter preached the gospel at Pentecost without any prior instruction from Paul, and he did not need any such instruction at any later point in his life. The same was true for all the other apostles as well (Acts4:33; 5:20-21; 42) and also for Philip (Acts 8:4-40).

3. It was not an instance of either progressive revelation or a progress of doctrine such that it supplemented, corrected, or fine-tuned in any necessary way any supposedly rudimentary or unclear notions that the original apostles may have had of what they were to preach as the gospel.

4. It was not an initial revelation of what the gospel was to the early Church at large. Those who were in the Church prior to Paul’s writing this passage had been saved by hearing the gospel ministered to them by someone who knew what to preach to them. The early Church at large, therefore, already knew definitively what the gospel was before Paul penned this passage because they knew what they had believed to be saved.

5. It was not some vital theological revelation that the early Church was lacking until Paul wrote these words. Proof positive of this statement is seen from the fact that the leaders of the early Church, including Paul, were able to definitively resolve a key doctrinal matter concerning how Gentiles were to be saved (Acts 15; see this post for a full explanation of this crucial point) before Paul had even gone to Corinth to preach the gospel to the Corinthians (Acts 18).

In light of these points, we need to adjust certain theological and practical viewpoints that have resulted from attaching undue importance to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 at the expense of other equally inspired and relevant revelation from God concerning the gospel that the apostles preached. The changes that we need to make include the following:

1. The lack of explicit mention of the kingdom of God in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 has led some to reason that the gospel “changed” from a preaching of the gospel of the kingdom (e.g., Acts 8:12) to a preaching of the gospel of Christ. A careful examination of a number of passages in Acts (as well as in the Epistles, including even 1 Corinthians 15 itself) shows that this reasoning is fallacious (see my post, Did the Gospel Change from Samaria to Corinth?). We must, therefore, reject such reasoning.

2. Not keeping in mind that these verses are merely a brief summary of what Paul actually preached to the Corinthians, some have resorted to an approach to evangelism that too often more or less only amounts to a quoting of these statements to people. A close comparison of Peter’s preaching of the gospel in Caesarea with this passage brings out key truths that are missed when such an approach is taken.

First, Acts 10 teaches us how an apostle preached Jesus as the Christ to unsaved Gentiles (10:38) before testifying to His crucifixion and resurrection (10:39-41). By communicating to the lost the specific information that Peter did in this statement, we will properly explain to them the meaning of the term Christ and also preach the kingdom of God to them (cf. Matt.12:28)!

Second, it reveals to us a key truth (Acts 10:42) that an apostle proclaimed after testifying to His crucifixion and resurrection (10:39-41) and how he based his subsequent appeal to sinners for salvation (10:43) on the basis of his prior proclamation of that key truth. By evangelizing the lost in the same way, we will inform them of the proper significance of these key events for both God and man, and we will also further preach the kingdom of God to them.

When presenting 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 to the lost, therefore, we should be careful to explain the term Christ properly to them and not take for granted that they will invest it with its right biblical significance upon merely hearing it from us (see this post for an example of the problem of not doing this). We should also properly explain the significance of the key historical events that the Messiah experienced (crucifixion and resurrection) in the manner explained above.

Doing so, we will preach to them the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12)!

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation, Theology
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Carson on the Gospel: "The Gospel is Theological"

January 24, 2012

The gospel is theological. This is a short-hand way of affirming two things. First, as 1 Corinthians 15 repeatedly affirms, God raised Christ Jesus from the dead (e.g. [1]5:15). More broadly, New Testament documents insist that God sent the Son into the world, and the Son obediently went to the cross because this was his Father’s will. It makes no sense to pit the mission of the Son against the sovereign purpose of the Father. If the gospel is centrally Christological, it is no less centrally theological.

—D. A. Carson, <em>The Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1 — 19)</em>, 3

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Gospel, Quotes, Theology
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The Value of Repeatedly Reading through the NT in Chronological Order

January 21, 2012

For several years now, I have not read through the NT in the order that most Bibles today have for the books of the NT: Gospels; Acts; Epistles; Revelation. Instead, I have been reading through the NT in the following order, which is likely the chronological order in which the books were first given to the Church by God:

James

Galatians

Matthew

1 & 2 Thessalonians; 1 & 2 Corinthians; Romans

Luke

Ephesians; Colossians; Philemon; Philippians

Acts

1Timothy

1 Peter

Titus

2 Peter

2 Timothy

Mark

Hebrews

Jude

John

1 & 2 & 3 John

Revelation

Reading the NT in chronological order repeatedly, I hope to have a better sense of how the early Church would have understood the relationship between various books of the NT. In particular, reading in this way has helped me, I believe, to have a greater understanding of the contemporary value of Acts and John.

For example, a strong contemporary emphasis on the current topical order of the NT books can easily lend itself to a flawed perspective that the Pauline Epistles somehow are more important than Acts for our understanding of what the actual gospel message was that the apostles preached. On the contrary, Acts was written after perhaps as many as ten of Paul’s Epistles had already been written and careful attention to this fact and the full content of Acts corrects some wrong notions about apostolic ministry of the gospel message that some have espoused through their placing undue emphasis on selected teachings of the Synoptics and the Pauline Epistles.

In a related manner, a lumping of John with the Synoptics lends itself to a lack of appreciation that John is a Gospel that was written many years after all the Pauline Epistles were written. We should then take care that our handling of the Gospel of John informs our understanding of apostolic ministry of the gospel at least as much as the Synoptics and the Pauline Epistles do.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Bible reading, Interpretation, Theology
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Is This Line of Theological Reasoning Sound or Unsound?

January 9, 2012

—By definition, a savior is one who saves.

—God performs numerous actions in saving people (e.g., justification, regeneration, propitiation, and forgiveness).

—Because the Savior is the One who saves His people, and salvation involves all these saving actions, God/Jesus performs each of these actions specifically as the Savior of His people.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Interpretation, Theology
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New Honor Students and Sports Champions on Judgment Day?

June 2, 2011

Many students have cheated on assignments, tests, and projects over the centuries that there have been schools. Many of them have been caught, but many have not. Will they not be held to account for their cheating?

How many teachers have played favorites with students and not graded assignments, projects, and exams impartially? Will God not one day expose them for their favoritism? If so, will honor rolls, dean’s lists, and award recipients in schools and colleges be changed and will students who were cheated out of honors that they had earned finally be honored the way they should have been?

Many athletes have cheated in sports competitions and not been caught. Will they not be held to account for their cheating at the Judgment?

Only God knows how many unrighteous referees have knowingly made bad calls to favor certain teams and players. What will their being brought to account mean concerning the crowning of new champions for both individual and team sports?

In college, my floor hockey team was in the championship game. I had a penalty shot that I know went into the top corner of the net. My team should have won that game. Because the referee, however, said my shot was not a goal, my team ended up losing the championship in an overtime that never should have happened.

I am not saying that the referee knowingly made a bad call in my case—I would like to think that he did not. I wonder if I will ever find out whether or not we were the real champions that year.

In the 2009-10 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics lost the championship to the Lakers in the seventh game. I believe that Pau Gasol of the Lakers should have gotten a foul for going over the back of Rajon Rondo for a crucial rebound late in the game. Similarly, I believe that Gasol should have been called for another key infraction late in the game.

Had those calls been made the way that I think they should have been made, the Celtics would likely have won the game. If my perspective on those two calls proves to be right, will the Celtics yet be crowned the NBA champions for 2009-10? Perhaps, instead, there will be so many changes in the scores of the games that some other team will be crowned the actual champion for that year as well as for many other years.

I wonder how many such changes there may be in individual and team honors on Judgment Day.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Theology
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