A People for His Name

Extending and Repaving the Romans Road

March 3, 2011

Millions of believers have been taught “the Romans Road” as an approach to evangelism. Often, those who present this approach teach the use of five verses: Romans 3:23; 6:23; 10:9-10; and 10:13. Undoubtedly, God has used this approach to save many people. Nonetheless, key considerations call for extending and repaving the Romans Road.

First, the “success” of this approach has resulted from realities that need careful scrutiny . . .

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In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism

Obedience to His Heavenly Vision

March 2, 2011

When he stood trial before King Agrippa, the apostle Paul declared, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). What Paul said next is striking because it reveals that his own thinking about what was central for him to do in obedience to his heavenly vision was more than what many believers today might initially think that it was. His first statement about his obedience was not a statement explicitly about his proclaiming Christ. In fact, Paul’s first words in explaining his obedience do not say anything at all explicitly about his ministering to people content about Jesus. (Of course, proclaiming Christ was a key aspect of Paul’s obedience, as his later statements make clear [26:22-23]). Instead, Paul said that he . . . (read the full article)

In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism, Interpretation

Why Did Jesus Repeatedly Say, "My God"?

March 1, 2011

Before Jesus died on the Cross, He said, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Matt. 27:46; caps in original). Although He Himself was fully God, Jesus addressed the Father as His God twice in this statement. Anyone who reads this statement and understands what He said has to reckon with the fact that the One dying on the Cross made an incredible statement that was not focused on His own deity. Rather, the reader is to accept the truth of the profound reality communicated by Jesus’ words concerning Him and His Father.

In one of His resurrection appearances, Jesus said to Mary, “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (John 20:17). Although He had risen from the dead, He had not yet been glorified at the Father’s right hand when He made this statement that speaks of the Father as His God. Again, the reader is confronted with a statement that directs his attention away from Jesus’ own deity and to that same profound truth seen earlier. Apparently, Jesus intended His saying to communicate to His original audience and to all who have encountered it thereafter that the Crucifixion and the Resurrection did not change this profound reality concerning Him and His Father.

About six decades after Jesus had made these statements, Jesus appeared to the apostle John. At that time, He had already been glorified at the Father’s right hand for more than half a century. In one of His statements to John, the glorified Jesus again spoke of the Father as His God. This time, however, He strikingly emphasized that truth by repeating the words, “My God,” four times:

“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name” (Rev. 3:12).

Why did Jesus repeatedly say these words to John? Apparently, Jesus intended to communicate unmistakably to John that His ascension and glorification did not change the profound reality concerning Him and His Father that He had spoken of decades earlier. The Father was still His God, and Jesus wanted to be sure that John understood that fact and was mindful of it.

Moreover, by His including these words in one of the letters to the seven churches, we understand that Jesus wanted to confront all the churches of that time with the same striking emphasis. Jesus thus desired that all believers of that time would be mindful of the profound reality of the Father as His God.

Because the Holy Spirit has recorded these statements in Scripture, it is clear that there is a divine intent for all believers in all subsequent ages to be mindful of the fact that the Father is still Jesus’ God. The last statement by Jesus about that truth emphasized that truth far beyond the other two. Revelation was written several decades after Jesus’ glorification, and the greater emphasis on this truth in Revelation 3:12 suggests that believers at that time needed an even stronger presentation of that truth than those who lived during the days that Jesus was on the earth.

If this understanding is correct, why was it so? Perhaps part of the explanation for what Jesus did is found in considering our human desire ever increasingly to resolve paradoxical truths and explain everything as fully as possible. How the Father can be the God of Jesus—who Himself is God—is a very difficult truth for us as humans to handle. Jesus’ final statement served not to lessen the difficulty but to intensify it greatly. We thus must conclude that God views it as very important that we maintain, regardless of the difficulties that doing so presents to our minds, full belief in and mindfulness of both Jesus’ own deity and the truth of the Father’s continuing even today to be the God of Jesus.

Jesus repeatedly spoke of the Father as His God so that we would not become overly focused on Jesus’ own deity and lose sight of the profound nature of His relationship to the Father. Revelation 3:13 shows that we must continue to make known that emphasis in our churches today.

In Interpretation Interpretation

Is It Essential to Use the Word "Savior" in Gentile Evangelism?

February 28, 2011

An examination of the occurrences of the word Savior in Scripture reveals some striking facts. The following study seeks ultimately to allow Scripture to direct us concerning the question, “Is it essential to use the word Savior in Gentile evangelism?”

The word Savior does not occur in the OT until Second Samuel 22:3. This means that the first nine books of the OT do not have the word even once. It occurs twelve times in five books among the remaining 29 books. Of the 39 books of the OT, the word thus does not occur in 33 of them. (The word does occur in two other books as a plural in references to people [Neh. 9:27; Oba. 21]).

Four books have one occurrence each (2 Kings 13:5; Psalm 106:21; Jer. 14:8; Hos. 13:4). Isaiah has 8 occurrences (19:20; 43:3, 11; 45:15, 21; 49:26; 60:16; 63:8). Of these references, the first one refers ultimately to the Messiah’s future work in the end times, but the rest do not (at least directly and unambiguously) seem to set forth the Messiah as the Savior. The OT, therefore, uses the word Savior only once to emphasize who the Messiah would be.

In the NT, the word does not occur in Matthew or Mark. God thus inspired two Gospels that present the life of Christ without using the word at all. The word Savior occurs twice in Luke (God [Luke 1:47] and Jesus [2:11]) and once in John (Jesus, 4:42). In Luke, it occurs in the angelic announcement at the birth of Christ, which certainly was an announcement of good news for all people. In John, the word occurs in a statement by some Samaritans who heard Christ and believed in Him. The Gospels, therefore, lack any explicit record of its use in evangelism by any human. They also do not record a single instance of Jesus’ referring to Himself as the Savior.

The word Savior occurs twice in Acts (5:31; 13:23), but not in either of the two epochal accounts of apostolic evangelism, Pentecost and Gentecost. Instead, in two lesser accounts, the word occurs in explicit statements concerning what God has done for Israel. Acts 5 records the testimony of Peter and the apostles to the Jewish Council, and thus appears not to have much direct bearing on our understanding of Gentile evangelism. Though there were Gentiles present when Paul preached his message in Antioch (13:42), his subsequent statement (13:46) shows that he did not regard this occasion at least in some sense as Gentile evangelism. Acts, therefore, does not record a single instance of the use of the word Savior in a context of exclusively Gentile evangelism.

The word Savior also does not occur in the four major theological epistles concerning salvation (Romans; 1 Corinthians; Galatians; Hebrews; this identification of these books as the four major theological epistles concerning salvation is from a recent statement in a sermon by Dr. Mark Minnick). Its absence in the greatest theological treatise in the world about salvation, the book of Romans, is incredible. Furthermore, Paul’s statements in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 declare central truths about the gospel, but they do not use the word Savior to do so. (If use of the word were truly central to apostolic evangelism, 1 Corinthians 15:3 would seemingly have been a prime place for Paul to do so.)

In the other Epistles, it occurs 19 times. The word refers to the Father 7 times (three times each in First Timothy [1:1; 2:3; 4:10] and Titus [1:3; 2:10; 3:4] and once in Jude 25).

The word Savior refers to Jesus 12 times in these Epistles (once each in four books [Eph. 5:23; Phil. 3:20; 2 Tim. 1:10; 1 John 4:14]; three times in Titus [1:4; 2:13; 3:6]; and five times in Second Peter [1:1, 11; 2:20; 3:2, 18]). Two of the twelve references to Jesus in the Epistles have significant relevance concerning apostolic evangelism (2 Tim. 1:10; 1 John 4:14), but lack of further information leaves unclear their exact relevance for evangelism today.

The word Savior does not occur in Revelation. The inspired capstone of divine revelation thus does not use the word at all to refer to Jesus.

Based on this analysis of the divinely inspired content of Scripture, how much emphasis and what kind of emphasis should we give to this word in our doctrine and practice? In particular, is it essential to use the word Savior in Gentile evangelism?

In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism, Interpretation

Christian Faith: Learning to Please God from the Example of Enoch

February 27, 2011

Hebrews 11 highlights many great heroes of the Christian faith, especially Abraham and Moses. Much preaching and teaching focuses on these great men and others like David, who is only mentioned in passing in 11:32. Though he is spoken of in two full verses (Heb. 11:5-6), Enoch, however, seems to have received far less attention. Closely examining the scriptural revelation about him shows some important truths from his life. Most of all, we can and should learn to please God from his example.

Overall, Scripture does not provide much revelation about Enoch. Four passages tell us about him (Genesis 5; 1 Chronicles 1:3; Hebrews 11; and Jude). From these passages, we learn two major truths about Enoch that teach us how to please God.

Please God by walking with Him

As a married man with sons and daughters, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years (Gen. 5:21-24)! He pleased God and did not see death because God translated him (Heb. 11:5). People searched for him but did not find him because God was so pleased with him that He translated him. The next verse declares that pleasing God is only possible by those who come to Him as believers in His existence and His being a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).

Together, Hebrews 11:5-6, therefore, teach us that Enoch pleased God by walking with Him by coming to Him with faith in His existence and in His being the God who rewards people who seek Him earnestly. Moreover, like Enoch, we too must in our Christian faith learn to please God. To do so, we must walk with Him with confidence in Him and in His intent to reward us for pursuing Him wholeheartedly.

Please God by speaking for Him

Although many have given attention to what Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11 together teach us about Enoch, fewer people seem to have considered how Jude 14-15 compared with these passages also teaches us important truths about how Enoch walked with God in a pleasing way. Jude 14 tells us that Enoch was the seventh from Adam. It adds that he prophesied of the Lord’s coming.

What is not often brought out is what the content of Enoch’s prophesying about the Lord’s coming teaches us about how he pleased God by walking by faith in Him. Enoch prophesied that the Lord would come with multitudes of His saints to render judgment on all ungodly people (Jude 15). Yet, we are not given any information that the Lord ever returned to do so in Enoch’s lifetime.

By comparing Genesis 5, Hebrews 11, and Jude, we thus learn that Enoch believed and proclaimed to others the revelation that he received from some undisclosed source about the future coming of the Lord to judge. These passages considered together suggest that Enoch’s faith in future judgment by God was a key element of his walk that pleased God. We thereby should learn the great importance of that doctrine in our Christian faith.

From all that we know about Enoch, we learn that we are to stress that God desires to reward those who diligently seek Him, having heeded His revelation that warns of His future judgment of the ungodly that refuse to please Him by faith. Although speaking of future judgment by God is an unpopular teaching with many people, Enoch’s example shows us that communication of that truth is a vital aspect of a walk that pleases God.

Scripture teaches us that there are many important doctrines in the Christian faith, and the example of Enoch teaches us that the doctrine of judgment is one of those doctrines. From other Scripture, we learn that we are to preach the judgment of God compassionately and lovingly whenever possible. Let us please God in our Christian faith by walking with Him and speaking for Him.

In Interpretation Interpretation

Learning Parenting from Job

February 26, 2011

Scripture speaks highly of Job in several passages (1:1, 8; 2:3; Ezek. 14:14, 20; cf. James 5:11). In fact, God Himself commends Job twice to Satan by declaring, “There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil” (1:8; 2:3). Job thus was the godliest man of his day.

Because God attested to his excelling character and life, it seems reasonable to conclude that Job was a model father. Along that line, the initial account of the book reveals an aspect of Job’s parenting that is worth considering carefully.

After describing the habitual practice of his children, the writer of Job tells what Job did out of concern for his children:

And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually (1:5).

In some unspecified manner, Job regularly met with his children and sanctified them. Their having their own houses and feasting in them shows that at least his sons were adults (1:4). Job thus ministered to his adult children on a regular basis regarding their spiritual state. As circumstances allow, many parents today also actively interact regularly with their adult children with the intent of ministering to them directly concerning their spiritual condition.

Job’s great concern for his children’s spiritual state also led him to offer burnt sacrifices to God continually in view of what his children may have done against God in their hearts. Job, therefore, understood that the wrong thoughts of his children were also sinful and required the offering of burnt sacrifices.

Job was an exemplary father in his day. How many fathers today routinely minister to their adult children out of concern for their sinning against God in their hearts? How many fathers regularly consider the possible sinfulness of the thought life of their adult children and bring that concern to God in their prayers for them? Job’s practice seems to inform us that parents, especially fathers, should continually parent even their adult children in at least these ways.

In Interpretation Christian Living, Interpretation, Parenting

Prove the Will of God!

February 25, 2011

Picture a cool fall day in a Midwestern farming community in the year1947. A faithful, young farmer heads out to his fields at the break of day. He notices a slight scratchy feeling in his throat. As he puts in a full day of work, he has a sinking feeling that he is coming down with something. By the middle of the week, he can hardly swallow. Hating to go to a doctor, he tries gargling with a mix of lemon juice, apple cider, vinegar, honey, and one “special” ingredient. His throat, however, keeps on getting worse.

Early the next week, he is barely able to swallow. Reluctantly, he agrees to go see his uncle, who is a doctor. Taking one look inside his mouth, his uncle’s face grows very serious. “Jake, you have a bad case of strep throat.” “I’m giving you a new medicine that I hope will take care of the problem; be sure to finish all the pills.” Jake takes the pills, thanks his uncle, and heads home.

After a few days on the medication, his throat feels so much better. Because the pills were so bitter, and he is feeling better by now, he decides to stop taking the pills. He says to himself, “I am over the problem, and I don’t want to overdo this medicine business.”

Two weeks after stopping the pills, Jake is flat on his back, hardly able to speak. Now, he has a fever and a rash. When his uncle comes and examines him, with tears he grimly informs him that he has rheumatic fever.

For the rest of his life, Jake is a crippled man who no longer can take care of his farm or even himself. The damage to his heart was just too severe for him to do much of anything. He is unable to live out the life that he might have lived had he followed the full prescription given to him.

God has given us His prescription for our sinful condition (Rom. 12). Although we must present ourselves to God, we must not stop with just making a decision to do so. We must go on and live out His will for our lives as He teaches us in Romans 12:1ff.

If we do not fully follow that prescription, we will be crippled and not fulfill His will. God wants us to prove His will for our lives.

In Discipleship, Parables Christian Living, Parable

Profiting Fully from Pentecost and "Gentecost"

February 24, 2011

Luke provides us with lengthy accounts of two premier evangelistic events (Acts 2 and 10). He gives additional information about them in both Acts 11 and 15.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter first exercised the keys of the kingdom of heaven that Christ gave him (Matt. 16:18-19). On that occasion, the church began in Jerusalem with a multitude of devout Jews repenting toward God (Acts 2:38-41) and believing in Jesus Christ (11:17).

In Caesarea, Peter again exercised those keys of the kingdom. Many Gentiles repented toward God (11:18) and believed in Jesus Christ on that occasion (15:7; cf. 11:17; 15:11). In keeping with Peter’s explicitly linking these two key evangelistic events (11:15-17; cf. 15:8-9; 11), I have coined the term “Gentecost” as a fitting and convenient way to refer to the latter event (shortened from “Gentile Pentecost”; cf. comments on Acts 11:13-16 by J. B. Polhill, Acts, in NAC, 267).

Although many have directed considerable attention to Pentecost, it seems that they have given Gentecost far less attention by comparison.[1] Without a thorough treatment of both accounts, however, we do not profit fully from either.

We begin a thorough treatment of the accounts by determining the overall length of the information given about each event. Acts 2 provides 41 verses overall about Pentecost and 28 verses concerning Peter’s message and verbal ministry (2:14-41). Adding the four verses referring to that event in two subsequent passages (11:15, 17; 15:8-9) we learn that there are 45 total verses about Pentecost in three passages in Acts.

Acts 10 provides 48 verses overall about Gentecost and 12 verses concerning Peter’s message and verbal ministry (10:34-43; 47-48). Subsequent references in three passages provide at least 22 more verses about that event (11:1-18; Peter at the Jerusalem Council [15:7-9; possibly 15:11 as well]; James at the Jerusalem Council [15:14; cf. 15:15-17 and 15:18]). Luke thus provides at least 70 total verses about Gentecost in four passages in Acts.

At the very least, this comparison suggests that we should give equal attention to both the Pentecost and the Gentecost accounts. Because the latter accounts are of considerably greater combined length than the former, our concluding in fact that they warrant greater attention is reasonable.

In addition, because the vast majority of our evangelism today is Gentile evangelism, we would do well to give the Gentecost accounts both much more analysis that is thorough and widespread focused attention in our teaching and preaching. (Future articles will present many more reasons for giving these accounts special attention.) Only then will we put ourselves in a position to profit fully from Pentecost and Gentecost.

[1] In spite of my having heard several thousand messages in the more than twenty years that I have been a believer, I have not heard someone preach or teach a Sunday school class even once on Gentecost. Of course, people have preached and taught on that passage over those years, but somehow it has worked out that I have never heard any preaching or teaching that has focused on this premier account of Gentile evangelism.

In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation

The Glory of the Father!

February 23, 2011

Numerous references throughout Scripture speak of the Resurrection of Christ as the work of God the Father. The Psalms record predictions that the Father would raise His Messiah (Pss. 2, 16). Acts repeatedly shows us that the apostles bore testimony to the Father’s raising Christ (for example, 3:15; 10:40; and 17:31). Moreover, in key statements in two seminal messages, they used the statements in the Psalms of the Father’s raising Him (2:24-33; 13:30-37 [counting quotes there are seven statements of the Father’s raising Christ]).

Paul declares that all the apostles were witnesses of the Father that He raised up Christ (1 Cor. 15:11-15). He emphasizes that the “surpassing greatness” of the Father’s power toward us is “in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead” and exalted Him to His right hand (Eph. 1:19-20).

The writer of Hebrews concludes his epistle with prayer to the God of peace who “brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus” (Heb. 13:20). Peter declares to believers that they by Jesus “believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that [their] faith and hope might be in God” (1 Pet. 1:21).

Perhaps, we can best understand why the Scripture abundantly highlights that God the Father raised Christ by examining closely a key statement in the book that many regard as the greatest theological book ever written. The apostle Paul states, “Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father” (Rom. 6:4). The glory of a person or entity is best understood as his or its “unique excellence” (Definition from messages by Dr. Mark Minnick). Applying that understanding to Romans 6:4, we see that Paul sets forth the resurrection of Christ from the dead as the unique excellence of God the Father!

Although other passages do show that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit were also active in the Resurrection, Romans 6:4 instructs us that the Resurrection distinctively was the excellent work of God the Father. Moreover, careful attention to Paul’s full statement here suggests additional truth that deserves careful consideration. Paul argues, “Therefore we are buried with him in baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Those who baptize believers often use this passage when they baptize them, but very often, the truth expressed by the words, “by the glory of the Father,” is left out in their remarks.

We should change this practice in our baptismal services and direct special attention in those services to the Resurrection as the glory of the Father. To do so would honor Him in keeping with the revelation that He has provided for us in this explicit statement about what His glory is.

In Interpretation Interpretation

Learning from the Great Commissioner

February 22, 2011

The concluding verses of the Gospel of Matthew reveal vital information concerning the Great Commissioner. Concerning Him, the final twenty verses of Matthew’s Gospel display a striking contrast that becomes clear through close attention to the flow of thought.

As is true of the other Gospels, the conclusion of Matthew includes testimony concerning the appearances of Jesus to His disciples. In these accounts, Matthew 28 features two instances of people worshiping Jesus. First, we read that Jesus met and greeted two women. The women responded by coming to Him and worshiping Him (28:9). These Jewish women did so because they believed that Jesus was God. Because Matthew and the Holy Spirit chose to inform us of this event, we must keep it in mind as we further examine the flow of thought.

After five verses (28:11-15) not directly concerning the appearances, we read of a second appearance. Jesus met His disciples in the place that He had appointed them (28:16). Seeing Jesus, the disciples worshipped Him, but some doubted (28:17). Once again, Matthew presents us with testimony about those who believed that Jesus was God.

Matthew’s placing two such accounts in rapid succession suggests strong emphasis on the deity of Jesus. Intriguingly, the next verse, however, contrasts strikingly with that emphasis. Moreover, it does so through recording the statement with which Jesus as the Great Commissioner chose to preface His commissioning of the disciples. Jesus came and said to them, “All power [Gk. authority] is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (28:18). He could easily have said, “I have all authority in heaven and earth,” but He did not. Had He done so, the strong emphasis on His deity would have been continued, instructing all His disciples throughout the ages that He wants their attention directed chiefly to the authority that He had then and continues to have today as God.

Because Jesus chose not to preface His commissioning in this manner, we must conclude that He wants to emphasize to us that His God-given authority is the primary source of His authority as the Great Commissioner. Whatever else we do with the rest of the information given about the Commission, both here and elsewhere, we miss out on a key part of our discipling others concerning world evangelism and discipleship if we do not give attention to and emphasize His intermediate authority.

Moreover, this feature of Matthew 28 should serve to instruct us to attend carefully to many other seminal statements concerning Jesus’ role as the Agent of God (John 5:22; 26-27; Acts 1:7-8; 2:36; 3:26; 5:31; 10:42; 13:23; 17:30-31; Rom. 15:8-9; Gal. 4:4; 1 Thess. 4:14; Titus 3:6; Heb. 5:5-6; 1 Pet. 1:21; Rev. 2:27; 3:12). When we do so, we discover that the ending of Matthew 28 is not an exceptional instance that only serves to confirm the “rule” that emphasizing the deity of Christ is what we should primarily focus on in our evangelism and discipleship. Thorough attention to the entire New Testament shows that the New Testament writers greatly emphasized the agency of Jesus. We need to learn from Matthew 28 and many other passages that the Great Commissioner Himself wants us to do likewise.

Although we are to emphasize the deity of Jesus in our evangelism and discipleship, we must not stop there. We must also emphasize His agency.

In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism, Interpretation, Missions

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