Romans 5 and the Suffering Christian

Last night, I was reading Romans 5 with my wife when I was struck by the beautiful way in which Paul sets forth the gospel in this passage. The beauty of Romans as a whole lies in its perfect Christocentric symmetry. When we come to chapter 5, Paul has already laid out the essential problem of the human condition (the total depravity of mankind and his inability to fulfill God’s law), the remedy for our sin in the person and work of Jesus Christ (see especially Rom. 3:21-26), and the truth of justification by faith alone for both Jew and Gentile alike. Paul begins the chapter by glorying in the truth that as a result of our justification, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The second Adam, Jesus Christ, fulfilled what Adam had failed to accomplish: perfect obedience under a covenant of works. Christ’s perfect fulfillment of God’s covenant of works earned an alien righteousness for those whom the Father had given him. The second Adam , Jesus Christ, also bore the wrath of God for Adam’s offspring. Consequently, God can justly forgive unrighteous mankind on the ground of Christ’s meritorious work. Those who were once far off and dead in their trespasses and sins are now brought near by the blood of Christ. They have been justified by faith, a faith which rests in an object outside the self, namely Jesus Christ. Paul writes that as a consequence of this justification, the elect “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” He then moves on to say that more than that, God’s people rejoice in their sufferings. Why? Because, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Note the last part of this verse. What is the foundation upon which our joy in suffering rests? What can fill a cancer patient with joy unspeakable as their body decays, and their life quickly vanishes? What can move a suffering Christian to delight in God when that very God same is sovereignly placing those painful circumstances into their lives? We need to look no further than the sacred Scriptures themselves. According to Paul, its the gospel which compels a suffering Christian to rejoice in their sufferings. Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ drives a suffering Christian to his knees in adoration and worship for the blessings he has received in the gospel. Ultimately, suffering itself produces hope, a hope which is grounded in the good news of the gospel and the beautiful person of Jesus Christ. As in all other matters, we must understand suffering in light of the gospel. Otherwise, despair will bear us down and the law of God will crush us. That’s what is so sad about contemporary evangelicalism! Instead of a gospel centered perspective on the issue of suffering, preachers, authors, and self help gurus, give us principles which WE can use in an attempt to rejoice in the midst of our sufferings. If we join a small group, find an accountability partner, get involved in “ministry”, and do a host of other such things, we’ll be able to go to bed at night rejoicing in our sufferings. The problem with this unorthodox perspective is that it fails to see that the work has already been accomplished for us. Don’t get me wrong. Spiritual discipline and obedience to God’s law are essential for all Christians. Yet before we come to an understanding of God’s imperatives, we must bask in the wonderful indicative of Jesus Christ and his gospel. This provides the suffering Christian with a solid foundation upon which to rejoice in suffering. Trendy alternatives will only deceive.

"Singing with Understanding Required" from John Calvin’s Preface to the Genevan Psalter

“As for the rest, it is necessary to remember that which St. Paul hath said, the spiritual songs cannot be well sung save from the heart. But the heart requires the intelligence. And in that (says St. Augustine) lies the difference between the singing of men and that of the birds. For a linnet, a nightingale, a parrot may sing well; but it will be without understanding. But the unique gift of man is to sing knowing that which he sings. After the intelligence must follow the heart and the affection, a thing which is unable to be except if we have the hymn imprinted on our memory, in order never to cease from singing. For these reasons this present book, even for this cause, besides the rest which has been said, ought to be singular recommendation to each one who desires to enjoy himself honestly and according to God, for his own welfare and the profit of his neighbors: and so there is need of all of it being much recommended by me: seeing that it carries its value and its praise. But that the world may be so well advised, that in place of songs in part vain and frivolous, in part stupid and dull, in part foul and vile, and in consequence evil and harmful which it has used up to now, it may accustom itself hereafter to the singing of these divine and celestial hymns with the good king David. Touching the melody, it has seemed best that it be moderated in the manner we have adopted to carry the weight and majesty appropriate to the subject, and even to be proper for singing in the Church, according to that which has been said.”

Obscuring Christ and Standing at the foot of Mount Sinai: The Practical and Precarious Implications of Dispensational Theology

The more and more I understand dispensationalism, the more confounded and utterly perplexed I am at how such a system can be regarded as Biblical within Christian circles which claim to be active proponents of Sola Scriptura. One facet of dispesnational theology which I find discouraging is its refusal to understand redemptive history as a whole within the context of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Far from being a mere speculative debate between two theological systems, I’ve become convinced that dispensational theology (a recent innovation in the life of the church) robs the Christian of joy in Christ, and obscures the central teaching of the Scriptures. Why is this important? Because Jesus Himself proclaims that HE unites both the Old and New Testaments by being its central theme. Ultimately, because God refuses to be glorified apart from his Son. Let dispensationalism have its work, and the Christian will always find himself standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, eagerly attempting to please God as a result of a moralistic hermeneutic which fails to see and savor Jesus in both Old and New testaments. Consequently, the dispensationalist will instead see Bible stories, leadership principles, and a vast array of imperatives sadly disconnected from a Christocentric indicative. Jesus Christ and the apostles bodly proclaim the truth that all of Scripture, and all of redemptive history, ultimately find its meaning in the person and work of Jesus Christ for the elect. The church would be wise to heed the divine testimony and reject such false interpretations which do so little to glorify the name of Jesus. May we see a modern reformation of joyful, biblical, and Christocentric covenentalism in our churches today.

“And he said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:44-45)

The Summer Ends, I’m Back to Blogging

Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve last posted, and much has occurred since I’ve been absent from the world of blogger. I’ve been married for a few months now, and can say with confidence that marriage is truly wonderful. Angela and I have been working at our respective jobs during the course of the last few months, making just enough money to support ourselves and go to school. As always, I’ve been reading, reading, reading. Thomas Watson’s A Body of Divinity, Grahame Goldesworthy’s According to Plan, Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, etc. etc. Quite a wide variety I must say. Anyway, I’m happy to rejoin the world of blogging, and am sure that this year’s school semester will provide some good opportunities to write, rant, rejoice, and protest. Some of my classes include Theology V (Dispensationalism), Foundations and Issues in Worship, Select Works of Shakespeare, The Church’s Ministry, and Understanding Science. The thought of spending time reading the sadly reductionistic and the ever logically fallacious Charles Ryrie almost brings a tear to my eye as I write. Not really, but I do dread having to read his book Dispensationalism (which I read a few years ago), especially when I could be reading things more profitable to my own soul (perhaps Kim Riddlebarger’s A Case for Amillenialism or Michael Horton’s Covenant and Eschatalogy?) Whatever the case and despite my sarcasm, I’m confident that God will use these experiences as a time to grow even more in my understanding and appreciation of the Reformed faith. On that note, here is a portion of Goldesworthy’s According to Plan that I found highly significant in light of dispensationalism’s persistently annoying protest that, “Reformed Christians are allegorizers, while dispensationalists interpret the Bible consistently and literally.”

“The Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century saw themselves as moving away from the allegorical interpretations of the Middle Ages to recover the proper literal interpretation. What they meant by literal is very different from what is often meant in the debate today. In the foregoing discussion, I have used the terms literal and literalistic to refer to a method of interpreting the promises of the Old Testament. Thus, if God promised Abraham many descendants who would possess the land of Caanan, then that is exactly the way the ultimate fulfillment will be. If the prophets describe the day of salvation for Israel as a return of exiles to Palestine, a rebuilt temple and a restored Jerusalem, the fulfillment will be exactly that. Under these terms the promises still await fulfillment, and we have a problem of where Christ fits in since he is literally nowhere to be found in the promises. The roots of evangelical interpretation lie in the Reformation, where the words literal or natural were used in another way. The literal or natural meaning of the text was what the text intended to convey to its original readers. It was thus, a rejection of the allegorical interpretation that regarded such meaning as irrelevant. Most significantly, however, the reformers did not see the literal meaning as being exhausted until it found its fulfillment in Christ. Thus, they recognized that the literal meaning at the Old Testament level pointed to a future event with a fuller meaning. Unlike allegory, the connection between the two was a matter of revelation in the Bible itself. Also unlike allegory, the Old Testament revelation was the means of putting people of its time in touch with the later reality of Christ. In their approach to the literal meaning of the Old Testament the Reformers established typology as the basis of evangelical interpretation.” p. 69

Soli Deo Gloria my friends,
Jordan