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Posts about Prophets, Apostles, and Spiritual Gifts
The topics of prophets, Apostles, and spiritual gifts are of interest to many people. For ease of reference, this post will serve as an index of sorts, pointing inquiring individuals to some of my thoughts on spiritual gifts, and more specifically, the cessation of the miraculous gifts. What follows is a listing of the various post titles with a brief description of the contents. Are Apostles for the Church Today? Historically it has been common to acknowledge that the office of Apostle has passed from the church. However, there are more and more individuals today who are arguing for the continuation of Apostolic authority. There are at least four reasons why there are no Apostles in the church today. Prophets and Prophetic Revelation Prophets are closely tied to the office of Apostle (cf. Eph 2:20; 4:11), so this is another important discussion. It is in vogue today to redefine prophecy,…
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Three Stages of a Christian’s Sanctification
It is popular in New Testament scholarship to view sanctification only in a positional sense. It is true that much of the New Testament refers to sanctification in a positional sense, meaning our standing before God as being special and set apart. While this is undoubtedly true, there are good arguments to utilize sanctification terminology to refer to the entire process of our salvation, from the initial stages to our ultimate glorification in heaven. Thus, we can think of our sanctification as involving three distinct stages. Positional Sanctification The word is self refers to making holy, or setting something apart. Thus, we are not surprised when Hebrews 10:10 says that we have positional sanctification because of the once-for-all death of Christ. This positional sanctification is even granted to the worldly believers in Corinth (1 Cor 1:2). Thus, when we speak of sanctification, we must acknowledge that there is a positional…
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Book Review: Discontinuity to Continuity: A Survey of Dispensational & Covenantal Theologies
Typically, when there is a multiple-views book, it is a multiple-author attempt to persuade the reader to a certain theological position. These books have a needed place in the church, but it is certainly not the only way to compare different theological viewpoints. Most recently, I read a refreshing book on the multiple-views theme by a single author, Ben Merkle. I want to highlight this book as a valuable resource in the field of understanding eschatological systems because of its unique approach. Merkle’s book, Discontinuity to Continuity: A Survey of Dispensational & Covenantal Theologies (Lexham Press, 2020), is a multiple-views book by a single author (Merkle). However, rather than attempting to persuade the reader to any particular theological system, Merkle takes great pains to remain purely descriptive of the theological systems. I think he does a remarkable job in doing this, and to Merkle’s credit, he is able to describe…
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What Makes Jesus Happy?
Happiness is often thought of as the chief goal in life. Thus, many people assume that, as a perfect human, Jesus must have been a very happy individual. However, I don’t see Jesus being happy very often in Scripture. In fact, I can only identify two times in the gospels where Jesus is described as happy. One of those times is in John 11:15 where Jesus is happy that he was not there to save Lazarus, so that the disciples would see God’s power displayed through Jesus. The other time Jesus is happy is described in Luke 10:21, At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.” If we…
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7 Beliefs that Don’t Define Dispensationalism
Readers of this blog may be curious as to what makes someone a dispensationalist. Simply put, dispensationalism is a set of doctrinal beliefs that deal with hermeneutics (how to read Scripture), ecclesiology (how the church operates), and eschatology (what the end times look like). Hence, a dispensationalist holds a distinctive set of beliefs about understanding Scripture, the role and function of the church, and about the end times. I have written elsewhere about how one can define dispensationalism, but in this post I want to highlight seven fundamentally errant beliefs that are sometimes associated with dispensationalism. These are charges that are often leveled against dispensationalism in a variety of circles. I have listed them in their accusatory forms. Dispensationalism teaches multiple ways of salvation. Unfortunately, this myth is often repeated, but has no basis in reality. Some people accuse dispensationalists of believing OT saints were saved by keeping the Law…
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The Bible Says God Will Judge Sin
One of the fundamental, life altering questions people ask is, “Will God judge my sin?” But additionally, we should be asking whether God will judge the sins of others? Both questions have tremendous ramifications. Thankfully, the Bible speaks with tremendous clarity on whether or not God will judge sin. God will judge personal sin. The Bible is clear that individuals who practice sin will be judged. For example, after a large laundry list of sin in Romans 1:29-32, Paul clearly states that God will judge those who practice those things (Rom 2:2-3). Revelation 21:8 also gives a list of those who practice sins such as murder and idolatry—all who practice these things have a portion in the lake of fire. Likewise, Hebrews tells us God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous (Heb 13:4). To top it all off, Jesus himself says the one who rejects Him will be judged…
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Why Do Some People Believe in Hell?
The NY Times recently ran an article entitled, “Why Do People Believe in Hell?” The opening line states, “The idea of eternal damnation is neither biblically, philosophically nor morally justified. But for many it retains a psychological allure.” In other words, there is no reason to believe in hell except for some psychological brokenness. Later in the article, the author gives the following reason why many believe in hell: “How can we be winners, after all, if there are no losers? Where’s the joy in getting into the gated community and the private academy if it turns out that the gates are merely decorative and the academy has an inexhaustible scholarship program for the underprivileged? What success can there be that isn’t validated by another’s failure?” Needless to say, I have never met anyone who believed in hell because they wanted to see losers in life in order to contrast…
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An Important Primer on Dispensationalism
Concerning dispensationalism, I have tried to set the record straight by blogging on Beliefs that DON’T Define Dispensationalism and beliefs which all dispensationalists hold to. In keeping with that theme, (and because I know it may be of interest to some), I want to write a brief review of a primer on dispensationalism by Dr. Mike Vlach, entitled Dispensationalism: Essential Beliefs and Common Myths. I have really enjoyed this work, and it was just updated this past March (the previous edition is dated 2008). The updated version includes some additional material, including a significant discussion on the differences between dispensationalism and covenant theology (Chapter 5). What follows is a brief review, and I hope it will be helpful. The biggest complement that I can give the book is that it is easy to read. Both times I read it (2012 and 2017) I read it through in one sitting. It…
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Book Review: Sons in the Son
This month I had the opportunity to read Sons in the Son: The Riches and Reach of Adoption in Christ, by David B. Garner. I was first interested in the book because it covers a topic that I have not read much on, and it is a topic that is rarely addressed in depth—our adoption in Christ. About the Author David Garner got his ThM at DTS and his PhD at Westminster. He is now the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster, and is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). One thing I really appreciate about Garner is his obvious desire to wed good scholarly work with the needs of the Church. He has accomplished this union in the welcome resource, Sons in the Son. Layout of the Book The first thing of note is that for a book on one topic (adoption), the book…