Understanding and Owning Christian Theology

Week 2 (Aug 13): The Triune God – Why it matters

This week’s young adult Sunday School Class was recorded and can be heard here: The Triune God – Why it matters

“It is this Trinitarian confession that distinguishes the Christian religion from all pagan religions and philosophies and every cultic distortion of the Bible. No doctrine of the Christian faith is more important or more profound.” Smith, Trinity & Reality 

Beginning of our services RCC: “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”

Historical Importance to the Church: Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds

RCC Confessional Statement: “3.  We believe that God is one God, yet three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  We therefore believe in the equal ultimacy of the one and the many.”

1. There is one God (Dt. 6:4; 1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Kngs. 19:15; Is. 37:16; 44:8; Mk. 12:28-34; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Jas. 2:19). That the Bible teaches this proposition is not disputed.

2. The Father is God (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 8:6; 15:24; 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 4:6; Phil 4:20). Again, this proposition is seldom disputed.

3. The Son is God. Because this proposition is frequently denied, I give a fuller statement of evidence, but still only scratches the surface.

a. The Son is called God (Jn. 1:1; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 1:8)
b. The Son is given divine names (Jn. 1:1, 18; Acts 5:31; 1 Cor. 2:8; Jas. 2:1; Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13)
c. The Son has divine attributes:

i. Eternity (Jn. 1:2; 8:58; 17:5; Rev. 1:8, 17; 22:13)

ii. Immutability (Heb. 1:11, 12; 13:8)

iii. Omnipresence (Jn. 3:13; Mt. 18:20; 28:20)

iv. Omniscience (Mt. 11:27; Jn. 2:23-25; 21:17; Rev. 2:23)

v. Omnipotence (Jn. 5:17; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 1:8; 11:17)

d. The Son does divine works:

i. Creation (Jn. 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16-17)

ii. Salvation (Acts 4:12; 2 Tim. 1:10; Heb. 5:9)

iii. Judgment (Jn. 5:22; 2 Cor. 5:10; Mt. 25:31-32)

iv. The Son is worshipped as God (Jn. 5:22-23; 1 Cor. 1:2; Phil. 2:9-10; Heb. 1:6)

4. The Spirit is God. Those who accept the biblical evidence for the deity of the Son seldom have trouble understanding the evidence for the deity of the Spirit.

a. The Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 3:17)

b. The Spirit is given divine names (Matt. 12:28)

c. The Spirit has divine attributes (1 Cor. 2:13-14; Gal. 5:22; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:7; 9:14; 1 Jn. 5:6-7)

d. The Spirit does divine works (Jn. 6:33; 14:17, 26; 16:13; Acts 1:8; 2:17-18; 16:6; Rom. 8:26; 15:19; 1 Cor. 12:7-11).

e. The Spirit is worshipped as God (Mt. 12:32)

5. The Father, Son and Spirit are distinguishable persons in relationship with one another. They are not merely different names for the one God.

1. a. The Son prays to the Father (Jn. 11:41-42; Jn. 17; Mt. 26:39ff)
2. b. The Father Speaks to the Son (Jn. 12:27-28)
3. c. The Father, Son and Spirit – all three – appear together, but are clearly distinct from one another (Mt. 3:16-17)
4. d. The Father send the Son and the Spirit, and the Son send the Spirit (Jn. 3:17; 4:35; 5:30; 6:39; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7)
5. e. The Father and Son love one another (Jn. 3:35; 5:20; 10:17; 14:31; 15:9-10; 17:24)

Smith, Trinity & Reality

 Ontological & Economical

Perichoresis – Mutual Indwelling; God is by nature relational – loving/self-sacrificial

The One and the Many

The Trinity and the Three spheres of human life:

 Church

Family

State

Tags: Bible Classes, RCC, Reformation Covenant Church, Sunday School, Trinity

Christianity Today (by Tim Keller | posted 5/23/2008)

I recently received a request to comment on this article by Tim Keller.  I created a file to easily read the article here.  I very much like Keller’s perspective and I hope that it gets a wide reading.  I won’t take the time to go through it point by point. However, I do think that he presents some very compelling remarks about various forms of the gospel and how we can use these forms to help us in our own presentations of the good news. His final paragraph gives a good summary of his reason for writing:

Today there are many who doubt that there is just one gospel. That gives them the warrant to ignore the gospel of atonement and justification. There are others who don’t like to admit that there are different forms to that one gospel. That smacks too much of “contextualization,” a term they dislike. They cling to a single presentation that is often one-dimensional. Neither of these approaches is as true to the biblical material, nor as effective in actual ministry, as that which understands that the Bible presents one gospel in several forms.

I primarily want to make a few simple but important points to expand on what Keller offered:

1)    The gospel is always contemporarily good news to those to whom it is announced. To illustrate my point: To say that we in the United States of America are no longer under British rule is good news generally, but would have been even better news to Americans in the late 1700’s. Thus, it (the gospel) has its power in people’s lives when there is something new and applicable in the announcement of the news to them. It changes their situation in the world.

a.     People (the Jews and Gentile God-fearers) in the first century AD knew experientially about salvation by grace through faith. They knew that they needed a vicarious sacrificial offering to cover their sin. To be told that this is the gospel would not be such good news – because they already knew these things and felt the power of them.

b.     What they didn’t know was the means by which God would fulfill His promises throughout history to that point. To those who lived in the days following the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus – the gospel was good news because all of the biblical and prophetic expectations were met in the person of Jesus. He is the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent. He is the descendent of Abraham through whom the nations of the world would be blessed. He is the son of David who would rule forever at the right hand of God the Father. He is the Messiah, the Son of God, who would bring forth the Kingdom of God, and right the wrongs of the world. Now this was good news indeed! The coming of Jesus changed everything in their world for them.

c.      To those (pagans throughout the world) who knew nothing of salvation by grace through faith, or the promises of God, the gospel was good news because it gave to them an understanding of who the one true God is, salvation from sin and death, freedom from oppression (both human and Satanic) by living as servants of Christ, and hope for the future (both in history and eternity). The announcement of the gospel meant an entirely new way of relating to the world around them.

2)    Our presentation of the gospel today must have the same sense of relevance that it did to the Jews and to the Gentiles of the first century. It is the answer to all of the problems faced by men today.

3)    We live in a time when Christians no longer know how to speak into the world situation in such a way that people for the first time see the solution to their troubles personally and the resolution of the problems of the world. As Keller so well explained, we need to learn to articulate the good news so that it feels like good news to people.

Keller tells us that the one simple gospel can be understood in a three-point outline:

1)    That Jesus was the promised Messianic King and Son of God come to earth as a servant, in human form. (Rom. 1:3-4; Phil. 2:4ff.). I would add that Jesus came to reveal the Father (Jn. 1:14, 18).

2)    By his death and resurrection, Jesus atoned for our sin and secured our justification by grace, not by our works (1 Cor. 15:3ff.).

3)    On the cross Jesus broke the dominion of sin and evil over us (Col. 2:13-15) and at his return he will complete what he began by the renewal of the entire material creation and the resurrection of our bodies (Rom 8:18ff.). I would add that the implications of this point of the gospel extend to all of life that we live in history. Thus, in Christ, humanity will experience over time a renewal of all of life, including culture and the products of culture.

4)    I must add a fourth point: Christ is operating in the world through His Body, the Church. However imperfectly she appears, the Church is the Body of Christ, through whom the world is being transformed. There is no salvation apart from Christ or His Church.

How we articulate this good news to our world is informed by the way the New Testament communicates it: by speaking of the gospel in its various forms or manifestations to various people in various ways. Keller does a marvelous job in making clear how applicable these different expressions of the gospel are. May God, by His Spirit, enlighten us individually and corporately as the Church, to learn to present the gospel in such a way that it is truly felt to be good news to our modern world!

Tags: good news, gospel, Tim Keller

Randy Booth is the Pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, a fellow CREC member church in Nacogdoches, TX.  Last year he provided some useful resources on celebrating Lent that I thought good to pass on to my dear readers.

For family devotions he provided Lenten Meditations and Prayers – which I printed and hope to use this year.

He provides some general background to the liturgical calendar in his post: The Church Calendar

We keep track of time and seasons of the year by using calendars that provide us opportunities to observe, commemorate, and celebrate certain events or occasions. The changing seasons of the year also provide us with recurring opportunities to celebrate the Christian Faith in worship. The Christian church, following earlier Jewish tradition, has long used the seasons of the year as an opportunity for festivals and holidays, sacred time set aside to worship God as the Lord of life.

While Jewish celebration revolves around the Exodus from Egypt, the Christian Church year focuses on the life and ministry of Jesus. The sequence of festivals from Advent to Resurrection Sunday becomes an annual spiritual journey for worshippers as they kneel at the manger, listen on a hillside, walk the streets of Jerusalem, hear the roar of the mob, stand beneath the cross, and witness the resurrection! The rest of the church year provides opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the coming of Jesus and his commission to His people to be a light to the world.

The Christian calendar is organized around two major centers of Sacred Time: Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany; and Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, concluding at Pentecost. The rest of the year following Pentecost is known as Ordinary Time, from the word “ordinal,” which simply means counted time (First Sunday after Pentecost, etc.). Ordinary Time is used to focus on the various other aspects of the Faith.

And here he give some explanation of the use of colors in the historic church liturgical practice: Church Colors

Since fabrics have to be some color or the other, the historic Church has taken advantage of this fact and has used color to set the theme of worship. A consensus has developed about the use of colors in the western Church: green, purple, white, and red.

Green Green is the default color. Green is the color of vegetation, therefore it is the color of life. Green is the color for the Season of Epiphany and the Season after Pentecost. These two seasons are also called “Ordinary Time” because the Sundays have no names, just ordinal numbers.

Purple In antiquity, purple dye was very expensive, so purple came to signify wealth, power, and royalty. Therefore purple is the color for the seasons of Advent and Lent, which celebrate the coming of the King. Since as Christians we prepare for our King through reflection and repentance, purple has also become a penitential color.

White Angels announced Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8-15) and His Resurrection (Luke 24:1-8). The New Testament consistently uses white to describe angels and the risen Lord (see Matthew 17:2 and 28:3, Mark 9:3 and 16:5, John 20:12, Acts 1:10, and throughout Revelation.) In the ancient Church, people were given white robes as soon as they emerged from the waters of baptism. Therefore, white is the color for the seasons of Easter and Christmas. White is the color for funerals, since it is the color of the Resurrection, for weddings, regardless of the season.

Red Red is the color for Pentecost Sunday and for ordinations and installations, because it is the color of fire and therefore also of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:3).

In Western Christianity Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (March 9, 2011) and concludes on Holy Saturday (April 23, 2011). The six Sundays in Lent are not counted among the forty days of lent because each Sunday represents a “mini-Easter”, a celebration of Jesus’ victory over sin and death.

Our church will have an Ash Wednesday service, which I look forward to each year because the readings and songs are all based on the seven Penitential Psalms.

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Tags: Church Calendar, family worship, Lent, Randy Booth

Icon of James, the Son of Zebedee, 18th century (Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia).

I began my Lord’s Bible Class on the Epistle of James today at Church.

Lesson 1 – Introduction: James’ Call to Patience, Faith & Doing the Word

James 1

Outline of the book of James

A. 1:2-27 – Patience and faith in trials, sin & save your souls

B. 2:1-7 – Rich and “the poor man”

C. 2:8-13 – Royal law & partiality, Judged by the law of liberty

D. 2:14-26 – Justification [dikaio] & works

E. 3:1-12 – The tongue

D’ 3:13-18 – Righteousness [dikaiosune], Wisdom, & works

C’ 4:1-12 – Members at war; Judged by the Lawgiver

B’ 4:13-5:6 – Rich & “the righteous one”

A’ 5:7-21 – Patience in suffering, sin & save his soul

I. Biblical and Historical Background for the Book of James

During the ministry of Jesus we learn the following from Matthew 9-10:

“³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. ³⁶ But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (Matthew 9:35–37).

Then He appointed twelve of His disciples to be His Apostles (lit. “sent ones”) and when He had given them power to do the same works that he had been doing, He sent them out to preach the gospel (“good news”) of the kingdom (Matt. 10:1-4). Then He warned them that they would be persecuted in much the same way that He would be (Matt.10: 5-42), and told them how they should respond to the persecution they would endure from the Jews: they should not worry about what to say (v. 19), flee to other cities (v. 23), do not fear them (vv. 26-31), continue to confess Jesus before men (vv. 32-33) and be willing to die worthily for Jesus, even if persecuted by family (vv. 34-39). Thus, the harvest of souls won for Jesus would come through the ministry of the Apostles (and the Church that followed their leadership) – but it will come at the cost of great persecution. The message of the kingdom would bring division in Israel and horrific suffering and trials to the Church – just as it did for Jesus.

This was a very difficult message for the Apostles to understand and accept. When Jesus began to show the disciples that He would be suffer many things from the Jewish leaders and be killed and raised again on the third day, Peter rebuked Jesus. But Jesus responded strongly by saying that such thinking was Satanic, and of men not being mindful of the things of God (Matt. 16:21-23). When Jesus was finally betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter used violence (Satanic action) to defend Jesus, which Jesus reproached because this is not the way the kingdom would come (Matt. 26:51-53; Mk. 14:47; Lk. 22:49-51; Jn. 18:10-11, 36). The kingdom would come by dying (both Jesus and the disciples).

The disciples, correctly believing that Jesus was the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament that will rule the nations, incorrectly thought that the kingdom would be primarily a political reality and that Jesus would be a political King – rather than a suffering savior. They were caught up in the common assumptions of the Jewish culture that the primary thing they needed was to be delivered from the oppression of the Romans. They had to learn from their own experience that it was through the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom that they would see the righteousness of God transform the world. Indeed, Jesus would put all things right in the world that is contrary to the word of God – but it would happen as a result of His death and resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the empowering of the Church to be His witnesses in the world, beginning in Jerusalem and moving out into all the world (Acts 1:6-8).

Soon after this, the Church in Jerusalem began to suffer persecution. In Acts 4 we learn that Peter and John were arrested because of their preaching and healing ministry. As the Church continued to grow by the ministry of the Apostles, the persecution began to increase by repeated imprisonment and beating (Acts 5). In Acts 7 we have account of Stephan’s ministry, arrest and martyrdom at the hands of the Jews – after which came a great persecution against the Church, resulting in the scattering of the Christians everywhere, preaching the word (Acts 8:1-4). It seems most reasonable that this is the scattering referred to by James in James 1:1.

II. The Message of James

“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.”

There is much debate about who wrote the book of James. The name used in Greek by the author is “Jacob,” as with all the names in the New Testament that are translated as “James.” It is a popular legend that “James” is used because James I (of England, who had the King James Bible created) wanted to increase the fame of his name. However this is not the case. “James” is descended from the old English for Jacob, which is ultimately from an old French form for the popular Latin “iacomus” for the Latin “iacobus.” The Welsh for Jacob is “Jams,” Gaelic is “Sheamus.”

Who was James? There are three main possibilities: 1) James the son of Alphaeus (Matt. 10:3), 2) James the brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55), and 3) James the son of Zebedee (brother of John) (Matt. 4:21; 10:2). Given the historical circumstance it seems highly possible that is was James the Apostle, the son of Zebedee, the brother of John. The primary reasons for this conclusion are: a) He was one of the three “cornerstones” among the Apostles: Peter, James and John; and was with Jesus at key events (Mark 5:37; 9:2; Mark 14:33; Acts 1:13). b) Textual link between James 1:1 and Acts 8:1, 4 & 11:19 (“the dispersion”) indicates the specific context. After Stephen’s death, there was a great dispersion of many believers, but the Apostles remained. James wrote to Christians dispersed abroad. He was not writing to the Jewish exiles throughout the Roman Empire, but the Christian Church dispersed. Thus, James wrote at the about same time as Matthew, in the 30’s. c) James appears to have been an early leader in the Jerusalem church, and was killed in 44 AD by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-2), making the writing of this letter early in the life of the church. d) Since there is no mention of Jew/Gentile issues, the writing of James is likely before Paul, and the discussion of the Jerusalem Counsel (Acts 15).

The assumption of these lessons is that James, the Apostle, the brother John, the sons of Zebedee, wrote this letter to build an Apostolic foundation of Christian teaching and living for the very early church, not long after the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), probably in the 30’s AD. Given the horrific nature of persecution by the Jews (e.g. betrayal by family members, being cast out of the synagogues and the general life of society, ruined financially, violently treated, and loss of reputation for the name of Jesus), the Christians likely struggled to know how to behave themselves in this new situation. How should they respond in light of their new position in the social world of Israel and among the Jews?

James calls for wisdom and maturity, and especially the right kind of action. James addressed the kinds of frustrations, errors, temptations, and questions that would have engaged disciples of Jesus in the first few years of the life of the church. They may have been asking: Stephan was ordained to feed poor and help Apostles – now that he is dead what do we do? Maybe we should fight & be zealots, or be nice to the rulers and give them honor in our Church meetings, etc. James’ emphasis is on what they were supposed to do in such extreme times. Just as Jacob of the Old Testament (Gen. 25:19-32:32) unjustly suffered many things at the hand of unrighteous men (his brother Esau and uncle Laban), and later learned that it was with God he wrestled all his life, so too, the church (under James’/Jacob’s instruction) will also struggle with trials from God.

Because of their time with Jesus, Apostles had at least an intellectual understanding what they were to do now that He had ascended to heaven. They were to follow him, and what happened with Jesus would be repeated in them and the church. But they needed to grapple with it when it happened. What were they hoping for? A new age, where they would go forth in conquest, baptizing the nations. They expected the righteousness of God to be manifested in the world through their ministry (James 1:20). They would see their hopes fulfilled by the tremendous growth of the Church, but it would happen through persecution by the very people they always looked up to and trusted (Chief Priests, Scribes, Pharisees, etc). Jesus was gone, and the Church would have to trust the Apostles. The early believers were being told by those whom they always respected and trusted that Jesus was a hoax, a discredited false-messiah, and the disciples were lying and stole the body of Jesus; Rome is still supreme and the Jewish rulers are still in charge. They lost everything. The Jews had killed Stephan – but to their surprise, God did not avenge the church. The Jews were likely empowered in their persecution. This would be very confusing and disorienting to the new church – what should they do? Now that they are attacked, how should they respond? With Anger? Speaking in kind? The leaders of the church were tempted to write nasty speeches – and even take up the cause of zealotry and violence (Ch. 4 is not metaphorical violence). James teaches them about how to behave – how the righteousness of the kingdom of God comes. That is what James is about.

III. James 1

A. Patience and Faith in Trials 1:2-11

In 1:2 James addressed his “brothers.” This word “Brothers” is used15 times, and could be referring to Christian believers generally or congregations. It could also be a sort of theological reference to Christian brothers in conflict (e.g. Cain & Abel and Jacob & Esau; brother/brother hatred, anger and murder), which James deals with in the letter. But the repetition of the word brothers could, and most likely does, refer to the ministers/leaders/pastors; those being trained by Apostles to lead the churches. In the book of Acts we see that it is the leaders of the brothers that are initially persecuted – and then later others. The word “brother(s)” is used elsewhere in the New Testament to refer to leaders (3 Jn. 3, 5, 10), and specifically those who speak for the Lord (as prophets Rev 19:10; 22:9). James clearly focused on those who speak for the Lord in the church (i.e. leaders, ministers, teachers), with the central section of the book dealing with teachers, sins of the tongue, and the need to be wise and mature so that they can control the body (of the church) (3:1-18). James is a circular letter to the brothers/ministers (1:19) to train them to lead the church. The pastoral ministry should be a model for the church, and is therefore applicable to all. But the focus in James is on the pastors/leaders who do not know what to do to lead the people in these troubled times.

The first thing he wants the brothers to understand and do is to lead the people in counting it all joy when they fall into various trials (vv2-8).

Various Trials/Patience/Maturity (vv. 2-4) vs. Lacking wisdom à Doubting à Double-mindedness (vv. 5-8)

James begins with a shocking command that gets right to his purpose in writing: Be joyful when you encounter all kinds of trials. This joyfulness, which is the posture of faith, will give you patience as God works into your life maturity. Maturity is the goal (being “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”). At the time the new church was immature and frustrated. James’ call to joy, patience is the way to maturity in their new situation.

Anyone (pastors and members of their churches) who lacks wisdom and understanding of how to live in the midst of the trials they were going through needs merely to ask God – who will give them all the wisdom they need in abundance. But it must be the kind of asking that comes from faith in God, not from doubt. Those who doubt that God will give them wisdom to deal with their trials will receive nothing from God – and will be unstable as the waves on the sea.

In vv. 9-11 James seems to change the subject, but in reality gives us a clearer picture of the kinds of trials the church was facing. James says: “Let the lowly brother glory/boast; but rich person in his humiliation.” Rich/poor here is deeper than just money. The Jews at that time have all the riches and resources – but they are judged because they use the riches wrongly. They will pass away. Church is poor, but is blessed. This is not an abstract condemnation of the rich. Later, in Ch. 2 and Ch. 5, we will see more about this issue of wealth and poverty. There are those that want to be catered to because they are rich; or in some cases, the poor may want to cater to the rich so that they will stop the persecution. James is saying to the suffering poor: You are exalted and blessed – don’t be confused about what you see around you. Things will not always be this way.

B. Trails/Temptations and Sin 1:12-20

1:12 “Blessed is the Man who endures temptation/trial.” The word translated “temptation” is the same word used in 1:2 for “trial.” The temptation referred to is something that come from within a man (depravity of man) The desire/deception is thinking that God is not giving me good gifts – that he is not our Father. James is saying that we should not read into the situation an indication of God’s disposition toward us. God is the father of lights that give good gifts (1:5). He will not change – our situation/trials are not an indication of God’s disfavor. To doubt this makes one double-minded and unstable – and unable to lead the people of God into righteousness of God.

Something is coming and anticipated: that through the church will come the righteousness of God (which He has promised in Jesus) into the world, that God would make everything right in a sinful and wicked world. Vv. 19-20 says that righting wrongs will not come through anger (words and actions). Brothers are tempted to think that it is right to respond to the trials with angry words and actions. It is natural for to us to feel that way. Like Peter in Gethsemane; or when he reacted to Jesus’ announcement of betrayal (Matt 16). Peter thinks he is righteous and has wisdom, but Jesus said it is Satanic – not wisdom from above (James 3:15).

C. Be Doers of the Implanted Word of Truth 1:21-27

In conclusion of this section, James says: “Therefore, lay aside (various sins)…vv. 21, and receive with meekness the implanted word, for it will deliver them, save their lives (souls). Instead of quickly spoken angry works, filthiness and overflowing wickedness vv 22-25 – Leaders/ministers should be like God commanded the kings of old (Deut 25) and remain in the word – and DO IT! Ministers should be changed by it, and do what it says. Those who look into the law of Christ/gospel will be blessed (with saving his life).

Being religious is not just talk – don’t be ministers that are unrestrained in speech and with self-deceive pride become useless. Ministers: Speak carefully and act biblically/consistently with gospel – have active undefiled religion: orphans & widows (of those killed or imprisoned in the persecution) – and keep yourself unspotted from the ways of the world around you. By so doing, the leaders of the people will lead the people in the way that produces the righteousness of God.

Homework assignment: Read the handout entitled “How James [Jacob] Came to Be Written.” This will provide, in story form, a background to the message of James.

Tags: Jeff Meyers, NT - James

One of the most influential things that I have read is J. I. Packer’s Introduction to The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, which I first ready in the summer of 1984.

J.I. Packer - One of the Great and Influential Reformed Evangelicals

I was doing  ministry work in Los Angeles during the 1984 summer Olympics, when I met and stayed in the home of wonderful and scholarly gentleman – who also happened to be a strong and articulate Calvinist.  As I was ready to complete my last semester at Multnomah School of the Bible, I thought myself wise, fully informed and well able to engage and debate a mature, committed Reformed Christian (doctoral candidate in philosophy) about the errors of his theology and practice.

Fortunately for me, he was as gracious as he was persuasive. Upon leaving his office for the last time, he handed me Packer’s wonderful Introduction, and asked me to give it a careful read, which I promised to do.

I have been a committed Calvinist since then!!!

Last Sunday I saw that a man in our church was reading the Introduction and had to comment on it.  You can read it in full here!

Let me know what you think!

Tags: J.I. Packer, John Owen, Soteriology