Galatians 6:1 () 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. #Bible http://j.mp/vqHnjL
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
1 John 2:15-17 () 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the worldthe desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessionsis not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. #Bible http://j.mp/mLrc5P
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Pactum Salutis
The pactum salutis or
counsel of peace is a decree and covenantal agreement between God and the Son.
It belongs to the heavenly and intrinsic counsel of God. It is a bond between
Father and Son that is the basis for grace and surety; moreover a source of the
covenants throughout God’s decree.
It is known as the covenant of redemption as well. In considering it,
the aim is to reveal this covenant as eternal representation of the covenantal
nature of God expressed throughout the scripture by his covenants.
The pactum salutis is only between
the two ‘parties’. The two persons of Father and Son divide the covenant. The
Father gives ‘the commands and conditions, promises related…and the
confirmation of these promises by oath and sacraments;” and the Son accepts ‘
the conditions and promises…fulfillment of conditions, and his demand relative
to these confirmed promises’ (a Brakel CRS, p 251-2). This also Brakel calls an
intrinsic work (in the being and between the two parties) over an extrinsic or
transient work. I think the emphasis is important on the scriptural supports
for this decree as well. It is noted in 1 Pet 1:20 that Christ was foreordained
before creation (elsewhere as eternal mediator: Jn 14:16, Isa 42:1, Heb 13:18:
cf Bav 214. This covenant certainly fits the description there. Moreover, the
counsel of God through history is applied and illumined in the life of the Son.
He fulfills scripture and must be fulfilling those that describe his work as
everlasting and eternal [Heb 7:22, 13:20, Isa 54:10]. This covenant then is an “eternal
foundation in the counsel of God’ and as such it is a covenant between the
three persons of the divine being itself” (Bavinck, 213). We see through out scripture there is a
bond between Father and Son, LORD and Christ (Ps 22:2; Isa 53:10; Jn 6:38,
10:18, Jn 17:4: cf Bav 214). These passages show in kind how the Lord serves,
communes and is rewarded by God according to the will of the Father in Heaven.
Confessionally we affirm that WCF III.6.014 is highlighting the counsel of God
as the source for the covenantal form. It is believed that his very nature
produces covenantal form to express the Trinitarian persons of the one
substance. This covenantal form eternally expressed in the covenant between
father and son; that peace will be made and kept between the father and the son
and established for eternity, ultimately for us to be partakers in (cf Zech
6:13, WCF ch 3). Objections that the pactum salutis is not scriptural or otherwise confessional are
untenable in light of scripture and history itself. For the covenants to have
meaning they need rooting, for perdurability it is necessary they have a
foundation in eternity to rest on. These and other evidences show the
everlasting covenant to be archetypal to all the covenants we know and partake
in through and because of the counsel of peace. Barth’s argument that somehow
the righteous of remains in abstracto and his mercy and righteous remain to reconciled would be true if the
nature of the covenant of reconciliation (Barth CD 4.1). This covenant serves
as a foundation, formed before even the world was created! This covenant is the
fountain from which covenants shower forth. The bond of Father and son is
communicated as not just an agreement between; it is the life between them. Righteousness
and mercy were not the issues to be bonded; this is the being of the Godhead
producing the intrinsic work of His being and persons. Salvation it can be
argued was attained; therefore, righteousness and mercy ultimately reconciled:
God did not have to save us. What is formed is an imperishable reward for the
son and himself, namely eternal communion. From this communion we have access
to the riches of the kingdom through the God-man Jesus, because Christ must,
does uphold his bond as servant, and glorifies the father through obedience to
the preeminent covenant of covenants.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Creation and Covenant, Creature and Election
*These items are not mutually exclusive and this entry is not exhaustive of the content of each notion.*
What is is what is given to us by God of his own creative power and grace. God was not lonely, not seeking an outlet because he was bursting with creative juices. He simply extended his grace in the creative speech act of saying all things into existence.
Of existence it was apparent that man was enable to remain faithful. God could not have created himself totally in us, but made us a reflection, flawed and dependent on his illustrious grace, discipline and blessing. We find the scripture, at the beginning that we did not die instantly, as though once our parents ate all creation went back to nihilo. Rather perimeters for death were set so that sin could not be immortal (H. Bavinck quoting Irenaeus, Reformed Dogmatics, III, 200 (#343).
In an increasingly disconcerting time, the Christian needs the work and promise of the covenant all the more preached to him, in love. Against the dogmas of science, philosophy, secularism and radical Islam, the whole of the Christian Worldview is in question. It is in stark opposition to the nothing as something supposed by agnostic/pop-atheistic thinking and the diligent militantism and viol-igion of Radical Islam (Robert Webber's book "Who Gets to Narrate the World" for more). We are also then poised to love our enemy and neighbor more than ever. Let us not fall short of our obedience in and Christ, given to us freely that we may carry on in his spirit of righteousness responsibly.
That Creation is groaning is of no small coincidence, either. That christians are as if not more highly persecuted since the time of the early church, should not be a surprise. This covenant of grace also is no surprise, but a relief. It allows us to rest fully in the Lordship of the trinitarian God, gives us hope in future glory and equips us with understanding to reach the heathen, lost and weary.
Grace flows from the fountainhead of Christ. He is our great priest, mediator and sustainer. He is triumphant over sin and death alone, bestowing his riches of life everlasting from his inestimable love and mercy. We sit at a time where right doctrine, right belief, right action and self-control (over emotions) are of the utmost to our witness and testimony.
I hope this encourages you, perplexes you (but does not lead to despair) and brings understanding to you wherever you are.
Grace and Peace.
What is is what is given to us by God of his own creative power and grace. God was not lonely, not seeking an outlet because he was bursting with creative juices. He simply extended his grace in the creative speech act of saying all things into existence.
Of existence it was apparent that man was enable to remain faithful. God could not have created himself totally in us, but made us a reflection, flawed and dependent on his illustrious grace, discipline and blessing. We find the scripture, at the beginning that we did not die instantly, as though once our parents ate all creation went back to nihilo. Rather perimeters for death were set so that sin could not be immortal (H. Bavinck quoting Irenaeus, Reformed Dogmatics, III, 200 (#343).
In an increasingly disconcerting time, the Christian needs the work and promise of the covenant all the more preached to him, in love. Against the dogmas of science, philosophy, secularism and radical Islam, the whole of the Christian Worldview is in question. It is in stark opposition to the nothing as something supposed by agnostic/pop-atheistic thinking and the diligent militantism and viol-igion of Radical Islam (Robert Webber's book "Who Gets to Narrate the World" for more). We are also then poised to love our enemy and neighbor more than ever. Let us not fall short of our obedience in and Christ, given to us freely that we may carry on in his spirit of righteousness responsibly.
That Creation is groaning is of no small coincidence, either. That christians are as if not more highly persecuted since the time of the early church, should not be a surprise. This covenant of grace also is no surprise, but a relief. It allows us to rest fully in the Lordship of the trinitarian God, gives us hope in future glory and equips us with understanding to reach the heathen, lost and weary.
Grace flows from the fountainhead of Christ. He is our great priest, mediator and sustainer. He is triumphant over sin and death alone, bestowing his riches of life everlasting from his inestimable love and mercy. We sit at a time where right doctrine, right belief, right action and self-control (over emotions) are of the utmost to our witness and testimony.
I hope this encourages you, perplexes you (but does not lead to despair) and brings understanding to you wherever you are.
Grace and Peace.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Everything about love, you thought you knew, is wrong.
Love is not what we give. Love is not even from us. Love is for us, by God. "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10). The love that we experience and share is not a chemical, not a manifestation of our will, in fact if it is anything, it is strange to us do to our proclivity for evil, hate and harm. The only way to reconcile our 'dual nature', the old man, is that Christ would come to the world, by the Father's will, through the Spirit (all working equally together) to make us co-heirs of the Father's love and riches of mercy and grace.
The three together give us the co-regency of the three-ness of God. God is manifold to us through the work of each of the persons of the trinity. Not in different guises or modes; but each one fully Him.
To begin this discussion, the look we will take is surveying the Genesis and the book of John. John's rich christ-centric theology is the front runner to much of the reformed or calvinistic tradition. The original synthesis of Old and New Covenant Theology, spouting from the Christ. The love of God, an active state, not a potential for motion, energy, emotion etc. but a supremely active state of being, was the catalyst for God's creation. His own glory, I would say, so overwhelmed the cosmos that creation came from his lips as a song or poem like none of us would ever come up with. In Genesis 1 the act is began in a suspense, a pause or dramatic silence "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." The purposefulness of the image shows God's nearness and magnitude (after the void there must have been a considerable amount of water for the spirit to be hovering). We he spoke, there was no hesitation.
"And God said, “Let there be light,' and there was light". The cause and effect nature of creation cannot be painted in a more beautiful picture. From the mouth of our God came creation. His speech caused everything in reality to become what it was.
This love, prayed by Christ in his High priestly prayer, recorded by the apostle John, shows of the intimacy and cosmical scope of God's heart. " 'I made known to them your name, I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them'" (John 17:26)
The love of Christ is the love of God, because God is in Jesus and Jesus God, both having the same spirit. It is by this love and this grace that men are saved. Faith in this real love is only to 'measure' up to anything. Faith in this real love is submitting the self to the standard of the perfect man-God Jesus Christ in all his glory and terrifying awesomeness. In Christ Alone, by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, as revealed in Scripture Alone, to Glory of God Alone.
Love is not what we give. Love is not even from us. Love is for us, by God. "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10). The love that we experience and share is not a chemical, not a manifestation of our will, in fact if it is anything, it is strange to us do to our proclivity for evil, hate and harm. The only way to reconcile our 'dual nature', the old man, is that Christ would come to the world, by the Father's will, through the Spirit (all working equally together) to make us co-heirs of the Father's love and riches of mercy and grace.
The three together give us the co-regency of the three-ness of God. God is manifold to us through the work of each of the persons of the trinity. Not in different guises or modes; but each one fully Him.
To begin this discussion, the look we will take is surveying the Genesis and the book of John. John's rich christ-centric theology is the front runner to much of the reformed or calvinistic tradition. The original synthesis of Old and New Covenant Theology, spouting from the Christ. The love of God, an active state, not a potential for motion, energy, emotion etc. but a supremely active state of being, was the catalyst for God's creation. His own glory, I would say, so overwhelmed the cosmos that creation came from his lips as a song or poem like none of us would ever come up with. In Genesis 1 the act is began in a suspense, a pause or dramatic silence "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." The purposefulness of the image shows God's nearness and magnitude (after the void there must have been a considerable amount of water for the spirit to be hovering). We he spoke, there was no hesitation.
"And God said, “Let there be light,' and there was light". The cause and effect nature of creation cannot be painted in a more beautiful picture. From the mouth of our God came creation. His speech caused everything in reality to become what it was.
This love, prayed by Christ in his High priestly prayer, recorded by the apostle John, shows of the intimacy and cosmical scope of God's heart. " 'I made known to them your name, I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them'" (John 17:26)
The love of Christ is the love of God, because God is in Jesus and Jesus God, both having the same spirit. It is by this love and this grace that men are saved. Faith in this real love is only to 'measure' up to anything. Faith in this real love is submitting the self to the standard of the perfect man-God Jesus Christ in all his glory and terrifying awesomeness. In Christ Alone, by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, as revealed in Scripture Alone, to Glory of God Alone.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Thankful for an honest pastor.
I am thankful to be involved with such a loving church, and learning from a pastor who is following Christ. Often we get blindsided by the reality of the human in our heroes. Well, when we talk it's as though Christ is present over our own selves. We are there, in a manner, as we are intended to be. Fully exposed, but unashamed intellectually, spiritually, emotionally. Explaining the dense matters of marriage, relationship, commitment and 'the dance' to me must have been like explaining pre algebra to a toddler.
However, I am grateful for the love, gentleness, and patience that went into it.
This experience, commitment and accountability through Church and the pastor, is what I have dreamed it would be like and more. The honesty and love never seem far from each other and more importantly are manifest in the actions, not only the words of the pastor. It is my hope, as scholar or pastor, to reflect the same clarity of the gospel to those around through my life, to reflect the love of God through my relationships, and reflect the truth of the Lord through conversation and writing.
Thanks be to God.
However, I am grateful for the love, gentleness, and patience that went into it.
This experience, commitment and accountability through Church and the pastor, is what I have dreamed it would be like and more. The honesty and love never seem far from each other and more importantly are manifest in the actions, not only the words of the pastor. It is my hope, as scholar or pastor, to reflect the same clarity of the gospel to those around through my life, to reflect the love of God through my relationships, and reflect the truth of the Lord through conversation and writing.
Thanks be to God.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Cracked open sky, vision is blurry
Set in motion, catching glimpses
Static senses, erased viewings
One day, infinite horizons
One night, sleep in a star.
For now we remain,
Soon we will soar.
A glimpse of the invisible,
A touch of the unseen.
Experience the there between
you and me.
Hesitate. Drop into liquid.
The rippled surface, translucent
calm in motion.
Out of it, cleansing clarity of sight.
Set in motion, catching glimpses
Static senses, erased viewings
One day, infinite horizons
One night, sleep in a star.
For now we remain,
Soon we will soar.
A glimpse of the invisible,
A touch of the unseen.
Experience the there between
you and me.
Hesitate. Drop into liquid.
The rippled surface, translucent
calm in motion.
Out of it, cleansing clarity of sight.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Washing of Water, Purging by Fire
Reading Matt 3:11-13
A poem inspired by 2 Cor 10:5
In Matt 3:11-13 we are introduced to John the Baptist and coming of the Messianic Kingdom. John the Baptist taught preaches that the one after himself, the Christ, will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. The fire will be punishment for those who are unrepentant. This can be viewed as similar for those who drowned in the great flood of Noah’s time. Those who are under the fire of damnation are as such because they have not obeyed God’s commands. They have not seen their need for repentance and have been passed over and condemned to the death. Christ comes, baptizing first with the spirit. He was baptized once for all, and will give us life upon repentance of our self-seeking, enmity with God and obey his Love. His fire for us will be hot and life giving. It will be a fire of purification to be manifest from our hearts in lives of purity. Seeking an uncompromising life of truth, love and fidelity to our Great Love should be our one desire. That desire moreover, will be fulfilled for an eternity and our lives, here we will live in honesty, truth and love.
The cleansing effect of water, the purification by fire can give us a greater understanding of the inseparable nature of our being. We are composites of what we see and interact and then still something more. There is something beyond us which is unknown. However, that which is unknown, lofty and high, is but an introductory subject for the LORD of heaven who reigns, now and forever.
Christ Captivated Consciousness =
In the mind of Christ,
I will direct my thought.
In the mind of Christ,
I will see His face,
In the mind of Christ,
My place will be known.
Captive thoughts, in the mind of Christ;
Anxiety, fear and contention,
They all become but naught.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
And now for something experimental...
Gracious Lord,
Teach us, captivate our thoughts. Help us to seek after the will of the father. Give a desire for your word to your people to keep us from the devil's snare in the new year. Transform our minds to keep our focus on you, wrap us in your grace, and when we fill desolate and isolated, comfort us with tears so that we know you are present and in control.
Teach us, captivate our thoughts. Help us to seek after the will of the father. Give a desire for your word to your people to keep us from the devil's snare in the new year. Transform our minds to keep our focus on you, wrap us in your grace, and when we fill desolate and isolated, comfort us with tears so that we know you are present and in control.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Without Jesus I Suck
Check out this event for those in Jax! It should be nothing short of life changing!
www.withoutjesusisuck.com
www.withoutjesusisuck.com
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