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On June 5, 2018 By In Theology

Water, Spirit, Fire, pt. 3

In the previous essay, we saw that fire is a work of the Holy Spirit. The two are related so closely that they cannot be separated. Now we turn our attention to the Spirit’s relationship to water. Many have understood Spirit baptism to be a dry baptism, one that is of a spiritual nature only. John the Baptist does set up a contrast between himself and Jesus: John baptizes with water but Jesus will baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16).

This is interpreted to mean that Jesus will baptize with the Spirit and fire and nothing else. James Dunn maintains that the Greek baptizo [to baptize] does not specify water as the element of baptism, and that its use in relation to Spirit baptism is “obviously a metaphor.” Spirit baptism does not refer to any performed ritual. Dunn goes so far as to say that baptizo isn’t an essential description of Spirit baptism and that “other metaphors might just as well have been used.”[1] He continues:

He [John] certainly gives no indication that he thought the latter [Spirit and fire baptism] was a form of water baptism, or involved such. The assumption must be that he too took it merely as a metaphor…Water is set over against Spirit as that which distinguishes John’s baptism from the future baptism…Christ’s baptism will not be in water but in Spirit and fire.[2]

Dunn’s view is common among baptistic and charismatic Christians, whereas sacramental Christians see water baptism and Spirit baptism as two sides of the same coin. They are linked together so closely that it may be said, “Water baptism is Spirit baptism.” Scripturally, both positions have strengths and weaknesses. When mining the book of Acts, Dunn’s position appears to have the upper hand. The baptism of the Spirit sometimes occurs before water baptism or after an additional ritual, the laying on of hands. At the very least, one would not conclude that Spirit and water necessarily function together. (more…)

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On June 4, 2018 By In Theology, Worship

Filled With All The Fullness Of God

One thing theologians like (especially Reformed theologians) is precision. Our theological statements must have fine points on them so that we are not accused of drifting into heterodoxy or heresy. There are several bloggers out there who will call you to task if you don’t say things just right or if you don’t say everything there is to say about everything every time you say anything.

Then there is Paul. When he prays for the church in Ephesus, he uses imprecise language when he states his desire for them. He wants them to be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3.19). What does that mean? (more…)

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On May 29, 2018 By In Theology

Water, Spirit, Fire, pt. 2

In the introduction we saw that Matthew and Luke are the only gospels which include “fire” in John the Baptist’s narrative. If Matthew and Luke are the priestly and prophetic gospels, the inclusion of fire is of great importance. Priests are servants of the altar, working with fire every day. They were to keep the fire burning day in and day out (Leviticus 6:9, 12-13). Their primary duty was sacrificial worship, which included placing offerings into the fire (Leviticus 1:7-9). This fire may have also been used to put men to death (Leviticus 20:14, 21:9).

Prophets, too, are associated with fire. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel employ the use of fire more times than any other book of the Bible. Elijah is perhaps our greatest prophetic example, considering he and John the Baptist are closely associated in the gospels. Elijah calls fire down from heaven, once upon the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:24-40) and again upon the captains of Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:9-18). Now John prophesies a similar judgment (Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17). John functions as a new Elijah, warning unfaithful Israel of impending doom. Elijah called upon YHWH to bring fire down from heaven; John calls upon YHWH incarnate to do the same.

Fire is not always a picture of judgment, however. Fire is often a source of blessing and the presence of God himself. He appears to Moses at the burning bush and leads Israel by fire at night (Exodus 3:2; 13:21). He descends upon Mount Sinai “in fire” (Exodus 19:18; 24:17). The fire of the altar, mentioned above, was lit by God to show his glory and acceptance of worship (Leviticus 9:23-24; 2 Chronicles 7:1). (more…)

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On May 22, 2018 By In Theology

Water, Spirit, Fire, pt. 1

John the Baptist says, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Much debate surrounds the nature of this statement and what exactly it prophesies. Sacramental, baptistic, and charismatic Christians have differing interpretations when it comes to baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit.

The objective of this series of essays is to investigate the relationship between water, Spirit, and fire baptism(s). To do so we will explore the following questions: What is the purpose and meaning of baptism by John? What is the purpose of Jesus undergoing baptism by John, and does it relate to Christian baptism in any way? Does the phrase “Spirit and fire” denote one baptism, or does it speak of two? Is Spirit and fire baptism waterless, or is water a necessary element? For our introduction we will begin by reviewing preliminary data from the gospel accounts. (more…)

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On May 21, 2018 By In Culture, Men, Theology, Wisdom

Suffering Doesn’t Make You Stronger

There is an idea out there that goes something like this: “Hard times produce great men, great men produce good times, good times produce weak men, and weak men produce bad times. Repeat.” While this cycle seems to have some truth in it, this idea is based on a subtle lie.

The lie originates in the pervasive idea that suffering and hardship produces strength. The clichéd phrase that is thrown around is “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and this line has appeared in various movies (e.g. The Dark Knight and Avengers) and songs (e.g. Kelly Clarkson and Kanye West). A cliché is a culture’s catechism and our culture knows this catechism by heart. This idea is also behind much of the #Metoo movement.

The idea that suffering makes you stronger comes from Nietzsche. And just saying that should already cause us to be concerned with the idea. The specific phrase appears in his work Twilight of the Idols, but he talks about the idea in other places, like in his work Beyond Good and Evil. In that work, he says: “Independence is for the very few; it is a privilege of the strong.”[1] This statement is a foundational idea for Nietzsche: true freedom is only for the strong. The natural question that follows then is how does one become strong? Nietzsche cautions his readers that they might not be ready for this: “Something might be true while being harmful and dangerous in the highest degree.”[2] Can you really handle this, he is asking. If you think you can handle this then you need to realize that the true test of one’s spirit is how much of the truth you can endure. The thinking here is that truth is verified by experiencing some great trial or struggle. Nietzsche warns his readers: “You should not dodge one’s tests, though they may be the most dangerous game one could play…”[3] Through your greatest struggles and tests, you become strong.

This is a central idea for Nietzsche. And he is plain wrong.

Now it can seem like he is right. Last time I went through something hard I learned a lot. A key example could be an exam. I sweated my eyeballs out and I learned a lot. See Nietzsche is right, right? Nope, he’s still wrong.

The reality is that suffering and tests are not in themselves good or bad. It really depends on the person. As a teacher, I see this in my students all the time. One student takes an exam and he works really hard and he learns a lot. Good job. Another student takes the same exam and doesn’t work hard. He struggles terribly through the exam and he didn’t learn a thing. Is he stronger? Not really.  (more…)

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On May 19, 2018 By In Scribblings, Theology, Wisdom, Worship

The Impracticality of Application

Guest post by Remy Wilkins
Remy is a teacher at Geneva Academy.
His first novel Strays is available from Canon Press

I have never heard anyone say that the Bible is impractical, but I have heard people, after an in depth exegesis of a passage, ask for the practical application. Offer a class on childrearing, marriage, finance and the church members flock to it; offer a course on Leviticus, the visions of Elijah, the importance of the periphrastic participle in the writings of St. John, and you get the weird guy and the retired couple. The church tacitly views great swaths of Scripture as tertial; what good does knowing the furniture of the temple have when the children are screaming, dinner needs fixing, and the job runneth overtime? Getting out in the tall grass of the Bible is fine if you’ve got the time, but who has the time? We need our Biblical tips and techniques in easy and digestible portions. At the heart of this complaint is the idea that the Word of God isn’t clear and that it requires esoteric skills and the free time of an eremitic monk in order to understand.

(more…)

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On May 11, 2018 By In Culture, Men, Theology, Worship

A Call for Masculine Grace

I was visiting an out of town church recently and the minister was preaching on Paul’s description of how we are called to freedom by God’s grace. While the sermon proclaimed the centrality of grace in the Christian life and how it makes us free, it was missing a key component. I would describe this component as masculine grace.

I will come back to what I mean by this term but first it is important to say that we are saved by grace; it is the gift of God. We don’t bring anything to the table. The only thing required for salvation is that you are a sinner. In this sense, the bar for entering salvation is as low as it can get.

But the temptation is to think that we will stay at this low entry point: every Christian will always be the same weakling sinner he was when he started and he will never move beyond this starting point. Now it is true that we never leave the foot of the cross until we are done with this life but it is important to understand that salvation has an impact on us here and now. Another way to say this is that if a person does not really change after the point of salvation then it would be legitimate to ask if the person has really experienced salvation. Which is to say, the gospel changes people. It really does. So how does grace change people?

The only way we can answer that question is by looking to the standard of God’s character and law. This is what I mean by masculine grace. Being the good Father that He is, God doesn’t leave us where He found us, dead in our sins, but He raises us up and matures us. A key way that He works this out in our lives is by showing us more and more what He is like. As challenging as it sounds, He is the standard of righteousness and holiness that we are shooting for in our own lives. This is God’s plan. He won’t settle for anything less and neither should we.

The danger then in speaking of grace is that we can make it sound like the bar is so low that we will always stay the messy creatures that we are. But we need to be careful with this kind of teaching on grace because it can actually become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We start out as wretched sinners and that is where we will always be. But that’s just not true. God’s work is efficacious and He really has brought us out of the darkness of sin. We really are the righteousness of God. (more…)

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On May 7, 2018 By In Theology

E Pluribus Unum

The human body is a marvelous nexus of organs. While each organ has its own distinctive character and function, no organ has life independently of the other organs. There is a beautiful interdependence. Our lungs are vital to our life, supplying oxygen to our body while expelling that which we do not need. But our lungs would not be able to function without our nose, mouth, brain, blood, heart, and other organs. So it is with the heart, liver, stomach, intestines, eyes, ears, and all of the other members of our body.

The fact that we are one body doesn’t destroy the individuality of our members. Our one body needs a diversity of members in order to be one body. That is, in order for the body to function as it was created to function, each individual member is needed. (more…)

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On April 23, 2018 By In Theology

The Church of the Gospel

How vital to the gospel is the church? Is the church just an addendum to the gospel, or is it vital to the message of the gospel?

I don’t know about you, but in much of the personal evangelism training I received through my years, the church didn’t play much of a role in the presentation of the gospel. What was stressed was leading a person to make a personal decision for Christ that secured his forgiveness of sins, a right standing with God, and heaven when he died. If the church was mentioned at all it was at the end when the deal was sealed. It would probably be a good idea to attend church so that the new convert could grow in his faith. However, the connotations were that what mattered was one’s personal relationship with Jesus whether he ever became involved in the church or not. (more…)

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On April 21, 2018 By In Theology

Deep Exegesis in London

Earlier this week we had the privilege of hosting Dr Peter Leithart at Emmanuel Church in North London for a conference entitled Deep Exegesis. The videos are now online, and you can watch them below.

(Apologies for the missing ending in the first lecture, and for the slight glitches in the other three. Only a few seconds are missing from lectures 2 to 4.)

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