The Gospel Coalition

I am currently preaching a series at New City entitled “Know What You Believe.” I am using the Five Sola’s of the Protestant Reformation as my outline: sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone). I spent two weeks examining the doctrine of Scripture, showing both the origin of the Bible and the function of the Bible from 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Today, I came across this article written by my former professor John Frame on why it’s so important to believe in an inspired, inerrant, infallible Bible. This article was originally published in Synapse II (1.1, January, 1972). It was reprinted in The Presbyterian Guardian (Jan., 1979), 10-11.

Why is it so important to believe in an inspired, infallible, inerrant Bible? Be­cause of Jesus Christ.

We are not here making the usual point about the relation between Christ and Scripture. The usual point is that Christ endorsed the authority of the Old Testa­ment and endorsed in advance the author­ity of the New. That point is perfectly valid (cf. Matt. 5:17-19, John 5:45-47, 10:33-36, 14:26, 15: 26f, 16:13); but we are now making a different one, namely that unless we have a fully authoritative Scrip­ture, it is meaningless for us to confess Christ as Lord and Savior.

I. Christ the Lord
What does it mean to confess Christ as Lord? Among other things, it means con­fessing ourselves to be servants. In the Bible, the servant is one who has no claim upon the Lord God. He knows that his Lord owns (Ps. 24:1) and controls (Eph. 1:11) all things, and therefore owes no goods or services to anyone (Deut. 10:14-17) . He owes nothing—and has a right to demand everything. The servant has no claim upon God, but God has an absolute claim upon him. Absolute, that is, in three senses: (1) It is a claim that cannot be questioned. The Lord God has a right to demand unwavering, unflinching obedi­ence. God blesses Abraham because he “obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Gen. 26:5). He did not waver (Rom. 4:20), even when God commanded the sacrifice of Abraham’s son Isaac (Gen. 22:18). To waver would have been sin. (2) The claim of the Lord is absolute also in the sense that it transcends all other claims, all other loyalties. The Lord God will not tolerate competition; he demands exclusive loyalty. The servant must love the Lord with all his heart, soul and strength (Deut. 6:4; cf. Matt. 22:37). One cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:22ff) . In the New Testament, Jesus Christ de­mands—and receives—precisely this kind of loyalty from his followers (Matt. 19:16-30, 10:37, 8:19-22, Phil. 3:8). The Lord de­mands first place. (3) The claim of God is therefore also absolute in the sense that it governs all areas of life. Whatsoever we do, even eating and drinking, must be done to the glory of God (I Cor. 10:31; cf. Rom. 14:23, II Cor. 10:5, Col. 3:17). There may be no compartments in our lives where the Lord is left out, where he is forbidden to exercise his authority.

II. Christ the Savior
Even if we were not sinners, we would still have a Lord; we are called to be servants of God simply because we are his creatures. But in fact we are not only crea­tures, but also sinners. We need, not only a Lord, but also a Savior; we need not only authority, but also forgiveness for dis­obeying that authority (Rom. 3:23, I John 3:4). Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, died on the cross to save his people from their sins (Rom. 5:8) . But how can we know that this is enough? We know because God has told us. Who else could pronounce our sins to be forgiven? Who else could promise sal­vation to those who believe in Christ? The Lord, who speaks to demand obedience, also speaks to promise salvation. He who speaks the law speaks also the gospel. As Abraham (Rom. 4:19f), we are called to believe the gospel simply because it is God’s own promise. We know that be­lievers are saved because Jesus has told us they are (John 5:24) . Only the Lord can speak the word of forgiveness, that word which declares sinners to be righteous, that word which promises eternal life.

III. Christ the Author of Scripture
But where can we find such a word? Where can we find a word which makes an absolute claim upon us and makes an absolute promise of forgiveness? We must have it, or there is no hope. We must have it; else we have no knowledge of our Lord’s demand or our Savior’s forgiveness. Without such a word, truly we have no Lord, and we have no Savior.

A liberal or neo-orthodox theology can provide no such word. They know of no words in our experience which can de­mand unquestioning obedience, transcend all other claims, govern all areas of human life. They know of no words which can communicate unambiguously the “sure promise of God”. Where, then, can we go? Others suggest that God gives each of us a private, individual revelation; but those who make that suggestion differ widely on what God has in fact said. If they are all right, then God contradicts himself fre­quently. What test is there to determine when God is in fact speaking and when he is not? How do we distinguish the voice of God from the voices of devils and the imaginations of our hearts?

The God of the Bible directs his people to a book. To be sure, he does speak to some men individually—Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Paul; but he instructs his people as a whole to find his will in a book.

When God first led his people out of bondage in Egypt, he gave them a book (Ex. 24:12). It was a book which he had written himself; the words of the book were his own words (Ex. 31:18, 32:16). Indeed, he permitted Moses to help with the writing (34:27); but the authority of those written words was a divine author­ity, not a mere human authority (Deut. 4:1-8, 5:29-33, 6:4-25, Psm. 19, 119, Matt. 5:17-20, John 5:45-47). Later, others wrote books at God’s behest, completing what we know as the Old Testament; books which Jesus endorsed both in word (above, first paragraph) and in deed (for Jesus submitted himself entirely to Scrip­ture, living in such a way “that the Scrip­ture may be fulfilled”). The New Testa­ment Church turned to those books as the definitive transcript of God’s law and promise. The books of the Old Testament were “God-breathed” (II Tim. 3:16, literal translation) —that is, words actually spo­ken by God. Also, these early Christians came to recognize further writings, the writings of apostles and others, as having the same sort of divine authority as the Old Testament (II Thess. 3:14, I Cor. 14: 37, II Pet. 3:16). It is to such divine writ­ings that the believer must turn to avoid confusion (II Tim. 3, II Pet. 1:12-2:22). It is those writings which pronounce the word of supreme authority and certain for­giveness. It is those writings which utter God’s absolute claim and his sure promise, his law and his gospel. It is those writings by which he speaks to us as Lord and Savior.

Without such a word, there can be neither Lordship nor Salvation. Without such a word, we have no basis for con­fessing Christ as Lord and Savior. Lord­ship and Saviorhood, without authorita­tive Scripture, are meaningless expressions. That is why the authority of Scripture is so important. That is why we cannot say we love Christ while disowning the Bible (cf. John 14: 15, 21, 23, 15:10, I John 5:3). And that is why, when we present the gospel, we must present it as a word of authority and sure promise—a word which demands precedence over all other words, a word which will not be judged by the criteria of modern philosophy and science, but which demands the authority to judge all the thoughts of men (John 12:48-50). To present it as anything less is to detract from the very Lordship of Christ and from the greatness of his salvation. As our Lord and Savior, Christ is the author of Scripture.

My friend Ra McLaughlin writes for Third Millenium Ministries (a ministry devoted to providing seminary level education to third world countries founded by my former professor Dr. Richard Pratt). A couple years ago someone wrote in and asked Ra, “How does the ministry of the Holy Spirit differ in the Old and New Testaments? Were Old Testament believers permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit, or did the Spirit simply come upon them for special tasks? What is the significance of Pentecost? Was this when believers were indwelt by the Spirit?” Since I was recently asked these very questions, I looked up Ra’s answer and found it to be, not surprisingly, right on and well put. This was his response: 

The Holy Spirit’s ministry in the Old Testament differs from his ministry in the New Testament not so much in kind as in degree. We can think of this ministry under two major headings: salvation and gifting.

In terms of salvation, the Bible is clear that fallen man is born spiritually dead and incapable of saving faith (i.e. totally depraved). In order to be justified (which is part of the salvation process), we must have faith, and in order to have faith we must first be “regenerated” or “born again.” In regeneration, our spirits are made alive, or regenerated, only because they draw life from the Holy Spirit who indwells us (Rom. 8:9-11); our spiritual life lasts only so long as we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. As in the New Testament, salvation in the Old Testament was permanent, requiring the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Old Testament saints were saved, regenerated and justified, and they had faith. Thus, they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In this regard, the Holy Spirit’s ministry was the same in the Old Testament as it is now.

Sometimes it can be confusing to think about the Holy Spirit permanently indwelling Old Testament believers because David spoke of the possibility of God taking away his Holy Spirit (Ps. 51:11), but David was not speaking of the indwelling presence of God. Rather, he was speaking of God’s anointing him as king. David did not want God to punish him for his sin by taking away the throne of Israel, as God had previously done to Saul.

In terms of gifting, the Holy Spirit gifted people for ministry and service in the Old Testament, but he did so in ways that were very limited compared to the way he gifted people in the New Testament. Primarily, the Holy Spirit’s special gifting was limited to people such as prophets, priests and kings – especially to prophets. Consider for example that when Saul (a king) prophesied, the question arose as to whether or not he was a prophet (1 Sam. 10:10-11).

But Joel foretold a day when God’s Spirit would be poured out on all people, regardless of their office within the covenant community (Joel 2:28-29). This was precisely the passage that Peter quoted during his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:17-18) in order to state that Joel’s prophecy had been fulfilled: the Holy Spirit had begun to gift everyone in the covenant community in incredible ways, empowering them in ways that had been limited to a select few in the Old Testament. Pentecost was the moment when the Holy Spirit began to give this superior gifting to everyone.

Josh Harris shares a letter he received from a couple in his church and his response to them regarding what role a candidate’s position on abortion plays in deciding whether or not to vote for that candidate. Josh writes wisely, pastorally, winsomely, and compellingly.

You can read both letters here.

As my colleague Paul Manuel pointed out a couple days ago, New City hosted my friend Mike Wittmer (professor of Systematic Theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary) for our annual men’s retreat. Mike spoke to our men about the creation, fall, redemption storyline of the Bible and how that impacts the way we think and live here and now. It was magnificently impactful. During the question and answer session, someone asked a question about cremation. The question went something like this: “Given the fact that upon Christ’s return God will reuinte our sinless souls with a sinless body, is it wrong to cremate your body when you die?” Mike’s answer was stellar. He said that it depends on why you choose to do it. If it’s because you think that your physical body is of no value to God, then the answer would be yes, it is wrong to cremate your body. But there are other reasons why it would be fine to do so. 

I have another friend named Mike–Mike Walker. And even though I haven’t seen him since seminary, I noticed today that he wrote something a few weeks ago on his blog about cremation. He writes: 

I think there are good “arguments” for and against the practice of cremation from a Christian perspective. I worry less about whether cremation poses any obstacles for God’s power to resurrect the dead, and more about how the practice can impact our attitude toward the physicality of life in the present.

Read the rest of Mike’s sound thoughts here.

John Seel, one of my intellectual mentors, recently wrote a short article for Wedgwood Weekly on how culture changes. In his article, he examines the thesis of sociologist James Davison Hunter that culture changes in a top-down way, not a bottom-up way. John writes:

There is a debate today over the dynamics of cultural formation. One’s strategies and tactics are significantly shaped by ones understanding of these dynamics. Here are the basic contrasts:

Bottom Up vs. Top Down
Individuals vs. Institutions
Masses vs. Gatekeepers
Artifacts vs. Matrix
Conscious Choice vs. Unconscious Coercion
Information vs. Imagination

University of Virginia sociologist James Davison Hunter argues that the common view of cultural change is sociologically ill informed and consequently ineffective. Good intentions and increased activity are no substitute for an accurate understanding.

As is the case with everything John writes, this piece is both challenging and stimulating. You can read the whole thing here.

Desiring God, the ministry of John Piper, held it’s national conference this past weekend.  The theme of the conference was “The Power of Words and the Wonder of God.” The featured speakers were Sinclair Ferguson, Mark Driscoll, Bob Kauflin, Daniel Taylor, Paul Tripp, and John Piper. I’m not much of a conference goer, but if I hadn’t been away in North Carolina all week I would have gone to this one given both the topic and the speakers. So, as you can imagine, I was delighted to discover this morning that all of the sessions are online for you to watch (video). Enjoy…

Sinclair Ferguson – The Tongue, the Bridle, and the Blessing

Mark Driscoll, Sinclair Ferguson, John Piper – Friday Panel Discussion

Bob Kauflin – Words of Wonder: What Happens When We Sing?

Mark Driscoll – How Sharp the Edge: Christ, Controversy, and Cutting Words

Daniel Taylor – The Life-Shaping Power of Story: God’s and Ours

Bob Kauflin, John Piper, Daniel Taylor, Paul Tripp – Saturday Panel Discussion

Paul Tripp – War of Words: Getting to the Heart for God’s Sake

John Piper – Is There Christian Eloquence? Clear Words and the Wonder of the Cross

(HT:JT)

Dr. Ted Malloch looks at debt from the personal to the global. Debt has its place, but we now have a global culture of debt with no consideration for financial prudence, for frugality. He writes, “A culture of debt has grown up where we used instead to practice both personal and public thrift.”

Read his insightful article here.

I mentioned last month that I will be speaking at the Together for Adoption conference in Greenville, South Carolina on November 1. I’m excited about it because, not only will I have the privilege of sharing the pulpit with men that I deeply respect and admire, but I really, really believe in what T4A is all about. You can read more about T4A here.

I noticed today on their website that T4A has a note to all bloggers. It says:

If you are a blogger and would like free copies of Dr. Joel Beeke’s book, Heirs with Christ: The Puritans on Adoption, here’s your opportunity to win some.

Here are the Together for Adoption giveaway rules:

For every blog post you publish about Together for Adoption’s website resources (articles, video interviews, text interviews, sermons, and quotations page), you will receive 1 entry.  The blog post should include an explanation of why you found the resource helpful.  There is no limit to how many entries you may receive. 

If you put our green conference button in your blog’s sidebar (visible without having to scroll down) by Friday, September 26, you will receive 3 entries; by Friday, October 3, you’ll receive 2 entries; by Friday, October 10, 1 entry.  We only ask that you leave the button on your blog until November 1, 2008.

Please send me an e-mail at dan.cruver@togetherforadoption(dot)org when you post our conference button and each time you blog about T4A resources.

This contest ends Friday, October 31, 2008 at 11:59 EST.

The following will be awarded to the top 3 entry winners to be used or given away however they wish:

1st place: 7 copies of Heirs with Christ
2nd place: 5 copies
3rd place: 3 copies

A month or so ago I mentioned that back in June my good friends at Crossway publishers asked me if I would be willing to lead a guided video tour of the forthcoming (and highly anticipated) ESV Study Bible. Because of my enthusiasm for this study Bible and because many of the people involved with this project are people that I know and hold in the highest esteem I agreed to do it. In fact, I was both humbled and honored to be asked.

Last month I posted a five minute section of that video. On the ESV Study Bible site, they have now posted the full 13 minute video. This video will give you a great taste and feel for what the ESV Study Bible offers. Please inform your family and friends to pass this along so that we can get this new study Bible into the hands of as many people as possible. As I’ve said before, I have no doubt that the arrival of this study Bible will be one of God’s great gifts to his church in the 21st century. Seriously.

The Christian community was shocked last week when Christian music artist Ray Boltz (famous for songs like “Thank-you” and “Watch the Lamb”) came out of the closet at 55 years old and admitted that he was gay:

News of Boltz’s gay lifestyle has been spreading far and wide after the pro-gay Washington Blade published an exclusive feature last Friday on the Gospel singer, who only four years ago revealed to his family “the darkness and struggle” he was going through.

In the recent interview, Boltz said he denied his sexuality ever since he was a kid, and when he became a Christian in the early 1970s, he “thought that was the way to deal with this.”

“I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years,” he recalled, “and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’”

Read the rest of this sad story here.