THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY OF JULY IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND FIFTEEN. A gracEmail subscriber has encountered at least two groups of Christians, each claiming to be the only true church. "What is that all about?" the subscriber asks. * * * The year 1054 is remembered in church history as the year Pope Leo IX excommunicated Patriarch Michael Cerularius of Constantinople and declared himself head of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Patriarch responded in kind and the Great Schism was under way, thereafter with East (Constantinople) and West (Rome) both … [Read more...]
THE RIGHT TRUE CHURCH
THE NINETEENTH DAY OF JULY IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND FIFTEEN. A gracEmail subscriber has encountered at least two groups of Christians who each claim to be the only true church. "What is that all about?" the subscriber asks. * * * Various Christian groups have claimed to be more true, authentic, scriptural, or historic than others, and therefore in some way superior. Different groups base their claim on different kinds of evidence. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches all say that the original apostles passed their authority to bishops … [Read more...]
Family Notes
THE ELEVENTH DAY OF FEBRUARY IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND FIFTEEN CHRIST AS SIN-OFFERING A good many years ago I discovered that I was not really preaching Christ. I was preaching only the conditions of salvation, just as though . . . the Lord’s visit to this earth [was] to set forth certain acts as conditions of justification. I was overlooking the importance of the cross upon which he bore our sins. I was not recognizing Jesus as our High Priest who offered himself for the sins of the world. I considered the cross as a means to an end, the end being the endowment of … [Read more...]
WHAT MAKES A CHURCH OF GOD?
I had barely begun reading First Corinthians recently when a particular phrase caught my attention. Paul identifies his addressees as "the church of God which is at Corinth" (1 Cor. 1:2). The Greek text behind this phrase uses a participle and the phrase literally means "the church of God as it exists in Corinth." God's ekklesia or assembly is not composed of local churches or congregations but of individual men and women worldwide, and these Corinthians were part of it. What makes any group of people "the church of God" as it exists where they are? What are some things that do not? This … [Read more...]
Perspectives on infant baptism
A gracEmail subscriber requests some larger perspective on the differences among Christians regarding infant baptism. In the following answer, we will distinguish between Christians holding two points of view and practicing accordingly. PEDO- Baptists baptize babies; CREDO-Baptists baptize only professing believers. * * * In the Book of Acts, Luke tells how the Holy Spirit empowered the gospel proclamation to produce the original generation of Christians throughout the Mediterranean world. Sometimes Luke says that converts believed (Acts 16:33-34), were baptized (Acts 16:15) and … [Read more...]
churches’ actions show real beliefs (2 parts)
Part 1 The good news is that in 2013, autonomous congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) did what their name suggests and baptized more than 300,000 new converts by total immersion. The bad news is that the SBC baptismal tally during 2013 is down more than 100,000 from the number reported in 2009. The decline represents a 26% drop in yearly baptisms, and the lowest number of baptisms reported by Southern Baptists for any year since 1948. Moved, no doubt, by sheer embarrassment as well as by genuine concern, the Baptists did what good American Protestants do … [Read more...]
TIMES WHITE-HOT WITH PROPHETIC MEANING
When one comes to view human history as God views it, that person understands very well why our times fairly bristle with excitement. The mere mention of the ancient prophetic writings--their secrets long judiciously hidden, leaves us white-hot with apocalyptic expectation, eager to experience all that God has prepared for his People. That is not surprising considering the facts. Joined to Jesus, we are part of God's unfolding story of divine reclamation and redemption. The story includes his rescue of us as individuals, to be sure, but it also encompasses very much more--the fulfillment of … [Read more...]
CHARISMATIC ‘PURITANS’
California fundamentalist pastor John MacArthur recently sponsored an anti-charismatic conference. His promotion of the event included MacArthur's blanket condemnation of Pentecostals and charismatics in general. Not only are charismatics the fastest-growing element in the global Church, they (and their sympathizers) are some of the most highly-respected evangelical pastors, teachers and other leaders today-- including Gordon Fee, John Piper, Francis Chan, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Wayne Grudem, and Donald A. Carson. But we are very close to the scene. How, we might ask, would the 17th … [Read more...]
THE OLD PATHS
A brother in Singapore hears some persons urge that we should "follow the old paths" and resist changes in the church. He asks what Scripture says that and in what context. "Is there an 'old path' for us Christians today?" * * * "Ask for the old paths and walk therein" is a quotation from the King James Version of Jeremiah 6:16. By saying that, the prophet was calling the people of Judah back from idolatry and immorality to the Law of Moses as given at Sinai. He was challenging them to return from a disregard and neglect of their relationship with God to a hearty love for him and commitment … [Read more...]
REFORMED AND NON-REFORMED
Several gracEmail subscribers have asked for some explanation of the difference between "Reformed" and "non-Reformed" theologians as mentioned in a recent piece. * * * "Reformed" sometimes means "Calvinistic" but I use it in the broader sense to refer to the general framework of understanding held by the principal reformers Luther, Calvin and Cranmer as well as Augustine long before them. It includes a belief that the human race fell in Adam and that all humans since then (except Jesus Christ) are born "sinners" with an aptitude toward sin. The Reformed view holds that Jesus actually … [Read more...]