Sound of Grace, Issue 189, July-August 2012

7/30/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 189, July-August 2012

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Ephesians 4:1, we read, I therefore, a prisoner for the

Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to

which you have been called (my italics). Notice the there-

fore; Paul is saying, based upon the gospel theology I have

laid out, therefore live this way. In Ephesians 5:18, the

Holy Spirit through Paul commands the Ephesians to be

filled with the Spirit. He then unpacks that command with

five activities: speaking, singing, making music, giving

thanks, and submitting. Part of being filled with the Spirit

then is submitting to divinely ordered relationships.1 Hear

the words of Ephesians 5:22-33:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the

1 Peter T. OBrien, The Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 1999), 398-99.

The Old Testament Scriptures set forth Moses, Aaron (and Melchizedek)1

and David as types of Christ in his work as Prophet, Priest and King. In each

case, the New Testament Scriptures demonstrate exactly how Christ fulfills all

three of these offices.

One, Christ is that Prophet who fulfills the promise God made to Moses in

Deuteronomy 18:15. The LORD your God will raise up for youa prophet like

me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.2

Two, Christ is the Priest after the order of Melchizedekas promised in

1 Both Aaron and Melchizedek are types of Christ. We will note the essential differ-ence between the two later in this series when we consider Christ as our Priest.

2 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the NIV.

I s s u e 1 8 9 J u l y - A u g u s t 2 01 2

It is good fo r the heart to be stre ngthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

Christ, Our New Covenant Prophet,

Priest and King

Introduction

John G. Reisinger

In this series of articles, I have been saying that cruci-

form love is essentially a commitment of the will to give

of self for the good of another. Cruciform love is cross-

shaped love. First John 3:16 says, By this we know love,

that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down

our lives for the brothers (ESV). Love is defined by the

cross of Christ. Neighbor-love is taught throughout the

New Testament. For those of us who are married, our near-

est neighbor is obviously our spouse. If you are married,

you are a walking, talking sermon. Through your marriage,

you are constantly preaching a gospel; the question is

whether or not these sermons are biblical.

The book of Ephesians is easily outlined. Chapters 1-3

describe the creation of the new humanity while chap-

ters 4-6 describe the conduct of the new humanity. So in

Cruciform Love VII: Ephesians 5:22-33, Part 1

A. Blake White

ReisingerContinued on page 2

WhiteContinued on page 12

In This Issue

Christ, Our New CovenantProphet, Priest and KingIntroduction

J ohn G. Reisinger

1

Cruciform Love VII:Ephesians 5:22-33, Part 1

A. Blake White1

Postmodernism andChristianity, Enemies? Part 3,The Heart of the Matter

Steve West

3

Identity, Responsibility, andDestiny: The Implications ofthe New Covenant for theChristian Walk

Dr. J . David Gilliland

5

Rewards

J ohn G. Reisinger17


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Page 2 July - August 2012 Issue 189

Sound of Grace is a publication of SovereignGrace New Covenant Ministries, a tax exempt501(c)3 corporation. Contributions to Soundof Grace are deductible under section 170 ofthe Code.

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ReisingerContinued from page 1


Psalm 110:4. The LORD has sworn

and will not change his mind: You

are a priest forever, in the order of

Melchizedek. Christ is also the high

priest who replaces Aaron and the Le-

vitical priesthood.

Three, Christ is Davids greater

Son who established the everlast-

ing kingdom promised to David and

now sits on the throne in fulfillment

of the Davidic covenant made in 2

Samuel 7:12, 13. When your days

are over and you rest with your fa-

thers, I will raise up your offspring

to succeed you, who will come from

your own body, andI will establish

his kingdom. He is the one who will

build a house for my Name, and I willestablish the throne of his kingdom

forever.

Commentators and preachers of all

persuasions have set forth these truths

concerning the three offices of Christ.

The Westminster Larger Catechism is

typical.

Question 42: Why was our Media-

tor called Christ?

Answer: Our Mediator was called

Christ, because he was anointed with

the Holy Ghost above measure; and

so set apart, and fully furnished with

all authority and ability, to execute the

offices of prophet, priest, and king of

his church, in the estate both of his

humiliation and exaltation.

The Catechism then proceeds to

clearly explain the three offices of

Prophet, Priest, and King.

Question 43: How does Christ ex-

ecute the office of a prophet?

Answer: Christ executes the of-

fice of a prophet, in revealing to his

church, in all ages, by his Spirit and

Word, in divers ways of administra-

tion, the whole will of God, in all

things concerning their edification and

salvation.


ecute the office of a priest?

Answer: Christ executes the office

of a priest, in his once offering himself

a sacrifice without spot to God to pay

for the sins of his people, and in mak-

ing continual intercession for them.


ecute the office of king?

Answer: Christ executes the office

of a king, in calling out of the world apeople to himself

The New Testament Scriptures

clearly show that: 1) Christ is the true

andfinal Prophet who replaces Moses;

2) Christ is the true and successful

Priest who replaces the Aaronic priest-

hood; 3) Christ is the true and ever-

lasting King who fulfills the covenant

promise to David. We will look at the

passages setting forth these truths.

The men who held these three

offices under the old covenant con-

trolled, in one way or another, the

entire life, worship and morality of

the theocratic nation of Israel, the old

covenant people of God. Christ, as

the new covenant Prophet, Priest and

King, controls the entire life, worship

and morality of the church, the new

covenant people of God.

The Holy Spirit, in the New Testa-

ment Scriptures, used powerful objectlessons to show, in each case, how

Christ is the fulfillment of all three of

these types.

1) The Mount of Transfiguration

(Matt. 17:1-6) is the object lesson that

shows the new Prophet has replaced

Moses as prophet and lawgiver. The

new Prophet also replaced all of

the old covenant prophets as Gods

spokespersons. The message from

heaven saying, Listen to my Son isthe Father showing the change from

the old authority to the new andfinal

authority. This is the same message

proclaimed in the book of Hebrews

(1:1-3). Christ is the last andfinal

prophet. He has given us the full and

final message of God. God has said all

he has to say in his Son.

2) The rending of the veil of the


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Issue 189 July - August 2012 Page 3

WestContinued o n page 8

possibly irreconcilable differences istheir joint practice of the hermeneutics

of suspicion, the deliberate attempt

to expose the self-deceptions involved

in hiding our actual operative mo-

tives from ourselves, individually or

collectively, in order not to notice

how and how much our behavior and

our beliefs are shaped by values we

profess to disown (p. 13; emphasis in

original). This is an extremely impor-

tant idea, and postmodernism is virtu-

ally unintelligible without it.

Why do postmoderns reject claims

to objectivity with such a passion? It

is not simply because such objectiv-

ity is illusory. It is not simply because

autonomous humans have failed in

their quest to secure absolute knowl-

edge. It is because what motivates

people to lay claim to absolute truth is

not the result of intellectual objectiv-

ity, but the force of personal biases,

pride, and desire for control. This iswhy postmodernity cannot stand for

meta-narratives (i.e., overarching

stories which explain all other stories).

All such meta-narratives, according

to postmodernism, are totalitarian and

authoritarian, not because they are

true, but because the subjective person

who believes it is motivated by a will

which desires totalitarian, authoritar-

ian power.

As Westphal describes the role ofthe hermeneutics of suspicion, the

reader of human beings has to read

between the lines. The reader knows

that people as individuals often act for

motives other than what they profess.

More than that, the reader knows that

people so deeply deceive themselves

that they dont even understand their

true motivations: it is not that they lie

to others, it is that they lie to them-

In my previous two articles onthis topic I drew attention to some

points of agreement and disagreement

between Christianity and postmodern-

ism. One important point of agree-

ment between the two is that the En-

lightenment quest for the discovery of

all truth by autonomous human agents

is a dismal failure. Postmodernism is

quite apt at pricking the pretensions of

those making objective truth claims

and Enlightenment epistemology is a

tremendous field of such intellectualpretensions and hubris. Consequently,

when postmodernity makes the case

that all human thinking and objec-

tive knowledge is really situated,

relative, and subjective, the Christian

must agree. But the Christian does not

agree in total; the Christian agrees that

if people are autonomous, then their

claims to objectively knowing truth

must be false.

In this article I want to exploreanother connection between postmod-

ernism and Christianity, which has

been very stimulatingly presented in

Merold Westphals bookSuspicion &

Faith: The Religious Uses of Mod-

ern Atheism.1 Westphal contends that

Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud share in

common a hermeneutics of suspicion.

(Marx and Freud are not postmodern-

ists, and it would be anachronistic

to describe Nietzsche in fully-orbed

postmodern categories. But the idea of

suspicion as a tool for interpretation

is very ingrained in the postmodern

ethos.) Westphal explains that for

Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud: What

unites them in spite of important and

1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993)

Rather than piling up a large number of

footnotes using Ibid I will place page

numbers in parentheses in the text when

referring to this book.

selves. In fact, many times people aremotivated by the very attitudes which

they consciously reject and abhor.

Sigmund Freuds construct of the

id, ego, and superego revolve around

unconscious forces determining our

thoughts, rationalizations, actions, and

psychological problems. He formulat-

ed his theory of psychoanalysis on the

framework of desires being repressed

into the subconscious, where they

were not allowed to be entertained bythe conscious mind, but they neverthe-

less influenced all behavior. The rea-

son Freud thought interpreting dreams

was so important was because dreams

expressed our wishes that were hid-

den in the subconscious (although

the dreams were encoded in symbols

which had to be properly interpreted)

(p. 45-50). At the level of ego and

conscious thought, a person could

claim they didx for reasony, although

the truth was that they didx for reasonz, a reason they would never accept as

the motivation for their own behavior.

Nietzsche, among other things, ar-

gued that everything is will to power.

If you look at the universe, everything

is exerting what force it has. People,

according to Nietzsche, are also noth-

ing more than will to power. Every

person wants to express their force to

its maximal extent, and every person

seeks the best way to do so. Somepeople are very, very powerful, and

could simply force others to do what

they want. These people would be

bold, strong, and unfazed by the con-

cerns of others. They, in Nietzsches

vocabulary, would be masters. Others,

those who are weaker, would inevita-

bly be slaves. But the slaves want to

exercise their will to power as much

Christianity and Postmodernism: Part 3

The Heart of the Matter

Steve West


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Commandments, cannot be changed

in any way, even by the Son of God

himself. Moses ministry as lawgiver

over the conscience is just as much in

effect for a Christian today as it was

for an Israelite under the old covenant.

Those who hold this theology would

never think of sending a believer backunder the old covenant to have Aaron

offer a lamb for them, and yet those

same people insist that we must send

believers back to Moses to learn mo-

rality and ethics. We must treat Mo-

ses as the full andfinal lawgiver and

Christ as merely the true interpreter

of Moses. It is our belief that Christ

fulfills all three offices, Prophet, Priest

and King in this dispensation and in

the church. We believe Christ replaces

Moses as Lawgiver in exactly thesame sense that he replaces Aaron as

Priest. We also believe that Christ is

presently seated on Davids promised

throne as King of Kings and Lord of

Lords.

Several things are essential in this

discussion in helping us with the knot-

ty question of continuity/discontinu-

ity. The ministries of all three offices,

prophet, priest and king, were tied up

with the old covenant. Moses was themediator of the old covenant that es-

tablished Israel as the special nation of

Gods uniquely chosen people. Aaron

was the high priest who administrated

the whole system of sacrificial offer-

ings. David was the king given the

special kingdom prophecy that one of

his sons would sit on his throne in an

eternal kingdom. The New Testament

Scriptures showing the fulfillment of

the three offices prophesied in Old

Testament Scriptures clearly demon-

strate the failure and end of the old

covenant and all it brought into being.

A totally new covenant has fulfilled

the promises of the old covenant and

completely replaced it. The church

has a new Prophet, a new Priest, and a

not three codes of law where two are done

away with in Christ and one, the moral, is

retained with no changes.


Temple from top to bottom at the mo-

ment of Christs death (Matt. 27:50-

51) is the object lesson showing that

the new Priest has replaced Aaron and

fulfilled the Melchizedek prophecy.

Again, this message is explicit in

Hebrews (9:1-10; 10:19-22). The mes-sage that we may now come boldly to

the throne of grace by the new and liv-

ing way now opened through Christs

work on the cross(Heb. 10:19, 20)

could never have been preached as

long as the Levitical priesthood was in

effect and the veil in the temple was

hanging in place.

3) The gift of tongues on the Day

of Pentecost(Acts 2:1- 36) is the

object lesson showing that the resur-rection and ascension of Christ to sit

on the throne of David has established

the kingdom promised to David and

prophesied in both Joel 2 and 2 Sam-

uel 7. The message is bow in repen-

tance, faith and assurance before the

newly crowned Lord (Phil. 2:5-8), or

as the Psalmist said, Kiss the Son

(Psalm 2:12).

Dispensationalism clearly sees

the ministry of Moses as prophetand Aaron as priest as clear pictures

foreshadowing the work of Christ

in behalf of the church. Some of the

most heart warming and Christ exalt-

ing teaching that I have ever heard or

read was from the ministry of men

from the Brethren Assemblies preach-

ing on the typology of the Tabernacle.

They rightly saw Christs work as

Priest on behalf of the church in ev-

erything. However, when they came

to the prophets all they could see wasIsrael and an earthly millennium.

Christs present Kingship over the

church was not to be found in any of

the Prophets. The church was a hidden

mystery until first revealed to Paul and

set forth in Ephesians. The message

of the prophets only involved a future

earthly and Jewish millennium. In this

theology, Christ is Prophet and Priest

over the church but not a present King

over the church. He is only a coming

King over a future redeemed Israel

and not a present King over a pres-

ent redeemed church made up of both

saved Jews and Gentiles. Some of my

Dispensational brethren insist that

Christ is Lord over the church and

King over Israel. His kingly rule waspostponed until a future date.

Covenant Theologians see Christ

as Davids son already established

on Davids throne in heaven. He is

presently King just as much as he is

Prophet and Priest. They also have no

trouble seeing Aaron being replaced as

High Priest by the Lord Jesus. How-

ever, they will not allow Christ to be a

Lawgiver who replaces Moses as law-

giver. They will acknowledge Christ isthe Prophet promised in Deuteronomy

18:15, but insist his prophetic work

was to merely give the true interpreta-

tion of the Law that God gave to Mo-

ses. Our Lord does not change in any

way any moral law given by Moses

nor does he add any new laws to those

given through Moses. In other words,

our Lord is the last and greatest ex-

egete, or interpreter, of the Law given

to Moses, but he is only an interpreter,

he is not a lawgiver in his own right.He gives no new moral laws or in any

way changes those laws Moses taught.

Christ is the last and greatest exegete

of Moses but Moses is the full and

final lawgiver! Christ does not replace

Moses as lawgiver in the same sense

that he replaces Aaron as priest. We

will expand on this when we cover

Christ as Prophet.3

In Covenant Theology, the so-

called moral law,4 meaning the Ten

3 For a detailed defense of this position,

seeIn Defense of the Decalogue, by Dr.

Richard Barcellos. For a detailed criti-

cism of Barcellos book, seeIn Defense

of Jesus, the New Lawgiver, by John G.

Reisinger.

4 I use the words so calledbecause

nowhere does Scripture teach the law can

be divided into three codes of law. There

are laws that are civil, laws that are moral

and laws that are ceremonial but there are ReisingerContinued on page 6


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cation of what Christ and his apostles

command us to do, it is difficult for

the consistent classic covenant theolo-

gian to allow them to mean anything

more than they would have under

the judicial framework of the Mosaic

Law. Note here, that when I use the

term classic covenant theology I

am referring to the One Covenant of

GraceTwo Dispensations model as

used in the Westminster Confession ofFaith.

And furthermore, I can hon-

estly say, speaking of the evangelical

church in America in generaleven

many sovereign grace churchesthat

most of us, most of the time, will

not readily embrace what I am go-

ing to present. For when we rightly

understand the nature and extent of

the responsibility we have to reflect in

our actions the reality of Christs re-demptive work in our hearts, is it any

wonder that our natural inclination

(whether perceived as such or not)

might be to put ourselves back under

an exhaustive legal code? We must

face the fact that we are not simply

dealing with a theological problem,

but a hamartological problem. We are

not entirely unlike Israel, who when

faced with the reality of living in light

of Gods deliverance clamored to re-

turn to the bondage of Egypt.

For some that are recently new

to the theological discussions on the

New Covenant, you may be asking

why these distinctions are really so

important. For many, your heroes in

the faith have been or are classic cov-

enant theologians: John Calvin, John

Owen, many of the Puritan authors,

and more recently men like JohnGilliland Continued on page 7

Identity, Responsibility, and Destiny:

The Implications of the New Covenant

for the Christian Walk

J. David Gilliland, M.D.Presented at the Providence Theologi-

cal Seminary Doctrinal Conference

2009

Generally speaking, this message

will fall to the side of discontinuity

with respect to the Old and New Tes-

taments. At the 2011 PTS doctrinal

conference I gave a message entitled,

New Covenant Theology: Is There

Still a Role for the Imperatives?

(Published in Sound of Grace, Issues

183 and 184)that I would place to the

side of continuity. So let me suggest

that at some point these two presenta-

tions be considered as a unit.

I want to paint with a very wide

brush the practical significance of the

priorities of the New Covenant. In do-

ing so I am going to make some rather

stark and extreme contrasts between

the Christian walk under the rubric

of the Old Covenant and the New

Covenant perspective. And it is worth

pointing out that for some there may

not be sufficient context for what I am

going to write, as it necessitates some

familiarity with the full-fledged legal

approach.

My main thesis is this: as regard-

ing the Mosaic Law as a covenantal

construct or taken as a whole, the

fundamental issue is not the righteous-

ness of the law (for Paul says that it isholy, just, and good), but rather, that

in the light of the commandments of

our Lord and his apostlesif we let

the New Testament speak for itself

it is simply insufficient. Why do I

make that qualification regarding the

hermeneutical approach to the New

Testament? All Christian theologians

will extol the value of Christs salvivic

work, but when it comes to the appli-

Murray, R.C. Sproul, and J.I. Packer

to name a few. But it is important to

remember, and thankfully so, that God

gives his people grace, mercy, and

biblical understanding, in spite of our

theological errors and inconsistencies.

I would argue further that what is so

commendable in their writings and

lives, is so commendable because they

actually do conform to New Covenant

priorities rather than the logical consequences of classic covenant theology.

In other words, praise God for their

logical inconsistencies!

Take for example, Jonathan Ed-

wards. As I have argued elsewhere,

his answer to the advocates of the

Half-Way Covenant was far more

consistent with believers church

presuppositions than the classic cov-

enant model. Let me suggest that you

read John Calvins treatise on TheChristian Life and see if it does not

fit the framework of New Covenant

Theology better than the classic cov-

enant model. In fact, let me begin

with a quotation by John Calvin. Now,

I know what you are thinking: this

man must be out of his mindhe is

quoting John Calvin at a Baptist con-

ference on New Covenant Theology.

It gets worse; we are actually going

to use Calvin as one of our primary

guides in considering this matter.Calvin wrote, You will do the thing

of greatest value, if with all your zeal

and ability you devote yourself to

godliness(pietasor piety). Godli-

ness is the beginning, middle, and

end of Christian living for once we

have attained it, God requires no more

of us.


6/20



permanent? This text is not talking

about sanctification but justification. It

is not describing our day to day state

but our eternal standing before God

in Christ. Every Christian can say,

Many, even possibly most, things

are in theprocess of becoming new,

but no Christian can say, all thingswithout exception have once and for

all become new. That would be tan-

tamount to saying, I have become a

sinless, perfect person.

The book of Hebrews is the com-

mentary on 2 Corinthians 5:17. If a

man is in Christ, he has been cru-

cified with Christ, dead, buried and

raised with Christ, and at this very

moment is seated in heavenly places

in Christ Jesus. He is part of two dif-ferent creations at the same time. He

is part of a physical creation and also

part of a spiritual creation. To be in

Christ is to be a part of the new cre-

ation, or the new man mentioned

in Ephesians 2:15. The new creation

is the church viewed as the body of

Christ that was created on the day

of Pentecost. To be in Christ is to

be under grace and baptized into the

body of Christ. It is to be under the

new covenant or in the new creation.In the new creation, everything is to-

tally, radically and permanently new.

John MacArthur has stated it clearly:

BETTER EVERYTHING:

In this epistle [Hebrews], contrasts

reigns. Everything is presented as bet-

ter: a better hope, a better testament,

a better promise, a better sacrifice,

a better substance, a better country,

a better resurrection, a better every-

thing. Jesus Christ is presented here

as the supreme Best. And we are pre-

sented as being in him and as dwelling

in a completely new dimension the

heavenlies. We read of the heavenly

Christ, the heavenly calling, the heav-

enly gift, the heavenly country, the

heavenly Jerusalem, and our names

being written in the heavenlies. Every-

thing is new. Everything is better. We

new King.

This truth is set forth in a much

misunderstood text.

Therefore if any be in Christ, he is

a new creature: old things have passed

away; and behold all things have be-

come new. 2 Cor 5:17 KJV

The NIV is a far better translation.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation; the old has gone,

the new has come!52 Cor 5:17 NIV.

Paul is not saying, If a person

becomes a Christian, his whole life is

changed. His old sinful habits are all

gone and he lives a totally different

life. It is certainly true that Biblical

conversion radically changes the lifestyle of the person converted. This

truth is a major theme of the New

Testament Scriptures. However, that is

not Pauls point in this text. Paul is not

dealing with sanctification in this text;

he is dealing with the new creation

brought in by Christ through the new

covenant. The contrast is not with how

radically different lost and saved peo-

ple live, but with describing a person

being under the new covenant as op-

posed to being under the old covenant.

The apostle is contrasting the old

Adam creation with the new Christ

creation. Both the old things that have

passed away and the new things that

have become new in this text are in

aorist tense. That means that the old

things spoken of have all, with no ex-

ceptions, once for all passed away

in totality. Likewise, the things that

have become new mean all things

without exception have become,once and for all, totally new. If this

is describing the change in a Chris-

tians life, then Christians are sinless

and totally holy. Who among us can

say that every single bad thing in their

life has forever gone away and ev-

erything, without a single exception,

has become totally new, different and

5 A.W. Pink has an excellent treatment of

this text in a booklet calledPink Jewels.

dont need the old.6

It is not recorded in Scripture but

the Jews may well have taunted the

early Christians on several fronts. The

first one would have gone something

like this: You guys cannot have a

true religion since you do not have

any of the things essential to a reli-

gion. You have no prophet, no priest,

no temple, no sacrifice, no covenant

or any of the things that are an es-

sential part of a religion. The writer

to the book of Hebrews answers such

a taunt by stressing that the Christian

has everything the Jews have and in

every instance what the Christian has

is something better. The church has a

better prophet, a better priest, a bet-

ter temple, a better sacrifi

ce, a bettercovenant, etc. All things are not only

totally new under the new covenant,

they are also better than anything un-

der the old covenant. The old is totally

fulfilled and has vanished away. The

new has come and established every-

thing new and complete.

There are two very important

principles established in a correct un-

derstanding of 2 Corinthians 5:17 and

the book of Hebrews. First, everythingin the old covenant has been fulfilled

and has permanently passed away.

Everything in the new covenant is

radically, totally new and nothing will

pass away except faith will give way

to sight. However, even though every-

thing under the new covenant is new,

all of these new things were all proph-

esied in the Old Testament Scriptures

as future realities to come in Mes-

siahs reign. As we will see when we

develop the truth of Prophet, Priestand King, the new merely fulfills what

was promised in the old. Our Lord ful-

fills the expectations that grew out of

the promises that God gave in the Old

Testament Scriptures. In one sense,

the new makes no sense without the

6 The MacArthur New Testament , He-

brews, by John MacArthur, Moody Press,

Chicago, 1983, p. xix



7/20


GillilandContinued on p age 9

Gilliland Continued from page 5

Now, before we go any further let

me make one final qualification. By

merely referring to the term piety, I

know that there will be some who will

accuse me of promoting some form

of mystical pietism. Because it makes

for an all too convenient ad hominem,let me take a few moments to define

that term. Pietism is to the doctrine of

sanctification what legalism is to the

doctrine of justification and presents

itself in two main forms: (1) The de-

liberate trivialization of the God-given

responsibilities of this world orage

in an attempt to authenticate those of

the spiritual realm orthe age to come,

(2) The use of ecclesiastical trappings

or language in order to create an air

of spirituality at the expense of true

progress in the fruits of the Spirit

and biblical holinesswithout

which, the writer of Hebrews says,

no one will see the Lord. Addition-

ally, the focus of pietism is introspec-

tive and anthropocentric and asks

the question, How will my actions

and the opinion of others make me

feel about myself? True piety on the

other hand is theocentric and asks the

question, How will my actions andthe opinion of others reflect on Gods

character and His purposes? So I

trust that what I am going to say has

everything to do with biblical piety or

godliness notpietism. The all-impor-

tant question then is this, What does

biblicalpiety orgodliness look like?

For the purpose of organizing our

thoughts, I would like to consider this

thesis under 3 headings: our Identity

(who we areor more appropriatelywhos we are), our Responsibility

(what we are called to do), and what

they both say about our Destiny.

Rather than focus on a single text, I

would like to leave you with a more

panoramic view, and perhaps there

is no better place to start than the

perspective we get from the book of

Revelation.

John often emphasizes the com-

monality or essential union between

two concepts or entities by contrasting

what he is told or hears with what he

sees. In Revelation 5:4-6, John draws

our attention to the essential identity

ofwhat he is told or hears of the Mes-

siah in the Old Testamentthe Lion

of Judahandwhat he saw regard-ing Christ in the New Testament

a Lamb standing, as though it had

been slain. In Revelation 7, verses

4 and 9 he employs the same literary

device to help define the relationship

between what he hears regarding the

Old Covenant people of God, the Na-

tion of IsraelI heard the number of

the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every

tribe of the sons of Israeland what

he sees regarding the New Covenant

people of GodBehold, a great mul-titude from every nation. Finally,

in Revelation 1:10-12 he points to the

essential union between Christ and his

covenant people, the Church. In verse

10 John anticipates the Lord, I heard

behind me a loud voice like a trum-

pet, but what is the first thing that

he sees? In verse 12 he turns and sees

7 golden lampstandsa picture of

the light and witness of the Church

(Rev 1:20). When the world hears ofChrist, it turns, looks, and sees the

people of God; we are Gods wit-

nesses. What we see here is a dramatic

picture of who we areour identity

from Gods perspective.

Identity

Lets lookfirst at this concept of

identity. One of thewords used most

commonly throughout Scripture to

speak to this concept is the English

wordwitness. Of all the categoriesinvolved in this discussion, this is

the most critical. If we can, in even

a small measure, come to appreci-

ate this aspect of our identity, our

responsibilities and destiny will be so

much clearer. Unfortunately, people

with painted hair holding up John

3:16 signs at a football game, or the

abuse of a system comprised of four

spiritual laws has tainted our view of

this wordwitness. The term witness in

the Scriptures refers to that composite

picture of who we are and everything

that we do.

Furthermore, this aspect of our

identity refers not only to our role as

witnesses to the world, but to our

role as witnesses against the world.

We are not only witnesses to the real-

ity of heaven, but witnesses in the

courts of heaven as to how the world

treats us. And this judicial nature of

our witness is often missed or ignored

in the church today. Our blessings

in heaven are tied not only to the ac-

curacy of our message, but also to the

patient endurance in bearing up under

the worlds response. In the progress

of Christs kingly rule, of which weare an active and vital part, both of

these roles are crucial.

There are many privileges and

blessings that flow to us by virtue of

our obedience to his word and our

relationship with him. But the highest

expression or ultimate end of Christs

work in us is seen in our role as wit-

nesses. Now of course that begs the

question, Just what are we to be wit-

nesses to? I will answer this as wego along, but what is paramount in

this role is what John referred to in the

Book of Revelation as the name and

testimony of Jesus. It is not simply

the verbal proclamation of the gospel

message, but the very life of Jesus

lived out in his people. It is what Paul

meant when he told the Corinthians

that their lives were epistles read by

men.

The concept of the witness is a

well-defined thread that is weaved

through the fabric of progressive

revelation: from Isaiahs reference to

the covenant people of God as my

witnesses (chapters 45-48), to the

first promise made to the apostles in

expectation of Pentecostand you

will be my witnesses in Jerusalem

and to the end of the earthto one


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Page 8 July - August 2012 Issue 189WestContinued fr om page 3

as the masters. The slave cant fight

the master in a fair and open encoun-

ter, because they will be overwhelmed

and lose. What can the slaves do?

According to Nietzsche, the slaves

must change the rules of the game. If

youre going to get beat up by some-one stronger than you, you might

decide that mercy is a virtue, and

try to convince your assailant of the

truth of your claim. If you are weak,

force, power, and self-centeredness

are threatening, and as threats they are

termed vices. If you are weak, then

mercy, compassion, altruism, and love

become virtues. But make no mistake,

thunders Nietzsche, the only reason

the weak prefer these virtues overthe vices is because the virtues help

them survive. Those who are weak

claim objective moral norms, but only

because of their selfish will to power

(p. 235).

What is fascinating about Ni-

etzsche and Freud is that they both

claim (for different reasons) that hu-

man beings operate out of a set of mo-

tivations very different from what they

consciously claim about themselves.

Marx argued that the same principle

applies to government and economic

structures: whole societies operate

from different motivations than they

like to think. Those who claim they

are capitalists because it is the best

system for a nation claim to be acting

from altruistic, utilitarian motives, but

they are really operating out of crass

selfishness and material gluttony.

Arch-postmodern thinker Michel Fou-

cault relentlessly tries to show how

social structures are thin veneers for

domination, and how the competition

between such structures is a barely

disguised power struggle. What is true

of the individual is true of society:

our noble platitudes notwithstanding,

very often we are motivated by truthsthat we wish to hide, individually or

collectively.

What is the connection between

these positions and the Bible? Beyond

just stating that the human heart is

dreadfully wicked, beyond all cure

and understanding, the Scriptures

show that Gods prophets (and there-

fore God himself), and Jesus Christ

were very much practitioners of the

hermeneutics of suspicion. Westphalsays that the Old Testament prophets

were the first masters of suspicion

(p. 110). Think of Isaiah, Amos, and

Malachi. The people in Isaiahs day

are fasting, but not for Gods sake.

Amos has to tell people that God

hates their religious festivities, their

sacrifices and songs. Malachi enters

into dialogue, telling the people that

they are robbing God, which the

people find incredible to believe. Why

such a disconnect between their ac-tions and their motives? Clearly they

are doing good things, and yet God

is not pleased.

Without specifying particular ex-

amples, stop and think about the min-

istry of Jesus Christ when he was on

earth. How many times does he speak

against hypocrisy? How many times

does he point out that people believe

they are worshipping God, but they re-

ally are not? In fact, the critical cases

of self-deception are comfortably

located in religion; and not a false

religion either (it was, after all, Gods

revelation and instituted covenantal

practices that the hypocrites were

following). The frightening reality is

that people thought they were doingwhat they did to please God because

they loved him, but they really loved

themselves, and hated God (which is

why they crucified God incarnate).

So when postmodernism accuses

meta-narratives of being totalitarian

and authoritarian, we must concur that

this is indeed often true. When post-

moderns reject objectivity as impos-

sible for autonomous human beings

we must agree wholeheartedly. Andwhen they are suspicious of our mo-

tives, and point out that people hide

their true motivation under cloaks of

piety, we must agree. We must agree

humbly and search our own hearts

(for only self-contented Pharisees

have no fear of their own hearts). But

we must also be faithful to point out

that the Bible, long, long before our

postmodern philosophies and insights,

provides a more subtle, blistering, and

far-reaching critique of the suspi-cious motives of the human heart than

postmodernism ever has or will. In

fact, we should thank postmoderns

for following on the work of Marx,

Nietzsche, and Freud, and destroying

Enlightenment pretensions that claim

objective neutrality, as if our intel-

lects were not in any way affected by

our fallen hearts and wills. Besides

WestContinued on page 18

Abide in Him: A Theological Interpretat ion of John's Firs t Letter

A. Blake White

J ohn G. Reisinger says, If I were to pick one section of this commentary that gives the heartbeatof both the commentary and of New Covenant Theology, it would be the following:

"As should be clear by now, love for J ohn is not an emotion but is always practical and active. Loveof fellow Christians expresses itself with actions and in truth. Love and obedience go hand in hand.

J esus made this clear in the Upper Room Discourse. J ohn 14:15 says, 'If you love me, you will keepmy commandments.' In J ohn 14:21, J esus said that the one who has and keeps his command-ments is the one who loves him. J ohn is a faithful interpreter of the mind of J esus.


9/20



Gilliland Continued on page 10

of the final pictures of the ministry

of the Church symbolized in Revela-

tion 11the two witnesses. And

of course, it is not surprising that as

the covenant head of His people the

first thing predicated of the exalted

Christ in Revelation is Jesus Christ,the faithful witness (Rev 1:5). Jesus

could not have made the point any

clearer when He said to His apostles,

Is a lamp brought in to be put under

a basket, or under a bed, and not on

a stand If anyone has ears to hear,

let him hear (Mark 4:21-23). It is im-

portant to note that this last phrase

If anyone has ears to hear, let him

hearis repeated at the end of each

of the letters to the 7 Churches in Rev-

elation 2 and 3. In those chapters the

lampstands are symbolic of the light

and witness of the Church. Like Israel

of old, failure at this point draws a

strong warning: I will come to you

and remove your lampstand from its

place (Rev 2:5).

Our ResponsibilityPatient En-

durance

Although all aspects of our behav-

ior and personality relate in some wayto our effectiveness as witnesses,

the ones that stand out are patient en-

durance andself-denial orsacrifice.

In fact, the word godliness or godly

(pietas) is virtually always seen in the

context of one of these words or con-

cepts. It should not be a surprise that

something that looks like or is meant

to remind us of Christ would be as-

sociated with the concept of sacrifice.

When we look at those texts where

we are commanded or exhorted toidentify with one of Gods leaders or

Jesus himself, it is virtually always in

this context. For example, in Philip-

pians 2:5 we read, Let this mind be

in you which is also in Christ be-

ing found in human form, he humbled

himself by becoming obedient to the

point of death, even death on a cross.

In Hebrews 12:1-2 we read, since we

are surrounded by so great a cloud

of witnesses, let us also lay aside ev-

ery weight, and sin which clings so

closely, and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us, looking

to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of

our faith, who for the joy that was set

before him endured the cross, despis-

ing the shame, and is seated at theright hand of the throne of God.

In a discussion on the concept

of self-denial in his treatise On the

Christian Life, John Calvin wrote,

it has seemed proper to our divine

Master to train his people by a more

accurate method than to the rule

which is enjoined in the Law (em-

phasis mine); and the leading princi-

ple in the method is, that it is the duty

of believers to present their bodies aliving sacrifice, holy, and acceptable

unto God, which is their reasonable

service. Hence he draws the exhorta-

tion: Be not conformed to this world:

but be ye transformed by the renewing

of your mind, that ye may prove what

is that good, and acceptable, and per-

fect will of God.

For some, knowing his position on

the importance of the Mosaic Law in

the life of the believer, the fact thatthis quotation comes from John Calvin

may be surprising. Calvin here makes

a clear distinction between the focus

of the Old Covenant and that of the

New Covenant. While we emphasize

that in the New Covenant we are free

from the law, that doesnt mean that

we are simply free to do whatever we

want. We often forget that we are now

enslaved to Christ. The term Paul

most frequently applied to himself

was doulos or bondslave, and heexpressed the reality of that relation-

ship in Galatians 2:20, I have been

crucified with Christ, nevertheless I

live. And the life which I now live I

live by the faith of the Son of God,

who loved me and gave Himself for

me. We now have a higher motiva-

tion and responsibility, one that Jesus

said could not be contained by the

old wine skins of the Mosaic Law,

but one motivated by the grace and

sacrifice of Christ.

What Calvin recognizedalbeit

inconsistently in my viewwas that

the Old Covenant (the Mosaic Law)

had a stronger focus on the concepts

of justice and judgment, and the ju-

dicial framework is most conducive

to that purpose. This was necessary

in part because Moses was dealing

with a predominantly unregenerate

people, and in part because the un-

folding of Gods redemptive program

still awaited the reality that grace

and truth came through Jesus Christ

(John 1:17). The New Covenant,

however, moves us theologically from

the priority of earthly dominion to

the priorities of the Great Commis-sionpropitiation, redemption, and

reconciliation.

We can see a model of this in the

way that God worked with the Old

Testament prophets, a process that

was a harbinger of the New Covenant.

It was the process of moving them

from the perspective ofLord, How

long? or When will you judge? to

be able to pray, In wrath remember

mercy. Micah chapter 7 is a good ex-ample. In that chapter the Lord moves

Micah from an anticipation of Gods

judgmentbeginning with the phrase

Woe is meto the anticipation of

his mercy, compassion, and deliver-

ance. After a lengthy recitation of

Israels transgressions in verses 1-6,

Micah is suddenly made aware of his

own sinfulness and need for mercy,

But for me, I will look to the Lord;

I will wait for the God of my salva-

tion because I have sinned againsthim (vs. 7-9).He then concludes

in verses 18-20: Who is a God like

you, pardoning iniquity and passing

over transgression for the remnant of

his inheritance? He does not retain

his anger forever, because he delights

in steadfast love. He will again have

compassion on us; he will tread our

iniquities underfoot. You will cast all


10/20


our sins into the depths of the sea.

You will show faithfulness to Jacob

and steadfast love to Abraham, as you

have sworn to our fathers from the

days of old. Note carefully Calvins

comments on this text:

This passage teaches us thatthe glory of God principally shines

in this,that he is reconcilable, and

that he forgives our sins. God indeed

manifests his glory both by his power

and his wisdom, and by all the judg-

ments which he daily executes; his

glory, at the same time, shines forth

chiefly in this,that he is propitious

to sinners, and suffers himself to be

pacified; yea, that he not only allows

miserable sinners to be reconciled to

him, but that he also of his own will

invites and anticipates them. Hence

then it is evident, that he is the true

God. That religion then may have firm

roots in our hearts, this must be the

first thing in our faith,that God will

ever be reconciled to us; for except we

be fully persuaded as to his mercy, no

true religion will everflourish in us,

whatever pretensions we may make.

In light of these realities, we

should not be surprised at the way theapostle Paul describes himself and his

ministry. For example, in II Timothy

4:6, 7 he wrote, For I am already be-

ing poured out as a drink offering, and

the time of my departure has come. I

have fought the goodfight, I have fin-

ished the race, I have kept the faith.

And to what end was Paul willing to

be poured out? In I Timothy 1:15,16

he wrote, The saying is trustworthy

and deserving of full acceptance, thatChrist Jesus came into the world to

save sinners, of whom I am the fore-

most. But I received mercy for this

reason, that in me, as the foremost,

Jesus Christ might display his perfect

patience as an example to those who

were to believe in him for eternal

life He is saying that he is willing

to let the mercy and patient endur-

ance of Christ be lived out in his life,

not for the purpose of a false piety or

pietism, but aware that his example

would issue forth in the salvation of

Gods elect. Note that the last phrase

Paul usesan example to those who

were to believe in him for eternal

lifeis virtually identical to the one

Luke uses in Acts 13:48 to refer to the

growth of the early churchand asmany as were appointed to eternal life

believed. Is Paul not pointing to the

reality that Gods decree of the ulti-

mate salvation of his people includes

the means of his (Pauls) own suffer-

ing and witness? This negates the idea

that we are free to live as we choose

as long as it is not prohibited because

God is going to save His people any-

way. That is a most despicable form of

hyper-Calvinism.

We say that we love Gods people.

How about Gods people who are not

yet Gods people? In fact, one of the

main reasons for Yahwehs rejection

of the Nation of Israel as a covenantal

theocracy was their failure in this cru-

cial rolethe role of displaying Gods

name and glory to the nations. They

were so focused on their own agenda

that they refused the role of witness.

This was true for even some of their

prophets. When God sent Jonah toNineveh he said in effect, I have my

own agenda! These people deserve

Gods judgment! And God said in

effect, Jonah, lets go fishing for a

few days and then we will talk. And

I think the discussion went something

like, Jonah, about this witness

thing, it was not just a suggestion!

What, then, are some of the practi-

cal implications of our responsibility

to be faithful in this role? The willing-ness to sacrifice or suffer loss in order

to preserve this witness is expected

in every area of our livesfrom our

reputation (what the Roman world

referred to as dignitas), to our pos-

sessions and ultimately our lives.

For example, when Paul rebuked the

Christians at Corinth for their poor

witness he says, But brother goes to

law against brother, and that before

unbelievers. I say this to your shame!

Why not rather suffer wrong? Why

not rather be defrauded? Is this our

natural inclination? At this point is it

not easier to default back to a civil law

code that clearly defines and asserts

the rights of the victim and the precise

role and responsibilities of the civilmagistrate? However, Paul says be-

cause of your witness before unbeliev-

ers it is better to be defrauded.

In his letter to the Church at Colos-

sae Paul gives us another example:

Pray also for us, that God may open

to us a door for the word, to declare

the mystery of Christ, on account

of which I am in prisonthat I may

make it clear, which is how I ought to

speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsid-ers, making the best use of the time.

Let your speech always be gracious.

(Col. 4:3-5). In this prayer the apostle

prays for two things: (1) opportuni-

tythat God may open to us a door

for the word, and (2) claritythat

I might make it clear, which is how I

ought to speak. Perhaps what is most

striking in this passage is what Paul

does not specifically ask forprayer

on his own behalf. The phrase on

account of which I am in prison isa subordinate clause; it is not in the

main trajectory of his prayer. Truly

astounding! Paul is asking the Colos-

sians to pray to the God he knows has

created and controls all things, and he

doesnt even bother to ask Him to free

him from prison? This is not some

form of pietistic pacifism. Rather, Paul

appears simply to be pre-occupied;

more concerned with his mission

and the message of the gospel than

his personal plight. Look carefully at

the words of the apostle Paul in Acts

20:22-24, the Holy Spirit testifies to

me in every city that imprisonment

and afflictions await me. But I do not

account my life of any value nor as

precious to myself, if only I mayfin-

ish my course and the ministry that I

received from the Lord Jesus, to testify

(literally to give witnessa form of

the wordmarturia) to the gospel of



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Issue 189 July - August 2012 Page 1the grace of God.

Paul concludes with an exhortation

to pursue a lifestyle that is consistent

with this mission and message, walk

in wisdom toward outsiders, making

the best use of the time. Similarly, in

Colossians 1:10 he wrote, walk in a

manner worthy of the Lord. Why is

this so critical? Because we are His

witnesses! Of all the aspects of our

conduct or speech that Paul could

have chosen, he chose the wordgra-

cious. In this one word, you have a

fitting summary of the man, his meth-

ods, and his message. The concept of

grace goes beyond what is lawful or

justwhich is giving each man his

due. It goes beyond the concept of

mercywhich is withholding whatsomeone justly deserves. It is speak-

ing or treating them in a way that they

do not deservebecause that is the

way that God has treated us. This is

the essence of our responsibility as

Gods witnessesand the primary

focus of the New Testament and the

New Covenant. Again, I would argue

that the judicial format and the ex-

tensive legal requirements of the Old

Covenant are insufficient for this task.

The apostle Peters comments go

to the heart of the matter:

Servants, be subject to your mas-

ters with all respect, not only to the

good and gentle but also to the unjust.

19 For this is a gracious thing, when,

mindful of God, one endures sorrows

while suffering unjustly. 20 For what

credit is it if, when you sin and are

beaten for it, you endure? But if when

you do good and suffer for it you en-

dure, this is a gracious thing in the

sight of God. 21 For to this you have

been called, because Christ also suf-

fered for you, leaving you an example,

so that you might follow in his steps.

22 He committed no sin, neither was

deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he

was reviled, he did not revile in return;

when he suffered, he did not threaten,

but continued entrusting himself to

him who judges justly. 24 He himself

bore our sins in his body on the tree,

that we might die to sin and live to

righteousness. By his wounds you have

been healed (I Peter 2:18-24).

And of course, it is not surprising

that the ultimate sacrificeour own

livesbecame synonymous with that

of the wordwitness by the time we

come to the end of the first century.

For as you no doubt know, the Englishword martyr is the transliteration of

the Greek word for witnessmartu-

ria. This reality drew the exhortation

from the risen Christ to the believers

at Smyrna in Revelation 2:10, 11, Be

faithful unto death, and I will give you

the crown of life and the one who

overcomes will not be hurt by the 2nd

death.

Destiny!

Andfinally, one of the most im-

portant things about our witness

and our patient endurance is what

they say about our destiny. At the end

of the II Timothy 4 passage that we

read from earlier, Paul gives part of

the explanation for his patient endur-

ance: Henceforth there is laid up for

me the crown of righteousness, which

the Lord, the righteous judge, will

award to me on that Day, and not only

to me but also to all who have lovedhis appearing (II Tim 4:8). And fur-

thermore, this is not just a perspective

unique to the apostolic office, but, as

the author of the Book of Hebrews

records, was one of the characteristics

of the church at large in the first Cen-

tury:

But recall the former days when,

after you were enlightened, you en-

dured a hard struggle with sufferings,

33 sometimes being publicly exposed

to reproach and affliction, and some-

times being partners with those so

treated. 34 For you had compassion

on those in prison, and you joyfully

accepted the plundering of your prop-

erty, since you knew that you your-

selves had a better possession and

an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not

throw away your confidence, which

has a great reward. 36For you have

need of endurance, so that when you

have done the will of God you may

receive what is promised (Heb 10:32-

36).

The importance of this perspec-

tive lies not only in what it says about

the heavenly state, but what it reveals

regarding the realities of the spiritual

dimension in the here and now.

Look for a moment at what the apostlePaul wrote to young Timothy, But

as for you, O man of God Pur-

sue righteousness, godliness (piety),

faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

Fight the goodfight of faith (I Tim

6:11). Faith, love, steadfastness, and

gentleness: thems not exactly fightn

words in our neck of the woods. But

these are the weapons that Paul says

are mighty for the tearing down of

strongholdssomething for whichthe world has no answer. By way of

illustration, I am reminded of a fa-

mous old movie, The Count of Monte

Cristo. There is a scene at the end of

the movie where the Count of Monte

Cristo, in a swordfight to the death,

mortally wounds the evil Count Mon-

dego. In his last words the evil count

asks, Where now is your mercy?

to which the Count of Monte Cristo

gives his famous response, I am a

Count, not a Saint! Certainly thereis a biblical role for the count or civil

authority, but the world is in desperate

need of more saints, not counts.

This raises the important ques-

tion, Where do the priorities of the

count give way to those of the saint?

When do the weapons ofthis age give

way to those of the spiritual realm

andthe age to come? This will be

an increasingly important question

for the church in our nation. We willhave to ask the question, Is our main

priority Christs kingdom or national

interest? They are not mutually ex-

clusive, but when a decision must

be made what will our priorities be?

The great seventeenth century Puritan

theologian John Owen came face to

face with this reality when serving as

chaplain to Cromwells army. One can

appreciate his anguish of soul when,Gilliland Continued on page 13


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Page 12 July - August 2012 Issue 189WhiteContinued from page 1

head of the church, his body, and is

himself its Savior. Now as the church

submits to Christ, so also wives should

submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ

loved the church and gave himself

up for her, that he might sanctify her,

having cleansed her by the washingof water with the word,7so that he

might present the church to himself in

splendor, without spot or wrinkle or

any such thing, that she might be holy

and without blemish. In the same way

husbands should love their wives as

their own bodies. He who loves his

wife loves himself. For no one ever

hated his own flesh, but nourishes and

cherishes it, just as Christ does the

church, because we are members of

his body. Therefore a man shall leave

his father and mother and hold fast

to his wife, and the two shall become

one flesh. This mystery is profound,

and I am saying that it refers to Christ

and the church. However, let each one

of you love his wife as himself, and

let the wife see that she respects her

husband.

Paul begins with the wives:

Wives, submit to your own husbands,

as to the Lord. For the husband is the

head of the wife even as Christ is the

head of the church, his body, and is

himself its Savior. Now as the church

submits to Christ, so also wives

should submit in everything to their

husbands. He commands the wives

to submit to their husbands. Wives are

called to submit to their husbands be-

cause they are the head of the home.

The Bible does not teach that women

should submit to men but that wives

should submit to their husbands.

God is God. Gods Word is Gods

Word. In our current cultural situa-

tion, submission is a bad word, but it

mustnt be among the people of God.

He has spoken.He has established

certain leadership and authority roles

within the family, and submission is

a humble recognition of that divine

ordering.2 This is not a suggestion.

2 Ibid., 411.

This is the Christian view of the

home. First Corinthians 11:3 says that

the head of every man is Christ, the

head of a wife is her husband, and the

head of Christ is God; First Corin-

thians 11:7-9 reads, For a man ought

not to cover his head, since he is the

image and glory of God, but womanis the glory of man. For man was not

made from woman, but woman from

man. Neither was man created for

woman, but woman for man; First

Peter 3:1 reads, Likewise, wives, be

subject to your own husbands; First

Peter 3:5-6: For this is how the holy

women who hoped in God used to

adorn themselves, by submitting to

their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed

Abraham, calling him lord. And you

are her children, if you do good anddo not fear anything that is frighten-

ing; Colossians 3:18 reads, Wives,

submit to your husbands, as is fitting

in the Lord; Titus 2:5 says women

should learn to love their husbands

and children, to be self-controlled,

pure, working at home, kind, and

submissive to their own husbands, that

the word of God may not be reviled.

John Piper defines submission as

the divine calling of a wife to honorand affirm her husbands leadership

and help carry it through according

to her gifts.3 He goes on to say what

submission is not:

It does not mean agreeing with ev-

erything your husband says.

It does not mean leaving your will or

your brain at the wedding altar.

It does not mean avoiding every ef-

fort to change a husband.

It does not mean putting the will

of the husband before the will of

Christ.

It does not mean that a wife gets her

personal, spiritual strength primarily

through her husband.

It does not mean that a wife is to act

3 John Piper, This Momentary Marriage

(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2009), 80.

out of fear.4

Submission does not imply that

the wife is inferior in dignity to the

husband. The analogy of the Trinity is

helpful here. The persons of the Trin-

ity are equal in authority but have dif-

fering roles. The Son is fully God, but

submits to the Father. The Son always

does the things that are pleasing to the

Father (John 8:28-29). The Son does

nothing on his own authority. The

Sons food is to do the Fathers will.5

Wives are called to submit to their

husbands as the church submits to

Christ. How does the church submit

to Christ? By looking to Christ her

head for beneficial rule, living by his

norms, experiencing his loving pres-

ence, receiving from him gifts that

will enable growth, and responding to

him in gratitude and awe.6

Wives are called to submit to their

husbands as to the Lord. Wife, your

discipleship is now bound up with

your husband. To submit to him is

to submit to the Lord. Wives are to

submit to their husbands in every-

thing. Submission must occur in every

area of life. This means that now there

is no area of your life where you say

to your husband, Back off, this is

mine.

Verse 33 says, However, let each

one of you love his wife as himself,

and let the wife see that she respects

her husband. The wife is called to

submit to and respect her husband.

Wife, does your husband feel re-

spected by you? This is one of his

most important needs. I hope you are

deeply familiar with the Proverbs 31woman. Have you ever noticed that

it says that her husband is respected at

the city gate? All too often husbands

are pitied at the city gate because their

4 Ibid., 99-101.

5 See Bruce Wares helpful book, Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit(Wheaton: Cross-

way, 2005).

6 OBrien,Ephesians, 416.



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after witnessing the savagery of the

Irish campaign, he wrote, How is it

that Jesus Christ is in Ireland only as

a lion, staining all his garments with

the blood of his enemies; and none to

hold Him out to His friends as a Lamb

sprinkled with His own blood.

The apostle Paul continues in I

Timothy 6:12, Take hold of the eter-

nal life to which you were called and

about which you made the good con-

fession in the presence of many wit-

nesses. What does it mean to take

hold of eternal life? In part it means

living as a witness to the values of the

next agethe life to come. It doesnt

mean ignoring our responsibilities on

this earth or in this age, but when thetrials and suffering comeand they

mustand the tools and priorities of

this age come into conflict with those

of the next, then we must be witnesses

to the reality of the heavenly city.

That is part of what it means to be a

sojourner or exile! Those who have as

their primary focus a realized escha-

tologyChristian Reconstructionism

for examplemay tell you that this

type of lifestyle is unrealistic and not

the path to ruling or dominion.That

is only true if you cannot see beyond

the realities of this earthly realm. A

perspective on the Christian life that

focuses on the realities of the spiri-

tual realm is for the Christian what it

means to be a true realist. This world

does not see these things; they takeeyes of faith. Remember what the

writer of Hebrew said about Abraham,

the father of the faithful, by faith

he was looking forward to a city that

has foundations, whose designer and

builder is God!

CONCLUSION:

This then is something of our iden-

tity, our responsibility, and our des-

tiny! Again, as Calvin said, there is a

more accurate method than to the rulewhich is enjoined in the Law. The

old ranchers out West have a saying,

justice means that the horse gets

to ride half the time! Do we really

want a legal framework and the justice

of God to be our primary empha-

sisother than in the finished work

of Christ on our behalf? We need to

stay focused on walking in a manner

that more accurately displays Christs

saving work for his people. When we

make our daily decisionshow we

speak, how we dress, how we treat

the saints of God as well as our neigh-

borsdo we ask, What are the legal

stipulations? I can only warn you

that it often leads in one of two direc-

tions: (1) on the one hand to an arro-gant legalism, (2) on the other hand,

to a judicial form of antinomianism

that declares, If it is not strictly for-

bidden I can do whatever I wantI

am free. But the apostle Paul would

respond, It is not an issue of what

is permissible but what is profitable

(I Cor 6). What we have been given

freedom to ask is not, what are my

legal rights? but How will my ac-

tions most clearly reflect what Christ

has done for me? We have beencalled to be what the world cannot be,

to do what the world cannot do, that

they may see something of the real-

ity of heaven. I trust that we might,

by Gods grace, grow in our ability to

live in the light of these things, and

that we would be used mightily in

the progress of the gospel of Christs

kingdom. m


Interspersed with the historical recital that makes up much of the early chapters of Deuteronomy are bursts of exhortation.

One of the most moving is found in Deuteronomy 10:12-22. Its magnificent themes include:

A sheer God-centeredness that embraces both fearingGod and lovingGod (10:12-13). In our confused and blinded world,

fearing God without loving him will dissolve into terror, and thence into taboos, magic, incantations, rites; loving God with-

out obeying him will dissolve into sentimentalism without strong affection, pretensions of godliness without moral vigor,

unbridled lust for power without any sense of impropriety, nostalgic yearnings for relationships without any passion for

holiness. Neither pattern squares with what the Bible says: "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD you God ask of you but

to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him . . . ? "

D.A. Carson, For the Love of God(Crossway Books, Wheaton, ILL 1998) June 6

Blake White has written a wonderfully accessible primer on new covenant theology This is the ideal book togive to someone who wants a brief and convincing exposition of new covenant thought. I recommend this workgladly.

Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation,The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

In a very readable, accurate, and succinct manner, Blake White covers the basics of New Covenant Theol-ogy I highly recommend this work for those who want to know more about NCT, for those who want to thinkthrough how "to put the Bible together," and mostly for those who want to rejoice in J esus Christ our Lord, ourglorious mediator and head of the new covenant.

Stephen J . Wellum, Professor of Christian Theology,The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary


14/20


WhiteContinued from page 12

wife complains and talks behind their

back rather than praises him there.

Wives, do not complain about your

husband; respect him.

Husbands, you are the head of the

home. Again, verse 23 says, For the

husband is the head of the wife evenas Christ is the head of the church, his

body, and is himself its Savior. Piper

defines headship as the divine calling

of a husband to take primary respon-

sibility for Christ-like, servant lead-

ership, protection, and provision in

the home.7 This is how God ordered

things. Genesis 3 says thatEve took

the fruit, ate it, and gave it to Adam

but God comes and says to the man,

Where are you (Gen. 3:9)? The hus-band is the head. He is the responsible

leader. Husband, you are called to lead

your home.

Husband, as head of the home, you

are called to be the spiritual leader.

This is your God-given responsibility.

Are you leading your wife in prayer?

Are you leading her in reading and

understanding Gods Word? In First

Corinthians 14, Paul says that women

should remain silent in the churchesand that if they have questions, they

should ask their husbands at home

(14:35). Are you prepared to answer

those questions? Do you lead in read-

ing God-centered books? Start simple.

You dont have to know Greek and

Hebrew to lead your wife in learning

and following Gods Word. I chal-

lenge you: today after dinner read a

chapter of the Bible and pray with

your wife before you go to bed. It is a

very easy way to start. She will loveyou for it.

Husband, are you the chief repen-

ter? You are obviously not called to

be sinless. You will fail, but when you

fail, you are called to lead in confes-

sion and repentance. Let me share

my latest mess-up. Recently the

elders of our church went to a mens

7 Piper, This Momentary Marriage, 80.

conference to learn about biblical

masculinity. We were getting settled in

our seats, ready to be wrecked afresh

by the Holy Spirit. As I was sitting, I

felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

It was a number I did not recognize,

and the service was about to start, so I

ignored it, or at least attempted to. Thesame number called again. I decided I

better answer it in case something was

wrong. Sure enough, it was my wife

Alicia. She had accidentally locked

her keys in her trunk. I was thirty

minutes away. Her cell phone was

locked in the car so I gave her some

numbers of our church members so

she could get a ride home. She called

some ladies and called me back. Now,

we had talked about this before. We

had a rule: never, ever put the keys inthe trunk because if you never put the

keys in the trunk, you will never have

to worry about locking them in there.

At this point, my idiot self thought it

would be helpful to remind her that

if she had never put the keys in the

trunk, this would not have happened.

She gently responded, I understand

that, Blake. I wish I could have seen

her heart at that moment. I imagine

she was giving me a roundhouse ka-rate kick to the throat. As soon as the

words left my mouth, I knew I was in

the wrong. We got off the phone, and

then I called her back to repent. I con-

fessed that that was a stupid, unhelp-

ful, and needless comment.

Why do I share that story? I do so

to show that I am a work in prog-

ress, but also to make the point that

what is important is confession and

repentance. I should have never made

that comment. I also should have

never gotten off the phone. I shouldve

repented on the spot. Fights will hap-

pen. Conflict is inevitable. What is

important is constant and continual

confession and repentance. Husband,

you should be the first to confess and

repent of your sin.

Paul Tripp writes, Enough of

pointing the finger. Enough of listen-

ing to your inner lawyer defend your

cause. Enough of carrying around

a record of your spouses wrongs.

Enough of judging, criticizing, and

blaming. Enough of holding the

other to a higher standard than the

one you hold for yourself. Enough

of complaining, arguing, withdraw-ing, and manipulating. Enough of

the self-righteous standoff that never

leads to change. Enough of hurt and

acrimony. Enough of painting your-

self as the victim and your spouse as

the criminal. Enough of demanding

and entitlement. Enough of threat and

guilt. Enough of telling the other how

good you are and how thankful she

should be to live with a person like

you. Enough of going to bed in angry,

self-righteous silence. Enough ofhyper-vigilantly watching him to see

if he is delivering. Enough of looking

to him to be your personal messiah,

satisfying the longings of your heart.

Enough. It is time to quit pointing

the finger and to start confessing how

deep and pervasive your weakness is.

Change in your marriage begins with

confessing your need.8

If you are single, if you want to be

married, what are you doing now toprepare to be a husband? We spend

12-16 years preparing for our profes-

sion or occupation but often just jump

blindly into our more fundamental

calling: husband and father. Redeem

the time: read good marriage books,

be mentored, ask questions of those

who are a few steps ahead of you.

Randy Stinson provides 9 areas for

you to lead with intention:

Vision: this is where we are going

Direction: this is how we get there

Instruction: let me show you how

Imitation: watch me

Inspiration: isnt this great

Affirmation: youre doing great

8 Paul David Tripp, What Did You Ex-

pect? (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 122-23.


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Evaluation: how are we doing

Correction: lets make a change

Protection: Ill take care of you9

Verse 25 of Ephesians 5 says,

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ

loved the church and gave himself up

for her.We are called to love likeChrist. We are called to servant lead-

ership. Woman, give me my chips!

is a far cry from servant leadership.

This love is not simply an emotion but

an act of the will. The character and

description of love is the phrase and

gave himself up for her.10 Ephesians

5:1-2 similarly says, Therefore be

imitators of God, as beloved children.

And walk in love, as Christ loved us

and gave himself up for us, a fragrantoffering and sacrifice to God. Paul

Tripp defines love as willing self-

sacrifice for the good of another that

does not require reciprocation or that

the person being loved is deserving.11

How did Christ exercise his

authority? He took the initiative. He

loved with self-giving sacrifice for

the church. He washed feet! This love

gives of self. This is pouring your-

self out for your wifes good. This isworking late to come home to work.

This is bending over backwards to

9 Randy Stinson and Dan Dumas,A

Guide to Biblical Manhood(Louisville:

The Southern Baptist Theological Semi-

nary, 2011), 80-83.

10 OBrien,Ephesians, 419.

11 Tripp, What Did You Expect?, 188.

serve her. Her good should be on your

mind at all times. C.S. Lewis writes,

This verse [5:25] is most embodied

in the husband whose wife receives

most and gives the least, its the one

whose wife is most unworthy of him,

is in her own mere nature least

lovable. For the church has no beautybut what the bridegroom gives her; he

does not find, but makes her lovely.12

First Peter 3:7 reads, Likewise,

husbands, live with your wives in an

understanding way, showing honor to

the woman as the weaker vessel, since

they are heirs with you of the grace

of life, so that your prayers may not

be hindered. Colossians 3:19 says,

Husbands, love your wives, and do

not be harsh with them.Christ intercedes for his church.

Do you pray for your wife regularly?

I think you should do it every day.

Also, anytime she has a concern, stop

then and there and pray with her and

for her. Husband, study your wife. Do

you know what blesses her? Where

does she need encouragement? Whats

weighing on her heart today? Do you

romance her? You should. Date her.

Take initiative. Plan. Surprise her.Focus on connection. Work through

challenges. Save and spend on big

getaways occasionally. Cultivate your

marriage!

Verses 28-31 say, In the same

way, husbands should love their wives

12 C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves (Harcourt

Brace, 1991), 105-06.

as their own bodies. He who loves his

wife loves himself. For no one ever

hated his own flesh, but nourishes and

cherishes it, just as Christ does the

church, because we are members of

his body. Therefore a man shall leave

his father and mother and hold fast

to his wife, and the two shall becomeone flesh. Husbands are called to

love their wives like they love them-

selves. Paul is not saying we first need

to have self-love to love our wife,

but he is referring to the fact that all

people look after their own interests

and welfare instinctively. We are now

one

Sound of Grace, Issue 189, July-August 2012

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