A Journey in Heresy: A Short Review

“(6)  I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;  (7)  which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.  (8)  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!  (9)  As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Gal 1:6-9)

The book we are looking at in this blog post is as follows:

Title: A Journey in Heresy: A Theological Novel
Author: Richard P. Belcher
Publisher: Richbarry Press, Fort Mill, SC
Year of Publication: 2009
ISBN: 978-1-883265-31-2
Pages: 174

Belcher has written 24 book in his Journey series. Based on the 3 books I have read (A Journey in Grace, A Journey In Sovereignty, and the current book under review), I would recommend others to read these books too.

A Journey in Heresy is a book about a Baptist Theological Seminary where a conspiracy is afoot to replace the current head of the Evangelism department with a more erudite evangelist who brings in thousands of “decisions” a year for Christ. The problem with this scenario is that those who want the new man—Jacob Johnson Maxwell—to take over the evangelism department, want him there purely because he brings in all these “decisions.” Little do they know about this man’s heretical teachings, and it takes three men at the seminary, Ira, Dink and Dr. Sisk, to unmask the teaching of Maxwell. Dink, that is to take the brunt of the conspiracy, is tasked by the president of the seminary, Dr. Sisk, to research Maxwell’s teaching, and so starts a series of teachings on Maxwell’s theology by Dink.

Hermeneutics - Part 2: Different Genres

Part 1 of this blog post can be found at Hermeneutics–Part 1: Need, tools and principles

1. Introduction

When it comes to interpreting Scripture, it is important to notice the style of writing and the genre used in the writing, for it will bear upon the way the specific writing needs to be interpreted. It is no use interpreting passages that fall into the symbolic genre as literal. You will start believing in horses that fly. It is no use taking history and interpreting it as doctrine, since that will lead to believing that a work of God is identified by how long it is around.

[38] So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;  [39] but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!" So they took his advice, (Ac 5:38-39 ESV)

This is a historical account of what Gamaliel told the Jewish council concerning this new “faith.” Many today have exactly the same attitude concerning all kinds of groups. Most notably the Word-of-Faith (WOF) movement led by men such as Kenneth Copeland and also the Toronto Blessing (TB) led by men such as John Arnott. Should we take what Gamaliel said as a way of testing a work’s validity whether it is from God or not? Definitely not! Then we have to conclude that the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and the Roman Catholic Institution are works of God, since they have been around for much longer than WOF and TB!

2. Genres

2.1 Types

2.1.1 The validity of types as a method of hermeneutics

According to Ramm there are three reasons why typology is a Biblical discipline of hermeneutics.

“(1). The general relationship which the Old Testament sustains to the New is the very basis for such a study. The strong prophetic element in the Old Testament establishes a real and vital nexus1 [connection] between the two Testaments. The fact of prophecy establishes the principle that the New is latent in the Old, and that the Old is patent [obvious] in the New.”²

“(2). Our Lord’s own use of the Old Testament is His invitation to us to find Him in the Old Testament. In Luke 24:25-44 Christ teaches the disciples about Himself, beginning at Moses and following through all the Scriptures.”³

“(3). Even more specific is the vocabulary of the New Testament with reference to the nature of the Old. The following words are used in the New of the Old. Hypodeigma means a sign suggestive of anything, a representation, a figure, a copy, an example. Typos and typikos (from the verb, typtō, “to strike”) mean the mark of a blow, the figure formed by a blow, an impression, a form, a letter, a doctrine, an example, a pattern, a type. Skia (from skēnē, a tent) means a shade, a sketch, an outline, an adumbration [a general idea of something without details]. Parabolē means a placing by the side, hence a comparison, a likeness, a similitude. Eikon means an image, a figure, a likeness. Antitypon means a repelling blow, an echoing, a reflecting, a thing formed after a pattern, a counterpart, an antitype. Allegoreō means to tell a truth in terms of a narrative.”⁴

2.1.2 Principles of using types

Hermeneutics–Part 1: Need, tools and principles

1. Introduction

Many times when studying the Bible people get to a point where they just cannot make sense of the passage in question. With the proper hermeneutical skills, many such difficulties could be solved.

“Hermeneutics is the science and art of Biblical interpretation. It is a science because it is guided by rules within a system; and it is an art because the application of the rules is by skill, and not by mechanical imitation.”¹

Admittedly, skill in the area of hermeneutics is not gained in a week or a month. It takes time and dedication. It takes hours and hours of thinking and rethinking. In order to do honest hermeneutics it may become necessary to throw out preconceived ideas, until such ideas are confirmed by the proper study of God’s Word. And, such study is not achieved by a superficial glimpse into the riches of God’s Word. Once artificial study of God’s Word becomes a habit, one will almost never get to the point where Biblical knowledge becomes part of who we are.

The study of God’s Word is not to become clever, but to live in truth and to have changed lives.

Charles Spurgeon once said: “Truth Is of necessity intolerant of falsehood.”

2. The need to interpret the Scriptures

Our aim in interpreting the Bible is not to be unique and different to everybody else. In fact, chances are good that the unique interpretation is wrong. The aim of the interpreter is to get to the plain meaning of the text. In the end, the litmus test of good interpretation is that it makes good sense of the text at hand.

Apostles: Are they around today?

On Google+, some guy who calls himself Apostle John Doe*, added me to his G+ circles. As a result of this I decided to re-publish this blog post that was originally published at my original blog back in November 2005.

* Not his real name ...

Greek – APOSTOLOS (αποστολος)

Rembrandt's "Apostle Paul"

An APOSTOLOS is one who is sent. The word was used in classical Greek as a naval expedition and probably also its commander. In the NT it can also mean 'delegate,' 'envoy,' 'messenger,' especially of God's messengers. The NT uses APOSTOLOS predominantly for the 'apostles,' who were a group of highly honoured believers with a special function in the church.¹

Introduction

Several people are named as 'apostles' in the New Testament. How do they all relate to the office of apostle as specified in Eph. 4:11? Would it be correct to say that there are different levels of 'apostle-ship' (get the pun?), or should we look for a different translation or interpretation for APOSTOLOS where it does not directly fit into being a foundation of Christianity as in Eph. 2:20? There is great division on this matter in the church with some saying that the 5-fold ministry (offices) is still for today, and others who deny that apostles and prophets are valid for today.

Will this writing clarify the issue? Probably not! I have noticed, that no matter how exhaustive or accurate one writes on any topic, there are few people that will even consider changing what they believe on a certain issue. What prevents them from doing so? It is hard to say! Peer pressure (the church exerts a lot of that together with condemnation), longevity of beliefs, etc. Yet, this is not the point! I do not say that I have it right, but I am trying to clarify it for myself.

Tithing and giving

I originally published this study on my first blog called Just Thinking... on 8 October 2006.

Tithing in the Old Testament

“(22)  You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year.  (23)  You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.  (24)  If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you,  (25)  then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.  (26)  You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.  (27)  Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.  (28)  At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town.  (29)  The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.” (Deu 14:22-29)

Deuteronomy 14:22-29 tells us that every year (v. 22) the tithe was to be taken to the designated place of tithing, and it was to be eaten there by the one who brought it (v. 23). Why did the Israelites have to eat their tithe there? So that they could "learn to fear the LORD your God always." (v. 23). Did you see who this tithe was to be given to? Did they have to give it to the priest? The priest's assistant? The building fund? The televangelist? The temple? Or church? No they had to take the tithe and enjoy it themselves!
The passage explains that if it is too far to take the tithe to the designated place of tithing, you should take your tithe, exchange it for money, and then take it to another place the Lord chooses. Now, see what we are to do with the money we got from our tithes!

"You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household." (v. 26).

When last have you been taught that if your church was too far, you could take your tithe and spend it on anything you wanted to? Now how do we get the money to the "priest?" That is, if we were ever told to tithe money! I'm just contemporising it.

The Sabbath: Celebrating Christ in the New Covenant

I originally published this study on my first blog called Just Thinking... on 4 September 2006.

In the church today there are multiple views on the issue of the Sabbath. How should the Sabbath be kept, if at all?

Some argue that the Sabbath should be kept in the same way as it was kept in the Old Testament while others argue that it should be kept in the same way, yet that it moved to the first day of the week from the seventh. These call the first day of the week the Lord's Day. There are also others that believe that we should treat each day alike and that there is no day that is more holy than another.

In this article we will attempt to define the relationship of the New Covenant believer to the Sabbath.

We will not concern ourselves with commenting on seventh-day sabbatarians since any comments in this article on sabbatarianism, of whichever form, should be able to be levelled at seventh-day sabbatarians.

The Sabbath Instituted

The Sabbath was instituted at Mt Sinai in the Ten Commandments. God instituted the Sabbath for the Israelites to keep in Ex 20:8-11,

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  (9)  Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  (10)  but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.  (11)  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy."

Decision Making and the Will of God

I just read a post by Andy Naselli called “God’s Will and Decision-Making”, and it prompted me to write this post.

Finding the will of God has been on the minds of many Christians for many years. They are searching for God’s will as if it has been lost. Many are so caught up in the business of finding God’s will for their lives that they have become paralyzed with fear that they may be missing God’s will for their lives altogether and in the process not have God’s blessing for what they are involved in.

Of course, they claim, they do not want to do things in the flesh but would rather want to walk or be led by the Spirit. Many Christians have their own perceptions of what this means, but I think that most of them will be shocked when they read it in context with their finding-God’s-will glasses off. You can read my blog post called Being led by the Spirit doesn’t mean what you think it does! to find out what this means.

Greg Koukl from Stand To Reason has dealt with this at and you can find links to videos and newsletters on this subject here and here.

Many Christians have discovered freedom when they realized that finding God’s will for their lives is truly not as difficult as they had thought, and that God’s will has been staring them in the face for many years.

Finding the will of God is not as difficult as keeping your head on highways such as these.

Back in March of 2007 I reviewed Garry Friesen’s book, Decision Making and the Will of God, and it has brought me a lot of freedom, although I was already thinking in that way. I did a fairly long review of the book and spread the review over 9 blog posts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Garry Friesen’s book is perhaps the most significant book on the subject of “finding God’s will”, and even if you end up disagreeing with him, it is still a must-read book.

Creating a reading culture in your church

I am not talking here of novels and “The Idiots Guide to Spirituality” type books. Neither am I talking about the typical devotional book either. No, I am talking of solid doctrinal books, good theology. Books that differentiate between what we believe and what the world believes. Books that teach us what Christians truly believe and why they believe it!

Anyway, here is Mark Dever, telling us how to start creating a reading culture in our churches.

Is God culpable for evil that He knows will take place?

The question of evil is not a modern question. It is as old as the ages. It has probably been on your mind too!

In an article at STR (Stand to Reason), Greg Koukl wrote about this very question:

“This is not merely a problem for Christians. It is a problem for non-Christians as well. I have stated in the past that I think one of the best arguments for the existence of God is the presence of evil in the world. One way I can demonstrate that is to ask the non-Christian that raises this question, do you believe there is evil in the world? They must believe it because that's what prompts the question they are raising.

“Then I ask them to tell me, as a non-Christian, where it comes from. Secondly, tell me where good came from. Thirdly, tell me how you distinguish between good and evil. Those are very thorny problems of which the Christian only has to answer one, but the non-Christian has to answer three. This is a philosophical question that applies to all people, it's not a drawback on the Christian religion, it is a drawback of life. It's a comment more on life than religion.”

To read more about what Greg has to say about this question, continue here...

The Forgotten Resurrection

“(13)  The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  (14)  And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.  (15)  And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;  (16)  and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business."  (17)  His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME."  (18)  The Jews then said to Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?"  (19)  Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  (20)  The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  (21)  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  (22)  So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” (John 2:13-22 NASB)

When Jesus walked this earth as the perfect God-man, fully God and fully man, His purpose was to die for the sins of His people. Yet, that was not all He came to do. First, when the Jews heard Jesus saying that He would “destroy this temple, and in three days” raise it up, they completely misunderstood what He was talking about. He was not talking about Herod’s temple at all—that destruction came in A.D. 70—but was speaking of His own body. He made it clear that He would die and in three days rise from the dead.

We are indeed faced with an empty tomb! This is great news! However, evangelicals have put a lot of emphasis on the penal substitutionary sacrifice that Christ made on behalf of sinners to such an extent, that I sometimes think they have forgotten about the resurrection. Then, once a year at Easter, they are reminded of the resurrection and then all over the world, pastors preach on the resurrection. A week later they are back to normal, with the normal scheduled communion Sundays when they once again commemorate the death of Christ in the Lord’s supper. Once again, the resurrection becomes like a faraway family member that we visit once a year.

Reading “Understanding the Trinity”

March, being “Trinity month,” as called for by the Theology Network (see here), I have read “The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything” by Fred Sanders (see my short review here), and “The Good God: Enjoying Father, Son and Spirit” by Michael Reeves of the Theology Network (see my short review here). Right now I am reading “Understanding the Trinity” by Alister McGrath.


As I have done in my previous post on March being Trinity month, here are a couple of quotes from McGrath’s book:

“God obstinately refuses to show any signs of rigor mortis.” p12 (emphasis by the author) 

“What do we mean when we talk about ‘God’ anyway? There is a tendency on the part of many—especially those of a more philosophical inclination—to talk about God as if he was some sort of concept. But it is much more accurate to think of God as someone we experience or encounter. God isn’t an idea we can kick about in seminar rooms—he is a living reality who enters into our experience and transforms it. Our experience of God is something which we talk about with others, and our encounter with him is something which we can try to put into words, but behind our ideas and words lies the greater reality of God himself.” p13 (emphasis by the author) 

“Atheism is, in fact, nor more ‘scientific’ than Christian faith, despite the attempts of atheists to convince us otherwise. Both atheism and Christianity are, then, matters of faith—whereas agnosticism is just a matter of indifference.” p19 

“The suggestion that ‘God exists because Christians want him to’ is just as logically plausible as the suggestion ‘God doesn’t exist because atheists don’t want him to’. This no proof that God doesn’t exist, it is simply an assertion that he doesn’t.” p21 (emphasis by the author) 

“The great reformer John Calvin is often thought of as being a rather stern theologian, but he has his tender moments as well. One of those moments lies in his famous assertion that ‘God accommodates himself to our weakness’—in other words, God knows the limitations of our intellects and deliberately reveals himself in such a way that we can cope with him.” p47

UPDATE:
See my short review on "Understanding the Trinity" here.

Reading “The Good God”

I announced in my previous post that March is Trinity month and that the Theology Network ran a competition to win a copy of Michael Reeves’ new book, “The Good God: Enjoying Father, Son and Spirit.”

Well, in God’s providence I was a winner of the book and it arrived this last Friday. I have started reading it already, although I have only finished the ten pages of the introduction so far.

March, being Trinity month, I started and finished Fred Sanders’ book “The Deep things of God: how the Trinity changes everything.” I also went back to James White’s book, “The Forgotten Trinity: Recovering the heart of Christian belief” and had a look at some of the things in the book that I highlighted. Out of these two books, I appreciated White’s book more because he shows exegetically how he got to his belief in the Trinity, and not so much philosophical talk (not that I am against philosophy, but as Christians, our belief is based first on the Bible’s declarations). I am also not saying that Sanders did not go to Scripture either. I just found that White’s exegesis was more thorough. White’s book is more a why-we-believe-in-the-Trinity book, whereas Sanders’ book shows how the belief in the Trinity touches our lives as Christians.

I will finish “The Good God” as soon as possible, and then I will tackle Alister McGrath’s book, “Understanding the Trinity.”

Here are a few good quotes from “The Good God”:

“[T]he truth is that God is love because God is a Trinity.” p vii

“Christianity is not primarily about lifestyle change; it is about knowing God.” p vii

“’... it would be madness to settle for any presupposed idea of God. Without being specific about which God is God, which God will we worship? Which God will we ever call others to worship? Given all the different preconceptions people have about ‘God’, it simply will not do for us to speak abstractly about some general ‘God’. And where would doing so leave us? If we content ourselves with being mere monotheists, and speak of God only in terms so vague they could apply to Allah as much as the Trinity, then we will never enjoy or share what is so fundamentally and delightfully different about Christianity.” pp xv-xvi

The Elephant Room and Paul’s letter to the Galatians

In light of the latest brouhaha concerning the responses of evangelicals to the inclusion and kid-gloves-treatment of T.D. Jakes’ modalist beliefs concerning the Trinity in Elephant Room 2, here are imaginary responses to that darn letter that Paul the apostle wrote to the Galatians. How dare he?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Christianity Today:

In response to Paul D. Apostle’s article about the Galatian church in your January issue, I have to say how appalled I am by the unchristian tone of this hit piece. Why the negativity? Has he been to the Galatian church recently? I happen to know some of the people at that church, and they are the most loving, caring people I’ve ever met.

Phyllis Snodgrass; Ann Arbor, MI

A.W. Pink on the new birth

“The new birth is very, very much more than simply shedding a few tears due to a temporary remorse over sin. It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off of bad habits and the substituting of good ones. It is something different from the mere cherishing and practising of noble ideals. It goes infinitely deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand, signing a pledge-card, or "joining the church." The new birth is no mere turning over a new leaf but is the inception and reception of a new life. It is no mere reformation but a complete transformation. In short, the new birth is a miracle, the result of the supernatural operation of God. It is radical, revolutionary, lasting.

Here then is the first thing, in time, which God does in His own elect. He lays hold of those who are spiritually dead and quickens them into newness of life. He takes up one who was shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, and conforms him to the image of His Son. He seizes a captive of the Devil and makes him a member of the household of faith. He picks up a beggar and makes him joint-heir with Christ. He comes to one who is full of enmity against Him and gives him a new heart that is full of love for Him. He stoops to one who by nature is a rebel and works in him both to will and to do of His own good pleasure. By His irresistible power He transforms a sinner into a saint, an enemy into a friend, a slave of the Devil into a child of God.” (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 21st printing, 2004, p114)

A.W. Pink on modern theology and the sovereignty of God

“It would be foolish for us to expect that this work will meet with general approval. The trend of modern theology-if theology it can be called-is ever toward the deification of the creature rather than the glorification of the Creator, and the leaven of present-day Rationalism is rapidly permeating the whole of Christendom. The malevolent effects of Darwinianism are more far reaching than most are aware. Many of those among our religious leaders who are still regarded as orthodox would, we fear, be found to be very heterodox if they were weighed in the balances of the Sanctuary. Even those who are clear intellectually, upon other truths, are rarely sound in doctrine. Few, very few, today, really believe in the complete ruin and total depravity of man. Those who speak of man's "free will," and insist upon his inherent power to either accept or reject the Saviour, do but voice their ignorance of the real condition of Adam's fallen children. And if there are few who believe that, so far as he is concerned, the condition of the sinner is entirely hopeless, there are fewer still who really believe in the absolute Sovereignty of God.” (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, p6, Twenty-First Printing, 2004)

Why Christians need to study theology

Studying theology is important on many levels. First, we study theology to get to know God better. Studying the Bible forms in us the truth about God. The Scriptures give us clear objective truth about God. We also study theology to be able to stand against false doctrine and heresies.

But, be that as it may, watch the next video to see in just over 2 minutes why studying theology is important.

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

HT: Todd Braye

Whom God saves and whom he doesn’t

This is a subject that is very contentious, especially among those who add philosophy and extra-Biblical ideas to what Scripture actually says about this subject! About 10+ men from our church get together every second Monday evening, discussing Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ book, Great Doctrines of the Bible. This past Monday was only the second time we got together, and the subject matter was chapter 2, Revelation, of the first volume of the book.

We were discussing general revelation and special revelation.

MLJ wrote that there are 3 aspects to general revelation:

1. God revealed Himself through creation and nature.
2. God reveals Himself through His gracious acts of providence. This includes “the ordering of things in this world, their maintenance, their sustenance, and the fact that everything keeps on going and continues in life.” p14.
3. The history of the world is a revelation of God.

Of course, general revelation is not sufficient to bring us to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but it is a very clear indicator that there is some kind of god-like being.

In order to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, special revelation is needed, and that revelation is now ultimately contained and revealed in the 66 books of the Bible.

Being led by the Spirit doesn’t mean what you think it does!

When we hear the phrases "walk by the Spirit" or "led by the Spirit," most Christians immediately assume that the subject matter is about hearing God's voice in order to find out if Suzie is the one to marry, or if they should work for Apple, or move to another city. We have been programmed by the influences of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements to such an extent that we find it difficult to think any other way!

But, what do those phrases really mean? Do you know where they are found in the Scriptures? Of course, the only way we can truly know what these phrases mean, is to actually study the passages in question, where these phrases are used.

Image courtesy nicholsoncartoons.com.au

A few years after I was saved I started attending a pentecostal church where the gifts of the Holy Spirit were big. Of course, this had a real influence on me, since I was only 17 when I started there. By the time I had finished my time in the army, having fought in the Angolan bush war, I returned to join a charismatic church in the same town as the pentecostal one. These people tried even harder to hear God's voice. Through them I was put in contact with the Bible school that I attended. Here we attended seminar's on how to hear God's voice, and how to hear that still small voice. We also attended seminars on how to "move" in the prophetic and the like.

Sure, some "heard" God and did things and it worked out for them. Yet, for many others who "heard" God, it never worked out! This created an extra pressure on Christians to hear God better. If you did not hear God, Who was to spell out your life's journey for you, then you just were not spiritual enough! Of course, we learnt that we could not do anything unless God gave the go ahead. If God did not tell you to change jobs, you simply stayed put, no matter how unbearable the situation. If God did not tell you to marry Suzie, no matter how you felt, you simply had to stay away from the love of your life. You even had to resist telling people about Jesus in case you ended up telling the wrong person! It became the new law: hear God's voice, or stay put!

However, I would like to show in this post, that the phrases "walk by the Spirit" and "led by the Spirit", as used in the New Testament, have nothing to do with hearing God's voice in some form or another, in order to find out your next step in life, or what your vocation should be, but all about your Christian conduct in this life.

John Piper interviews Rick Warren on doctrine

John Piper interviewed Rick Warren on his doctrinal stance on 1 May 2011. The video below is about one and a half hours long, so it is a long download. It is a very interesting interview, and some of Warren's answers are interesting, even surprising!

If your internet connection is like mine, and it just feels like it is going to take a week to download, then you also probably do not have the patience to wait that long to watch this video. There is a solution, and that is the transcript of this interview!

Update:

1. 1 June 2011 -Tim Challies has written a thought provoking short analysis of this interview.
2. 1 June 2011 - Frank Turk, of PyroManiacs fame, has written "[another] Open Letter to John Piper," and it covers the interview directly.

John Owen on the extent of the atonement

This is a long quote, but well worth the read:

“Arg. II. If the Lord intended that he should, and [he] by his death did, procure pardon of sin and reconciliation with God for all and every one, to be actually enjoyed upon condition that they do believe, then ought this good-will and intention of God, with this purchase in their behalf by Jesus Christ, to be made known to them by the word, that they might believe; “for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” Rom. x. 17: for if these things be not made known and revealed to all and every one that is concerned in them, namely, to whom the Lord intends, and for whom he hath procured so great a good, then one of these things will follow; — either, first, That they may be saved without faith in, and the knowledge of, Christ (which they cannot have unless he be revealed to them), which is false, and proved so; or else, secondly, That this good-will of God, and this purchase made by Jesus Christ, is plainly in vain, and frustrate in respect of them, yea, a plain mocking of them, that will neither do them any good to help them out of misery, nor serve the justice of God to leave them inexcusable, for what blame can redound to them for not embracing and well using a benefit which they never heard of in their lives? Doth it become the wisdom of God to send Christ to die for men that they might be saved, and never cause these men to hear of any such thing; and yet to purpose and declare that unless they do hear of it and believe it, they shall never be saved? What wise man would pay a ransom for the delivery of those captives which he is sure shall never come to the knowledge of any such payment made, and so never be the better for it? Is it answerable to the goodness of God, to deal thus with his poor creatures? to hold out towards them all in pretence the most intense love imaginable, beyond all compare and illustration, — as his love in sending his Son is set forth to be, — and yet never let them know of any such thing, but in the end to damn them for not believing it? Is it answerable to the love and kindness of Christ to us, to assign unto him at his death such a resolution as this:— “I will now, by the oblation of myself, obtain for all and every one peace and reconciliation with God, redemption and everlasting salvation, eternal glory in the high heavens, even for all those poor, miserable, wretched worms, condemned caitiffs, that every hour ought to expect the sentence of condemnation; and all these shall truly and really be communicated to them if they will believe. But yet, withal, I will so order things that innumerable souls shall never hear one word of all this that I have done for them, never be persuaded to believe, nor have the object of faith that is to be believed proposed to them, whereby they might indeed possibly partake of these things?” Was this the mind and will, this the design and purpose, of our merciful high priest? God forbid. It is all one as if a prince should say and proclaim, that whereas there be a number of captives held in sore bondage in such a place, and he hath a full treasure, he is resolved to redeem them every one, so that every one of them shall come out of prison that will thank him for his good-will, and in the meantime never take care to let these poor captives know his mind and pleasure; and yet be fully assured that unless he effect it himself it will never be done. Would not this be conceived a vain and ostentatious flourish, without any good intent indeed towards the poor captives? Or as if a physician should say that he hath a medicine that will cure all diseases, and he intends to cure the diseases of all, but lets but very few know his mind, or any thing of his medicine; and yet is assured that without his relation and particular information it will be known to very few. And shall he be supposed to desire, intend, or aim at the recovery of all?”
-- John Owen, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, U.K., 1959, Reprinted 2002, pp126-127

The Death of Death can also be downloaded free from CCEL.

To learn more about John Owen, visit Adrian Warnock’s pages and download John Piper’s book, Contending For Our All, for free, which examines the lives of Athanasius, John Owen and J. Gresham Machen.