The Results of the Atonement Seen

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” (Rev. 5:9-10)

One of the glorious truths of Scripture is that Jesus is not a hypothetical Savior, a mere wanna-be who fails with regularity. No, we proclaim a powerful Savior who perfectly does the will of the Father. His death did not make the purchase of men from every tribe, tongue, people and nation possible, it actually accomplished that which the Triune Majesty intended. Why so many long for an “atonement” that atones not I will never understand, but when they make reference to the extent of the atonement, point them to this text that defines what it means to speak of the “world” in a New Testament context.

James White

A Christmas Rescue

In October, 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a mission in a B-17 to deliver an important message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea.  But somewhere over the South Pacific the Flying Fortress became lost beyond the reach of radio.  Fuel ran dangerously low, so the men ditched their plane in the ocean.  For nearly a month Captain Eddie and his companions would fight the water, and the weather, and the scorching sun.  They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine feet by five feet. The biggest shark was ten feet long.

But of all their enemies at sea, one proved most formidable: starvation.  Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water.  It would take a miracle to sustain them.  And a miracle occurred.  In Captain Eddie’s own words, “Cherry,” that was the B-17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, “read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat.  With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off. . . .  Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull.  I don’t know how I knew, I just knew.  Everyone else knew too.  No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces.  They were staring at that gull.  The gull meant food. . .  if I could catch it.”

And the rest, as they say, is history.  Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish.  The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice, giving itself up without a struggle (adapted from Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story, 1977).

Now that’s quite a story to tell, but it’s nothing in comparison to what the angel had to tell the night of our Savior’s coming down from heaven to Bethlehem.  “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).  Another angel had told Mary: “Call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Think of it!  Our father Adam ditched our race into the sea of sin.  Left to ourselves, we hopelessly sit drifing along, shipwrecked, starving in the darkness of our sin, doomed to drown under God’s wrath.  But “unto us a child is born” (Isaiah 9:2, 6), — “mighty God” enfleshed in a babe.  He’d grow to be a sacrificial lamb who’d lay himself down without a struggle on a cross.  He’d be pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities, and by His wounds we’d be healed (Isaiah 53:5).

In this wonderful Child’s coming down is the remedy for our desperate sin condition – the salvation of our never dying souls.  In this Babe is our rescue!  Wise men don’t shoo Him away, but grab hold of Him by faith, and never let go.

Mark Chanski

Patriarchy Movement’s Reinterpretation

Chad Bresson, over on the Vossed World blog, exposes Vision Forum and the patriarchy movement’s reinterpretation of a popular painting by Edmund Blair Leighton. Click here

Vision Forum

Pactum Salutis, Historia Salutis, Ordo Salutis and the Ministry

I would like to place the ministry within a theological context.  I am convinced that we must view all of life theologically, and must seek to bring all of our thoughts captive to Christ and his word.  Our tasks as ministers of the New Covenant are very specific, and come to us in a very important context.  We are not clinicians, and our efforts are not attempts to be therapeutic-we are the servants of God.  We interpret theological truths for the benefit of people, so that they might understand “how to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

If we are to do this, we must have a correct understanding of the context of pastoral ministry.  I openly repudiate any notion that our ministry resembles in any sense that of a social worker.  I remember an ordination council that I once sat on.  The first question addressed by the candidate was his call to the ministry.  As he spoke, it was obvious that he had no idea of what a scriptural call to the ministry included.  He said that he wanted to be a pastor because he wanted to help people.  I asked him how that differed from the “call” of a social worker.  He had no clue how to answer.

We must do far better than this.  Without a proper sense of our task-its theological context-we will be no better than clinicians.  We are to be the servants of God, and ministers to people, and we must have a self-conscious understanding of our task.

How shall we view the ministry?  It seems to me that the whole context of the covenants of the Bible provide for us a wonderful context.  If our theology is truly integrative-and it surely must be-then there must be a theological foundation for our task.

A Theological Framework for Viewing the Ministry

One way to consider this is to think of the entire picture in a three-fold schema:

Pactum Salutis
Historia Salutis
Ordo Salutis

These three terms are of immense importance, for they each describe an aspect of Christian theology.  They are not the final answer for structuring our theological formulations, but they help us none the less.  Consider them individually:

1.     Pactum Salutis.  Muller defines this as: “covenant of redemption; in Reformed federalism, the pretemporal, intratrinitarian agreement of the father and the Son concerning the covenant of grace and its ratification in and through the work of the Son incarnate.  The Son covenants with the father, in the unity of the Godhead, to be the temporal sponsor of the father’s testamentum in and through the work of the Mediator.  In that work, the Son fulfills his sponsio or fideiussio, i.e., his guarantee of payment of the debt of sin in ratification of the father’s testamentum.  The roots of this idea of an eternal intratrinitarian pactum are clearly present in late sixteenth-century Reformed thought, but the concept itself derives from Cocceius’s theology and stands as his single major contribution to reformed system.  Although seemingly speculative, the idea of the pactum salutis is to emphasize the eternal, inviolable, and trinitarian foundation of the temporal foedus gratiae, much in the way that the eternal decree underlies and guarantees the ordo salutis.”  (Dictionary, 217).  The covenant of salvation is an important idea.  Robert Reymond has called it a “theological convention” (New ST 337) and to be sure it is, but that does not undermine the truth of the matter taught in the concept.  We believe that God is a covenanting God, and even in the relationships of the trinity, the notion of covenant is present.  The inter-relationships between the members of the trinity may be explained economically in terms of covenantal relationships.  Now the pactum salutis provides us with a solid basis for our theological inquiry.  It is the context for all theological study.

2.     Historia Salutis The historia salutis refers to the actual events, in space and time, by which God brings salvation to his people.  Creation, the fall, the flood, the call of Abraham, the exodus, the captivity, the life and death of Christ, Pentecost, all of these are events of the historia salutis.  On the one hand, they are true events of cosmic history.  They actually happened in space and time.  But in another sense, they bear theological significance, because they come in order to fulfill-accomplish-the eternal decrees of God.  We do not simply speak of abstract decrees of God, but of genuine historical events bearing a great theological significance.  We believe that the Scriptures record the actual historical events of redemption, occurring over several millennia, from creation to consummation.  The events recorded in Scripture, while real events in human history, bring into human history the decrees of God.  They give substance and historical reality to these decrees.  They provide the basis, in space and time, of our exegetical studies. Since even the most seemingly mundane parts of Scripture-e.g the genealogies or some of the Proverbs come to us through inspired authors writing as representatives of the history of redemption, we give ourselves to exegetical study.  But even these events are not the end.  The third category concludes the act:

3.     Ordo Salutis.  The ordo salutis refers to the application of the great acts of God in the life history of the individual believer. Muller again: “a term applied to the temporal order of causes and effects through which the salvation of the sinner is accomplished  . . . because of their emphasis upon the eternal decree and its execution in time, the Reformed  developed the idea of an ordo salutis in detail in the sixteenth century.”  (Dictionary, 215.)

Berkhof points us to the relationship between the pactum salutis and the ordo salutis: “Reformed Soteriology takes its starting point in the union established in the pactum salutis between Christ and those whom the father has given him, in virtue of which there is an eternal imputation of the righteousness of Christ to those who are his.” (ST 418).  Now his definition of the pactum does not exactly coincide with above (as he seems to speak of it only in the terms of the covenant of grace), but you see the point.  The ordo is rooted in the pactum.  But we must also assert that the ordo is rooted in the historia salutis, for it is there that the mighty acts of God are accomplished in space and time.  That which is planned in eternity is accomplished in space and time, and applied in the life of each believer.  In this way, the counsels of God are brought down to the personal level.

Now what does all of this have to do with the ministry?  Just this:  the task of the minister is to bring what was planned in eternity and accomplished in history and apply it to the life of the church.  He is an important part of the outworking of the whole.  Surely, the treasure is placed into earthen vessels so that the glory of God may be manifest-but let us not forget the earthen vessels.  They seek to take the truth of Scripture and bring it to bear in the lives of individuals.  They take theology and redemptive-history, and apply them to the people of their generation.  They interpret events of the past-theological, redemptive-historical events-for the benefit of humans.  We do not abstract the ordo from the theological or exegetical, rather we ground it there.  For this reason, we must view our ministries in the context of the theological and exegetical, rather than the psychological or clinical.  We are the human instruments of bringing the eternal plan of God, accomplished par excellence in Christ, to the men and women around us.  It is a glorious task.

James M. Renihan, Dean

The Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies

http://www.reformedbaptistinstitute.org

From One to Two

When I was a teenager I fell in love with the first Rocky movie.  I cannot recall how many times I saw the film at a local one dollar cinema.  The story for those who have not seen it, follows a down and out boxer who finds love and a personal sense of redemption while being chosen to box the heavyweight champion of the world.  Before the big fight Rocky realizes that there is no way that he can beat the champ, Apollo Creed.  His hopes boil down to one simple thought-if I can just survive, if I can just go the distance, if  I can simply be standing at the end of the fight, then I will know that I am not just another bum from the neighborhood.  No one had ever gone the distance with Creed, and if he can, then he will view it as a victory.

A couple of years later, Rocky was back with Rocky II.  The story continued with Rocky in retirement from fighting, getting married, having his wife become pregnant, etc.  Rocky finds out that the money he made fighting is quickly gone and hopes of making it in commercials do not pan out.  The opportunity comes for a rematch with the champ.  While bypassing some of the plot elements, let me instead focus on a shift in Rocky’s thinking.  While the theme of the first film was survive, the theme of the second film is win!  His wife tells him, I want you to win!  He wears a shirt with the words, Win Rocky Win!   This change of heart and thinking changes the way that he fights and he is ultimately rewarded with a victory.

Now, what in the world does this have to do with us and with a Reformed Baptist blog?  Simply this, we need to go from one to two.   In recent years we have seen far too many of our ranks fall away.  We have seen pastors and laymen caught in terrible crimes and gross sins.  We have been humbled.  At times this has produced in us a mentality that says, I just hope we make it.  I simply want to survive. I want to go the distance and still be standing when the bell rings!  If I can hold on while the world, the flesh, and the devil rages against me, if  I can just stumble over the finish line, then that will be victory.

Dear friends, God calls us to do more than that.  God has given us His armor, not only to stand in the evil day, but to advance.  Our goal is not simply to hold our own and ensure that no territory is lost, it is rather to press on, to tear down strongholds, and to advance into enemy territory.   The odds against us seem great, we seem to be so small and so frail!   We have heaven on our side, a victorious King upon His throne, and His Spirit with us-Win, Christian, Win!

James Savastio

Our Labor is Not in Vain

As it was with the building of the Old Covenant temple, so it is with the building of God’s New Covenant temple, the church. This is a work for more than one man or one generation. Spurgeon eloquently makes and elaborates on this point in a sermon from 1 Chronicles 22.  David had gathered the materials for the temple while Solomon and those of his generation were assigned the task of building the house. Spurgeon points out that we see a similar thing with the church but the church involves many generations before it’s completed, not just two. It has been in the process of being built over the course of many centuries now and it’s not completed yet. Many generations have gone before us and they have passed the work to us.

David did his part in his generation, and it was a very important part. He fought all of those hard battles that established a peaceful context for the temple to be built. He was a man of war, slashing down Philistines, toppling giants, crushing the Jebusites, taking his sword to the enemies of God. His reign was a bloody reign but it prepared the way. There are men whose ministries are like that. They labor in difficult times when the Philistines are in the land; times when the Syrians are on the attack; times of conflict. These are tough men with foreheads of brass whom God uses to root out errors and to topple down heresies. These are men who reform churches and whose lives are often marked with conflict and controversy but their labors provide a more peaceful context for positive building work to be carried on by those who follow.

David also gathered the materials. And so it is that many a man’s work could be described as gathering materials. He gets a little group together. Perhaps he starts a small church; just a little flock of believers. He never lives to see it grow very much. He never sees many conversions in his time. He’s just used of God to gather the raw materials with which another man, or another generation, who comes behind him will build and expand.

David also found the site where the temple was to be located. He didn’t actually build it, but he purchased the spot where it would be built. He provided the ground, the soil, out of which the temple would grow. There are ministries that are like that. There are those who clear the land and make the paths straight and make way for a solid temple to be built upon that spot. John the Baptist tore down and prepared the way with his fiery preaching of judgment and repentance. Christ came along behind and began to build upon that foundation. Luther did a great work, Calvin especially did a great building work, but there were little known reformers who had gone before them to prepare the way. They didn’t have the same level of outward success. Men like John Wycliffe; men like John Huss who was burned at the stake. But their labors prepared the way for the great building work that the 16^th century reformers were able to accomplish. That may be the role some of us will play. Our efforts for the cause of Christ may not seem to accomplish that much in our lifetime but others will follow after we’re finished and they’ll build where we left off. You may not personally reap, but there are reaping times for the church of Christ and they do not ordinarily come without the less noticeable and behind the scenes labors of the plowers and the sowers, or without the labors of those who gather the materials and prepare the way like David did.

I read recently about an elderly preacher who was rebuked by one of his deacons one Sunday morning before the service. “Pastor”, said the man, “something must be wrong with your preaching and your work. There’s been only one person added to the church in a whole year, and he’s just a boy.” The minister listened, his eyes moistening with tears and his hand trembling. “I feel it”, he replied, “but God knows I’ve tried to do my duty.” On that day this pastor’s heart was heavy as he stood before his flock. As he finished the message he felt a strong inclination to resign. However after everyone else had left, that one boy came to him and said, “Do you think if I worked hard for an education, I could become a preacher-perhaps a missionary?” Again the tears welled up in the pastor’s eyes. “Ah, this heals the ache I feel”, he said. “Robert, I see the Divine hand now. May God bless you, my boy. Yes, I think you will become a preacher”. Do you know who that boy Robert was? Do you know who he became? Well many years later an aged missionary returned to London from Africa. Nobles invited him to their homes. He had added many souls to the spiritual building of Christ’s church, reaching even some of Africa’s most savage chiefs. His name was Robert Moffat, the great missionary to Africa, the same Robert who many years before had spoken to that pastor that Sunday morning in the old Scottish kirk.

Dave Merck in his course for RBS on modern church history gives a very striking illustration of how one person’s work prepares for another, or for another generation, in the life of Arthur Pink. Many of us have heard of Arthur Pink. Many of us have been greatly blessed and helped by his books. His writings have been a major influence in the revival of the doctrines of grace that began in the 1950’s and continues today. But during his lifetime his labors appeared to be nothing but a failure. He was never very successful as a pastor. When he died in Stornoway, in the Outer Hebrides, on July 15^th, 1952, his passing was scarcely noticed save by a small circle of friends. The readership of his little monthly magazine, Studies in the Scriptures, barely maintained its existence over forty years. The number of readers was seldom above one thousand. Some of you are familiar with his book The Sovereignty of God; a book that has been mightily used of God in so many lives. In 1918 Pink approached a man who lived in Pennsylvania with the manuscript of that book desiring that he would print it for him. His name was I.C. Herendeen.  Herendeen, an Arminian at the time, wrote back asking Pink what he meant by the sovereignty of God. Pink responded in a letter by referring to Jn. 6:44, underlining the words, “no man can come to me except the Father…draw him.” The Lord used this to begin to open the understanding of Herendeen and he began to study further the doctrines of grace. He also agreed to publish Pink’s book. 2,000 copies were printed but nobody wanted them. 95%, that is approximately 1,900 of them, went unsold. Later this same man, I.C. Herendeen would have an important role in bringing two brothers from Pennsylvania to an understanding of the doctrines of grace. One of them, Ernie Reisinger was later to become a key leader in the founding of the first Reformed Baptist Church of our day in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. But again when Pink died his ministry appeared to have had little success. But God’s ways are not man’s ways. Since his death hundreds and thousands of Pink’s writings have been sold and read by eager readers; books like the Attributes of God, the Sovereignty of God, the Satisfaction of Christ and many others. And remember the little periodical Pink put out that’s readership was seldom above one thousand. Think about that, that’s next to nothing in comparison with the world’s population; a readership seldom above one thousand. Yes, but guess who one of those readers was who was greatly benefited by Pink’s writings and who went on later to promote those writings? It was a man by the name of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and most of us know the great impact the ministry of Lloyd-Jones has had.

This is the romance of gospel work. Some plow, some sow, some water, but God gives the increase. Our concern is to do our duty. We are to do our part in this great work of building the temple of the Lord. Let us labor in hope knowing that no labor from a sincere heart for Christ’s cause will ever prove to be in vain. The day may come when your labors will prove to have been but the beginning of something much greater than you could have ever imagined. Ultimately God has called us to be faithful in our generation like David; to do our part in the building of this great temple, the church, until that day comes when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Jeff Smith

Easley, SC