12 from '20

'Tis the season for "Best of" articles, and since I don't do links very often, I wanted to share some of my favorite posts from other sites. In approximately chronological order:

♞5 Ways to Love God with All Your Mind
"As our minds master truth – and are in turn mastered by it – the rest of our being inevitably follows. Hence we find ourselves experiencing greater love for God as we hear, sing and speak of the truths we know. Truths grasped in your mind can be tasted and savoured."

♞Seven Apologetics Books Every Teen Should Read
These books offer a good starting place for anyone of any age, but these would be a great foundation for someone who will be heading off to college.

♞It’s Time for a New Culture War Strategy
"[W]e must recommit ourselves to strengthening alternative institutions, investing in counter-cultural church communities, and catechizing our own children. Let me underscore the last item. ...

Here’s a culture war strategy conservative Christians should get behind: have more children and disciple them like crazy."

♞Why Read Early Christian Authors?
"The truth of the matter is that far too many modern-day Evangelicals are either ignorant of or quite uncomfortable with the Church Fathers. ... Well did Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–92)—a man who certainly could not be accused of elevating tradition to the level of, let alone over, Scripture—once note: 'It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others.'"

♞The Fear of the Lord ... for today?
"[T]he fear of the Lord remains unclear for most of us, and it is critical to embrace it if we are to grow in wisdom (Pro 1:7). Let’s assume that we benefit from understanding it, and we could use more of it."

♞Not White Fragility, Mutual Responsibility
"Watching a country tear itself apart is quite a spectacle. This is the cycle I have come to expect when we have a national racial incident. We have the racial incident, the protest and the backlash. Is it a cycle that we can break? Not if we keep doing what we have done before. So here is my attempt to move away from that cycle and to encourage us to think about a mutual accountability approach."

♞Let's Think About This For a Moment
"If you read every day about every bad and evil thing that has happened over the last 24 hours in every part of the world, you shouldn't be surprised if you are constantly dwelling on those things and struggling with depression and anxiety. If you listen to songs with sexually explicit lyrics and watch movies, television shows, and videos with sexually explicit images, you shouldn't be surprised if you are constantly dwelling on those things and struggling with lust. ... If you choose to drink from a sewer rather than from a clear spring, don't be surprised if you get sick. "

♞How to Prepare for the Next Cultural Revolution
"[W]e need to be ready for the next false philosophy—in a year, in five years, or in a decade—that will spawn the next cultural revolution. I can’t predict what it will be, but I know it will happen. I also know what we can do to be ready, prevent Christian defectors, and answer the challenge when it arrives. Here are two ways to prepare for the next revolution..."

♞We disagree over how to help people, not whether to help them
"[Pro-lifers] do want to care for people, including after they are born, and many of us are actively involved in doing so. We just don’t think it should necessarily be done by big government programs. ... Today, I want to relate a bit of my experience through my church in Louisiana to illustrate this point."

♞Teaching Politics at Belmont Has Me Worried About the State of Debate
"[O]ur classrooms have not escaped the tribal nature of our politics. Conversations are often strident, and it is a challenge to rein in disputes before they turn into full-fledged shouting matches. Students find it harder to come to grips with what Jonathan Haidt labels the “moral matrices” that underpin our political commitments and are hesitant to recognize the sacred values that “bind and blind” political choices, both ours and those of our opponents. The same sources that spur these novel conversations can create inflexible ideological camps."

♞A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory
This is part of a series of long-form articles by Tim Keller. They'll take a while to read, but they're worth the time investment.

"Which justice? There have never been stronger calls for justice than those we are hearing today. But seldom do those issuing the calls acknowledge that currently there are competing visions of justice, often at sharp variance, and that none of them have achieved anything like a cultural consensus, not even in a single country like the US."

♞Refugee? Mixed-Race? Please stop co-opting Christ
"Any time we make Jesus’s ministry about anything other than fulfilling His mission of being the perfect lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) we are in danger of at least distorting the Gospel if not even teaching a false one (Gal. 1:8-9)."

Resolving to be Holy

(The following is an updated encore presentation of a previous post.)

It's New Year's resolution season. This year instead of resolving to lose weight or quit clipping your toenails in the living room (not that those aren't good resolutions), let's try for something more substantive.

We all say, I want to be more like Jesus. But how do we do that? It's easy to get overwhelmed and do nothing. We need to get specific.

Identify the problem
Everyone commits the "little" sins — things like lying or selfishness — and we should fight against those, but we also all have one or two sins that are a particular problem for us. Some might call it your favorite sin, but more likely it's the one you feel is kicking your butt. It's time to do something about that. The sin that so easily entangles has to go.

We say that we struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The flesh is usually our biggest problem, but the world definitely teams up with it, feeding and encouraging our worst impulses.

You may have heard the analogy that the flesh warring with the spirit is like two dogs fighting, and the one you feed will win. We need to cut off the flesh's food supply.

Identify the source
Here's an example: Covetousness. At it's core, coveting is about being dissatisfied with what you have. But you can't be dissatisfied with your lot unless you're aware of the options. You feed your covetousness every time you take in all the things you don't have — whether it's window shopping at the mall or driving by the new car lots or simply browsing the sale ads in the newspaper.

You're fine with your coffee maker until you see the one that will get up off the counter and gently shake your arm to wake you while percolating coffee to a jazzy tune. You're fine with your car until you start contemplating the unending comforts of "rich Corinthian leather."

You can cut off the food to your covetous heart by cutting off the flow of information about things you don't need. Don't look at sales ads to see what's out there. Check out the new coffee pots only after yours dies. Stay away from car lots until it's actually time to replace your car. By removing the things you don't have from your mind, you give yourself fewer things to be unsatisfied about.

Oh, covetousness isn't your problem? How about lust? Cut off the supply. No, I'm not talking about pornography. That's an effect, not the cause. Our society loves to feed our lust — on billboards, on tv, and, even as we walk down the street. Guys, if that's your problem, you might need to cancel some magazines or cable channels. Ladies, perhaps you need to change the books you read.

Maybe it's cursing. How do the people you spend your time with talk? What about your entertainment choices?

Make a specific plan
Whatever it is, figure out the sources of the food and cut them off.

Make a plan. A specific plan. "I will covet less" will get you nowhere. "I will stop driving by the car lot" is specific, and it's easy to tell how you're doing.

Figure out how you can stop feeding the flesh: "I will stop loitering outside the aerobics class." "I will stop watching movies with bad language." Whatever it is, do something concrete.

Keep it going
Then do something else concrete. Whatever change you make is just a drop in the bucket. You stopped driving by the car lot; now excuse yourself when your friend starts talking about his new car. You stopped hanging out watching women in spandex; now stop reading the SI Swimsuit Edition.

Then continue. This is a process. Keep looking for things you can change, ways to cut off the food. As you progress, hopefully the beast will get weaker. 

I suggest making a list. I'll bet you can think of five things you do that feed your problem. Surely you can name three. In Dave Ramsey style, start with the easiest one to cut out. Then move down the list. By the time you've finished the list you should be able to name other habits that contribute to your problem. Make a new list and start down it.

Watch out
Back to the world, the flesh, and the devil: Most of the time I think the devil is the least of our problems — until you try to make some real changes. This is spiritual warfare. Expect to be attacked. Look for it. Plan on it. Be on your guard.

A lot of times we should resist the devil. We need to fight and we can win. But not in this. If you were any good at fighting on this issue, it wouldn't be an issue. Run. When temptation springs up, head for the hills.

Persevere
It's going to be a long road. But by this time next year you will hopefully be a lot more like Jesus than you are today. And hopefully I'll be there with you.

The Work of Christ in the Present

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Heb 1:3).

After Jesus’ resurrection, he visited with his disciples off and on for 40 days. Then “he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight” (Acts 1:9). He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of his Father (Heb 1:3).

So what is he doing now? Is he retired? Is he just killing time until the Father sends him back? No, Christ has a very active role. Let’s look at three things he is doing right now.

First and foremost, Christ is reigning with his Father.

God has “raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph 1:20-21). Being seated at the right hand is a position of authority.¹ The Son now shares in the Father’s rule. “All authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to him (Matt 28:18). That little word “all” is very interesting. It means ... all. Everything in the universe is under his control just as it was before his incarnation. There is no part of his creation that is out of his control -- not hurricanes, nor viruses, nor demons. And everything is dependent on him; he sustains all things by his powerful word (Heb 1:3, Col 1:17). Everything continues to exist only because Christ wills it. My Savior, the one who loved me and gave himself for me is running the universe. What have I to fear?

And one day, we will reign with him. The scriptures say that we have been “seated ... with him in the heavenly places” (Eph 2:6). God’s plan is that we should rule with our elder brother to the praise of his glorious grace (Eph 2:7).

Second, Christ is representing us to his Father. Christ is our mediator with God (1Tim 2:5). He intercedes for us to his Father (Heb 7:25, Rom 8:34). He is our advocate with the Father (1John 2:1). The one who became a man, who was tempted as we are, who then covered our sins with his blood stands between God and man as our great High Priest.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb 4:14-16).

Third, Christ is preparing a place for us. The night that he was betrayed, the Lord told his disciples, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).

Tony Evans says, “The ascension is vitally important to our hope for tomorrow and for eternity. ... Because Jesus went somewhere, we have somewhere to go. And just as Christ ascended to heaven, you and I will leave this earth someday and ascend to heaven because Jesus is coming back for us. If the ascension is true, then heaven is true.”² Heaven is real, and Jesus wants us to be with him. And Jesus is going to come set everything right. But that’s a topic for another time.

James Montgomery Boice says, “It is always difficult to measure one’s own spiritual maturity. But there is a sense in which one can assess it generally by the dominant image one has of Jesus Christ.”³ He is no longer the baby in the manger; he’s not still hanging on the cross. Christ is now the ruling and reigning Lord. Live like he’s the King of the universe. Pray like he’s interceding for you. Hope like you have been promised an eternal home. “Our destiny has been secured by our conquering hero, the ascended Christ, seated at God’s right hand.”⁴


There’s so much more that could be said. I recommend “The Uniqueness of Christ in His Ascension and Present Ministry” in Tony Evans’ Theology You Can Count On.

1 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology
2 Tony Evans, Theology You Can Count On
3 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith
4 Rick Cornish, 5 Minute Theologian

Image credit: Ronny Overhate from Pixabay

Part of Christianity 101

Peering into the Heart of Christ

When we say Jesus loves us, is it a generic love like a love for puppies? Is it a formal, distant, (dare we say it?) because-I-have-to kind of love like you have for your second cousin twice removed? No. Dane Ortlund wants you to know that Jesus really love you — passionately, exuberantly, deeply. 

Ortlund's book Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers came out this year, and it was well timed for the year we've had. This isn't another book where the author relies on his own ideas of what God ought to be like. Ortlund shows from scripture how Jesus really feels about his people:

"What keeps [Christ] from growing cold [toward us]? The answer is, his heart. The atoning work of the Son, decreed by the Father and applied by the Spirit, ensures that we are safe eternally. But a text such as John 6:37 reassures us that this is not only a matter of divine decree but divine desire. This is heaven's delight."

Do you wonder if Christ is put out with you when you come to him with yet more sins? "When you come to Christ for mercy and love and help in your anguish and perplexity and sinfulness, you are going with the flow of his own deepest wishes, not against them."

In something that may surprise those who only them by our society's caricature, Ortlund also draws from Puritan writers of the past to show how thoroughly Jesus loves his people. A passage from Thomas Goodwin says:

"Christ takes part with you, and is so far from being provoked against you, as all his anger is turned upon your sin to ruin it; yes, his pity is increased the more towards you, even as the heart of a father is to a child that has some loathsome disease, or as one is to a member of his body that has leprosy, he hates not the member, for it is his flesh, but the disease, and that provokes him to pity the part affected the more."

He wants you to know that God's love will never leave his children. "Nothing can un-child you. Not even you. Those in Christ are eternally imprisoned within the tender heart of God. We will be less sinful in the next life than we are now, but we will not be any more secure in the next life than we are now. If you are united to Christ, you are as good as in heaven already."

In 23 short chapters, you will be reminded that Christ is our advocate, that wrath is not God's default mood, and that his glory is his goodness. You will see "his deepest heart for his people, weary and faltering on their journey toward heaven."

I may be an oddball, but when I want to reflect on the love of God, I generally turn to the Psalms, the prophets, or the epistles rather than the gospels. It's easy for me to get more caught up in the storyline, the rules, or the clashes with the Pharisees when I read the gospels. It was wonderful to me to have someone take me there and make me see the love of Jesus again.

Who is this book for? It's for anyone who wonders if God is tired of them. It's for anyone who wonders if Jesus was just doing what he was told. It's for people who need to be reminded that their Savior loves them like a cherished child rather than a misbehaving pet or a distant friend. In short, everyone at some time in their life could use to hear these things.

No book is solid gold, but I highlighted an awful lot of this. Crossway was giving the electronic version away for free during the spring. About halfway through I bought a hardcopy. This is one I'll be re-reading. And re-reading. I really cannot recommend it highly enough. You will not be disappointed by this book.

Aside: The Odds of Jesus

“Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled’” (Luke 18:31).

Everyone is the product of a unique combination of improbable events. But Jesus is special: Those improbable events were foretold hundreds of years before his birth.

The New Testament writers had a broader view of the term “prophecy” than we tend to. They included what theologians called types, similar to foreshadowing in literature. So the apostles saw hints of Christ throughout the scriptures. Sometimes they are things that happened to other people in the scriptures but that still point to Christ. Theologians identify about 200 prophecies about Jesus using this broader sense of the word.

But some prophecies are clear and specific and fulfilled only in Christ. There are prophecies that he chose to fulfill, such as riding into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey, that demonstrate how Jesus saw himself and his mission. But there are others that no man could have chosen to fulfill.

Pick any eight such prophecies:

• Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
• Rejected by his people (Is 53:3, Psalm 22:6-8)
• Abandoned by his followers (Zech 13:7)
• Badly beaten (Is 52:14)
• Death by crucifixion (Psalm 22:16-17)
• Killed with criminals (Is 53:9)
• Lots cast for his clothes (Psalm 22:18)
• Buried with the rich (Is 53:9)

The odds of Christ’s fulfilling these eight prophecies are 1 in 10¹⁷ or 1 in one hundred million billion; that is a huge number, so an illustration can help make it a little clearer. This is one by Peter Stoner that Josh McDowell uses¹:

Suppose you cover the entire state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep – that takes about 10¹⁷ silver dollars. Paint one of them red and mix it in good. Now send a blindfolded friend to go anywhere in the state he wishes and randomly pick up one dollar. The odds that he’d get the red one are 1 in 10¹⁷. That is how likely it is for one person to fulfill eight prophecies.

And that doesn’t even consider how his ministry (Is 9:1-2, 61:1-2), miracles (Is 35:5-6), and resurrection (Is 53:10, Ps 16:8-10) were predicted.

The life, death, and life of Jesus were uniquely foretold in detail hundreds of years before he was born, demonstrating that he was no mere man and that the death he died was according to the plan of God.


To get the full effect, read what is sometimes called the gospel according to Isaiah, Is 52:13-53:12, and reflect on how closely this passage written 700 years before Christ describes the death of the savior.

1 Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict

image credit: M&R Glasgow, via Creative Commons 

Part of Christianity 101

Christian Giving

'Tis the season for giving. Not only do we give to those we love, but many choose this time of year to donate to various charities. I want to encourage us all to emulate the Macedonian model.

"And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people" (2Cor 8:1-4).

We live in a world in which most people don't give or give just enough to assuage their guilt.

We also live in a world with great need. Even before the pandemic, there were hundreds of millions who lack medicine or food or even clean water. Now, millions have lost their jobs and exhausted their meager savings.

Christians ought to be people who give 'til it hurts. Everyone has a different pain point, but we should all find ours. In a world in which too many think they've done their duty by dropping a five in the red kettle, the world needs people who give "as much as they [are] able." Paul told the Corinthians, "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality" (2Cor 8:13). He did not want them to make others rich by becoming poor, but he did want them to share of their riches. By the standards of the rest of the world, we are very rich.

Paul wants us to imitate Christ: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2Cor 8:9).

He also told them, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" (2Cor 9:7-8). There is no fixed amount or percentage we're expected to give. God does not want us to give more than we can give with a smile. But he is ready to increase the amount we can give with a smile.

Let's be honest: Giving can be scary. There is always, lurking in the back of our minds, the question, "What if I need this later?" After all, we can get sick. We can lose jobs. The engine can fall out of our cars, too. Giving always requires a certain amount of trust in God. So we should give as much as we can trust God for. And then maybe we can step out a little farther and let God prove himself faithful.

"But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving" (2Cor 8:7).

Gifts That Can Cut

My daughter shares my fondness for knives, so occasionally she gets a gift that can cut her if she's not careful.

Lots of gifts are like that. Good things can go bad, especially if they are abused. But they're still gifts, and we should be grateful for them, even as we smart from our self-inflicted wounds.

The Bible frequently treats wine as a gift from God

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Prov 3:9-10)

even as it treats it as something dangerous.

Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. (Prov 23:31-32)

The internet is a gift like that. Almost the whole of human knowledge can be at your fingertips. You can hold in your hands a little device that can give you access to almost every book ever written. Or you can look at naughty pictures and cyber-bully teenagers.

The internet has broadened our reach. Even my little site has been visited by someone from almost every country on earth. People from Andorra, Antigua, Burundi, Bhutan, and a bunch of other places I couldn't even find on a map have stopped here however briefly. Hopefully at least a few have found something that pointed them to Christ or helped them know and serve him better. Many countries try to suppress the gospel in their borders, but they can't stop their people from looking out. I've had visitors from Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, and just about every other Muslim majority country. And this is just people who've stumbled across one little blog.

People anywhere in the world can access the writings and sermons of some of the best preachers ever, both living and dead. You may live in one of the places where you can't legally own a Bible, but you can read it on your phone. The power of the internet has given people access to the gospel and believers access to a biblical education in a way that was completely unimaginable just a generation ago.

So this year, as we thank God for all the blessings he was given us, take a moment to be grateful for the double-edged gift of the internet. Before you order way too much on Amazon's black Friday sale.

Evidence for the Resurrection

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared ...” (1Cor 15:3-5).

Christianity alone, out of all the religions in the world, tells you how to prove that it’s false: produce the body. OK, two thousand years later, that would be impossible. But to the modern world we can offer a similar challenge: give us a better explanation for the facts.

What facts? Gary Habermas offers a list of 12 facts that, with one exception, are “accepted as historical by virtually all [90%+] scholars who research this area”,¹ be they evangelicals, liberals, or even non-Christians. He also says that you don’t even need all 12 to prove the resurrection happened. I would use these five:

1. Jesus died by Roman crucifixion.
2. The disciples had experiences they thought were appearances of the risen Jesus.
3. The apostles began teaching the resurrection of Christ very soon afterwards in Jerusalem, the city where Jesus was executed and buried.
4. James, the brother of Jesus and a former skeptic, and Saul (Paul), the church persecutor, became Christians due to experiences they believed were appearances of the risen Jesus.
5. Christ’s tomb was empty. (This is the exception. Habermas says only about 75% accept this as fact.)

Because liberals and skeptics accept these facts, it is not necessary to argue from an inerrant or even inspired Bible. They don’t even think the gospels are all that historically reliable. This is why we can say that even if the gospels are simply ancient religious literature, Christ was raised from the dead and Christianity is true.

Anyone wishing to disprove Christianity simply needs to come up with a better explanation for the above facts than the resurrection. And people have tried. We will look at several alternative theories.

Legendary development: Skeptics often claim that the resurrection only became part of Christian teachings decades after the crucifixion, after the “witnesses” were dead and long after Christ’s body would have decayed beyond recognition. But today there are several noteworthy skeptical NT scholars who agree that the teaching of the resurrection happened within a few months to a few years of the crucifixion. For instance, Bart Ehrman believes that the creed reproduced in 1Cor 15:3-7 would have been established within 3-5 years of Christ’s death², meaning that the teaching would have begun even earlier. Scholars generally agree that the resurrection was preached at most a few months after the crucifixion. This means those who claimed to see him after his death were the ones teaching the resurrection. So legendary development is not a plausible alternative.

Swoon theory: The idea that Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross comes into fashion every once in a while. It’s interesting that no one suggested this until long after crucifixions were no longer carried out. Experts believe Jesus actually died on the cross because Roman soldiers were very good at killing people. If Jesus had somehow fooled everyone into merely thinking he was dead, the spear in his side would have ended the charade. If by some odd chance he survived the crucifixion and the time in the tomb without medical care, he would then have to get himself out of the tomb (the stone would have weighed tons) and avoid the guards. And after all he had endured (the flogging, the crucifixion, the spear, the time in the tomb), it’s unlikely he would convince his followers he had “conquered death.”

Stolen body: The idea that the disciples stole Christ’s body is the first alternative theory we know about. But the idea that the same men who fled and hid during his arrest would then find the nerve to steal his body from a guarded, sealed tomb and then insist on proclaiming his resurrection even after the deaths of Stephen and James is too ridiculous to imagine. This theory also fails to explain the conversion of skeptics.

Hallucination: What if the disciples only thought Jesus appeared to them? What if they wanted him to live so badly they convinced themselves that he had returned from the dead? As much trouble as they caused with their preaching, the Jewish leaders or the Romans would have simply trotted out the body. But the tomb was empty; how did that happen? And even though people can have such hallucinations, people cannot share hallucinations. One disciple might think he saw the risen Christ, but not a dozen, much less 500 of them. Additionally, skeptics like James and Paul would not be susceptible to those hallucinations.

Copy of pagan myths: Some claim that the Christian resurrection story was copied from pagan myths of dying and rising gods. When the similarities are closely examined, though, they quickly fall apart, and the more similar the mythic element is, the more likely it is to have appeared after Christianity. And, ultimately, no amount of similarities to these myths explains the historical data.

History has shown that skeptics are endlessly creative when it comes to alternative theories to explain away the resurrection, but in the end they all fail to adequately explain the historical facts. “But no theory is as implausible as the idea that someone rose from the dead.” In a naturalistic world, that would be true. But if God can create a universe out of nothing, he can certainly reanimate a corpse. And as long as miracles are possible, a resurrection is a much better explanation for the historical facts.

We need to be confident that Christ was raised from the dead. “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1Cor 15:17-20).


For more on this topic, including more skeptical alternative theories, I recommend The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas and Michael Licona.

1 Gary Habermas, The Risen Jesus & Future Hope
2 Bart Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist?

This is based on Habermas' "minimal facts" approach to the evidence for the resurrection. I have taken different approaches here and here.

image credit: JeffJacobs1990 via pixabay

Part of Christianity 101

Facets of the Atonement

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

What happened at the cross? Over the centuries theologians have proposed numerous ways of understanding what Christ accomplished on the cross. People have argued vehemently in support of various “theories of the atonement.” In recent years, though, most theologians are realizing that there is an element of truth in many of these theories and that we should consider them together to get a complete understanding of the atonement.

“Not all theories of the atonement can be justified biblically. Some are incompatible with others, and many, while having an element of truth, are not adequate explanations of how salvation is accomplished. All of them, however, are illuminating and in some way widen our knowledge of this profound subject.”¹

The atonement is like a fine diamond; it has many sides, many facets that gleam differently as we turn to look at it first from this angle, then from another. So we’ll look at a few of the prominent theories and see how the different facets reflect God’s glory and grace to us.

The death of Christ as an example. “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1Pet 2:21). Jesus taught that we should turn the other cheek and go the extra mile. He said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness” (Matt 5:10). He showed us just how far we should be willing to take that by going to the cross where “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” (1Pet 2:23).

The cross as demonstration of God’s love. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). The cross shows us just how far God’s love for us goes. Once we understand the depths of our sin, the love shown at the cross should leave us speechless. And it should fill us with confidence. “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:31-32).

The cross as Christ’s victory over evil. When the forces of evil coaxed Man to sin, they gained a foothold on the earth and authority over humanity. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12). At the cross, Christ took all of that back. “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col 2:15). Then God “raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph 1:20-21). Though for now sin and death and the dark powers that are loose in the world can still harm us in their death throes, the war is over, and we have victory in Christ Jesus.

The cross as payment of our debt to God. Substitutionary atonement, the idea that Christ died to satisfy the wrath of God, to pay the penalty for our sin, is frequently attacked today as not only bloody and petty but also as new. Though the modern formulation has its roots in Anselm’s satisfaction theory, it really only became what we know today in the time of the Reformation. But that doesn’t mean the idea of Christ paying for our sin hasn’t been part of Christian teaching since the beginning.

Jesus was introduced as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). In Hebrews, the death of Christ is likened to the Day of Atonement (9:1-15). Peter said of Jesus, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1Pet 2:24). And one of the earliest statements of faith of the fledgling church was “Christ died for our sins” (1Cor 15:3). Christ and the apostles pointed to Isaiah’s prophecy of the suffering servant in relation to Christ’s death: 

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed (Is 53:5).

“... [S]ubstitution is not a ‘theory of the atonement.’ Nor is it even an additional image to take its place as an option alongside the others. It is rather the message of each image and the heart of the atonement itself.”²

Together, these facets give us a fuller understanding of the atonement than any one theory can. Erickson sums up the picture created:

In his death Christ (1) gave us a perfect example of the type of dedication God desires of us, (2) demonstrated the great extent of God’s love, (3) underscored the seriousness of sin and the severity of God’s righteousness, (4) triumphed over the forces of sin and death, liberating us from their power, and (5) rendered satisfaction to the Father for our sins. All of these things we as humans needed done for us, and Christ did them all.³

This brief article can barely scratch the surface. I recommend John Stott’s The Cross of Christ to everyone.

1 Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology
2 John Stott, The Cross of Christ
3 Millard Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine

image credit: OpenClipart-Vectors

Part of Christianity 101

The Work of Christ in His Death and Resurrection

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

The death and resurrection of Christ was the central act of human history. It’s also the foundation of Christian theology, so we’ll be spending some time digging into this topic.

Why did Christ have to die? Human rebellion had to be paid for, and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22). Rebellion against God is a capital offense, but God, in Christ, was willing to take that punishment upon himself.

So Christ went to the cross. Many today want to dismiss the notion that God sent Jesus to die. They say that he came here to teach and inspire, but we killed him. The apostles disagree: “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross” (Acts 2:23).

Some today object that this constitutes “divine child abuse.” They have a weak understanding of the Trinity. The Father and the Son are separate persons, but there is one God and there was one plan whereby God would take the penalty on himself. The Son was not forced into a role by the Father; this was their plan. “We must not, then, speak of God punishing Jesus or of Jesus persuading God, for to do so is to set them over against each other as if they acted independently of each other or were even in conflict with each other. We must never make Christ the object of God’s punishment or God the object of Christ’s persuasion, for both God and Christ were subjects not objects, taking the initiative together to save sinners.”¹ Jesus said, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (John 10:18).

Which brings us to the resurrection. In the epistles, the authors will often speak of Christ’s death or of his resurrection, but in most cases they have both in mind. His death and resurrection are two parts of the same event. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom 4:25).

It’s common for skeptics to claim that this belief developed later, long after everyone who knew Jesus was dead. Today, though, even non-Christian NT scholars (yes, that’s a thing) find themselves agreeing that this belief is very early. 1Cor 15:3-7 is held by many scholars to be an early creedal statement that Paul quotes in his letter. It says, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ... he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures....” According to Jesus Seminar founder Robert Funk, this creed was probably set within three years after Christ’s death.² Note that both his death “for our sins” and his resurrection are included in this formula.

Today “progressive Christians”* often teach that the resurrection of Jesus was a “spiritual resurrection,” that is, that he “rose” in his followers’ hearts or perhaps that he continued in a spiritual existence after his death. In his massive The Resurrection of the Son of God, NT Wright has shown in exhaustive detail that a non-physical resurrection would never have even entered into the minds of either Jews or Greeks of that time period. Resurrection meant the body getting back up and walking off. That is part of what made the Christian message so hard for the Jews and Greeks to believe. “The resurrection is particularly significant, for inflicting death was the worst thing that sin and the powers of sin could do to Christ. In the inability of death to hold him is symbolized the totality of his victory. What more can the forces of evil do if someone whom they have killed does not stay dead?”³

The teaching of the apostles was that Christ physically rose from the dead and so will we. Christ was “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1Cor 15:20). Because he had victory over death, we will have victory over death. Not only will we live again, we will live better than we ever have — we will have a resurrection body (eg, 1Cor 15:51-54) like his.

But the victory of the resurrection isn’t just for after we die. Through Christ’s resurrection, we have victory over sin’s power right now. “When you accepted Christ you were identified completely with Him, both in His death and in His resurrection. So when Christ was raised from the dead, you also were raised to a new way of life.”⁴ Through Christ’s death, the chains of sin were broken. Through his life, we have the power to not sin. It’s a power we don’t use well or often enough, but we can get better with practice.

The death and resurrection of Christ are not just an event to commemorate. It’s supposed to transform us. We should live differently because of the price paid for our sins and because of Christ’s victory over death. Let us commit to living, through the power of the Holy Spirit, lives worthy of the risen Savior.


For more on this topic, I recommend “The Uniqueness of Christ in His Resurrection” in Theology You Can Count On by Tony Evans.

1 John RW Stott, The Cross of Christ
2 Robert Funk and The Jesus Seminar, The Acts of Jesus
3 Millard Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine
4 Tony Evans, Theology You Can Count On

* The term here refers to a religious perspective rather than a political movement. I put the term in quotes because the extent to which these people teach Christianity is in serious question.

image credit: passion by congerdesign via Pixabay

Part of Christianity 101

The Work of Christ in His Mortal Life

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matt 4:23). 

Why didn’t Jesus go straight to the cross? What was the point in his hanging around for 30 years before even starting his ministry? What was he doing in that time? Because the Apostles’ Creed jumps from “born of the Virgin” to “suffered under Pontius Pilate” we “might be tempted to draw the false inference that what happened in between these two terminal events in the life of Jesus is unimportant for Christian belief.”¹ The truth is this period is very important for Christian faith and practice, so I want to look at two things Jesus did during his mortal life. 

The first and most important thing Jesus did in his earthly life was to live perfectly. Jesus literally dared his challengers to prove he had ever sinned (John 8:46). That would be insane for any other human being to do. We know, even if we don’t like to admit, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” But Jesus never sinned. The apostles maintain that he was without sin (eg, 1Pet 2:22, 2Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15), something that was never claimed for Abraham, Moses, David, or any other revered figure. 

This means that Jesus always did what he was supposed to and never did what he wasn’t supposed to. He loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He loved his neighbor as himself. He never lied or stole, never lusted or hated. He fulfilled every letter of the Law of Moses, and he also lived out the spirit of it. Had he sinned, he would not have been an acceptable sacrifice (cf, 1Pet 1:19). 

But he was certainly tempted to sin. We have the story of the wilderness temptation by Satan (eg, Matt 4:1-11), but he was tempted more than that. Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (4:15). 

People may say, “But he didn’t sin, so he doesn’t really understand temptation.” CS Lewis replies, “Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. ... A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means....”² 

Another common response is that Jesus didn’t sin only because he had the power of God. But he “emptied himself.” He had given up independent usage of his divine nature. So how did he refrain from sinning? By depending on the Holy Spirit. Jesus resisted temptation via the same means that is available to all Christians. The God who said, “Be holy for I am holy” (1Pet 1:16), showed us how it’s done. He desires that we follow his example, knowing that God “will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1Cor 10:13). Of course, we will fail often. He knows we are wedded to a fallen nature; he “remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). The same grace that took him to the cross is with us when we sin now: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9), but he desires to see us growing in holiness for his name’s sake. 

The second thing I want to discuss about Jesus’ earthly life was his proclaiming, and living, the inauguration of the Kingdom of God. The “Kingdom of God” is, very briefly, God setting everything right — including a broken creation, rebellious humans, and a world in which wickedness rules. Jesus came to say and to show that God was bringing an end to all of it. NT Wright says Jesus “was not a teacher who also healed; he was a prophet of the kingdom, first enacting and then explaining that kingdom. ... When Jesus announced the kingdom, the stories he told functioned like dramatic plays in search of actors.”³ Our Lord wants us to be those actors. He wants us to live out those teachings about the Kingdom of God. 

“But everything hasn’t been put right!” True. But the process has started. It will be completed. We live in what theologians call the “already but not yet.” The kingdom is already here, but it is not what it will be. Right now Christ wants to show the world what the kingdom looks like through his Church. So he taught us to forgive, to take care of the poor, to defend the weak, and to speak the truth in love to a world that does not know God. 

One day the process will be complete. Everything will be made new. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Rev 21:4). But in that day, it will be too late for the lost to join in the Kingdom of God. So we are to live it out now, to show them what could be and to call them to repentance and to trust in Jesus. 

For more on Christ and the Kingdom of God, see NT Wright’s The Challenge of Jesus. 

1 I. Howard Marshall, A Guide to Christian Beliefs 

2 CS Lewis, Mere Christianity 

3 NT Wright, The Challenge of Jesus

Part of Christianity 101

The Incarnation

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:5-7 NASB).

What was the most amazing event in history? The creation of the universe? Alexander conquering the world? The resurrection of Christ? Putting a man on the moon? No.

The most amazing event in history is this: God became a man. The infinite wrapped himself in the finite. The eternal was born. It’s one of the most controversial aspects of Christian theology, but it’s clear that it had to be this way.

The image of God had broken itself. God’s representatives abandoned and turned on him. That could not be allowed to stand. Athanasius likens it to a king “who has founded a city, so far from neglecting it when through the carelessness of the inhabitants it is attacked by robbers, avenges it and saves it from destruction, having regard rather to his own honour than to the people’s neglect.”¹

And how is God to fix this situation? Human rebellion required recompense that humans could not pay, because the wages of sin is death — paying our debt would destroy us. According to Anselm, “no one can pay except God, and no one ought to pay except man: [so] it is necessary that a God-Man should pay it.”² The only way this would work is if God and humanity merged somehow.

But how? We don’t really know. All we can say on the authority of scripture is that the Son “emptied himself” (Phil 2:7). This is called the “kenosis.” Of what did he empty himself? Of his divinity? Not hardly. Even if it were possible, it would ruin the equation. Theologians speculate that he gave up the independent use of his divine power; that is, he depended on the Holy Spirit for every miracle. And he temporarily gave up (or perhaps "veiled" is a better term) his glory (cf, John 17:5, 17:24).

But the Son never ceased to be God. Instead, he added human nature to his divine nature. The two natures coexist in perfect harmony. It is not a divine nature with a little taste of humanity thrown in. It is not a human nature with a little bit of the divine on top. We say that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. “But that’s 200%!” Yes, but it gets the message across that in Christ the complete divine Son was united to a complete human nature. And these two natures are “perfectly united with no mixture, confusion, separation, or division”³ with, as the Chalcedonian Creed says, “each nature retaining its own attributes.”

Erickson offers an analogy: Picture the world's fastest sprinter entering a three-legged race. His physical capacity is not diminished, but his performance is limited by his decision to restrict himself.⁴ Christ's divine and human natures worked together to achieve one goal, but the divine nature was voluntarily bound to human limitations.

What does it mean to say God became man? This God-man had the complete human experience. He was born. He got tired. He got lonely. He saw people he loved die. He felt fear. He experienced rejection. He was tempted. He died. He went through everything that humans go through.

What does it mean to say Christ was God in the flesh? It’s important to address a common error. From ancient times to the present day, false teachers have tried to say that Christ was only the exemplar of what we all can be. Sometimes it’s the idea that we all can become christs. More often today it’s that Christ only expressed the spark of the divine that exists in all of us. However it’s stated, it’s wrong. Christ was the unique God-man. The incarnation was a once for all event that will never be repeated.

Christ was not a man who was special. He was and is God made flesh. “The Bible from Genesis to Revelation presents a stupendous view of God, and then it tells us that Jesus Christ is all that God is.”⁵

The glory of the incarnation is that we do not serve an aloof God who watches from on high. We serve a God who came down and got in the muck with us. He knows what it means to be a human being, so he understands us, sympathizes with us, and advocates for us. That is a God who deserves our adoration.


For more on this topic, the classic text is Athanasius’ On the Incarnation. Be sure to get an edition with the introduction by CS Lewis which is worth the price of the book on its own. The works by Anselm and Machen (both quite short) are also very much worth your time.

1 Athanasius, On the Incarnation
2 Anselm, Cur Deus Homo (or Why God Became Man)
3 RC Sproul, Everyone’s a Theologian, emphasis in original
4 Millard Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine
5 J Gresham Machen, The Person of Jesus

Image credit: Rollstein via Pixabay

Part of Christianity 101

Review: Another Gospel?

I recently commended to you the podcast and blog of Alisa Childers on Progressive Christianity. She's got a new book out, Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth. In it she tells the story of how she, a faithful Christian who had been raised in a theologically sound home and church, stumbled into Progressive Christianity and what she has learned since.

I had been looking forward to the book, but once it was actually released, I was a bit put off by the description and table of contents on Amazon. I don't really enjoy "spiritual biography" type books, and this was sounding like one of those. However, I wanted to buy her book because I enjoy her other work, so I gave it a shot and was relieved to find I had misunderstood.

Don't get me wrong, this book is definitely biographical. But her story, the issues she encountered at that church, is the framework to discuss the theological and apologetic issues that arise with progressives in general.

So what is the book? It's mostly an introductory level apologetics book like The Case for Christ or Know What You Believe. But the issues coming from progressive circles sometimes have a slightly different flavor than they do with general skeptics. What does it cover? The table of contents does not make it clear, so I will clarify it:

1: Introduction
2: How she ended up at a progressive church
3: The search for earliest Christianity
4: 5 things that can drive people to progressivism
5: What do Progressive Christians believe?
6: "Same wrapper, different candy" — How progressives cloak old heresies in familiar terms
7: Trusting the Bible — Textual criticism
8: Trusting the Bible — The gospels as eye witness accounts
9: The progressive view of bible (a low view)
10: The progressive view of salvation (univeralism)
11: The progressive view of the atonement (cosmic child abuse)
12: Reconstructing her faith — What are the essential Christian beliefs?

Framed around her narrative, the book really moves. It's compelling reading, and even if you've read other apologetics books, you'll probably learn some things about progressives you weren't aware of. I took "same wrapper, different candy" from the book. She talks about how progressives (like other heretics) take familiar Christian terms like salvation or inspiration and give them new meaning without telling you what they're doing. It turned out her progressive pastor thought the Bible is inspired ... in the same way Mozart was inspired. And speaking of other heretics, she shows how a lot of their teachings are heresies the church answered long, long ago, but since so few of us know anything about church history, we can fall into their traps.

Twice now I've said "other heretics." I do that seriously. Almost a hundred years ago J Gresham Machen wrote in Christianity and Liberalism that "Liberal Christianity" is not Christian at all. The names change, but the teachings really don't, and Childers shows that progressives, like the "liberals" and "modernists" before them, remove everything that make Christianity Christian and try to sell it as the same religion. And that's why you ought to read this book, to arm yourself and your kids so they cannot fool you.

The Virgin Birth

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly” (Matt 1:18-19).

A virginal conception is impossible. A woman cannot get pregnant without the involvement of a man. Everyone knows this. Joseph certainly knew this — that’s why he assumed Mary was unfaithful. Virgin births don’t happen. And yet one did.

It’s hard to say that the virgin birth of Christ is an essential doctrine. People can be saved without ever having heard of it. They can be saved without believing it. Two of the gospels don’t mention it. Millard Erickson points out that the evangelistic sermons in Acts never mention it.¹ Yet I will maintain that it is still a primary doctrine. The creeds insist that all Christians everywhere must believe it. Why?

Before we get into why it’s important, we should be clear about what we mean. Muslims distort our teaching that Jesus is the Son of God as meaning we believe that God the Father and Mary had a physical union, like something out of a Greek myth. When Mary was told, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35), what was meant was that the Spirit would make something in her body that was not previously there. No one “entered” Mary by the conventional meaning of the term. But God created. Some skeptics will try to equate the conception by the Holy Spirit as something akin to rape, but this was not forced upon Mary as an unwilling victim. Her response to the angel was: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38). She was a willing participant in a supernatural, not physical, event.

So why is the virgin birth important? In telling us how the incarnation came about, the scriptures assure us of Christ’s full humanity. He did not just appear; he was born of a woman. He was not only a spirit — Mary gave birth in quite the usual way, so docetism is untrue. JI Packer says, “The Fathers appealed to the virgin birth as proof, not that Jesus was truly divine as distinct from being merely human, but that he was truly human as distinct from merely looking human as ghosts and angels might do.”²

But it also tells us his conception was special, so he was not a mere man who became the Christ as various heresies such as adoptionism have suggested. Moreover, since his beginning was unique, he is unique. We cannot become christs like the Ebionites taught.³

So the virginal conception of Christ puts boundaries on our theology. It keeps us from wandering onto the wrong path, so we have to hold onto it.

We also have to hold onto it because it’s true. The gospels tell us that Jesus was conceived by a virgin, so we believe it.

The only reason people reject the virgin birth is that they’ve allowed naturalism to creep into their theology. They simply cannot accept this miracle. Why do they doubt it? Because it’s impossible? Many things in the Bible are “impossible.” That’s pretty much the definition of a miracle. Which is the problem.

Rarely does it stop with the virgin birth. People who reject this teaching typically soon reject every other miracle in the scriptures. If the other miracles are untrue, then the Bible is full of lies. And if miracles don’t happen, Christ was not raised from the dead. “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1Cor 15:17).

As Packer points out, “The Bible says that the Son of God entered and left this world by acts of supernatural power.”² The supernatural forms the bookends of Christ’s earthly life and fills much in between. What do we do with that? We own it. We embrace it. If Genesis 1:1 is true, if God created the universe out of nothing, any other miracle in the Bible is a parlor trick. We shouldn’t be ashamed of a miraculous birth because “miraculous” is what God does. And the same power that formed Jesus in the womb of a virgin, the same power that raised him from the dead, lives in us. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

As for the virgin birth, J Gresham Machen said it well: “Even if the belief in the virgin birth is not necessary to every Christian, it is certainly necessary to Christianity.”³


For a detailed defense of the virgin birth, see J Gresham Machen’s The Virgin Birth of Christ.

1 Millard Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine
2 JI Packer, Growing in Christ
3 J Greshem Machen, The Virgin Birth of Christ

image credit: Christopher Cook


Part of Christianity 101

What's Shaping You?

Today it's popular to think that you are what you want to be, but the truth is we are all a product of our genes, background, environment, and choices. The scriptures put a lot of emphasis on those last two.

One of the more popular passages in the Bible, Romans 12:1-2, says 

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Because of the mercy God has shown us, Paul says, we ought to live our lives to God. So, don't be conformed to this world.

One of the things that always strikes me anew when I read that passage is that the verbs in verse 2 are passive. It's not "don't conform yourself to this world;" it's "don't let this world conform you to itself." Conforming to the world is something that just happens to you. Being transformed is also something that is done to you. 

The other thing is that this is binary. There are only two choices — if you're not being transformed, you are being conformed to the world.

If this just happens to me, what can I do about it? I can choose to renew my mind. That is the catalyst. God's Word does the transforming, but I choose to submit myself to it. 

How do we renew our minds? My filling our minds with God's word (and obeying what we find there). Of course, that's easier said than done. So I want to go over some ways I've found to be helpful.

Before I start, though, I want to put a caveat of sorts on what follows. The instruction to renew our minds was given before much of the NT was written. When it was given, and for long afterwards, most believers didn't have their own copy of the scriptures, in fact most were illiterate. So we shouldn't insist that the only way to renew your mind is to read the Bible daily. If the ancients could meditate on the scriptures without having a copy of them, then we can too. But it's a whole lot easier with a Bible. 

And if the modern world has given us wonderful new ways to get into the word, it has also given the world new ways to get into us. Once upon a time, people lived in little bubbles. Now we are continually bombarded by ideas from all around the world. TV, radio, billboards, bus ads, and the internet are an inescapable part of life for most in the West. The world is constantly trying to conform us to itself. We have to push back hard if we want to be transformed. 

Here are some things that can help. 

➤ First and foremost, we are best transformed by the word of God by spending time in the word of God. How much time? As much as you can. Five minutes a day is better than nothing, but how well is that going to counter 12 hours of inundation by the world? Quality is more important than quantity, but quantity is important. How can we get more Bible in?

I just came across something that I should have known, but it surprised me. You can read half of the books in the Bible in less than 30 minutes. Most of the rest can be read in about the same amount of time as a movie or ball game. We have the time to spend in the word if we choose to use it wisely. 

Do you have a smart phone? If so, you've got a Bible in your pocket. But you know that — you probably use it at church. So use it when you're in line at the grocery store, when you're in the bathroom, or when you're waiting on your kids. Make use of that dead time. 

Another way to get more time in the Bible is to listen to it. There are tons of audio Bible versions out there. You can listen while you commute or while you do the dishes. 

➤ OK, here I get a little more controversial: Spending time in the Bible isn't the only thing you can do. In fact, I think we'd just block it out if we just listened to it on repeat. So put Bible-saturated things in your life.

A devotional guide is not a Bible. But it can be a good way to start a day or take a coffee break and refocus on what's important. There are a lot of bad daily devotionals, but there are also a lot of good ones. Do a little research and find some. This year I've been trying to start my day with Tim Keller's devotional through Proverbs called God's Wisdom for Navigating Life. Next year it will probably be his Psalms devotional. Starting your day, or spending a few minutes at lunch, with Spurgeon or Stott or Tozer or Yancey is a good way to get a little more Bible and a little more biblical worldview in your day.

Just as the Bible is on audio, so are lots of good Christian books. That's actually how I get most of my "reading" done. Time in a good Christian book is not time in the Bible. But it's also time you're not being taught to think like the world. Invest in some good ones or see if you can get some from your library (which probably has access to more than you think). Hit up ChristianAudio.com's twice a year sale. If you've got an Alexa device or app, it can read Kindle books to you (I don't know about the other "digital assistants" out there).

Of course, Christian books are basically just long sermons (or sermon series). You can also listen to actual sermons. Besides the radio, a great many pastors put their sermons out in podcast form or on YouTube. I hope you have a wonderful pastor, but that doesn't mean you can't also benefit from RC Sproul, Chuck Swindoll, or Tony Evans. There are also online lectures you can access for free, eg, BiblicalTraining.org. 

And there is lots of apologetics content out there — Stand to Reason, Ravi Zacharias, Sean McDowell, and Frank Turek are just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of great budding apologists on YouTube these days. Not only will these things shore up your Christian worldview and teach you to answer the objections to Christianity the culture throws at us, they'll teach you how to think, how to approach issues you've never encountered before.

A lesser thing for sure, but I think there's value in listening to good Christian music, too — where "good" means theologically sound. There is music than runs off the rails, but it usually (not always, though) doesn't get played on the radio. Music can teach, but I think it primarily serves the role of reminding us what we already know. 

I am not saying you should stop watching TV altogether, stop going to ball games, stop listening to your other podcasts, or stop listening to non-religious music. I'm saying switch some of that for this. I'll admit, I believe the more the better, but anything you add is an improvement over it not being there. 

When I started my current job, my commute was mostly to the sound of talk radio. I arrived at work agitated. By the time I got home, between work, traffic, and politics, I was walking in the door angry. Our entertainment choices do shape us.

Now I fill most of the silences of my day with things that point me toward God, remind me of what we're supposed to believe, or help me think well. I think I see positive changes in me over the years. I'm not yet what I want to be, but I'm definitely not what I used to be. I'm more patient, less suspicious, and less quick to speculate about motives. When conflict arises, I feel like I start from a much healthier place than I use to. 

I think I'm a better person for it. I think you would be too.

Recommended reading: How to Change Your Mind

Did Jesus Claim to be God?

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1, 14).

Did Jesus teach his divinity? It’s trivial to show that the various authors of the New Testament called Jesus God. John 1:1-3 is the example that immediately springs to most people’s minds, but it’s throughout the writings of the apostles. (If anyone wants to take a brief tour, John 1, Col 1, and Heb 1 cover the bases well.) But what if they imposed that notion on Jesus after he was gone? That is what many people today allege — that Jesus did not claim to be God and would have been appalled at the notion. So we’re going to look at examples of Jesus claiming deity.

You won’t find Jesus saying, “I’m God” in scripture. Besides the fact that he wouldn’t have been properly understood, it would have landed him charges of blasphemy. But he did claim to be God. How?

Bowman and Komoszewski, in Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ, demonstrate that Jesus (and the apostles, on his behalf) laid claim to the prerogatives of God. They organize the evidence using the acronym HANDS:

• Honors: Jesus shares the honors due to God.
• Attributes: Jesus shares the attributes of God.
• Names: Jesus shares the names of God.
• Deeds: Jesus shares in the deeds that God does.
• Seat: Jesus shares the seat of God's throne.

If I were trying to convince a skeptic or doubter of the deity of Christ, I would prefer to cite examples from Mark or the material common to Matthew and Luke (that allegedly from the hypothetical earlier document called “Q”) because skeptics and liberals believe that to be older material, allowing less time for legendary development. (They tend to ignore the fact that Paul’s letters, with much higher Christology than the gospels, probably predate the gospels.)

Jesus claims the honors due to God: Jesus allowed himself to be worshiped, something no angel ever permits (eg, Rev 19:10), for example

• “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him...” (Matt 28:17).
• “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28).

Jesus claims (or demonstrates) the attributes of God: Jesus was (and is) a man, so that complicates his sharing the attributes of deity, but he still claimed or demonstrated several, including:

• Jesus claimed pre-existence: Matt 23:37, John 8:58
• Jesus demonstrated omniscience: Mark 2:6-8, John 4:17-18
• Jesus claimed omnipresence: Matt 28:20

Jesus claims the names of God: Jesus never said, “I’m YHWH,” but he did the next best thing in John 8:58 — “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “before Abraham was born, I am.” He was claiming to be the “I AM WHO I AM” of Ex 3:14, and the Jews of his day knew it, which is why “they picked up stones to stone him” (John 8:59).

Then, in the Great Commission, Jesus changes the Jewish bapismal formula. His followers would not baptize in the name of YHWH. They would baptize in the name (singular) “of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19).

Jesus claims to share in the deeds that God does:

• Jesus claims to be able to forgive sins: Mark 2:5
• Jesus controls the elements: Mark 4:35.41
• Jesus claims to be able to give new Law or change the old: Mark 10:2-12, 13:31
• Jesus claims to be the one who will judge humanity: Matt 16:27 (also see below)
• Jesus claims to be able to do anything for his followers: John 14:13-14

Jesus claims to share the seat of God's throne: That is, he claims that he will rule as and/or with God. Jesus frequently referred to himself as the Son of Man. There is a little bit of ambiguity in that name. It could just mean “human.” Or it could refer to the supernatural entity Daniel saw who walked into the throne room of God Almighty and sat down (Dan 7:13). He finally made it perfectly clear that he meant the latter:

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” (Mark 14:61-64)

See also Matt 11:25-27, 25:31, 28:18.

As it turns out, Matt 28:16-20 contains an example of every one of these classes. Mark 2:1-12 contains at least three.

Dan Brown made the claim that no one thought of Jesus as divine before the 4th Century. The truth is that the earliest debate over the nature of Christ was whether he was really human. You hopefully now see why. The early church had no doubt that Jesus claimed to be God, and they worshiped him as such from the very beginning.

So the one who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” was the true God, the maker of heaven and earth, who became a man for the sole purpose of dying on the cross to rescue us from the consequences of our rebellion against him.


For more on this topic, see William Lane Craig, “The Self-Understanding of Jesus” in Reasonable Faith.


Part of Christianity 101