Why devote so much time to defending the imputation of Christ’s righteousness when there are so many unreached people groups and millions of people who have no access to the Gospel? I will mention two things. One is that over the past twenty years of leading a missions-mobilizing church I have seen with increasing clarity that teacher-based church planting and not just friendship-based church planting is crucial among peoples with no Christian history. In other words, doctrinal instruction becomes utterly crucial in planting the church.

…

The second thing I would say about the doctrine of justification and missions is that Paul develops this doctrine in the book of Romans in a way that shows it is absolutely universal in its relevance. It crosses every culture. It is not a tribal concept. He does this by building part of the doctrine out of the connection between Adam and Christ in Romans 5:12-21. For example, take only verse 19: “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were appointed sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be appointed righteous.” This, along with the whole context, shows that what Christ came to do in his obedience was universal in its scope and significance. It is not just for the posterity of Abraham, but for the posterity of Adam–namely, everyone (John Piper, Counted Righteous in Christ, 32-33). 

My brother-in-law (Logan Hoffman) is an assistant pastor in New Zealand. In September of 2012, he and my sister relocated to Christ Church to help with a church plant. This upcoming Sunday (2/10/13) the church plant launches weekly services. Praise God! Please pray for launch week at The Well.

Following excerpt from the Preface of Christian Dogmatics (eds. Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Jenson, Fortress Press, xix).

As will become clear at several points in the body of this work, the Reformation doctrine of justification is fundamentally a critical principle. It is the demand continuously to submit all preaching, liturgy, pastoral care, church administration, and so forth to this question: Does this particular act of ministry lead people to find their life’s justification, their reason to be, in the fact that the crucified Jesus lives, or are people left on their own, to depend on themselves for the ultimate meaning of life? If a churchly word or practice in any way suggests the latter, it must, according to the doctrine of justification by faith, be reformed. We tried to make this critical principle effect throughout this work for the ongoing reform of the church.

Indeed. The Reformation/Protestant doctrine of justification is “fundamentally a critical principle” — the doctrine of justification by faith should be a Protestant pastor’s philosophy (theology) of Christian ministry.

1 John 4:20-21 — If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

John Calvin commenting on these verses said that true love for God cannot exists unless it generates brotherly love.

In 1 John, the author is instructing the readers that love (righteousness) proceedeth from the Beloved (the righteous). However, wickedness proceedeth from the wicked (1 Samuel 24:13a). Love and desire will always manifest itself in concrete realities, generating either love/righteousness or wickedness. Our works/the concrete realities generated by our desires, therefore, are testaments of whether we love the works of Satan or love the works of a righteous God.

For a mental exercise, let us assume that Rosenstock-Huessy’s thesis (see prior post) is true: What does this imply about the United States of America?

I’m thinking about our concrete-past, e.g., Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, military Drones, same-sex marriage, Iraq (Shock-and-Awe)/Afghanistan wars, Roe v. Wade!!! (that case was decided on January 22, 1973 … 40 concrete years of baby murder), Vietnam war, the Manhattan Project (and subsequent decision to use that technology on civilian populations in Japan), Manifest Destiny + Civil War+Post-Civil War Manifest Destiny (i.e., first implementation of All-out-War practices, then its re-implementation) … Events, to name a few, from our concrete-past.

Our passions give life to the world. 

Our collective passions constitute the history of mankind.

Thus Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy penned his opening lines to his magnificent tome Out of Revolution: Autobiography of Western Man.

Rosenstock-Huessy was born in Germany in the late 1800s, and was educated in philosophy and law at the University of Heidelberg. He left Germany for the United States in 1933 because Hitler came to power, and he published Out of Revolution in 1938.

The authors says the book’s topic is “[t]he creation of humankind” — for this reason the appropriate subtitle Autobiography of Western Man. In addition, he goes on to say, “our own concrete past is the test-case for all our otherwise too vague discoveries about humanity” (5).

This “test-case” approach to history telling is one of the chief means by which the Old Testament Prophets condemn Israel: the Prophets frequently point to historical test-cases of Israel’s unfaithfulness to Yahweh and her utter disregard for the law of the covenant. Also, the Prophets cast Israel’s sins in a strong light by contrasting Israel’s “concrete-past” with the “concrete-past” of God’s faithfulness to Israel.

The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (Crossway, 2010) by Fred Sanders is excellent. The book is not a Systematic treatment of the doctrine of the Trinity. Sure, there is a lot of theological-speak but Sanders’ feet are firmly planted on the ground, this book is not idealistic or abstract. It is a highly readable,  very good introduction to Evangelicalism’s Trinitarian shape (cf. Chapter 4 – “The Shape of the Gospel”). Sanders aim is emphatic — “The central argument of this book is that the doctrine of the Trinity inherently belongs to the gospel itself” (9) — and, since Evangelicals have historically been all about the gospel, Sanders demonstrates that Evangelicals have historically been all about the Trinity.

Sanders soberly considers the link between the Trinity and the gospel: “A gospel that rearranges the components of your life but does not put you personally in the presence of God is too small.” The doctrine of the Trinity that inherently belongs to the gospel is itself the very “deep things of God” that changes everything for an Evangelical Christian. Sanders quotes Beeson Divinity School’s Gerald Bray to highlight the efficacy of  Trinitiarian grace in the changed life of an Evangelical Christian.

Without pride in our own tradition or prejudice against other forms of Christianity, we must surely proclaim that the experience of a personal relationship with God, sealed by the Spirit in the finished work of the Son from Whom He proceeds, is a deeper and more satisfying faith than any other known to man. . . . Evangelical Protestants are not wrong in insisting that theirs is a deeper, more vital experience of Christ than that enjoyed by Christians of other traditions. We have not received the grace of God in vain and we must not be ashamed to own the Christ we know as the only Lord and Saviour of men (10-11). 

Sanders aims to do nothing less than stir up our Evangelical memories, challenging Evangelicals to take ownership of their shared, rich history of vital Trinitarianism. Sanders sends out a clear note, a conservative call (in the traditional use of the word … progressing while simultaneously conserving) for Evangelicals to celebrate the vital and meaningful life which is changed/created when a Christian lives life in light of the doctrine of the knowledge and truth of the Trinity. Sanders advocates an emphatic refocus upon the Trinity and gospel, the very  “deep things of God.” This conservative action will subvert the contemporary “spiritual shallowness,” which has plagued Evangelical Christianity and given rise to “evangelical coldness toward the Trinity” (11). The Evangelical recollection of memory will, Sanders hopes, carry a Christian further up and further into the Trinity and the gospel, that is, into the “deep things of God.”

Angels are significant and show up all over the Old Testament and the New Testament. However, when they show up in the Gospel narratives, during the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ, their presence is especially significant. When Angels show up in the Drama of Redemptive History, it is a cue to the rest of us that what is about to happen is very important. “Seriously dude, pay attention.”

To begin, lets hold two ideas in our mind:

1. During the birth of Christ we see that Angels show up a whole lot.
2. The author of Hebrews tells us that the word spoken by Angels was steadfast (Hebrews 2:2). That is, in the Drama of Redemptive History, God oftentimes used Angels as a trusty means by which to communicate revelation.

Now lets put those two ideas together: Angels who are trusty show up a whole lot in the beginning of the Gospel narratives. The effect is rather superlative — you can really, really, really trust that Jesus Christ “for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man.” The birth of Christ isn’t just additional divine revelation, it is Divine Revelation. Indeed, it is the Gospel!

Angels Show Up A Whole Lot

1. In the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, an Angel instructs Joseph (who had legitimate concerns about Mary’s having become pregnant) to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
2. In the second chapter, an Angel instructs Joseph to flee blood-thirsty Herod and take Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt.
3. After Herod is dead an Angel instructs Joseph that it is safe to return.
4. In the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, an Angel appears at the right side of the altar of incense before Zacharias; the Angel tells him that he and his wife are going to have a son (John the Baptist), and that this son will “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
5. Also, later on the angel Gabriel greets Mary and tells her that God’s favor is with her and that she will become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit and that she will bring forth a son, and that his name will be Jesus, which means “Jehovah [in the Old Testament this is the proper name of God] is Salvation”.
6. In the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, after the birth of Jesus the Angels appear before the shepherds in the fields and tell them the good news that “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Trusty Angels Declare Deliverance 

In the Old Testament there are many narratives where Angels show up to declare God’s deliverance. In Exodus 3, an angel of the Lord shows up and tells Moses that the Lord is going to use him to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt. In Judges 6, an angel of the Lord meets with Gideon and tells him the Lord is going to use him to deliver Israel from the Midianites. And later on in Judges, an angel of the Lord tells Samson’s parents that their son will deliver Israel from the Philistines.

Since angels were used to reveal, call, and commission deliverers in Israel’s history, it should come as no surprise that God uses them again to declare the Chief-Deliverer of the mother promise (see Genesis 3:15).

This Chief-Deliverer is Jesus — “Jehovah is Salvation” — Christ the Son of God.

There are several ways to tell the story of Salvation. An “act” is a division of drama. It is a way to “unitize” the various elements of story. You can tell the story of Salvation with more than one narrative structure.

The Story of Salvation in a Single-Act

Title: The Glory of God
     All is unitized by the structure of the theme “Glory of God”.

The Story of Salvation in Two-Acts

Title: Of God’s Covenant with Man *
     Act 1 – Covenant of Works (made with Adam)
     Act 2 – Covenant of Grace (made with Jesus Christ, the Second Adam)
         
The Story of Salvation in Three-Acts

Title: A Trinitarian Story in Three Harmonious Acts
     Act 1 – God the Father Chose Us in Christ Before the Foundation of the World **
     Act 2 – Jesus Christ the Son of God is Sent:
          Serves the Father
          Creates a Place (Chosen Humanity) for Spirit to Indwell
          Accomplishes Redemption and Ministers to the Chosen
     Act 3 – Holy Spirit of God is Sent:
          Serves the Father
          Indwells the Place (Chosen Humanity) that Jesus Christ Prepared for Him
          Applies Benefits of Redemption and Ministers to the Chosen

The Story of Salvation in Four-Acts

Title: Sitting Down (Feasting) in the Kingdom of God in Four Scene Changes ***
     Act 1 – People Come From the East
     Act 2 – People Come From the West
     Act 3 – People Come From the North
     Act 4 – People Come From the South
         
* See Ephesians 1:4.
** See Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter VII.
*** See structure in Luke 13:29.

Excerpts from the Introduction and Chapter I of E. L. Hebden Taylor’s The Christian Philosophy of Law, Politics and the State: A Study of the Political and Legal Thought of Herman Dooyeweerd of the Free University of Amsterdam, Holland as the Basis for Christian Action in the English-Speaking World (The Craig Press, 1966) [Originally posted 12/5/12]:

One of the great tragedies of the Protestant Reformation was the failure of the great Reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther to develop a doctrine of law, politics and the state upon truly reformed and biblical lines (1).

Lacking a carefully worked-out Reformed doctrine of law, politics and the state, it is hardly surprising that Protestant Christians have been powerless to meet the needs and challenges of modern society and to provide it with Christian answers to all its pressing problems (5).

Real religion pervades the whole of life: our social, political and industrial and educational no less than our personal and private lives. In fact, it is precisely in his political and business life that a true Christian will seek with God’s help and guidance to live up to his Christian convictions, for it is precisely in political and business life today that the power of Satan, sin and selfishness is so great (17).

What then does the Calvinist mean by his faith in the ordinances of God? Every aspect of life, Kuyper answers, has a law for its existence, instituted by God himself. These laws or ordinances we may call laws of nature, provided that by this term we mean, not laws originating within nature, but laws imposed upon nature. From this doctrine of God’s sovereignty over all aspects of creation, Kuyper developed his conception of sovereignty in each orbit, applying it especially in his political and social philosophy. Ultimate sovereignty belongs to God, while derivative sovereignties belong to the various spheres of human society, so that these spheres are coordinately, rather than subordinately, related (50).

 By means of his doctrine of sphere sovereignty [sphere sovereignty maintains that Jesus Christ is the covenant head of creation, and possesses absolute power and authority, however, he delegates “partial sovereignties to men” in the family, church and state]  Abraham Kuyper has provided Christians with a weapon against both the rugged, selfish individualism of the nineteenth-century laissez-faire variety and the suffocating collectivism of the totalitarian Communists variety (55-56).

According to Kuyper it is God’s common grace which makes human culture possible. Human society would have been utterly destroyed if the common grace of God had not intervened. As such, common grace is the foundation of cultures, since God’s great plan for creation is achieved through common grace. it is not spiritual and regenerative but temporal and material. It is based upon and flows forth from the confession of the absolute sovereignty of God, for, says Kuyper, not only the church but the whole world must give God the honor due to him; hence the world received common grace in order to honor him through it. Thus Kuyper upholds the catholic claims of Christianity and urges its validity for all men (60-61).

Additional excerpts from Chapter II [Added on 12/16/12]:

For Dooyeweerd all philosophic and theoretical or scientific thought proceeds from presuppositions of a religious nature. The starting pint, not only of all practical but also of all theoretical activity, proceeds from man’s religious depths. Such a starting point can be found only in man’s heart or transcendental self. All the issues of life arise out of the human heart which is the concentration point of our entire human existence. Out of it arise all our deeds, thoughts, feelings, and desires. In our hearts we give answer to the most profound and ultimate questions of life, and in our hearts our relationship to God is determined. The heart or transcendental self of man may never be identified with any of our vital functions such as feeling or even faith. it is deeper than any vital function and it transcends the temporal world altogether. It is as far from the body as it is from the mind. The heart is the point where man decides his relationship with Almighty God. It can never be neutral. It loves God or it is hostile to him. It is being renewed by the Spirit of Jesus Christ in the communion of the Holy Spirit, or it still lives in apostasy. As a consequence, theoretical and scientific thought can never be a neutral and autonomous activity (66).

Dooyeweerd maintains that only the Word of God can provide us with a true point of departure and thus enable us to “see” the facts studied in the various sciences in their proper order and relationships. The facts do not “speak” to us unless we see them in their order. If the scientist or philosopher refuses to be taught by the Word of God what this order of the creation is, then he will be forced to substitute some principle of total structuration of his own devising. Such an apostate thinker will then be forced to seek his ultimate principles of explanation and point of departure in one aspect of the created universe rather than in the Creator of the Universe. For this reason Dooyeweerd speaks of all non-Christian systems of thought as being immanentistic  in character, because they refuse to recognize the ultimate dependence of human thought and science upon God’s revelation (72).

The self or heart of man exists in three fundamental relations: in relation to cosmic time, in relation to other selves, and in relation to God. apart from these relations, the selfhood is an empty abstraction which dissolves itself into nothingness. But as we have already seen, the selfhood cannot receive its positive content form its relation to cosmic time alone, because in its radical unity it transcends time. The temporal order of becoming with its diversity of aspects, can only turn away our view form the real center of human existence, so long as we seek to know ourselves from it. Neither can the selfhood receives its positive content from other selves, because when viewed in themselves alone, all selves are equally without content. They all refer beyond themselves for their fulfillment. As Dooyeweerd points out, ‘The ego of our fellow-man confronts us with the same riddle as our own selfhood does.” For Dooyeweerd, as for Calvin, the self’s relation towards God is the determining one. . . . Self-knowledge is thus in the last analysis dependent on our knowledge of God (75-76).