In the last few years many people within the faith have critiqued Christianity - more in particular evangelicalism - for being more about ‘what they are against than what they are for’. There is some truth in that. It is always dangerous when a political party, social activism, or a cause becomes more important than the Gospel.

But at the same time, we do have to draw some lines in the sand. It’s not enough to be for ‘love’ without defining what we mean by that. It’s not enough to be for ‘community’ without defining what we mean by that. Sadly, in some cases it’s not enough to be for Jesus without defining what we mean by that. I came across these thoughts from Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones’ What is an Evangelical, written in the middle of the last century.

One of the first signs that a man is ceasing to be truly evangelical is that he ceases to be concerned about negatives, and keeps saying, We must always be positive. I will give you a striking example of this in a man whose name is familiar to most of you, and some of whose books you have read. This is what he has written recently: `Whether a person is an evangelical is to be settled by reference to how he stands with respect to six points’, which he then enumerates. His definition is by reference only to what a person is for rather than to what he is against. He goes on: `What a man is, or is not, against may show him to be a muddled or negligent or inconsistent evangelical, but you may not deny his right to call himself an evangelical while he maintains these principles as the basis of his Christian position.’

Now that is the kind of statement which I would strongly contend against. I believe it is quite wrong. The argument which says that you must always be positive, that you must not define the man in terms of what he is against, as well as what he is for, misses the subtlety of the danger.

What do you think; is it enough to positively state what we are for?

(posted by NDMB)

What is our alternative? Ignorance? Falsehood? Josh Harris with a creative trailer for his upcoming book, Dug Down Deep.

In this clip, Mark Driscoll asks RC Sproul what the greatest upcoming theological battle will be. Sproul’s answer is worth watching.

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This is the second post in a series on reconciliation. In the first post we looked at the Biblical basis of reconciliation and in this post we’ll look at some common misunderstandings of it.

How can reconciliation be misunderstood?

The religious person, like the proud Pharisee in Luke 18, underestimates his sin. He does not consider how Paul describes us as dead, alienated, enemies or hostile. By doing so they think too much of themselves, too little of the cross, and therefore never see the depths from which they needed to be saved or the lengths that God had to go.

The self-pitying person thinks that their sin is too great for Jesus, that His work on the cross wasn’t enough to cover their sin. Ultimately there is an element of wanting to atone for their own sins wrapped up in this. The cross itself and all of the truths of the results of reconciliation – adoption, family, brought near, cleansed, righteous – speak against this directly.

The social justice person preaches mission or calling without the cross, sin, or the need to be eternally reconciled. While they may be fixing temporal problems, ultimately, people are not reconciled from their sin to God and from death to life.

A fundamentalist preaches sin and identity but not calling. “We” might have a new identity, “we” have been saved, but “they” do not and are not. Without an emphasis on the calling, our world becomes two dimensional: us and them.

Why or how can we reconcile?

Our identity is now “in Christ”. We are now counted righteous, brought near to God the Father as close as a son or daughter can be. We are no longer slaves to sin, death, the law, or satan. We are presented holy and blameless before Him because of Christ. Our calling is to be ambassadors of this message – and it is a message that needs to be proclaimed. We are to make disciples (identity) by going to all nations (calling).

How can we do that? Because of what Jesus says just before the Great Commandment in Matthew 28. “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The One who died for His enemies, who gives life to the dead, who reconciled us to the Father – He is the same One who is Lord over all things.

NB

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The Biblical concept of reconciliation is a word we might skip by or a concept we’ll give lip service to, but do we really understand it?

Paul talks about reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Ephesians 2:11-18, Colossians 1:15-23, and Romans 5:6-11. To better understand the Biblical concept we can learn a lot by simply looking at the language and words Paul uses.

How does he describe us apart from God?

Sinners, enemies, separated, alienated, strangers, having no hope, without God, hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, having no knowledge of Christ, and dead in our sins.

Do you actually grasp that those truths; that apart from an act of God – a miracle – that you are or were dead in your sins? Dead men don’t raise themselves from the dead. Dead men don’t know that they are dead. Dead men certainly don’t have choices.

Apart from an act of God you are or were enemies with hostility. You aren’t or weren’t a passive participant, you sought out ways to disobey God, to usurp His authority. You aren’t the one who brings peace to the situation. As Luther rightly said, the only thing we bring to our salvation is sin and resistance.

How does Paul say that problem was or is solved?

Jesus. More specifically, His blood shed on the cross. He became sin for us, taking the punishment due us for our hostility and our deadness in sin; and in exchange, He gave us His righteousness. In every passage, reconciliation is tied to our sin and the cross.

What results from God’s act of reconciliation?

In Paul’s language: hope, peace, a new identity in Christ, we’re brought near, we have access to the Father, we have unity with the family of believers, our sins are not counted against us, we are presented holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, we can live for Him, and we’re made ambassadors.

There are a lot of fruits that come from reconciliation – such as thankfulness, generosity, and humility – but I want to key in on two major shifts that happen in reconciliation.

1. We are given a new identity.
2. We are given a new calling.

This is the core of the Gospel, substitution and exchange. Old for new, sin for righteousness, law for grace, hostility for peace, alienation to adoption, shame for joy, death for life, hell for heaven.

In the next post we’ll look at some common ways reconciliation is misunderstood.

NB

Interested in a pastor who regularly quotes from the likes of Nietzsche, Jefferson, and CS Lewis in the same sermon? If you’re unfamiliar with Tim Keller here is how Newsweek described him, “Like so many New Yorkers, Keller is a misfit. He’s a megachurch pastor who doesn’t like megachurches. He’s an orthodox Christian who believes in evolution. He emulates the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards and loves a good restaurant. He’s an evangelist who relishes the power of doubt. New York is the perfect home for such an idiosyncratic Christian: “I’m probably an overeducated guy who makes things too complicated for a lot of people,” he says. As it is for all New Yorkers, the question for Keller is whether he—or his vision—will ever be at home anywhere else.”

You can now download 150 of his sermons for free.

(posted by NB)

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John the Baptist was a fiery character. The Pharisees and Sadducees were threatened by him and for good reason. He had amassed a large following in the desert so, naturally, they were worried about his influence and power. They wondered who he was and what he was doing. The gospel of Luke tell us in chapter 3:

³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
⁵Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
⁶and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

The words of Isaiah paint a picture of an approaching king. In ancient times, a herald would go before the king and clear a path through uneven territory so he could travel over an open highway. I always thought that John was clearing the way for Jesus…removing obstacles and smoothing out the ground for him. But this isn’t who John is preparing the way for. Why would God need obstacles removed? The highway is of the Lord and bears His name, but the preparation is not for him. Isaiah chapter 35 gives us more insight into this same highway.

⁸And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
⁹No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
¹⁰And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The highway is for God’s people—His ransomed exiles. He wants nothing to stand in the way of their return. Every hindrance must be removed. The work that John is doing is removing obstacles in the hearts of the people so that they can be ransomed and return to God along his highway. The fuller picture is one of a king, making his way through the desert to reach his people. He finds his exiles and pays their debts—he redeems them. And through this process, he’s created a highway for them to return back with him because he longs to bring them home. A few verses earlier in Isaiah 35, it says:

⁴Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”

What a beautiful picture of Christ—making his way through a desolate wilderness, facing imminent danger, burning with a passion to save his people, and making a way for them to return back to him. It’s no coincidence that the early Christians were known as “Followers of the Way.” The whole Christian life is one of following the path Christ laid out for us until we return home.

With this understanding of the highway in mind, what were the obstacles that John was working steadfastly to remove? How was he removing them and preparing the “way of the Lord?” Parts 2 and 3 will explore these questions.

Posted by RP

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