Rethinking Holiness

Not all that long ago I was sitting and chatting with my wife and she made a comment that we are not as concerned about holiness as we once were. Her comment was in the context of us having journeyed outside of more formal church structures that had reformed theological systems of belief and a more fundamentalist outlook on life toward the freedom that we had found within the house church that we had started and the liberty that we discovered in Christ in this time. This grace and liberty had lessened the fear of been smitten by the Lord that we previously walked in and the example that she shared was that today we were more likely to watch something on TV today whereas, in the past, we would have switched it off the first time that we heard someone cuss.

Her reflection was accurate as well, while I still consider myself a conservative person, I do appreciate music that sometimes has naughty words in it. I’ll watch a show like the Walking Dead even though it’s filled with zombies and violence. And I’ll laugh hard at an inappropriate joke made on the Grand Tour. I could try and justify these things by saying that it has not corrupted me in any way, I never use coarse language myself, or encourage and applaud violence but at the end of the day I have to admit that my standards have changed.

My response on the day was that I think that my definition of holiness had somewhat changed over time which was manifesting in our lives subconsciously. Holiness was and is still important but it had become less of a personal discipline and morphed more into a relational expression toward others. What I mean by that is that growing up I always thought of holiness as meaning don’t drink, don’t swear, don’t smoke, don’t listen to angry music (I battled with that one), don’t watch movies that have any sort of age restriction on them, don’t hang out at bad places and don’t hang out with people who do any of the above. In other words, holiness was about abstaining from certain behavioral issues that were or had the appearance of evil.

And some of those things above probably are good to avoid with one or two debatable ones in there as well. Yet my old, narrow view of holiness as you may have noticed, was very negative and all about abstinence. It was all inward focused on not doing bad things but had very little positive application in ones life. So how do I see things now and what does it mean to be ‘set apart’? I think that at this stage I see holiness as an expression of love more than anything else. Holiness is not so much about what I am good at resisting (though that is important) as much as it is about how I relate to others around me that is unique or in contrast to the ways of the world. This certainly still carries inward connotations for sure, it requires more dying to self and the same sort of discipline as before, it’s just more others centered which means that it is more about doing good than it is about been good.

You see, I can abstain from all sorts of appearances of evil, I might not ever get drunk, be rude to people, sleep around, get into fights or similar things. Instead I could spend the day fishing or hiking in the mountains having never done anything ‘bad’ all day. But does that make me holy? I don’t think so. Thinking about these things I went and had a look at a few scriptures on holiness, and I soon discovered that holiness is intrinsically relational. In 2 Corinthians 7:1 for example, Paul urges us to ‘perfect holiness in the fear of God’, in the next verse he elaborates by saying that we should wrong no one, corrupt no one and cheat no one. Paul associates holiness with our conduct toward others.

I recently read the comic-style biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the faith Spy, and it documents a moment during his travels where he has an epiphany about been a good person verses doing good, faith to Dietrich had become something more than as intellectual study or exercise and shifted into something that demanded action in the face of evil. I see the same thing with Peter when he makes a similar observation where he associates holiness with ones conduct, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16). Likewise the author of Hebrews urges his readers to “pursue peace with all people and holiness” (12:14). I don’t think that it is possible to do one without the other.

Lastly, the verse that stood out the most for me was in Ephesians 5:1-3, keep in mind that the Greek word for holiness is ‘ἅγιος’ (hagios) and is, in this case, translated as ‘saint’.

Therefore be imitators of God dear children. And walk in love, as Christ has also loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting of saints.

My take away from this is that the saints (holy ones) are to live sacrificial, others centered lives, guarding their own thoughts and actions as we walk in love. The definition of holiness I am advocating for above does not detract from the previous definition that I held too, but it certainly calls for a broadening of what we think that it means to be set apart. What this may look like in practical terms, a decade ago I would have declined an offer for an alcoholic beverage ten times out of ten, setting me apart from others in whatever group environment I happened to find myself in. Today, I would probably still decline a drink because I just don’t really like most alcoholic beverages, but I might also say yes to appease my host, or to relax, share and enjoy the moment and a connection with another person. The point is, what was once a hard and fast rule is now more just a moment by moment decision guided by the principle of loving others as you love yourself. Maybe I don’t want to appear to be a religious stick in the mud and having a drink might cause my friend to open up more than he would have if I simply said, “no thanks I don’t drink”. Maybe this is why Jesus was happy enough to sit around a table flowing with wine and questionable characters. His holiness was certainly not lessened by it as He let His love for others and His Father motivate His actions. Of course, there are places that have no grey areas, sexual immorality for example is always harmful and therefore the opposite of loving. 

Perhaps we do not need to complicate things so much. Remember Jesus’ new commandment, the golden rule, and I guarantee that we will stay on course in pursuing holiness as well.        

The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of those rare voices whose appeal seems to transcend denominational boundaries. He is kind of like Europe’s Watchman Nee in that regard. His ideas and teachings, amid the backstory of been a pastor in Germany during World War 2 is simply fascinating. So when Hendrix’s book, The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler crossed my path, I jumped at the opportunity to review it.

This book is perhaps one of the most unique reads that I have had the privilege of reviewing. It reads like a biography but not really, as it intertwines the stories of both Dietrich Bonhoeffer as well Adolf Hitler together. The author makes use of both direct quotes (clearly marked with an *) and some speculative dialogue, the artistic license really helps to add to the drama, fill in the blanks and move the story along with easy transitions from scene to scene. Additionally, the simultaneous telling of two different stories and the philosophies that drove each individual is accentuated by the stark contrast between the two men.   

The Faithful Spy also reads like a history book, but not really, recounting Hitler’s rise to power, his military conquests, strategies and eventual defeat. There is just the right amount of information shared to keep one fully interested without ever running off into long and boring non-essentials. While John Hendrix himself mentions that he is not a historian and relied on the hard work of others to bring us the story, I feel like I could say the same to him, as he did the hard work of researching and condensing some of the most interesting and important moments from Bonhoeffer and Hitler’s lives and World War 2 and presenting them in a way that is entertaining, educational and enlightening.   

This book also reads like a comic or graphic novel, but not really. There are portions with strictly text and then there are large pictures as well as multiple-sequence panels that we would traditionally associate with comic books. All of the artwork is done on a limited palette of black, turquoise (for Dietrich) and red (for the Nazi's) and I don’t know how else to say it other than that everything somehow comes together and works well. It’s pleasing on the eye, the portions of text are never too lengthy that they become difficult or laborious to read; perhaps this is to make it appeal to a younger audience but I have to say that it worked for me and I personally found it refreshing, daring and original.

Regarding the story itself, Hendrix documents Dietrich’s upbringing and highlights some of the pivotal moments in his development, much of which I was unfamiliar with, having not been included in other books and films that I had previously read or watched on his life. Perhaps most significant would be his pilgrimage to Rome and how he was deeply impacted by the multitudes and singing witnessed at a Catholic mass, this changed his perspective on what the church was and is and liberated him from the idea that God was simply an academic exercise to be studied. Then during his studies in New York he got to see what the church looked like in action, at the forefront of the battle against racism and social injustice. Bonhoeffer had learned the difference between been a good person and doing good, and he would bring these ideas from lessons learned back to Germany with the conviction that faith required doing good in the face of evil, that his actions mattered and that he needed to help people wherever it was needed. This also drove him to confront one of the most difficult of questions one might ever be faced with, what is the duty of a person in the face of overwhelming evil? Could he be an accomplice in an assassination attempt when presented with the opportunity to kill Hitler?

Faced with these questions, Dietrich joined the resistance against Hitler, acting as a double agent and the book gives a fascinating account of these assassination attempts as well as Hitler’s lucky escapes and how the resistance avoided getting caught for so long. Eventually, Bonhoeffer’s involvement in the conspiracy against Hitler is discovered after he had already been imprisoned and he is sentenced to death only days before Germany was finally liberated from Nazi rule.

This is not just a history lesson or riveting novel. This book shows us just how easily a tyrant can rise to power and seduce the masses. It also shows us that the church and individuals can go several ways in such times and leaves the reader asking themselves which way to go, we can be seduced by power or scared into self-preservation, we can try to fight fire with fire or we can seek alternative non-violent solutions.

I received a copy of this book from Speakeasy in exchange for an honest review, fortunately I can say that I loved everything about it. It’s an easy read, its message is ageless and it will appeal to people of all ages, I highly recommend it. You can find a copy of it by clicking over here.  

Why did Jesus have to die?

In my previous two posts in this series I questioned the theory of penal substitution. Noting the lack of evidence for it in scripture, the counter evidence against it as well as the logical inconsistencies one encounters when following the thought process down the road. Moving forward, let’s examine why Jesus did have to die if it was not to satisfy God’s wrath. Not only that, but let’s explore why He rose again and why it is central to the gospel. This good news as I understand it, is not about a God whose justice demands that someone, even a substitute, experiences His wrath against them but it is one of a loving God who shows mercy, love and a willingness to seek out and redeem what has been damaged or tainted by sin. The pictures could hardly be any more different than the one the reformers developed and gave to us. So for a brief few minutes let us lay aside the ideas of Calvin (and Anselm before him) and go straight to the Bible to see what it says about Jesus dying for us. We will look at just one point today and several others down the road.

Jesus died to defeat the devil

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the garden, everything changed. Well, nearly everything. Adam’s choosing to become independent from God led to a radical change in humans. Rather than being like God, man became sinful, fallen and broken, and due to man’s sinfulness, the world suffered as well. Paul said in the book of Romans that the whole of creation groans and eagerly awaits liberation from bondage and decay (Romans 8:19–22). Yet scripture also tells us that although the serpent lost his legs in Genesis 3, the devil himself benefited from man’s rebellion, temporarily gaining power and control of this world. Jesus referred to Satan as the ‘Prince of this world’ (John 12:31, 14:30), Paul referred to him as the ‘god of this age’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) and as ‘the ruler of the kingdom of the air’ (Ephesians 2:2), while John said that ‘the whole world is under the control of the evil one’ (1 John 5:19). In Matthew 4:8–9, Satan takes Jesus up on a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, offering them to Jesus if He will bow down and worship him. Jesus did not dispute Satan’s claim that they were his kingdoms to give away, but rather, He made it clear to whom His personal allegiance belonged.

The same power that Christians fight for today was expressly forsaken by Jesus. His kingdom is not of this world and I throw this in as a little challenge for believers to think about. Focusing on Jesus though, this passage tells us that He was not willing to make a deal with the devil or play the game by his rules. Jesus shows us that He did not come to reform the devils kingdom but to usurp the works of Satan, He came to disarm him entirely and tramp on his head and in so doing, He would release those who were held in bondage by the evil one. For example, in 1 John 3:8 it says:

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Hebrews 2:14 is another verse that speaks plainly of Christ’s purpose in dying:

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.

Unlike penal substitutionary theory which misapplies a couple of texts and tells us that Jesus died so that God’s anger, like that of all of the pagan deities, could only be satisfied by a human sacrifice. Scripture shows us a different God, and through an abundance of texts and authors it teaches us that the death and resurrection of Jesus was not to appease an angry Father but rather it was an all-out attack against an angry devil and on the kingdom of darkness. It was an act of war that defied all of the logic that we commonly associate with battle. Although the devil still roams around today, up to his same old tricks, the Bible is clear that he has already been judged, disarmed and defeated, even though his final fate has not yet been carried out (John 12:31, 16:11; Colossians 1:13, 2:15; 1 John 3:8). So the part the cross seems to have dealt with (at least in the instantly recognizable sense) has to do with breaking Satan’s power over man and the ushering in of the counter-kingdom of God. Although Satan still holds people in bondage and has a general influence and control within the world and over society, in Christ we now have the option of living under a different King, free from Satan’s yoke of slavery.

Luke 4:18 tells us that Jesus came to release the oppressed and to set the captives free. Because of the cross, the devil no longer has power over those who have been born of the Spirit. His only weapon is deceit. He is like the little old man standing behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. Nevertheless, in this world, deception, death and destruction still abound as the principalities and the powers of darkness continue to do their thing. Just as the truth sets men free, ignorance and error will keep us in bondage. Ultimately, we still await a day when Jesus will ‘put all of His enemies under His feet’ (1 Corinthians 15:25) and where ‘Satan will be crushed’ (Romans 16:20) but we are simultaneously assured that the battle has already been fought and that the victory has already been won (Revelation 5:5). Because of the cross, the devil no longer has power over those who have been born of the Spirit.

I am taking a break from the usual topics that I write about to spread a little awareness about keratoconus.

What is Keratoconus?

Today, November 10^th, is world keratoconus day, the word entered my life unexpectedly several years ago after visiting the optometrist after noticing a rapid decrease in vision in my left eye. A week later an ophthalmologist diagnosed the problem and warned me of the long and expensive journey that lay ahead.

Keratoconus (KC) is a rare and degenerative eye disease that occurs when your usually dome –shaped cornea becomes cone-shaped causing blurry and distorted vision which when left untreated or uncorrected can lead to been declared legally blind. Because our pupils open wider at night, the pupil is exposed to more of the irregular corneal surface in KC sufferers making night vision and light sensitivity far more pronounced. There is no concrete evidence but it is thought that the cause of KC is oftentimes genetic or the result of rubbing one’s eyes.

The world with keratoconus

Treatment for keratoconus

There is no cure for keratoconus but the progression can be slowed or stopped with a procedure called crosslinking which is performed to strengthen the cornea, this is commonly known as epi-on (noninvasive procedure) or epi-off (which involves surgical removal of the corneal epithelium during the procedure). A corneal ring implant known as Intacs is another option available which helps to flatten the peak of the corneal cone. Then as a last resort, a corneal transplant can be performed as well which is something around 20% of people with KC will require.  

Crosslinking procedure

Glasses and soft lenses do not help to correct vision in a keratoconic eye so once an eye is relatively stable, usually a few months after having crosslinking done, vision is corrected by using either RGP (rigid gas permeable) lenses or scleral lenses. Finding the right lens is a long process of trial and error and can take years to get right but for me personally, In my left eye which is my KC eye, I went from 20/317 vision to 20/65 vision once I received my scleral lens (20/200 is legally blind) so the struggle is well worth it in the end.

My personal KC kit and part of the everyday morning routine

Support

The chances are if you have KC that no one around you will understand it or even have heard about it. It can be a daunting and lonely road so it is best to join a keratoconus group on Facebook or a similar site where you can ask questions or just share your struggles, invite those closest to you to join as well so that they can understand what you are going through. In the end though, KC is not a death sentence, the vast majority of people will still be able to drive and work a regular job and in time, you do adapt to the changes. I still get to write which is something that I love. All of the procedures and lenses mentioned above are relatively new and although advancement is slow due to the rarity of the condition, it is there and the options you have available to you today simply did not exist 1 or 2 generations ago. It is a good time to be alive.

The Old Testament Case for Nonviolence (book review)

I have done a lot of study on the atonement and hell in recent years, now the next topic that I have started to tackle is the violent depictions of God in the Old Testament and how to reconcile them with the clearest image of the Father we have available to us which is the non-violent, peacemaker Son Jesus. So I was thrilled when Matthew Curtis Fleischer's book, the Old Testament Case for nonviolence came across my path for a review opportunity as it had been on my radar for some time already.

The book starts with Matthew describing the problem of violence in the Old Testament in a way that even Richard Dawkins does not get close too. The frequent mass killings of men, women and children, sometimes for seemingly insignificant reasons or through no fault of their own. The commands to kill brothers, friends and neighbors. Even one particular story where God causes His enemies to cannibalize their own children. Or the story when a city was to be destroyed but the soldiers got to spare the young virgins as the spoils of war. Not to mention the very politically incorrect shunning of the blind, lame, dwarves, hunchbacks, the visually impaired and anyone who had suffered the misfortune of having crushed testicles. This goes on for a number of pages and chapter 1 pulls no punches and you start thinking to yourself, how is he going to come back from this? By the way, you can read chapter 1 for free by clicking over here.

I share a lot in common with Matthew, we both see Jesus as the final word on Christian ethics and living, the culmination and perfect revelation of God the Father and because of this, we both believe that Christians are called to nonviolence. And I am extremely glad for having read this book as I have learned so much from it. For example, it had not occurred to me before that Israel never had a proper military before they became a monarchy, or that they were prohibited from stockpiling weapons. Israel as a nation was highly dependent on God to fight their battles for them. No Jew reading the scriptures would think of the Old Testament as glorying in war, rather, they would have seen Gods protective hand over them.

Similarly, Israel's conquests were all about land. It is interesting to consider that the Levites were never granted a portion of the land in Israel and that we the church are a kingdom of priests. In other words, we do not have land to defend or fight for, the kingdom of God is not defined by nationalities or lines drawn in the sand, thus, we the church operate under a wholly different set of principles to what the nation of Israel did.

As much as I loved this very readable book, I must say though that I don't wholly agree with some of the books primary arguments. The greatest of which is that God chose to reveal His ways and nature incrementally to His people. To be clear, this is not an idea that I completely reject. Matthew makes good and I believe a compelling case for the giant leaps forward the nation of Israel lived by compared to the surrounding nations of the time. What seems savage to us was fairly tame and revolutionary for its day. And that goes for war, the treatment of woman, slaves and more.

There is a lot of progressive revelation seen in the scriptures, an obvious example would be Jesus' prohibition of divorce where Moses had been more lenient. But to say that God permits something or relents to mans poor ideas and choices is hardly the same as arguing that God partakes in those sins Himself. Where I think the OT Case for Nonviolence falls short is that it concedes that God acted violently in times past because man was not ready for a nonviolent God and had to be slowly brought to a place where he could accept a God of nonviolence. I find this unconvincing. Yes, we meet people where they are at and we teach them at a level that they can comprehend. We are all on that road ourselves too, we have right beliefs and wrong ones but that does not mean that we partake in error ourselves because someone is not as far along the path as we might be. 

I am still on a personal journey to reconcile the violence of the Old Testament with the way of the Prince of Peace. This book has not settled all of those questions for me but it has made a valuable contribution to that conversation and I feel far more enlightened for having read it.

I received this book to review from Speakeasy in exchange for an honest review, and honestly, it's fantastic and contains a wealth of valuable insights for one searching for answers on this topic. Once again, go read chapter 1 over here and if it grips you as it did me, go get it on Amazon.

Examining Penal Substitutionary Atonement Part 2

Welcome back! This is part 2 in a series taking a critical look at the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement which will end off by offering some more constructive ideas to pursue, if you need to catch up or are not sure what penal substitution is, part 1 can be view by clicking over here.

Logical Objections to Penal Substitution

What I said so far in part 1 might shock some people. On the Apprising Ministries website for example, Ken Silva posted an excerpt from an interview done between Phil Johnson and John MacArthur. They were discussing a quote from a Christian author’s book that also dared to question the penal substitutionary view of the atonement. This was what MacArthur had to say:-

“It sounds like the language of a flat-out anti-Christian pagan atheist mocking the cross of Jesus. That’s mockery. That’s…that’s outright mockery… But this is not even Christian thinking. There’s nothing about looking at the Word of God there. There’s nothing about trying to interpret the Scripture... This is the worst kind of stuff because it sows seeds of doubt in the most fragile…But that’s not even Christianity, that is an attack on Christianity so to call yourself an evangelical and attack the heart and soul of the gospel… That’s not an evangelical viewpoint, that’s a heretic. And that’s…and if you have this mass of ‘professing Christian people’ that make up the large part of the church, the visible church, with no discernment, with no real theological understanding, then this stuff can be very, very seductive to them (1).^”

I open with this because I realize that some people are going to look at what I have written and have the same knee jerk reaction as MacArthur did to another authors book. I certainly do not feel that I am not attacking the “heart and soul of the gospel” as MacArthur would say when I look at the weaknesses of the penal substitutionary model. As Christians we all affirm that Jesus saves. What we are looking at here though is HOW the atonement is salvific. While we can disagree on this and still be brothers, I believe it is still important to look at because the nature of the atonement has a lot to say about the nature of God Himself. As for me, when I began to meditate on these things, the walls of PST fell like a stack of cards built on an airplane landing strip. In addition to the scriptures mentioned in the previous post and ones that we will still look at, I had several logical objections against PST as well which had no satisfactory answers. Questions like these:-

1 – Does the cross deal with an offended God or with broken man? In Christ’s death and resurrection, who was He healing?

2 – Is it just to punish the innocent while the guilty go free? Would a judge pardon a man sentenced to death because an innocent man volunteered to take his place? What would you think of such a judge if such a scenario had to take place?  Could you call him just?

3 – Can God not freely forgive people? Forgiveness is something God expects of us, it is part of Paul’s definition of love, “love keeps no record of wrongs”. But according to a retributive definition of justice, God cannot freely forgive; He still demands that the debt be paid. Yet Jesus had no problem forgiving people of their sins while He walked the earth. Something here is amiss.

4 - Penal substitution claims that in order for God to satisfy His retributive justice, Jesus had to endure the exact punishment that was due for all of humanity. When we consider His suffering and death, albeit as horrific, excruciating and awful as it was, is it comparable with the whole of humanity throughout all ages (maybe a 100 Billion people) burning in an eternal lake of fire forever and ever? The transaction just does not seem to balance.

5 - It has been stated by some that penal substitution is a form of “cosmic child abuse”(2). A Father who delights in the suffering of His only begotten Son at His own hands. While this is an extreme statement to make it is how many people interpret PST. It is incredible how many atheists blog about this as one of the main reasons why they reject Christianity. Are we turning people away from God with our message?

6 – Is Biblical justice retributive or restorative? Consider Zechariah 7:9 in your answer.

“Thus says the LORD of Hosts: Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother.”

7 – All ancient religions and pagan deities required a sacrifice (oftentimes one’s own son or a virgin) in order to be appeased. How is God ‘set apart’ from the false gods in PST?

8 – Is sacrifice associated with cleansing or with punishment in scripture?

9 – Can God, who is one(3), ever separate or forsake Himself? Not just in the sense that the Father could not look on the Son but in that there are needs in the Father that are contrary to those found in Jesus. One cannot look on sin, the other is a called a friend of sinners, one seeks to punish, the other seeks to save. How does that work?

10 - If the cross was indeed about satisfying the Father’s wrath, did Jesus succeed? The Bible has much to say about God’s coming wrath, “the day of the Lord” is spoken of throughout scripture. How does it all fit together? Where is the scripture that directly speaks about God pouring His wrath out on His Son?

Penal substitution proof texts

Before we can proceed to what I think is a more accurate understanding of the atonement we still need to look at a few more verses that are used in support of PST. Perhaps you thought of some of them in response to my final question above. The big one that we must address is found in Isaiah 53:10 and it reads:-

But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand (4).

This is the go-to verse for penal substitution in the Bible. It is the one and only place where in black and white it seemingly suggests that God found pleasure in executing Jesus and so it is vitally important that we address it here. My first counterpoint would be that the surrounding context, particularly verses 5 through 7, have already told us that it was wicked men who, thinking they were doing God’s work, were responsible for killing Jesus. If “it pleased God to crush Him” is indeed the best translation of this verse (and there is reason to believe otherwise) then surely the idea behind it would not be that God actually took pleasure in the torture and killing of His Son but rather it would better be understood within the concept that Jesus, being offered as our guilt offering, was within the framework of the godheads plan of redemption.

I just mentioned that I believe the words “It pleased God to crush Him” are not the best translation of this verse at all. It is interesting to see how the Septuagint translates this verse bearing in mind that the Septuagint would have been the translation that Jesus and those around Him would have had access to and read from. It is a Greek translation of the Old Testament and is hundreds of years older than the Hebrew texts that our modern Bibles are translated from. This older manuscript reads as follows:-

And the Lord desires to cleanse him from his blow. If you give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived offspring (5).

This is very different from what the latter Masoretic Text says and lines up beautifully with what Peter said on the day of Pentecost. Wicked men killed Him but God desired to heal Him from His wound and raised Him up again. Many of the early church fathers quoted this verse from the Septuagint translation in their writings as well, Clement of Rome in the Epistle to the Corinthians, Justin Martyr in the First Apology and Dialog with Trypho, Augustine in Harmony of the Gospels and John Chrysostom in Homolies on First Corinthians (6). In light of the older Greek manuscripts, the witness of the early church and the simple rule of thumb in letting scripture interpret scripture, this translation of Isaiah 53:10 seems to be the better of the two.

Jesus dies as a guilt offering

There is something else that we have not considered in Isaiah 53:10 yet as well. The very verse that is quoted to prove PST also contains a severe obstacle to the theory. Verse 10 speaks of an offering for sin, many translations including the NASB, the ESV and the Young’s Literal Translation equate it with the guilt offering described in Leviticus 7. The guilt offering was to be offered when someone had unintentionally profaned something holy. This is interesting because Isaiah 53 says that we thought that God was punishing Jesus when in actuality verse 3 reveals Jesus was despised, rejected and punished by men (7). It is also interesting that this type of offering would normally be associated with profaning the Temple or Tabernacle which both point to Jesus as well (8). In an act that completely went over the heads of the people; Jesus was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and the crowds handed him over to be killed as their guilt offering. Why is this a stumbling block against the popular view of the atonement in today’s Westernized church? I believe it is because if penal substitution were true, then Jesus would have died to cover the Father’s guilt for profaning something holy, His own Son. Those are heavy words worthy of meditation.

In conclusion, I hope that one can see that to doubt PST is not to reject the gospel, it is not an attack on Christianity and it is not a mockery of the cross of Jesus as John MacArthur says. I hope that the points that I have made are at the very least compelling enough to be considered for further reflection. 

1 - http://apprising.org/2009/03/28/john-macarthur-on-the-cosmic-child-abuse-in-the-penal-substitutionary-atonement/.
2 - Steve Chalke, The Lost Message of Jesus, 182, 183.
3 – Deuteronomy 6:4.
4 – New American Standard Version translation used.
5 - A New English Translation of the Septuagent, Edited by Albert Pitersma and Benjmin G Wright, 2007, Oxford University Press, Inc.
6 –  See Clement of Rome: (Epistle to the Corinthians, Sec. 16), Justin Martyr: (First Apology, Ch 51), Justin Martyr: (Dialog with Trypho, Ch 13), Augustine: (Harmony of the Gospels, Book 1, Section 47) and John Chrysostom: (Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily 38).
7 – Isaiah 53: 3-4.
8 – See John 2:19 and Hebrews 9:11.

A More Christlike Way: A More Beautiful Faith

Roughly four years ago I did a book review on Brad Jersak’s A MoreChristlike God, which was a fantastic work that destroyed the false images of God we have constructed that look more like Zeus or Mars and revealed the true picture of God to us as seeing in Jesus Christ. In this follow up, Brad fleshes out what it looks like to walk in Christ’s footsteps.

To be a good chef, one needs to know more than how to prepare a tasty meal, you need to know what ingredients to combine to best bring out the flavours but it also needs to be presented in an aesthetically pleasing manner as well. Brad, with a pastor’s heart and academic mind, is like a master chef who has successfully managed to bring his readers to the Lord’s Table and say, “taste and see that the Lord is good”. Even though I am well acquainted with his work, I was worried that this may turn into a performance driven, do better and try harder inspirational message that comes out of so many pulpits today. Fortunately that is not the case, using a metaphor from the book, true deconstruction (a word that can make me nervous), is not just about disproving truth claims but about learning to slow down, and be mindful of the way that we use language and the ways in which we discuss and practice truth and meaning. An analogy is used in the book with the way that one would go about restoring a priceless work of art, it may take years of careful work to remove what was not part of the original and bring out what was, but the goal is to restore it, to uncover its original beauty once again.    

A More Christlike Way does that by identifying four counterfeit ways and then through exploring seven facets or aspects of the Jesus Way. The Jesus Way is one that is rooted in love, it is self-emptying (kenosis), cross-carrying and Grace-energized and fleshed out for us in the Sermon on the Mount. A personal standout point for me is the author’s use of the word grace in a much more personal way, he uses it as a name for the Spirit much as many of us are used to using Word as a name for Jesus. Grace has become a more practical word for me because of it, it is not just about been nice and patient with someone but about learning to abide and walk in the Spirit of Father’s divine love. For example, learning to walk in grace and learning to walk in Grace would or could be two different things. This book will help you to walk that path, one of surrender, peacemaking and more in a way that encapsulates what it is to be fully human, embracing the way and participating in the life of the new Adam.

You can find Brad Jersak’s new book, A More Christlike Way on Amazon over here.

Examining Penal Substitutionary Atonement

We (Christians) all agree that the death and resurrection of Jesus somehow made atonement for our sins and reconciles us to God. What we all do not always agree on is how exactly the mechanics behind that works. The idea that God poured His wrath on Jesus when He hung on the cross is one of the most common, and fiercely defended theories held to by most in the church. The fancy name for this is penal substitutionary atonement and to some it is not a theory about how Jesus's death saves us but the gospel itself. I'm not convinced at all though. So I will be sharing a few excerpts from my book, Seeing the Cross with New Eyes here in my next few posts to show why I am not sold on this particular view and then, later I will propose something more in line with what I believe the Bible actually teaches.

Who killed Jesus?

Just as a good question can provoke thought and stimulate conversation, so too can a poor one mislead and steer us off in the wrong direction. Today I want to challenge what has been the predominant atonement theory within the Western church for the last five hundred years. I hope that from looking at scripture and asking some different questions that together we might develop a better understanding of the cross.

The atonement theory which I am speaking of is known by the term penal substitution theory (PST) or penal substitutionary atonement (PSA) and goes something like this. Man’s sin was the cause of a divine dilemma and a dichotomy existed between the love and justice of God in that because of His great love, grace and rich mercy, He desired to forgive us for our sins. Yet because He is also holy and just, the wrong that was done against Him could not go unpunished. On the one side of the coin God wants to redeem us while on the other side He needs to condemn us. PST tells us that God solves this dilemma and satisfies both His love and His justice by imputing our guilt onto Christ and Jesus then, in our place, bears the punishment dished out by the Father that we deserved. At the same time, Christ’s righteousness is then credited to us. This transaction is accepted as a full payment for mankind’s sins and satisfies both the wrath and the righteousness of God. The blood of Jesus assuages the anger of God the Father, the penalty for sin (death) has been paid and God can then forgive us and the relationship between man, Father and Son can be restored.

Although an earlier form of satisfaction theory was first developed and can be seen in the work of the 11th Century scholar Anselm of Canterbury, this view as I have described it above is credited to John Calvin in the 16th Century. It quickly gained popularity among the Reformers and went virtually unchallenged in the Protestant church for over four hundred years until the release of Gustaf Aulen’s book in 1931 called Christus Victor. Even today, many people are simply unaware that alternate understandings of the atonement even exist. Calvin’s ideas have continued to be taught through the ages by men like John Owen, Jonathan Edwards and John Piper (as well as by a whole host of people who are not named John). But before I get into what I believe to be a more plausible view of the atonement, let us examine a little more closely some of the reasons that penal substitution crumbles when its foundations are tested.

So what’s wrong with Penal substitution?

Firstly, I would like to raise some scriptural objections against the theory. One of the main ideas with PST is that God, in His holiness, cannot look upon sin. Habakkuk 1:13 is often quoted (in part) which says:-

You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.

It is even taught that when Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”, that the Father had momentarily abandoned His Son. Yet this idea already creates a problem for us in that the Bible teaches us that Jesus is exactly like the Father and reveals His express image to us¹. Colossians 1:15 tells us that the Son is the image of the invisible God; that means that God the Father is not a little like Jesus, He is exactly like Jesus! So one has to ask, if the Father cannot look upon sin or at sinners, how can Jesus? Is He less holy that He could befriend tax collectors, Samaritans and prostitutes? Technically speaking, if Jesus was too holy to look upon sin, then He would have had to raise Himself from birth and live somewhere isolated from humans. Jesus was even accused in His day of being a friend of sinners². So which picture of God the Father is true? The one that PST gives us or the one revealed in Jesus? Going back to the Garden of Eden, who was it who hid from whom and who was it who sought the other out? In reality, scripture IS the story of God dealing with and seeking out fallen humanity. Yes, there was a veil that separated God’s manifest presence from people living under the old covenant but that was for their sakes, not God’s. In Luke 15 where we read the parable of the lost son Jesus portrays God as a Father who runs toward his returning son and greets him with kisses and an engulfing hug. This son would have been covered in dirt, the smell of pigs still emanating strongly from his body and clothes, something that would have repulsed Jesus’ Jewish listeners. Even so, the external would have been nothing in comparison to the internal mess the son had made for himself. Yet the father ran to him, he rejoiced and celebrated, not in private but by throwing a party with loud music and food.

So let’s revisit those two scriptures where God appears to turn His head away from His Son and see if we can view them with new eyes in a way that helps us to see things differently. As a reminder, the first verse that I mentioned was Habakkuk 1:13 which said:-

  You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.

That may seem like a pretty solid case for PST except that it is not what the whole verse actually says, this is the whole of verse 13:-

You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he?

The context of Habakkuk 1:13 is around the prophets dismay at what was going on in his day. The wicked were prospering at the expense of the poor and the righteous. Habakkuk was crying out to God asking Him why God who is holy was seemingly sitting by idly and letting this happen. God’s answer to Habakkuk reveals that He was at work all along just not in the way that the prophet might have expected Him to be. In truth, God sees everything; in the opening chapter of Job He even has a conversation with Satan. Verse 6 says that there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD and that Satan ‘also came among them’. If there was anyone you think that God could not look at, it would be him.

The other verse to look at is Matthew 27:46 where Jesus famously uttered the words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Many believe that the Father briefly turned His back on His Son in the moment that our sins were laid on Him. Jesus becomes the picture of God’s love while the Father becomes the image of God’s justice and wrath. However, if we fail to realize that Jesus was quoting from Psalm 22 when He hung on the cross we are certain to miss the intention behind His words.

David’s Psalm is clearly about Jesus, verse 1 is the sentence that Jesus quoted on the cross, verses 7 and 8 reveal that the Christ would be derided by His enemies which is what we see in Luke 23:35, verse 16 says that His hands and feet would be pierced and verse 18 predicts that lots would be cast for His clothes. It is after verse 18 though that the tone of David’s Psalm turns from one of despair to hope and praise. It is verse 24 in particular that I want to highlight.

“For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard”.

We can be sure that Jesus knew the rest of David’s Psalm when He quoted the first verse from the cross; including verse 24, many of those around Him would have known it as well. In fact, the very next thing that Jesus uttered was a confident, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit”³. To drive this home, just before going to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He would be arrested, Jesus predicted in John 16:32 that His disciples would all soon leave Him but that He would NOT be forsaken by the Father!

“Indeed the hour is coming, yes, and now has come, that you will all be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet, I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”

This is why Paul could say that “God was IN Christ reconciling the world to Himself”⁴. Jesus reflected the Father’s image on the cross just as He did in the rest of His life. One can speculate as to why Jesus quoted Psalm 22 from the cross, perhaps the reality of what was happening reminded Him of David’s words or perhaps He said it to encourage those around Him. Maybe it was simply said to fulfill what was written? Whatever the reason, we can with confidence declare that there were no conflicts of interest within the Godhead at work but rather complete union between Father and Son in every moment just as there always has been. He was not alone because the Father was with Him.

God was actively involved in the redemptive work of the cross.

The idea that the purpose of the cross was to appease the wrath of God could lead one to conclude that the death of Christ primarily satisfied a need in the Father but the Bible tells us a different story. John 3:16 does not say “For God was so angry…” but rather “For God so loved…” This verse tells me that the atonement was about something other than wrath appeasement. It was neither divine child abuse nor the actions of a neglectful parent abandoning His child but rather a rescue mission that the Trinity undertook in order to save as many as would believe. “For God so loved that He killed…”? No, Peter makes it abundantly clear in Acts chapter 2 that wicked men killed Him (Jesus) but God raised Him up⁵. “For God so loved the world that He gave…”? Yes, He knew what would happen as did Jesus but this was a price that they were willing to pay to bring us back into union with them. 

This is why Paul says that God was IN Christ reconciling the world to Himself⁶.

Isaiah 50:6-9 tells us a similar story of Father and Son together on the cross:-

I gave my cheeks to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me, who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near Me. Surely the Lord God will help Me…

Interestingly, the punishment that Jesus suffered on the cross that we have attributed to God in the penal view of the atonement; scripture not only flips on its head and attributes to man but actually predicts that we would think that it God was doing it! Not only that but we also preach that God hid His face when Jesus cried out while scripture once again says that it was us who hid our faces from Him! Isaiah 53:3-5 says the following:-

He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him; and by His stripes we are healed.

Jesus, speaking to the chief priests and the elders in Luke 22:53 described the crucifixion as “your hour, and the power of darkness”. God in the persons of the Father and the Son is not both the punisher and the punished, the violent and the sufferer, the killer and the martyr. Far from it! He is the Savior and the Lamb, the Afflicted and the Healer, the Martyred one who conquers death and rose from the grave!

In my next post we will continue to explore PSA.

1 – Hebrews 1:3.
2 – Matthew 11:19.
3 – Luke 23:46.
4 - 2 Corinthians 5:19.
5 – Acts 2:23-24.
6 – 2 Corinthians 5:19.

The Lord’s Supper According to John

"Hey Wesley, where have you been?"
I'm glad you asked, in order for me to focus on my next book the blog had to take a temporary back seat for a while but the good news I can tell you is that I have just completed the first draft of that book. So I have good intentions of posting more frequently here again. And as luck would have it, one of my friends who is part of our little house church, asked me if he could write a guest post on my blog. So the below is not from me but from my good friend Tim Sheasby, sharing some personal insights into the Lords Supper. Enjoy.

Well, everyone knows that John does not describe the establishment of the Lord’s supper. That is left up to the other gospel writers but there are still a few lessons to be learned from John. We know about how Jesus washed his disciples feet in the face of their personal opposition. You might recall how Jesus gave a new commandment – that we love one another. How did he put it? “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:12–14).

But the lesson I want to share here is about the fruit of the vine. In the short period between the upper room, where Jesus had just shared the supper with his disciples, and Gethsemane, we find Jesus’ discourse about the vine and the branches. An in-depth study of this discourse in the first part of John 15 can teach us many lessons about our relationship with Jesus but there is one special thing I want to focus on here. That is the simple fact that Jesus identifies himself as the vine. And this identity of Christ as the vine relates directly to the communion he had just shared with his disciples (though not discussed directly in John’s gospel). Remember, in the other gospels, we read that Jesus took a cup of wine – the fruit of the vine – and declares “this is my blood”.

You see the fruit of the vine is important, not because of what it is, whether grape juice or wine, but because of where it comes from! In the same way Jesus' blood is not important because it is blood but because of where it comes from! It is because it is Jesus’ blood. It is the fruit of the vine – and He is the vine. To have access to the life giving blood of Jesus we have to be attached to the vine. We have to be “in Christ”
(2 Corinthians 5:17). But then as branches of the vine we produce fruit – the fruit of the vine. It becomes our job to share the blood of Christ with the lost around us or we become like the branches that need to be pruned and ultimately cut off and burned. We need to be proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).

We are His body, signified by the bread of His supper and His lifeblood, the fruit of the vine sustains and cleanses us. Praise God for this most wonderful of gifts – the promise of our eternal life.

Praying in Jesus’ Name (what it actually means)

Of late I have been invited to a few churches and when I can, I generally say yes and go along. Now some things can always feel a little strange when visiting another church because they each have their own unique little quirks and ways of doing things. One thing that seems to be almost universal though is to hear people signing off their prayers with the words “in Jesus name, amen” or the slightly more formal, “this we pray in the name of Jesus, amen”. This is probably normal for you too but I always notice it because it is a habit our own little assembly fell out of a few years ago and so I don’t hear it as much anymore.

I think that when most people pray this way, it’s simply an unconscious habit that has been formed over the years and I am not against having some sort of ‘sign off’ when praying publicly either. We have all sat through those moments during corporate prayer with our eyes closed wondering, are we done yet? Discreetly opened our eyes to see 4 people still deep in prayer, one scratching his nose and 2 others staring at their phones. Once when one of my kids were still small they ended a prayer by saying, “the end”. I found it quite amusing but that didn’t quite sound right either so a hearty “amen” is both good and helpful in moments like those and if you still prefer the “in Jesus’ name, amen” then by all means continue as you were (but know that it means more as we will get too).

Beyond sign offs and habit though, I suspect that many people use the, “in Jesus’ name” mantra almost like it’s a magic formula used to make our prayers extra powerful and force God to sit up, take notice and honor our requests. The proof text for this would be John 16:23 where Jesus said, “If you ask the Father for anything He will give it to you in my name”. To share a little bit of my background, I attended mostly charismatic churches growing up where “in Jesus’ name” was a phrase that was probably repeated after every second or third sentence that was prayed, mixed in with some ‘binding the devils’ and ‘pleading the bloods’ for good measure. This kind of prayer taught me to ‘pray hard’ and try to stir up enough faith within myself that my words would break through to God and come to fruition.

Another Perspective

I’d like to suggest that one can pray in Jesus name without actually muttering the words at all. Rather than repeating a phrase, I believe that to pray in Jesus’ name means to pray a prayer that Jesus Himself would have prayed. Think for a moment about how people used to send messages to one another, maybe a king had a decree to share with his people or with another kingdom. To do so he would send out a man under his authority who would speak on his behalf. Ambassadors do the same thing today when, they do not speak for themselves but on behalf of the countries or organizations that they represent. Another example might be one who has been granted power of attorney to handle another person’s estate. In all of these examples the person represents someone else or something else speaking and acting on their behalf. The goal is never to use the authority given to them for selfish gain but to accurately represent another’s interests. If someone handling another’s affairs makes a decision, it is as if the person they represent themselves had made the decision and the outcome should honor and reflect that persons wishes. If a person speaks on behalf of a king, it is received as if the king himself had uttered the words in line with his will.

In other words, to pray in Jesus’ name means to pray a prayer that you could imagine Jesus Himself praying to the Father. It is more than just willy-nilly supplications made in prayer or a prayer you might have repeated before every meal for the past thirty years. It is to approach prayer thoughtfully, considering Jesus’ heart first. Does my prayer line up with how Jesus lived? Does it reflect His kingdom focused agenda? Does it bless others and exalt God? To pray fruitfully is similar to been a good ambassador or a good power of attorney. One needs to know the mind and heart of the one that they represent in order to do a good job of it. This is why John said in 1 John 5:14:

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

This then is the key to developing a meaningful prayer life. Let it be more than a one way line of communication. Spend time with God, think about what matters to Jesus, let the things that move His heart move yours and provoke you to actions beyond words, try this and your prayer life will be transformed.

What is Hell?

It has been rather quiet over here on my blog but that does not mean that I have not been busy, I have been hard at work on a new book and am making good progress. Hopefully I will have some news on that project for everyone around about the end of the year. But for now, I wanted to tell everyone about Jeremy Myers' latest book that I was fortunate enough to write the afterword for (Brad Jersak wrote the foreword). For anyone who is interested in the subject of hell, it really is unique in much of its content. He does a great job of documenting how the traditional notion of hell developed over time and shows how warped much of our thinking has become in contrast to what the Bible actually has to say about hell.

While the book does touch on the three main views of hell, it primarily argues that the bulk (not all) of the verses that people generally use in discussing hell have nothing to do with the afterlife at all but rather, in their context, are specifically concerned with how to avoid 'hell on earth' in this life. Some of the arguments are quite insightful and persuasive making this a challenging and thought provoking read. Without sharing too much though, I thought that I would just share what I wrote at the end of the book with everyone instead. Here it is:

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven – Jesus of Nazareth

Have you ever heard the old Johnny Cash song entitled No earthly good? It is a song about people who become so focused on heaven as an afterlife destination that they essentially neglect the present hellish realities that are all around us. One becomes so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. The lesson that we can take from it is that we can be very spiritual, invest our time in prayer, in church meetings, in studying the Bible and more but end up leaving the world behind with little evidence that we were ever here or made a difference while we were on it.

This is not the kind of Christianity that we see lived out in the pages of Scripture though. Jesus and those who followed Him early on had a bit of a reputation for been troublemakers. Not because they got up to mischievous acts but because they tended not to toe the line very well. They saw brokenness in the world, in the systems around them and in the people who were victims of it all and they chose to stand up and fight against it.

When Christ taught His disciples to pray as quoted above, He did not encourage them with the future hope of heaven but rather challenged them to bring a little bit of heaven down to earth. “Your kingdom come” has nothing to do with church real estate; rather it is a declaration of war against the kingdom of darkness, it is heaven invading earth with the knowledge that the gates of hell will not be able to stand up against the churches attacking army. Yet this is no ordinary army, most armies bring with them calamity upon the lands and peoples affected by them resulting in hunger, poverty and destruction. The soldiers of Christ though lay down their own lives sacrificially for others, instead of capturing they release, rather than oppress they set free. And instead of bringing death they bring life. Jesus, reading from Isaiah, once said the following:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. (Luke 4:18-19).

The more one thinks about it the more you realize that this was not just His mission on earth but the calling for all of those who belong to Him as well. It is our privilege to continue the work that Jesus started here on earth of serving the poor, participating in the healing process where we find brokenness, setting the captives free and proclaiming our LORD to those who are surrounded and entrapped by darkness.

Yes, the implications of trusting in Jesus for eternal life or refusing that gift extend far beyond the few short years that we are given before our bodies will one day be laid to rest. But the good news is that eternal life starts now in the present. The kingdom of God which began like a small mustard seed is growing day by day here on earth, light is overcoming the darkness and as it spreads the kingdom of hell is forced to relinquish ground and retreat. This is a battle that we are winning.

My hope for this book is that it will help to shed light on many of the myths that people have been led to believe surrounding hell and ultimately around God Himself. By properly contextualizing some key verses and understanding various words oftentimes associated with hell and punishment, we can learn to trust that God is indeed good. And it is because of His love for us that He warns us about the dangers of a life lived apart from His ways and guidance. When we fall off the rails, we don’t need to hide from God in the bushes like Adam and Eve tried to do, we know that the safest place in the world will be to run directly into His waiting arms where we will find love, mercy and help. This is what I take from Jeremy’s book and what I hope that you will find in its pages as well.

You can grab a copy of What is Hell? On Amazon by clicking over here.