Lewis: Christian Fellowship

His presence, the interaction between Him and us, must always be the overwhelmingly dominant factor in the life we are to lead within the Body, and any conception of Christian fellowship which does not mean primarily fellowship with Him is out of court.

--C. S. Lewis, 'Membership,' in The Weight of Glory, 125

Luther: Christ Not a Judge

Luther, preaching on John 3:17, 'For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world'--

Christ assures us that He is not a judge. He is a Mediator, a Helper, a Comforter, a Mercy Seat, a Bishop, a Shepherd, a Brother, an Intercessor, our Gift, and our Deliverer--not a judge. He was given and presented to us so that we would not have to flee from Him.

But these wounds in our heart are not yet fully healed. By nature we are disinclined to trust in God. . . . I must still apply myself like a child to the study of these words, which assure me that Christ did not come to judge the world.

--LW 22:377

Jesus Exegetes God

Who has seen him and can describe him? Or who can extol him as he is? Many things greater than these lie hidden, for we have seen but few of his works. (Sirach 43:31-32 [Sirach is a piece of hellenized Jewish wisdom literature from around 180 BC])

No one has ever seen God; the only [or 'only begotten'] God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has exegesato him. (John 1:18)

exegeomai = to tell, relate, explain, report, make known, reveal. It is the verb from which we get our English verb 'exegete.'

Jesus has exegeted the Father.

The Gospel Both Saves Us and Grows Us

The Gospel from Emmaus Church in Portland.

Thanks Cole.

Beale (3): One Adam after Another

The first Adam should have obeyed and subdued the entire earth, but he did not.

After the flood, Noah was commissioned to subdue the earth, but he had his own 'fall' in a garden-like environment, also in connection with the image of nakedness.

Subsequently, God creates a corporate Adam, Israel, who was to be obedient to God in the promised land, which the OT refers to repeatedly as 'like the garden of Eden.' They were to go out from the promised land and subdue the rest of the earth. Appropriately, Israel was called by Adamic names, like 'Son of Adam (Man)' and 'Son of God.' Israel had her 'fall' at the golden calf episode, the effects of which were devastating for the nation's destiny. Instead of subduing the earth, she was subdued by it.

Lastly, God raises up another individual Adamic figure, Jesus Christ, who finally does what Adam should have done, and so he inaugurates a new creation which will not be corrupted but find its culmination in a new heavens and earth. And his names 'Son of God' and 'Son of Man' also allude to him, not only as the Last Adam, but also as true Israel.

--G. K. Beale, 'The Eschatological Conception of New Testament Theology,' in The Reader Must Understand: Eschatology in Bible and Theology (IVP 1997)

Christians Are Unbelievers

Not many Christians think of themselves as unbelievers. After all, we normally use the term to describe people who aren’t Christians at all. Most of us can happily sign up to the creeds of our church. But our problems rarely arise from a lack of belief in a confessional or theoretical sense, though this may be the case. More often they arise from functional or practical disbelief. The problems lie in the gap between what we believe in theory and what we believe in practice.

Yes!

--Tim Chester, You Can Change: God's Transforming Power for Our Sinful Behaviour and Negative Emotions (IVP 2010), 82; sample chapter here

Luther: A Completely Fiery Atmosphere

'I am baptized on Christ, and I entrust myself solely to Him; for He is my Life, Salvation, and Wisdom.' Wherever such words proceed from faith, they generate a completely fiery atmosphere, which burns and pains the devil so that he cannot tarry. But if a person is without warmth about matters pertaining to God and salvation, as the common man does, then the devil merely laughs. But if your words are aglow in your heart, you will put the devil to flight.

--Martin Luther, preaching on John 3:16, in LW 22:357

Zahl: Imperatives Become Indicatives

'Neither do I condemn you; go, from now on sin no more.' --John 8:11

This is the one-way love of grace in the life of Christ. . . . 'Go on your way, and from now on do not sin again,' is not an imperative. It is a descriptive. Few who have ever been forgiven a crime possess the inward desire to offend again. It was obvious that she would not sin again. And if she did, she would be forgiven again; and the chances of her offending again would be reduced by half.

Under grace, imperatives become indicatives.

--Paul Zahl, Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life (Eerdmans 2007), 40

Beale (2): Christ's Death and Resurrection

More from Beale's 'The Eschatological Conception of the New Testament.'

Christ's resurrection . . . placed him into the beginning of the new creation. The resurrected Christ is not merely spiritually the inauguration of the new cosmos, but he is literally its beginning, since he was resurrected with a physically resurrected, newly created body. . . .

Christ's death is not just any death but it is the beginning of the destruction of the entire world, which will not be consummated until the very end. . . .

[Ok: Who of you out there has thought of Christ's death not just as an atoning penal sacrifice on behalf of sinners, which is gloriously true, but also as the beginning of the end-time destruction of the world?]

In the light of what we have said so far, we can state the overriding idea of NT theology. . . . The idea is this: Christ's life, and especially death and resurrection through the Spirit, launched the glorious end-time new creation of God.

--G. K. Beale, 'The Eschatological Conception of New Testament Theology,' in The Reader Must Understand: Eschatology in Bible and Theology (IVP 1997)

Luther's Stubborn Humility

[N]o one among us would like to see his true history inscribed on his forehead. But we all like to hear ourselves honored and extolled. No one of us thinks of saying: 'May God be merciful to me!'

If the sins known to my heart were published to the world, I would deserve the gallows. To be sure, the world now respects me. But if it really knew me, it would spit on me; for I would deserve beheading.

--Martin Luther, LW 22:403