This book by James M. Renihan has arrested me for the past few weeks. It was riveting to hear how my Particular Baptist brothers, with a “primitivist urge to fulfill the dictates of Scripture”, “ransacked the pages of the Bible in order to establish their deeds with a heavenly authority.” (58)

I find myself largely at home with the Particular Baptists of the late 17th century, who themselves admired their Puritan brothers. Their ecclesiological retrieval is inspiring.

The book is a running commentary and synthesis of primary sources. Renihan ended each chapter with cogent summaries without rhetorical flourish.

Continue reading “Notes on Renihan’s “Edification and Beauty”” →

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

What does it look like to be deceived here? It means to be in denial of how malleable and pliant and vulnerable we are to outside influence.

Knowing we are deeply open to outside influence, we are to strategize what we consume and who we surround ourselves with.

The coming resurrection and final judgment motivates us to be vigilant about this.

This also relates to a good conversation question:

What influences do you most enjoy? Who most shapes you?

Humble people are cognizant and clear about who that is.

The proud pretend they have none or are reluctant to admit who they are.

The naive assume they have or need none.

Continue reading “Wrapping up the semester at MBTS” →

How closely involved should you be with people in your church? Close enough to practice this:

“… with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:2-3)

Staying detached, uninvolved, only spectating means you don’t have to forgive anyone, and no one has to forgive you.

Get close enough with others, and this starts happening among gospel-people:

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

The blood of Christ is rich for this, friends.

Older Christians with regrets need to hear the gospel again and again:

“Since therefore we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:1, 6)

“Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” (Philippians 3:9)

Over and over.

It is how our Shepherd lays us down in green pastures and restores our troubled souls.

It is how our Friend continues to wash our dirty feet.

It is how our Gardiner keep us fruitful, abiding in the Vine.

It is how our High Priest provides absolution. You are forgiven.

It is how our King gives us victory.

It is how our Groom would have us return to our first love.

Jesus would have you be fruitful today, Christian. Do not be paralyzed by memories of failure or mid/late-life regret.

Revisit the gospel which never gets old or loses its relevance.

Hear the word, confess your sins, and look yet again to our mediator:

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)

“As the years pass, God expands the land promise to extend beyond Canaan to eventually encompass the entire world.

“The first hint is the varying descriptions of the geographic boundaries of the Promised Land throughout the Pentateuch (cf., e.g., Genesis 15:18-21; Exodus 23:31-33; Numbers 34:1-12; Deuteronomy 1:7; 11:24; 34:1-4; Joshua 1:2-4). Such variety suggests the borders of the land are intended to expand as Israel dwells there and exercises dominion over it and the surrounding nations.

“A second indication is that God promised Abram descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky or the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:16; 15:5). Even allowing for the possibility of hyperbole, the sheer number of descendants envisioned seems to demand a larger territory than the land of Canaan.

“A third indication comes from Romans 4:13, where Paul asserts that God promised Abraham and his offspring that he “would be heir of the world.” The apostle, following the lead of the prophets, sees in nascent form a promise that encompassed all of creation. The frequent descriptions of the fertility and fecundity of the land portray it as a new Edenic Paradise where God’s original purposes for creation will be realized.”

Harmon, Matthew S.. Rebels and Exiles (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology) (p. 22). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

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“No one proves more emphatically that he is giving a promised gift cheerfully than someone who gives more than his promise entails.” (Anselm)

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“Though Eden was a concentrated specific area of the presence of God, it was indicative of the purpose of Earth… Thus, when there’s a specific area that is covenantally granted to Abraham, it [represents] the first step in a return to an Edenic state — a concentrated area of God’s dwelling place with man that will expand as man is ‘fruitful and multiplies.'”
– Bradley Campbell

Like trying to smile with a full cup of water in your mouth.

Like trying to contain the smell of cooking bacon in the kitchen.

Like trying to eat a blue popsicle without coloring your lips or teeth.

Like trying not to laugh at an unexpected joke.

Like trying not to sweat when sprinting.

Like trying to hold a beach ball under water.

Like trying not to blush when you’re embarrassed.

Fighting God’s design in nature is an uphill battle. It takes reeducation and coercion and gaslighting.

Modern Mormonism is, by its own early standards, boring.

It no longer fits early Mormonism’s hyper-pentecostal restorationist criteria for genuine retrieval of the vibrant and identifiable practice of charismatic gifts.

Gone are the early LDS days of angelic visitors, Kirtland Temple visions, speaking in tongues, dramatic healings, bold prophecy, “thus saith the Lord” revelations, theocratic kingdom building, bursts of new scripture, and polygamy.

Now it’s back to the “boring” functional cessationism that it earlier claimed was a mark of apostasy.

It’s as though dramatic charismata was for the generation or two after Joseph Smith. Enough time for the foundation to be laid and for a less earth-shaking era to follow.

Loose analogy, but Mormons think of Joseph Smith like many Christians think of Jesus Christ:

• Joseph Smith is their final dispensation head.
• He enacted a new covenant.
• He definitively unveiled the most important mysteries.
• He secured a permanent kingdom that won’t be shaken — assuring no more Great Apostasy.
• He boasts of gathering sheep in an effective way that the earlier covenant didn’t accomplish.
• He announces, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter.”
• His blood was shed, and now his life and sacrifice are remembered.
• He mingles with the heavenly beings.
• He intercedes for his brothers from heaven.
• He is praised in song in the gathered church worship.

It’s no wonder that they are content with Joseph Smith being God’s big mic drop, and with a sharp decline in the degree of charismata since his message has been substantially established. He was the agent of their own Hebrews 1:1 paradigm shift.

Jesus is:

• The Ascended King who established a kingdom that cannot be shaken
• The New Covenant mediator who gathered a people who will never turn away
• The Priest who always lives to make intercession
• The Good Shepherd who protects his flock
• The Groom who nourishes and washes his Bride, preparing her for presentation
• The Master of the field who ensures his planted seed will not be uprooted
• The Architect who builds a new living temple that will never be destroyed
• The Sower who plants a durable seed for perpetual growth until a giant tree gives shade
• The Prophet who assured his word will be fulfilled, never invalidated or outlived
• The Conquerer who subjects all things under his feet
• The Sender who gives the Holy Spirit, to be with us until he returns
• The Friend who does not leave us as orphans

This Jesus is unmatched. As he leavens measures of flour until it is fully leavened (Matthew 13:33), the church persists in giving God glory in Christ “throughout all generations” (Ephesians 2:21).

Scripture is like a good meat rub. The Master Chef says, “Add this.”

And I think, “But how does that help the final taste?”

I don’t understand how it all works. But it’d be foolish of me refuse good counsel.

Scripture is useful for training me in righteousness. Even in ways I can’t anticipate.

• Genealogy lists.
• Population counts.
• Levitical purity.
• Tabernacle specifications.
• Dramatic sins.
• Imprecatory Psalms.
• Conquest.

Learning these “make us wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). They give us a taste of what is to come, they reveal the heart of God, they teach us wisdom and the “general equity” principles for holiness, they refine our view of nature, and they prime us for recognizing the Messiah.

And they do this in a thousand ways we aren’t aware of.

“The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psalm 19:8)