A King?

17 Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah 18 and said to the Israelites, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to Him, ‘You must set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”
20 Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. 21 Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they searched for him, they could not find him. 22 They again inquired of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?”
The LORD replied, “There he is, hidden among the supplies.”
23 They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among the entire population.”
And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel proclaimed to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll, which he placed in the presence of the LORD. Then, Samuel sent all the people away, each to his home.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But some wicked men said, “How can this guy save us?” They despised him and did not bring him a gift, but Saul said nothing.

Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (1 Sa 10:17)

The Cruciality of the Cross

"By the atonement, therefore, is meant that action of Christ’s death which has a prime regard to God’s holiness, has it for its first charge, and finds man’s reconciliation impossible except as that holiness is divinely satisfied once for all on the cross. Such an atonement is the key to the incarnation. We must take that view of Christ which does most justice to the holiness of God. This starting point of the supreme holiness of God’s love, rather than its pity, sympathy, or affection, is the watershed between the Gospel and the theological liberalism which makes religion no more than the crown of humanity and the metropolitan province of the world. My point of departure is that Christ’s first concern and revelation was not simply the forgiving love of God, but the holiness of such love."

Source:The Cruciality of the Cross, P.T. Forysth

Power

I've been reading in A. W. Tozer's "The Pursuit of God" and have been encouraged by his words regarding the power that is available to Christians who handle the word of God properly. Then I ran across this on Vincent Cheung's site:

"Therefore, "the eyes of your heart" is just another way of saying, "the understanding of your mind." Paul is thus praying for his readers to receive an intellectual understanding about spiritual things, especially the doctrines that he mentions in this same letter. As Psalm 119:18 states, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." Likewise, O'Brien agrees that Paul is emphasizing a person's "thinking."

This point has tremendous implications for Christian life and development. As long as some Christians think that real spiritual wisdom depends on something "beyond" the intellectual understanding of spiritual things, they will keep on trying to grasp biblical truths with this non-mental part of their person. The problem is that this non-mental part does not exist, so that they will always be striving to accomplish something that cannot be done, with a part of their person that does not exist."

He goes on to relate some very important truths concerning the relevance of spiritual understanding and wisdom. Go there and read his article for yourself.....you will be blessed!

In the Image of God

A "Must Read" article concerning the Imago Dei.

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"We must not be hindered by the malice of men, but rather contemplate the image of God in them, which by its excellence and dignity moves and enables us to love them." - John Calvin

Fellowship and Separation

The bond that joins Israel to the Lord and to one another also separates them from the nations. The people of God are not to be numbered with the nations (Nu. 23:9). They are distinct religiously, for they are to serve the Lord, and no other God. He is their God, and they are his own possession, his inheritance, although all the earth is his (Ex. 19:5). They are also to be distinct morally. They must not practise the abominations of the heathen nations around them (Lv. 18:24–30). That ethical separation is symbolized in the ceremonial distinctiveness of Israel. The motif of cleanness and its opposite enforces the separation. Sources of uncleanness are not only forbidden foods, dead bodies, certain skin diseases, and bodily emissions, but also marital alliance with Gentiles (Ex. 34:12–17; 1 Ki. 11:2). The geographical separation of Israel gave practical support to the concept of Israel’s distinctiveness.

In the New Testament the spiritual separation of the new people of God is heightened as the geographical and ceremonial forms of separation are fulfilled and transcended. No longer are the people of God to be barred from certain foods. In the cleansing of Christ’s atonement, the ceremonial pictures are realized (Acts 10:9–16, 28; 1 Cor. 8:8; 10:23–27; 7:14). The removal of the dietary restrictions, and of the ceremonial sanctions that separated Jews from Gentiles—even more than the termination of the geographical distinctiveness of the new Israel—opened the door for the mission to the Gentiles. This was the evident effect of Peter’s vision on the house-top in Joppa. He was freed to associate with the Gentile soldier Cornelius, to be a guest at his table, and also to baptize him into the membership of the church (Acts 10).

Yet the separation of the New Israel remains, and is intensified. Paul does not hesitate to use the language of separation from uncleanness in quoting from the Old Testament. ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty’ (2 Cor. 6:17–18). The religious and moral separation of Israel now has a new depth. All defilement of flesh and spirit is to be cleansed away as the Christian church perfects holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). The quest for holiness among the New Israel is both individual and corporate. Not only must each Christian pursue holiness: the church must grow together in the image of Christ, and must exclude from its fellowship those who are heretics or impenitent sinners (Rom. 16:17f.; 1 Cor. 5:9–13). Paul was concerned not only to present every man perfect in Christ (Col. 1:8), but also to present the whole church ‘as a pure virgin to Christ’ (2 Cor. 11:2). Christ sought a renewal of love from the church at Ephesus, but he commended them for exposing and bringing to trial false apostles. Other churches are warned of the danger of tolerating the Nicolaitan heresy (Rev. 2:2, 14, 20).

The overflowing love and grace of God radically renew the community of the covenant. The church that has been purchased with Christ’s blood cannot ask ‘Who is my neighbour?’ with a view to limiting the circle of those to whom the love of compassion must be shown. Yet the love that reaches out in Christ’s name to the lost does not deny the reality of lostness. It calls men to enter the fellowship where the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, but the bond of that love can be forged only in union with Christ.

Source: Carson, D. (2000, c1987). The Church in the Bible and the World : An international study (electronic ed.) (37). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

See also Vincent Cheung's excellent article "Association With Unbelievers"

The Spirit as Possessor

It is the presence of God in the Spirit that forms the church as the worshiping assembly. If we think only of the gifts of the Spirit to be used in worship and neglect the presence of the Spirit, we shall lose from view the very reality that makes worship to be worship: the presence of the Lord. The great event described in Acts 2 is the epiphany of the Holy Spirit. James Dunn has pointed out that just as the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel prepares for the coming of the Son in chapter two, so does the first chapter of Acts prepare for the coming of the Spirit in chapter two. Indeed, the ministry of Jesus has an aspect of preparation as well as of fulfillment. The coming of the Spirit is the promise of the Father which the disciples are to await in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4). Jesus promised that he would not leave the disciples orphaned, but would come to them (Jn. 14:18). It is better for them that he should leave them in the body of his incarnation in order that he might come again in the power of his Spirit (Jn. 16:7). At Pentecost, Jesus both comes in the Spirit and baptizes with the Spirit. The presence of the Lord the Giver and the enduing of his Gift are not in conflict. In the wonder of worship that crowns our relation to God, we possess him as we adore him.

Carson, D. (2000, c1987). The Church in the Bible and the World : An international study (electronic ed.) (60). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Led By The Spirit

In Matthew 3 is a passage that has often been used as a proof-text for the doctrine of the Trinity: “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16, 17).
This is a classical text on the Trinity, but it is not to be a bare proof of the Trinity. The passage teaches much more, especially when we place it in the larger context of the next few verses: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1). As soon as Jesus was baptized by the Holy Spirit, He was led by Him. If He was thus led by the Holy Spirit, how much more we need so to be! We must not reduce these passages only to a theological statement, even a true theological statement; we must act on them in our lives. Then He goes on to the garden in a few short years and then to die on the cross.
John the Baptist made two prophecies concerning the Christ. Not only did he say, “Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), but he also affirmed, “The same is he who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost” (John 1:33). This second prophecy indicates that not only was Jesus Himself baptized and led by the Spirit, but He also baptizes us with the Spirit. Are we, when we accept Christ as our Savior, indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Then we are meant to know something of both His leading and His power.

As we see the Lord Jesus dying on the cross, we who are Bible-believing Christians must fight for the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement. Theological liberalism deliberately destroys the atonement’s substitutionary quality, and liberalism controls much of the traditional church structures. So we may have to pay a high price ecclesiastically in order to be faithful to the Bible’s teaching. But no matter the cost, let us be faithful. We must stand at all costs for the substitutionary atonement.

The central thrust of the cross is the substitutionary atonement, but this does not exhaust its meaning. The cross also teaches a lesson in humility. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ... being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:5, 8). This is where the Christian is to dwell if he is to know something of the power of the Spirit. just as Christ was humbled in the external space-time world, in the hard stuff of history, not merely in someone’s imagination, nor in some idealistic setting that makes His death a utopian statement withdrawn from life — so, too, a Christian should have a truly humble heart in the hard reality of the practical world. There is to be a practical reality of the seed falling into the earth to die.

One of the Pope’s titles is “servant of servants.” And what a tremendous title it is! But in Rome traditionally he has been carried in a gold-covered chair on the backs of men. I saw him need help trying to stand because of the weight of the jewels and gold which adorned him. Men had to take his arms and stand him upright. I do not know what is the case today, but in the past when the Pope ate, he ate on a raised platform while other people ate below this servant of servants.
We may react against this, but is it not true that a great deal in our own lives manifests about the same level of humility? We speak of humility and crucifixion, but we are like the Pope, speaking about being a servant of servants and then being carried on the backs of men. While we talk about humility and the power of the Holy Spirit, we spend much of our lives in the stance of Napoleon. As soon as we seek the Me rather than follow the example of Christ, we are walking in the flesh rather than in the Spirit.

Source:Schaeffer, F. A. (1996, c1982). The complete works of Francis A. Schaeffer : A Christian worldview. Westchester, Ill.: Crossway Books.