Sorry for the delay in getting a post up for those of you who wanted to study ahead.

This week we wrap up our study of the doctrines of Christianity. Each week we have just touched on a few things of what could be said about each doctrine. We also have not been able to cover all the doctrines that we might want to. But hopefully this study has been helpful. I encourage you to use the posts as a resource and a reference for further study as issues and questions arise in the future.

Our final doctrine in the series is about spiritual gifts. This is probably the doctrine where there is the most disagreement by good Christians on each of the many sides of the issues. We’ll spend the first part of the class just laying our what the spiritual gifts are and what they are for. We’ll spend the last part of the class discussing some of the more debated miraculous gifts.

The bulk of our time will be in 1 Corinthians 12 – 14. My notes have other Scripture references and links to some books, sermons, and articles that you may find helpful for further study.

Although it’s known as the Lord’s supper, the Eucharist, or communion, no matter what you like to call it, there’s some very serious theology behind this Christian practice.  Just as baptism was a sign of a much deeper reality, so also is communion.  Jesus’ words in Luke 22:19-20 point to and reveal the meaning:  “This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me…This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Jesus said a number of things with these words.  He referenced the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34.  The first communion, the Last Supper, also coincided with the celebration of the Passover.  This feast celebrated the Lord’s passing over of His people in the land of Egypt by virtue of the blood of the sacrificial lamb covering their doorposts.  It was not mere happenstance that this event so closely paralleled Jesus’ own sacrifice for His people (I Cor. 5:7).  Finally, we see in I Cor. 11 that partaking of the Lord’s supper is a declaration that Jesus did in fact die for sinners and that He is coming back.  What a glorious message to declare!

In order to prepare for Sunday, it would be a great idea to read the account of the institution of the Lord’s supper (Luke 22:14-23) and Paul’s main writing concerning it (I Cor. 11:17-34).  Extra credit for looking at some of the old testament passages behind the supper (Ex. 12:1-32, Jer. 31:31-34).

My notes can be seen here.

As we jump back into our doctrine series, this week we’ll be discussing the doctrine of baptism.  This post is going to be rather short since typing one-handed gets pretty time-intensive.

When you think about baptism, does it ever seem strange?  Why do Christians insist on this practice?  The Bible gives some very clear answers to this question.  In preparation for our time together, I encourage you to do a word search for “baptize” and “baptism” and read the passages that deal with this practice.  The meaning behind baptism is amazing and points us always to the Cross and the empty tomb of our Savior.  Click here to see the verses pertaining to baptism.

My notes are available here.

Have you ever noticed that the world of doctrine brings with it a bunch of “tion” words?  We have adoption, redemption, glorification, sanctification, propitiation, imputation, salvation, etc.  This week, we’ll be focusing on one of the most central -tion doctrines in orthodox Christianity, the amazing doctrine of justification.  This doctrine describes how we are saved.

One might say that to be justified is to be righteous-ified…that is, declared righteous.  This doctrine, in a nutshell, says that justification is a legal declaration made by God regarding a sinner.  This legal declaration decrees that the sinner is righteous, and makes the sinner righteous by counting the sinner’s sin to Christ, and Jesus’ own righteousness to the sinner.  This is what Martin Luther referred to as, “the great exchange.”  And great indeed it is!  This declaration is a one-time deal and is at God’s inititiation from start to finish and is received by faith.  We don’t even have to work at it, it’s all done for us and to us!  What great news!!

The doctrine of justification by faith alone is formed from much Scriptural bedrock, and I hope to turn to several of these passages.  It would be a great idea to review some of these passages.  As you do, think about what they reveal about us, God, the event of justification, and what outcome that has for the believer.  Also, what relationship is there between good deeds and justification?  Check out Gen. 15:1-6, Rom. 3:21-4:12, Gal. 2:15-3:14, and James 2:20-26 for starters.

My notes can be seen here.

P.S.  The books that I recommended in class are listed below:

The Future of Justification, by John Piper (a pastoral response to N.T. Wright’s new perspective on Paul/justification)
Justification, by J.V. Fesko (very accessible description of the doctrine)
Justification, by Francis Turretin  (kind of heady)
Justification Vindicated, by Robert Traill (older English, but understandable)
Justification and the New Perspectives on Paul, by Guy Prentiss Waters

If you believe that Jesus is the Christ and your savior, you live in constant tension.

As we have discussed over the past several weeks, Jesus’ death on the cross accomplished making us as sinners having a right standing before our holy God. At the time of our conversion we are regenerated, or born again, with a new nature and desires. Our old nature desired to sin. Our new nature desires to please God. However, we still live in a sinful world and so there is tension.

We have this new nature we are trying to figure out in the midst of a sinful world. We are trying to be more free of sin and more like Christ in our daily lives. At it’s most basic, this is sanctification.

On Sunday, Lord willing, we will dive into the Scriptures to learn more about sanctification. We’ll look at some questions like:

• Is it a process or has it already happened? How can Paul say both “you WERE sanctified” (1 Cor. 6:11) and we “ARE being transformed” (2 Cor 3:18)?
• What’s God’s role in this and what am I to do?
• What parts of my life does sanctification affect?

Since sanctification is really practical to our daily lives, we’ll look a bit into the lives of Peter and Paul and what they went through being sanctified. Below are a couple of passages that really stood out to me.

For Paul read Romans 6 – 8, particularly focusing on Paul’s struggle in Romans 7:13-25.

For Peter, read Luke 22:54-62 and compare his reaction there to his reaction in Acts 2:13:-36.

Here is a link to my notes.

Update: Here are links to the two John Owen books I talked about in class.

Overcoming Sin and Temptation

Temptation: Resisted and Repulsed

You have heard him preach, now you get to hear him teach!  Pastor Whipple will be leading a time of teaching and discussion on the topic of the perseverance of the saints, AKA eternal security.

Since this is a not-every-week type of teaching time, I want to make sure that we take advantage of it.  Therefore, consider this your time to ask any questions you might have stored up in your head from the past several weeks on doctrine.

So, not much to report here as far as specific ways to prepare, other than get some good sleep Saturday evening, show up at 9:27 AM, and be prepared to participate!

This week we come to one of my favorite things to talk about, the bodily Resurrection of Jesus and the future bodily resurrection of all believers.  What an awesome doctrine!  I think this doctrine also lends itself, perhaps more than any other, to very practical orthopraxy (right living, doing, practice).  We’ll spend some time building the doctrine of the Resurrection from the Scriptures, but I plan on spending most of our time on how the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead has extremely practical applications for every single moment of a believer’s life.

In preparation, it would be a great idea to re-read the gospel account/s of Jesus’ resurrection.  The other primary passage we’ll look to in building this doctrine is I Cor. 15.  We probably won’t read the whole chapter in class on Sunday, but it’s amazing and it would be worth your time to read it.  The main passage we’ll look at with regards to the orthopraxy that flows from this orthodoxy is from Romans 6.  Again, we’ll probably focus on vs. 1-14, but this is also a completely amazing chapter and would be well worth the read.  The Bible is extremely clear that just as Jesus died to sin and was raised to live a life to God, we are to do the same thing.  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us the power and the motivation to stop sinning.  Fight sin with the Word of God.  When temptations come, set your mind on Jesus and on specific verses.  Bethlehem Baptist church has a list of their weekly “fighter verses” for 5 years.  What a great way to fight sin and live in the reality of the Resurrection!

As you read and think about this, I’d urge you to consider the following questions:

• Do you have any problems swallowing the idea that Jesus actually rose bodily from the dead?
• Why do people have a hang-up with this doctrine?
• How does this event that happened over 2000 years ago actually have impact on every moment of every day?

My notes are available here.

Well, our class today seemed to stir up some excellent discussion regarding some very tough issues that surround the doctrine of election.  It was suggested that I post my Scripture references here.  They follow.  They’re also available in my class notes.  Please feel free to post questions or thoughts about this doctrine.

I Peter 1:1-2
I Peter 2:9
II Tim. 1:8-10
II Thess. 2:13-14
Rev. 13:7-8
Acts 13:48
John 6:35-40
John 6:44
John 6:63-65
Eph. 1:3-14
Rom. 8:28-30
Rom. 9:9-13
Rom. 9:14-24

Also, Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology, gives the following quote which is quite helpful in reconciling a loving God with the just Judge who also creates some people to be “objects of wrath”:

We also must remember that there are important differences between election and reprobation as they are presented in the Bible.  Election to salvation is viewed as a cause for rejoicing and praise to God, who is worthy of praise and receives all the credit for our salvation (see Eph. 1:3-6; I Pet. 1:1-3).  God is viewed as actively choosing us for salvation, and doing so in love and with delight.  But reprobation is viewed as something that brings God sorrow, not delight (see Ezek. 33:11), and the blame for the condemnation of sinners is always put on the people or angels who rebel, never on God Himself (see John 3:18-19; 5:40).  So, in the presentation of Scripture the casue of election lies in God, and the casue of reprobation lies in the sinner.  Another important difference is the that ground of election is God’s grace, whereas the ground of reprobation is God’s justice.

This week we come to the glorious, but admittedly sometimes hard to swallow and comprehend doctrine of election.  In a nutshell, this doctrine states that man is born totally wicked and cannot and will not choose God.  God, then, graciously chooses to unconditionally  save some people (the elect) and turn them from evil to good, from death to life, and from sin to righteousness.  Everyone else, He hardens, will not save, and He will pour out His wrath on them.

This can be a very hard topic to discuss and think about.  It’s nearly impossible not to think about our friends and family that aren’t saved and wonder why.  It’s hard to think about people suffering in hell knowing that our loving God destined them for that demise.  It’s simply hard stuff.  I would also say, however, that the meat of this doctrine is absolutely glorious; it points to a totally supreme God who sovereignly directs everything.  Our God is entirely and completely free to do whatever He wants, free from outside constraints.  This totally free and holy God then chooses, in a supreme act of love,  to save some dirty rotten sinners who were so dead in their sins that they would never turn to Him of their own accord instead of justly damning them to hell.  What grace!  What mercy!  What a great God!  God’s purpose in election is the praise of His glorious grace.

Whether this doctrine is one that you embraced long ago, is something you just can’t believe, or is something you’re on the fence about, I’d encourage you to search the Scriptures, especially Ephesians 1:3-14 and Romans 9:9-24.  What do they say about election, choice, and predestination?  Also, I plan on leaving a good chunk of time at the end of class to address any questions or comments you have about this doctrine.  Please come ready to ask and discuss.

I also highly recommend John Piper’s sermon series on Romans 9 to help clarify and explain this doctrine.  I found this one particularly helpful.

My notes can be seen here.