Thanksgiving

Often I will see my wife and children in the living room of our house and will feel awash with an overwhelming sense of gratitude to God for the blessing that they are to me. Our Heavenly Father is truly the Giver of all good things. I am aware, at least to some degree, of how selfish that I can be, and I in no way deserve Abby's love; without God's grace in my life, I could choose to isolate myself and follow sinful desires, tearing my family apart and robbing us all of the happiness that we have together: a mistake that I've seen some of my friends make. This Thanksgiving, I pray God's protection on my household and pray that He grant us wisdom to continually thank Him as we seek to serve Christ.

Summary of Differences Between Tom Schreiner and Tom Wright on Justification

Below are some notes from SBTS New Testament professor Tom Schreiner's response to Tom Wright in the plenary session of the Evangelical Theological Society. The full text of Dr. Schreiner's response was posted on-line by his son, Patrick Schreiner, HERE.

Schreiner identifies a central difference with the following:

Tom [Wright] continues to think that justification is mainly about covenant membership and ecclesiology, whereas I think the primary emphasis is on soteriology with ecclesiological implications.

Schreiner responds to Wright's explanation of Romans 4:11 concerning the identification of "justification" with "covenant membership" with the following:

The text does not say that circumcision ratifies that one is a covenant member but that it confirms that one stands in the right before God by faith. An illustration may help. Baptism may document and ratify that one is saved, and those who are baptized are covenant members, but it doesn’t follow logically or lexically from this that the word “saved” means covenant membership. I would say the same line of argument applies to circumcision and righteousness in Rom. 4:11.

Schreiner identifies a second major difference through an examination of Philippians 3 and Romans 4. Schreiner argues, contra Wright, that the false idea of justification that is refuted by the Apostle Paul in these passages largely concerns not merely Jewish ethnic "boundary-markers," but a striving for legalistic self-achievement. Schreiner points out that in Philippians 3 the contrast is not only between Jews and Gentiles, but between Paul during his pre-conversion days as a Pharisee, seeking to be justified by his works, and other Jews. Schreiner adds:

Let me draw one implication from what Paul says. Jews didn’t think they were better than Gentiles solely because they were circumcised and were members of the covenant. They typically believed that they were more obedient and more godly than the Gentiles, that the Gentiles were judged, not merely for being Gentiles, but because they were sinners.

Schreiner then shows parallels between Philippians 3 and Romans 10, a passage in which Jewish ethnic "boundary-markers" are nowhere present.

Schreiner then argues that the argument against justification by works in Romans 4 cannot be understood in terms of Jewish ethnic "boundary-markers" and that Abraham's reward comes fundamentally due to his faith, rather than his obedience.

What does it mean that God is "sovereign"? (Part 1)

God's Sovereignty Defined

At the beginning of the statement in my personal confession of faith concerning God, I write:

I believe that there is only one God (Deut 6:4). God is revealed as the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things (Gen 1:1; Acts 17:24-28; Rom 1:18-25),

In addition to the passages cited above, God's sovereignty is seen in verses such as Psalm 33:11, Ephesians 1:11, and Romans 9:14-18.

When thinking about what it means that God is sovereign, I think that I tend to over-simplify and say, "God's sovereignty means that God is in control." Researching what the Bible says about God's sovereignty, Dr. Anees Zaka expands this definition significantly, writing in his book, Ten Steps In Witnessing to Muslims: "'Sovereignty' indicates ownership, authority, and control."

These concepts are, I think, tied to the roles of God in relationship to the universe, mentioned above: God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things; because He created everything, He owns everything and has absolute authority to order everything in accordance with His will, and because He sustains everything (nothing having independent existence apart from Him), He exercises control over everything.

Thomas Aquinas On Original Sin, Part 7.

From Summa Theologica:

Treatise on Habits in Particular, Question 82, Article 3: Whether original sin is concupiscence?

"Concupiscence" is defined as "inordinate desire." Aquinas concludes that formally "original sin" is defined as a privation of original justice (explained in previous articles), but materially "original sin" consists of inordinate desire.

What is "witnessing"?

[Some statements from the following are taken from Ten Steps in Witnessing to Muslims by Dr. Anees Zaka.]

What Is The Meaning of Life?

In addressing the age-old question, "What is the meaning of life?" a traditional Christian answer states: "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever."

But the Bible teaches that those who have faith in Jesus will, after death, live in a sinless state directly in God's presence; in the after-life, therefore, our ability to glorify God and enjoy Him will dramatically increase.

And so we must ask, "What is the purpose for life now in this sinful world?" Certainly believers are to strive to glorify God and enjoy Him, but why are we left here- and not immediately taken into heaven- after we trust Christ?

Evangelical Christians believe that certain words spoken by the resurrected Jesus to His followers hold the key to answering this question. These words are recorded in New Testament passages such as Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8. In both of these passages Jesus gives specific commands for what His followers are to be doing on earth after He ascends into heaven. These commands extend beyond those who are present to hear Him speak, as they endure "always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt 28:20b), as His followers go "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8b).

To focus on one of these passages in particular: in Acts 1:8 Jesus says,

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

"Ye shall be witnesses." The reason that Christians exist in this world is to be witnesses.

What Is A Witness?

As in a contemporary law-court, the term witness is used in the Christian faith to refer to 'a person who can give testimony to establish the truth of a charge or statement of fact.'

The word translated "witness" is the Greek word that is the basis for our English word "martyr." (Originally the words "witness" and "martyr" were synonyms.) The terms are related in that, biblically speaking, a "witness" is one who is so convinced of the truth about Jesus that he is willing to die rather than forsake his testimony to Christ and the gospel.

What Is "Witnessing"?

Again as in a contemporary law-court setting, the term witnessing is used in the Christian faith to refer to "giving a report, evidence, and an account of personal experience."

The New Testament is full of examples of witnessing: the Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are reports concerning the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul gives evidence concerning the resurrected Christ (citing eyewitness testimony), and in passages such as Acts 22 and Acts 26 Paul tells of his personal experience with the resurrected Christ.

Christians are to follow the commands of Christ and the examples of the New Testament in regards to witnessing. We must be able tell what we believe; that is, we must be able to give a summary of the main points concerning the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and we must seek opportunities to tell this "old, old story." We must be able to tell why we believe; that is, we must be able to tell the evidence for why faith in Jesus is superior to skepticism or belief in other gods. Finally, we must be able to tell how we came to believe; that is, we must think carefully and be able to speak cogently about what circumstances God used to convince us to trust in Jesus.

Thomas Aquinas On Original Sin, Part 6.

From Summa Theologica:

Treatise on Habits in Particular, Question 82, Article 2: Whether there are several original sins one man?

Aquinas considers the possibility that there are several original sins in each person due to: (1) a particular translation of Psalm 51:5 which reads "in sins did my mother conceive me," (2) people are habitually inclined [see the last article] to contrary sins, (3) every part of the soul is infected by sin, and so the different parts [it seems Aquinas has in view the "intellect," the "will," etc.] may be infected by different original sins.

Aquinas responds that there is only one original sin present in each person and that this is "the first sin of the first parent that is transmitted to posterity."

Aquinas argues that the loss of "original justice" [again, a rightly ordered inner life, submitted to God] accounts for points 2 and 3 above. As for point 1, Aquinas simply asserts that Scripture frequently substitutes plurals in the place of singulars for various reasons.

Again, Aquinas's conclusions seem plausible, but his argument lacks any scriptural exegesis (in his positive argument, he only cites John 1:29, and this is used in a somewhat dubious manner) that would prove his case beyond doubt.