Issues in Biblical Anthropology, Lecture
Key Topics
Transcript with YouTube timestamps
0:03what we need to see i believe when it comes to the challenge of wokeness i’ll sometimes be asked when i speak on
0:10this what is the plan though what is the program where does this go for us how are we supposed to how are
0:17we supposed to handle these issues because the other side has this whole set of priorities and and policies they want to
0:24put into place what do you want to do what are you saying is our uh is our way forward and i believe that
0:32we find our way forward honestly in scripture i don’t think that this is fidaism
0:38or a kind of uh unprincipled pietism or something like this i think
0:43this is simply living according to sola scriptura and especially putting into work
0:49the doctrine of the total sufficiency of the bible the bible of course is our
0:54sufficient book the sufficient book but men here’s what i want you to hear very quickly
1:00before we dive in i want you to understand that i think today the doctrine that is most attacked and most challenged both at the
1:08level of ideas and at the level of practice is the doctrine of scriptural sufficiency there’s a good
1:14number of people who say yeah i’m under the authority of the bible but i’m not necessarily relying upon
1:22scripture for all my thinking in that area there’s a lot to say about that conversation we’ve already been talking
1:27about it to some degree this week but i want you just to understand that at least in my classroom in my class we are operating according
1:34to the total sufficiency of scripture doesn’t mean that we don’t read unchristian sources doesn’t mean that
1:40we’re never going to find contact points with the truth in non-christian sources
1:45we’ve talked about that at some length it does mean though that we understand as i have been at pains to say this week
1:52that the christian system is the true system and no other system is true sometimes we talk about the exclusivity
1:58of the gospel or the exclusivity of christ and we must talk about that what we actually have to go beyond that don’t
2:04we we have to go beyond that and talk about the exclusivity of the christian worldview the exclusivity of christian
2:10doctrine are you short up there do you confess that easily and readily
2:17you should because that’s only the logical implication of the exclusivity
2:22of christ if christ is the exclusive way to god then knowing christ is the only way to
2:28know god and so knowing christ is true knowledge of god and brings you into the narnian wonder
2:36of the god-made world that you can only fully understand through redeemed eyes and a redeemed
2:42heart you will only comprehend the beauty and glory and joyfulness of the world
2:48when you know god when you know god you are using your brain for what it was made to be used for but
2:54you’re not only using your brain your heart and your mind are working together in
3:00perfect harmony or not in perfect harmony but in in in symbiotic harmony we should say
3:05really in order that you would worship the lord with your mind and with your heart
3:11and so that that is all to say that as christians we don’t just have an
3:16exclusive gospel oh by the way jesus is the only way to god i got to throw that in just so you understand
3:22he’s the only name you can claim in order to be saved it’s not just that it’s that he’s the doorway isn’t he
3:29you you open the wardrobe into narnia and this is exclusively the christian
3:36worldview in all its beauty and glory and you’re the only one who can know it
3:41the unbeliever does not know the christian worldview they do not believe
3:47christian doctrine and so they they do not know the exclusive truth about all god’s world now there
3:54are certain certain truths they can understand we we’ve talked about this from natural theology but i simply want you to
4:00understand that you must remember that in bringing people into christian doctrine and christian worldview
4:07we’re not simply calling them to to pick our team to root for for our our squad we are
4:14saying this and this alone is the exclusive knowledge of god this is the world view
4:20that alone explains all things without exception
4:25all things without exception this is the way to know truly but not just know in the
4:31intellectual sense no in the fullest possible sense no with fullness of
4:36of mind committed to it know with fullness of heart drawn to it we are walking in a world of
4:42aesthetic wonder all driven by divine truth
4:48and so this means that i i think if you reframe people’s expectations a little
4:53bit they’re better queued up to receive christian truth because they’re not just claiming
4:59an exclusive but but narrow way to salvation in this narrow issue of christian doctrine they
5:05understand that they alone among all the world know exclusively the truth of god and
5:10others do not they know fragments of the truth they know parts of the truth they see reality as god has made it so
5:18there are there are those contact points but they can’t know it comprehensively
5:23and they certainly can’t know it without faith in jesus christ so all that is a bit of a
5:28again a reframing of sufficiency such that we don’t start we don’t start from this
5:34standpoint that everybody knows all sorts of truth and then christians say oh but we’ve got to kind of stop the
5:40presses and work it around and then stop listening to other people no we start from the standpoint that we
5:46and we alone because of god’s grace no truth we know absolute truth we know objective
5:54truth we see the world rightly not because we’re intelligent
5:59this is not thomistic philosophy not because uh we have greater reasoning
6:06capacities than the unbe unbeliever in and of ourselves but because we are redeemed
6:13and to know the exclusive gospel is to know the christian worldview and
6:19thus within the christian worldview you wander all through narnia making these beautiful discoveries of
6:25of truth and one of those truths that you discover is that as ephesians 2 11 to 18 makes
6:32clear god has solved the problem of partiality
6:38and hostility between people groups the new testament does not know our
6:45precise category of race but it definitely knows
6:50alienation between peoples who have long standing grievances who have
6:57bitter conflicts in their past let me speak less politely who hate one another
7:03in their background who have done in some cases terrible things to one another
7:10the bible knows this the bible is not surprised by these problems in our world
7:17it’s sufficient for these things look with me at ephesians 2 11 please turn there
7:23this morning as we begin we’ll break this down into two sections a short section here and then a longer section in just a
7:29moment and then we’ll head into technology after i take any final questions in the area of wokeness
7:35ephesians 2 11 there rem therefore remember that at one time you gentiles in the flesh called
7:40the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands remember that you were at that time
7:46separated from christ alienated from the commonwealth of israel and strangers to the covenants of promise having no
7:52hope and without god in the world so the apostle paul here
7:57identifies what off the bat stark division he’s speaking to
8:04uh gentile christians and he says that they are separated from christ alienated from israel strangers to the
8:10grace of god that’s how they start that’s how he begins
8:16uh this section on what the gospel does for the people of god they were the uncircumcision
8:23so there is a covenantal distinction between the jews and the gentiles they are separated from
8:30christ alienated from israel strangers to the covenants of promise and all this means that
8:35they have no hope and they are without god in the world well that’s a fairly strong depiction of
8:41the natural man’s condition is it not there is absolutely no hope in our natural state and in this
8:49natural state we n we naturally draw lines between one another john stott has said this along
8:55these lines and commenting on this passage men still build walls of partition and
9:01division like the terrible berlin wall or erect invisible curtains of iron or
9:06bamboo or construct barriers of race color cast tribe or class divisiveness is a constant
9:12characteristic of every community without christ does that sound familiar
9:19this is our world right now some of you are observing political chaos and controversy right now there’s
9:25much to say about that we’re not even going to try to scratch the surface of that but suffice it to say that humanity is very good at dividing
9:32humanity is very good at separating from one another the jews and gentiles are separated from a god-given institution primarily
9:39circumcision is what paul identifies here it actually marks out physically supposedly god fearing people from the
9:46gentiles but those divisions persist and multiply not simply between jews and gentiles but
9:53between humanity people of all kinds so in our natural state
9:58being without god we’re not all in a kumbaya circle holding hands dwelling together in unity
10:04and harmony are we no we are naturally alienated from god vertically and alienated from one another
10:10horizontally that is the natural condition of man we are alienated from god vertically
10:16that’s our first and and biggest problem of course and the problem that flows out of it
10:22is that we are alienated from one another horizontally in the world that god has made people who do not have jesus
10:30christ just refresh yourself and remember this have no hope and are without god in the world this is
10:37a stark picture of fallen humanity and it reminds us okay fallen humanity can make gains let’s say
10:44in terms of justice progress societal uplift we want to affirm that some societies are better than others
10:51we’re not cultural relativists in here okay other campuses are we’re not teaching i’m not teaching
10:57cultural and societal relativism relativism you can’t as a christian but we need to just
11:02remember there’s ultimately no hope in this world there’s no hope in this world there is
11:08no hope outside of god we’re glad when people around us our
11:15neighbors around us in a political sense do choose
11:20roughly what is virtuous over what is not virtuous we we want unbelievers to make that choice
11:27we don’t we don’t want unbelievers to abort their children for example do we we’re not indifferent to that as
11:33believers we want less death and suffering in general
11:38if we can have it in civilizational and societal terms and we’re even called to be salt and
11:45light as i’ve said a few times in the class already matthew 5 13-16 we’re called to be salt and light which
11:50i think has a lot of different ramifications there’s a lot to say about that but we just also must remember there
11:58isn’t any hope here in this world those who have god look at what paul
12:05says in ephesians 2 12 they have no hope they’re without god
12:11so when you’re looking at any time for example at fallen society’s
12:18secular context just remember there’s not ultimately going to be a utopian seed
12:27that comes to full flowering it may look that way societies may make progress for a time
12:35but ultimately they are not they are not the true people of god and
12:41they cannot ultimately bring the promises of god to full fruition no human society can it won’t happen
12:50there is alienation division hostility in the world that’s what other
12:57texts of scripture say as well we hate god and we hate one another that’s another new testament reality we
13:04hate god and we hate one another well that’s pretty simple that tells us why
13:10people divide from one another it’s not just in america it’s not just america’s heritage it’s
13:16not just the american pedigree with regard to slavery and jim crow and other racist realities we can talk about it’s
13:23true of every society it’s true of every context the american
13:28slave system exists because of african slave traders who enslave
13:34fellow africans and send them across the atlantic for a profit there’s all sorts of slave systems all
13:41around the world there’s genocides that play out between japan and china to talk
13:46to talk about one other example there’s genocide of various kinds throughout the european
13:52context there’s hideous things that happen in russia in cambodia under chairman mao and china we can go
13:58on and on people do terrible things to one another america is not the only place that has
14:05struggled and seen sin really creep into its body politic als this is this is the norm this is the
14:12norm this is what happens when you get people together in mass groupings who hate god and hate
14:18one another in their natural state we shouldn’t expect differently and
14:24that’s why it is so important that we not think that there is an
14:29ultimate solution in this world verse 13 to 18 gives us the hope we need and it gives us what the church
14:37needs to preach in a context like ours divided by wokeness and other ideologies in the
14:4221st century but not just now going forward for as long as you live you have what you need
14:48to to take into societies into countries into people groups into communities it’s this verse 13 but
14:55now in christ jesus you who once were far off have been brought near
15:00by the blood of christ for he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken
15:08down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of
15:15commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man
15:20in place of the two so making peace and might reconcile us both to god in
15:26one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility and he came and preached
15:35peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near for through him
15:40we both have access in one spirit to the father
15:47in their natural state the gentiles paul says here are far off from god but through faith in jesus
15:53christ they may draw near to god how how do they draw near how have they been
15:59brought near note that it’s actually it’s actually a
16:04perfect passive have been brought near it’s not something we have done
16:10we haven’t brought ourselves near deposited ourselves just shy of the cross in order that god
16:17would smile upon us in our free will see that we have had it and then grant us salvation
16:22us doing our part god doing his part no instead those who are far off the
16:28gentiles have been brought near but but not in a directional sense in a spiritual sense
16:37by the blood of christ the blood of christ is that which can bring the only
16:43solution to alienation division and intense hostility as
16:49predominates and proliferates in the world of men the blood of christ is the solution
16:54humanity needs for our alienation estrangement anger hatred and hopelessness people are
17:02hopeless around us suicide rates have risen sharply in recent months that’s just the
17:08latest manifestation of hopelessness though hopelessness has been a thing and is
17:14going to be a thing outside of god you’re hopeless that’s what paul just said
17:20in our previous collection of verses the gentiles are without hope
17:26what do you expect when a mass group of people in some sense transitions from some kind
17:33of religious traditionalism that at some level is interfacing with christianity to a
17:40basically neo-pagan as i have argued and secular society a strange blend of the two
17:45really what do you expect people are hopeless
17:51but the solution to hopelessness is not a pill it’s not a therapy session it’s not
17:57self-affirmation it’s not self-esteem it’s not a life coach it’s not better wellness it’s not
18:04meditation practices on an app what is it what is the solution the
18:09only solution to these conditions of various kinds is the blood
18:15of jesus the blood of christ the blood of christ
18:21washes us clean and he himself jesus the atoning sacrifice the fulfillment of
18:29the day of atonement in perfect form is our
18:35peace where is peace to be found that is really one of the major
18:42questions of our time where will we find peace in this
18:47alienated hostile world it’s very simple this question has been definitively
18:55and decisively answered once and for all time there is only peace in jesus
19:02it’s not that he is an upgraded piece it’s not that he is a slightly better piece it’s not that he is an enhanced piece
19:08from what you can find in natural terms in this fallen world it is that he is the exclusive
19:15peace he is the only one who can bring peace between jew and
19:21gentile and overcome this covenantal alienation and separation
19:30he has made us both one he has done it he has done it
19:38he has accomplished it he has broken down in his flesh the dividing
19:46wall of ekthron in the greek hostility bristling
19:54hatred of one people group for another he has
20:00done it so the need for peace that we all feel has been met by god
20:09he has done what is needed to bring jew and gentile together in ephesus in
20:15the context of the local church now we’re not trying to tie up every loose thread in the new testament in
20:22eschatological terms there’s more to say about the people of god and the fate of the jews and the
20:27in-gathering of the jews that i believe and i’m guessing many of you believe will happen later in days to come we’re not trying
20:35to tie that up and answer all those questions those will be answered for you at this school i’m guessing in
20:41in other classes so don’t over read my comments here nonetheless don’t under read them either
20:47in terms of the bible there isn’t there isn’t a jewish church from what paul says and a gentile church
20:54right the very least we have no grounds to make that conclusion
20:59from ephesians 2 and our doctrine of blood atonement blood atonement for sin no the people
21:06who were alienated have had that wall a wall of hostility
21:13crash and burn and it doesn’t exist anymore between these peoples who have lived in
21:21ekthron in hostility to one another look paul is identifying these
21:28conditions that sound very much like our conditions today
21:33we are hearing that we have division that really cannot be overcome because it’s
21:40long-standing because it’s grounded in american history because it persists in different
21:46ways in our society and in our culture but the sufficiency of scripture
21:51summons us to see with fresh eyes that the dividing wall of hostility and every form of it is broken down
21:59in the church that’s what i want you to understand from our brief study this morning
22:05not to try to tie up every loose thread for days to come in terms of the people
22:10of god there are hard questions and many texts to consider along those lines but simply to see this basic atoning
22:18point that the blood of christ is effectual and powerful it doesn’t make salvation
22:26possible it makes salvation certain the only reason you will be saved the
22:32only reason any of us will be saved is because the blood of christ was shed for
22:38us and it has not created conditions favorable to you getting yourself saved
22:44you will be saved because of this effectual
22:52atonement you were cleansed on the cross
23:01you were not in technical terms justified at the cross
23:07your justification came the moment god gave you faith through the holy
23:12spirit in the atoning work of jesus when that was announced to you through
23:18the gospel that is when you were justified by faith and faith alone
23:23so we have to handle with care on these points don’t we in technical theological terms we’re not
23:29teaching i’m not teaching here what’s called eternal justification abraham kuiper for example taught a form
23:35of that i revere kuiper in many respects but i don’t go with him there nonetheless the grounds of our
23:41justification were secured at the cross weren’t they because the faith we exercise that is
23:47justifying is faith in christ recognizing that his blood cleansed us and purchased us
23:55and paid for our sin the sin of the elect the sin of the church at the cross
24:03you weren’t then justified in 33 a.d but you were
24:10your salvation was purchased there it was bought there you were paid for
24:18there jesus went to the market if you will and he secured your
24:25salvation several thousand years
24:30before you and i exercised faith he made us
24:38one in the church there there aren’t jewish churches and gentile
24:43churches there shouldn’t be there should not be churches for for different ethnicities
24:49there may be churches where there’s a lot of one ethnicity of course but there shouldn’t be a church that is exclusively for one
24:56ethnicity or one group there shouldn’t be a rich church there shouldn’t be a instagram influencers church there shouldn’t be an
25:03old people’s church there should only be churches filled with redeemed blood-bought
25:09sinners of every kind
25:15this text teaches us who we are we are a christian we are a christian
25:21that’s who we are we’re not a certain subset of christian uh there’s not a modifier to attach to
25:29that term christian we are christians by the blood of jesus christ he did this
25:37in his flesh verse 14. note how important the incarnation
25:44the humanity of jesus christ is for our redemption he had to be god
25:50in order to save us only god can save but he had to be human in order to die
25:56in our place he had to take on flesh and so he did he is not a disembodied god who hovers
26:04far above us and zaps us with a lightning bolt in order to save us he took on flesh
26:10in order to redeem us and this means verse 15 that the old
26:17covenant law is abolished he abolished it other places the new testament will say
26:24that that law is fulfilled in fact there’s something of an ongoing conversation
26:31between different new testament authors in terms of the language they use over that precise point
26:36one of the most important one of the most interesting uh exegetical and theological subjects i
26:42think in all of christian theology what exactly has happened with the law
26:47well here the apostle paul we’re just trying to represent him here says that that law is abolished the law
26:54that was expressed in ordinances the which i read as the old covenant law in some
26:59in total i don’t believe that the ten commandments are still binding on us i believe that
27:05all of this law has been brought to perfect fulfillment in jesus christ
27:11to the extent that it is it is fully appropriate to say that it is abolished for the christian
27:16we’re not under that administration we’re under the new covenant it’s not that the old covenant law is
27:22bad it’s not that it fails to teach us it definitely teaches us it definitely instructs us
27:28it gives us the very character and will of almighty god for his old covenant people we learn a
27:34tremendous amount from it the new covenant law is based upon it nonetheless we are not under the administration of
27:42israel and i do not believe in the tripartite distinction introduced by aquinas and others
27:48most popularized in the reformed tradition and evangelical tradition by calvin i don’t believe that the civil and
27:53ceremonial aspects of the law have come to fulfillment but the moral aspects of the law still operate i
27:59believe that the moral civil and ceremonial law that’s not a biblical breakdown by the way but i
28:04believe all the law has come to fulfillment in jesus christ there are different positions along
28:10those lines i’m not laying down a gauntlet and saying that my precise view is the only one held
28:16and the only one that could be held i think you can put together good arguments for different positions and let that be said and i want to teach and
28:23work with others who might have slightly different formulations there but that that is my view based on
28:30texts like this i think that that is what paul is saying and saying that that law is abolished
28:36and so there is not two men there is verse 15 created in himself in christ
28:44and in christ alone one new man one new man such that all who are in
28:52christ are one we are saved we are together
28:58christians again there aren’t two men there is one new
29:04man in terms of the church peace has been made and what does paul say in the next verse
29:11we are reconciled to god in one body through the cross
29:17all salvation runs through the cross there are challenging questions that we
29:24tackle in terms of the history of israel and the future of israel these sorts of
29:29matters but suffice it to say that there is no saved person outside of the cross is there
29:37the blood of christ alone washes clean all all the scripture
29:44in terms of the doctrine of atonement points ahead to the cross isaiah 53 day of atonement
29:50sacrificial system on and on it goes all of it culminates in the cross
29:57that is where end of verse 16 hostility there it is again this is a big issue isn’t it in ephesus
30:05this is not a small matter hostility is what epochtanos killed
30:13it is killed the cross murders
30:20hostility apostolic language sounds strange
30:27even honestly in some conservative evangelical settings where we have these delicate sensibilities and we don’t want
30:34to talk about blood atonement and we want to move away from that and we only want a positive framing of
30:40things and we don’t want warrior language even though god exodus 15 3 is a warrior
30:48and jesus is a warrior king we don’t want we don’t want that element
30:54of jesus anymore because that doesn’t play well with an iphone drenched society
31:00smooth we don’t ever see animals killed we don’t want hunting we don’t want guns
31:06these sorts of things well go back to the language of new testament authors and see what they say
31:13they say that hostility has been murdered in its sleep that’s what the bible teaches
31:20there is no hostility that any more can exist
31:26between those who claim christ as their savior because hostility has been killed
31:34it’s been done away with it’s been destroyed and i mean this
31:41in objective terms note how objective the atonement is my next book is on the atonement lord willing or
31:48my next book after the wokeness book my next academic book kind of like re-enchanting humanity
31:54of that length and that type it’s going to be called lord willing jesus the warrior savior and so it’s going to be god allowing a
32:01doctrine of atonement jesus the war your savior and what i want to emphasize there is very simply
32:07what i think the new testament emphasizes the objective accomplishment of christ on the cross
32:14salvation is not a subjective reality first and foremost salvation is not subjective first and
32:20foremost salvation is objective it is grounded in the will
32:26and decree of god and that decree is realized in terms of atonement
32:32fully and finally at the cross of jesus christ that is god’s objective
32:39answer to our predicaments our problems our namely sin that is what god offers
32:46as his objective solution your salvation then and the salvation of
32:54those you minister to at least for those you perceive as best you can are christians it is not a subjective
33:02driven salvation it’s not a subject of christianity then is it it’s the opposite of so much
33:08spirituality today which is so subjective what is it what does it make me feel like what is
33:16the service do i like the service how do i feel when
33:21the preacher talks my feelings determine so much today
33:28in so many evangelical settings your tone is off i don’t like your tone
33:36maybe it’s true objectively but subjectively i don’t like it
33:41it doesn’t make me feel good what what is christianity christianity
33:48is nothing other than an objective system it’s grounded in
33:53hard concrete realities we’re not saved however we want to be saved we’re not
34:00saved in ways that make us feel good we’re saved through blood
34:05we’re washed in the blood of jesus christ how does that make you feel well
34:13whatever your 21st century sensibilities are it should make you feel overjoyed for the rest of your life
34:22but even if your feelings dip and ebb and flow and even if
34:29you go through valleys and life and even if there are seasons
34:36of real challenge and trial nothing objectively changes
34:44about the cross of jesus christ all the facts of atonement
34:51blood sacrifice for sin assuaging the just furious wrath
34:58of almighty god stand wrath is your major problem because sin
35:06is your major problem and wrath has been objectively dealt with
35:13by christ the father hates sin and the father
35:19pours out his wrath on his son as our substitute sacrifice
35:26and that is doctrinal fuel for you to live in joy and gladness
35:33and strength and faith-driven triumph not circumstantial triumph
35:40but faith-driven triumph every day you live your greatest need is not a spouse or
35:47children or a great ministry position or money
35:53or any other earthly thing your greatest need is to not drink the cup of the father’s
36:00wrath that is the need of every person that cuts across every society
36:06every person of every skin color has that need every community every neighborhood every
36:12nation every ethnos has that need the need to not drink the father’s wrath for
36:18eternity that is our that is our dominant problem by a factor
36:24of infinity do you hear how strong i’m talking that is our dominant problem by a factor of
36:31infinity everything else that we face in this world pales in comparison to that reality that we
36:37deserve to drink the cup of the father’s wrath but we won’t
36:43because of christ that is such a glorious reality in fact
36:51that it objectively overcomes the hostility between god and man vertically
36:56and then secondarily it’s so strong that it overcomes hostility between man and man listen to me if the cross can overcome
37:04the hostility between a a holy god a perfectly holy god
37:09who is justly wrathful against sin can the cross not
37:17overcome hostility between peoples of every kind
37:28if the cross is sufficient to transfer you from what you deserve hell
37:36to what you do not deserve eternity with god heaven new heaven’s
37:43new earth the vision of revelation 21 and 22
37:48is the cross not strong enough to overcome real problems real pain
37:57real triumph trial real grievances we’re not we’re not saying these are
38:02nothing we’re not saying these are insubstantial historically or presently we are saying
38:09that they do pale infinitely
38:14compared to the problem of divine wrath against sin but we are in danger i
38:22believe of making the cessation of hostility
38:28between god and man almost a secondary thing
38:35and almost a small problem that was overcome and the hostility between people groups
38:42of whatever kind a big thing and something that
38:49the cross of christ that’s what you’re talking about is almost insufficient for
38:56and for whatever whatever it’s worth whatever tiny little contribution we can
39:03try to make in a class like this i want you to understand that at the very least
39:09that is the reversal of the situation biblically biblically the major problem it’s not
39:17it’s not a small and glancing thing but the major problem is not the hostility between peoples
39:22the major problem is the hostility between a perfectly holy wrathful
39:30just god and humanity and and what all paul is really saying
39:37in ephesians 2 in this passage is if god can solve the objective vertical
39:43problem he can solve the objective horizontal problem
39:48do you understand that the second problem is objective as well you get that once you lock in the
39:55objective nature of the atonement boy are you cued up to soar theologically
40:02in terms of your worldview because god objectively does not
40:09will not even i think you can say cannot hate you unsave you
40:17be hostile towards you as he will be hostile and is hostile to the unbeliever it it cannot happen
40:24because of christ dying on your behalf to fulfill the decree of god the electing purpose of god the
40:31predestination of god what a wonder of wonders but everybody
40:37talks about that everybody reads about that now take objectivity from the vertical
40:42dimension and apply it horizontally what if
40:48the same atonement that is objectively accomplished in terms of god and man it has
40:53objectively accomplished reconciliation between man and man such that whatever existing grievances
41:00trials pain real pain right real hostility has been a problem
41:07a major problem in different societies and nations and among people groups now has sort now
41:13has ceased what if that has ceased what if in the fellowship of the local
41:18church all who claim christ by faith
41:24his blood washing their sin do not approach one another any longer
41:30as if hostility reigns what if hostility does not reign
41:39what would it look like for you and me and all the people of god to not only
41:45talk about blood atonement and objective salvation and put that on instagram
41:51a neat quote from the reformed tradition yay
41:56what if the church talked about objective blood atonement and its accomplishment
42:02between man and man what effect would that have
42:09what kind of witness and testimony would that be to the world
42:14not a blinding of the eyes to the past to grievance to pain etc
42:19but but a much much much much greater recognition of what god has done in
42:26christ to save us but but not only that
42:32in saving us to bring peace to bring peace
42:43it’s almost like it’s too good to be true
42:49that’s a little bit of what bockham says at the end of his ethnic gnosticism talk
42:54that i cited yesterday for in in talking about the glory of forgiveness
43:00it sounds too good to be true it sounds almost ridiculous
43:10it sounds almost simple
43:17it doesn’t sound complex it it doesn’t sound like there there’s going to be a lot
43:25that we um a lot that we even lock horns about
43:32it sounds like people who don’t have anything in common in local churches come together and
43:38don’t stereotype one another and don’t think hostile things about one another
43:46when they meet people different from them skin color background whatever it is class it sounds like
43:54tell me what you think you come into a local church and you have fellowship with christians
44:03and it sounds like in ephesus that is actually supposed to be the
44:11display of god’s glory that dazzles ephesus and lights it on fire and shocks people
44:18around the church because hostility does dominate outside the church
44:27and our nature really isn’t radical individualism our nature really is tribal i think in
44:34adam because of adam’s fall we’re really tribal people
44:39basically i don’t think if society collapsed
44:44you’d have whatever eight billion individuals all sitting in their own cave i think
44:50you’d probably have the formation of tribes it’s basically what happens isn’t it after the fall
44:58humanity becomes tribal and tribes what define themselves
45:03against other tribes and hate one another and division persists hostility and alienation but what if
45:09god’s what if god’s plan is not for us to engage worldly ideologies and
45:17philosophies and sort of use 40 percent of them what if god’s
45:22plan is honestly in kind of a breathtakingly simple almost naive sense
45:30to build churches where people from different backgrounds come to faith in jesus christ who have nothing in common
45:37again there may be hostility and pain between those different people groups that are represented by those
45:42individuals but they come into the church and they don’t bring their grievances with them
45:48if someone sins against someone else that’s something that has to be dealt with in the church of course we’re not
45:53washing that away but we’re saying background we’re saying past paul is saying to jew and gentile
45:59you guys you guys have ekthron but it’s actually been dealt with and so
46:06don’t bring it into church so last comment here what about those who
46:11do bring eckthron into church
46:17what about those who do live in hostility
46:22what about those who do surface grievances
46:27we’re not talking about having to work through things and handle different matters we’re not
46:34shutting all that down we’re a body we bear one another’s burdens
46:39we we listen we pursue humility but what about i ask the question
46:45nonetheless what about those who bring ekthron into the church of of any kind
46:53what does that say about them what is that going to do to the church’s
46:59collective love of the objective accomplishment of jesus christ
47:06what does it say if somebody says yeah yeah yeah i believe an objective
47:12reconciliation between god and man but that is effectively a small thing to me
47:18man and man this is the big thing is that not to get the biblical
47:24trajectory completely wrong that it is it is beyond miraculous
47:33that god would reconcile himself to us and that therefore if god can reconcile
47:41himself to us if heaven can come to earth and god can love sinners like us what
47:49does that say about hostility between man and man i don’t know about you but when you
47:55frame the cross in these terms at least for me all of a sudden i think a lot of things
48:03get clarified and all of a sudden it doesn’t feel so
48:08naively pietistic or however you want to frame that to claim christ as savior and to say
48:14that our plan for engaging a divided hostile world is to preach
48:20christ it actually feels pretty radical it
48:26actually feels pretty unique it actually feels ingenious on god’s
48:32part and it actually fills maybe not you me
48:40with tremendous hope i can’t sort out every issue in my context
48:48i can’t bring these things to resolution i can’t how are we gonna even if
48:54somebody is pro reparations for example how are we gonna do this how is this gonna play out
49:01such that everything comes to objective isn’t that what reparations is after as
49:08a concept objective cessation of how is that going to happen
49:14what about all the people who died what about all the people who were enslaved
49:19what about all the people who lived under jim crow what about them they don’t get anything
49:25from reparations maybe their descendants do fine i get that but what about them
49:30where how does this ultimately bring things to justice
49:36the only ultimate objective justice we can find
49:42is through god justice is a fleeting thing in this world
49:48it is not a common thing you will have somebody cut you off on
49:54the freeway you will have people mistreat you you will have classmates here at school
49:59sin against you you’ll have church members in the pastorate defy you for no good reason numerous
50:06classmates of mine from southern from my mdiv who entered the pastorate have gotten fired and some of them not
50:13because they deserved it this is in the church there is little justice in this world there is not a lot
50:18of justice no one is saying we shouldn’t pursue it we should salt and light
50:23but just remember that there’s not a lot of it but there is justice in what god has
50:30done in his son and there is the cessation of hostility
50:36and there is the hope of reconciliation and if god can reconcile himself to man
50:41man can reconcile with man and it is time i would argue
50:49a little little voice crying in the wind it is time that the church lay hold of
50:56this it is time that the church
51:01go
51:07to the mount of skulls to the place of the skull
51:13and it is time for the church to pick up a cross that has
51:20a crimson hue that is stained that the world does not esteem and it is
51:27time for us to pick it up and it is time for us to find
51:32our unity in it and it is time for all of us of whatever background to carry our
51:39cross together all the way to glory
51:46because biblically the place of the skull
51:52is the place of exaltation biblically the death of christ
51:59is the narnian wardrobe to glory it is the entry point to heaven itself
52:07there there is nothing better than the worst possible place the place where our lord our savior
52:15was crucified this is a cruciform faith
52:20this is not an exalted faith this is a lowly faith and this is a faith that
52:27calls for death to self and cessation of hostility
52:32for all of us
52:37okay that’s what i have on wokeness uh in some i will now take any last
52:44remaining questions about what we covered yesterday or
52:51what we covered today you may not have questions we certainly
52:57have plenty to do in terms of technology i know we had a bunch of questions yesterday
53:08jacob yeah going back to yesterday the the
53:14four categories you gave us of the non-woken confused and engaged and uh committed um
53:21so i know a couple churches a couple people in ministry who are like
53:26probably 90 percent confused and maybe 10 engaged just because they really don’t
53:32think it’s that much of an issue but most of the resources they draw from
53:37are more towards the committed side of the spectrum types of churches and people what do you
53:44think is the best way to explain how serious of an issue some
53:49of this is that’s a good question jacob i think i
53:55would say try to engage them with some of the
54:02material that i quoted or that you can find online that is showing us um
54:10just how angry and divisive wokeness is as a
54:16full-fledged ideology and how its strongest proponents really are
54:24creating a racist context and so that’s some of what i think we do
54:30we show where systems go we’re careful there to say it’s as you heard me say on record it’s not
54:37necessarily that everybody would say this who would hold to some form of this but
54:43it is that these systems go somewhere they don’t stay stable
54:48they don’t stay in the middle they’re not actually soft and they will when they are full-fledged
54:54and come to full fruition they will divide and they will take captive
55:00and so i would try to make clear that this isn’t just what you heard me do in class and what i
55:07think i also said explicitly is i didn’t really start in in the middle the unclear middle where we’re talking
55:15about justice well like i i mentioned if everybody’s just talking about justice
55:21we’re all going to get on board but we have to understand that we’re not just talking about justice in the same terms
55:29that may sound fine but actually there’s a whole system at play here
55:34and so my work trying to be a little bit macho-esque is is to say
55:42this isn’t just a few vague ideas that are more or less okay or even
55:48good what matron did is he said he said
55:54this is a system so i want all of you guys all of you guys in this class should
55:59read christianity and liberalism by machine if you have not i repeat myself all of you guys in this
56:06class should read jay gresham machines christianity and liberalism published in 1923.
56:13it’s just about the most relevant book for our context right now even though
56:20it’s written 100 years ago and what matron does is he shows that there’s people who are who are talking about the
56:27brotherhood of man the fatherhood of god the gospel’s effect in society pretty
56:35similar language to today we’re not just giving us these approximations of
56:42biblical ideas there’s actually a system behind that
56:48that some people buy into fully and are advancing and a lot a ton of people don’t even
56:56really know exists what christian preachers and teachers do is we
57:03in not letting people be taken captive by ideologies show that ideologies exist
57:12think about for example moral therapeutic deism you guys have all heard of this think about how that has been defined in the
57:18last 10 years or so it’s really good that that got defined think about
57:24post-modernity soft post-modernity as i talked about yesterday it’s really good that that got
57:31defined because when it once it gets the once the ideology is identified
57:37then you can oppose it biblically as you must and i think as well about what paul says
57:45in second corinthians 10. i think i read this to you a day or two ago in the class
57:53but there’s a two-sided reality to this this motif of captive
58:00um just look with me once more at second corinthians 10 verse 3 because this is the other side of the coin from
58:06colossians 2 8. though we walk in the flesh we are not waging war according to the flesh
58:11for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy
58:16strongholds we destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of god and
58:24what take every thought
58:30captive to obey christ
58:36now isn’t that interesting that as in colossians 2 8 the apostle
58:43paul uses the language of captivity
58:48my point here in playing this out is to say we identify ideologies and then what do
58:56we do what does paul say we do we unleash war on them not on flesh and blood
59:05as if that is our primary foe satan is our foe we’re not waging war according to the
59:10flesh second corinthians 10 3. paul’s very clear on this but he’s also
59:17clear that he’s still waging war and the weapons of warfare are those that destroy strongholds
59:24specifically destroy what arguments arguments what are systems made of what
59:31are ideologies composed of arguments lofty opinions
59:37raised against the knowledge of god this isn’t new this is a new this is ancient what we’re
59:43doing so what we have over here to the board for just a minute what we have and i would try to make
59:48this plain jacob if i was talking to somebody i really would what we have is a
59:55be taken captive
1:00:03versus a take captive
1:00:09now i’ll say this yeah where’s my racer very exciting visual methods if you have
1:00:16a class reviews for my class please please make sure to not miss just how
1:00:23exciting the teaching methods were that dr strand brought to bear in his classroom
1:00:29the whiteboard how exciting we have we have this situation i believe
1:00:36if you bring together colossians 2 8 and 2nd corinthians 10 three to six
1:00:42we have a defensive situation not just with wokeness i mean with every
1:00:47ungodly ideology and we have an offensive situation as in
1:00:54sports you need to play defense and you need to play offense
1:01:01when it comes to world view conflict when it comes to theological engagement
1:01:08everyone does every christian does not just pastors every christian needs to have this mentality i believe
1:01:15because if you’re bringing texts together with text which is all systematic theology really is unto principles and conclusions
1:01:22convictions the worship of god you have a be taken captive
1:01:28colossians 2 8 don’t be taken captive that is we need that don’t we
1:01:35don’t be taken captive versus take every thought captive
1:01:40that’s offense and defense let’s insert every
1:01:46see isn’t that exciting to have visual methods like this that i add words to after leaving them out
1:01:52mistakenly don’t be taken captive so if you’re preaching guys if you go to a church not long from now one of the things i
1:01:59would encourage you to preach on as a sermon series is is this sort of mentality i would
1:02:05encourage you to work this into the church this is not this is not a fundamentalist perspective okay or something like that
1:02:12this is not an arch-conservative perspective this is just straight bible this is the apostle
1:02:17paul’s ministry this is what he did this is what he gave a ton of attention to
1:02:23he didn’t want christians to be taken captive ideology that is godless does not sit
1:02:29still i’ve said that several times it’s not neutral unbelieving world views
1:02:34are not neutral no one is neutral everyone has numerous ideologies
1:02:42and systems at any given time vying for them playing upon them they
1:02:48don’t know that lots of people but that’s the reality when you’re listening to to the radio
1:02:55when you’re listening to podcasts when you’re watching tv when you’re watching movies when you’re having conversation with people when you’re reading books
1:03:03you’re being confronted in all sorts of ways with ideologies that would like to take
1:03:08you captive some of these are hard ideologies someone is talking to you about fucoian ideas
1:03:17sexual postmodernism a lot of it is soft ideology you should not be taken captive
1:03:24by it that’s playing defense but then that’s not enough that’s not where we stop we say
1:03:30take every thought captive this is what we’re training people to do don’t be taken captive spot the lie
1:03:37don’t believe the ideology don’t believe you’re going to be happy if you blow up your marriage and leave
1:03:43this spouse who you have some conflict issues to sort out if you get a new spouse you’re
1:03:48going to have new conflict issues to sort out don’t believe that lie but then
1:03:55that’s not enough take every thought captive to christ in other words
1:04:03don’t let a ungodly worldview in and do build a biblical worldview by
1:04:10studying scripture and thinking unto god as you feast on the
1:04:16truth don’t let a godless ideology overtake you do
1:04:22pursue god pursue the knowledge of god with all you’re getting get
1:04:28wisdom proverbs says get it get it get it get it
1:04:33take every thought captive don’t stop until you die
1:04:41i would say friends i would say men that giving people this kind of
1:04:47framework is a major victory for many christians do some of you
1:04:54remember when you started to read theology seriously do you remember when you started to
1:05:01understand that you weren’t just vaguely a christian some of you but you actually
1:05:06were being brought into something called the christian worldview and a system of christian doctrine and
1:05:12then you started to you started to realize oh wait
1:05:17all all christian belief isn’t the same and everyone in the world doesn’t
1:05:23believe the same thing i think you can trace things back to the anti-wisdom of the serpent as i made
1:05:29clear but wow does that take a lot of forms and a lot of manifestations
1:05:35in a fallen world so that’s some of what i would want to
1:05:41communicate and and if i communicate this framework jacob then when i have the conversations
1:05:47over justice i think people are at least 40 yards
1:05:53down the field to starting to understand oh okay just because someone
1:05:58tweets about justice doesn’t mean they mean the same thing i do and on and on it goes
1:06:07thank you you’re welcome i got going a little bit there
1:06:13any other question uh yes grace church
1:06:22yes hey scott i had a question about
1:06:32you you talked about racism yesterday and the redefinition of that term
1:06:38i’m just wondering your thoughts and opinions in the church for using that word now with its
1:06:44redefinition and what you’d say or if you’d only use
1:06:50the word partiality if you even think it wise to even say that word
1:06:56um that’s a very good question and by the way i did not realize you guys were in kansas
1:07:02i just want to go on record as saying i think that’s very cool i’m thankful for the valley’s in kingsborough california scott aramis is
1:07:09the pastor i’m just here for a week oh okay yeah i’m from grace bible church in
1:07:14hutchinson kansas though i love that okay now i have come to a
1:07:20fuller i’ve come to fuller knowledge thank you for clarifying for me i’m very glad you’re you’re
1:07:28you’re up the road just a bit and that’s a good question i will still use the term racism
1:07:35um i also work in as you heard me do a number of times ethnocentrism
1:07:40because even though there is such a phenomenon i think as racism um i also want to make i also
1:07:47want to push people to understand that that’s not all we can call it
1:07:52i will use the term racism but i i am very cautious personally about systemic
1:07:58racism so that would be where i would probably try to be careful about what i think
1:08:04you’re getting at because not because there can’t be
1:08:10uh corporate structures of racism uh egypt puts
1:08:18israel in a condition of slavery in the old testament well that’s a comprehensive condition isn’t it but
1:08:24because systemic racism today is not typically defined as
1:08:31that kind of circumstance systemic racism more typically means that sort of
1:08:38inherent white supremacy that is being transmitted voluntarily through actual racist words
1:08:44but also involuntarily so i would personally be very wary
1:08:53of the term systemic racism for the reason you just talked about what i would probably do is define my
1:09:00terms wherever i could so that people would not mishear me
1:09:07and i would feel free as you picked up on to use partiality to use racism
1:09:12ethnocentrism and there may be other terms as well but i would be trying to show that
1:09:19that point that i made yesterday that racism isn’t this unique new american thing racism is partiality
1:09:28and and we have resources and we have awareness of partiality in
1:09:34multiple places in the bible and it’s strongly condemned
1:09:40so i’m always whatever term i use i’m always trying to define it
1:09:46biblically and separate it from what is cultural
1:09:52that would be that would be really whatever wherever we precisely land on these things
1:09:57that’s what i would push you to do and i would urge strong caution with the term uh
1:10:03systemic racism for the reason i mentioned i’d be willing to have a good
1:10:09conversation about that i’d be willing to say it can happen that it it gets into
1:10:15systems it absolutely can but i think what a lot of people mean by that
1:10:22is not what i am meaning by that they’re meaning that everybody every
1:10:28every white person is fomenting at every moment is building up this massive force
1:10:36of white supremacy in america and i i reject that and i will continue rejecting that i
1:10:43believe that is actually racist
1:10:57i want to go to acts 17 briefly just quickly and then your break
1:11:08i want to read acts 17 16 uh to the end of the chapter okay
1:11:16because i just want to give you a little bit more exegetical grounding in the argument i
1:11:23have been making against
1:11:29a reasonable christian apologetic it’s not that we never try to show that
1:11:36christianity has doctrines of love and justice and truth and these sorts of things that
1:11:43the human heart is seeking we definitely should show those things and have those conversations
1:11:48but i want to look at paul’s method here just quickly with you acts 17 16.
1:11:54now while paul was waiting for them at athens his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of
1:12:00idols so he reasoned in the synagogue with the jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with
1:12:06those who happen to be there some of the epicurean and stoic philosophers also conversed with him and some said what does this babbler
1:12:12wish to say others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching jesus and the
1:12:18resurrection and they took him and brought him to the areopagus saying may we know what this new teaching is
1:12:23that you are presenting for you bring some strange thing to things to our ears we wish to know therefore what these things mean
1:12:30now all the athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new okay let’s pause there
1:12:37briefly we are often presented today uh with the method that we should have
1:12:43conversation and dialogue with unbelievers and again as you’ve heard me say in different forms already in the
1:12:49class that dialogue aims at points of commonality now it is interesting that paul wants
1:12:56conversation doesn’t he he’s not hostile to unbelievers in the sense that he’s closed to conversation
1:13:02he’s definitely not and we should not be either we should we should joyfully seek out conversation
1:13:08with unbelievers and we should be totally uh engaged in asking questions and listening to them and
1:13:14hearing why they hold the views they hold and all these sorts of things but i simply want to note here in in the
1:13:22verses to come what paul is doing and what response he gets just note that verse 18 these different
1:13:29philosophers are conversing with him but what are they saying they’re calling
1:13:34him a babbler and a preacher of foreign divinities what is paul’s method
1:13:41with these stoics and epicureans well look at the end of verse 18 he
1:13:46preaches jesus and the resurrection jesus and the resurrection
1:13:52so what is he preaching guys he’s preaching a distinctive christianity you understand the point
1:14:00it’s not like epicureanism it’s not like stoicism at least ultimately now i
1:14:07you know we’re filling in the gaps here of course we should always be careful about that is he having a an ongoing dialogue about
1:14:14you know the nature of happiness with the epicureans or the nature of forbearance and
1:14:20perseverance with the stoics he may well be we have we have room for understanding
1:14:26that at the very least oh you believe in being stoic well in a form i do too but let me talk to you about
1:14:32stoicism stoicism is not your system plus jesus stoicism
1:14:38is jesus jesus shows us in other words what true perseverance is in going all
1:14:44the way to the cross and then what do they say about him preaching this jesus
1:14:51what is that may we know what this new teaching is verse 19. there’s new teaching
1:14:57it’s not what they’ve heard it’s distinct it’s different than it’s not the same
1:15:04as unbelief verse 20 you bring some strange things to our ears bro
1:15:10strange things christianity when it is faithfully preached
1:15:15and proclaimed is going to sound to many people strange even
1:15:23mark this in supposedly christian contexts let’s say the bible
1:15:29belt of america christianity is true christianity is going to sound strange and it should sound strange
1:15:38it is strange to the natural man now christianity actually brings us into reality true
1:15:44reality we stop believing fictions and delusions as we talked about on tuesday like there’s no such thing as manhood or
1:15:50womanhood we say no what you see with your eyes is true you’re walking into true reality
1:15:57as a as a believer when you come to faith we’re not bringing you into madness
1:16:02you’re not walking off a cliff into irrationality kierkegaard could be misconstrued along
1:16:09those lines as one example you’re not giving up on reality you’ve been living in unreality
1:16:16and now you’re walking into reality you’re embracing objective truth the world god has made
1:16:25so they wanted to understand these strange things that he brings and then let’s pick up with verse 22. all this lined out in terms of the
1:16:32what distinctiveness of the faith so paul standing in the midst of the
1:16:37areopagus said men of athens i perceive that in every way you are very religious for as i passed along and observed the
1:16:44objects of your worship i found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown god what therefore you worship as unknown
1:16:51this i proclaim to you the god who made the world and
1:16:56everything in it being lord of heaven and human hands being sorry sorry
1:17:03verse 24 i skipped a verse the god who made the world and everything in it being lord of heaven and earth does not
1:17:08live in temples made by man nor does he serve verse 25 by human hands as though he needed
1:17:14anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything and he made from one man every nation of
1:17:19mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place
1:17:24that they should seek god and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him yet he is actually not far from each one
1:17:31of us for in him we live and move and have our being as even some of your own poets have said
1:17:37for we are indeed his offspring being then god’s offspring we ought not to think that the divine being
1:17:42is like gold or silver or stone an image formed by the art and imagination of man the times of ignorance god everywhere
1:17:48overlooked but now he commands all people to repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
1:17:53by a man whom he the father that is has appointed and of this he has given assurance to
1:17:58all by raising him from the dead now when they heard of the
1:18:04resurrection of the dead verse 32 some what mocked but others said
1:18:11we will hear you again about this so paul went out from their midst but
1:18:16some men joined him and believed among whom also were dionysius the areopagite and a woman named demaris
1:18:24and others with them what do we see in this portion of acts 17 not what i
1:18:30would submit we often are told is in acts 17. typically the focus is on verse 28 the
1:18:37quotation of epimenides of crete probably the first quotation and then eradice’s poem
1:18:42uh in verse 28 second part so paul is using you know pagan voices these sorts of
1:18:48things so we have room then for all this engagement of culture well i believe we can engage culture
1:18:53but i don’t believe that what paul is doing is saying see i’m a reasonable christian i believe
1:18:59basically what you believe but with a little jesus citrus twist at the end of it actually what paul does in these verses that i
1:19:06just read is he rebukes the his crowd in many senses
1:19:11i perceive that you’re very religious verse 22 i found an altar with this inscription
1:19:16to the unknown god you think he’s unknown end of verse 23 i proclaim him to you
1:19:24this i proclaim apologetics evangelism is really at base
1:19:30proclamation which is part of why it’s so important to have biblical preaching biblical preaching is
1:19:36apologetics and evangelism in a sense isn’t it it’s proclamation yes it’s handling
1:19:42questions and engaging ideas of course but it’s proclamation and then he goes on to talk about the doctrine of
1:19:48creation he gives a doctrine of god he doesn’t live in temples made by man
1:19:54he’s not served by human hands as though he needed anything what is paul doing there well he’s rebuking different
1:19:59philosophies different theologies in talking about the true god and proclaiming him he made from one man
1:20:07every nation of mankind he’s actually not far from each one of us verse 27 some greeks of course would
1:20:14have believed in an absolutely transcendent god a god who’s far off and does not interact with his creation
1:20:20that’s not what paul believes paul rebukes that form of unbelief in what he says and then he does cite
1:20:26these different voices so that makes sense to us he’s engaging
1:20:32that thinking he’s engaging his context and he he does comprehend it and understand it but then what does he do
1:20:37in 29 don’t think that the divine being is like this do not think
1:20:43he’s he’s not like we think he is he’s saying and then he calls
1:20:50the crowd to repentance he brings in the doctrine of judgment
1:20:56of divine wrath a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness and then he talks about
1:21:02the resurrection some mock him for what he says verse 32. others say
1:21:07let’s we’ll hear you about this and then some believe so expect by the way when you preach and
1:21:13evangelize and do apologetics when you’re a living christian operating
1:21:18in the world god is made to be a witness that some will mock you
1:21:24some will give you a hearing and be intrigued and some will believe expect that
1:21:30over the course of your ministry certainly so what i want you to see there very quickly just a quick word
1:21:37not unrelated to what we’ve been talking about with wokeness and neo-paganism is i just want you to understand going
1:21:42back to what i put on the board a minute ago that that it is right it is right in fundamental terms
1:21:49not just it is right it is necessary to first drive unbelievers to
1:21:55understand the uniqueness and distinctness of christianity the uniqueness and distinctness of
1:22:02christianity and your job in ministry is not to present christianity
1:22:08as a reasonable faith by which i mean uh palatable to the unbeliever that is
1:22:14not your task that is not what god has called you to do that is not what paul does in acts 17.
1:22:20sometimes arguments for different forms of reasonable christianity are grounded in acts 17. i just want you to
1:22:26understand that actually paul is preaching proclaiming by his own word the whole council of god
1:22:32the whole council of god is evangelistic the whole council of god is what makes disciples it is what wins
1:22:39hearers over it is the doctrine of creation it is the doctrine of theology proper it is the doctrine of uh judgment it is
1:22:46the doctrine of resurrection he has all that and more just in that passage you and i don’t
1:22:53know what god is going to use to win people to christ we should never think this is the only doctrine that god will
1:23:00use to win unbelievers we need to preach love because that alone shows
1:23:07the kind of god that people want you have no idea what doctrine god will use to win
1:23:14somebody to himself as you do not let people be taken captive
1:23:20as much as you can colossians 2 8 in your ministry in your proclamation
1:23:26in your evangelism and then as you take every thought captive and train them to do that you are
1:23:32showing the uniqueness and the distinctness and the beauty of christianity and you have no idea
1:23:38what doctrine within that whole council of god ministry the lord will use to make disciples some
1:23:44people get saved through the doctrine of creation some people get saved by confronting the doctrine of sin
1:23:49some people get saved through the doctrine of judgment some people get saved through the doctrine of theology proper lots of
1:23:55people get saved through the doctrine of divine love absolutely but there isn’t one doctrine
1:24:01you preach and you do not have weight on your shoulders
1:24:06to make christianity like other systems you actually have the first duty i believe
1:24:12to do what paul does there and show how christianity is separate
1:24:17from other systems it has contact points with other systems
1:24:23it it thrusts us into conversation with unbelievers happily man let’s have
1:24:30let’s throw down baby let’s talk let’s hash this out this is what you
1:24:36believe but in that conversation men do not feel this pressure of a postmodern culture
1:24:42to soften your truth claims and your doctrine and to not talk about hell or women’s
1:24:49wives submitting to husbands or or whatever it is the exclusivity of
1:24:55jesus christ or blood atonement or whatever it is that unbelievers don’t like what unbelievers don’t like may be
1:25:01exactly what wins them to the faith because it exposes their sin their need for god
1:25:11so don’t be scared to show the uniqueness and distinctness and beauty of christianity as distinct
1:25:17from other systems in fact do that do that with gusto
Standing Before God, This We Are and No More 