Theology for Every Person (3 Volumes)

A few years ago, the good people at LifeWay asked me to propose a set of systematic theology books. They allowed me to choose to focus either on the academy or on the people in the churches. I chose to focus on the churches as the primary audience, and from my proposal we together worked up a series entitled "Theology for Every Person." The three volumes are intended to help everyone realize that God calls each person to know and love him with all of one's heart, soul, mind, and strength. These three volumes, when taken together, cover the basic and most important details of systematic theology for the college and seminary classroom.

Volume 1: God

The first volume in the series is entitled God and was published in 2024. This book helps the reader enter the conversation of talk about God. The overarching theme is that of a journey into knowing God. The major doctrines considered are God, revelation, and theological method. I have written about these doctrines in numerous academic works. The academic details are summarized and simplified as much as possible without losing their meaning. My hope is that the reader will be delighted to enter the conversation with and about our Creator. You can find the book on sale with the publisher, B&H, or at a major retailer, such as Amazon.

Volume 2: Word

The second volume of Theology for Every Person is entitled Word and was published in 2026. This book helps the reader continue their journey into knowing God by focusing on the second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Word or Son of God. After two chapters on the Person of the Father are two chapters focused on the Person of the Word. Chapters five and six then consider the doctrines of creation and providence, while the next three chapters focus on who human beings are as created in the image of God yet as sinful. The final four chapters consider the work of Jesus Christ, centered in the cross but inclusive of his resurrection, ascension, heavenly session, and eternal reign. You can find the book on sale with the publisher, B&H, or at a major retailer, such as Amazon. 

Volume 3: Spirit

The third volume will be entitled Spirit and is expected to be published in 2028. It will consider the doctrine of the Person of the Holy Spirit, as well as the doctrines of the Kingdom of God, salvation and the Christian life, the church, and the last.

Endorsements

I appreciate how pastor theologians like the late Steve Gaines, as well as Andy Brown, Mark Forrest, Ryan King, and Darin Wood, alongside academic theologians like Glenn Butner, Rick Durst, Adam Harwood, Michael Haykin, and Kenneth Keathley, have kindly endorsed both these volumes. 

Video Sessions

I have taught portions of these books in various churches, testing them out on the laity, and been surprised by the great responses. I have also taught each chapter in the classroom to University and Seminary students, and many before gatherings of Pastors, Ministers, and Missionaries seeking a refresher course in theology. 

Recently, the First Baptist Church of Midland, Texas, led by Dr. Darin Wood, recorded three such sessions delivered to ministers who came from all over West Texas, including as far as El Paso. You are welcome to sit in on those sessions by videos located here:

• Session 1: Theology is for Every Person 
• Session 2: Is God Trinity? 
• Session 3: What Must We Say of the Trinity? 

May the readers be edified and the Lord be glorified by all three volumes of Theology for Every Person.

The Kindnesses of My Lord Jesus

Twenty-five years ago, I walked into an examination room at the Theology Faculty of University of Oxford to defend my dissertation. I shook, fearing Oxford’s Professor of Reformation History and the Archbishop of Wales would return this boy from the swamps of Louisiana to his home without honor.

They stood in their full regalia. As I visibly trembled, Rowan Williams nodded to Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch and broke the news to me: “Please sit, and do not be anxious. If this viva goes as we expect, we will propose this be one of the few dissertations published by Oxford University Press.”

That was one of the kindest things that had ever been done to me in an academic setting, exceeded only by the call I received earlier from Bill Tolar of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, announcing that my beloved alma mater elected me to return and teach theology with my own mentor, James Leo Garrett Jr.

On that day in 2000, I learned how to pastor younger theologians in an academic context from the future Archbishop of Canterbury. Yes, he helped ensure my work was of the highest academic quality, but he also helped ensure I was treated with dignity as one made in God’s image.

Yesterday, it was a joy to reunite with Rowan Williams for a moment as we stood on the stage by the pulpit of B. H. Carroll at the First Baptist Church of Waco, Texas. I presented him a copy of my latest book, God, the first volume of “Theology for Every Person”.

I also presented Todd Still, the Dean of George W. Truett Theological Seminary, with a copy of Special Revelation and Scripture. Dr. Still and Baylor University kindly granted me the use of their rooms at Regent’s Park College in 2022 so I could write my portion of that book co-authored with David Dockery.

I was also delighted to renew friendships with Steve Bezner and Preben Vang, professors at the university which spawned my Seminary 120 years ago. Dr. Vang once prompted Baylor to award Garrett a rare third doctorate before he passed. Dr. Bezner and I have often encouraged each other.

While I missed the celebration of David Dockery’s birthday, I was elated to renew some important relationships in my own life. It was also good to hear the first two of Rowan’s three Parchman lectures on the Trinity. The second lecture in particular will help orthodox Christians.

I also want to thank Matt Snowden, the Pastor of First Waco, for his kindnesses to my Teaching Assistant and me. Finally, Derrick Bledsoe, who plans to write on the Trinity, traveled with me to hear these lectures on Nicaea. Derrick was, as always, a personal blessing to me.

Our God has been so good to me. I feel as if every moment of my life has been one act of divine kindness stacked upon another. While I sometimes worried I might not make the grade or wondered how I would provide food for my children, Jesus my Lord has guided my life every moment.

"Identifying the Crisis in Evangelical Theology" and "Baptists Who Confess the Nicene Faith"

Concluding a good week of reports from the Administration and the Trustees of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, we held a successful Preview Day. To help with Preview Day, the Dean of our School of Theology asked me to provide an "exciting, engaging" lecture to our prospective students. I am happy to report there were more prospective students than we have seen in quite some time.

For the subject matter, I could think of nothing more important than to identify the most critical problem facing contemporary evangelical theology. I then proceeded to explain how our Seminary has long embraced the creeds as both necessary and beneficial. The lecture garnered a great deal of interest and affirmation as seen in the extended and positive Q&A period that concluded the lecture and the number of private consultations I fielded after the lecture. 

The first and more popular essay, "Identifying the Crisis in Evangelical Theology," will be published by another institution in a few weeks. I will post the link when that publication appears.

The second and longer essay used in the lecture was just published in The Southwestern Journal of Theology. You may read "Baptists Who Confess the Nicene Faith" on our Seminary's ETC website at this link. 

The PowerPoint for the entire presentation is available at this link. 

A Major Shift in the Southern Baptist Understanding of Confessions and Creeds

Arguably, for the Southern Baptist Convention, confessions and creeds are functionally coterminous. But how should they be perceived and used? There appears to be a shift occurring in our understanding of the purpose and utility of our acts of confession.

The official Preamble of the Baptist Faith and Message, from its first version in 1925 until 2000, said Southern Baptists approach their confessions as 1) consensual, 2) incomplete, 3) variable, 4) subordinate to Scripture, and 5) for freedom. Twentieth-century Southern Baptists, who adopted and thus authorized the confession, even prompted the last full revision committee to recall important aspects of our freedom legacy in the final days leading up to the 2000 convention meeting. The memory of Baptist origins in religious nonconformity was still alive and well at that time.

During the Conservative Resurgence of the late twentieth century, Southern Baptists thus typically understood their confession was binding upon the owned entities, but not upon the free churches who comprise the constituency of the Convention. Baptists long deemed the church alone to be responsible for its corporate confession, a confession arrived at directly under the rule of its only Lord, Jesus Christ. Southern Baptists were jealous for the sole mediation of the Lord over each church. 

However, the Convention began to be led by prominent voices to be more concerned with credal precision in the service of their culture war than with our previous priority on Christological faithfulness and missionary fervor. As a result, they have increasingly forgotten the foundational truths of their Baptist identity. In a hurried rush to achieve uniformity, a twenty-first century bylaw change required churches “closely identify” with the Baptist Faith and Message. This began pushing the SBC toward a bordering confessional model.

The questions facing the SBC now include:

1) Will the churches follow the entities? The frequency of denominational employees addressing controversial church matters and planning to approach the microphones increased visibly this year. One entity president even spoke publicly against a local church leader. A movement founded in rejection of centralized authority must take note of this extraordinary entity-led transition toward denominational centralization.

2) Will the entire confession finally constitute a strict border for the churches? This is a definite shift from previous thought and practice in the Southern Baptist Convention. Entire Baptist confessions typically have not served as enforceable border documents, except in the especially egregious case of anti-Trinitarian heresy after the events surrounding Salters’ Hall in 1719. The need to protect the basic doctrines of the Christian faith is coordinate with Baptist history. Centralizing efforts to enforce secondary and tertiary uniformity upon the local churches should certainly be questioned if not roundly resisted.

3) Will a shift toward doctrinal uniformity change the SBC’s mission, enhance its mission, or hinder its mission? I have argued elsewhere that doctrine drives mission. The move toward centralizing doctrine will doubtless transform our mission in significant ways.

4) Will the SBC use the filter of the plural-elder model of church oversight or the single-elder model of church oversight? The latter sees the senior pastor as the final dogmatic authority in the local church and allows diversity under him, while the former requires uniform offices. The single-elder model has been the dominant understanding, but the enthusiastic advocacy of multiple eldership by certain affinity groups who hold their own meetings around the convention meeting has begun to shape the conversation significantly.

5) Will the centering model taught by the traditional five freedom statements of the Preamble be increasingly replaced by the restrictive confessional assumptions typical of the Reformed churches, ultimately ending in a form perhaps of what W. W. Barnes of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary referred to as “presbygationalism”? Southern Baptists must face the fact that they are becoming more Presbyterian by the year. 

One Evangelical Objection to the Creed

One objection against Baptists using the Creed comes from some Evangelicals’ personal experience of having said a creed before conversion.

Five Notes in Response:

*The saving Gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection is expressed in the Creed. That likely helped the person recognize the Gospel.

*One ought not reject Christian song in worship because a person sang before conversion. One ought not reject reading the Bible because one read it before salvation. Likewise, one ought not stop confessing truth about God because one read aloud that confession before conversion.

*Like sermons, creeds do not only have the purpose of offering the Gospel. They are also used for pedagogy and discipline. Pedagogy: They teach the basics of the Christian faith, from the Trinity to Christ to the Final Judgment to the Resurrection. Discipline: They repel heresy.

*Conversion is a sovereign act of divine grace that occurs instrumentally according to the proclamation of God’s Word, whether that comes through song, creed, sermon, or reading Scripture. Conversion is not an automatic event based on one human use of a means of Gospel proclamation.

*People often tell me they were glad for their exposure to the Gospel through a church’s use of the Creed. Let us praise God for their conversions! IMB missionaries tell me that affirmation of the Creed helps people see Baptists are not a cult. Praise God for credal orthodoxy!

Adding the Creed to the Baptist Faith and Message will have many positive functions, including helping Southern Baptists contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Let us praise God for the long history of Christian confession of the Gospel in the Creed!

Comfort in the Chaos

Let us focus on the need for healing in our church today. As a community, we have faced a crisis. And as individuals, every person is either facing a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or heading into a crisis. Many of your leaders, laity and clergy, consider the last two months among the most difficult we have faced in ministry.

It will help to take a deep dive into one verse, John 16:33. Right before this, Jesus told his disciples they were going to forsake him for a time. He noted, however, that he would never be alone, for God is always with him. In conclusion, the one Lord Jesus Christ said,

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.

There are five major parts to this verse. Let’s take them one by one:

I. The Word’s Words

The eternal Word of God became flesh in Jesus Christ. This is the message of the beginning of the gospel of John. Jesus is “the Word.” He is “God,” but he is personally distinct, for he is also “with God.” The eternal Word is one with God the Father, possessing the fullness of the divine being in his person. He is also distinct from the Father, for he is a person by reason of his generation from the very bosom of the Father. He is the Word of God who assumed our humanity in his incarnation by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. 

Jesus is the Word of God, so when he speaks, his words are simply the very words of God. And the words in our focus verse today, John 16:33, conclude the last sermon he preached during his earthly ministry. They are, if you will, Christ’s final words to the church before his humiliating and atoning death on the cross, followed by his glorious resurrection from the dead, and then his enthronement at the right hand of the living God.

The concluding sermonic words of the incarnate Word are significant precisely because they are the last words he wants his people to hear before the surprising events which constitute the great mystery of the faith. What is that “mystery,” that mystery which his words unfolded? Pastor Mark often summarizes the great mystery for us during our celebration of the Lord’s Supper in a three-part movement:

Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again!

Jesus said, “I have told you these things.” What did he tell them? He had begun his longest and last sermon, the so-called “Farewell Discourse,” which is found in John 14-16, with these comforting words: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…. I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2). And, now, he concludes this greatest of Trinitarian sermons with similar words, “I have told you these things, so that you may have peace.”

The words of the Word of God are intended to bring us peace. The Word of God does not mislead us. Yes, we will have trouble in this world. But! And this is the important point for our healing and comfort: We may have peace and victory in Christ.

II. Peace in Christ

Peace in Christ is the only true peace that there is. The Hebrew word, Shalom, which is behind the New Testament Greek term, Eirene, describes a life filled with wholeness. 

The pagan Greek idea of “peace” referred almost exclusively to “civil tranquility” and “a state of law and order that gives rise to the blessings of prosperity” (Silva, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, vol. 2, 111). 

By contrast, the Old Testament idea of “peace” means “safety or health,” “well-being,” or “complete, whole, perfect.” The Hebrew concept of peace points to the Lord as “the true source and giver of peace.” His peace comes with salvation. When we unite to Christ by faith, we have access to his perfect peace.

Also, it is wise to recall, that his peace is ultimately eschatological. The prophet Isaiah tells us to look toward the Messiah, who is “the Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:5-6). He will bring eternal peace with the perfection of his kingdom (Silva, vol. 2, 112-13). 

Christ’s kingdom came spiritually with his first coming: It appears wherever his people gather in faith to worship him as God. But his visible kingdom comes in its fullness only with his second coming. In the time in which we live now, in this “time between the times,” we are given the mission of announcing his kingdom to the world. We live in a time in which the kingdom of God is growing, but it is also a time in which the kingdom of this world is still in rebellion.

This is why we as a church are so focused on missions—Christ has given his church the responsibility to proclaim the kingdom of Jesus to a rebellious, lost, and condemned world. All sinners may find peace, but only if they will become one with Christ by exercising true faith.

Through the years, the Lord has impressed upon me that the best way I can help people who have lost a loved one is to pray. We must pray that we will trust in Jesus Christ, for Christ alone brings us “the peace that surpasses all understanding.” Paul said it like this:

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5-6)

My brothers and sisters, when you have reached the end of your rope, and you need peace, then learn to pray to the one Lord Jesus Christ. When all other hopes have failed, pray to the One who can never fail. When all your plans have turned to ashes, pray to the One who can reconstitute life from death. When all other persons have proven to be untrustworthy, even treacherous, then turn to the One who is integrity in person. When all you can see is darkness and death, then turn to the One who is, by definition, both “light” and “life” itself, Jesus Christ. He promises you peace, perfect peace, unending peace, well-being, wholeness, completeness.

Many historians have called the 19th century London Baptist preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “the prince of preachers.” But Spurgeon himself called Jesus Christ, “the greatest of all preachers” and “the dearest of all teachers,” for Christ’s words have perfect power. And Christ has called us to know perfect peace through faith in him. What is peace in Christ like? Spurgeon described it like this:

Peace of the deepest, truest, most constant, most emphatic kind is only found in Jesus. Peace in all seasons, and in all difficulties; peace for ever: all this is in him, and in him only. Outside of him it is tossing to and fro, and question, and fog, and haze, and fear; but in him we dwell as in a sheepfold, where the sheep lie down and rest. In him we are we are in a home where all is love and comfort. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Sweet Peace for Tried Believers”)

III. Troubles in the World

The Greek word translated as “suffering” in John 16:33 is thlipsis—There’s a tongue twister. It is used 45 times in the New Testament and was translated in the King James Version with the following English terms:

Thlipsis (Greek): tribulation (21x), affliction (17x), trouble (3x), anguish (1x), burdened (1x), to be afflicted with (1x). (Strong’s Concordance)

The root meaning of thlipsis is “pressure.” It describes the pressures coming from the circumstances which face every person in this fallen world. Jesus used it to describe those who hear the Word and receive it with joy but who fall away when persecution [or oppression] comes (Matt. 13:21). He also used it to describe “the great tribulation” at the end of time (Matt. 24:21). Jesus also used thlipsis to describe a woman’s labor pains (John 16:21). This is important: Paul reminded the early churches that “it is necessary to go through many hardships [or pressures] to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

I’ll be honest with you. I do not like this part of what Jesus said: “You will have suffering in this world.” The weakness of the human flesh in me cries out for creaturely comfort and ease. Ask Karen sometime what I am like when I get sick or, even worse, when I get a splinter. I hate to admit this, but she will tell you that you have never seen such a big baby in your life!

And Jesus? He pulls no punches with us: “You will suffer.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous martyr who suffered death through the direct command of Adolf Hitler, once wrote in his famous book, The Cost of Discipleship, about the necessity of the cross. Bonhoeffer described the cross as twofold: There is the cross of Christ; and there is the cross of the Christian.

First, Jesus told us that he came precisely so that he could carry his cross (Mark 8:31). When Peter tried to tell him that his cross was not the way to the Kingdom, Jesus rebuked Peter harshly for trying to avoid the inevitable will of God. Bonhoeffer responded, “Suffering and rejection sum up the whole cross of Jesus. To die on the cross means to die despised and rejected of men. Suffering and rejection are laid upon Jesus as a divine necessity, and every attempt to prevent it is the work of the devil, especially when it comes from his own disciples; for it is in fact an attempt to prevent Christ from being Christ.” (Cost of Discipleship, 96).

Second, Jesus calls every believer to carry his or her own cross. After rebuking Peter, Christ said, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35). Bonhoeffer responded, “The ‘must’ of suffering applies to his disciples no less than to himself. Just as Christ is Christ only in virtue of his suffering and rejection, so the disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord’s suffering and rejection and crucifixion” (Cost of Discipleship, 96).

One translation from the German summarized this unassailable truth in this pithy way,

When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die (Cost of Discipleship, 99).

I have written many essays on the sixteenth-century Anabaptists through the years, and I am completing a volume on Anabaptist Theology right now. Karen tells me her favorite essay I’ve ever written is on the cross-shaped spirituality of the Anabaptists. These blessed men and women of Europe suffered horribly due to persecution by the religious authorities who did not want them preaching the Word or practicing the Word in its fullness. The truth that helped the Anabaptists to withstand torture and death, and stay faithful to Jesus, was summarized in Latin as 

Per crucem ad lucem: “through the cross into the light.”

IV. Take Comfort and Courage

I think it is instructive how the various verbs used by Jesus in our focus verse, John 16:33, convey different moods. Note the correlation of three profound truths from these verbs: you will have trouble in this world; you may have peace in Christ; and you must be courageous.

A.  Indicative Mood – “you will have suffering in this world”

B.  Subjunctive Mood – “you may have peace in me”

C.  Imperative Mood – “you must have courage”

First, and this is the bad news: every person in this world has troubles. That is the baseline. There is no escaping the truth that life in this fallen creation is filled with trials, troubles, tribulations. Disappointment in this life is doubtless. Evil is inescapable. Pain is pervasive. Creation, Paul said, “groans” (Rom. 8:22). This is true for you, whatever your age, education, race, wealth, gender, or religion. It is true, whether you are a believer in Christ or an unbeliever. The Lord said, “You will have suffering in this world.” This is why Pastor Mark is so adamant that the so-called “health and wealth gospel” must be rejected as a false gospel.

Second, and this is the good news: Peace and victory are a possibility. But peace now and victory forever are possible only if you are “in Christ.” You may have peace, but only if you are united with Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit’s work of grace through personal faith.

Third, courage is required. If you are a believer, you must, indeed, you will, take comfort through your eschatological hope in the conquering of this world by Christ. The Greek word, tharseite, in John 16:33, means “courage” or “comfort.” It is a verb put in the imperative. Whatever your fear, he calls you to face it down and overcome it in him. Whatever your pain, he can walk you through it, for he has taken everything in his flesh, and he has won the victory over every trial, trouble, and temptation. You will have trouble in this world, but you must take courage and you must take comfort. You must overcome the world through the cross of Christ.

Personal Application 

Men, let’s talk for a moment. You have been hurt, but you are stronger than the pain. Let’s man up and embrace our crosses together. Let’s be like Jesus and, in great peace, receive all God has given us to suffer. Have you ever noticed how, in the Gospel accounts of his trial, Christ faced his cross with perfect peace? He did not cry or beg or run—He went up on that cross like a warrior. He overcame death by virtue of his virtuous life. Gird your loins, my brothers, and let us take up our crosses. The strength you need for your trial will come when you bring your soul in submission to Christ and embrace the cross that he has assigned for you. 

Women, let me talk to you for a moment. You have been disillusioned, but you are better than the illusions of this world. Whatever your disappointments, whatever the evil that has been dished out to you, be a woman of faith. Be bold, be strong, be courageous. Your real beauty is in placing your soul in submission to Christ and carrying his cross for you.

Every Christian man and every Christian woman wants to be better than we are. The cross Christ called you to bear is intended to perfect you, to make you fit for glory. An alternative band from Oxford, Radiohead, once gathered human hope into these lyrics, “I don’t care if it hurts. I want to have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul.” Know that Christ will gain control through your cross, as you surrender your life to him, and he promises you a perfected body and a perfected soul in him.

Children, let me talk to you for a moment. Whatever your fears, know that Christ has already faced every evil thing and overcome it. He is the light who shines in the darkness. He is the life who overcomes death itself. He is the Word who creates meaning out of the chaos. He is your comfort, your courage. Your hope is in submitting your soul to Christ and his cross for you.

V. Finally, Victory in Jesus

Where is the victory? The victory over evil in this world is found in every human heart that is submitting itself in faith to Jesus Christ. “You must have courage!” Christ says, “I have conquered the world.”

Do you realize that Christ was heading into the garden called Gethsemane when he prophesied his victory? Do you understand that his very words of victory were proclaimed immediately before he went to the hill called Golgotha, “the Skull”? 

Christ looked death in the face, and he knew that, because he is God as well as man, that he alone can overcome death. He knew he was going to die for the sins of the whole world. He knew he would face every temptation yet never succumb to sin. He faced the fight of his life, the fight of his cross, and he said, “I have overcome!” He did not say, “I hope to overcome.” He did not whimper, “I wonder if I can overcome!” No, he said with boldness, “I have overcome!” Christ’s victory was assured before he fought the battle that won the war for every believer. You cannot kill God! And Christ is both mortal man and eternal God! Death has been “swallowed up” in his victory!

Spurgeon spoke well that Christ at the cross “had really overcome the world. Its blandishments he had overcome. Its temptations he had overcome. Its terrors he had overcome. Its errors he had overcome. Everything in the world that had assailed him he had put to the rout. He was tempted in all points like as we are, but he remained without sin. He had overcome everything that had come to attack his holiness, his patience, his self-sacrifice; he had been victor at every point.”

Personal Application

Whatever the difficulties you personally face in this life. Whatever the difficulties this church communally faces in this life. Whatever the troubles you face in society, in church, and in the family, I know a man who has overcome them all, and his name is Jesus the Lord. 

Jesus Christ is the One with all authority and power. Jesus Christ has conquered the grave and hell itself. In him, I have no fear of death. Jesus Christ has conquered sin. In him, I have no fear of wrath. Jesus Christ has conquered every opponent of my soul and my body. In him, I have no fear of anything at all. 

Christ has overcome! Christ has conquered! Christ has the victory!

Do you need healing? Christ is your peace! Do you need salvation? Christ is your peace! Do you need hope and comfort and courage, enough to face every problem that could ever come at you? Christ is your peace!

With Horatio Spafford, who just received news that he had lost his family in a shipwreck, let us learn to sing of that peace which is perfect, of that peace which comes from the One who has taken death itself and overcome it. The first and last verses of his famous hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul,” are worthy of deep reflection when you need health in your soul, when you need the healing touch of the powerful Savior of all who believe in him. Christ wants to bring to you his peace through your faith in his death and his resurrection.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

And, Lord, haste the day, when the faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,

The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,

“Even so, it is well with my soul.”

Whatever problem you face right now, please embrace this truth with your whole being: Christ is your courage for the cross. Christ is your conqueror for victory. Christ is your comfort in the chaos of this world.

Communal Application

Would you let me lead us in a church prayer? Would you join me in praying this prayer?

Lord, we ask you to continue walking with our church. We ask you to bring us healing from the hurt we have suffered. We ask you to preserve this, your flock, and us, your sheep, from further harm. We ask you to give the good shepherds of this flock wisdom about the spiritual opposition you said we would face. We ask you to continue guiding our pastoral staff and our lay leadership teams to discern the way forward for us in all things. We ask for you to preserve our unity. We ask for you, most of all, to bless us with your real presence to this covenanted congregation and to grant us supernatural guidance. We are yours, Lord. Heal us, preserve us, use us for your glory through our missionary calling. Give us your comfort in this chaos.

 

The Heart of the Matter is Your Heart

We use the phrase, “the heart of the matter,” to identify what is truly central. But what is the heart of the matter for every human being? From an eternal perspective, the heart of the matter for every human person, no matter their current situation, is the state of their own heart. The heart of the matter is the heart.

The “heart,” according to Scripture, refers not only to the central physical organ in our human body but to the center of a person’s psychical life. The heart refers to one’s emotions, will, and mind. The heart both determines and reflects upon the state of our moral relationship with God and with other people. Your heart is a big deal. 

The innermost purposes of your heart determine your spiritual state. Your heart can be for good, or it can be for evil. How do we know what the state of our heart is? Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart, too” (Matt 6:21). So, what do you want? 

Where is your heart? You can either have a heart which is “after God’s own heart,” like David (1 Sam 13:14). Or you can have a heart that seeks after idols, or false gods. We call for judgment upon ourselves when our hearts seek something other than the one true God (Ezek 14:1-8). 

God knows that our hearts are weak and prone to pride and to evil (Gen 6:5; 2 Chron 26:16). Our hearts become insensitive and hard when we turn away from him. This invites God to judge us (Ps 119:70; Zech 7:12). 

God gives us a conscience to remind our hearts that we are called to something better and that he will hold us to account in the final judgment (Rom 2:15-16). God is, moreover, merciful and wants to open our hearts to his free offer of salvation (Acts 16:14-15).

Please take a moment. and consider the state of your own heart. Are you right with God where it really counts, in your heart? Is there any tinge of rebellion against him? Are you beingswayed to trust in or desire something other than him? 

You know the wayward bent of your heart is true. But do not despair. You can ask God for his help. He truly wants to change your heart. Perhaps you might pray this prayer written by John Kettlewell:

I give you my heart, and I humbly pray that you would always keep it in your hands, since it is so unfaithful in loving what is good. When it is in my control, it is prone to follow all sorts of evils. Oh Father, keep my heart steadfast and unalterable in your ways. Let it not be inclined to any evil thing nor lean toward any of my former vanities. Keep my eyes from looking upon and my ears from listening to any sort of wickedness. Do not let my lips utter anything that is ungodly or my feet move even a step in any of the paths of death, but hold my whole spirit, soul, and body in a righteous fear of you. Keep me comfortable in the hope of your favor, through Jesus Christ, my blessed Lord and only Savior. Amen. (Cloud of Witnesses, 95)

As we pray for God to cleanse our hearts, he will send his Holy Spirit to change our hearts and give us righteous purposes. If you will pray like David did, when he fell into great sin, God will hear you and change you. “God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps 51:10).

Ultimately, the heart of the matter is your own heart. Will you ask him to change your heart to want him and his purposes for your life? He loves you and wants you to become a person after his own heart. He will forgive you and transform you. Just pray.

On Confessions and Creeds: Recent Writings and Presentations

During the past year, I have been asked repeatedly to address creeds and confessions in the Baptist tradition. The writings and presentations linked below may help you see the logic behind a recent proposal which has garnered widespread attention. 

Several leading pastoral theologians and academic theologians joined with me in May and June to propose and encourage the addition to the Baptist Faith and Message of an article containing the Nicene Creed. The concept has encouraged many people. 

Please join us in praying for the Southern Baptist Convention to make a clear statement of orthodox Christianity by adding the Nicene Creed in 2025. May Christ glorify himself through our common confession.

• “The Biblical Basis for the Authority of Confessions” (Faculty Presentation, School of Theology, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, September 2023)
• With Steven McKinion, “First Person: For Baptist Confessionalism,” Baptist Press (January 2024)
• With Steven McKinion, “On Baptist Creedalism,” The Baptist Review (January 2024)
• “On Creeds and Confessions in Baptist Life” (L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, April 2024)
• With Andrew Brown, Stephen Lorance, and Steven McKinion, “The Need for the Creed,” Credo Magazine (May 2024)
• With Nine Other Southern Baptist Theologians, “Article XIX: The Creed” (Pro Gloria Christi, May-June 2024)
• With Andrew Brown, Stephen Lorance, and Steven McKinion, “Commentary: Why Add the Nicene Creed to Our Confession,” Baptist Standard (June 2024)
• Interview, “Editorial: Questions, Answers about Adding Nicene Creed,” Baptist Standard (June 2024)
• “We Defended the Inerrant Word; Now Let's Defend and Exalt the Incarnate Word,” Credo Magazine (Videocast, June 2024)
• With Matthew Emerson, Steven McKinion, and Luke Stamps, “The SBC and the Nicene Creed [Its Biblical Foundations]” (Center for Baptist Renewal, Video Interview, June 2024)

When Roman Catholics Get Something Right, Southern Baptists Should Say, “Amen”

My fellow Southern Baptists, there are times when we must lay aside old and oft overwrought prejudices. Despite their appeals to being the only real Baptists, we must refuse to give audience to the strident voices of those who play to fear and whisper of conspiracy and detect trends that draw you away from right action. 

Instead, we must learn to discern truth for ourselves. We must reject cynical and self-serving attempts to use our name for petty political power plays. We must speak clearly for ourselves, even if we speak the same truths as others who sometimes say things with which we don’t agree.

When the Roman Catholics get it right, and they do at least twice every day, we should stand with them. When the Roman Catholics speak necessary truths, then we must simply stand up and say, “Indeed.”

Now is one of those times when “we” Southern Baptists must take a public stand beside “them” Roman Catholics. 

We must all stand and speak together against any legislation which would force the radical transgender agenda upon our children. 

So, if you are fearful of saying the same thing as a Roman Catholic, as if the same confession somehow taints you, I ask you to examine the issue without fear, set aside your unnecessary qualms, and “gird yourself like a man.”

Let us rise up to speak the same truth with the Roman Catholics. I hope you will agree with me that, on this issue, “Cardinal Dolan is right. We must reject radical leftist attempts to force their views on our children. When Roman Catholics say something right, Southern Baptists should be able to and certainly must say with them, ‘Amen.’”

Article XIX: The Creed

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father. By him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he descended from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again, in accordance with the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again, in glory, to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom shall have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], and who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the Prophets. And in one holy universal and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and we look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

__________

We encourage the Messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in June 2024 to affirm the Nicene Creed. We encourage the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in June 2025 to include the Creed as an article in the Baptist Faith and Message. We are also happy to include the Apostles’ Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Chalcedonian Definition.

Matthew Barrett, Andrew Brown, Matthew Emerson, Stephen Lorance, Steven McKinion, Stephen Presley, Rhyne Putman, David Rathel, Luke Stamps, Malcolm Yarnell

Fear the Messiah

The disciples of Jesus were very concerned for their own place. In lust for power, they were no different than the religious leaders who sought to murder Jesus.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’”

But Jesus was more interested in changing their hearts than in securing their offices. So he showed them the way to true greatness. And he used as an example, not a politician, sportstar, actor, cleric, or professor. Instead,

“He called a child to Himself and set him among them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’”

Let that sink in for a moment, boys. A disciple of Jesus is not in the kingdom by place but by grace. If you are all about place it may say you have no grace.

Jesus told the disciples they required a fundamental change in heart. Let go this world’s lust for power; die to yourself.

“So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me.”

And to bring the point home, he told the guys how serious he, the Lord, is about this.

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.’”

The temptation of the minister to sin has particularly grave consequences.

If your heart is set on your power you will justify evil in your mind. You will start to treat his sheep like you own them. But you use their bodies at the price of your souls. You may not steal from God!

And the Great Shepherd loves his sheep! Oh, he loves with a tender love for his lambs but with a terrible love toward the wolves and hirelings who misuse them and steal from them.

God calls his true pastors to be humble and protect his sheep. Note: Proud men can only be wolves.

The message of the Messiah for the Judases among his disciples was this: If you set up theological systems that create a petty hierarchy for you and your hirelings so that you can abuse his sheep, it would be better if you had long removed from this world.

I weep for the lambs.

As a pastor who only wants to hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” as I cling to his feet, I fear for my own soul. I want nothing to do with attempts to gain power. I have walked right up to that gate, seen the evil in my heart and been repelled from myself in shame.

Sometimes, people wonder why I preach with such prophetic passion against false pastors. Why do I refuse to participate in the crafting of these silly myths of power and manufacture these self-serving genealogies of privilege? Because I don’t want to face the wrath of Messiah.

The Messiah is a gentle Savior, the Lamb slain for his people from the foundation of the world. But the Messiah is also a growling Judge, the Lion of Judah who has seen hypocrites, false prophets, and petty messiahs, and warned us that he will judge such mindless mediocrities.

I have walked to the edge, seen the faults in my heart, heard his voice of warning, and cried out to him: “Lord, give me a new heart! Give me a boundless passionate love for you alone and a care to treat your sheep with your tenderness and to fight the wolves with your ferocity!”

Why do I take the strong stands that I do against wolves and hirelings? Why do I promote Trinitarian and Christological orthodoxy with such passion? Why do I promote the Nicene Creed and the Chalcedonian Formula?

Because he called me and I love him, and because I fear his wrath.

When I survey the lands and see the lambs laying here and there in their own blood, missing pieces of their bodies, broken by the wolves and falsely tended by hirelings who ran at the first sign of a fight, I weep for the lambs. Never ridicule survivors who walk away from faith.

I weep for the lambs, and I want to tend them back to health. I have a passion to fight the wolves who rend. I have a passion to honor the Lord and defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Heretics, wolves, and hirelings should fear the Great Shepherd. The true pastors, the wise ones, both love and fear the Messiah.

Against the Arians

What makes the worst of all heresies, Arianism, so dangerous?

1. Above all and at their root, Arians dishonor the Lord Jesus Christ. They diminish the unity of his person, the truth of his deity, and/or the truth of his humanity, by weakening, dividing, or contradicting him.

2. They are deceptive and mislead the “simple,” in the words of Athanasius, by being “deceitful and cunning” and “hypocritical.”

3. They appeal to the carnal nature of the simple. They promise authority to those who want to rule and knowledge to those desiring intelligence.

4. They have the air of credibility, because they appeal to the often unseen yet deeply flawed structures of their human culture and philosophy.

5. They abuse the Lord Jesus by abusing the biblical text, imposing godless hierarchies and fanciful systems upon Holy Scripture.

6. They abuse the church of Jesus Christ by teaching others their deceptive piety. They are good at self-presentation. They manipulate so they can dominate.

7. Ultimately, they “go out from among us.” But they first rush, like Diotrephes, to disfellowship true believers.

Arianism, in all its godless and pernicious varieties, must find no place of rest among true Christians. The truth of the Nicene Creed, which upholds Scripture by summarizing the central mystery of the Christian faith, must be upheld against the deceptions of the heretics.

Yes, You Can Trust the Bible!

The Bible is God’s Word, and he speaks to us by it this very day. The Bible is perfect and trustworthy in every way. The Bible speaks with God’s own authority. The Bible is, therefore, sufficient to save you and to guide you to live well. The wise person will read the Bible, heed the Bible, and trust the Bible above everything, including our own speculations.

How did God convey his Word to the prophets and the apostles, such that we can trust it today? Different theories of inspiration have been offered, but conservative evangelicals like David Dockery and I hold to the “verbal plenary” view of inspiration.

This view grants the initiative in inspiration to the Holy Spirit as divine author. The human author, moreover, remains fully involved in the process of writing as a particular human being with distinct experiences shaped by a definite context using personal expression. Due to the supervising authority of the Holy Spirit, the writings retain the quality of inspiration. 

Proponents of this theory ascribe inspiration to the original autographs as written in their entirety, or plenarily, and not just to portions. This theory also affirms that the Spirit led the writers in their choice of certain words. The verbal aspect of verbal plenary inspiration honors the distinctive context, thoughts, and style of the writers. It also recognizes meaning occurs not merely with the choice of particular words but at the levels of sentence, genre, and purpose.

Like many others, I have been driven to a high doctrine of biblical inspiration because this is the teaching of Scripture about itself (2 Tim. 3:15-17; John 10:34-36; 2 Pet. 1:19-21). In addition, Christians often testify how they hear God’s voice palpably through the biblical text. I can attest that, sometimes against my own preferences, God speaks transformative truth to me in his Word. God’s Holy Spirit convicts me, instructs me, and renews my heart with hope every time I read Scripture.

Therefore, I have come to read God’s Word as often as possible. I open the Bible every day on my own in prayer. I use it regularly in congregational worship. I use it to witness to others, hoping to bring them to salvation or to enhance their walk with the Lord. I study it deeply for my mind and for my heart. I cannot get enough of the Bible, because I meet God in it. 

Would you join me in hearing God through his Spirit’s inspiration of his Word?

(This essay is adapted from Malcolm’s most recent book, God, the first volume of the Theology for Every Person series. The book releases publicly next week.)

A Trinity Prayer for Revelation

“I pray that the God 

   *of our Lord Jesus Christ,
   *the glorious Father, 
   *would give you the Spirit 
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know:
   *what is the hope of his calling,
   *what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and
   *what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, 

according to the mighty working of his strength.”

Ephesians 1:17-19

Are Only Pastors to Preach? The Biblical View and a Baptist Viewpoint

Is the function of preaching the same as the office of the overseer? Absolutely not. 

Some now argue “the function is the office,” apparently confining all the acts of the office of the pastor exclusively within the office itself. But according to Scripture and the first major Baptist documents, the office and some of its acts must be distinguished.

The Biblical View

Scripture teaches us that the office of the pastor does not dominate all the acts that a pastor does:

1. Yes, pastors pray and teach and preach. Pastors also voice the dogmatic and disciplinary conclusions of the congregation with the congregation’s authority. But only the last act of the pastoral office—authoritative dogmatic proclamation—is confined to that office (Acts 15:13-21; 1 Timothy 2:12).
2. According to Scripture, those qualified to be overseers or elders have several functions which are required of non-ordained Christians, that is all other Christians. These include, inter alia, being above reproach, a man being the husband of one wife, being self-controlled, etc. Surely, those theologians who now confine the functioning of an elder to the office of the elder would not dare to say the non-ordained Christian is released from being self-controlled or sensible or respectable (1 Timothy 3:1-4). It is similarly inappropriate to confine all acts of Christian proclamation to the elder.
3. All may pray and preach in an orderly manner for the upbuilding of the church, as Paul reminds us was the custom of the early church in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14. Moreover, all Christian disciples were given the Great Commission of making disciples, which occurs only through forms of proclamation. Christ did not anywhere in Scripture confine his commission merely to the apostles nor to the church’s overseers. He gave it to all of his disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). The Word of God has its own self-authenticating authority. To claim otherwise is to begin a theological march back to Rome, perhaps through Wittenberg, Geneva, or Canterbury, but not necessarily ending in one of those lesser forms of extra-biblical ecclesiology.

A Baptist Viewpoint

As for Baptist theology, we note one tradition, though we could name many others who have been careful up to this point to refuse to return to the stifling morass of clericalism. Article 44 of the First London Confession discusses the office of overseer; article 45, the activity of preachers. Against the new clericalism, note these truths from foundational Baptist theology:

1. Early Baptists rejected both Romanist and Magisterial Protestant forms of clericalism, distinguishing preaching from oversight.
2. They also placed eldership within the congregation, refusing to countenance any type of elitism of one member over another. Mediation belongs exclusively to Jesus Christ, never to a mere man (1 Timothy 2:4). 
3. Finally, the earliest Baptists followed the Reformers in defining “prophecy” as preaching, according to its simple description in 1 Corinthians 14:3. This preaching is, of course, focused on and empowered by the Word of God. They did not reduce prophecy to oblivion through innovations like cessationism or enthusiasm, as with some modernist commentators.

The 1644/1646 Confession states:

XLIV. Christ for the keeping of this church in holy and orderly communion, placeth some special men over the church; who by their office, are to govern, oversee, visit, watch; so likewise for the better keeping thereof, in all places by the members, He hath given authority, and laid duty upon all to watch over one another.

XLV. Also such to whom God hath given gifts in the church, may and ought to prophecy according to the proportion of faith, and to teach publicly the word of God, for the edification, exhortation, and comfort of the church.

 

A Southwesterner's Appreciation for Russell Dilday

The President of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1978 to 1994, Russell Hooper Dilday, died today, June 21, at the age of 92. Under his leadership, Southwestern reached heights of enrollment and impact seen neither before nor after by a Southern Baptist seminary. Dilday was preceded in death by his wife, Betty, and by his son, Robert. Please allow me to tell you a little about Russell Dilday from the perspective of one student, professor, and pastor.

In 1991, after I spent almost four years of preparing intellectually and spiritually for full-time vocational Christian ministry, Russell Dilday acknowledged my completion of the Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages. During my student years at Southwestern Seminary, I had arrived at a different political position than Dr. Dilday regarding the controversy disrupting the Southern Baptist Convention. However, that difference in outlook never kept the President who handed me the degree from displaying his exemplary civility in Christian conduct.

In 1994, I watched from afar as Dr. Dilday was locked out of his own office and shown the exit to his beloved seminary. Like other Southern Baptists, I was shocked by this rough treatment yet impressed by his graceful dignity. Over the next decade, while researching the experiential theology of Edgar Young Mullins, I also discovered his thorough research into the theology of that previous denominational statesman. Dr. Dilday not only wrote about the apologetic legacy of Mullins; he continued his legacy as a statesman. While I remain less individualistic than either Dilday or Mullins, I have come to appreciate the deep wisdom in their conservative religious personalism and their fervent advocacy of Baptist identity.

In 2005, I received a telephone call from the front desk of the Baptist college at Oxford University. It was Russell Dilday asking if I would mind being a host for him and several Texas Baptist dignitaries attending the centennial celebration of the Baptist World Alliance. Feeling quite honored, I rearranged my day then gave Dr. Dilday's group an overview of Baptist history in Great Britain. During our long conversation, I showed them several portraits of Baptist dignitaries and the death couch of William Carey, the founder of the Modern Missions Movement. It was unusually hot in England that summer, and we Texans were suffering slightly from the British lack of air conditioning, yet these true Baptists were elated to learn more about their own heritage.

The group sought to present me an honorarium. I refused, noting my pleasure at deepening my fellowship with Dr. Dilday and coming to know each of them. However, the former President of Southwestern gently forced the honorarium into my hand, winked at me, and said, "Malcolm, you forget that I know how little you faculty earn. Receive this as a gift from the Lord and from me as a token of our appreciation for your continuing service to all Southern Baptists." He then smiled, gripped my hand firmly, and walked away before I could raise an objection. Again, I was struck by his exemplary graciousness. 

Through the following years, I came to realize the import of his parting words for me as one of the few theologians who continued the Southwestern tradition of theology at Southwestern Seminary. While we might have differed by degrees over anthropology and bibliology, we both swam in the same great tradition of Baptist life in Texas, in the Southern Baptist Convention, and in the Baptist World Alliance. Moreover, I came to lament with him certain "low points in the SBC odyssey." Dilday summarized these low points as "forced uniformity, political coercion, and egotistic self-interest."

In 2020, at the funeral service of James Leo Garrett Jr., I reflected publicly on my theological mentor's legacy with both former teachers and current colleagues. Before the proceedings, the visibly declining Dr. Dilday again addressed me personally, shook my hand, and thanked me for my faculty service. For those who are not quite aware of how significant that is, please understand that he engaged me graciously before and after momentous events in his life, in our seminary's life, and in our denomination's life. Through each encounter, he showed Christian civility: during a controversy, after he was summarily dismissed, and after many years of watching me actively advocate my own theology. Russell Dilday affirmed the calling of Baptist students, professors, and pastors, no matter which side of the aisle they occupied.

As a lifelong advocate of biblical inerrancy, as a current pastor in a Texas Baptist church, and as a current faculty member of his former seminary, I am convinced that the way forward for all Southern Baptists must be to heed Dr. Dilday's final challenge. In Higher Ground: A Call for Christian Civility, the sixth president of Southwestern Seminary wrote, "So the best way forward from this quarter century of strife is to let the past convict us and work to restore a gentler, kinder tone in our discourse and deliberations—in short—a return to Christian civility. That’s the road to higher ground." 

Russell Dilday was in his personal character what he advocated in his public proclamations. Rest In Peace, dear brother in Christ and father in Christian ministry. You have reminded Southern Baptists and Baptists in Texas what it means to be like Jesus. May our Lord speak to you even now the words you longed to hear throughout your meaningful life of often painful service: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!"

The Word of God Has Power

Why should we be concerned about doctrine? After all, some have noticed that doctrines divide Christians, while others have opined that an emphasis on the mission of the church could unite Christians. But is it true that “doctrine divides, but missions unite”? Well, the answer is both “yes” and “no.”

On the one hand, yes! 

Doctrines may and often do divide professed Christians. “Doctrine” derives from the Latin doctrina, which means “teaching” or “learning” or “instruction.” In spite of its ability to divide us, what we teach really does matter. Doctrine matters because our salvation depends upon the truth, in particular upon the preaching of the good news of the free offer of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The problem with doctrine arises not because of the existence of doctrine, for doctrine is necessary to our salvation. The problem with doctrine arises because of the existence of false doctrine as opposed to true doctrine. We shall return to this issue.

On the other hand, no! 

A mission may unite us, but it may not necessarily unite us for good. If the churches are not engaging in the right mission with the right message, an appeal to unity is meaningless, even dangerous. Churches who proclaim the true doctrine, the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be used to bring people to salvation. People who proclaim false doctrine, which comes from human wisdom or philosophy, are not bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 2). Apart from his saving gospel, there is no salvation possible (John 14:1-7; Acts 4:12; Galatians 1:6-9). So, those who do not define their mission as teaching the gospel have the wrong mission. Again, doctrine is necessary.

But why is doctrine so necessary? Because God ordained that through the preaching and teaching of true doctrine, people may be saved. Concern for orthodox doctrine, as many biblical theologians have commented, motivated the two most prolific apostolic authors, Paul and John, to write many of their letters. Paul and John stressed the coming of God in Jesus, his death for our sins, and his resurrection for our justification—this is the gospel. However, Peter, the leading apostle in the early church, was also very concerned with proclaiming true doctrine and opposing false doctrine.

Peter’s Second Letter

Positively, we know that Peter was granted the saving confession upon which Jesus Christ would build His church. Peter, inspired by the Father, proclaimed that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-20). His God-given teaching is the true doctrine. Negatively, Peter warned about the coming of “false teachers,” who will “introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them.” Many will sadly “follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned” (2 Peter 2:1-2). Their teaching is the false doctrine. According to Peter in his second letter, true doctrine must be proclaimed, and false doctrine must be opposed.

Peter’s First Letter

In his first epistle, Peter explained why this is the case. Here, he describes how true faith—real life-changing Christianity—comes into existence. To do so, he employs a metaphor, equating the “word” with a “seed” (1 Peter 1:23-25). The way in which Peter identified God’s “word” as “seed” has profound implications for what Christian preachers, teachers, and evangelists are required to teach. This metaphor indicates that a person who teaches anything other than the God-given, Christ-revealing, and Spirit-inspired Holy Bible teaches without divine power. Let us explore the biblical correlation of “word” with “seed.”

Note that Peter was not the first to combine “word” and “seed.” His Lord, Jesus Christ, earlier used the identification between “word of God” and “seed” as the basis of one of his most extensive and well-known parables (Luke 8:4-15; parallels in Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20). The metaphor was so fruitful in Jesus’ mind that it earned starring roles in at least three more parables: the parable of the growing seed (Mark 4:26-29); the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30); and the parable of the mustard seed (Mark 4:30- 32).

Moreover, Jesus was himself drawing upon two deep and highly significant Old Testament traditions with His use of “word” and “seed.” After Jesus, the apostles invested both terms with theological importance in their construction of the New Testament. A cursory review of each term must suffice for this short essay.

“Seed” 

The Lord God himself introduced the idea of a “seed” (Hebrew zerah) through the promise that he would accomplish his saving will. In the protoevangelium of Genesis 3:15, the seed, or “descendant,” of Eve would crush the head of the serpent even, although the serpent would strike his heel. In Genesis 12:7 (and in 15:3, 5, 13, 18; 17:7-10, 12, 19; and 22:17-18), Abraham was granted a covenant promise that his seed, or “offspring,” would rule the land and bring God’s blessing to the nations. Paul drew upon the Abrahamic concept of “seed” (Greek sperma or spora) in order to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the covenantal plan of God for saving both Israel and the nations (Romans 4:13, 16, 18; 9:7-8, 29; Galatians 3:16, 19, 29).

“Word”

As for the “word” of God, we see from Genesis 1:3 onward that the speaking (Hebrew dabar) of God has power to implement God’s creative will (Genesis 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26; cf. Psalm 33:6, 9; Romans 4:17). According to Isaiah, the Word of God is eternal, while human words fail (Isaiah 40:7-8). The Word of God is sent to accomplish, and will perfectly perform, God’s will (Isaiah 55:10-11). But the power of the Word of God is not limited to creating life.

In the New Testament, God’s Word (Greek logos or rhema) is powerful enough even to re-create life. According to John, not only is the Word God Himself, who has come in the flesh (John 1:1, 14), but the Spirit works through the Word to bring life to us (John 6:63). Anyone who believes these words of Jesus will be given life (John 5:24). In Hebrews, God’s Word is a living, active, judging agent (Hebrews 4:12). According to Jesus, His words come from eternity and “will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). And in Paul, the Word of God brings us surety of perseverance in the faith (Philippians 2:16).

Word of God

Thus, Peter is continuing and contributing to a well-known canonical concept when he brings together, like Jesus, the “word” with the “seed.” For Peter, the Word of God functions in such a way as to regenerate life. Because it comes from divine eternity, the Word of God is “living and enduring” (1 Peter 1:23). Peter quotes Isaiah 40:6b-8 in order to prove its eternality (1 Peter 1:24-25a; cf. James 1:10-11). The Word of God, moreover, is “the gospel,” which has been “proclaimed to you” (1 Peter 1:25). The Word of God brings people to be born again.

Words of Men

The Word of God, from a soteriological perspective, is entirely different from the words of men. While humanity is “like grass,” which “withers” and “fails,” the Word of God can bring one to be “born again” (1 Peter 1:23). Humanity’s “seed” is “perishable,” indicating that human words and deeds ultimately end in death, no matter how beautiful they may sound or what they promise to convey or even why man intends to utter them. But the “seed” of the Word of God, to the contrary, is “imperishable.” There is an insurmountable difference between human words, flawed by temporal imperfections, and the divine Word, fruitful with God’s eternal perfection.

In Summary

We conclude that the Word of God has power in itself to bring the new birth which fallen human beings require. There is no other way people may be saved other than through the Word of God. This is why I tell my students that our well-thought words to advance apologetics and our well-meaning works to improve society will ultimately fail—if that is all we give people. We should engage in both apologetics and social improvement, for Scripture commands such good work. However, the only way people will truly encounter God and receive new life occurs when we give them the Word of God, which we know is inextricably bound for us today with the Holy Bible.

If we do not teach the entirely sufficient doctrine of Scripture, our listeners have no hope at all. This is why doctrine, biblical doctrine, is singularly necessary, and every other human teaching pales into insignificance. This is why we must emphasize the knowledge of Scripture, in its historical and linguistic context and in its Trinitarian, Christological, and canonical shape, as the sine qua non of theological education. This is why we believe that evangelizing with true biblical doctrine is the mission of God, because it is the only way we can bring the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, which so desperately needs to hear this life-giving Word.

Transformation into the Image of God

The Spirit of God is transforming the people of God into the image of the Son of God:

“We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18)

Notes regarding Christian transformation from this passage:

1) Divine glory is the entire context

2) The Spirit is manifestly divine

3) God the Trinity is the agent

4) Human beings are brought into the presence of God

5) The end of humanity is Christlikeness

#BeLikeJesus

Liberty of Conscience versus Slavery

“Here is liberty of conscience, which is right and reasonable. Here ought to be likewise liberty of the body, except of evildoers, which is another case. But to bring men hither, or to rob and sell them against their will, we stand against.”

This protest against slavery was submitted by free church Christians in 1688. The statement is fascinating for several reasons:

1) Note the early date. Some evangelicals knew very early that slavery was incompatible with Christianity, even preceding protests by Lay and Woolman.

2) Notice the direct correlation between “liberty of conscience” and “liberty of the body.” The core believers’ church principle of liberty of conscience requires incarnation in human bodies. There is no trace of gnosticism, no divorcing faith from life. True faith is necessary.

3) The authors also argued that white enslavement of blacks was as indefensible as any other form of slavery, that there is no moral difference between buying and selling and kidnapping human beings, and that masters often declined morally in other ways, for instance sexually.

The manuscript for this document is now located in Haverford College. While it has been labeled as Quaker and its transmission was affiliated with their meetings, the authors were German and likely Mennonites.

The Evangelical Reformation

Here are Three Trends Evangelicals will face due to new revelations of the longterm Abuse Crisis:

1) Evangelical culture, especially in the south, was bound with constructs of hierarchical authority. More Evangelicals will now begin extricating themselves from those cultural ideologies.

2) Evangelism will become more difficult. The willingness of persons to receive a message is affected by perceptions of a speaker’s credibility. Listeners’ presumptions going into evangelistic conversations will be increasingly negative. The Evangelical voice has lost integrity.

3) The widespread argument going into the strident culture wars dominating the later Twentieth Century was that Evangelicals had a claim to moral probity. Those claims were buttressed through working alliances with Roman Catholics. Both Catholics and Evangelicals lost probity.

Catholics and Evangelicals have been able to bring the nation to see the moral problem with abortion. Now they face headwinds on every front of the culture wars. The pugilist attitude of culture war will be increasingly challenged by desire for more peaceful forms of engagement.

What are the Key Theological Emphases which will help Evangelicals build a better future? In my opinion, there are three recoveries that must be made:

1) Imago Dei — Humans treat other people  according to their understanding of who they are. We must recover our sacred dignity.

2) Divine Perfections — Evangelical Christians must recover a high anthropology, but a high anthropology depends upon a high theology, for human beings are created “in” the Image of God. We must dwell upon both divine transcendence and immanence, divine holiness and love, etc.

3) Discipleship — Evangelicals have been busy about evangelism and cultural engagement, but these are mere pieces of a greater truth. Christ Jesus commissioned his church to “make disciples.” Filling his commission depends entirely upon Christ’s presence and power, and teachings.

These theological recoveries are, of course, bound tightly with divine revelation and Holy Scripture. But make no mistake about it: Until Evangelicals recognize our errors and return to a radical dependence upon God, which results in Christians who look like Jesus, we will die.