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Tag Archives: Gospel

All Authority

12 Monday Apr 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Meditations

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Authority, Christianity, Devotional, Easter, Encouragement, God, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Mission, Resurrection

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18, ESV).

            When the risen Lord met His disciples at a certain mountain for what we have come to call the Great Commission, He began with these words.  How marvelous, and how vital for Christian mission, that the call to go is grounded in the authority of the Savior to whom we testify.  The Risen One reigns, King over all.  Our commission is backed by the authority of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

            Take heart in the sovereign authority of the Lord Jesus.  No obstacle you face is beyond His power, no opposition beyond His authority.  What God calls us to face we can face in His strength, and we need fear nothing as we go about the task given by our Master.

Eyes Opened

07 Wednesday Apr 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Meditations

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Atonement, Christianity, Communion, Devotional, Easter, God, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Joy, Life, Resurrection, Sacrifice, Salvation

“When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.  And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.  And he vanished from their sight.  They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’” (Luke 24:30-32, ESV).

            The two disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus had been prevented from recognizing the Lord while they spoke with Him, even as He explained how the Scriptures testified to Him.  Yet at last “their eyes were opened”—when He broke the bread for them.  Think about the significance of that gesture, the symbol of the Last Supper, the fulfillment of Passover in the self-giving of Christ.

            Our relationship with Christ comes in the context of His atoning work.  He who offered Himself for us invites us to know Him in a living relationship; the Risen One is our Savior and Lord, who has accomplished redemption for us in His blood.  Abide in Christ, who gives life to His people.

Proclaiming the Resurrection

07 Wednesday Apr 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Contra Mundum, Pro Ecclesia

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America, Atonement, Christianity, Easter, Gospel, Hope, Jesus Christ, Progressive Christianity, Religious Left, Resurrection, Salvation, Secularism, Truth

Easter brings us the joyful proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation for all who trust in Him.  The Church is commissioned to share this word, and we must beware the world’s temptation to water down, re-direct, or alter the message.  A couple of prominent politician’s takes on Easter, this year, underline how readily this happens in our culture.

            President Biden gave an opinion piece Religion News Service, ‘Let us recommit ourselves to the lessons of Easter’, notable more for what it neglects than for what it says.  Most significantly, President Biden makes no mention of the resurrection of Jesus Christ—which is quite odd for a supposedly committed Catholic, but explained by the fact that what he really wants to talk about is not Easter but COVID and other national issues.

            “Easter is a time to celebrate the spirit of renewal and the promise of brighter days to come”, he begins, which is true if you supply all of the unspoken context about the atoning death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fact that the spirit of renewal is the Holy Spirit, and the cosmic realities of Christian eschatology.  Without that context, such vague words of hope are banal and even deceptive.

            From there he expresses grief regarding the loss of the COVID pandemic, leading to the statement that “the traditions of Holy Week remind us of the journey from sorrow to salvation—that faith, hope and love can lead us out of the darkness and into the light.”  Once again, an allusion to the meaning of Easter that could be stretched to fit the gospel with enough interpretive gymnastics—the three theological virtues characterize the work of the Holy Spirit in the redeemed by their union with Jesus Christ—but, much more likely, point to a vague sub-Christian spirituality whereby we may save ourselves through virtue.  Faith, hope and love do not lead us out of darkness; Jesus Christ, the light of the world, came into our world to lead us out of darkness and bring us life.

            More about COVID follows, pointing to how things are better and calling people to help those in need and get vaccinated.  Towards the end he says, “As we commemorate this holiest of days, let us recommit ourselves to the lessons of Easter.  Let us love and care for our neighbors—as Jesus did, and as we’ve seen so many ordinary, extraordinary people do over the course of this difficult year.”  That is the sole mention of Jesus in the article, a typical liberal reduction of His mission to the moral influence of His compassion.

            Whereas President Biden’s piece is notoriously vague and neglects to mention the resurrection, more directly anti-gospel is a tweet that has gained some notoriety, by Rev. Raphael Warnock, Baptist minister and recently elected Senator.  Warnock tweeted, and since deleted, as reported in the Christian Post:

“The meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Warnock wrote on Twitter Easter Sunday.  “Whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others we are able to save ourselves.”

            That is a direct denial of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He does not oppose or neglect the resurrection, but he attempts to ‘transcend’ it—to humanistic works-based salvation.  If this is, indeed, Warnock’s belief (one news report claimed to have a source informing them it was written by an assistant), then he is not a Christian.  The message of Easter cannot transcend the resurrection of Christ; it centers upon the resurrection of Christ.  The message of Easter cannot point to salvation by our good works; it is precisely the message of salvation by Christ’s righteousness imputed to us, of His atoning death and vindicatory resurrection.

            Easter is a message of hope, precisely because it is a specific and definite message and precisely because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  To make it a humanistic message is to reject the world-shaking significance of what God has done, and tragically miss the offer of forgiveness, redemption, and eternal life.

Tuesday Tea-ology, 04/06/21

06 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Theology

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Christianity, Easter, Forgiveness, God, Gospel, Hope, Jesus Christ, Life, Resurrection, Salvation, Theology, Tuesday Tea-ology

Today on Tuesday Tea-ology, 04/06/21: As we celebrate the joy of Easter, we reflect on the heart of the gospel and the meaning of that wonderful proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Tuesday Tea-ology, 03/30/21

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Theology

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Atonement, Christianity, Cross, Crucifixion, Eternity, God, Good Friday, Gospel, holiness, Jesus Christ, Liberalism, Love, Progressive Christianity, Religious Left, Salvation, Theology, Truth, Tuesday Tea-ology

Tuesday Tea-ology today looks forward to Good Friday. At the cross, God in holy-love atoned for our sins, so that we could have eternal life.

What Authority

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Meditations

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Authority, Christianity, Devotional, God, Gospel, Holy Week, Hope, Jesus Christ

“One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority” (Luke 20:1-2, ESV).

            Jesus has restored the temple to its proper place, throwing out the greed and corruption and orienting it once more to be the meeting place of God and man.  His presence and teaching expresses this purpose even more fully, as He Himself supersedes the temple, as the true meeting of God and man.  God teaches His people; but the religious leaders will not listen, for their hearts are hard.

            Turn to the Lord, draw near to Him, and listen to His word.  God has reached down to us with the offer of life and restoration.  Believe, receive, and follow the One who came from heaven for your redemption.  May the grace of the Lord sustain you today.

Boundaries of Freedom

17 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Contra Mundum, Rhetorical Analysis

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America, Christianity, Church, Culture, Culture War, Equality Act, Freedom, Gospel, Government, Humanity, Legislation, LGBTQ+, Secularism, Society

Human freedom is a precious thing: frequently curtailed, dearly bought, and easily lost.  If we are free—free to speak the truth without fear of punishment, free to worship unmolested, free to work and live and build and go where we wish, we should thank God.  Many have not enjoyed such freedom.

            Yet, in a fallen world, freedom must always have limits.  Freedom must be curtailed by law, otherwise it is (by definition) anarchy—which, in a sinful mankind, means uncontrolled wickedness.  Few people want anarchy, but we dispute the proper boundaries of freedom; and such disputes are often, in the end, disputes about the basis of freedom.

            In contemporary American society, there is an essential tug-of-war between conservatives and liberals about the boundaries of freedom, which reflects a fundamental disagreement about the basis of freedom.  The foundational disagreement is between a nation founded on the idea that freedom was bestowed by God, as described in the Declaration of Independence, and which conservatives try to conserve, and the liberal pursuit of a nation where freedom is provided by the government, in accordance with secular ideology.

Such different bases for freedom obviously suggest different boundaries within which it may be responsibly exercised.  If freedom is a gift of God, then it ought be exercised in accordance with the truth, which God has declared and to which nature testifies.  If freedom is granted by the government, then it will be bounded by the prevailing ideology, whatever that may be—in our case, the identity politics of the American elites.  There is, of course, common territory between the two; there are also stark differences.

This is the framework within which current cultural and legislative waves are swelling.  George Weigel rightly points out the ideological militancy, that in a time of so many pressing issues, with so much constructive governance needing to be done, these culture war offensives are being launched:

“So what did the House of Representatives do on February 25? By a vote of 224-206, the House decided to criminalize Genesis 1:27 by passing the “Equality Act,” a Newspeak misnomer reminiscent of George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984.”

The so-called “Equality Act” is a piece of legislation intended to codify another level of the liberal vision of freedom—freedom for people who claim a certain identity (LGBTQ+) to act in accordance with their ideology without consequences, while simultaneously taking away freedom from people with Christian (and other) religious convictions to operate according to conscience.  These two visions of freedom are in direct opposition, and conflict is inescapable.  Certainly, compromises have been attempted, but the Equality Act, with its denial of religious exemptions for various religious organizations, is not one of them.

We have to understand that a whole battle of worldviews is playing out here.  That can be obscured by some ways of framing the issue.  Take a recent opinion piece by David W. Keys in the leftist Religion News Service, “Religious freedom protects our right to worship.  It doesn’t protect discrimination.”  The title tells you all you need to know; for Keys, despite his claim to Christian identity, the boundaries of freedom are set by contemporary secular moral vision, with its basis in nondiscrimination, rather than by adherence to the truth as revealed by God and attested by nature.  Your religious freedom ends at the doors of the church (if it extends that far), and society is to be governed by a moral code built on the mores of our corrupt cultural elites.

The fundamental question is whether government is to be the guardian of freedom given by God, or the god who gives, and therefore gets to define, freedom.  Secularism has consequences, and one of them is that it shifts government from guardian to god.  That is to say that the secularizing impulse is, in its own peculiar way, an idolatrous impulse.  Our civilization has been going down this road for a long time—but it’s not too late to turn around.

Whether or not that happens, the church needs to have her head on straight.  Whether we find ourselves in Christendom or Babylon, we are called to be a culture set apart.  Sometimes that means defiance; may God give us strength to persevere, wisdom to judge the times, and spines to stand.

Jesus is Lord.

Tuesday Tea-ology, 02/23/21

23 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Theology

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Christianity, God, Gospel, holiness, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, Salvation, Sanctification, Theology, Tuesday Tea-ology

Further musings today on the awesome holiness of God–the Holy One in the midst of His people! Also, English breakfast tea, presumably not from Yorkshire.

A Contrite Heart

28 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Meditations

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Christ, Christianity, Compassion, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Encouragement, Forgiveness, God, Gospel, Grace, Mercy, Pandemic, Salvation

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17, ESV).

            Psalm 51 is a penitent psalm, as David cries out to the Lord for forgiveness.  His plea is based upon the unfathomable mercy, the “steadfast love” of God (v.1).  The king confesses his sinfulness, recognizing that God is ultimately the one against whom his sins offend (vv.3-6); yet God is able to forgive, restore, and cleanse the guilty conscience (vv.7-12).  David looks for His salvation with hope for the future (vv.13-15), recognizing that it is not truly outward sacrifices that please God (v.16), but repentance of the heart (v.17)—yet we must read this in the context of the whole of Scripture, and recognize that a penitent heart is not enough unless it takes hold of the true sacrifice for sins, the cross of Christ.

            God is merciful to those who call upon Him.  No gifts can really enrich God, no works really benefit Him; but He has compassion on those who humbly seek His grace.  In love, God sent His own Son to sacrifice for our sins; in mercy, He will receive those who come to Him.  Keep your trust fully fixed upon the wonderful love of God.

Tuesday Tea-ology, 01/26/21

26 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by Joshua Steely in Theology

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1 Peter, Bible, Christianity, God, God the Son, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Salvation, Theology, Trinity, Truth, Tuesday Tea-ology

Another Tuesday rolls around! With the invigorating help of Scottish Breakfast Tea, we continue to explore the sacred mystery of the Trinity: how do we understand the distinction between the three Persons of the one God?

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