Deeper Thought

Christian Freedom: A Fundamental Blessing

If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. .... .. Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (Jn. 8:31-32, 34-36)

Christian freedom lies at the very heart of the Gospel.  It certainly would be Good News for  people to be saved from their sin only to the point that the threat of Hell was removed and their souls annihilated rather than punished.  Compared to what we deserve, that would be Good News.  But, God has done so much more than that.  The Gospel proclaims that we are not only saved from the threat of Hell but instituted and constituted as the eternal Family of God, with freedom of the Household.

Incredible.

Who Are God's People: An Answer to James (part 2)

This is part two of an oft delayed response to my Christian brother James who has serious questions about the scriptural basis of infant baptism as practiced in the Reformed tradition.

In part one I attempted to respond to his questions concerning Col. 2:11-15 (whether there is an equation of baptism to circumcision).

In this post, I hope to at least outline an answer to his second and, more foundational, question.

The real question for me is, and always will be, "Who are the People of God?"  Consider the familiar words of Jer. 31.  (followed by a full quote) ....  Here, the Lord is clearly ..(defining) who the recepients (sic) of that new covenant will be.  he will create a People who will have the law written upon their hearts... Clearly this passage, ... is addressed to the elect.  ...Any definition that separates His People from His Elect does a disservice to the plain meaning of these texts.  (including 1 Pet. 2:9)...  I say this as background to consider the case of a child born of believing parents into a church.  Is that child, by virtue of his "brithright", a member of "God's people"?  I have to respectfully say that he is not."

The Spirit Had Not Yet Been Given (Part II): Yet They Believed

Jn. 7:39  But This He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (NKJV)

In my previous post on this subject (Part I) I contended that this verse "cannot be properly understood apart from appreciating the historical context, the Feast of Tabernacles and the part that this Feast played in the whole year long drama of feasts, which formed the God ordained context in which Jesus' and John's words were spoken."  Consequently I there developed a view of the three God ordained festivals which  punctuated the Israelite calendar year as being revelational of God's decree of salvation:  Atonement and the dividing of a people unto Himself (Passover), the harvest of the First Fruit (Jesus) and the first fruits (initial Jewish Christians) (Pentecost/Weeks) and the glorious "ingathering" of all the saints in the final harvest (Tabernacles).

In this post I wish to distinguish how to understand the clause "for the Holy Spirit was not yet given" in the context of the revelational content of the feasts.

Cross Posted at Theologica

The Spirit Had Not Been Given Yet: The Feasts of God, Now and Not Yet

Jn. 7:39 "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (NKJV)

The Feast of Tabernacles was arguably that most important feast in the Jewish calendar year.  Even more than at the Passover, Jews from all over the known world streamed into Jerusalem.  Distant kin who had not seen each other for years rejoiced in the homecoming.  Thanksgiving was offered each night around a huge bonfire lit in the temple precincts.  Pilgrims would notice that at night Jerusalem could be seen for miles, a beacon shining in the darkness, a city set on a hill.

Cross posted at Theologica

Circumcision & Baptism: An Initial Answer For James

A dear brother in Christ (James) responded by letter to a paper I had previously posted (Is Baptism Essential To The Reformed Faith).  The letter is several pages long with a serious and well reasoned critique of the Reformed View of Baptism as well as the underlying issue of “who are the people of God?”  A comprehensive answer in one document to all of the questions and arguments he poses is simply not possible, so I have undertaken to answer it ad seriatum.

His first point was directed toward my previous use of Col. 2:11-15 to assert an essential sacramental unity between NT baptism and OT circumcision.

●    You use Colossians 2:11-15 to claim the equivalence of circumcision and baptism.  I have a hard time seeing this, for several reasons.  First, Paul starts v. 11 by saying "In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ." This is clearly a description of a past event, what Christ did in the life of the believer at the point of conversion.  There is no forward-looking, hope-for-the-future language here, it is the sure thing of salvation accomplished and applied.  I fail to see how this could be converted into a prospective sacrament

Illumination & Deconstructionalism

Meditations & Contemplations:
When Does “Illumination” Start Approaching “Deconstructionalism”

 Interaction with N. T. Wright: The New Testament & The People of God

I was a bit taken aback in another forum recently when a correspondent assigned the label “post-modern” to my manner of Scriptural interpretation.  My initial reactions was “where in the world did that come from?” because my self-analysis would have never even considered such a thing.  Horrors!

Then, in my progress through TNT&TPOG in chapter 3: Literature, Story and the Articulation of World Views, I discovered Wright saying something very similar.

Knowledge, Absolute & Otherwise

Meditations & Contemplations

“Story” and Epistemology

Interaction with N. T. Wright, The New Testament & The People of God,  Chapter Two: Knowledge: Problems and Varieties

Hermeneutics; Theology; Biblical vs Systematic Theology; Philosophy; Federal Vision

Meditations & Contemplations: How Normative Is The Early Church?

 Interaction with N. T. Wright: The New Testament & The People of God

p. 16 ... how(emphasis his) is the history of early Christianity to be (perceived) as relevant for the present day? .... many writers of this and some other centuries have seen the religious experience of the early Christians... as the normative element within Christianity. ... This has the apparent advantage that it enables one to conduct ...study of early Christian religion and theology, with the knowledge that when one has found them one is in touch with the real model of what Christianity is supposed to be like.

Unscrewed (01-03): Spiritual Power_ An Answer to JV and Retropolitan

JY on July 25, 2005 , said the following about my previous post...

"As Retropolitan said, your idea of 'power' seems fuzzy. If a 'spiritual being' is say, the ghost of a departed mouse, which can't be seen or heard but can nevertheless steal material cheese and spring material mousetraps, is this spiritual being more, or at least as 'powerful', as us? I'd say no, but then, I don't think there's a real 'thing' we can call power, except the specific concept in physics."

Unscrewed(01-01): Knowing Stuff

HankFox  (not verified) in his comments to my earlier post, takes me to task for lack of clarity and insufficient meat. 
Gadfly, um ... forgive me, but it doesn't sound like you've really thought all that much about this stuff. You've tossed out some fairly predictable comebacks, but not much MEAT -- thoughtful substance.
.... Your initial post contained a couple of worthwhile points, but even that wasn't much fun to read. And a construction such as "There is no cause/effect relation that originates in the world of sense which guarantees a corresponding inbreaking from any world outside of the senses. If man is to know anything about a world beyond the senses, it must make itself known to him, he cannot require it to be made known" is virtually opaque.