Be the Church

One of the most basic characteristics of God’s people is that they gather.

Not a revolutionary or new statement, but it continually needs to be said. This isn’t me writing as a paid representative of the Institution.^[1] I’m putting proverbial pen to digital paper because of something I noticed this last week studying Esther.

In Esther 8:11, the new second-in-command of the Persian Empire (Mordecai the Jew) writes a law with the king’s authority granting, among other things, the right to assemble (the Hebrew verb קהל is used). The assembly of the Jews is an important repeated theme at the turnaround of their fortunes in this curious little tale.^[2]

“Assembly” (קהל) is “Church” (εκκλησια).

This word (קהל), both its verb and noun forms, is important for a theological reason. What would happen to this word when the world started speaking Greek and the Old Testament was translated into that language? I thought I knew the answer, but wanted to check. I opened my Hebrew/Aramaic Index to the Septuagint (a riveting action story!) and confirmed my suspicions.[3] The word קהל, when it was translated into Greek, becomes εκκλησια, which is the word for “Church” in the New Testament.

Still with me?

Jesus is the first Person to use the word “Church” in the New Testament. In a short space of text, He gives us both the foundational definitions of the Gathering means:

·         In Matthew 16:13-20, it is the universal body of all those who share God the Father’s heaven-given (not earth-invented) confession of the Son. Jesus identifies Himself as continual Builder of this assembly, and says that hell cannot stop it.

·         In Matthew 18:15-20, it is a local body, as well, of individuals who are part of what’s described in 16:13-20, but also have a definite membership with standards of ethics and the ability to discipline.^[4]

Jesus will, through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of His apostles, fill both of these foundational statements in throughout the writings of the rest of the New Testament.^[5]

Even though Jesus is the first Person to use the word “Church/church” in the New Testament, His statements in Matthew 16 and 18 are not new. When He says εκκλησια, He is drawing upon an idea with a lot of precedent in the Old Testament word קהל. Folks will usually start with the Greek word εκκλησια, read its definition in a lexicon (it literally means “called-out ones”), and sadly build a theology that minimizes or eliminates the vital importance of the Gathering. No! Εκκλησια, the Greek word used in the New Testament for the idea called “Church,” is built upon קהל, the Hebrew word used in the Old Testament for “assembly,” or “gathering.” The Lord of the Church didn’t innovate the idea that day in “the district of Caesarea Philippi” almost 2,000 years ago. He was laying claim to His authority over a reality that had been happening since the days of the founding of the old covenant through Moses at Mount Sinai after the Exodus! This is why Stephen, with the last words he is allowed to say on this earth, has no problem dropping the εκκλησια word (the one used for “Church/church” in the rest of the N.T.) to describe the old covenant group that has Moses as its leader: “This Moses…is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren.’  This is the one who was in the congregation [here it is: εκκλησια] in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you” (Acts 7:35-38).

Jesus isn’t creating in Matthew 16 and 18. He’s claiming something that’s already there is His to rule, and it’s His to define.

None of this is new teaching at all. My point is not to share new information that no one’s shared before. The reason for this post is to get us away from that lexicon theology that looks up εκκλησια, sees its basic definition as “called-out ones,” and builds a theology (‘cause we all have theology, my friends, even if you don’t like it!) that says, “‘church’ means ‘called-out ones,’ so I don’t have to attend the get-togethers of the ‘institutional’ church to be a part of the true church.”

Εκκλησια is not a key to missions-at-the-expense-of-gathering, but is built upon קהל, a previously-existing idea that means “gathering.”

The Church gathers. It’s what it means to be the Church. You gather. Yes, we go. Yes, we are missional everywhere we are. But most foundationally we gather as Christ-confessing people in identifiable local bodies to teach each other to obey Christ’s commandments (and there’s a lot to that). The Church gathers, and always has.

Let’s look at a few uses of the verb קהל in the Law of Moses:

·         “…Moses assembled [קהל] all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, ‘These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do…’” (Exodus 35:1).

·         “…the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘…assemble [קהל] all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting.’ So Moses did just as the Lord commanded him. When the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting, Moses said to the congregation, ‘this is the thing which the Lord has commanded to do.’” (Leviticus 8:1-3).

·         “So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, and they assembled [קהל] all the congregation together on the first of the second month. Then they registered by ancestry in their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai” (Numbers 1:17-19).

·         “Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble [קהל] the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children’” (Deuteronomy 4:10).

·         “Assemble [קהל] the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 31:12,13).

Did you hear the “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” part of the Jesus’ “Great Commission” to His disciples (Matthew 28:20) in those passages? Oh, beloved, this is what it means to “be the Church”! We gather. We hear and learn together, and hold each other accountable in doing this, and we go out to live what we have heard. The going out and obeying is not “being the Church,” but the assembly to hear what to obey is “being the Church”! This is a theology built not on a lexicon definition, but the whole Bible!

Gather. It’s what the Church does.

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[1] “Institution” is the new bad word to describe organized, structured gatherings of the local Church. The descriptor doesn’t bother me. The Church was instituted by Jesus, and is therefore “a thing instituted,” what would be called an “institution.” One of the things He did when He instituted it by His apostles was give it organizational structure (including leadership and membership), limitations, rules/commandments, and purposes/commission. Fits the “institution” definition to me. Negative labels are tools of people with agendas. What’s the agenda here, I wonder?

[2] In fact, other than Numbers, Esther contains the highest number of uses of the verb קהל, “gather.” See 8:11; 9:2,15,16,18.

[3] Takamitsu Muraoka (Baker Academic, 1998).

[4] I say “definite membership,” because when Jesus says, “tell it to the church,” it doesn’t seem likely He has the global phenomenon in mind. Whoever this local, definite group is, it has regulatory authority over individual members’ access to participating in the assembly. Matthew 16 does not describe an amorphous, universal church idea (but doesn’t contradict it, either).

[5] Most of the New Testament addresses the local congregation, or assembly. Their truths can be universally applied, but the books of the N.T. are written to specific local congregations, and are meant to be applied by all other specific local congregations. Statements about the “universal church” are present in the N.T., but are definitely in the minority.

Rejoicing in Citizens of a Different City

“I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord. All the good things I have come from You.’ As for those in the land who belong to You, they are the great ones in whom is all my joy. Those who have traded for another god bring many troubles on themselves” (Psalm 16:2-4a, New Life Version).

My youngest daughter has discovered the joy of reading in the last year, and, much to her parents’ joy, seems to enjoy only reading her Bible. She has a little notebook in which she copies passages of Scripture. A few weeks ago she brought me her copy of Psalm 16. That night she read it in family devotion before bedtime. It was the same day as the second debate among those seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for the 2016 presidential race.

Read the excerpt from Psalm 16 again. I didn’t watch the debate. Surveying the reactions and commentaries of fellow believers on social media was far more informative to me – not necessarily concerning the candidates, but the worldview and political theory my fellow believers were proclaiming (whether they intended to or not). A question which first occurred to me four years ago came to mind again, especially in the context of the Psalm of that day: If a candidate thinks most like us in the areas of economy, foreign policy, social issues, and governmental theory, but not in Christology, and we still support that candidate, what does that say about the priority of Christ in our thinking (not to mention our lives)?

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1,2, New American Standard).

“But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:20-24).

We are not supposed to think like non-believers, even if the non-believers are in our political party and/or share certain political ideals. I have seen many Christians get heavily involved in politics with a good desire to bring a godly influence into that realm, only to be more influenced by the ideals of that domain than they are the Scripture and true Christian doctrine (especially when they spend far more hours in the week dedicated to politics rather than sitting under biblical teaching or studying the Word with others). It would seem that the Old Testament adage is true: holiness is not contagious, but uncleanness certainly is (Haggai 2:11-13).

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ Says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1). Does this have application for believers and civil politics?

I freely grant that the New Testament doesn’t explicitly address how believers are to operate in a democratic Republic. However, I would suggest that there are a lot of questions rooted in systematic theology that believers need to have answered from the Scripture before they either operate in the realm of politics or speak their political opinions in public. For just one example: How do you understand the Bible’s doctrine of sin in unbelievers? How is this sin to be dealt with? What is the remedy for it? Can we be united politically to someone who doesn’t believe in the need for divine forgiveness of sin, or someone who bows down before graven images, or someone who seeks a relationship with God through any mediator but the “one mediator...between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5)? Answers to these questions should and will radically (from the root, that is) determine your political language and decision-making. There are many other questions that come to mind, but ultimately they all come back to a trinitarian view of God (and, by extension, a biblical Christology) and how our commitment to that God should determine our politics and political alliances. Can support of a non-Christian candidate logically reconcile with your understanding of Christian theology and biblical doctrine? Believers should be “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42), for the Spirit works through these. When we do not do this, I am not the least surprised that Christianity becomes more political (in a worldly sense) than biblical.

Further, I worry about our seeking common ground based on the “Judeo-Christian God” or “Judeo-Christian morality.”

I know there is not a “Judeo-Christian God,” for “who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:22,23). From a biblical standpoint, there is only the Christian God. The claims of Christ and the teachings concerning Him in the Bible cannot legitimately be separated from a conception of God and still be Christian or biblical. Anything else is “antichrist.” If there is not a “Judeo-Christian God,” then it follows that there is no true “Judeo-Christian morality” or ethic. Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all morality and ethics are seen through what He has accomplished and what He demands (Matthew 28:20). Can a Christian really separate morality and ethics from the claims of Jesus Christ in Bible to be bound with those who reject Jesus Christ and all the words of His apostles (the New Testament – and the Old Testament, since we must read the O.T. through the N.T., 2 Corinthians 3:14-16)?

I fear we want “a king...like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5) more than we want a leader passionate for and wholly submitted to “the King of the nations” (Jeremiah 10:7). During the 2012 election season, I saw many Christians throw their support behind a non-Christian (Mormons are not Christian because they do not confess the Christ as the Church has historically and biblically confessed Him for two millennia). Can we fellowship in our politics without fellowshipping in our worship? Can a Christian really separate devotion to Christ from the arena of politics so neatly?

Return to the Bible and its Christ. Build a solid foundation of biblical Christian theology and ethics, and from there evaluate the candidates. Build no bridges with those who take the name of Christ upon themselves in vanity, but cling to the Christ with all you are and in all you do. If he or she does not confess the Christ of the Bible, then I cannot cast my vote in that direction. Preach the biblical Christ and His Gospel to yourself and others every day. Sit with other believers under biblical teaching as often as possible (especially with others not as on-fire for politics and current events as you are – you need that balance). And think, think for the glory of God in Christ, my beloved. Think clearly and biblically on these things.

“I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord. All the good things I have come from You.’ As for those in the land who belong to You, they are the great ones in whom is all my joy. Those who have traded for another god bring many troubles on themselves” (Psalm 16:2-4a, New Life Version).

May our joy be like that of the Psalmist, found in others in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. All others are objects of evangelism and prayer - not hope, joy, or even political support.

Push for the summit in the Mount Taylor 50K (2014).
Scripture tells believers to be ever-climbing to heaven
in this life in all we do (Philippians 3:13-31; Colossians 3:1-4;
Hebrews 11:13-16).

The Third "Must" of Biblical Interpretation

I've just finished re-reading the seventh section of Louis Berkhof's Principles of Biblical Interpretation on "Theological Interpretation." I can't recommend these 33 pages enough. Much of what is taught here I've had to struggle toward slowly on my own - it would've been great if someone would've drilled these ideas into my head in seminary or elsewhere.

The first two requirements of biblical interpretation are historical and grammatical, but the third "must" of theological interpretation is consistently ignored or unhelpfully assumed (and therefore hidden from scrutiny). Berkhof, though, asserts that purposefully and openly pursuing theological interpretation is to "refuse to place [the Bible] on a level with other books," since the Bible is an organic whole, has a Divine Author, and is intrinsically theological.

While I don't agree 100% with Berkhof's conclusions on when prophetic language is literal or figurative (I think he fails to adequately address Hebrew parallelism of thought - sometimes parallelism is the tool that shows something to be a figure rather than an explicit statement introducing a figure), almost all of the rest of this material is well-organized, adequately defended, abundantly illustrated from Scripture, and is irreplaceable in its value for the student of biblical interpretation.

If I had to strip my library down to what I could fit in a backpack, this book would make the cut (and not just because it's small!).

Sensational Misnomerism

“The Pope of Rome cannot in any sense be head of the Church, but he is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, who exalts himself in the church against Christ and all that is called God, who the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of His coming” (1689 Baptist Confession, 26.4).

I am a Reformed Baptist, and the 1689 Baptist Confession is my confession of faith. I cannot abide by this one statement, but not for the reasons you think.

Antichrist is not to be confused with the Beast of Revelation. “Antichrist” is not mentioned in the Revelation at all, and the biblical attributes of both are not similar.

I think what you mean when you call the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church “antichrist” is actually “Babylon the whore.” I don’t make this connection – I believe Revelation’s whore to be A.D. 1^st century Jerusalem up to the point of its destruction: “...the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified [this can only be said about one "great city," and it's not Rome]...the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath...the waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is the great city...woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come...then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer’” (Revelation 11:8; 16:19; 17:15-18; 18:10,21).

Antichrist is a heretical doctrine found in the A.D. 1^st century, arising within the church and then leaving it. It is a lie about the nature of Christ (seemingly denying His humanity). READ 1 John 2:18-23; 4:1-6; 2 John 7-11.

I am continually baffled and saddened by the use of the term “antichrist” in any discussion of "contemporary eschatology" (consider what the Apostle said almost 2,000 years ago in 1 John 2:18!!). I don’t understand confusing “antichrist” with Revelation’s “beast,” since the term “antichrist” does not occur in Revelation and does not refer to a civil governmental individual, but a heretical doctrine inside the church.

So much muddiness!

I am disappointed with all the Protestants who are happily making much of the election of this new Pope and getting worked up by the few Reformed brethren who are yelling “antichrist.” The Reformed are reminding us that we are Protestant because we don’t believe the Roman Catholic Church to be the true (much less “universal,” the meaning of “Catholic”) church. If your sense of denominationalism or theology has degenerated to the point that you can’t tell or articulate the difference between Protestants and Catholics, please join the Catholic Church. You’ll be far less of an embarrassment to the rest of us and won’t dishonor the memory of those who died to make it possible for you to not be Roman Catholic. Honestly confused over the issue? Give something like R.C. Sproul’s “Are We Together?” a read.

I am disappointed with my fellow Reformed brethren as Francis I begins his...reign (?). My brothers who today are yelling “antichrist” were actively campaigning for Romney the Mormon last year. This inconsistency is disappointing. Who the Pope is has far less impact or importance to us as Protestants than who sits in the White House. Fail, my dear brothers. Even apart from the biblical malpractice concerning "antichrist," fail.

So as not to end this post on this grievous note (having offended RCC friends, fellow Protestants, my Reformed brothers and sisters, and even Republican Christians), let me say this: the election of Francis I and all the reactions to it has been a sobering and always needful reminder that the work of studying, teaching, and preaching the Word of God is never done and will never become superfluous in the life of the Church.

Further up and further in. READ Ephesians 4:1-16; 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

God on Trial

It’s interesting that our society only invokes God to bring Him to trial following a tragedy.

Consider these three witnesses from the oldest book in the Bible:

• “Then Job answered...‘He bruises me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause...is it right for You indeed to oppress, to reject the labor of Your hands, and to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked...God has wronged me and has closed His net around me...as God lives, Who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, Who has embittered my soul’” (Job 9:1,17; 10:3; 19:6; 27:2, NASB unless otherwise noted).
• “Then Elihu continued and said, ‘Do you think this is according to justice? Do you say, “My righteousness is more than God’s”?’” (Job 35:1,2).
• “Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said, ‘Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me. Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?’” (Job 40:6-8).

There is nothing new under the sun. God will not be brought to judgment in your tribunal of public discourse and vain opinion (especially when the result is a golden calf named “god” who is not god enough to stop the tragedy but is god enough to be judged culpable by you). The time to suddenly theologize is not in the aftermath of the nightmare; that is the time when we stand on the solid rock of our consistent confession and theology. The ones to consult to build this theology that will sustain us when our worlds are ripped to shreds are not those who disregard the Word He has given us for the full revelation of Himself; the place where true confession and theology is found is where His Word is lifted up, meditated upon, prayed, sung, taught, and lived together in the covenant community of faith in Jesus Christ, His Church (this is why the early Church had a regular diet of the Psalms [1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 5:19], where we learn to grieve and cry out to God from God the Holy Spirit Himself). The true Church alone is “the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), not the soapbox of human opinion and confused consensus.

Hear the message of every horrifying tragedy: repent, for a day is coming for every one of us. “Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish’” (Luke 13:1-5).

He will not be judged by us. We will be judged by Him in perfect righteousness through His Son Jesus Christ, Who is also the only Way to salvation from that judgment:

• “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them...‘the Father...has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life’” (John 5:19,22-24).
• “Opening his mouth, Peter said: ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him...you know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One Who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins’” (Acts 10:34,35,38-43).
• “So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens...the God Who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us...we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man...having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man Whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead’” (Acts 17:22,24-27,29-31).

I grieve with you, but am not surprised. I believe the Bible’s testimony about the wickedness in the human heart. I also believe in the only solution to this reality: “...this whole world lieth in wickedness. But we know that that Son of God is come, and hath given us a mind to know Him which is true, and we are in Him that is true, that is, in that His Son Jesus Christ, the same is that very God, and that eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:19b-21, Geneva Bible).

Let us learn the lesson with Job and share his final confession, the one that does not try to bring God before the court of human “fairness,” but recognizes Him as sole and only Sovereign in all things, not just in the aftermath of the unthinkable manifestation of the always-present human evil, but every day of our lives to His glory: “Then Job answered the LORD and said, ‘I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. “Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. “Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.” I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes’” (Job 42:1-6). Here, where we cease to claim before Him that we deserve better (this is a truly spiritual place, the last place we will go in our natural selves), is where we will find a lasting peace in the comfort given in Christ alone. "...the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:26,27). This is true life in His Church, where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, blessed Trinity, speaks His Word of supernatural and eternal peace to His people in the midst of a world where wickedness will not be defeated by human effort or law.

Our High Priest of Theology

I've been reading "Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way," by J.I. Packer and Gary A. Parrett (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2010). The authors suggest that our question in evangelism and discipleship these days is not "what has the God of grace revealed that his servants should learn in order to honor Him?" but "how much (that is, how little!) do I need to know in order to be saved and live for God?" (pgs. 68-69). We have Vacation Bible School coming up in a few weeks. Our denomination's material has - for over a decade - used the acronym A.B.C. in presenting the Gospel to children. Based on Romans 10:17, "Admit you're a sinner," "Believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins," and "Confess Jesus as Lord" is a good start, but it's not the end of knowledge of God. Sadly, by the way we hear theology bad-mouthed these days, it would seem that "A.B.C." is not just the starting point, but the only point. "Just love Jesus - theology's just divisive trouble that gets in the way of that." This seems to overlook the risen Lord's final command to His disciples in Matthew's Gospel: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (28:18-20).

"A.B.C." or "just love Jesus" may be a good start (though "just loving Jesus" omits our sin and the Gospel's command to "repent"), but we are not obeying the Great Commission with these things alone. There is a "teaching" that is involved that never ends. This "teaching" does not start with our "felt needs" or "life situation" or us at all, but with the One Who "has been given...all authority...in heaven and on earth." He is Commander, there are commands, and we are to be the commanded. This is the fullness of obedience to the Great Commission. It starts with knowledge of God and His will for His servants.

Despise not theology, beloved. Jesus Himself, in His "high priestly prayer" in John 17, identifies theology as the key to eternal life: "This is eternal life, that they may know You [theology], the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent" (17:3). The fullness of evangelism and obedience to the Great Commission goes far beyond a bare and basic confession. It continues to be taught and grows in knowledge of the Father and Son through the instruction of the Holy Spirit, Who teaches in and through His Church.

Jesus, as He prays for the apostles and "those also who believe in [Jesus] through their Word" ("the entire number of the elect, all those who have been, who are, or who shall be gathered into one under Christ," 17:20). This prayer is not just for a bare confession, but for knowledge of God - theology:

• "...they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You have Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me" (17:7,8). Jesus' giving of the Father's words to the disciples was considerably more than a presentation of "A.B.C." For Jesus, the foundation was to be built upon over an extended period of time - our whole lives from regeneration to the first death. Otherwise, why would the "Spirit of truth" (not the "Spirit of pragmatism") be promised to the Church?
• "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth" (17:17). This is a prayer request for the Father - through the "Spirit of truth" by His Word, see 1 John 5:6 - to take the disciples beyond the initial bare confession of faith.
• "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me" (17:22,23). "Knowledge" is key to evangelism. What knowledge? The fullness of knowledge that the Father gave the Son and the Son taught to the disciples.
• "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known; so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (17:25,26). There's a lot of "knowing" going on here for us to just dismiss theology (the science of knowing God).

Packer and Parrett, in analyzing the waning of the Anglican Church around 1600, give two reasons: "...the poor spiritual quality of many clergy plus the obstinate certainty of many parents that learning the Faith with precision was really needless..." (pg. 65). May we avoid both of these weaknesses as the Church, "the pillar of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Let's "A.B.C." our children (and the adults, as well) all day long, but also teach them theology (which assumes we're growing theologians in Spirit and truth ourselves) continuously. Parents, demand spiritual richness from the leaders of the Church and become growing teachers of theology to your children through catechesis.

This is what Jesus, "the High Priest of our Confession" (Hebrews 3:1), prayed and continues to pray before the Father.