Oaken Shield (Strong Faith)

Bible Emphasis

2011-03-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

That we, sinners, are unworthy of the least of God's favor is indisputable. The question is: Is that the emphasis of the Bible? We are "damaged product." The first thing we need to know is how great God is. We need to know that the love of God was made known to us because we were sinners (Romans 5:8).

Certainly God loved His creation-all of it. But did God evidence love for Adam more before he fell into sin or after falling into sin? I say after Adam fell into sin. There was no obligation on God's part to love a fallen creature if it was the former. The love of God made His action toward fallen mandind all the greater. God of His free grace forgave Adam and Eve thereby displaying to all (angels and men yet to be born) that God is merciful, compassionate, longsuffering, and kind. And because He is a forgiving God, He is to be feared (Psalm 130:4).

Inconsistent Covenantal or Reformed Baptist, Part 3

2011-02-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

I beg of you to rethink our de facto Reformed Baptist practice of requiring baptized children to make profession of faith. Think of all the times that God promised something good or bad to the people of God and did not exclude children but included them on purpose (Gen. 13, 15, 17; Ex. 22:24; Num. 14:33; Dt. 1:39, 30:2; Josh. 14:9; 2 Chr. 21:14, 30:9; Ps. 115:14; Lk. 19:44 et. al.).

Consider that possibly our children do not become the children of God by believing in Jesus. Rather, God says, “They are My children. Believe it. It is because they are in Christ Jesus and heirs of adoption, in virtue of the promise to Abraham (Gen. 17:7).” Flinn goes on to say, “Natural birth never gave one the automatic right to be part of the people of God, just as it did not give a right to circumcision. The command of God established the right to circumcision.” If Christian baptism is of God, then why don’t we believe Him? One proponent of "faith alone" has said, "…He (God) will give you the gift of faith. Upon believing you are once and for all justified. You are once and for all secure in Jesus forever. The justified person…cannot apostatize." This is what I would call a forceful conviction. Does a forceful conviction about something make it true? Could Joshua be strong and of a good courage simply because he conjured up a forceful conviction of the same? Did Peter jump out of the boat onto the water by suddenly developing a forceful conviction that he could walk on the water? If a person has a forceful conviction that his sins are forgiven, are they in fact forgiven? Of course not. A forceful conviction is warranted because it is true! God explained to Joshua that he could have strength and courage because the God of all the earth had commanded him to have it (Josh. 1:9). Peter had a word from Jesus to come to Him (Mat. 14:29). Jesus mercifully forgives our sins covenantally. Baptism gives us warrant to believe that we have obtained God’s mercy. It is not, I say, because we finally feel a forceful conviction that we are elect and indeed are His children.

The best thing that can result from our continued barring of little children from communion with the rest of their family at the Lord’s Table is that our families will suffer from crises of spiritual identity or stunted growth. We are not uniting and spiritually nourishing all of God’s children to the maximum. We are not properly discerning the body of the Lord.

The most likely result of continued denial of little children from the Lord’s Table is that they will abandon our church when grown. They will move into a church where doctrine and practice more nearly align or will drift away entirely from a lack of spiritual nourishment as they were growing.

On a related subject but even larger in scope Robert S. Rayburn concluded his treatise The Presbyterian Doctrines of Covenant Children, Covenant Nurture, and Covenant Succession thus,

Further, the appropriation by faith of this divine promise and summons is the means appointed to furnish the church with generation after generation of great multitudes of Christian servants and soldiers who reach manhood and womanhood well taught, sturdy in faith, animated by love for God and man, sophisticated in the ways of the world and the Devil, polished in the manners of genuine Christian brotherhood, overshadowed by the specter of the Last Day, nerved to deny themselves and take up their cross so as to be counted worthy of greater exploits for Christ and Kingdom. Presently the church not only suffers a terrible shortage of such otherworldly and resolute Christians, superbly prepared for spiritual warfare, but, in fact, is hemorrhaging its children into the world. Christian evangelism will never make a decisive difference in our culture when it amounts merely to an effort to replace losses due to widespread desertion from our own camp. The gospel will always fail to command attention and carry conviction when large numbers of those who grow up under its influence are observed abandoning it for the world. Recovering our Presbyterian inheritance and inscribing the doctrine of covenant succession upon the heart of family and church must have a wonderfully solemnizing and galvanizing effect. It will set Christian parents seriously to work on the spiritual nurture of their children, equipping them and requiring them to live the life of covenant faith and duty to which their God and Savior called them at the headwaters of life. And, ever conscious of the greater effect of parental example, they will forsake the easy way, shamelessly and joyfully to live a life of devotion and obedience which adorns and ennobles the faith in the eyes of their children. This they will do, who embrace the Bible's doctrine, lest the Lord on the Great Day should say to them: 'You took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them to idols.'

Inconsistent Covenantal or Reformed Baptist, Part 2

2011-02-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

When someone who was baptized "falls away," doesn’t repent, and dies in his sins; Baptists say that his baptism was of no value to him - that it was a false baptism. We, the Reformed, say that his baptism will speak against him on the last day. Why then do we impose the ordeal of making profession of faith on our children? It is an ordeal because as one well known Christian writer has said, "…(I)n the name of high conversion standards, we teach them to doubt. Then, when they grow up and mature in the doubting that we have taught them, we point to that doubt as clear evidence that we did the right thing in keeping them away in the first place (emphasis his)." Why don’t we take our baptismal form seriously when it says that Christ incorporates us into the fellowship of His death and resurrection? More critically, why don’t we believe the Bible when it says that those who have been baptized into Christ "are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus;" "have put on Christ" (that is, belong to Christ); and are "Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise?" This is from Galatians! The inspired writing makes no qualification regarding the subjects of baptism. The text does not say, "...those who have made profession of faith in Christ Jesus..." nor does it say, "...those who have had a special revelation from God...." We are talking about union with Christ. Jesus declares clearly that there are two kinds of branches that are united to Him--fruitful and unfruitful. The unfruitful is no less united to Christ than the fruitful. The Husbandman knows what to do with unfruitful branches.

Part of the problem is that we have no practical sense of the “oath” of the covenant. According to P. Richard Flinn who wrote an essay entitled Baptism, Redemptive History, and Eschatology: “Baptism is a solemn religious oath and is of deep significance and eternal power.” It is “objective in the sense of having meaning and significance apart from the response and heart condition of the recipient. It is deeply meaningful to the church and to the King of the Church, and it is inevitably of eternal significance to the one who receives the sign.” Therefore, baptism is not always and only positive in the sense that good always proceeds from it or is necessarily associated with it. “…(B)aptism is both efficacious and powerful even apart from the faith of the recipient. But, we hasten to add, baptism is efficacious for salvation only through faith in the promises proclaimed in baptism." Unbelief in given promises constitutes the unpardonable sin.

Is our practice of requiring little children to reach a relatively high level of intellectual comprehension what Paul had in mind when he wrote, But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup (1 Cor. 11:28)? Could Jesus be as displeased with our church as he was with the disciples in Mark 10:14-15? (But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.)

Inconsistent Covenantal or Reformed Baptist? Part 1

2011-01-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

This is the first of three parts excerpted and adapted from a letter to my elders.

I submit to you, fellow Reformed brethren, that our doctrine is covenantal. Our practice, however, is baptistic. In our Form for the Administration of Baptism we affirm that "…when we are baptized in the name of the Father, God the Father witnesseth and sealeth unto us that He doth make an eternal covenant of grace with us, and adopts us for His children and heirs…." Furthermore, in the "Exhortation to the Parents" the parents are asked to acknowledge that their children "are sanctified in Christ, and therefore, as members of His Church ought to be baptized."

Likewise, in the Form for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper we are instructed in the manner of remembering our Lord. "Secondly. And that we might firmly believe that we belong to this covenant of grace" (emphasis mine)…we all eat a meal together – a unifying action which recalls the physical, tangible, historical reality of what we accept by faith.

The (in)consistency of our doctrine and practice was brought to the fore when the bread was being passed and my son reached to take a piece. I forcefully whispered, "Son!" He immediately knew what I meant and it cut him to the heart. The joy of my own participation this time was tempered because my son knew that the blood of Jesus had covered his sins, though he was not allowed to celebrate that fact.

Do we really think that by withholding this faith-strengthening food we can raise stronger children? Is it too much of a stretch to say that in baptism (a legal pronouncement) God is bestowing unmerited favor upon (and thereby justifying) the one baptized? This is after all the perspective of our Form for the Administration of Baptism. “And when we are baptized in the name of the Son, the Son sealeth unto us that He doth wash us in His blood from all our sins, incorporating us into the fellowship of His death and resurrection, so that we are freed from all our sins and accounted righteous before God.”

Starting at the Right Place

2011-01-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

It usually occurs to me every time I talk to someone about theological matters that I operate under a different set of presuppositions than are the modern day Reformed understanding. Even Federal Vision proponents (FV) fall victim to trying to explain their position in terms that presuppose what their opposition grants. They have to re explain terms that are common to the views of all thereby muddying the waters with terms that are not pure. The result is that FV think one thing but communicate something altogether different. The operative presupposition for everyone that I have come across is that the Covenant of Works is valid. Adam had to obey God perfectly and perpetually in order to enjoy eschatological life. As such the understanding of the “curse of the Law” is that no one can obey God sinlessly. Or in the words of the catechism, “Can you keep (the law of God) perfectly?” (Q/A 5 of the Heidelberg Catechism). The answer is no. Under this premise we need a substitute who can and will obey God sinlessly in order to experience eschatological life with God. This substitute, then, imputes His righteousness to His faithful believers. These hear the message that God has redeemed a people for Himself by sending His Son to die on the cross for them. He rises from the dead thus guaranteeing the forgiveness of their sins. They believe God’s good news and as many as are ordained to life eternal are saved.

The Heidelberg Catechism starts off beautifully with all the affirmations of truth in the answer to the first question. But the answer to the second question grossly devalues the previous affirmations by taking attention off of the grace and mercy of God and narcissistically placing the attention on “my sins and misery”. The other two things necessary to know in order to live and die happily are fine. The first thing to know in order to live and die happily is that God is a great God and is my God. I am not the one on center stage. Modern Wittenberg Castle Posting number 27 states that atoning substitution on our behalf is front and center. I do not talk all the time about my sins and misery and how unworthy I am because I do not merit any of God’s good will toward me. This ignores the reason that God saved me. Ephesians 2:7 says, “That in the ages to come he (that is Jesus) might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Our sinfulness is a given. This is an acknowledged fact to the “seed of the woman”. The Bible does not use the language of imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us. The obedience that Christ rendered was to the will of the Father to die for the sin of the world. What could we expect the Son of God to do but live a sinless life? This in no way depreciates Christ being able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Try to imagine being God and willingly laying aside your divine prerogatives. The Bible does speak of our faith in God as being imputed to us as righteousness (see Romans 4:21-24 and James 2:23, see also Psalm 106: 30, 31). The way that Christ’s righteousness is connected with us is that we are united to Him in baptism. We cannot speak of anything as being imputed to us unless it belongs to us separately. In baptism we receive exceeding great and precious promises whereby the addition to our faith of virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love enables us to make our calling and election sure. Perseverance in time and history is of great importance. We can say positively that we know who has received the promise of God but we cannot say who will persevere in that promise. Hence throughout the Bible, you see exhortations to obedience or to behave in a certain way. It is not that by doing so you merit anything. No, you heed exhortation or obey because the promise is yours.

The “curse of the law” as understood by Moses, Nehemiah, Daniel, and virtually every prophet was that “If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations” (see Deut. 29:27-28, 2Kings 17:22-23, Neh. 1:7-9, Jer. 16:12-13, Dan. 9:9-13, Zech. 7:12-14).

Modern Wittenberg Castle Postings

2010-10-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

1. The Living God exists of Himself.
2. God has revealed Himself to us in the Bible.
3. The Bible is the story of the Sovereign Lord making known to mankind that which was previously unknown of the knowledge of His name, power, and glory.
4. God’s Name, The LORD or Jehovah, reveals His mercy, grace, longsuffering, and bountiful goodness and truth to the objects of His love. He reveals His justice to the objects of His wrath.
5. God’s modus operandi to reveal His power is to employ weakness, foolishness, suffering, and even death itself—yet triumphing in resurrection.
6. God’s glory was revealed when His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, was His weakest—dead.
7. The story of God’s revelation is progressive (is alive and growing) from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22.
8. God says what He means, means what He says, and keeps His promises.
9. The revealed Word of God alone may bind the conscience.
10. God making choices throughout history to bring about His purposes is the essence of election.
11. Bible language as we receive it in the Scriptures takes precedence over slogans.
12. The Bible interprets itself and all secondary standards.
13. Secondary standards must not undermine Bible truth if they are to have any true authority. E.g. the Trinity, the divinity and humanity of Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit, etc.
14. We summarily know God’s view of the “Covenant of Grace” as the “Five Points of Calvinism”.
15. Veering from the exact text of Scripture is potentially dangerous.
16. Definitions must be kept pure (free of baggage and overuse) in order to be useful. E.g. “Christian”, “saved”, “conversion”,etc.
17. The definition of anything in the Bible needs to be as comprehensive as its use in the Bible.
18. The Old Testament and the New Testament speak with one voice. The difference is the clarity.
19. The Old and New Testaments are essentially united with respect to salvation and sanctification.
20. Any truth that relies primarily on the New Testament must be able to be established at least in “seed form” in the Old Testament if it is to have abiding authority.
21. There is neither discontinuity nor incongruence between God’s pronouncement of a very good creation and the fall of man into sin.
22. God did not create man because He was lonely.
23. God did not lack anything that man could have supplied.
24. God does not need our worship.
25. The creation of man was a means to an end; it was not an end in itself.
26. That Adam had to perfectly obey and to perpetually obey God to “earn” everlasting life (the Covenant of Works) is an assumption brought to the realm of Bible interpretation.
27. In the Bible not Christ’s righteousness but our faith in God’s pronouncement towards us is credited (imputed) to us as righteousness. Atoning substitution on our behalf is at front and center.
28. Being a sinner is not a prerequisite to sinning.
29. God put “enmity” between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, not between Himself and the seed of the woman.
30. This “enmity” is also referred to as a “wall of separation” between the children of God and the children of the devil or as the “antithesis”.
31. God immediately remedied Adam and Eve’s dilemma by unilaterally reconciling them to Himself rather than alienating them from Him. This is grace.
32. The life of a disciple of Christ (seed of the woman) is a life of faith.
33. The Bible speaks of this antithesis in terms of “the righteous” and “the wicked.”
34. The irony of the antithesis is that the serpent acquires his seed from the seed of the woman. Cain, the first “seed of the woman”, received the curse of God. The sons of Eli, priests of God, were sons of beliel. Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve imbued with power by Jesus to heal and cast out demons, was the “son of perdition”. The Jews of Jesus day claimed to be the children of Abraham yet were of their father the devil. Notice also the parable of the wheat and the tares.
35. The Messianic community is composed of both the righteous and the wicked. This is the origin of “Not all Israel is Israel.”
36. Sanctification (setting apart) of God’s people is the essence of the antithesis or maintaining enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
37. The (hi-jacked) seed of the woman (e.g. Cain) is treated ontologically and legally as such even by God until at some point in time and history its predestined identity is revealed.
38. The issuing of authoritative commands is not the only way God has of revealing His mind and will; nor, is it even the first and most natural way of doing so. E.g. Sabbath, marriage, sacrificial worship (Patrick Fairbairn)
39. Any statement of the Bible as truth is to be received by us by faith as truth.
40. Faith considered abstractly (in theory) or concretely (in action) is the gift of God.
41. Faith is a trust response to what God has said or done. It is dynamic—living, moving, active.
42. The Bible knows nothing of static (dead, lifeless) faith of which God approves.
43. God’s word of command imparts the power and responsibility to obey.
44. God’s commands can be obeyed and He is pleased with His people’s obedience.
45. The law is the “owner’s manual” of everlasting life. Everlasting life is the gracious possession; Obedience to God “maintains” it. Both are gifts of God.
46. Obedience to a law has never been the criteria for justification or everlasting life. God's calling and election in Christ establish that criteria.
47. The seed of the woman (we who are in Christ) are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ.
48. Union with Jesus Christ is everything with regard to spiritual blessing.
49. Hypothetical union with Christ is ludicrous. Either baptism into Christ unites or it doesn’t.
50. Obedience is faith expressed in time and history.
51. Obedience is "incarnational" faith.
52. The intended response to grace received is thankful obedience.
53. One possible response to grace received is to turn away and to be worse than not having received grace.
54. The covenant is the ground upon which the Church stands or falls.
55. Heaven is populated with many people whom (before they died) never believed in justification by faith or in anything else for that matter (Hint: elect infants).
56. The “curse of the law” is not an inability to keep the law sinlessly.
57. The “curse of the law” or the covenantal curse is captivity to a foreign power.
58. The Covenant is a relationship between God and the seed of the woman with terms (conditions). (Steve Schlissel)
59. Conditions are only a threat to those who want to violate them. (Steve Schlissel)
60. God’s law is to be loved not endured.
61. God’s law need not be kept sinlessly in order for one to be said to have kept the law.
62. Lack of sinless perfection is no obstacle in pleasing God or doing His will.
63. Promises given by God to anyone are real and are to be believed. Persistent unbelief (disobedience) renders promises null and void.
64. Not to believe the promises constitutes unbelief.
65. Doubting God’s promises is the spirit of apostasy.
66. God did not appoint the seed of the woman to suffer wrath. This is a sure promise—believe it (see # 89).
67. God does not lie nor change His mind. Meaning that if you stay in the course God marks out for you, then He delivers on the promise He makes to you. (Steve Schlissel)
68. Presumption has to do with believing not enough (the curses are real)…or too much of what God says (adding to God’s words –making Him say something that He doesn’t).
69. The essence of the unpardonable sin is unbelief—failure to believe God.
70. What man himself does in time and in history is of eternal consequence for good or bad.
71. Our Heavenly Father will not forgive us if we do not forgive others.
72. As often as a person seeks forgiveness (or is repentant) he is to be forgiven. When he quits repenting, he quits being forgiven.
73. At Mt. Sinai God entered into a marriage contract/covenant with Israel. This was a gracious act on God’s part.
74. The commissioned apostolic gospel message consists of the following:
 Jesus Christ, an historical person, is Lord over heaven and earth, Jew and Gentile.
 God raised Jesus from the dead.
 God commands everyone to repent of his sins.
 Jesus is the judge of the quick (living) and the dead.
 The forgiveness of sins is proclaimed only through the name of Jesus.
75. Baptism pictures the gospel.
76. Baptism is a solemn religious oath and has meaning and significance apart from the response and heart condition of the recipient. (P. Richard Flinn)
77. God establishes a personal relationship with everyone who is baptized.
78. Baptism means the same to adult and infant alike.
79. The Spirit of Jesus Christ assures us that when we are baptized we are spiritually cleansed from our sins now as really as we are externally washed with water now.
80. Baptizing and teaching a convert makes a disciple.
81. That baptism is an oath and induction into the Christian religion are necessary elements in receiving the gospel message.
82. A convert is not regenerated until he is baptized in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
83. Baptism is the official beginning (the wedding) of Christian discipleship.
84. Trinitarian baptism is of God—not of man.
85. By faith the covenant sign of baptism gives warrant for the one baptized (and all under him) to claim God to be his God.
86. The Lord’s Supper is the union and communion (consummation) between Christ and His bride.
87. Adults need to be converted and be like children—not the other way around.
88. Salvation has three aspects: Definitive, Progressive, and Ultimate. Any one of these is referred to as salvation.
89. Salvation for the seed of the woman is largely a non-issue because God has particularized it in history. I.e. in circumcision and baptism.
90. Covenantal worship involves no ambiguities with regard to the salvation of the worshipers.
91. Baptism does not automatically save anyone finally.
92. Man does not cooperate in any way with God in his salvation.
93. God does not cooperate in any way with man to save him.
94. Salvation is a double 100%: 1) all of God—the blueprint (the end), “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” 2) all of man—the building (the means), “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Christ’s incarnation, the inspiration of scripture, and God’s sovereignty/ man’s responsibility are also examples of “double hundred percent.”
95. The context of the Bible is the covenant community of Israel/the Church. Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel not to the Gentiles. His stories took that into account. Any generalizing of Jesus’ teachings must acknowledge this fact. So that, any kind deed done to a pagan has also been done to Christ is a misapplication of Matthew 25:40. The verse qualifies the deeds done as having been done to His brethren (those who obey the will of His Father).

An open letter to my former adult Bible study leader

2010-02-19T13:58:00.000-08:00

Dear David,

You cannot be more right about our reason to “bring the gospel” but that we ourselves have been blessed recipients of the same. You ask, “What does it take to get us to go “out there” to "spread the gospel word?” I would like to suggest that there might be nothing wrong with us and that there might be something wrong with the message that we are to tell. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with the information that we have. Believing in the Lord Jesus and that God raised Him from the dead, that Jesus is the friend of sinners, and that all have sinned must be communicated. I submit to you that today the church is operating with a truncated gospel. It has been shortened, abbreviated, and generally bereft of its soul to the point that we essentially are asking (in the nicest possible way) that men just might want to rethink their lives and give Jesus a try because He has been good to us. We appeal to their well being and try to get them to see the unending terror of God’s wrath upon them if they do not believe in Jesus. You understand that this is (hopefully) a gross over simplification of the gospel presentation. But isn’t it usually that we are trying to persuade people that believing in Jesus is only in their best self interest?

You have referred to Romans 10:9, 10. This is an excellent passage to use. What does Paul mean when he says “God raised Him from the dead” but that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead? Jesus said, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Therefore go….” Jesus was ordained of God to be the judge of the living and the dead and to judge the world. God gave proof of this by raising Him from the dead. How can we talk of the Lord saving us if we neglect the fact that He is our lawgiver, our judge, our king? After all, He has been exalted to the right hand of the Father on high far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. Colossians 1:18 seems to get at the matter. “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

How can we say that we are faithful heralds of the gospel if our greatest motivation for speaking is for the well being of our hearers? We are so accustomed to thinking of the gospel in a certain way that when we read what a Bible writer says is the gospel e.g. Revelation 14:6,7; we gloss right over it because it just does not square with our conception of the gospel.

Leo and I are reading Getting the Gospel Right by Cornelis P. Venema and plan to talk about what we have found. I would welcome an opportunity to talk to you about what I have found in my studies of the Bible in general and the Gospel in particular.

SDG,

Paul Robb

Self-conscious Christianity

2010-02-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

In an age of terrorism what does self-conscious Christianity look like? Now before we get carried away with tucking a Bible under our arm and carrying it everywhere we go; do we really think that that is the right way to communicate the concept of self-conscious Christianity? Observe Muslims, our religious enemies. They know who they are and about what they are. A child born into a Muslim family is taught to obey the law of his god Allah. The highest destiny of an adherent of Islam is to die for the cause of Allah in subduing the world to Islam.
We as Christians also have a dominion mandate from our God. He is the King of kings, the Maker of heaven and earth. From the beginning of time man was meant to have dominion over the earth. It is in light of God’s authority over the whole world that we are to recognize and serve Him. Our weapons are not bomb laden vests but are the words of the eternal gospel, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Rev. 14:6). There is no question about dominion. The question is will we serve Jehovah or Allah?

First Principles

2009-05-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

A “first principle” (sometimes referred to as a bias) forms the basis of all your reasoning and is a lens through which you interpret the world. A first principle is like a map that you use to survey the landscape in order to choose the best path to your destination. The accuracy of the perspective governs the precision of the route. Differing conclusions are often reached from the same source of information when different first principles are employed. I challenge you to identify your own first principles and then evaluate them in light of the whole of Scripture. These are my first principles. Scripture references have purposely been omitted. View my complete profile and email me for Scripture proofs.

The Living God exists.
He has revealed Himself to us in the Bible.
The Bible is the story of the Sovereign Lord imparting to mankind the knowledge of His name, power, and glory. Jesus Christ is the preeminent revelation of this knowledge.
God put “enmity” between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, not between Himself and the seed of the woman. Note how God immediately remedied Adam and Eve’s dilemma by unilaterally reconciling them to Himself rather than alienating them from Him. This is grace.
Obedience to a law has never been the criteria for justification or everlasting life. God's calling and election in Christ establish that criteria.
God’s law need not be kept perfectly in order for one to be said to have kept the law.
If you want to inherit the promises, you must abide by the conditions or others will inherit the promises. The condition is faith in Jesus.
God does not lie nor change His mind. Meaning that if you stay in the course God marks out for you, then He delivers on the promise He makes to you.
Adults need to be converted and be like children—not the other way around.
(T)he issuing of authoritative commands is not the only way God has of revealing His mind and will; nor,…is it even the first and most natural way of doing so. E.g. Sabbath, marriage, sacrificial worship
The revealed Word of God alone may bind the conscience.
Bible language as we receive it in the Scriptures takes precedence over slogans.
A rigid adherence to the text (of Scripture) is the way of safety.
Whatever man can plainly learn from the revelations God gives of Himself, to be in accordance with the divine mind and will, that is of God, and it is man’s duty to believe and act accordingly.
The story of God’s revelation is progressive (is alive and growing) from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22.
The Old Testament and the New Testament speak with one voice. The difference is the clarity.
Any truth that relies primarily on the New Testament must be able to be established at least in “seed form” in the Old Testament if it is to have abiding authority.
The Bible interprets all secondary standards.
Secondary standards must not contradict Bible truth if they are to have any true authority. e.g. the Trinity, the divinity and humanity of Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit, etc.
By faith God’s word of command imparts the power and responsibility to obey.
What man himself does in time and in history is of eternal consequence for good or bad.
Our Heavenly Father will not forgive us if we do not forgive others.
The intended response to grace received is the duty to obey out of thankfulness.
One possible response to grace received is to turn away and to be worse than not having received grace.
At Mt. Sinai God entered into a marriage contract/covenant with Israel. This was a gracious act on God’s part.
The Old and New Testaments are essentially united with respect to salvation and sanctification.
The family, as biblically described, is by divine appointment the fundamental principle of organization of human life.
Presumption has to do with believing not enough (the curses are real)…or too much of what God says ( adding to God’s words –making Him say something that He doesn’t).

Gospel and Salvation

2009-05-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

When we approach the doctrine of salvation, we want to be sure that God gets all the glory, His sovereignty is maintained, that man has nothing in which to boast, and that it is thoroughly biblical. The last point is where many make a departure, however. Theological differences can have such an overarching effect that the first three goals are clouded. At the same time if we can demonstrate the former three points, the last point will fall into line.
The gospel is generally understood to be important in relation to salvation. So what is the gospel? The following quotes illustrate the gospel as presented to three types of people.

God Fearing Gentiles

Acts 10:34-43 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: (35) But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (36) The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) (37) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; (38) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (39) And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: (40) Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; (41) Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. (42) And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. (43) To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

God Fearing Jews

Acts 13:16-43 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. (17) The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. (18) And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. (19) And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. (20) And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. (21) And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. (22) And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. (23) Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: (24) When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. (25) And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. (26) Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. (27) For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. (28) And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. (29) And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. (30) But God raised him from the dead: (31) And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. (32) And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, (33) God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. (34) And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. (35) Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (36) For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: (37) But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. (38) Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: (39) And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (40) Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; (41) Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. (42) And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. (43) Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

Non-God Fearing Gentiles

Acts 17:22-31 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. (23) For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (24) God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; (25) Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (26) And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; (27) That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (28) For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (29) Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. (30) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (31) Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

See also: Acts 2:22-39; Acts 3:13-26; Acts 5:29-32; Acts 7:2-53; Acts 14:15-17; Acts 16:31; Revelation 14: 6,7.

In the book of Acts the gospel includes at least these five points:
(1) Jesus Christ, an historical person, is Lord over heaven and earth.
(2) God raised Jesus from the dead.
(3) God commands everyone to repent of his sins.
(4) Jesus is the judge of the quick (living) and the dead.
(5) The forgiveness of sins is proclaimed through the name of Jesus.

Is not the gospel something that must be believed? Do you not believe things that are true? Must you be able to explain that which is true in order to believe it? Cannot something be true whether you believe it or not? Also, is it not possible to believe something that is not true?

Consider the following accounts of two boys.

A young boy’s parents take him to the mall to visit Santa. He asks Santa to bring him something for Christmas. Lo and behold the boy receives something for Christmas and it’s even what he had asked Santa to bring. His parents reinforce that Santa brought it. Next year the boy visits Santa again with his parents. Each year the boy receives what he’s asked Santa to bring. The boy believes in Santa. Why? Because he believes that Santa is able to do what he says.
Christian parents present their child for baptism. He is told as he grows up that Jesus promises to forgive and cleanse us of our sins. He is told that the LORD God is his God and that he is God’s servant and heir in Christ. He learns and keeps the commandments of God. He learns to be merciful because Jesus was merciful to him. He is told that God is able to do what He promises. God promises life to all that believe in Him. Christ’s name is upon him. He belongs body and soul to God. The boy believes in God.
Whose faith is real?
Which one believes the truth? You see, it is the object of faith that is important. By its very nature of being outside of us, it is not subjective.
What is it that is true in the gospel for us who have been baptized? God adopts us as His children, Jesus forgives us our sins, and the Holy Spirit applies the blood of Christ to us and makes us new creatures. Augustine refers to this as “predestination unto grace.” Grace is a relation, not a substance. It is the gift of Christ Himself. It is not static or impersonal. Because grace is the formation of a relation, it is defectable. Just as a relation can be nurtured or negated by lack of attention, so a relation with God comes under the same possibilities. A relation with God can be cultivated and expanded, or it can be rejected and killed.
We must insist upon the promise in baptism and hence the promise of the covenant as being salvific grace and blessing. This remains its primary meaning for the church. Promises are to be believed. Promises are likewise conditional. If we call upon the LORD, He will hear us and deliver us. If we repent of our sins, He will forgive us. If we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Persevering in faith in the One who makes these promises is of supreme importance, for by faith alone are the promises realized. Augustine would refer to this as “predestination unto perseverance.” There are five statements of fact, which are true pertaining to baptism:

It signifies and seals entrance into the new eschatological age of the Covenant of Grace.
It is intended to signify regeneration, grace and blessing to the recipient.
It is a powerful oath, and will exercise great significance irrespective of the response of the recipient.
The promises and grace indicated in the covenant will be realized only through faith.
God’s righteous vengeance, prefigured in the Cross and the destruction of apostate Jerusalem, will be exercised toward the unrepenting recipient of baptism.

Take an example from scripture:
Matthew 18:21-35 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? (22) Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. (23) Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. (24) And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. (25) But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. (26) The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. (27) Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. (28) But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. (29) And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. (30) And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. (31) So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. (32) Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: (33) Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? (34) And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. (35) So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

 What is the ultimate result of our Father in heaven not forgiving our trespasses?

Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: (15) But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

2Peter 1:3-11 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (5) And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; (6) And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; (7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. (8) For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. (10) Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: (11) For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Christian Family Living

2009-04-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

Strictly speaking Christian family living dates back only to the time of the apostles. A year after Barnabas found Saul of Tarsus and returned to Antioch the disciples were tagged with the name of Christian (Acts 11:26). But we would be remiss regarding history if we neglected the whole foundation upon which the Church stood. Broadly speaking “Christian” means “that which pertains to Christ” or “godliness.” Certainly there were godly households in the time of Moses and Joshua. One only need think of Joshua who said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”(Joshua 24:15). Serving the Lord is synonymous with that which is Christian. For, Who was a greater Servant than our Lord Christ was? According to God Himself family living that pleased Him had to do with justice and judgment in keeping His ways (Genesis 18:19).
The father has no small place in Christian (godly) family living. His place is to bless his household and to intercede for them before God (2 Samuel 6:20, Job 1:5). Also, he is responsible for maintaining an orderly household and instruction in the fear of the Lord. In the absence of a father the mother shoulders the responsibility as in the case of Timothy.
Whether you are a parent or a child you know that no parent does it perfectly. This is due to the fact that Christian families are composed of sinners. Anytime sinners interact with each other the potential for trouble exists. However, God’s good purposes are often effected through troubles and trials. From the beginning of the world God has been in the business of bringing order out of chaos, life out of death, good from evil. In New Testament terminology this theme is known as “resurrection.”
The Christian home perhaps more than any other place should be characterized by love and forgiveness. We are to be “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). Fathers it is your responsibility in the home to set the tone of forgiveness and mercy. Vengeance, retribution, and justice all have their place. But redemption and mercy followed hard on the heels of the creation and Sabbath rest. Christian family living has to do with forgiven sinners living together, ever mindful of God’s great mercy in Christ toward us. A sign of true power is the ability to show mercy as shown by King David in 2 Samuel 9.

Thanks Giving

2008-10-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

We need not think that Thanksgiving is limited to the fourth Thursday of November. Thanks—giving for the child of God is to be a normal part of everyday life. We take for granted that thanks should be given to God. God, however, is not in all the thoughts of the wicked. Consequently, for some people Thanksgiving is only a holiday. It’s a vague concept. They know in their heart of hearts that thanks belongs to Someone, but they cannot be honest with themselves.

The redeemed of the Lord are not so. We are not like the Samaritans of Jesus’ day who knew not the Subject of their worship. We give thanks to the LORD. Psalm 136 begins thus, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good….” If this is not sufficient reason to thank the LORD, the psalmist adds another reason, “for His mercy endureth forever.” The next verse reads, “O give thanks unto the God of gods….” The same reference to the everlasting mercy of God is given as the reason. Yet again the psalmist implores us to “give thanks to the Lord of lords.” The sole reason is that “His mercy endureth forever.” Finally, in the last verse we are exhorted to “give thanks unto the God of heaven….” No other psalm employs the word “thanks” as Psalm 136. Not that long ago I must confess that reading this psalm did not engender thoughts of gratitude. All I could see was the relentless repetition of a particular phrase. Yes, I knew that His mercy or lovingkindness was important. But to my uninstructed mind the psalmist could have stated one time or maybe two the reason to give thanks. For him, however, every act of God was worthy of its own special mention of the enduring character of God’s mercy. Read the psalm again and see for yourself how enduring is God’s mercy. Contemplate the fame of the Amorite kings and realize that a “no nation” with no special carnal weapons defeated them. Only the enduring mercy of God could enable a stiff-necked people to gain the victory.

Giving thanks is of utmost importance in the matter of worship. The apostle Paul displays before us that the lack of giving thanks is reason for God to unleash His wrath from heaven (Romans 1:21). When men knew God, they held this truth in unrighteousness and glorified Him not as God. Paul continues by saying that they forsook being thankful. I believe this to be more than just a general lack of manners. Being thankful is at the heart of God’s worship. The chronicler says, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise” (1 Chronicles 16:34, 35). See also, 1 Chr. 23:3; 2 Chr. 31:2; Ezra 3:11; and Neh 12:24, 31, 38.

Observe the difference between covenantal and non-covenantal worship. In the former God has particularized in history His salvation. See for example, the deliverance of a specific people out of the bondage of Egypt through the Red Sea (Exodus 15). There was no doubt as to the identity of those saved. The latter is characterized by a general sense of salvation. One must continuously seek a sense of assurance, “Did I really believe?” or “Did I really mean it when I gave my heart to Jesus?” The identity of those saved is vague and based upon the subjective judgment of man. One should think that if God were his God, salvation would be largely a non-issue. If God be for us, who can be against us? See Romans 8:31. That would be the reason to thank God. The Eucharist captures this focus of worship. Indeed, the meaning of the word Eucharist is from the Greek eukharistia “giving of thanks” from eukharistos “grateful.” We see then that in the Church the celebration of the Lord’s Table gives occasion for us to offer to God our thanks for His gift of life in His Son.

Common courtesy should be the general demeanor of our lives. If someone does something for you, your automatic response should be to say, “Thank-you.” One teaching mechanism may be employed at mealtime. Let the father say, “Give thanks to God,” and let everyone else respond by saying, “We give thanks to the Lord.” The intention is to cultivate an attitude of gratitude to God for His blessings. We need the constant reminder that God is worthy of our thanks—giving.

Where is our faith?

2008-02-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

One proponent of “faith alone” has said, “…He (God) will give you the gift of faith. Upon believing you are once and for all justified. You are once and for all secure in Jesus forever. The justified person…cannot apostatize.” Who is it that gets to determine when true faith has occurred? Is it when the elders examine a candidate to make profession of faith and are looking for evidence of that faith? So much seems to rest upon the individual. That’s what I would call walking by sight and not faith (alone).

How about we take seriously our baptismal form which says that the Father adopts us for His children and heirs, that the Son washes us in His blood from all our sins thereby justifying us before God, that the Spirit dwells in us applying to us that justification. Is it too much to say that Christian baptism is of God? Is it too much of a stretch to say that God in baptism is bestowing unmerited favor upon the one baptized? If it is of God, why don’t we believe Him? Where is our faith?

The problem comes when we operate with a truncated version of the gospel. Baptism is a picture of the gospel. A gospel that is concerned first and foremost with the comfort of the evangelized fails to convey an accurate picture of baptism. Baptism as practiced today has no teeth. There is no down side to covenant breaking. In fact there is no such thing as covenant breaking. If a baptized person does not make profession of faith, he cannot be disciplined by excommunication because he never “communicated.”

When someone that was baptized “falls away” and does not repent, we say that his baptism was of no value to him that it was a false baptism. If we say, however, that his baptism (a legal pronouncement) will speak against him on the last day; why do we impose the ordeal of making profession of faith on our children? Why don’t we take our baptismal form seriously when it says that Christ incorporates us into the fellowship of His death and resurrection? Worse yet, why don’t we believe the Bible when it says that those who have been baptized into Christ “are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus;” “have put on Christ” that is, belong to Christ; and are “Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise?” This is from Galatians! I say again, “Where is our faith?”

Could it be that the shepherds who are to guard the flock of God have not discerned properly who belong to the flock? This is not an enviable position in which to be. “Faith alone” has become a hobbyhorse carrying us into uncharted territory away from the safe confines of God and His Word. I challenge all to take seriously the Bible. When the Bible speaks, we need to listen and believe.

The Central Truth of Paul’s Message Was the Resurrection

2008-02-24T12:30:00.000-08:00

Paul was imprisoned for the hope and resurrection of the dead (Acts 23: 6).

At Paul’s examination before Felix Paul declared that he had “hope toward God…that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust” (Acts 24: 15).

And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: (7) Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? (Acts 26:6-8).

Paul met with the Jews at Rome and informed them that it was “for the hope of Israel” that he was bound with a chain (Acts 28: 20).

The central truth of Paul’s message was the resurrection, not salvation by grace. This does not mean that Paul did not teach salvation by grace. It just wasn’t the driving force behind him. The gospel message had at its core the lordship of King Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus. The death of Jesus was in-order-to the resurrection. Further confirmation of this is found in Romans 10:9 and Philippians 2:8-11.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Philippians 2:8-11 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Commissioned Gospel Message

The lordship of the historical person of Jesus Christ
The resurrection by God of this Jesus from the dead
God commands everyone to repent of his sins
Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead
Through the name of Jesus is the forgiveness of sins

Teleology of Regenerational Grace

2008-01-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

1. Adam was not created in a fixed state of righteousness. This fact, however, did not prevent God from declaring everything that He had made was very good. Though Adam fell from a state of sinlessness and died, God raised him from the dead as it were in Christ when He clothed him with an animal skin. This resurrection from the dead that God brought about was what Jesus referred to as being “born from above” or “born again” (John 3:3). Indeed, Adam’s experience typified the pattern for life as Jesus Himself testified regarding His own death and resurrection. This new life was from God; Adam was unable to effect it himself. God inaugurated the new heavens and new earth at this time, so that we live in a world of “already but not yet.” Just as Adam was created with the possibility of dying, so also in this “new” creation he could die “covenantally.” Ultimately this leads to the second death in the lake of fire. If a man does not abide in Christ, he is cast forth as a branch and withers. Physical death is merely the door between the seen and the unseen.

2. God created man on the earth for a purpose. That purpose was for man to exercise dominion on the earth in God’s place not using an autonomous ruling standard but using God’s standard of rule. The dominion mandate was not rescinded after the flood. Nor was Israel to use any other rule of law but God’s in the land of promise. In the “Great Commission” Jesus Christ claims all authority and power for Himself calling His disciples to bring all the nations as nations under His authority. Being under God’s authority means obeying His commands. By faith God’s word of command imparts the power and responsibility to obey. God’s commands can be obeyed and He is pleased with His people’s obedience. The righteousness that His people can claim for themselves is called “ethical” righteousness as distinguished from “imputed” righteousness. Ethical righteousness is covenantal faithfulness worked out on a day to day basis in time and history. Imputed righteousness is a judicial declaration on God’s part when He raises the sinner from the dead, pardoning his sins.

3. In Romans 9 Paul returns to a recurring theme in the Bible of the “seed.” I believe he takes this from Genesis 3:15 where God promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent and ultimately reverse the curse. Cain was not chosen to be this seed, Seth was. Noah’s son Shem was chosen, not Japheth. When we arrive at Genesis 12, God chooses Abraham to be in this line of the seed. God chose the seed line to come through Isaac, not Ishmael. The seed was chosen to come through the line of Jacob, not Esau. The chosen path of the seed went through Judah, not any of his brothers. David was chosen to be the ancestor of the seed, not any of his brothers. Finally, the goal of the “seed of the woman” promise is reached in the person of Jesus. This is election: God making choices throughout history to bring about His purposes.

4. The “Seed of the Woman” motif makes a transition at the time of Abraham to the “promised seed.” The seed still points ultimately to Jesus but in the mean time encompasses Abraham’s posterity through the child of promise, Isaac. By faith the covenant sign, whether circumcision or baptism, gives warrant for the one circumcised or baptized (and all associated with him) to claim God to be his God. This is the Old Testament equivalent of the promise of eternal life. Grace is the intended effect towards those so “signed.” Grace does result for those who are faithful to God’s word. Israel would have prospered if they had not followed after other gods. Rejecting the word of the Lord makes one liable to the curse of the covenant (law) –captivity in a foreign land (exile) and being rejected by God. This happened to Israel and Judah in their respective captivities. Christ suffered the curse of the law (exile) –outside of Jerusalem. In New Testament terms God’s action in baptism gives one warrant to claim Christ’s righteousness as his own since God is claiming for Himself the one baptized.

Scripture support for point 1
Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 12:23-24 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. (24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 15:1-6 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Philippians 1:22-24 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. (23) For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (24) Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

Scripture support for point 2
Genesis 1:26-28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 9:1-2 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (2) And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

Deuteronomy 6:1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: (See also Deut. 4:5, 14; 5:31; 12:1; Psalm 105:44, 45).

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Joshua 1:1-6 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, (2) Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. (3) Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. (4) From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. (5) There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (6) Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
Joshua 1:7-9 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. (8) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (9) Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Judges 6:12-16 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. (13) And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. (14) And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? (15) And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. (16) And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Genesis 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

2 Samuel 22:21-27 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. (22) For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. (23) For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. (24) I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity. (25) Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight. (26) With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright. (27) With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.

1 Kings 3:6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

1 Kings 15:4-5 Nevertheless for David's sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem: (5) Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. (21) And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

2 Chronicles 34:1-2 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. (2) And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

Scripture support for point 3
Romans 9:6-13 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: (7) Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. (8) That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. (9) For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. (10) And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (11) (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (12) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. (13) As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Deuteronomy 7:6-10 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. (7) The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: (8) But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (9) Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; (10) And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

Psalms 78:67-70 Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: (68) But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. (69) And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever. (70) He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

Psalms 89:18-21 For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. (19) Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. (20) I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: (21) With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Scripture support for point 4
Genesis 17:7-13 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. (8) And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (9) And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. (10) This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. (11) And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. (12) And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. (13) He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

1 Samuel 13:13-14 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. (14) But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

1 Samuel 15:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

2 Kings 21:12-15 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. (13) And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. (14) And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; (15) Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

Isaiah 48:17-19 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. (18) O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: (19) Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

Deuteronomy 28:63-68 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. (64) And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. (65) And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: (66) And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: (67) In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. (68) And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

Hebrews 13:11-12 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. (12) Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

Galatians 3:13-14 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Commissioned Apostolic Gospel Message

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1. The lordship of the historical person of Jesus Christ is affirmed.

2. God raised this Jesus from the dead.

3. God commands everyone to repent of his sins.

4. Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead.

5. Through the name of Jesus is the forgiveness of sins.

The modern gospel is a truncated version of the above. Usually only the last point is mentioned. That is because only the welfare of the sinner is of concern. The Lordship of King Jesus is all too often an after thought.

Question To Ponder

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What if you understood God to be more gracious and forgiving than you had ever dreamed and at the same time discovered that He was more demanding than you had ever imagined?

The Bible is a Story

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The Bible is the story of the Sovereign Lord imparting to mankind the knowledge of His name, power, and glory. Jesus Christ is the preeminent revelation of this knowledge.

Scripture proofs
Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory

Exo 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Psa 106:7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.
Psa 106:8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Musings on the Deaths and Resurrections of Man

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What if God wanted to show His power and wrath (Romans 9:22) toward the devil and his angels (see Matthew 25:31-46)? What if He did this by creating a class of creatures in His own image through which He would demonstrate grace and mercy (Romans 9:23)? A contrast such as this would demonstrate God’s power and wrath as well as His grace and mercy. This class of creatures in order to receive grace and mercy from the hand of God would somehow have to be made recipients of His displeasure and wrath. R.L. Dabney is attributed with an observation on the dangers of prosperity which is not insignificant here.
"It’s in man’s nature to be so ungrateful when you have everything you want. Look to man’s nature and we’ll see some of the reasons for this. It ought not to be true but it is true that it’s man’s mean spirited disposition to feel less gratitude as the favors he receives are multiplied. The more God gives you the less gratitude you have. We treat God in the same thankless way. The frequency and the multiplication of mercies necessarily make the reception of them a habit. And habitual incidents make less and less impression the longer the habit is maintained. So that the multitude of our blessings, instead of begetting proportionate gratitude, deadens our sense of obligation. Here then we have this result. That sluggish, thankless indifference to God’s love and benevolence will naturally grow out of continued prosperity."
Consider if you will that though the man and the woman were created with the possibility of sinning and therefore of dying, God’s evaluation of them had been “very good.” The process of dying also, was included in this evaluation. Man was created with the ability to adapt to various conditions. This is true in your own experience. If you live in a noisy environment, you become accustomed to the noise. The same is true with odors or smells, sight, or touch. Just think of living in a state of perfection. Is it not possible that living continually in such “luxury” eventually deadened man’s sense of gratitude to God for his very existence? Instead of thanking God for His blessings, man came to expect God to cater to him rather than he be obedient to God. Thus the man and his wife embarked on a journey that garnered God’s displeasure and wrath—spiritual death. God would deliver them out of that condition and shower upon them the aforesaid gifts of grace and mercy. God, being just and holy, also would have to “send somebody to jail.” After all, a “crime” would have been committed. No One less than God could endure the punishment and still enjoy the creatures made in His image.

Suppose God decided to create an environment and an arena in which all this would be worked out. The world is the former and time is the latter. Suppose further that God did not discard the horticultural model of the third day of creation when He created man on the sixth day. What if man in his original creation was like a seed. What if the path to grace and mercy lay through the valley of the shadow of death? Yea, even death itself? What if God did not start with the body that would be (I Corinthians 15:37, 46)? Also, suppose that His plan required death and resurrection, so that man could not have the body that would be except that the body that was would die? What if the resurrection is as old as the creation?

Genesis 2:8 says, “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” A garden is the place where a seed is planted. Genesis 3:19 ends God’s interview of the offenders and the next verse reveals the reason that Eve receives her name. She is the mother of all the living. In order for a seed to be quickened it has to die first (1 Corinthians 15:36). This motif is that to which Jesus appeals regarding His glorification in John 12:23 & 24.

Genesis 3:21 gives insight into God’s mind regarding man’s end. God reasons as Jesus would when healing the man let down on a bed through the roof (see Mark 2:1-10). Jesus forgives the sick man his sins before healing him. Jesus reveals His power to forgive as well as to heal. In the same way God forgives Adam and Eve raising them from spiritual death. The resurrection of Jesus validates God’s action at the beginning of time thus guaranteeing the forgiveness of sins (I Corinthians 15:17).

Regenerational Grace

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1. God, according to His purpose in creating man and for His name’s sake, restored Adam and Eve to fellowship after they sinned against Him. Since God’s mercy was unknown in the “fallen” world, being merciful was wholly God’s unquestionable right apart from the sinners’ expectations and desires. He did this by indirectly giving them a promise and directly a sign. Focusing only on the promise does violence to the doctrine as a whole. In promising and giving a sign God unilaterally and voluntarily entered into a bilateral covenant with Adam and Eve; binding not only Himself, but also, the “Seed of the Woman” to the covenant forever. Both parties possessed “rights” and “obligations.” The “seed of the woman” include all the offspring of Eve.

Scripture support
Genesis 3:15, 21 And I will put enmity between thee (serpent) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (21) Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Romans 5:8-10 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Romans 9:21-23 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (22) What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: (23) And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Psalms 25:11 For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
Psalms 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
Psalms 106:8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.
Ezekiel 20:33-38 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: (34) And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. (35) And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. (36) Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. (37) And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: (38) And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel 20:44 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
Micah 6:1-5 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. (2) Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. (3) O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. (4) For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. (5) O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.
1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

2. God’s covenant with the “Seed of the Woman” at the dawn of the ages is like a grain that is planted in the ground. All subsequent manifestations of the covenant grow out of this “grain”, thus there is an organic connection from first to last. The “Abrahamic” covenant is commonly seen as the origin of God’s merciful dealings with mankind after the flood, since He narrows the field of inclusion in the “Seed of the Woman” motif. The point of the covenant is to show the merciful character of God without regard to the perfection or imperfection of the human objects of His mercy. Lack of perfection is no obstacle in pleasing God or doing His will. Indeed, God bestows His grace because there is no hope of the objects of grace to merit it. And even though God knows ahead of time that His people will prove to be unfaithful and break covenant, He still bestows upon them what He promises.

Scripture Support
1 Corinthians 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
Deuteronomy 9:6-8 Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people. (7) Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD. (8) Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.
Deuteronomy 26:12-19 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; (13) Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: (14) I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. (15) Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. (16) This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. (17) Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: (18) And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; (19) And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
Deuteronomy 31:19-21 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. (20) For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. (21) And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

3. The essence of God’s grace is to make a distinction (antithesis, enmity, wall of separation) in the world between the “seed of the woman” and the “seed of the serpent”. God tells the serpent that the seed of the woman will kill the serpent. The serpent will only injure the seed of the woman in his heel. God put “enmity” between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, not between Himself and the seed of the woman. Note how God immediately remedies Adam and Eve’s dilemma by reconciling them to Himself rather than alienating them from Him. Man himself is not cursed. This is grace. The revelation of God’s grace is made evident by covering over the knowledge of Adam and Eve’s sin with the skins of animals. Just as their naked bodies were covered by the bloody skins, so God was teaching them that their sin was covered over in His sight by the shedding of blood. “Whatever man can plainly learn from the revelations God gives of Himself, to be in accordance with the divine mind and will, that is of God, and it is man’s duty to believe and act accordingly” (Patrick Fairbairn, Typology of Scripture). Until/unless God indicates differently this is the divinely instituted means of obtaining the forgiveness of sins from God. To kill an animal of the kind that God used to cover the sin of our first parents was to express faith in God’s action and the accompanying result—the forgiveness of sins. This mere procedure on God’s part constituted a command to be obeyed on man’s part. The intended response to grace received is thankful obedience. (Cain’s offering was of the fruit of the ground which had been cursed. Hence, by definition Cain’s offering was cursed.)

Scripture support
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Deuteronomy 8:5-10 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. (6) Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. (7) For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; (8) A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; (9) A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. (10) When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
Ezekiel 16:3-6 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. (4) And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. (5) None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. (6) And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
Hebrews 9:8-12 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: (9) Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; (10) Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. (11) But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; (12) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Genesis 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (18) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; (19) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

4. The irony of the antithesis is that the serpent acquires his seed from the seed of the woman, e.g. Cain (Genesis 4), the Jews of Jesus’ day (John 8:44), et.al. The seed of the woman (Cain) is treated ontologically and legally as such even by God until at some point in time and history its differing predestined identity is revealed. This element of “time and history” is crucial, for this is the place of the covenant. Obedience, then, is faith expressing itself in time. We could call it "incarnational faith". As such, obedience is a means of grace and is a gift. “Time and history” are the arena of God’s dealings with man on the earth. To be preoccupied with the unknowable or unproveable is unhelpful and not the concern of men who live “under the sun”.

Scripture support
Genesis 4:5-7 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. (6) And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? (7) If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

5. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). We see here that the first death is in Adam. The second death takes place at the last judgment being thrown into the lake of fire. So, those in Christ experience the first resurrection.

Scripture support
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (5) But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (6) Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Colossians 2:12-13 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;