Systematic Theology, Chapter 26 (part 2)

We have just looked at the humanity of Christ, and now will look at the Deity of Christ. 

The word God (Theos), which is usually reserved for God alone, is used to refer to Jesus Christ several times. 

The word Lord (Kyrios) is also used of Christ.  (See Grudem's book for all the details). 

Other claims to deity include: 

when Jesus says, 

"before Abraham was, I am." 

"I am the Alpha and the Omega...the beginning and the end."  

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word WAS God." 

The phrases "son of man," and "son of God," had significant meaning in their contexts. 

Jesus possessed attributes of deity:

Omnipotence (stilled the storm with his words, changed water to wine, etc)

Eternity (when he speaks of his existence throughout time)

Omniscience (knowing people's thoughts)

Omnipresence (not during his lifetime, but he says, "where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.)

Sovereignty (ability to forgive sins)

Immortality (inability to die finally) Christ does die, but has an active role in his own resurrection!  "I will raise it up." "I have the power to lay it (Jesus life) down and I have the power to take it again." 

Worthy to be worshiped, something due only to God alone. 

Did Jesus give up some of his divine attributes while on earth?  Grudem argues that Jesus changed his roles and status, but his essential attributes as a part of the deity remained while he lived on earth.  Jesus gave up his status and privilege. So, Jesus is fully divine. 

In 1977, a group of recognized church leaders in England published the book,"the Myth of God Icarnate,"  which makes some foundational assumptions. 

1. The bible is NOT an absolute divine authority for us today

2. Christianity is evolving and changing over time.

We see a dividing point here.  Either we believe in Christs full deity and the authority of scripture, or else we begin on a slippery slope of being able to deny everything in scripture as we choose. 

Here are three other historical views of the person of Christ that are inadequate.

1. Apollinarianism.  Christ had only a human body, his mind/spirit were divine.  (rejected in AD 362)

2. Nestorianism. Divine and human Jesus were two separate persons! (condemned in the 400's AD)

3. Monophysitism (Eutychianism).  Jesus divine and human nature are separate, yet combine to create a new third type of nature. (Denied, because in this case Christ cannot be truly God nor truly man.)

451 AD, the Chalcedonian definition was made, and is a standard, orthodox definition.  

"....truly God and truly man, consubstantial with the Father according to the God head....to be acknowledged in two natures, indivisibly, inseparably, the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one person..."

We are able to point to aspects of the human nature and the divine nature with no problem between them.  For example, Jesus lay sleeping in the boat when the storm hit.  He was tired, YET he showed omnipotence by stilling the storm.  Tired yet all powerful!

To say that we cannot understand it is appropriate humility. To say that it is not possible seems more like intellectual arrogance. 

In general, what happens to either aspect of Jesus can be said of him as a whole.  Thus can Paul say, "they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."  The divinity of Christ cannot die, yet as a whole and in his human nature, Christ did die. 

This topic is the most amazing miracle in the whole Bible; that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal son of God could become man and join himself to a human nature forever....what a miracle and mystery. 

Next time, chapter 27, the Atonement. 

Systematic Theology, Chapter 26

The Person of Christ, how is Jesus fully God and fully man in one person?

He WAS fully God and fully man in one person, and WILL be so forever.

Starting with his humanity:
1. Christ is born of a virgin; conceived in the womb of his mother Mary by a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, without a human father.   This shows us that salvation must come from the Lord, a virgin birth is an impossibility for man.  It unites humanity and deity in a perfect way.

Being born of a virgin allows Christ to have true humanity without inherited sin.  The angel Gabriel even pronounces to Mary, "therefore the child to be born will be called holy."

2.  Jesus had human weaknesses and limitations.
A human body, the need to grow up.  He became tired, thirsted, hungered, he eventually died.

Jesus also rose from the dead in a physical human body, which had been made perfect. He ascended into heaven with that body, to show a continuity between his existence in a physical body.

He had a human soul and emotions. "Now is my soul troubled." "He was troubled in spirit."  He marveled, he wept with sorrow, he learned obedience.  Yet in all this he never once sinned.

"In every respect he has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."

People near him saw him only as a man.  Jesus did a lot of miracles, yet when he approached his hometown, the people said, "where did this man get his wisdom and these mighty works?  Isnt this the carpenter's son?"

He was human, yet without sin.  When he says, "I am the light of the world,"  he points to pefect truthfulness and moral purity.  He says of his Father, "I am always doing what is pleasing to him." (we cannot say the same of our relationship with God!)

Was it possible for Jesus to sin? as a human, it is in his nature to be able to sin, but since he has a divine nature, we know that God cannot be tempted.  They somehow work in unity.
If Jesus had sinned, then he would cease to be God.  Yet his temptations were very real.
He stood fast to the end and triumphed over temptations, and in this way felt the full weight of these temptations.

Why was it necessary for Jesus to be fully human?
1. He was our representative, and obeyed where we and Adam disobeyed.
2. to be a substitute sacrifice.  Only by becoming one of us could he be an acceptable substitute for our sins and its punishment.
3. The one mediator between God and men.
4. Man was made to rule over creation, and only through Jesus is this put to right again.  "given all authority over heaven and earth..."
5. to be our example and pattern in life.
6. To be a pattern for our redeemed bodies.
7. To sympathise as high priest.  He has gone through the same temptations as we and knows what it is like.

Jesus will be a man forever. In his resurrection body, he ate, and had flesh and bones. And it is promised that he will come back in the same way we saw him go into heaven.  Fully God and fully man, yet one person, forever.

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology Chapter 25.

The Covenants between God and man.

Throughout history, God has had a “you do this, I’ll respond with this,” relationship with man, and that is solidified through covenants.  By definition, “A covenant is an unchangeable, divinely imposed legal agreement between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship.”

Both parties are active, but because it is divinely imposed, man cannot negotiate or change the terms of the agreement.  Covenants never change, but they may be superseded or replaced by another covenant.

At the heart of all covenants is this one, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Even Adam and Eve can be said to live in the first covenant relationship, “you obey and I will bless you in the garden.”

Other covenants usually have an outward sign attached to them, such as circumcision, baptism, the Lord’s supper.  God was not forced to make a covenant, and indeed he made no such covenant with the animals he created, but shows his love for his people when he enters into covenant with them.

The covenant with Adam is still in force with us today, in the sense that perfect obedience leads to life, and “the wages of sin is death.”

Another covenant is called the covenant of Redemption.  In this covenant, the trinity agrees that the son will become man, be our representative, pay our penalty for our sin.

Many scriptures point to how the Father prepares a chosen people for the son, sends the son as a representative, prepares a body, accepts him, gives his all authority, etc.

The son agrees to become man, and become obedient, even to death on a cross, and the Holy Spirit agrees to do the will of the Father and empower Christ to carry out his ministry on earth.

The next covenant is the covenant of Grace. God and man have an agreement, and in this case Christ acts as mediator to fulfill the conditions of the covenant.  The condition for man is faith in the redeemer.  The promise of blessing in the covenant was a promise of eternal life with God.  In the Old Testament, this was shown by the sign of continuing to observe festivals and ceremonial laws, and is now shown through participation in the Lord’s supper.

This covenant of grace was in place from the time of Abraham.  Galatians 3:8 says,” The scripture preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham…”

The “old covenant,” which is spoken of in the New Testament, points to the Mosaic law, which was a restraint and custodian pointing people to Christ.

So Old Testament people looked in faith to the promised Messiah as a step in their redemption.  The sacrificial lambs in the Mosaic covenant did not actually take away sins, but foreshadowed the bearing of sin by Christ.

What a joy to be part of the new covenant (and the other covenants) of God!

Systematic Theology, Chapter 24 continued...

Sin (Part 2).

Are some sins worse than others?

Before God, even one sin makes us legally guilty and thus worthy of eternal punishment.  Adam and Eve's one act of disobedience is a perfect example, introducing death into the world and separating their relationship with God.

James 2:10-11, Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it....

Some sins have more harmful consequences, both between us and our fellow man, and between us and God.   The Bible speaks of "greater sins," but in general, we can see sins that are done willfully, repeatedly, knowingly, with a calloused heart, are more displeasing to God than others.

Unintentional sin is still sin. (Just like speeding when you didnt know the speed limit is still punishable).

Coveting a neighbors car is a sin before God.  Stealing the car and killing the owner of the car is obviously a more "serious" sin.   The same goes for a new believer losing their temper and striking someone compared with a Mature pastor doing the same.

James 3:1, those whoe teach will be judged with greater strictness.  Teachers and those in leadership spiritually will be held to a higher standard of accountability.

What happens when a Christian sins?  We are still in the legal sense forgiven before God, for Christ's death paid for our past, present, and future sins.  We are still children of God, members of his family.

BUT, our fellowship with God is disrupted and our Christian life is damaged.  God still loves us but is displeased with us.  He disciplines us, because he loves us.

Hebrews 12:10, He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

When we sin as Christians, our Christian life and fruitfulness in ministry are also damaged.  "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."  John 15:4.

Peter says that sinful desires that remain in our hearts "wage war against your soul!" 1 Peter 2:11. To give into those sinful desires is to welcome enemies into the camp.

The danger of unconverted evangelicals.  A genuine Christian who sins does not lose their justification before God, BUT people who are "playing church," and not true believers should not be lulled into complacency that their sinfulness is ok.

A consistent pattern of disobedience to Christ coupled with a lack of the elements of the fruit of the Holy Spirit such as love, joy, peace, and so forth, is a warning signal that the person is probably not a true Christian inwardly, that there probably has been no genuine heart faith from the beginning and no regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. !

What about unpardonable sin?  Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, what is that?

There are several possibilities, but Grudem leans towards a willful rejection and slander against the Holy Spirit's work attesting to Christ.  The example in the Bible was when the pharisees claim that Jesus is casting out demons by Beelzebul's power.

This requires a clear knowledge of who Christ is and the power of the Holy Spirit working through him, a willful rejection of the facts about Christ, and attributing that work/power to Satan.  

God does not just punish sin to help us to grow and learn from our sins, but rather because God's righteousness demands it, so that he might be glorified in the universe that he has created.

Next time, "The covenants between God and man." 

Systematic Theology, Chapter 24

Sin.

What is it, where did it come from, did we inherit it?

Biblical human history is basically man in sin and rebellion against God, and God's plan of redemption for man.

Sin:  failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.

Clearly, our attitudes, and not just our actions, can be sinful.  And in contrast, the greatest commandment of all requires that our heart be filled with an attitude of love for God (Love the Lord your God with all your heart...)

The Bible also points out several times that our nature or character is fundamentally sinful.
"We were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."  Eph 2:3.

Commonly, it is said that the essence of sin is selfishness, but this is unsatisfactory, incomplete in it's definition.   The Bible, in 1 John 3:4, says, "sin is lawlessness," meaning both the written law of God and the unwritten law of conscience.

Sin is not just destructive to us, but wrong, opposite to the good character of God, a contradiction of God's holiness, and he must hate it.

Man and angels voluntarily sinned, and God is not to blame for sin, nor a cause of sin.
James 1:13, God can not be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one.

The power of evil is in no way equal to God or even surprising to him.

The original sin struck at several basic points..
"what is true?" (knowledge), is God true or the serpent?
"what is right?" (morals),  Eve's evaluation or God's words. "She saw that the tree was good for food,"
"who am I?" Am I a creation of God, or do I want to be like God?

All sin is ultimately irrational.  It did not make sense for Adam and Eve to try to exalt themselves above God, or that there could be true gain in disobeying their creator.   Proverbs often speaks of "the fool," who engages in all kinds of sins.

We have inherited from Adam in two ways:
1. Inherited guilt.  We are counted guilty because of Adam's sins, and human death is a confirmation of that.

We might complain, "is that really fair?"  But God will primarily "render to every man according to his works" on Judgement day (Romans 2:6), so regardless of our inherited guilt, we have done plenty of sins ourselves.

More persuasively, if we think it is unfair to be represented by Adam, we should also think it is unfair for us to be represented by Christ and to have his righteousness imputed to us by God.

2. Inherited corruption.  We have a sinful nature because of Adam's sin.  This begins from conception (according Psalm 51:5).

Various restraints, like civil law, family expectations, human conscience, keep us from being as terrible as we could be.  Because of God's common grace, society has been able to advance.

Although we might do some "good," every part of our nature is affected by sin.  Paul says, "to the corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted." Titus 1:15.   We cannot please God on our own strength.  Isaiah says, "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." Isaiah 64:6.

All people are sinful before God.
"They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt, there is none that does good, no, not one." Psalm 14:3.

Our sinfulness is not based on our ability to do good, but rather the measuring line is God's perfect holiness and moral law.

Are infants guilty, or do they have to reach an age of accountability? Clearly children are sinful and rebellious, already in their first year or two of life.  But what is a child dies before they are old enough to understand the gospel?  In that case they would not be saved on their own merits, but rather on the basis of Christ's work of redemption.  Both John the Baptist and David speak of belonging to God, or being filled with the Holy Spirit from birth.  This may be so with infants.  God's "normal" example is to save the children of believers in Biblical history, so in regards to children of believers who die very young, we have no reason to think that it would be otherwise.

But that is not God's normal way of salvation.  It is by believing in Christ's atoning work we are saved, and always because of God's mercy and not our merits.

Legal guilt means that even one tiny sin can make us guilty before God, and therefore worthy of eternal punishment.

More to come next week....

Systematic Theology, chapter 23.

The essential nature of man.

Who are we?  We have a physical body, ok.  We have a soul, allright.  What about the spirit of a man?

The soul includes: intellect, emotions, and the will. Everyone has a soul...
But the spirit, that comes alive when a person becomes a Christian.   OR, are the spirit and soul one thing?


Grudem takes the latter view, that of dichotomy. (We have two parts, a body and a spirit/soul).

Just as God created Adam in one breath, in unity of his body and soul, so are we made grow in Godliness both in body and soul.

2 Cor 7:1, we are to cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.

Scripture uses the words soul and spirit interchangeably.  Also at death, the soul/spirit departs, according to the Bible.  They have the same "functions" and "abilities."

When Paul says, "my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful," he means that there is nonphysical element to our existence that can function apart from our conscious awareness of how it is functioning.

We are different from animals in the sense that we can have a spiritual life in fellowship with God.  Our souls and bodies/minds can relate to God in ways animals never can.

Animals, do they have a soul?  If you mean intellect, emotions, and will, then yes.  If you mean soul as spirit, such as suggested here, then no.



Can we see our soul/spirits?  Not quite, but that allows us to depend on Scripture which explains and expresses the existence of our soul and spirit.

In this life there is a unity where the body and spirit act together as one person, yet after death they will be apart.

When do we get our soul?  Does God give it to us, is it inherited from our parents at conception?

Zechariah 12:1, God is the one who forms the spirit of man within him.

We are also born with the tendencies to sin that are passed on through our family generations.

Systematic Theology Chapter 22

Man as male and female.

Grudem summarizes nicely here:
"The creation of man as male and female shows God's image in,
1. Harmonious interpersonal relationships
2. Equality in personhood and importance, and
3. Difference in role and authority."

Marriage is a main example of interpersonal unity , where two persons become one.  You give up control to share it, it is not temporary but lifelong, and a profound picture of Christ and his church.

Secondly, men and women are made equally in God's image...equally important to God, equally valuable to him.  Women and men should not boast over each other but give honor to each other, just as a man does in Proverbs 31.

Both have received spiritual gifts to be shared in the church, and it is pointless to compare, "who can be more spiritual, etc"

In the Old Testament, the sign of membership of God's people was circumcision, and now through baptism, both men and women can be seen as fully and equally members of the people of God.

Just as the trinity is equal in importance yet with differing roles, so is it with men and women.  God the Father has had a leadership role, he speaks and initiates, Jesus carries out the work, and the Holy Spirit sustains it.

In marriage, the man parallels the Father's role, and the women parallels the son's role.   Some people say that a man's leadership over a women is a sinful result of the fall of Adam and Eve, yet even before that they had very distinct roles.  He was created first, she was created as a helper for him, Adam named Eve.

God named the human race man, not woman.  (similar to a woman taking a man's last name when she marries to signify his headship in the family.)

The serpent came to Eve first.  (was he attempting to institute role reversal by tempting her to lead)?

God spoke to Adam first after the fall.  He was ultimately called to account for their sin.

Adam, not Eve, represented the human race.  She sinned first, but history speaks of "because of Adam's sin"

The curse brought a distortion of previous roles, not the introduction of new roles.  Adam is still responsible, but will have pain in raising crops, and Eve would have pain in bearing children.  There was also introduction of conflict into their harmonious relationship; "your desire shall be for your husband and he will reign over you."   It has been translated, that her desire is to rule over her husband, and yet he will dictatorially rule over her.  What a distortion of the harmonious working together that it should have been.

Redemption in Christ brings us to a place where the original harmonious order is encouraged.  Glad submission to their husbands, lovingness and not harshness to wives.


Husbands who act selfishly, domineering, or cruel/abusive, are acting in sin, contrary to God's purposes for them.  They should rather live up to the New Testament commands to honor, love, be considerate of their wives.
When wives feel rebellious, resent their man's leadership, compete, etc, that is also a result of sin and destructive.
The other extreme of this error is laziness, passivity, wimpiness.  A man who forces his wife to make all the decisions doesnt help her.  A wife who is passive, not involved in decisions and the discussion is also unhelpful.

In following a Biblical pattern, husbands and wives will discover true biblical manhood and womanhood in all their noble dignity and joyful complementarity, as God created them to be, and will thus reflect more fully the image of God in their lives.