The Sabbath

 Months ago I did complete some research into the nature of the Sabbath for my study of the book of Hebrews. My research led me to read Seventh Day Adventists, Progressive Dispensationalists and Progressive Covenantalists. I found Pastor Dale Ratzlaff of Life Assurance Minstries (LAM) and Dr. Rob Solberg of Biblical Roots Ministries very helpful. Pastor Ratzlaff’s book Sabbath in Christ is a definitive work on the Sabbath from a former Seventh Day Adventist. DA Carson’s book On the Lord’s Day was also consulted. The Tablets of Stone by John Resinger was also read. Finally, I listened to Tony Costa debate a Seventh Day Adventist.  

I prepared lecture notes. I gave two lectures. Only one lecture made it to YouTube: 

https://youtu.be/xHTs8SgsOY4

 

The DNA of Church

The DNA of Church

Churches have an organic make up that come in different shapes and sizes. They are communities of Christians that gather for preaching, worship, and fellowship. Some are conservatively small congregations while others are magnificently large. Church members can vary in age, ethnicity and socio-economic status. But each church is to have the same basic DNA as a Biblical church. Exegetical/expository preaching that makes the main point of a sermon the main point of the biblical text. It is verse-by-verse teaching with careful concern for the original languages words, tenses and cases. 

 There is to be accountability among pastors, deacons and members. Protecting and preserving one another in the faith. Bearing each other's burdens. This is all possible in a church with membership, discipleship and discipline. In order to develop biblical theology, godly affections and virtues, to the glory of God. 

Dangers of Churches 

(1) Theologically shallow. 

(2) Frequent low proficiency in exegesis, expository preaching and biblical theology. 

(3) Insecurity in Biblical theology thus susceptible to false teachings.  

(4) Biblical Trinitarian monotheism practically denied with subordination of the Father and Son to the Holy Spirit.

(5) Idolization of Spiritual Gifts. 

(6) Topical preaching with homiletics driven by a topic or idea outside of scriptures that is read back into the Bible for support via proof-texting. 

(7) Simple sermons to the congregation instead of gradually lifting up the congregation to greater and deeper insights of the Bible's complexity, beauty and elegance.

(8) Good works are absent. 

(9) Love is replaced with pride or fear. 

(10) There is concentration of either Biblical theology, worship or service over integration. 

Grace

The trouble with people and language is specific words can loose their significance by the people that use the words; this happens in theology and Christian living. We use the word 'grace', it's in our churches names, worship songs/hymns, bumper stickers, and T-shirts, but is it in the understanding of our hearts? What is grace? How is it properly defined? The dust of confusion will settle only when terms are properly defined. Once we understand the meaning of grace, and therefore its significance, we cannot help but to savor it. Grace is much like a diamond with many different facets to it but there is a definite meaning behind it. Grace is God's goodness actively to us and for us such that we get what we don't deserve; instead of receiving God's just punishment, we get the gift of God's righteousness in Christ. We get God, when we deserve the rod. But we miss the unconditional, free, nature of grace. It cannot be obligated nor should it be trivialized. Yet we often do both! Or we depreciate grace by mistaking it for mercy. But one is not the other. Mercy is not getting what is deserved. Grace is much more profound. It stretches the limits of our minds and the depths of our hearts. It gives us all that we could ever need, ask or hope for in the place of what we've earned, deserved or entitled.

Think on these things!

Evangelism and the Ten Commandments

There is a great emphasis on the Ten Commandments in evangelism. The Ten Commandments are preached to give particular examples of sin that might show a person's need of forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. But should New Testament believers use primarily, if at all, the Ten Commandments as the standard of righteousness for gentiles and specifically New Testament believers? If so, why? The common answer is since the Ten Commandments are God's eternal moral law. The problems I see with this answer are: (1) it seems deep on the surface but underneath shallow; it does not seem to take seriously the continuity and discontinuity of the covenants, (2) it presupposes the tripartite division of divine law as moral, civil and ceremonial, when all of God's laws are moral in nature, (3) all of God's words either, written directly or indirectly, spoken or written, carries the same inerrant, inspired, infallible, authority, (4) it does not deal with the texts in the NT that seem to suggest a change of covenant (Jer 31:31-34) and law (1 Cor 9:21; Heb 7:12). Likewise, parsimony would suggest that, perhaps, the eternal law of God is simply the two commandments to love God and our fellow man.  Indeed, the Ten Commandments may be found in these two commandments, but one cannot from these two commandments extract the Ten Commandments. Theses laws are not clearly transitive.