True Faith Includes Following Jesus

Believing in Jesus has no meaning if we don't follow him in discipleship. Believing without discipleship isn't believing, it's agreeing to a set of facts about a religious figure.

--Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2006), 43.

Justification is the Starting Line, Not the Finish Line

In other words, the point of salvation (justification) isn't the finish line; instead it's the starting line for a lifelong journey (sanctification).

Discipleship flourishes when we present the gospel as a seamless journey of transformation that begins with new life given by God and moves right along with the joy of following Christ every day.

--Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2006), 43.

Disciples are Born to be Made

In answer to the age-old question, "Are disciples born or made?" I contend they are born to be made. The vision Jesus set into motion meant finding and training more people like the Eleven, a lifelong experience where imperfect people would be shaped into his likeness--marked by progress, not perfection.

--Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2006), 33.

Why Leaders Must Write

Leaders write because words matter and because the written word matters longer and reaches farther than the words we speak.

--Albert Mohler, The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2012), 172.

Not Settling for Average Words

Average leaders are satisfied to use average words in an average way. Effective leaders, those who aspire to lasting and extended influence, will learn to use words as arrows fired from a bow, carefully chosen and aimed in order to accomplish a purpose.

--Albert Mohler, The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2012), 170.

Christian Leadership and Communication

For Christian leaders, the commitment to words is a matter of discipleship and personal devotion, for our faith is communicated by words.

--Albert Mohler, The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2012), 170.

Putting Conviction into Corporate Action

The essence of leadership is motivating and influencing followers to get the right things done--putting conviction into corporate action.

--Albert Mohler, The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2012), 108.

Forgiveness Does Not Restore Credibility

[F]orgiveness does not restore credibility, and character must be seen as something that can be lost far easier than gained, much less restored.

--Albert Mohler, The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2012), 80.

Spurious Conversions

Yet arguably, in the West such spurious conversions turn, in large part, on shallow preaching, bad handling of the Scriptures, little spiritual discernment among many pastors and preachers, and lack of courage in the actual handling of the Bible.

--D.A. Carson, Jesus the Son of God: A Christological Title Often Overlooked, Sometimes Misunderstood, and Currently Disputed (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 104.

Worshiping in Truth

Insofar as our conceptions of [God] diverge from what he has disclosed of himself, so far are we worshiping a false god, which is normally called idolatry. To study hard what holy Scripture says about the Son of God, who has most comprehensively revealed his heavenly Father, is to know more about God, and thus to begin to ground our worship in reality rather than slogans.

--D.A. Carson, Jesus the Son of God: A Christological Title Often Overlooked, Sometimes Misunderstood, and Currently Disputed (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 86.

The Hard but Rewarding Work of Biblical Theology

Many is the Christian who has thumbed through Old Testament pages to find the passage that has been quoted by the New Testament and applied to Jesus, only to feel let down by the fact that the connection is at best obscure, and in some cases seems to be talking about something radically different. It takes some hard work to uncover how these trajectories, these typologies, actually work. But when we take the time and effort to examine them, we are hushed in awe at the wisdom of God in weaving together intricate patterns that are simultaneously so well hidden in their development and so magnificently obvious in their fulfillment.

--D.A. Carson, Jesus the Son of God: A Christological Title Often Overlooked, Sometimes Misunderstood, and Currently Disputed (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 75-76.

God Sets Us Free FROM Sin, and He Sets Us Free TO Obey Him

We have been freed from the weight of the law to live a godly life. We cannot glory in what grace takes us from without also accepting what it calls us to (see Rom. 6:1-14; Titus 2:11-14).

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 203.

We are Always Representing Jesus

We are always representing the Lord. It is never okay to communicate in ways that contradict his message, methods, and character.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 202.

Affecting Others by Our Experience of God's Love

The success of discipleship doesn't depend on soldiering forward in a mechanical strategy of reproduction and multiplication. And discipleship doesn't involve developing a well-trained, elite sales force. Rather discipleship occurs when a transformed person radiates Christ to those around her. It happens when people so deeply experience God's love that they can do nothing other than affect those around them.

--Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2006), 28.

Discipleship is a Way of Life

Discipleship isn't a program or an event; it's a way of life. It's not for a limited time, but for our whole life. Discipleship isn't for beginners alone; it's for all believers for every day of their life. Discipleship isn't just one of the things the church does; it is what the church does. It's not just part of the advancement of God's kingdom; the existence of serious disciples is the most important evidence of God's work on earth.

--Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2006), 24.

Overwhelmed by God's Love

Disciples who are transformed are still overwhelmed with the truth of God's love; they are continually in awe that Jesus loves them. Transformation is stalled when we grow calloused to His love by moving out of a vulnerable posture and into a position of self-dependence.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 220.

Love is the Defining Characteristic of Discipleship

That's actually why love is the defining characteristic of discipleship--because love--true love--can only come from a true, vibrant, and constant experience of the gospel. The gospel is what love is--that's the true measure of love. Those who truly love demonstrate that they have been loved and are growing in their understanding of the great love of God in Christ.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 209.

Playing Disciple

We can become adept at "playing disciple" by our sheer acts of the will. We can even force ourselves into positions of service and postures of generosity. But love? Real genuine love? That's something you can't manufacture.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 208.

Chrisian Faith is Personal but Never Private

Throughout the biblical narrative, community is emphasized and commanded; it is never presented as optional. Many have a misconception that the Christian faith is private. The Christian faith is personal but never private. In fact, the more personal the faith is to a believer the less private that faith becomes. If a person claims his faith is private, he has adopted a view that is contrary to God's. From the development of Israel to the building of the church, He has always gathered His people into groups.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 160.

Regardless of Circumstances, Our Identity in Christ Remains

Opposition, overwhelming circumstances, and suffering remove from us all the things we might be tempted to count on. We find ourselves stripped of those things that we think make us who we are. But in these moments, when we feel so naked, Jesus is willing to step in and remind us that no matter what else happens, we are His followers. We are His disciples...and His brothers and sisters.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 150.

The Gospel is All-Encompassing

[W]e have the tendency to think that our justification is accomplished by Jesus but our growth is accomplished by us. We treat the gospel as if it were the starting blocks of the race of life. We brace ourselves against it and push off, but then we're on our own. The speed at which we run is based on our own muscles. We become Christian legalists.

Transformational discipleship, from a biblical standpoint, is different. Rather than an initial posture of weakness, real discipleship involves a perpetual recognition of our great need. Because of this, the gospel isn't the starting blocks of the race; the gospel is the track itself. It's the basis for the way we run every day of our lives.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 147.

God Helps the Helpless

Leaders have also articulated that "God helps those who help themselves," which has motivated many people to work hard and expect God to "fill in the spaces." The reality of the gospel is that God helps the helpless. When we realize that we are utterly helpless without His grace and power in our lives, we are in a vulnerable posture that welcomes His transformation.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 141-142.

The Great Commission is about Lifestyle

The Great Commission is not only a call to bring people into the kingdom of light, but also a call to teach them to live as children of light once they are there.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 171.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Callous

Drifting leads to a change in our heart. The less attention given to a person, the less affection will occur. The old adage, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," is simply not true for our journey toward transformational discipleship. Absence, in fact, causes callousness.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 115.

Adopted Orphans

The identity we have in Christ is a work done exclusively by God on our behalf. Just as an orphan child does not go out into the suburbs to seek a new family, we do not seek our way into God's kingdom. Rather, the Spirit seeks us out and then transforms our lives by the power of the gospel.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 102.

The Great Exchange

But there is one moment in the Gospels where Jesus does not use "Abba" in His reference to God the Father. When Jesus is on the cross, He yells out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" In this moment Jesus was being condemned for us, becoming sin for us; thus He could not enjoy the close relationship with Abba. He experienced painful separation from the Father so we can experience joyful connection with Him.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 101.

Be Who You Are

God has graciously given us a new identity, and sanctification is the process of becoming what God has already declared us to be. God commands us to live out our calling, to live in response to the great identity He has given (Eph. 4:1; Phil. 3:16). As believers understand their identity, they are empowered by God to flesh out their identity in everyday life.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 96.

Awe for the Gospel

Angels are filled with awe for the gospel; how much more should those who have experienced it? When we are overwhelmed with awe for Jesus and His righteousness freely given to us, we are filled with the motivation to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. We obey because our hearts are melted by the devastatingly refreshing truth of the gospel. The reminder of the gospel motivates us to live out the transformation Christ has already brought to us.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 82-83.

Impressed with the Attractiveness of Christ

Transformational discipleship occurs when people are impressed with the attractiveness of Christ and confronted with the deficiency of lesser gods.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 48.

Real Action Accompanies Real Heart Change

Talk is often cheap. Real faith and real transformation are accompanied by real action. Though transformation occurs in the heart, it is validated by obedience.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 42.

Obedience: The Joyful Result of a Changed Heart

Offensive discipleship understands the power of the gospel, trusts the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, and knows that if Jesus brings His transformation, obedience will be the joyful result. Certainly offensive discipleship includes some protecting as the apostle Paul warned about wolves threatening to hurt sheep, but protection is not the end goal--heart change is the goal.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 33.

Assessing the Human Heart

While defensive discipleship may sound appealing to some, it is theologically inaccurate. Our hearts are not pure in need of protection; they are wicked in need of transformation.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 33.

Christ the Heart-Changer

The distinguishing mark of Christian discipleship is a transformed heart, transformed affections. When someone becomes a true disciple, Christ radically changes the person's appetite.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 29.

The Proper Relationship between Transformation, Information, and Behavioral Modification

Discipleship is transformation, not information overload or behavioral modification. When transformation occurs, there is an increasing hunger for more knowledge of Jesus and His Word, but the primary focus of acquiring knowledge must be the ongoing renewal of the heart. When transformation occurs, behavior will follow. But the focus must be the heart, or the behavior is self-manipulated and short-lived as opposed to flowing from the transformation offered by Christ.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 28.

Discipleship is about Repentance

Leading a ministry that approaches discipleship as merely information and not repentance devalues discipleship and denies the power of the gospel.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 25.

Knowledge of Christ: Condemning or Transforming

Knowledge of Christ will either condemn us or change us.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 24.

Discipleship is about More Than Acquiring Knowledge

The end result of discipleship is not merely the knowledge of all Jesus commanded but the obedience to all Jesus commanded.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 18.

Discipleship is about More Than External Changes

Discipleship apart from Jesus is nontransformational. It may bring changes, but it essentially leaves you in the same spiritual state as it found you. The discipleship may provide education, improve behavior, increase happiness, add value, or make the disciple more skilled at a craft. But these are just changes. It's the reskinning of the same thing on the inside.

--Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 8.

True Greatness

Jesus is saying that we carry those positions of responsibility as those who believe that greatness has little relation to the position one has and more to do with the quality of life in Christ that one humbly offers. Every moment of obscure service makes the hall of fame in heaven. This means that everybody, no matter what color, what economic reality, what gender, or what position they have or will never have in this life can do something great for God.

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 562.

Obscurity and Greatness are NOT Opposites

The problem we have rises when we suggest that obscurity and greatness are opposites, that fame in our culture and greatness as God sees it are synonyms.

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 542.

Looking for the Extraordinary

Church success can damage our souls when definitions of success are removed from what God teaches us in Eden--when ordinary persons and places made in God's image and given by him are not extraordinary or exceptional enough for us.

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 462.

Holy Ground

[W]hen we preach, gather in worship, and hear the voice of God in Jesus, we lay our shoes next to those of Moses and bow down before the one who is "I AM."

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 232.

A Definition of Christian Ministry

I believe that Christian life and ministry are an apprenticeship with Jesus toward recovering our humanity and, through his Spirit, helping our neighbors do the same.

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 217.

True Significance

[B]eing remembered by [God] means we no longer fear being forgotten by the world. Living humanly within his remembrance is enough.

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 215. 

Exodus Points to Jesus

Jesus is the Moses of our salvation, the mediator who goes for us before God. Jesus is the Lamb of our Passover, the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus is our way out of Egypt, the deliverer who baptizes us in the sea of his grace. Jesus is our bread in the wilderness, the provider who gives us what we need for daily life. Jesus is our voice from the mountain, declaring his law for our lives. Jesus is the altar of our burning, through whom we offer praise up to God. Jesus is the light on our lampstand, the source of our life and light. Jesus is the basin of our cleansing, the sanctifier of our souls. Jesus is our great High Priest, who prays for us at the altar of incense. And Jesus is the blood on the mercy seat, the atonement that reconciles us to God. The great God of the exodus has saved us in Jesus Christ. As we come to the end of Exodus, we see as well that Jesus is the glory in the tabernacle.

--Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God's Glory (Preaching the Word; Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), 1161-1162.

The Needed Shift of Allegiance

To the degree that you have based your life on something other than the Lord, to that degree God's love and the hope of the gospel will not comfort you.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 98.

Following Jesus for All the Wrong Reasons

They were excited about following the King--but for all the wrong reasons. I am afraid that many of us respond to Jesus in the same way. What moves and motivates everything we do is not a submission to God's will and a burning desire for his glory, but our own set of personal desires and dreams. We are excited about the King because we see him as the most efficient delivery system for those dreams. You can tell what really excites us when we fall into discouragement and grumbling, when he does not deliver the "good" that we want. The lips that once praised now complain, and the lips that once encouraged now accuse.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 89.

Congregational Singing

A three-way conversation takes place in the public praise of Christians--we speak to God, we speak to one another, and God speaks to the assembly. That's why singing is critical to Christian fellowship. Inside our praise lives a heavenly transaction, a sharing of the life of God.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 167.

Sharing in Christ's Suffering and His Comfort

Paul contends that what Christ experienced in His suffering spills over, now, into His people. What Christ experienced in His comfort spills over, now, into His people. We suffer and we're comforted because we are united with Christ, such that His life of suffering and comfort is completed in us.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 131.

Christianity is a Family Religion

When sin or faults ensnare us, we need adjustment, a course correction. Notice that such a restoration comes from outside ourselves. Others must restore us when we are caught in a fault. Our privatized ideas about the Christian faith do not square with biblical Christianity. Christianity is a family religion. We live the faith dependent upon brothers and sisters.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 112.

The Relationship between Theology and Obedience

[T]he only reason it makes sense to do good to your enemies is that the One who has told us to is a God of perfect justice. The call to forgive is rooted in the fact that Christ has forgiven us. The call to give sacrificially is rooted in God's promise to provide for all our needs. Every command and principle has its roots in redemptive realities--what God has done and will do for us in Christ. This is theology--but it's certainly not abstract information! Scripture is full of theology because when you understand truth about God, you understand why and how you are to carry out the commands of Scripture. You understand how your actions connect with what God is doing, and how you can actually bring glory to his name.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 70-71.

Loving God is the Ground for Loving Your Neighbor

There is an order of importance here: love for God is foundational to everything else. If you do not love God above all else, you will not love your neighbor as yourself. Any lack of love for neighbor, in word or deed, reflects some deficiency in your love for God (see 1 John 4:7-21).

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 62.

Internal Idols Govern Our Speech

Whatever controls our hearts will control our words. In fact, you could argue that if a certain desire controls my heart, there are only two ways I can respond to you. If you help me get what I want, I will enjoy and appreciate you. But if you stand in my way, I will experience (and probably express) anger when you are around. I want something, but because of you I cannot get it, so I will quarrel and fight!

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 58.

Word Problems Reveal Heart Problems

Word problems reveal heart problems. The people and situations around us do not make us say what we say; they are only the occasion for our hearts to reveal themselves in words.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 55.

Out of the Heart the Mouth Speaks

Word problems are always related to heart problems. That's why we will not solve communication problems by dealing only with our words, any more than we would solve a problem with a plant's fruit production by dealing only with the fruit.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 54-55.

Blaming God

Just like Adam, when we blame people and situations for our problems, below the surface we are also making accusations against God.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 24.

Godly Communication Depends on Truth

Good, godly communication is always dependent on truth. Lies, falsehood, and deception always subvert it. Lies not only distort facts, but they destroy the trust necessary for people to talk with one another. Every word we speak is rooted either in the truth or in a lie. Most of our communication problems come because we deceive, distort, and manipulate with our words. We reshape the facts to our advantage. We recast events, often to the point of convincing ourselves that our perspective is true.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 23.

We Speak Based on What We Believe

We do not say the right thing because we do not believe the right thing. This is what happened in the Garden. A Pandora's box of trouble opened as, for the first time, Adam and Eve heard and believed an interpretation that was not consistent with God's.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 22.

We're Always Interpreting Our Circumstances

[Y]ou and I do not respond to the people or circumstances of our lives on the basis of the facts. Our responses are based on the way we interpret those facts.

--Paul David Tripp, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2000), 21.

Biblical Spirituality Needed for Evangelistic Competence

Evangelistic competence for witnessing with the Spirit is the result of a maturing relationship with the triune God and is directly related to the outward expressions of this divine-human fellowship in a lifestyle of biblical spirituality.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 68.

The Gospel Applied by the Spirit is the Only Hope for the Sinner

Fallen sinners are radically corrupted, and there are no hidden elements of truth that might make him favorably inclined to the gospel. Though rational arguments may be used in the process, the truth of Jesus Christ--when applied by the power of the Holy Spirit--is the only means that can break man's rebellion against God's revelation.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 63.

Believing in God's Total Sovereignty Fuels Evangelism

Thus, the sovereign monergistic work of the Spirit in regeneration does not hinder evangelism but rather promotes its necessity, urgency, authenticity, and expectant dependency in God's Spirit for its success.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 61.

The Sovereignty of the Holy Spirit

The Spirit always effectually accomplishes what he has intended to do, whether his purpose is only to vindicate God's righteousness or whether it is also to renew spiritual life (cf. 2 Cor. 2:12-17).

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 61.

The Spirit and the Evangelist

As Thomas Watson states, "Ministers knock at the door of men's hearts, the Spirit comes with a key and opens the door"....While the human witness, therefore, communicates externally to the mind and affections, hoping thus to reach the heart and challenge the will, the Spirit also, and at the same time, communicates internally to the heart and the conscience, often confronting the will and making it willing in the day of his power.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 60.

Vindicating God's Righteousness in Evangelism

Indeed, Scripture suggests that the primary motivation of Spirit-empowered witness is not simply to tell unbelievers how much they are loved by God but rather to vindicate the righteousness of God in damning rebellious sinners who have rejected his Son and to proclaim the mercy and glory of a loving God who promises to save all those who repent and believe even though they deserve damnation.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 59.

What Happens when an Unbeliever becomes a Believer?

If the Spirit joins with the Word in order to effectually call, convict, and illumine the unbeliever, then new spiritual life will be recreated, accompanied by faith and its fruits. By this new life of faith, the once-unbeliever will be irresistibly transformed within and will begin to be shaped into a new form without as well.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 56.

The Relationship between God and His Evangelists (All Christians)

Second, the triune God in Christ has a relationship of communication and fellowship with the evangelist. The evangelist has been united with the triune God in Christ and has been indwelt by the Spirit. Open communication exists, therefore, between them both by the inspired Word and the internal witness of the Spirit (Rom. 8:14-27). Through this constant communication, the evangelist is increasingly anointed, equipped, empowered, and made competent for the evangelistic witness of Christ to unbelievers.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 55.

God's Communication to Unbelievers

First, the triune God has already spoken to the unbeliever by means of general revelation, innate knowledge, and the human conscience. This relationship, however, is a broken conduit of communication, or, perhaps better put, a breaking conduit due to the vortex of vice in the unbeliever's frantic flight away from God (Rom. 1:18-32). The more the loving, gracious God speaks through general and/or special revelation, the more the unbeliever refuses to hear his voice. This broken relationship of communication can only be restored through the unilateral mediation and redemption of Jesus Christ and through the irresistible application of his redemption by the Holy Spirit.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 55.

The Unbeliever's Relationship with God

The evangelist, then, does not join in trialogue with a neutral relationship between two unknown people, but rather, from the very beginning, communicates in a situation that needs reconciliation. God has already spoken, and the unbeliever--whoever he or she may be--has already sinned against him (Rom. 3:9-18).

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 55.

Evangelistic Trialogue

The communication process in all gospel witness is a trialogue....The assortment of Greek lexemes that cluster around the New Testament concept of witness (Greek: martus) all share in common the essential activity of transmitting a message to an audience. It is foundational for our methodology to establish that this transmission--this communication process--is communication among three persons: the human evangelist, the unbelieving sinner, and the triune God.

--Brian A. DeVries, "The Evangelistic Trialogue: Gospel Communication with the Holy Spirit," Calvin Theological Journal 44, pg. 52.

Jonah as Satire

Jonah is portrayed as a character whom his readers would never wish to imitate--nearly his every move is satirized and shown to be a failing. This, of course, despite the fact that he is a prophet.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 147.

The Human Heart's Penchant for Self-Glorification

But the point of the book of Jonah is not to foster disapproval of Jonah. Jonah's example shows that those who have a close external connection to God (Jonah was born among God's chosen people and served as a prophet among them), know the Scriptures well and believe firmly that God exists can still persevere in calm, reasoned rebellion against that same God. They can, moreover, even persist in such rebellion despite God's disciplinary actions. Jonah exhibits a puzzling mix of arrogance and apathy, of self-awareness and blindness that should make us very wary of the human heart's penchant for self-glorification, regardless of how closely we are involved with God's people.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 145.

Stingy Jonah

Jonah wants to receive God's grace without being changed by it, and at the same time to snatch it away from those whose lives are in fact changed by it.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 133.

Repentance Doesn't Obligate God

Although Nineveh had repented, God was in no way obliged to deliver the city because they 'turned from their evil way', but spared them out of pure grace. God acts with grace toward both Nineveh and Jonah, underlining once again the compassionate character so forcefully presented at the beginning of Jonah 4.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 133.

Jonah the Deviant Prophet

When Jonah's deepest convictions and dispositions are contrasted with Yahweh's gracious and compassionate character, the book portrays with immense power the deviant nature of Jonah's attitudes and beliefs.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 123.

God's Consistent Compassion

The author of Jonah seems to want us to make this connection to Exodus 32, and so to see that God's compassion to Israel then is no different from his compassion to Nineveh now, for he has cast his description of God's reaction in Jonah 3:10 in the same words as God's decision to spare Israel in Exodus 32:14. One notable difference exists, however, between those two situations: Israel in Exodus 32 had not yet even repented (though Nineveh had)--Israel was spared only because of God's gracious response to Moses' intercession!

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 123.

Works Don't Cancel Guilt

The OT also has no category for works whose moral value cancels the guilt of previous sin.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 114.

God's Gracious Threats

When we hear God threaten Nineveh with judgment, therefore, we should not see this as one of his eternal decrees (to which we are not privy in any case) that he is modifying 'on the fly.' His relenting, though not forced by human repentance, is nonetheless a gracious response to it. I have described Jonah's message to Nineveh as a 'threat' to highlight the conditional nature of Jonah's message and thus the possibility of such a divine response. Threats by their very nature are intended to change behaviour.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 113.

Nineveh's Partial Repentance

From violence before Jonah, to repentance from violence under Jonah's preaching, and back to violence a few decades later--this is an unconvincing portrait of thoroughgoing repentance.

Where does all this leave us? Nineveh believed in God, turned from her sin in some degree, but did not fully turn to God. In other words, her repentance was partial and incomplete.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 104.

Unforgiven Nineveh

It should not escape our notice that no language of forgiveness or pardon appears in the story--God relents, but the Ninevites' prior sis remain unpunished....The city believed God's word through Jonah, and abandoned their violence and wickedness in the hope that God would spare them. This is a striking moral reform, but there is nothing in Jonah 3 that requires us to say it was more than that.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 103.

Something Askew in Jonah's Prayer

Considered abstractly, the theology of Jonah's prayer is orthodox. But when seen in the context of the book, a very different picture emerges. Jonah has assumed that his relationship with God is healthy while that of the (idol-worshipping) sailors is non-existent, while the narrator has shown that the truth is almost the opposite.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 88.

Self-focused Praying

The one praying for deliverance is more prominent in Jonah's prayer than God the deliverer.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 86.

Jonah: The Irresponsible Prophet

Especially if Jonah's assumption that God was out to kill him was mistaken (as I suggested in the previous chapter), here Jonah is glossing over any personal responsibility for his brush with death by affirming the agency of everyone but himself.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 85.

Jonah's Myopia

Jonah, however, although he is unquestionably in dire straits because of his own disobedience, does not even recognize his sin and so utters not a word of confession.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 82.

God's Universal Kingship Calls for Repentance from All

Even though Israel was almost constantly threatened by Assyria, and would fall to its armies barely thirty years after the end of Jeroboam's reign, the book of Jonah views Israel and Assyria through the largest possible lens, that of humanity under the threat of divine judgment but presented with the possibility of repentance. In doing so it pushes to the side the imperialist motives of Jeroboam II and Assyria alike and reasserts Yahweh's universal kingship and grace, paradoxically pointing to the only way of escape for both Israel and Nineveh.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 74-75.

Pagan Sailors Convert, While the Prophet Runs Away

[The sailors'] reverence for Yahweh is expressed in precisely the same terms that described their fear of the storm: 'and the men feared YHWH with a great fear' (Jon. 1:16). This can hardly be something less than whole-hearted conversion to Yahweh: as already noted, the phrase 'to fear/revere God' in the OT consistently describes those who have and maintain a healthy relationship with Yahweh.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 73.

Doubting Jonah's Motives

Jonah's confession in 4:2-3 that his attitude toward Nineveh has been consistent from the beginning gives us good grounds to doubt that an altruistic motive was uppermost in Jonah's decision to go overboard.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 72.

Trusting God for Who He Is, Not for What He Can Give

[The sailors] recognize Yahweh as God before he has shown that he will not hold them guilty for Jonah's death, and before the storm has abated. Because their religious transformation is evident before they derive any demonstrable benefit from it, it cannot be motivated by pragmatism or self-preservation. In short, they revere Yahweh for who he is, not for what he can give them.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 72.

Jonah the Unrepentant Prophet

Nowhere in this chapter [Jonah 1], or anywhere else in Jonah for that matter, are we told that he repented of his disobedience, so his eventual trek to Nineveh should not be taken as irrefutable evidence that he has fully submitted himself to God's call.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 71.

Jonah the Hebrew

Since Jonah identifies himself first ethnically, then religiously, we may infer that his ethnicity is foremost in his self-identity, though it is clearly of no relevance to the sailors.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 70.

Christian Interdependence

God has created us to be dependent both on Him and on one another. His judgment that “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2: 18) is a principle that speaks not only to the marriage relationship but also to the necessity of spiritual fellowship among all believers. None of us has the spiritual wherewithal to “go it alone” in our Christian lives.

--Jerry Bridges, True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012), Kindle location 763.

His Giving Precedes Our Giving

His giving precedes ours, for it is through the ministry of His Spirit in our hearts that we are prompted to give Him worship, thanksgiving, and obedience.

--Jerry Bridges, True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012), Kindle location 599.

Divine Self-Revelation for Salvation

Indeed, the incarnation culminates the process (primarily verbal before) of God's direct self-revelation for the purpose of salvation.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 40.

Defining Mission in the OT

[A] definition of mission that suits the OT will resemble the following: the transmission of testimony regarding God's person and works of salvation and judgment, usually for the intended purpose of producing faith in his promises of salvation and judgment and conformity to his character and will. This definition leaves open whether mission is initiated by the believer or the audience, whether it is more verbal or behavioral, whether an individual or a community is responsible for this transmission, whether access to God's presence and the means of maintaining one's relationship with him are accessible everywhere or are localized, how much of God's plan of salvation has been accomplished (hence the prominence of the element of promise), whether the witness is intentional on the part of the human participant, and how much the one testifying knows of God.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 39.

Jews and Gentiles Together Face God's Judgment and Receive God's Salvation

The anticipation in prophetic eschatology that both Israel and the nations will come under God's judgment, and that the nations will share in the salvation that comes to Israel, makes a simple opposition between the two categories increasingly difficult to maintain as the history of redemption unfolds.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 29.

Not All Israel is Israel

Further, this inchoate redefinition of Israel across her history is complemented by various eschatological passages in the OT that foretell the completion of this redefinition in the resolution of God's conflict not with the nations per se (an ethnically determined category), but with the forces of unrighteousness that they represent (an anthropological or theological category). Depending on the context, this can mean either that not all of Israel is genuinely part of God's people (Hos. 1:9-10; 2:23), or that non-Israelites are (Jer. 48:47; 49:6, 39 for Moab, Ammon and Elam, respectively).

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 29.

The Erosion of Israel's Identity in the OT

Israel's sin over these centuries progressively erodes her identity as God's people, until she is literally absorbed into the nations. This partial effacing of her identity makes the 'remnant' a very prominent concept in the prophets as they foresee a radically new future for the people of God.

This significant erosion of the distinction between the descendants of Abraham and the Gentiles as the result of Israel's sin indicates that ethnicity is not an absolute indicator of righteousness or religious privilege in the OT.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 28.

Identifying Spiritual Gifts Biblically

One of the bad fruits of an "I" church is that we don't tell people when they bless us. If someone has taught Sunday school and helped us understand a passage of Scripture, then we should tell the person and encourage his or her gift. If worship leaders left us rejoicing that we have been with God's people in his presence, then thank them for the specific ways they blessed you and the church. No one should have to ask what their gifts are; we should tell people their gifts as they minister to us.

--Edward T. Welch, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1997), 205.

Spiritual Gift Obsession

As a counselor, I have spoken with many people who want to know their spiritual gifts. They come hoping for some sort of diagnostic test that will precisely locate them. My impression is that this perspective represents a breakdown in the church. It reflects a church where we are running around as self-actualizing individuals rather than uniting as a God-glorifying community.

--Edward T. Welch, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1997), 204.

Jew-Gentile Relations in the OT

But the gracious and compassionate behaviour of individual Israelites toward individual Gentiles is never optional, and its violation entails a variety of punishments (Exod. 22:23; Deut. 14:29; 24:19). This individual-corporate distinction which applies to both Israelites and Gentiles, appears consistently throughout the OT and eventually becomes part of the NT's elimination of the ethnically based corporate distinction between the two groups.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 27-28.

God's Variegated Gifts

The gifts of God's grace may be more varied than what we have revealed to us. So, we shouldn't be hung up on trying to determine precisely which gift in some list is our gift.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 79.

Spiritual Gifts

A spiritual gift is 'a manifestation of the Spirit' in an individual Christian's life and the church as a whole. In other words, a spiritual gift is how God the Holy Spirit shows up or reveals Himself in your life.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 78.

The Trinitarian Christian Life

It's really remarkable to see how Trinitarian the Christian life is from beginning to end. Consider what the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1. The Father chooses from the foundation of the world the saints whom He calls to Himself (Eph. 1:4). The Son gives Himself, sheds His blood, for the redemption of sinners (Eph. 1:7). The Holy Spirit regenerates and seals the Christian in faith (Eph. 1:13-14). From beginning to end, the Christian life is one lived with each person in the Godhead. It is full communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 77.

The Trinitarian Construction of the Church

Each Person in the Trinity plays a part in putting the church together. Christ creates in His crucifixion a new body called the church ([1 Cor. 12:12]). The Holy Spirit baptizes each person into the body of Christ (v. 13). The Father arranges each member in the body just as He pleases (v. 18).

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 77.

The Lavish Living of Slaves of Christ

We can give no higher praise to God than to profess and live in such a way that everything we do points to Jesus' rule over our lives. Our fellowship with Christ is a fellowship between joyful slave and loving Master--and His yoke is easy and His burden light (Matt. 11:30). He is no cruel ruler; He is the kind of ruler or master who lays down His life for His people. What lavish living for a slave!

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 76-77.

True Spirituality

[E]very Christian is 'spiritual' in the truest sense of the word. There are not two classes of Christians--super-spiritual and ordinary. Because every Christian possesses the Spirit of God through faith, every Christian is spiritual.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 76.

God's Holy Love

The love of God, therefore, is the kind of love that belongs to the Spirit of truth. It is the kind of love that consumes the unrighteous in judgment. It is a holy love, shining without any darkness. The love that lies at the core of God's being is the kind of love you don't want to take for granted or to trifle with. While it is a beautiful and wondrous love, it is also perfect love which delights in righteousness and justice. We would not know this love and its character except that God reveals His love to us.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 62.

Love: The Evidence of Eternal Life

John is not saying [in 1 John 3:14a], 'If you go out and love other people, be a good person, generally pleasant and agreeable but not noticeably different, then you'll make it into heaven by your love.' He is not saying that loving others earns eternal life. John is saying the opposite. He means that the badge, the seal, and the proof that we have this life of God in our souls is that it works itself out in love for other Christians. We know--with confidence, assurance, and certainty--that we have passed from death to life because of our love for one another. He is saying that loving fellow Christians is evidence that new spiritual life has already come.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 59.

The Public Faith of Christianity

Spiritual fellowship with God is a profoundly group experience; it is a public experience....We enter the faith individually and personally, but we live the faith corporately and publicly. We know the life of God in our own souls personally, but we share that life with everyone else who knows it.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 29.

God's Life in the Christian

To be a Christian is to have 'Divine life' resident and reigning in a human being. Such an astounding fact of the Christian life, when properly considered and embraced, liberates and animates all who receive it.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2012), 7.

Divine Authority and Biblical Inspiration

As testimony to the self-manifesting truth of God in the gospel, Scripture is authoritative because it indicates the sovereignty and perfection of God's self-communication. This indication is reliable, and therefore authoritative, because God acts in, with, and over the human authors, ordering their acts of communication in such a way that they are caused to bear fitting and effective testimony. In the theological tradition, this divine oversight is usually termed "inspiration." By this is meant God's superintending of the processes of creaturely text-production.

--John Webster, "Scripture, Authority of," in Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (gen. ed., Kevin J. Vanhoozer; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2005), 726.

Discipleship is More than Pursuing Spiritual Growth

Jesus did not call a bunch of fisherman by saying, "Follow me and I'll help you grow spiritually." He called them to something greater than personal growth. His bid was for them to grow spiritually to the extent that they became fishers of men. They were called into disciplemaking in order that they might do the works of God--that they would be strong enough to make disciples of their own, who would in turn make disciples of others.

--Ralph Moore, Making Disciples: Developing Lifelong Followers of Jesus (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2012), 110-111.

Jesus, the Need-Changer

[W]e should be careful about saying, "Jesus meets all our needs." At first, this has a plausible biblical ring to it. Christ is a friend; God is a loving Father; Christians do experience a sense of meaningfulness and confidence in knowing God's love. It makes Christ the answer to our problems. Yet if our use of the term "needs" is ambiguous, and its range of meaning extends all the way to selfish desires, then there will be some situations where we should say that Jesus does not intend to meet our needs, but that he intends to change our needs.

--Edward T. Welch, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1997), 89.

Needs

But just because I feel a "need" to be loved doesn't mean that this desire is really a "God-given need," a "legitimate need," or a "primal need." Perhaps what I am calling "need" is really disappointment or grief, or perhaps it is my demandingness and lust.

--Edward T. Welch, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1997), 88-89.

When Desire becomes Demand

The loss of good relationships with family members is grievous, and the desire to have good relationships is strong. It is not this desire that constitutes the fear of people. It is when desires are elevated to demands that there are detectable people-idols in our lives. It is when desires become demands that we are more concerned about our desires than the glory of God.

--Edward T. Welch, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1997), 69.

The Continual Presence of Shame

The presence of others leaves us feeling exposed. However, even though it feels as if other people are doing the exposing, in reality we carry the shame with us all the time. Other people simply trigger its appearance.

--Edward T. Welch, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1997), 35.

The Problem with Thinking Self-Esteem is the Problem

You can't simply confer self-esteem upon another person. To assume that other people can control our view of ourselves is what creates low self-esteem in the first place!

--Edward T. Welch, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1997), 29.

Fear of Man

1. We fear people because they can expose and humiliate us.
2. We fear people because they can reject, ridicule, or despise us.
3. We fear people because they can attack, oppress, or threaten us.

These three reasons have one thing in common: they see people as "bigger" (that is, more powerful and significant) than God, and, out of the fear that creates in us, we give other people the power and right to tell us what to feel, think, and do.

--Edward T. Welch, When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1997), 23.

The Law is Not a Way of Salvation

In both Romans and Galatians, Paul is responding to those who insist that salvation comes by the works of the law, as represented by circumcision. To those who represent this view, he replies that if one looks to the law as a way of salvation, it will lead to death, but if one looks to the law as a guide for those already saved, it yields life (cf. Gal. 5:13-25).

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 199.

Obedience as Evidence of Relationship

We must reject the notion that one may enjoy a relationship with God without obedience to his commands, as if status can exist without concrete evidence of the status.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 197-198.

Biblical Love

Speaking biblically "love" is not merely an emotion, a pleasant disposition toward another person, but covenant commitment demonstrated in actions that seek the interest of the next person.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 189.

The Gracious Gift of the Law

The law (including the Decalogue) was neither a way of salvation nor a burdensome obligation; it was a gracious gift, a guide for God's people so they might knowingly respond to his grace according to his will.

This means that impulses to post the Decalogue in public schools and courthouses are fundamentally misplaced. The problem with American society is not that people do not keep the "Ten Commandments"; it is that most have never left Egypt. It is unrealistic and unbiblical to expect those who have not been redeemed to live according to the principles and commitments of the redeemed.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 172.

The Decalogue: Bill of Rights for the Other Guy

Whereas some argue that the Decalogue seeks to protect the power and privileges of wealthy male Israelites, it actually does the opposite, intentionally reining in potential abuse of power by male heads of households. In so doing this document functions as an Israelite version of a bill of rights. However, unlike modern bills of rights, the document does not protect one's own rights but the rights of the next person. Each of the terms may be recast as a statement of another person's rights and the adult males' responsibility to guard the rights first of the covenant Lord, and second of fellow Israelites.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 161.

Moses' Paradigmatic Preaching Proportions

[Deut. 4:32-40] offers pastors a paradigm for preaching, not only in its content, but also in its proportion. In a text consisting of 163 words, Moses uses 109 to tell the story of Israel's historical experience of grace; he uses 26 to reflect theologically on those events; and then he concludes with 26 words of application. This paradigm contrasts with much contemporary evangelical preaching, which, in its drive to be practical, fails to develop the story of God's gracious redemption (or tells it in hurried and passionless tones) and consequently also fails to show the theological implications of that story. Instead we spend our time on pointed but trite and facile application.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 147.

Love in Deuteronomy

[I]n Deuteronomy "love" denotes "covenant commitment demonstrated in actions that serve the interests of the other person." This statement is revolutionary, since the notion of love is virtually absent from the vocabulary of divine-human relationships in the ancient orient.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 144.

Covenantal Conditionality?

The distinction many make between the Abrahamic covenant as unconditional and the Israelite covenant as conditional is false. All covenants involve relationships, the health of which depends on the actions of each party vis-à-vis the other. As anticipated in Genesis 17:7, the Israelite covenant ratified at Sinai was the means by which the promise made within the Abrahamic covenant was fulfilled.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 134-135.

The Ten Words

Contrary to most translations and to pervasive popular usage, the Old Testament never refers to this document as the "Ten Commandments"; these are "ten words" (cf. [Deut.] 10:4; Ex. 34:28). Given the semantic range of the term debārîm, we should follow the early Greek translation and refer to this document as the Decalogue, that is, "the ten words/declarations," or even "the ten principles of covenant relationship."

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 128.

Strong Faith

The measure of faith is not necessarily established by what we can get God to do for us; sometimes strong faith means simply casting ourselves into his loving and gracious arms, trusting him to be with us even in grief.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 111.

Conditional Entitlement

Israelite title to the land is not unconditional. Apart from faith the migration of the Israelites is merely one migration among many (Amos 9:7). There is no automatic title to God's promises for those who refuse to trust him and serve him. This is true for the physical descendants of Jacob as well as for those who claim to be his spiritual heirs.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 87.

God's Sovereignty Over the Nations

God has been involved in the migration of peoples from the beginning. Even though they made no claim of allegiance to the God of Israel, behind the displacement of the Horites by the descendants of Esau, the Emites by the Moabites, the Zamzummites by the Bene Ammon, and the Avvites by the Philistines, Moses recognizes the hidden hand of God. Yahweh, the God of Israel, exercises sovereignty over all nations in all times. Like pieces on a chessboard, he moves them around; he removes some and replaces them with others, and he determines their places.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 86.

Humility in Interpretation

[W]hile the Word of God is authoritative and reliable, our comments on the Scriptures are always in soft lead pencil, subject to correction, modification, and even erasure.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 16.

Praying with Kingdom Values

The "Lord's Prayer" is in fact the model prayer for his disciples. It is not a mantra to be repeated mindlessly or superstitiously but an example of a prayer informed by kingdom values, the kind of prayer a disciple should pray. In such prayer, doxology (exemplified by the first three "your" requests) precedes and permeates requests for human needs (exemplified by the last three "us" requests).

--David L. Turner, Matthew (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2008), 186.

God's Presence as Our Identity Marker

God answered Moses's first question by pointing to Himself. Moses asked, "Who am I?" and God simply replied, "I will be with you." God's response at this point should be fundamental to the way we view ourselves. From the very beginning, God's people are known as those whose God is with them. We belong to Him, and there is no way that we can define ourselves apart from God. It is His presence with us that enables us to accomplish the tasks He gives us.

--Francis Chan, with Mark Beuving, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2012), 130-131.

The Tabernacle's Testimony

The tabernacle testified to the souls of believing Israelites that a holy God would one day come and dwell in the midst of sinners to remove their sins. It testified that the world of sinners needs the help only the Lord can give. It testified that God had to come to earth from heaven, that we who are on the earth might be brought to heaven. In short, the tabernacle testified of Jesus Christ.

--Daniel R. Hyde, God in Our Midst: The Tabernacle & Our Relationship with God (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust, 2012), Kindle location 1101.

The Ordinary Human Language of Scripture

If we say that we shouldn't take God's words at face value, that we need to discover some sort of hidden meaning beneath the plain meaning of the words of Scripture, then we are saying that God is using human language in a way that is different from the way human beings use language. But we have absolutely no indication that this is the case. To the contrary, when God spoke to human beings in the Bible, they understood Him and acted according to the plain meaning of His words. When God told Israel to build a tabernacle, they didn't perform some sort of dance as a spiritual interpretation of His words. Instead, they took His words at face value and created a tabernacle in accordance with the plain meaning of God's words. Our approach to Scripture should be the same.

--Francis Chan, with Mark Beuving, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2012), 130-131.

The Solidarity between Humanity and the Universe

The creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God ([Rom. 8:19]) because it is into that very freedom that the creation too will be delivered (v. 21). In other words, the creation and the children of God are intimately intertwined both in present suffering and in future glory. As there was a solidarity in the fall, so also there will be a solidarity in the restoration.

--Sam Storms, "The Restoration of All Things" in The Gospel as Center: Renewing Our Faith and Reforming Our Ministry Practices (edited by D.A. Carson and Timothy Keller; Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 262.

Worshiping the True God Falsely

We also worship the true God falsely. We may not be tempted to make a golden calf, but we are tempted to turn the God who is there into the kind of God we would like him to be. We want God to teach our minds but not to transform our hearts. We want him to give us a lift when we worship him on Sunday, but we don't want him to govern all our words and actions the rest of the week. We want him to change others, but we don't want him to change us. We want his love without his holiness and his mercy without his justice.

--Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God's Glory (Preaching the Word; Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), 985.

Worship vs. Idolatry

Worship is a biblically faithful understanding of God combined with a biblically faithful response to him. Conversely, idolatry is an unbiblical, unfaithful understanding of God, and/or an unbiblical, unfaithful response to him.

--Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 341.

Nobody does not worship.

[N]obody does not worship. We begin with one fundamental fact about worship: at this very moment, and for as long as this world endures, everybody inhabiting it is bowing down and serving something or someone--an artifact, a person, an institution, an idea, a spirit. or God through Christ. Everyone is being shaped thereby and is growing up toward some measure of fullness, whether of righteousness or of evil. No one is exempt and no one can wish to be. We are, every one of us, unceasing worshipers and will remain so forever, for eternity is an infinite extrapolation of one of two conditions: a surrender to the sinfulness of sin unto infinite loss or the commitment of personal righteousness unto infinite gain.

--Harold M. Best, Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003), 17-18.