GospelDrivenLife

The Deep Things of God with addendum

Fred Sanders, Biola Professor, on the faculty at their Torrey Honors Institute, and a recent teacher of my daughter, has written a barnburner.  That is pretty amazing for theology.

This book is easily on my list of best books in the last year, would be on my top books of the last ten years, and may become one I read again and again.  That latter list is very short.  God has given us a gift of grace through this book. 

Why would I say this?

It is well written. It is rare for me to start into a book and not want to put it down. That is especially true with theology books, and more so with books on the doctrine of the Trinity. That is because most theologians could use a course in good writing.  This book is clear and deep.  It develops the glory of the Godhead and does so without superficial summary or theological jargon. That does not mean it is simplistic.  It will call you to engage with the revealed God of glory.

It is mature. This is not an off the cuff work.  There is depth here.  There are clearly years of reflection.  The author has read widely and thoughtfully in his field. He holds the jewel of the Trinity up in the light and explores its many facets.  That God is Triune is not lightweight, but this truth does not have to be esoteric. Because he has reflected on this for years, Sanders makes a deep subject sing.  He connects the dots clearly and winsomely.  He offers critique with humility and humor.  He offers a grander Gospel and a grander worship and a grander reading of the Bible by showing the meaning of the doctrine of the Trinity.

It is timely. I have grown to see the redemptive center of the Bible.  I am an advocate of Gospel-centrality.  Sanders is gospel centered, but he calls us to revisit the background to the Gospel.  He notes that while our emphasis is the Gospel, when we lose the eternal glory of the Godhead, the Gospel is diminished or narrowed or reduced. 

I think he is correct.  There has been a lack. 

A few, like Piper in God is the Gospel, hinted at it.  Sanders mines it. He takes us back to the eternal glory of God -- the happy life of the Trinity.  What he insists on is this: God as God the Father, Son, and Spirit is the deep foundation of the Gospel.  The goodness of the good news is rooted in the happy and blessed fullness of the Triune God.  In the Gospel this God, our of sheer generosity, gives himself to us.

Sanders picks up where Piper left off. He develops the doctrine more. He notes that while we are emphatic about Christ, grace, sacrifice, atonement, faith, justification -- those emphases become shallow when they are not set deep in the Triune God. 

That is a bit shocking.  I think he wonderfully makes the case.  On the other side of my justification is more than imputed righteousness.  I have been imputed righteous so that God may give himself to me as my God, and I may see his glory.  I think the prayer of John 17, especially vesres 21-26 have taken on a new meaning.

But that is just one instance.  Many times I had flashes of light (as in Eph 1:14-23) come to my heart as he connected the dots.  This is the first book in a long while that has compelled me to stop my reading and adore my God.  It has fueled my sight of the beauty of God in worship on Sunday.  It has stirred new faith for preaching. 

Preachers -- your people need this.  They need a vision of the glory to which the God of grace calls them.

Each chapter is a stand alone, fruitful for extended study and meditation. He shows that this is not just for scholars. Considering the glory of the Godhead is not something I recall thinking about, but Susannah Wesley (mother of 17 I think) did and found it glorious and practical while she tended house.  I do not remember the last time I considered that my prayer or the reading of the Word were Trinitarian.  I could go on.  The quotable quotes are many and fun (that one about Nicky Cruse writing the only book on the Trinity that has a knife fight!)

It is in the Great Tradition. But one more item. I have become more and more persuaded that my calling is to be as unoriginal as possible.  I am passing on the deposit of faith, entrusted to the Apostles.  I have also become more and more persuaded that history informs my grasp of Scripture.  I am an heir to the Great Tradition. 

For some years now I have been dipping into writings on the Trinity and the early church fathers. I have noted their influence on early Protestants too.  I am one who, without reading them, used to think the fathers missed it.  I now think, and Sanders confirms, that they got it better than I do.  When they wrote the Trinitarian creeds, they had a grasp of the deep source of our salvation.  God the Father Almighty, his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son are working symphonically to save, to redeem, and to exalt the bride of Christ into their presence. Chalcedon was profound.  

Some may not have missed these rich resources of faith.  Perhaps I have just been in the narrow confines of sectarian American evangelicalism. But the early church fathers had a grasp on God in Trinity and the Incarnation that is rooted in Scripture and life-shaping. I want to consider it more.

Fred is in that Tradition, though he carefully confines his citations to the rich resources within Protestant evangelicalism. He is not calling us to become liturgical.   He is calling us to bring out of the background what we know to be true,  He is calling us to rediscover the resources of our our tributary of the Great Tradition. 

I for one want to go back to learn from those men and the ones who went before them.  I am grateful for this book which I hope sells out and is reprinted and circulated to as many people as possible.  It is a gift to see the glory of the Triune God as the root and foundation of our redemption.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Addendum: This is Dr Sanders life message.  Its implication and applications and connections to life can be worked out for many years to come.  My wife, who is a woman soaked in the Word and in the Triune God, wants to apply this to her daily life.  She is asking for a chapter in a future book called, "The Tacit Trinitarianism of Housework" and with it, "The Tacit Trinitarianism of Marriage and Family." 

The Gospel must be everything

What do we mean by Gospel centered? That is a question that is often asked. It is so important.

While there may be many ways to state an answer, this is what I mean: That the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the most significant event in time and eternity. It means that when God writes the final edition of the newspaper, “Great events of history”, it will have one story – Jesus the Son of God was given by the Father and took on flesh, lived a sinless life in submission to the Father, offered up his life as a once for all sacrifice for sinners, then was buried, and broke the power of death in his resurrection. It has many implications.

Here are a variety of thoughts about this:

The Sufficiency of Jesus, 1

We have all known the experience of being in something that was “over our heads.” What we mean by that is that we cannot find the resources within ourselves to face the challenge. Neither our experience nor our learning nor our strength nor our friends and counselors are able to overcome the deficiency.

I do not like being in “over my head.” The image is frightening – going under water, holding one’s breath. Drowning is scary. As I the season finale of LOST I almost stopped breathing when Desmond held his breath under water as long as he did!

Anxiety and fear are the two major indicators that we are outside our resources. Both are what I do in my pride when I marshal all my energies to take control of life and nothing happens. I try to speed up the clock and it does not comply. I try to guarantee a solid savings for retirement and the Dow Jones does not comply. I want to find spouses for my children. I want my sermons and ministry to be far more fruitful than they are. And in every case, whether a frustrated ambition or a threatening disaster, I am out of my powers to affect safety, fruit, security, health, etc So I am fearful, worrying, anxious.

Here is the last truth about Jesus I have been studying: he was never over his head!.

Substitution: Here we Stand

I am not inclined to controversy and find much of it unproductive. But I think there are some very large issues at hand.

There is a remarkable divide happening among professed Christians today, and Adrian Warnock is pointing it out to us over here.  I am not old but I have lived through the revision of many doctrines in the Western church -- the nature of Scripture was considered a "non-essential" in the 70's and 80's -- then there was the doctrine of eternal punishment in the 80's -- and just now both the centrality of the church and the wisdom of the Creator in forming of gender is up for grabs.  The move is to make every thing optional to orthodoxy.

We can bicker about the widening of these boundaries, none of which I agree with.  But at the meaning and accomplishment of the Savior upon the cross, here we must stand.  UCCF is to be commended. It is not pride, but humility, that compels people to hold fast to the truth of God as revealed and as agreed upon for 2000 years.  It is pride to think to re-write the word of God or to think our day is wiser than 2 millennia of  godly study and conclusion.  It is humility to draw those lines with grace and a desire to see agreement, and to point out error without maligning those who teach it.

As the debate goes on, I would add this: we must beware of the slippery use of misquotation. John Stott in agreement with Chalke?  Here is Stott: We strongly reject, therefore, any explanation of the death of Christ that does not have at its center the principle of "satisfaction through substitution" . . . .(158, Cross of Christ)

And we must beware of those who represent church history as mixed or divided.  Let us check out the facts. Having read McLaren's treatment on the various theories of the atonement, I found his treatment historically inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the facts.  Substitution lies at the heart of all theories.

 As the debate rages on, may we have the diligence to check out the references and quotations on either side.  While we draw lines in the sand, our goal is also to convince of error those who wish to minimize the substitution of the Savior for sinners at the cross -- and to persuade them to embrace the full teaching of the NT. 

The Measure of a Sermon: Disabusing us of self

Here is another measure of a Gospel-driven sermon: it disabuses people of their self-righteousness and self-help. . . .

The Measure of a Sermon, 7

Here is another thought: is conviction of sin the measure of a sermon?  I am not sure why, but I used to notice that people would give me the most response to a sermon that was the most demanding.  "Oh Pastor, that was such a wonderful sermon, I was so very convicted."  Should I have found this encouraging?

The Measure of a Sermon, 6

Let me set out a few balancing remarks.  I am convinced that the calling of the minister of the Word is to preach as though the death of Christ has happened, the tomb is empty, death and immortality have been brought to light, and the savior is at God's right hand.  A tone of moral exhortation not founded in the complete work and glorious person of the Savior is contrary to the Scriptures.  Moralism was then, and it is now, the greatest enemy of the Gospel.  "How- to" preaching, that is not soaked in the utter inability of man to save himself and the utter readiness and ability of God to do so through Christ -- is a false Gospel.

But the Gospel is so clear that it actually makes greater demands -- and empowers us in those demands.  Let me give some examples.

The Measure of a Sermon, 5

At this point in the postings, the question comes -- if all we do is preach Christ, will this not lead to moral laxity?  will people not presume upon grace and abound in sin?

I think that question is a wonderful indication that we have made the grace of God and the Savior's sufficiency clear enough -- for that is exactly what Paul heard when he proclaimed the Gospel well.

The Measure of a Sermon, 4

I have learned a great deal from my wife. She is a gift to me – and God has used her in my life more than any other human. One of the lessons she has taught me is about motivation and grace. She did this in the kitchen . . . .

The Measure of a Sermon, 3

I have a few more thoughts on this subject.  I have been reflecting on the apostolic pattern of preaching.  My own conviction is that we are to follow their pattern -- their emphases and focus and method are our guide.  I recently did a quick study of the use of the imperative mood in the NT.  I was shocked at what I found.