In this our last installment in our series on our great high priest in Hebrews, we come to 2.1-18, where the author of Hebrews finishes what he started in 1:5-14.

As we contemplate the Son in the new state He has entered and with the new honor He has received, the author of Hebrews warns us: how can we ever turn a deaf ear to God's speech in one as glorious as the Son (2.1-4)? Punishment was inescapable for neglecting God's previous communication through inferior angels at Sinai (1.1; 2.2): it will be even more so if we neglect God's final communication through the superior of those angels, the Lord who is the Son (2.3). To impress upon us further the seriousness of this warning, our teacher continues to contrast the Son with the angels.

Heb 2.5-18. Remarkably, our teacher puts the accent on the Son's historical glorification with His eternal deity in 1.5-14, but in 2.5-18 he shifts the accent to the Son's humanity and humiliation. Surprisingly, our preacher argues for the Son's superiority to the angels by saying that the Son, both as man and as God, is much better than the angels. In 1.4-14, he introduced the general theme of the Son's supremacy, citing Ps 110.1 in 1.3 as well as in 1.13. In 2.5-18 our author resumes his theme of the Son's superiority, only now he focuses on His supremacy by conquest as promised in Ps 110. Strikingly, in both the world that now is and the world to come, the Son effects a change for the better in the relationship between man and angels.

Quoting Ps 8.4-6 to focus our reflections, our teacher makes it clear in 2.8b-18 that the glory of the conquest promised in Ps 110.1 will belong not to the angels, but to man. More than that, the man qualified to receive this victory will not be just any man. No, Ps 8.2 tells us that God's design is for the weak to conquer the strong. In truth, God ordained the ironic character of the conquest before the fall, and He then reasserted it after the fall.

The character of conquest before and after the fall. Before the fall, man was blessed to rule the created order (Gen 1.28) and was commissioned to keep Eden's garden sanctuary secure and pure according to God's commandments (Gen 2.15-17): conquest would thus belong to man even in his creaturely weakness and humility as long as he remained upright. According to Genesis 3, however, man was overcome by God's enemy - a former cherub angel, no less - and was delivered with his seed over to death and defeat. When He announced His coming victory over the serpent and his seed in Gen 3.15, God reasserted His design to conquer the strong through the weak. Even in death, the weak would conquer the strong, for God had appointed the death of one upright Man as the way to new life for many among the fallen seed of the one fallen man.

Fallen man made subject to the angels. Still awaiting the victory to come, God rose up to reveal His holy wrath against sin by cleansing Eden's sanctuary. He effectively took away from man the priestly task of keeping the garden secure and pure and transferred it to the cherubim angels (Gen 3.24). Man was thus subjected to the angels (Heb 2.7a) until the arrival of that one Seed who would qualify to return to God's presence by passing through the flaming sword of judgment with which those angels were armed.

The Man of Gen 3.15 and Psalm 8. The arrival of that qualified Man moves our teacher to recall Psalm 8: the Son, the Creator God, has condescended and become the Man of Gen 3.15 and Psalm 8! In His state of incarnation (2.14), the Son overcame the temptations to sin in that which He suffered (2.18). While contending with the indignities of this world, the temptations of the devil, and the infirmities in His flesh, He put His trust in God (2.13a), even unto death, and was thereby perfected as the champion of salvation for the children whom the Father had given Him (2.13b). For the children's sake He defeated the one who had the power of death, inflicting mortal suffering on the devil as He Himself endured mortal suffering (2.9, 14). For the children's sake He faced down the terrors of death, releasing them from the fear of death into the hope of resurrection (12.2; 6.18-19; 11.35). Though feeling the weight of God's wrath, He laid down His life as a propitiation for the sins of the people (2.17). All this He did, bearing the reproach of man's exile from Eden in being made lower than the angels for a time, so that by grace (2.9) and mercy (2.17) He might qualify man again for the glory (2.10) of life with God.

At the beginning of the ages, the Lord drove man from the earthly sanctuary (Gen 3:23), and the cherubim resisted his return (Gen 3:24). Now, at the end of the ages (Heb 1.1), the Lord has restored man, through the incarnate Son, to the heavenly sanctuary, and the angelic hosts now assist Him to maintain its security and purity for those who will inherit salvation.

How, then, is it that the saints persevere in the faith? As we have seen in this three-part series, the grace of perseverance becomes ours as we receive and rest upon Christ alone as He is presented to us in the Word. Let us be careful, therefore, never to deemphasize or conceal, much less reject and deny so great a high priest as Jesus, for He is the Son, incarnate God, greater than the prophets and the angels.

How is it that we saints persevere in the faith? The grace of perseverance becomes ours as we receive and rest upon Christ alone as He is presented to us in the Word. According to Heb 1.1-3, He is the Son greater than the prophets of old. But there is a second answer to our question in Heb 1.4-2.18: our great high priest is the Son who is greater than the angels. The angels come before us in Hebrews in two capacities: 1) as heavenly messengers who delivered the old covenant revelation at Sinai (2.2); and 2) as post-fall guardians of access to God's presence, initially in Eden's holy garden-sanctuary (2.7 with Gen 3.24) and later in the most holy place of the old covenant sanctuary (9.5 with Exod 25.18-22). Let us look in this study at the teaching of Heb 1.4-14.

In 1.4, our teacher contrasts the Son and the angels, encapsulating in that contrast the reason for the Son's rest at the Father's right hand. The Son's exaltation is based, he tells us, especially though not exclusively on what the Son "has become" and the name the Son "has inherited." In 1.5-14 our teacher accents the fact that the Son is in a new state of exaltation. This is not to say that the Son, born as man, has now become God. Rather the Son, who has always been the exalted God, has now been exalted as man. In fact, the seven OT texts in 1.5-14 with which our teacher expands on his statements in 1.4 contain some of the most sublime declarations of the Son's eternality and deity in all of Scripture. In this context, however, the Son's supremacy to the angels does not rest so much on His eternality and deity. Rather, the Son's supremacy rests especially on the new state He has entered and on the new honor He has received. Keeping these things in mind, let us see how our teacher's citations describe the exaltation of the Son.

Heb 1.5-6. First, in 1.5-6 the writer teaches us that the Son who has taken His seat on high is the One whom the Father had begotten, that is, in this context, begotten as the firstborn from the dead (cf. Col 1.18; Rev 1.5). Though other texts will teach the Son's eternal generation and identity as the firstborn of all creation (e.g., Heb 1.2; see also Col 1.15-17), the preceding and following contexts of 1.5-6 imply that it is most probably His re-emergence into the world at His resurrection from the dead that is in view in 1.5-6. It is thus in the new, post-resurrection phase of the Son's messianic role in history that He and the Father are said now to enjoy their unique father-son relationship.

Heb 1.9. Second, in 1.9 our teacher tells us that the Son who has received the Spirit-oil of gladness from His God and Father is the One who had rendered to God the perfect obedience that satisfied His law (cf. Acts 2.33-36; Eph 4.7-11). To be sure, the writer mentions the Son's eternality, deity, and royalty in 1.8. Our teacher's focus in 1.9, however, is the Son's new status: He is the servant who in life and in death subjected Himself to God's law and is now rewarded for His obedience.

Heb 1.13. Finally, in 1.13 our instructor both echoes and elaborates his claim in 1.3. The Son who gave Himself as the final sacrifice for sins (1.3b) is not only seated in heaven: He now awaits the reward of final victory for His obedience. The Son, who is the immutable Lord and builder of the cosmic holy house in 1.10-12, is also in 1.13 the Son who, after humbling Himself, has already been exalted at His first coming and will again be exalted at His second coming (Heb 9.28). Thus, our teacher places the Son before us once more, both in His immutability as the eternal God and in His mutability as the once humiliated, now glorified man - who will be glorified yet again!

All told, then, according to our teacher, the exaltation of the Son our high priest is undeniably connected with His eternality and immutability, but it is not completely or exclusively explained by those attributes. According to Heb 1.4-14, the esteem we are to have for the Son, particularly in contrast to the angels, will come as we appreciate not only His role in the history of creation, but especially His role in the history of redemption. In other words, we understand His priesthood better if we first see Him as the resurrected and ascended God-man.

How, then, is it that the saints persevere in the faith? The grace of perseverance comes to us as we receive and rest upon Christ alone as He is presented in the Word: He is the Son who is greater than the angels. Our high priest is now and forever, in His one Person, God ever-glorious and man at long last glorified.

In Heb 1:1-3, Christ our great high priest is introduced to us as one who is first and most basically the Son. Though, overall, the writer emphasizes the Son's priestly office, our esteem for the Son comes first by seeing Him in His relationships with God and others who are part of the history of creation, revelation, and redemption. Remarkably, in those relationships, we see that the Son has not always been a high priest in the same state in which He is now a high priest: yes, God the Son has always been a priest to His people but He has not always been such in His present incarnate state. Each of the descriptions in 1.1-3 carries implications that we must consider all too briefly.

Heb 1.1-2a. The Son in whom God now speaks appears "in these last days," that is, at the culminating point in the history of special revelation. Positioned as He is in this final, eschatological position, we see the Son in relation to those who preceded Him historically, namely, the prophets - presumably Moses and the prophets who follow him. Through them God spoke during a long and varied history of special revelation. Yet the Son, we are told, supersedes them all. The Son is that prophet for whose appearance they had waited since Deut 18.15: He is the one who would lead God's people to spiritual liberty and who would mediate a better covenant (Deut 30.6-10; Jer 31.31-34; Heb 8.10; 10.16). In other words, the Son is superior to the prophets because He has spoken the final revelatory words and has accomplished the final liberating (i.e., redemptive) work!

Heb 1.2b-3a. Moving beyond the Son's present place in the history of revelation, our writer draws our imaginations to the eternal covenantal purpose of God (see also 10.7; 13.20; Eph 1.9-10; 3.11; Acts 2.23). According to that eternal purpose, the Son, anointed by the Spirit, was to obey His Father's will and thereby become the firstborn heir of all creation. In other words, we behold the Son not only as He has come to be in history, but also as He was in the pre-creation situation in relation to God and all things. As the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, we see that the Son has been a distinct person from the Father but of same essence as the Father. As the One through whom the Father made the worlds of time and space, we see that the Son was the builder of the visible temple of heaven and earth (1.10 with 3.4): He was before all things, and all things are from Him. As He governs all things by His powerful word to their proper goal, we see that all things are to Him. So before we properly consider the Son as priest, we consider Him as someone not only greater than the prophets in the history of revelation, but also as a "before creation, above history" Person equal to God in essence and distinct from the Father, the Alpha and Omega of creation and history.

Heb 1.3b. With the extraordinary portrait of the Son in relation to all things as prelude in 1.1-3a, our preacher sets our high priest before us in 1.3b, referring both to His sacrifice and to His post-sacrifice session. The two clauses in 1.3b carry deep and broad theological implications. Suffice it to say that in 1.3b we are already being told that this priest is greater than Levi (Aaron). Particularly by using the wording of Ps 110.1, our teacher brings the joyful news that the Son is a priest at rest. No longer standing but rather seated (Heb 10.11-14), the posture of our great high priest signals that Zion's priest has succeeded where Sinai's priests could only fail. The ramifications of the Son's work and rest are staggering. He has done the work of offering the sacrifice that cleanses sinners: sacrifice is finished; forgiveness is granted! Now the sons of Levi are purified; now the worshipers they represented are reconstituted as a holy nation of priests (cf. Mal 3:1-4)! Now the cleansing of the cosmic temple is begun, for earth was the site of His sacrifice and heaven is the site of His session!

How is it that the saints persevere in the faith? The grace of perseverance becomes ours as we receive and rest upon Christ alone as He is presented to us in the Word: He is the Son who is greater than the prophets of old.

On a dark Friday afternoon two thousand years ago, an itinerant preacher and miracle worker hung on a Roman cross just outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. A small crowd gathered to observe the agonizing death of this man who, with His claim to be the very Lord of the universe, had aroused the ire of the temple authorities. Many in this crowd believed that they were doing a service to God and country by executing this popular teacher. Others remained bewildered that the one they called Messiah was suffering a death reserved only for the worst of criminals.

Neither friend nor foe understood exactly what was going on that day. Though many strange things happened at the moment of His death, few realized that in Jesus, God was fulfilling His plan of redemption. Scarcely any knew that when He cried out "It is finished!" (John 19:30), Jesus fulfilled the will of His Father and brought satisfaction to Israel's longing for salvation.

If there is one theme that underlies the entire book of Hebrews, it is that of accomplished redemption. In conjunction with the author of Hebrews, we could approach this theme from a variety of different angles. We could emphasize Jesus as the final revelation from the Father (Heb. 1:1-4). We could point out the truth that Jesus alone brings His people into their eternal Sabbath rest (3:7-4:13) because He alone brings us rest from sin. We can highlight Jesus' role as the perfect High Priest who satisfies the wrath of God once-for-all for His people (9:12-14). From beginning to end, Jesus' cry of "It is finished!" reverberates in the epistle to the Hebrews.

Because of the clear emphasis on the work of Christ found therein, Hebrews is a book well-loved by systematic theologians. The doctrines of substitutionary atonement, Christ's humiliation and exaltation, faith, perseverance, and the deity of Jesus are all so clearly presented, and they provide rich material for our understanding of the nature of God and His plan.

Perhaps James has been less used than Hebrews in the formulation of systematic theology. Nevertheless, James has also been a well-loved book in the church. The brother of our Lord is so intensely practical in His work that his epistle is mined to answer the question: "How am I to live as a Christian?"

This is a question that we all must ask because the gospel not only puts us into right standing with God, it also transforms our daily lives. Paul and the author of Hebrews recognize this, placing the practical applications of the gospel near the end of their epistles. James, however, stands out in that his practical admonishments are found so clearly enumerated and highlighted throughout His epistle. His teachings regarding systematic doctrine are somewhat less obvious, and so James is sometimes ignored when Christians pursue the study of theology.

Unfortunately, it is far too common to separate the study of doctrine from the pursuit of holy living. Many people study theology without asking questions like: How does a right understanding of God instruct me regarding my treatment of other people? Others focus rigidly on living moral lives without asking, How do the commands of Christ reveal the gracious and forgiving nature of God? However, as James shows us, if we do not ask such questions, we have not really understood doctrine at all.

The practical ways to live out the gospel are clear throughout James. The doctrinal assumptions that underlie this instruction, though no less important, are somewhat less clear at first glance. But James does in fact have a rich understanding of Christian theology. That he is sometimes ignored when we are systematizing the teaching of Scripture points more to our inadequate understanding of the nature of theology than to James' supposed lack of doctrinal instruction.

James has a thorough knowledge of the character of God. We see this mainly in his use of the names of God. God is Father (James 1:27) and therefore loves His children deeply. Yet God is Judge (5:9) and thus is required to punish sin. God's love and righteousness, we know, motivated Him to accomplish redemption for us based on the sacrifice of His perfect Son who suffered the punishment we all deserve.

James also clearly understands that God is sovereign, in control of all things, bringing all creation to glorify Him. God's providence necessitates that we recognize that only those things that He has decreed will come to pass (4:14-15). God is called "Lord" (3:9), emphasizing His rule over all things. This sovereignty works itself out in election. By His will alone God has called out those whom He has saved (1:18). It is God who sovereignly implants His Word in those whom He has chosen to receive Christ (v. 21). And if James understands election, He understands that redemption was accomplished for the sake of these elect.

James wants us to apply the gospel even to the most "ordinary" circumstances in life. But make no mistake, the gospel he knows is based upon the perfect merit of Christ and His redemption fully accomplished more than two thousand years ago. Even in James, the cry "It is finished!" is heard loud and clear.

The culture wars are heating up again. Such, I suppose, ought not to surprise me. Evangelical professor of sociology James Davidson Hunter published his book Culture Wars in 1992. Therein he argued that the real dividing line in modern culture was not between right wing and left wing, not between Christians and non-Christians, but between the orthodox and the progressives. The orthodox, he argued, were all those who affirmed some sort of transcendent source of truth and morality. The progressives denied the transcendent. The orthodox included then not only evangelical Christians, but conservative Roman Catholics, orthodox Jews, fundamentalist Muslims, and even old-school Mormons. The latter, by contrast, included liberal Protestants, nominal Roman Catholics, unobservant Jews, non-strict Muslims, and doubting Mormons. Our "allies" in the culture war together affirmed that there was a God and that this God has revealed Himself and His will for men. What they disagreed about was who this God is and what He has told us.

Hunter's work begat more books on the same theme. Michael Horton published Beyond Culture Wars. Peter Kreeft wrote Ecumenical Jihad. Hunter penned a sequel, Before the Shooting Starts. Even David Wells' trenchant series of theological books, beginning with No Place for Truth, carried a heavy sociological tinge to them. But then, for some reason, the culture wars seemed to die down. Perhaps it was the shock of September 11 that directed our focus elsewhere. That the same kind of rhetoric is rising again, however, at least suggests a different explanation. Could it be that we beat our cultural plows into swords when a Democrat occupies the White House and beat our swords into plows when a Republican holds court?

The culture wars, rightly understood, are ultimately only one manifestation of the broader war first declared in Genesis 3. There God promised the serpent that He would put enmity between him and the woman, between his seed and her seed. He promised in the end that the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman but also that his head would be crushed. As we remember this reality, and that this war will not be fully finished until Jesus returns, we remember to live our lives in light of this war. We prepare ourselves for battle, and we seek the wisdom to discern who our enemies and friends are, as well as where the battle lines have been drawn.

It is not difficult, for instance, to discern the Devil's hoof prints all over naturalistic Darwinism. That this is folly is easy enough to discern. Those, on the other hand, who stand ready to affirm the historicity and the inerrancy of the Genesis account of creation are our friends and co-belligerents. Where though, do we place that movement known as Intelligent Design? Are these scholars and scientists friend or foe?

Advocates of Intelligent Design have a great deal going for them. First, they rightly reject the obvious folly of Darwinism. In an age where the acceptance of Darwinian dogma is virtually a loyalty test for acceptance into the academic realm, these men have stood firm and faithful. They have been wounded grievously by our enemies. Second, these good men have made strong, even compelling cases for the necessity of design in the creation of the universe. They are, in a manner of speaking, not only thinking God's thoughts after Him, but are teaching others to do the same. And third, they have, happily, embarrassed our enemies. Darwinists come off rightly as half-armed when battling wits with ID advocates.

For those of us glass-half-empty people, however, there remain important questions. It is well and good to reject Darwinism. However, this is not at all the same thing as championing the truthfulness of the Word of God. Do we long for the day when the world affirms that there is a maker of heaven and earth or do we long for the day when the world confesses that Jesus Christ, by whom all things were made, is Lord of heaven and earth? Are we, when we seek to answer the question of origins without appealing to the revelation of the Originator, answering a fool according to his folly, as we ought (Prov. 26:5), or are we answering a fool according to his folly as we ought not (v. 4)?

In the end, Christian advocates of Intelligent Design at least have this right -- that the God who made the world reveals Himself in and through the world. We need never fear learning from the creation. It, after all, declares His glory day after day. On the other hand, it is not merely the general revelation of God where we must stand, but on the Word of God. There is the solid ground. There is safety and security. We need not seek to curry favor with those who would gainsay the Word of God. We need instead to call them to repentance.

Our allies in the great war are all those for whom our Commander has died. That includes, of course, not just Christians committed to the biblical account of creation. It also includes those committed to Intelligent Design. It even includes those who trust in the finished work of Christ alone, while affirming theistic evolution. All of us, wherever we are on this spectrum, however, need to strive daily to be more faithful to His Word, to be set apart and distinct from the world around us. And all of us are called to love one another along the way.

*****

Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. is founder of the Highlands Study Center in Mendota, Virginia, 
and is author of Believing God: 12 Biblical Promises Christians Struggle to Accept.

Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. explains how the kingdom is advanced in our everyday lives and gives us a picture of how all things in life fit into the battle between God and the Devil in his column Seek Ye First.

René Descartes intentionally doubted everything he could possibly doubt until he reached the point where he realized there was one thing he couldn't doubt. He could not doubt that he was doubting. To doubt that he was doubting was to prove that he was doubting. No doubt about it.

From that premise of indubitable doubt, Descartes appealed to the formal certainty yielded by the laws of immediate inference. Using impeccable deduction, he concluded that to be doubting required that he be thinking, since thought is a necessary condition for doubting. From there it was a short step to his famous axiom, "I think; therefore I am." At last Descartes arrived at certainty, the assurance of his own personal existence.

The lesson we learn from Descartes is this: When assailed by doubt, it is time to search diligently for first principles that are certain. We build upon the foundation of what is sure. This affects the whole structure of apologetics. It is a matter of order.

Coram Deo: Reflect on what Paul calls the foundational principles of Hebrews 6:1-3. Do you have a good basic understanding of these principles?

1 Corinthians 3:10-11: "According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

1 Timothy 6:18-19: "Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

2 Timothy 2:19: "Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are His' and, 'Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'"

If we think the Bible teaches universal salvation, we may arrive at a false sense of assurance by reasoning as follows: Everybody is saved. I am a body. Therefore, I am saved.

Or, if we think salvation is gained by our own good works and we are further deluded into believing that we possess good works, we will have a false assurance of salvation.

To have sound assurance, we must understand that our salvation rests on the merit of Christ alone, which is appropriated to us when we embrace Him by genuine faith. If we understand that, the remaining question is, "Do I have the genuine faith necessary for salvation?"

Again, two more things must be understood and analyzed properly. The first is doctrinal. We need a clear understanding of what constitutes genuine saving faith. If we conceive of saving faith as existing in a vacuum, never yielding the fruit of works of obedience, we have confused saving faith with dead faith, which cannot save anyone.

The second requirement involves a sober analysis of our own lives. We must examine ourselves to see whether the fruit of regeneration is apparent in our lives. Do we have a real affection for the biblical Christ? Only the regenerate person possesses real love for the real Jesus. Next we must ask the tough question, "Does my life manifest the fruit of sanctification?" I test my faith by my works.

Coram Deo: What is your response to the questions posed in this reading: Do you have the genuine faith necessary for salvation? Do you have a real affection for the biblical Christ? Does your life manifest the fruit of salvation?

Psalm 9:14: "That I may tell of all Your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation."

Psalm 13:5: "But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation."

Psalm 20:5: "We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions."

In this article I want to address a particular problem: What we might do as Christians with those who see themselves as "alumni" of the Christian faith. By that I mean those who once professed that Christ shed His blood, freely justified them before God, forgave their sin, gave them eternal life -- but now they don't believe it.

Given my limited space, I can only deal with today's "sad ones," the "having-given-up-on-it-all" ones. (In the full address of which this article is a condensed version, I also talk a little about the gospel of Christ for today's "mad ones," the angry ones.)

For some reasons that I think are fairly specifiable, more people than we would like to think leave "Bible-believing" Christianity. Some are sad about it. Some are mad about it. In our day, there are so many of these people that it is hard not to come into contact with them. Many of these people were broken by the church. I know that sounds harsh. As Christians, it's upsetting to hear words like that. But for many people, this is how they really see what has taken place in their lives.

By the "sad alumni" of the Christian faith, I mean the hundreds whose acquaintance with the Christian church was often one in which they were helped to move from unbelief (or from rank moralism) into professing faith in Jesus Christ. They heard the preaching of God's law and then heard the announcement of Christ's work on their behalf on the cross -- Jesus as the God-man who met the Law's demands for them and died for their sin, died to save them, died to give them eternal life. And they came to believe that the cross of Christ was their salvation.

But something happened after that, something that broke them. And, in many cases, I think what happened is nameable. It has to do with what our first president at Christ College Irvine called "law-gospel-law." It's that third point that, if executed badly, results in a lot of the "sad alumni" of Christianity. If Reformation folk execute this badly, the sensitive Christian believer can be driven to a slavery as bad as any slavery done by any totalitarian dictator. If the Ten Commandments were not impossible enough, the preaching of Christian behavior, of Christian ethics, of Christian living, can drive a professing Christian into despairing unbelief. Not happy unbelief -- tragic, despairing, sad unbelief.

In the beginning, it seemed that now that we had been justified by the death of Christ, we were equipped to obey verses like "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). Or in 1 John 3:9: "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning." Or Paul in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." And then, the unexpected. Sin continued to be a part of our lives; it stubbornly would not allow us to eliminate it the way we expected. Continuing sin on our part seems to be evidence that we aren't really believers at all. We start to imagine that we need to be "born again again."

When the major stress in pulpit and curriculum shifts from "Christ outside of me, dying for me" to "Christ inside of me, improving me," the upshot is always the same: many broken, sad ex-Christians who despair of being able to live the Christian life as the Bible describes it. So they do what is really a sane thing to do -- they leave. The way it looks to them is that "the message of Christianity has broken them on the rack." To put it bluntly, it feels better to have some earthly happiness as a pagan and then be damned than it feels to be trying every day as a Christian to do something that is one continuous failure -- and then be damned anyway.

The key question here is a very basic one: Can the cross and blood of Christ save a Christian (failing as he is in living the Christian life) or not? Most of us would say, I hope, that the shed blood of Christ is sufficient to save a sinner all by itself. So far, so good.

But is the blood of Christ enough -- all by itself -- to save a still-sinful-Christian? Or isn't it? Is what Luther said about the Christian being simul justus et peccator biblical or not? Can Christ's righteousness imputed save a still-sinful Christian? And can it save him all by itself? Or not? I think the way we answer this question determines whether we have anything at all to say to the "sad alumni" of Christianity.

Has the Law done its killing work on these "sad ones?" Boy, has it ever. They need more of the Law like they need a hole in the head. For them, the gospel often got lost in a whole bunch of "Christian-life preaching." And it "did them in." So they left. And down deep there is a sadness in such people that defies description.

C.F.W. Walther said that as soon as the Law has done its crushing work, the gospel is to be instantly preached or said to such a man or woman. What the "sad alumni" need to hear (perhaps for the first time) is that Christian failures are going to walk into heaven, be welcomed into heaven, leap into heaven like a calf leaping out of its stall, laughing and laughing as if it's all too good to be true. It isn't just that we failures will get in. It's that we will get in like that. "You mean it was just Jesus' death for me, that's why I'm here?" But, of course. That's the point isn't it? As a believer in Jesus you won't be condemned! No believer in Jesus will be. Not a single one!

*****

Dr. Rod Rosenbladt is a professor of theology at Concordia University at Irvine and is also co-host of The White Horse Inn and author of Christ Alone.

In order to promote the unity and growth of the body of Christ, Generation to Generation endeavors to provide the wisdom of elders to younger readers and convey what young Christians need to hear as they mature in the Christian faith.

Looking for things for which to thank the Lord this Thanksgiving? Start by asking this question: Where would my church be without Christian publishing companies?

Imagine your pastor preparing his sermons week in and week out with only a Bible, perhaps in a language that is not his native tongue, with no Bible reference works, whether in print or digital format, and with no periodicals and journals.

Imagine your worship services without pew Bibles, hymnals, or choir music. Take away as well the text projected on a screen in front of the sanctuary.

Imagine your Sunday school teachers with no printed curriculum, no teaching aids, no teaching DVDs, no reference books.

Imagine your members having no Bibles of their own, either to read and study at home or to carry to church, no Bible study materials, no Bible study software, no reference works, no devotional literature, no Christian magazines, no Christian books for their children, no printed catechisms for them to learn

Imagine your pastor having trained for the ministry without textbooks and without libraries where he could learn to master research techniques in biblical and theological studies.

Can the church function without such publications? Of course. It does so in many parts of the world today, including much of Asia and Africa. Is their teaching ministry impoverished by this lack? Who would deny it?

Does Christian publishing always serve the church well in North America? No. Several factors can push companies in unproductive and even harmful directions.

Christian publishing companies seek to survive and expand. This effort takes a different form for a small non-profit than for a large, commercial corporation owned by a secular publishing conglomerate. But it pushes companies toward publishing things that will appeal to the market rather than things that meet real spiritual needs.

Because few Christian publishing companies are owned by ecclesiastical entities, their books tend to minimize denominational distinctives. In this way, Christian publishing companies have inadvertently promoted the lack of denominational loyalty with which church leaders are only too familiar. And because Christian books are purchased largely by individuals, too many books focus so exclusively on the individual's direct relationship with God that they imply, if they do not say, that the church is optional. This view is already entertained by too many professing Christians.

Scripture makes clear that an appeal to the market can easily lead to the publication of half-truths, if not outright heresy. The apostle Paul warns Timothy that "the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths" (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Books by such teachers are eminently marketable today.

Granted that Christian publishers do not always serve the church well, one must admit that in many ways they have served it well during the last fifty years in particular. During this period, for example, Reformed theology and Reformed churches have experienced a resurgence. Can anyone doubt that Christian publishing has played a role in this important and encouraging development?

While the books of certain Reformed authors have appeared on the lists of a number of publishing companies, including some that have exhibited no special interest in Reformed teaching, a few companies have labored faithfully for decades to promote Reformed teaching specifically. Today we see a younger generation of pastors and other church leaders who, influenced by these books, have become solidly Reformed, and this in turn is having a positive effect on evangelical Christianity generally.

Could the Lord have accomplished all of this without printed materials? Yes. But remember that from the time of the Reformation, Protestantism has spread through the printed word. More than any other division of Christendom, Protestantism has thrived on books rather than other material aids to worship and devotion. During the second half of the twentieth century, evangelical Christianity has majored in publishing more than any other part of Christendom and any other religion.

During the mid-twentieth century Christian publishers entered the field of Bible publishing, a field they now dominate. While the number of translations vying for adoption by churches has created some chaos, and while not all of these translations are of equal quality, the focus of so much time, energy, and largesse on translating the Bible and then on creating reference works designed to put Bible study within the reach of all can only be lauded.

Where would the church be without Christian publishers? It would be sadly impoverished. So express your gratitude to God for these companies and the faithful authors who write for them. Then resolve that you'll read more books next year than you've read this year.

*****

Allan Fisher is senior vice president for book publishing at Crossway Books and Bibles. He is also chair of the education committee at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Wheaton, Illinois.

Each month, the editors of Tabletalk select an influential pastor or scholar to address issues pertinent to the life and ministry of the church in Pro Ecclesia.

If you were to draw a circle, and label is "sense" there would be no need to draw a second circle labeled "nonsense." If sense is all that is inside the circle, nonsense is of necessity all that is outside the circle. The same is true with respect to obedience. Draw your circle, and label it obedience. Now everything outside the circle is disobedience. Which is bigger, the world inside the circle or the world outside? God's law tells us what to do. He commands, and we must obey. But the world, the flesh and the devil have an infinite number of temptations. Sin comes in a cornucopia of flavors.

One of the hardest parts of serving as an elder in the church of our Lord is that we come face to face with that reality. I often suggest that the hardest thing about being a shepherd is loving the sheep. (No, I don't mean that it is difficult to get to the point where we love the sheep. Rather I mean that our love for the sheep causes us great pain.) Watching them bang the wool on their heads bloody by foolish behavior crushes the spirit. Truth be told, however, there is a whole mess of walls out there. The Bible commands us, for instance, not to commit adultery. Jesus had to remind us how broad this one category can be, that a man can commit this sin with his pants on. But the Bible also commands us to love our wives. There are countless ways to fail here. My own life provides more than ample examples, without even looking out to the broader flock that I help to care for.

We all, in short, have far too small a view of sin. Our first mistake is to focus too exclusively on the sins of commission. Doing the wrong thing, perhaps because it may be easier to avoid, looks to our minds to be so much more wicked then failing to do the right thing. Our second mistake is to think our minds are big enough to always be conscious of all the sins before us. Let's see. I didn't kill anyone today. I didn't rob a bank. I didn't lie, well, not really. Okay, I'm good.

The Great Commandment is a summary of that summary known as the 10 Commandments. Those ten are expanded into all the law of God. It all begins, however, with our calling to love the Lord of our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Anyone want to suggest "I'm keeping that one"? It ends with the tenth commandment, that we not covet. Failure here, however, is never discreet. Remember that James told us, "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there" (3:16). Every evil thing. Get outside the circle of contentment, and you will find every evil thing.

We need to cultivate a bigger, and more accurate view of the scope of not just sin, but our sin. Thereby we in turn cultivate a deeper and more potent view of the grace of God, and His grace in our own lives. This in turn leads to our loving Him more fully, and to more grateful hearts. Sin abounds. His grace, however, conquers all.

During the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, there were few things more precious to believers than the recovery of the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Centuries of semi-Pelagian (and Pelagian) growth were dragged into the light and revealed as the deadly poison they were, and despite fierce opposition, the glorious gospel of grace began to be proclaimed again from pulpits across Europe. As the truth spread, resistance increased, and untold numbers of the faithful suffered persecution and even death rather than renounce or compromise this essential biblical doctrine.

Five hundred years later, how many of us who count ourselves heirs of these courageous men and women truly believe that this is a doctrine worth dying for? How many of us even know what the fundamental elements of the doctrine of justification are? Would we be able to recognize a heretical version of this doctrine if we saw it? Many professing evangelicals in our day, whether expressing it in so many words or not, speak and act as if the Reformers were making a mountain out of a molehill -- as if the doctrine of justification is really not that important.

If the Reformation has floundered in any way, it is largely due to the fact that we have lost sight of the importance of what was restored. It has been said that familiarity breeds contempt. We have heard the words "justification by faith alone" so many times that they have lost their meaning and import. Perhaps the words have become little more than a slogan to us. Perhaps we are able to think and talk about this doctrine (if we think and talk about it at all) without being driven to our knees praising God, in which case we are not really thinking that hard about it at all. Many of us need to go back and relearn the meaning and importance of this precious biblical teaching. A good place to start would be with a classic work by James Buchanan entitled The Doctrine of Justification.

James Buchanan (1804-1870) was both a minister and Reformed theologian. He was ordained in the Church of Scotland in 1827 but joined the Free Church in 1843. He served as a minister in the church until 1845 when he was appointed to teach apologetics at the New College in Edinburgh. In 1847, he was appointed to the chair of systematic theology in the same college and held that position until 1868. Among his works are books on affliction, the Holy Spirit, modern atheism, and apologetics. His most well-known work, however, is his defense of the Reformed doctrine of justification, first published in 1867.

When Banner of Truth reprinted Buchanan's book in 1961, it had been for almost one hundred years the only full-scale treatment of the doctrine in English. Thankfully, that situation has changed since 1961, and several full-scale books on the doctrine have been published in English, including R.C. Sproul's Faith Alone (Baker Books, 1995) and J.V. Fesko's Justification (P&R Publishing, 2008). Although these works deal with more contemporary issues and debates surrounding the doctrine of justification, Buchanan's book should not be ignored.

The chapters of Buchanan's book were originally the Cunningham Lectures for 1866 at New College, Edinburgh. They are not dry as many such lectures can be, however. It is probably because Buchanan had been a preacher that these lectures exhibit his passion for truth rather than a detached abstract approach. Following a short introductory essay and brief biography of the author, the book is divided into two parts. The first seven chapters survey the history of the doctrine of justification. Buchanan traces the doctrine through the Old and New Testaments before looking at its development from the early church to the nineteenth century. Among his most helpful information is his survey in chapter six of the doctrines of various post-Reformation Protestant groups and individuals. Here he looks at the teaching of groups as diverse as the Socinians, Arminians, and Quakers. He also surveys Amyraldianism and neonomianism before jumping into an evaluation of the Marrow Controversy.

Part Two of the book is Buchanan's point-by-point exposition of the doctrine of justification. Here, in eight chapters, he explains and defends the Reformed doctrine as set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. These chapters are theology in the best sense of the word -- biblical, precise, pious, and practical. The biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone is as precious today as it has always been. I urge any who do not understand what the Bible teaches on the subject or why it is so important to read this book.

*****

Dr. Keith A. Mathison is an associate editor of Tabletalk magazine, academic dean of the Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies, and author of the book The Shape of Sola Scriptura.

The vast number of books published each year makes it difficult for readers to separate the wheat from the chaff. Dr. Keith A. Mathison helps us sort out the good books from the bad each month in his book review column Tolle Lege.