Christians in this age have been given a very clear mission by Christ: Go into all the world and preach the good news of Jesus Christ. This is the message that the eternal Son of God became man, obeyed the law we could not, sacrificed himself in our place, and rose from the dead, securing the forgiveness of sins for all who repent and believe. This is the Word we are sent to proclaim.

What many Christians often overlook, however, is the ultimate goal of this mission, which Jesus makes explicitly clear in his high priestly prayer in John 17:

That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

When people believe in Jesus through our word, this unifies these new believers with us into Christ’s spiritual body. And what’s more, this very unity draws more people in the world to belief. Communion with God and communion with our fellow believers is one of the most potent ways that we make Christ known to the world. And when we add to that display of unity the preached Word about Christ’s life and death and resurrection, people will believe.

According to Christ’s words, unity is both produced by the gospel and it is that which will draw others to believe when it is combined with proclamation of the gospel.

The Nature of Gospel Unity

Now, we need to stop for a moment and explore what this unity really means, because there is a lot of talk about unity today with little clarification as to what that means biblically.

Thankfully, Christ’s own statements in this passage clarify what this unity will look like. First, consider verse 14:

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

So whatever this unity is—this unity that will make Christ known to the world—it is a unity that separates us from the world. Now that seems a bit strange. It would seem that if we want to reach the world, we should try to be as much like them as we can be. We should conform ourselves and our message as close as we can to the world so that they can relate to us and we can reach them.

But that’s not how Christ presents our mission. He says that our message—his Word, will actually cause the world to hate us; our unity with him, his Word, and each other will set us apart from the world. According to him in verses 15-16, we are sent into the world, but we are not of the world because he is not of the world. In other words, we do not share the world’s values, we do not share the world’s loves, we do not conform to the world even in our noble desire to reach the world.

Instead, we are sanctified—that mean’s set apart—we are set apart from the world by the truth of his Word. Consider verse 17:

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me in the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

So our unity is not, as so many claim today, a watering down of the truth or a conformity to the behaviors of this world or a minimizing of doctrine so that we can all get along and can reach the world. On the contrary, our unity is with Christ and with one another, and it is based on being distinct from the world and set apart by the truth of the Word.

The Boundary and Center of Christian Unity

In other words, this unity that will reveal Christ and draw people to belief in Christ has a boundary and it has a center. The boundary of this unity is truth—God’s truth as expressed in his word. There is no unity if there is not unity set apart from the world by truth.

And the center of this unity is expressed in verses 21-23:

That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you love me.

The boundary of this unity is truth, but the center of this unity is profoundly relational. It is so relational that it is illustrated by the relationship between the Father and the Son. This center of unity is a communion with the glory of God; it is being in God and he in us; it is as he says later, the love of the Father with which he loved the Son being in us, and Christ in us.

To put it very simply, the center of our unity is the worship of God.

The Results of Christian Unity

When we make our center the worship of God through Christ, set apart from the world by truth, two things happen: first, as we draw near to fellowship with God, we become one with one another. And second, that very communion we have with God and with one another causes the world to believe in Christ.

In other words, when we make worship our first priority, that accomplishes our second priority—nurturing our unity one with another—and our third priority—bringing others who are in the world into union with God and with us. Or, we could say it the other way around: our mission is to make Christ known to the world through the proclamation of his Word so that people would believe in him and be drawn into communion with God and with his people.

This is what we have been commissioned by Christ to do. Just as Christ had to obey his Father’s will for him, so the resurrected Christ in John 17 calls us, his followers, to accomplish the mission he has given to us. And that mission is to make him known to the world. We do that through the proclamation of his Word, and through a display of a unity that is set apart from the world by the truth of his Word. We do this not for its own sake but so that we can draw more and more people into the fellowship and worship and glory of God and in union with us in the church in order to bring him all honor and glory.

This is our mission as individual Christians, but more importantly, this is the mission of the church. Christ gave this directive to his apostles, and those apostles as the foundation of the church extend that directive to us as his church today.

Churches today are so distracted by so many different things that they say are part of their mission, but that draw their attention away from that which they are actually commissioned by Christ to do. They may be doing other things for good motives; they may think their creativity is actually accomplishing God’s will better than it would otherwise. They might assume that since our culture and our situation is so different than that of the first century, surely we need to come up with ingenious ways to attract unbelievers to the gospel or bring Christians along in their sanctification.

But when Christ said to the early founders of his church, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you,” what he was saying is that we as a church cannot call something our mission unless it is something that he has explicitly given for us to do. When we add to that mission, or think that we have come up with a newer, better, creative way to please God, we are actually doubting God’s wisdom and sovereignty; we are implying that when Jesus gave us our mission after his resurrection, he didn’t anticipate our situation or culture.

But he did. The mission Jesus has given us is enough, and it is our responsibility as his body to accomplish the work he has given us to do.

Pursuing Unity for the Sake of the Gospel

This understanding should also propel us to vigorously preserve Christianity unity whenever possible. If our unity is truly a central component of our mission to make Christ known, then pursuing unity it no optional. It is a direct command from our Lord, essential to the work he has given us to do.

So what can we do to rightly preserve Christian unity?

First, we must stand together in resolute defense of the boundary of Christian unity—the truth of God’s word. The unity we share is not a vague, sentimental feeling; it is ground in the unchanging, objective truth of who God is and what he has done in Jesus Christ. When many professing Christians are seeking a flimsy unity by dissolving truth and necessary orthodox distinctions, we are called to a robust unity that is defined by God’s Word.

Therefore, we must stand for biblical truth, and we must stand together. There is no room for division or competition in our stand for truth. We must lay down our pride, our personal ambitions, and our petty rivalries to present a unified, unassailable front for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Christ desires that we all be one in our defense of his Word.

Second, we must actively pursue the center of our unity—the worship of God. Our unity is not merely an intellectual agreement on doctrine; our unity is centered upon our shared communion with God through Christ. Christian unity is most clearly and beautifully displayed when we are gathered together for the express purpose of communion with God and with one another. When we gather as God’s people to hear his Word and sing his praises, our unity moves from a proposition to a living reality. As we draw near to God together, we are inevitably drawn nearer to one another, and the unbelieving world sees what is truly at the core of our fellowship.

This, then, is our mission. We are to be a people bound together by the non-negotiable truth of God’s Word and centered on the worship of the one true and living God. It is this very unity—distinct from the world and devoted to God—that creates the compelling witness through which the gospel shines mostly brightly.

May we, therefore, lay aside needless division, take up the truth, and join together in joyful adoration of God, so that all the world may see our communion and believe in the Christ in whom we are one.

Scripture presents us with two extended descriptions of the worship of heaven that provide the model for all biblical worship, notably one set in the context of worship in the Old Testament and the other set in the context of worship in the New Testament. In both cases, these descriptions of heavenly worship were presented during a time of problems with earthly worship, revealing the fact that problems with our worship now are corrected when we bring our worship into proper relationship with the worship of heaven.

Isaiah 6

This was true for the nation of Israel; during Solomon’s reign and especially following the divided kingdom, God’s people forsook the pure worship of God and began first to fall into syncretistic worship, and eventually full blow idolatry. Even noble kings in the southern kingdom, such as Uzziah, approached worship presumptuously and not according to God’s explicit command by entering into the sanctuary though he had no right to do so.

It is no coincidence that the death of Uzziah is the very context for the prophet Isaiah’s vision of heavenly worship (Isaiah 6:1–13). In a way, this was God reminding Isaiah of the true reality upon which pure earthly worship was supposed to be based. God called Isaiah up into the heavenly temple itself, where he “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up” (v. 1). Surrounding God were seraphim singing the Trisagion hymn (“thrice holy”),

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of his glory!

The sight of God in all of his holiness and splendor caused Isaiah to recognize his own sin and unworthiness to draw near to the presence of God in his temple, what Uzziah should have known before entering the earthly temple as he did. Thus, Isaiah confessed his sin before the Lord: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (v. 5)! Yet God did not simply expel Isaiah from the temple due to his impurity; rather, God provided means of atonement. One of the seraphim took a burning goal from the altar and placed it on Isaiah’s lips, proclaiming, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Now Isaiah was welcome in the presence of God by the means God himself had provided. Standing accepted in God’s presence, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord giving him a message, to which Isaiah willingly offered obedience, and God sent Isaiah forth with that message of both exhortation and promised blessing to the nation of Israel.

Later, Isaiah’s message to the people of Israel reveals that if they submit to God’s exhortation and commit themselves to him, then “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people’s a rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (Is 25:6). God displays his acceptance of forgiven sinners through a celebratory feast.

This reality of heavenly worship contained a theological pattern that should have provided a corrective for the syncretistic and idolatrous worship of God’s people:

God reveals himself and calls his people to worship

God’s people acknowledge and confess their need for forgiveness

God provides atonement

God speaks his Word

God’s people respond with commitment

God hosts a celebratory feast

Isaiah’s vision and message from God were supposed to correct the idolatrous worship of his people, but, of course, the hard-hearted people did not listen, and thus they never experienced the full blessings God had promised to them if they repented.

Revelation

In the book of Revelation, God granted the apostle John a similar glimpse into the temple of heaven. As with Isaiah during the reign of King Uzziah, it is no accident that this vision of heavenly worship came at a time when worship on earth was in chaos; even a noble church like the one in Ephesus had lost its first love, and many Christians like those in Laodicea had become lukewarm. In John’s vision, like Isaiah’s vision, heavenly worship contains a theological pattern that should inform and correct earthly Christian worship.

It begins with a Call to Worship: “Come up here” (4:1), followed by a vision of God himself and angels singing the Trisagion hymn (4:8) and hymns of praise for creation (4:11). Then follows the presentation of the scroll that reveals the unworthiness of all people to open it (5:1–4) except for the Lamb who was slain, he who provided atonement and ransomed a people for God (5:5–12). The heavenly worshipers respond with a doxology and a choral “Amen” by the four living creatures (5:13–14). Most of the rest of the book fortells God’s Word being opened as he enacts his plans for humankind, and the responses of God’s people in the form of praise and service (6:1–19:5). The book climaxes with the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb (19:6–21), when a great multitude will sing praise to the Lord.

This, finally, is the fulfillment of what Isaiah had promised for those who would listen to the Word of the Lord. The heavenly temple will descend, and for the first time God’s ultimate intention for his people will come to full realization: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (21:3). The purpose of humankind was communion in the presence of God for his glory, and in that day the purpose will come to pass.

Thus, the theological pattern of worship in Revelation is the same as it has been since the beginning as described in Isaiah’s vision:

God reveals himself and calls his people to worship

God’s people acknowledge and confess their need for forgiveness

God provides atonement

God speaks his Word

God’s people respond with commitment

God hosts a celebratory feastTrue Reality

These two visions of worship in heaven establish some important foundational principles through which we must assess the discontinuities and continuities of earthly worship. First, the similarities of heavenly worship between Isaiah’s vision and John’s vision reveal that this is eternal worship, the reality of heavenly worship as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

The heavenly worship of John’s vision, coming as it does after the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, does elevate the Lamb who was slain in a way absent in Isaiah’s vision, but nevertheless even the atonement provided Isaiah was based upon the sinless Servant who was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. The core and essence of heavenly worship in both cases is the same.

For this reason, second, earthly human worship is not something new for us, unique to us, or initiated by us; worship is perpetually taking place in the world without end. When we worship, we are entering into something eternal.

Third, we enter into this eternal worship, not of our own initiative or merit, but only at the invitation from God and on basis of God’s atoning work. In both eras, God called the sinner into his temple; they did not seek him out or initiate the encounter. And in both eras, acceptance into God’s presence was permitted only after the sinner’s guilt was atoned for by means that God himself provided.

Fourth, the theological pattern of heavenly worship in both visions reflects that initiating call of God and his atoning work that enables sinners to be in his presence. The pattern of Revelation, Adoration, Confession, Propitiation, Instruction, Dedication, and Communion provides a contour to the worship of heaven that magnifies the true reality of eternal worship and the only means by which sinful humans are able to participate.

Consequently, fifth, worship is not us performing for God, but a reenactment of God’s work for us. Everything about the eternal worship into which Isaiah and John enter is initiated by God, provided for by God, and shaped by his covenant relationship with his people. God is the primary actor. All of the actions of the worshipers are in response to God’s work and actually a reenactment of God’s covenantal work.

Old Testament Shadow

What, then, is the relationship between this eternal worship of the world without end and the worship taking place here on earth, both as it was in the beginning (OT worship) and as it is now (NT worship)? This is critical for us to understand since throughout church history, many of the errors that have crept into Christian worship resulted from a mistaken understanding of the proper biblical relationship between worship as it was in the beginning, as it is now, and the true worship of the world without end.

The heavenly worship revealed in Isaiah’s vision was supposed to be a corrective for the false worship of Israel because their own worship contained the same theological pattern as true heavenly worship. The worship patterns that God had established for Israel at Mt. Sinai were not arbitrary. The order of worship God prescribed reflects the eternal heavenly “theo-logic” in which in the assembly, God’s people reenact through the order of what they do God’s atoning work on their behalf.

The encounter at Sinai began with God’s initiative: “The Lord called out to [Moses] out of the mountain” (Exod 19:5)—God himself called Moses, Aaron and his sons, the elders, and all the people to draw near to worship him (24:1). The people had to remain at a distance, however (v. 2), emphasizing the fact that sin cannot come fully into the presence of God.

For this very reason, this worship service continued with necessary consecration of the people. Moses presented God’s “rules” to the people as a way to reemphasize their own sinfulness and then offered the necessary sacrifices of atonement so that they would be accepted (vv. 3–8). God communicated his approval and acceptance of them based on the atoning sacrifice when the leaders of the people “saw the God of Israel, . . . and he did not lay his hand” against them (vv. 9–11).

The ultimate expression of the fact that they were now welcome in his presence for communion with him was that “they beheld God, and ate and drank” (v. 11). Once again, to eat and drink before the presence of God was a powerful statement that the people had gained acceptance with God, not through their own work, but through the means that he had established.

This first service of worship for Israel followed a progression that became standard for the worship of God’s people from that time forward. This same theological pattern characterized the progression of sacrifices within the tabernacle assemblies, moving from the sin offering to the guilt offering to the burnt offering to the grain offering and finally the peace offering. The same structure appears at the dedication of the tabernacle (Lev 9) and later Solomon’s temple (2 Chron 15–17).

In this way, the worship of Israel embodied the same theological pattern of the eternal worship of heaven:

God reveals himself and calls his people to worship

God’s people acknowledge and confess their need for forgiveness

God provides atonement

God speaks his Word

God’s people respond with commitment

God hosts a celebratory feast

Memorial

Israel’s worship was not, like the pagan worship around them, a performance for God initiated by them; rather, their worship was a God-initiated visible reenactment of their covenant relationship with him. God calls these acts of worship “memorials,” meaning more than simply a passive remembrance of God’s atoning work, but actually a reenactment of what he had done. This principle of memorial applied to every Sabbath and to each of the holy days, festivals, and solemn assemblies of worship in Israel. In each case, the structure of the worship assemblies follows a theological order in which the worshipers reenact the covenant relationship they have with God through the atonement he provided, culminating with a feast that celebrates the fellowship they enjoy with God because of what he has done for them.

But these reenactments were not merely backward focused; as Isaiah’s vision revealed, they were also upward focused—toward the real worship of heaven, and forward focused—toward the worship of the age to come. In the words of Allen Ross’s memorable title, these worship practices were “recalling the hope of glory.” This theologic of earthly worship reflected the real worship of heaven so that in participating in the earthly forms, the worshipers would be realigned with true reality—the reality of heavenly worship. What this reveals is the power of corporate worship to form the people’s present reality by participation with the heavenly future reality.

So there is a fundamental relationship between the worship of OT Israel and the real worship of heaven, but it is essential that we recognize the external physical forms and rituals of Israel’s worship were but a mere shadow of the true form of heavenly reality.

But the time is now here when the shadows have passed away. What remains is the true reality—the formative spiritual theologic of heavenly worship.

For most of biblical history and church history, God’s people practiced what is sometimes called “covenant-renewal worship.”

This biblical theology of worship considers the Lord’s Day corporate gathering to be one in which God renews his covenant with his people through the gospel, and his people renew their covenant with him in responses of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and dedication. This kind of covenant renewal glorifies God because it highlights the work that he has done, and it sanctifies his people to mature in how they live out the implications of that gospel covenant.

According to Scripture, corporate worship is not worshipers doing things to experience God’s presence; rather, in corporate worship, God renews his covenant promises to us and disciples us to live as worshipers unto his glory.

Covenant renewal worship is what we find modeled in Scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments. Where it is perhaps most clearly taught in the New Testament is in 1 Corinthians, where Paul chastises the Corinthian church for worship practices that were disorderly and experience-driven. In instructing the church for what they ought to do “when you come together as a church” (11:8), Paul articulates key principles of covenant renewal worship.

First, Paul describes gathered worship as a memorial. “Do this in remembrance of me”—literally, “do this as my memorial.” Worship as memorial had been established by God at Mt. Sinai and continues to describe our church gatherings. God calls these acts of worship “memorials,” meaning more than simply a passive remembrance of God’s atoning work, but actually a reenactment of what he has done to establish a covenant relationship with us.

Corporate worship that is a covenant memorial is dialogical, a conversation between God and his people. God always speaks first, and then his people respond appropriately to God’s revelation. The order of the service reenacts the order of the gospel, the means God established to bring us into covenant relationship with him through his Son.

God reveals himself and calls his people to worship through his Word.

We respond with adoration and praise.

God calls us to confession of our sins against him.

We respond with confession.

God declares us pardoned through the atonement of his Son.

We respond with thanksgiving.

God speaks his Word to us.

We respond with commitment.

The whole service climaxes with a celebratory feast.

Where we eat and drink with the Lord and with one another.

God commissions and blesses us.

We depart to serve our God.

This gospel-shaped, covenant renewal worship permeates descriptions of worship in the Old and New Testaments, as well as the worship of heaven as described in Isaiah 6 and the book of Revelation. It’s not about somehow mystically experiencing God’s presence. Corporate worship is about reenacting our covenant relationship with God through Christ.

Second, in 1 Corinthians, Paul articulates the purpose for this covenant-renewal memorial: The biblical purpose of corporate worship is not primarily authentic experience; rather, the purpose of corporate worship is the disciplined formation of God’s people into those who will live lives of worship. As Paul stresses in 1 Corinthians 14, all things “when you come together” must be done for building up (vv. 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 17, 19, 26). A worship service is first and foremost a meeting that God has called with his people so that he might speak his Words to us for our upbuilding and edification.

In a corporate worship service, we are not the primary actors; corporate worship is not us performing for God—that is paganism. We do not call God down to us when we worship; he calls us up to him spiritually through faith—“assurance of things hoped for, conviction of things not seen.”

A properly God-centered theology of worship will recognize that in a corporate worship service, God is the primary actor. As Christ says to the Samaritan woman in John 4, God is the seeker. God is the initiator. It is God who calls us to draw near to him; we do not invite him to come down to us—“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:22). It is God who speaks to us first; only then do we respond back to him—it is the Lord’s service.

God deserves our worship, but that’s true of all of life. The purpose of a corporate worship service is for God to form the kind of worshipers he deserves.

Our responses toward God are essential to true worship, but that is not where worship begins. Worship begins with God speaking through his Word. And furthermore, we need to recognize that our natural, “authentic” responses of worship need to be sanctified as God’s Word teaches us, reproves us, corrects us, and trains us in righteousness. Only as our responses are filled with and formed by God’s Word are we able to worship him acceptably.

And so one of the fundamental purposes of a corporate worship service is for that kind of sanctification to take place. The primary emphasis in a church gathering ought to be God’s Word forming us into acceptable worshipers. This is the commission given to churches by Christ, after all: make disciples.

This is the essence of covenant-renewal worship: disciplined formation. We come to worship to be built up by God’s Word, to be formed into the image of Christ by God’s Word, to have our affections sanctified anew by God’s Word. We come to a corporate worship service so that our responses of worship—our lives of worship—might be shaped by God’s Word.

And so our primary concern in a corporate worship service should not simply be authentic expression of worship toward God but rather how the service is maturing us, how it is cultivating our relationship with God and forming us to be the kind of mature disciple-worshipers Scripture commands.

This is why historic worship services, intentionally structured on the basis of this biblical theo-logic, has always followed a standard order: The service opens with God speaking to us. We do not come to worship of our own initiative, and we are not somehow “calling God down” or inviting him to join us. Rather, it is God who calls us to draw near to him, and thus the service begins with a scriptural call to worship.

When God reveals himself to us, two responses are inevitable. First, we respond with adoration and praise. This usually takes the form of a hymn, a prayer of praise, and a doxology.

Then, we recognize our sin and unworthiness, and so we confess our sins to God. We responded this way when we first believed, and we should continue to do so daily. Thus through a Scripture reading, a hymn, silent repentance, and a corporate prayer of confession, the congregation acknowledges our sin together before God.

As Christians, we find forgiveness and pardon in Christ, and so the service continues with celebrating that forgiveness. Through a Scripture affirmation and a hymn of praise for Christ’s sacrifice, we both rejoice in the gospel and proclaim it to any unbelievers who may be attending.

Next, we are ready to hear God’s instructions through the preaching of his Word. Our response is one of dedication and giving of our offerings.

The climax of the service is Communion with God. Worship is drawing near to God in communion through Christ, and this is what the whole service has been progressing towards. Coming boldly to the Throne of Grace (Heb 4:16) for supplication and eating at Christ’s Table means that we are welcome and that we have open access to him, despite our sin. This is possible only through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, which is beautifully pictured in the Communion elements. Communion with God is the purpose of the gospel, and thus Communion is the climax of a worship service.

The service concludes with a word from God in which he sends us into the world to obey him and share the gospel to unbelievers, along with a word of blessing.

By ordering our corporate worship in this manner, through the course of the church’s life, we are being renewed in our gospel covenant with God and being progressively discipled by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul begins each of his letters with a similar greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Many Christian worship services begin the same way. This phrase expresses the wonderful reality that Christians have been reconciled to God by grace, bringing them into the rest that God intended from the beginning of creation.

This is wonderfully true for Christians, but why does Paul include this greeting at the beginning of every one of his letters, and why, then, did churches begin to use this greeting at the beginning of worship services?

Consider that Paul is not extending grace and peace to unbelievers in the opening of his letters. This is not a gospel presentation, like, “If you repent of your sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will receive grace and peace from God.” That is certainly true—it is true that if you are an unbeliever, you can find rest in Christ through repentant faith. But that is not Paul’s primary point here.

Paul is not writing these letters to unbelievers. No, these are written “to the churches of Galatia”—to people who profess Jesus Christ as Lord. “To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.” “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.” “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” And so forth. This greeting is given to Christians.

So what is Paul doing here? Haven’t they already received grace and peace? Why does he need to extend grace and peace to Christians who have already been given grace and peace from God?

Here is the important point for us as Christians: although God extended grace to us in saving us, we who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ continue to need grace extended to us. We have been reconciled to God through Christ, and so we do have objective peace with him, but nevertheless we continue to sometimes experience subjective distress, don’t we?

Do you as a Christian ever still struggle with a lack of peace in your soul? We still often struggle with anxiety, with fear, with an inner restlessness.

You’re a Christian, you know that you have been delivered from the present evil age objectively, but we continue to deal with sinners around us, a world filled with conflict, and even disorderly desires in our flesh, don’t we?

You know that you have peace with God, but then you experience a trial that disrupts everything—you have a wayward child; you lose your job; you develop a chronic illness; you suffer a terrible loss; and you begin to experience anxiety, pain, distress. What’s the solution? You need grace and peace.

Someone sins against you, maybe even another believer with whom you should have harmony, but there is strife between you. You need grace and peace.

You give into temptation; you sin against the Lord who gave himself for your sin. Now your conscience accuses you. Fellowship with God is broken. You need grace and peace.

You see, we needed grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in order for our sins to be forgiven, for the just wrath of God against us to be appeased, for our disordered hearts to be changed, and our relationship with God to be reconciled, but as believers, we continue to need that same grace and peace each and every day.

When trials come, we need grace upon grace upon grace. When we begin to be filled with anxiety or conflict or distress, we need the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. When we have disharmony with other Christians, we need the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts. When we sin against God and break our fellowship with him, we need, as Peter begins his letters, grace and peace multiplied in us.

It’s not that we needed grace from God to bring us peace with him, but now that we’re saved, we no longer need grace and peace. No, we continue to need grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, as Paul begins his letters which deal with all of these realities in our Christian lives—trials, and conflict, and temptation, and sin—he once against extends to us grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he says these words over and over, at the beginning of every letter. Someone might say, “this is just vain repetition.” Couldn’t he come up with something different to say? No, this is what we need. Grace and peace. Over and over again.

And likewise, we open our church services week upon week upon week with the words, “Grace to you and peace.” This is not vain repetition. This is what we need. Grace and peace. The very repetition of these words displays their importance and our desperate need of them.

The Divine Means

But where do we get this grace from God that continues to supply the peace that we need? This is not just an empty platitude, like, “I hope you have a good day!” And it’s not magical. There’s nothing magical in the words “grace and peace” that just automatically gives us grace and peace from God.

No, what is the divine means by which God continually gives us the grace and peace that we need? Well think about where Paul is saying this—Paul extends grace and peace at the beginning of Spirit-inspired letters in which he delivers to us divine revelation. These letter are means of grace. In other words, the divine means by which we receive grace and peace from God is his Word.

Peter makes this explicit at the beginning of his second epistle, when he says in 2 Peter 1:2, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Where do we get that knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord? His Word. God’s Word is the divine mediator of grace and peace to us.

God’s Word is what gives us grace to experience unexplainable peace in the midst of life-altering trials. God’s Word gives us grace to live in harmony with fellow Christians, even when they sin against us. God’s Word convicts us of sin so that the broken fellowship with God that resulted from our sin against him can be restored.

This is why Paul also ends his letters with a very similar prayer: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” In other words, this grace that I extended to you at the beginning of the letter, and the grace that the very words of God in this letter mediated to you, let that grace continue to remain with you.

If you are experiencing distress and conflict in any way, and you long once again to be at rest, run to the Word, for there you will find Christ, there you will find truth, there you will find solace. Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are found in his Word.Corporate Worship

And this is why Christians began to open corporate worship with these words as well. What else is a church service than mediation of the Word of God that brings grace and peace? In corporate worship we hear the Word read and preached and prayed and sung. Each of these elements of worship are means of grace to us that continue to bring us peace.

And not only is corporate worship a place where the Word mediates grace and peace to us, it is also a very real experience of being delivered from the present evil age.

Corporate worship is a place of Sabbath rest. When we enter a worship service, we are leaving for a time this present evil world. We leave behind the chaos, we leave behind the disorder and strife and enmity, we lift up our hearts in Christ to draw near to the heavenly presence of God, and we experience, for a time, a foretaste of the age to come—the eternal Sabbath rest.

Each week, our corporate worship mediates to us the grace and peace that we continually need. If you are experiencing a lack of peace in your soul, the very worst thing you could do is to stay home, away from the Lord’s Day service, yet this is exactly what so many Christians do when they go through a trial. No, come the service of God where God’s Word mediates grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, where you can for a time leave behind this present evil world and enter into Sabbath rest.

And we come as sinners who don’t deserve to rest, but that rest is extended to us. That is grace. Each Lord’s Day, we come into the presence of a holy God, and when we come, we are not coming as people who have the right in and of ourselves to be in God’s presence. We don’t. We still sin every single day.

We need to to come recognizing that. We come, not presumptuously, but humbly, fully aware of our unworthiness to be in God’s presence. We are here only because grace and peace has been extended to us.

There is a beautiful picture of this in our Old Testament in the story of Esther. Mordacai urges Esther to go to the king and plead on behalf of her people. But Esther replies by saying, “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live (Esther 4:11).”

But she obeys. She approaches the throne room of the Sovereign. There he is, seated upon his majestic throne; he is surrounded by attendants serving his every need. Guards line the throne room, ready to obey his every word. And Esther knew that any who dared come into his presence without an invitation would die.

But we read in Esther 5:2, “And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor—grace—in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.”

That is what happens each Lord’s Day. Here we come into the throne room of the Sovereign King. He is surrounded by his attendants who serve him day and night. And we have full knowledge that if any sinful man or woman goes to the Sovereign Holy King inside the inner court, there is but one law—to be put to death.

But each Lord’s Day when we come to the king inside the inner court of his holy temple, we for whom Christ gave himself win favor in his sight, and it is as if the king holds out the golden scepter so that we may live, and we hear the words, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Come into my presence, all who labor and are heavy laden, and Christ will give you rest.

Each Lord’s Day when our church gathers, we begin our service with the traditional Christian greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This traditional greeting was not merely invented by men; it comes directly from Scripture.

In fact, every Pauline letter begins with grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, as do 1 and 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation.

What is the significance of these words? These are not words Paul and other authors include merely for tradition’s sake; they are not empty platitudes. These words are at the very heart of the gospel. They serve a significant function at the beginning of New Testament epistles.

Here are two important words that are central to the gospel, central to the New Testament, and, indeed, central to all of Scripture. Let’s consider each of them in turn.

What is grace?

First, Paul extends grace to his recipients.

A traditional Greek greeting would simply be “chairein—greetings.” It literally means, “May you have joy.” It’s like when we say, “Good day to you.” Yet in Paul’s greetings, he changes chairein to charis—“grace.”

A similar idea to chairein is implied here—Paul wishes his recipients to have joy, blessing, favor. And yet by changing chairein to charis, Paul emphasizes one very important truth: this joy must come from favor that is extended from another.

This is what the word charis—grace—means: favor granted to us from another. You can’t somehow work up this joy from within yourself—it must come from somewhere else.

And Paul explicitly tells us from whom this favor comes: grace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the consistent testimony of Scripture. All true favor comes from God (Exod 33:19, Ps 84:11, Prov 3:34, James 1:17).

So in this greeting, Paul is extending to his recipients favor from God such that they will experience blessing.

What is peace?

And then, Paul indicates what kind of blessing comes from God’s favor. Unlike the focus of chairein, joy isn’t really the ultimate outcome of favor from God that Paul is extending here. Rather, it is peace that God’s favor brings. Peace is the goal—grace is its source.

Peace is no surface-level happiness. Peace is far deeper than that; it is a sense of wholeness, blessedness, harmony. The New Testament concept of peace is equivalent to the Hebrew idea of shalom.

This is the kind of well-being and completeness that God intended for mankind in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 1 and 2 present the ideal state of shalom, where humanity dwells in perfect harmony with God, with one another, and with creation. Everything fit together in perfect harmony as God intended. Adam and Eve enjoyed unbroken communion with God, harmonious relationship with each other, and fruitful dominion over creation.

This is the shalom, the peace, that Paul is extending here—a peace that only comes as a result of grace—favor from God.

Why we need grace and peace

Now why is it that Paul extends grace and peace to his recipients at the beginning of each letter? Why do they need grace and peace?

They need grace—favor from another—because the Bible teaches that in ourselves, we do not possess peace because of sin. In fact, the whole world has become characterized by lack of peace.

Men’s souls are disordered. We live in a restless world, people desperately searching for satisfaction and ultimately rest in something. Surely, something will take all this chaos inside me and just let me rest. Our world is filled with people either trying to distract themselves from the turmoil within them, or they dry to drown it out.

Sinners do not know the way of peace, Paul tells us in Romans 5:17. Instead, sinners are enemies with God. The prophet Isaiah said in 48:22, “There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.” In fact, because of sin, God has pledged to pour out upon sinners the very opposite of rest. The fact is that our very nature and lives deserve war from God, not peace.

This is the tragic reality for all sinners who attempt to enter into God’s holy presence—we are God’s enemies. We deserve judgment and wrath. We have no access to the presence of God; for a sinner to enter God’s righteous presence would mean being consumed by his white-hot holiness.

Sin brought a disintegration of the shalom God created humankind to enjoy. We are now at enmity with God, in conflict with other humans, and even creation itself brings chaos.

And not only do sinners lack external peace, we also have no peace within us. God’s moral law continually accuses the consciences of sinners made in God’s image. No matter what we try to do to gain inner peace in ourselves—good works, earthly pleasures, entertaining distractions—sinners cannot find true rest.

Sinners need grace and peace extended to them from God because sinners deserve and experience the exact opposite of rest. Sinners experience disorder and distress. Sinners deserve wrath and judgment.

This is why the concept of grace in Scripture is not simply favor given by God, it is favor that God shows to people who do not deserve it. It is a gift given to someone who has not done anything to earn or merit it.

But grace is really even more significant than that. Grace is not simply undeserved; grace is actually ill-deserved. In other words, grace is a gift given not just to one who doesn’t deserve it; it is a gift given to someone who deserves the opposite.

Grace is Aslan giving his very life for Edmund’s freedom even though it was Edmund’s treachery against Aslan that had enslaved him to the White Witch. Grace gave him what he ill-deserved.

The Divine Source

Which is why grace and peace must come from a divine source: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace can come only from the Sovereign whose law has been broken.

And the means by which a holy, righteous, and just God can extend grace and peace to finite, sinful men is through a mediator between God and men, the Lord Jesus Christ. As fully God, the Lord Jesus Christ himself is holy, righteous, and just, and as fully man, the Lord Jesus Christ can bring us into God’s presence.

So, we want to experience peace in the presence of God, but he is the holy Sovereign, and we are sinful men—how can we gain entrance into God’s presence? Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We can do nothing in ourselves to achieve peace. There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Only coming to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ will bring us peace with him.

Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” “Come to me,” Jesus said, “all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). The Lord Jesus Christ is the only source of grace and peace.

You want to experience rest from all the disorder and chaos that surrounds you? You want to have all the restlessness within your soul calmed? The Lord Jesus Christ is the source of that peace you so long for. Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the source of all true peace.

And how is it that Christ can be that mediator between God and men, that mediator of ill-deserved favor and reconciliation with God? Paul says in Galatians 1:4, “Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.”

Well it is our sin that prevents us from drawing near to God in the first place. It is our sin that brings us misery and wrath rather than joy an peace. And so in order that he might instead grant us grace and peace, in order that he might bring us joyfully and freely into the presence of God, the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins.

The atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way for us to have true peace. Christ’s sacrifice appeased the just wrath of God for sin so that when we come to Christ in faith, we can be justified—declared righteous.

What once caused division between us and God is no longer true of us. If you have come to Christ by faith, God no longer sees you as a sinner; he sees you as forgiven of your sins and clothed in his Son’s righteousness. And so now, there is no more enmity; there is no more wrath. We are now reconciled to God. The root cause of all that disorder and turmoil has been removed.

Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ultimately, our lack of peace was due to the enmity that existed between us and God because of our sin. Once our sin is forgiven, once we have been reconciled to God, there is no more enmity, and we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So we now have objective peace with God, which then also brings us subjective peace within our consciences. That inner turmoil that plagues people is a result of their disobedience of God’s law and their enmity with God. But the blood of Christ that reconciled us to God and brought us objective peace also purifies our consciences, Hebrews 9:14 tells us.

And this true peace with God allows us to have peace with one another. Paul makes this point in Ephesians 2:14: “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” Because we have peace with God through Christ, we also have peace with one another. We are all one in Christ; we who believe are reconciled to God in one body through the cross. There is no longer hostility, no division, no strife. We are at peace.

So again I say to you, if you are experiencing disorder and disharmony within your soul, recognize that your lack of peace is a result of your sin. You are an enemy of the God of all comfort. Your life is out of harmony with the Sovereign Creator—that is why you can’t seem to find any peace.

But here is what is extended to you: grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins. If you repent of your sins and turn to Christ in faith, your weary soul will find rest in him.

Deliverance from this Present Evil Age

But not only did the Lord Jesus Christ give himself for our sins in order to reconcile us to God, he also delivered us from the present evil age. This is an objective spiritual reality. Colossians 1:13 says, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” This world no longer has any power over us. In fact, we are no longer of this world. We are now raised up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly places. We are citizens of Christ’s kingdoms, no longer bound to serve the kingdom of darkness.

All that chaos going on in the world arounds us? It has no effect on us. Don’t let all that disorder invade your soul. You’ve been delivered from all of that. You are at peace with God.

We are, in effect, transferred from this present evil age to Eden, where we experience shalom. The Bible portrays this rest in Eden as Sabbath rest—freedom from turmoil, complete fellowship with God and with one another.

By grace, we enter Sabbath, and when we enter, we experience shalom.

The heavens rumble with a growing intensity, a deep, resonating sound that echoes throughout the cosmos. The sky darkens, thick with anticipation, as if creation itself knows that the moment is near—when the King of glory, the true ruler of all, will return. It is a moment that has been foretold for millennia, the moment when all that was promised in Scripture will be fulfilled. The King’s return is the climactic event of history, the moment when all things will be made right.

From the very beginning, God’s purpose in creation has been to establish a realm, a world in which he would rule through a human representative—his image-bearer. But humanity, in its rebellion, failed to fulfill the task entrusted to it. Adam, the first man, was called to steward the earth, to rule under God’s authority, and to reflect his image, but sin entered the world and marred God’s perfect design.

Through the work of Christ, however, God’s redemptive plan is restoring humanity to this intended role. Christ, the Second Adam, is the one who perfectly obeyed God’s law, defeating sin and death in order to bring about the fullness of God’s kingdom. His return will fulfill the original commission given to mankind—to rule the earth, not in rebellion, but in perfect harmony with God’s will.

Now, the moment has come for God’s plan to be fully realized. The King of kings, Christ himself, returns not as a humble servant, as he did when he walked the earth, but as the reigning, victorious King, coming to restore what was lost and to establish his eternal reign. This moment is the fulfillment of everything that has come before—the culmination of history, the completion of God’s original design for creation.

The King is coming to set all things right, to defeat evil, and to bring about the fullness of God’s kingdom. This return is the moment when creation will be fully restored to its original purpose, and humanity, under the rule of the King, will finally fulfill the calling it was given from the beginning.

The Return of Christ in Glory and Power

Here comes a rider on a white horse, his eyes blazing like fire, his robe dipped in blood. This is no ordinary rider, no simple figure returning from battle. This is the King of kings, coming to claim his rightful throne. The white horse is a symbol of victory, of the conquering King who is returning to conquer.

Christ’s robe, stained with the blood of his own sacrifice, tells a story of triumph over sin, death, and Satan. This blood is not the mark of defeat, but the symbol of the victory he has already won on the cross. It is a reminder that the battle for the kingdom was won in his first coming, but now, at his second coming, that victory will be publicly proclaimed, fully realized, and finally enforced.

His eyes, like blazing fire, speak of the perfect justice that will accompany his reign. There is no hidden sin, no rebellion that can escape his gaze. He is coming to judge the earth with righteous judgment, to separate the wicked from the righteous, to reward the faithful and punish those who have opposed his reign. Christ is coming as the righteous Judge, the King who will restore order to his kingdom and bring final justice.

The name written on his robe, “King of kings and Lord of lords,” makes clear that Christ is the ultimate authority, the final ruler, whose kingdom will have no end. His reign is not temporary, it is eternal. The victory he wins at his return will be the final victory, the one that establishes his kingdom forever, a kingdom of peace, righteousness, and joy.

The Judgment of the Wicked and the Vindication of the Righteous

The return of Christ is a moment of separation. The wicked will stand before him, and their judgment will be swift and final. The beast and the false prophet, those who have led the nations astray, will be captured and thrown into the lake of fire, their power extinguished forever. This judgment is the eternal destruction of all that opposes Christ’s reign.

The wicked who have rejected Christ, those who have lived in rebellion against God’s rule, will face the full consequences of their rejection. They will be cast into the lake of fire, separated from the presence of God, and condemned for eternity. This is the final defeat of evil, the moment when all the forces that have stood in opposition to God’s kingdom are vanquished.

For the righteous, Christ’s return is a moment of vindication. The faithful who have suffered for the sake of Christ, who have endured trials and persecution, will be rewarded. Their faith will be proven true, and they will inherit the kingdom. The return of Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people. It is the moment when the righteous will be raised, when they will be fully redeemed, and when they will reign with Christ forever.

This final judgment is the ultimate demonstration of God’s justice. It assures the believer that God’s ways are right, that his promises will be kept, and that evil will not have the final say. The wicked will face their judgment, but the righteous will be rewarded with eternal life in the presence of their King.

The Final Destruction of Satan and his Kingdom

From the very beginning, Satan has sought to undermine God’s authority, to disrupt God’s creation, and to distort God’s good purposes. His rebellion in the garden marked the fall of man and the fall of creation. But at Christ’s return, Satan’s reign will come to an end.

Satan has been the adversary of God’s plan from the beginning. He has worked tirelessly to deceive, to corrupt, and to destroy. But now, at the return of Christ, he will be cast into the lake of fire, his reign of terror over. The cosmic battle between good and evil will be over. Christ will have triumphed, and Satan will be no more. This is the ultimate victory of God’s kingdom over the kingdom of darkness.

With Satan’s destruction, all evil will be defeated, and the realm that God created will be restored to its original purpose. There will be no more opposition to God’s reign. The King’s victory is complete, and his kingdom will be established in peace, righteousness, and glory.

The King’s Victory and the Eternal Kingdom

The return of Christ is not only the defeat of his enemies; it is the restoration of God’s reign. The victory of the cross is complete, and at the second coming, that victory will be made manifest to the world. Christ will take his rightful place as the ruler of all creation, and his eternal kingdom will be established.

“On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:16). Christ is absolutely sovereigns over all creation. His reign is not temporary, not confined to a single age, but eternal, unshakeable, and all-encompassing. In Christ’s reign, there will be no more death, no more suffering, and no more sin. It will be a reign of peace, righteousness, and joy.

Christ’s victory and the establishment of his kingdom is the fulfillment of God’s original design for creation. From the beginning, God’s plan was for creation to be ruled by man under his authority. But now, through Christ, that plan will be fully realized. Christ will rule as King, and his people will reign with him, fulfilling the purpose for which they were created.

The King’s victory is a victory for his people. As Christ takes his rightful place on the throne, the redeemed will share in his reign. They will rule with him in his kingdom, perfectly restored to reflect God’s image and to extend his kingdom throughout the realm.

The Restoration of the Realm and God’s Perfect Kingdom

After the return of Christ, God’s original design for the earth will be fully restored. John sees the vision of a new heaven and a new earth, a realm that has been freed from the curse of sin and made new. The old creation, marred by sin, will pass away, and the new creation will emerge, untouched by the stain of the fall.

This new creation will be the fulfillment of God’s original purpose—to create a realm where he would rule through his vice-regent, man, and where he would dwell with his people in perfect fellowship. In this new creation, there will be no more sin, no more suffering, and no more separation from God. God’s presence will fill the earth, and his reign will be unchallenged.

In this restored realm, the redeemed will live in perfect harmony with God. There will be no more pain, no more sorrow, and no more death. The realm will be a place where God’s glory shines forth without interruption, and where his people live in peace and righteousness, reflecting his image and extending his reign.

The Glory of God Revealed in the King’s Return

At the heart of the new creation is the glory of God. John writes, “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev 21:23). God’s glory will be so radiant, so overwhelming, that the sun and moon—the sources of light in the old world—will no longer be needed. God himself will be the light of the new heavens and the new earth.

This light is not just a physical light but a spiritual and moral radiance. It is the light of holiness, the light of truth, the light of life. In this eternal kingdom, there will be no more darkness of sin or death, no more shadow of despair. The redeemed will live forever in the presence of God, and his glory will shine in them and through them.

The eternal joy of God’s people will be inseparable from this glory. In the new creation, joy will be the natural response to God’s presence. Joy in God will be the constant refrain of the redeemed, for they will live in perfect communion with their Creator, reflecting his glory in every aspect of their lives.

As the redeemed bask in the eternal presence of God, the final consummation of the kingdom unfolds. The King’s reign is now fully established, and his kingdom is unshaken and eternal. “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Rev 22:5).

Living in Light of the King’s Return

The promise of Christ’s return is the believer’s only hope in life and death. This truth shapes every aspect of our present life, for the return of Christ is the anchor that holds us firm amid the trials and uncertainties of this world. As we look forward to the day when Christ will return in glory to establish His eternal kingdom, we are called to live in a way that reflects His rule and reign.

Our lives are meant to be a testimony to the coming kingdom, living out the values of righteousness, justice, and peace that will define that eternal reign. Each day is an opportunity to advance the King’s message, spreading the good news of the gospel and making disciples of all nations. Every act of love, every step of obedience, every moment spent in worship and service is not only a preparation for that future kingdom but a reflection of our hope in Christ’s return.

For the believer, the return of Christ is the fulfillment of all God’s promises. It is the final victory over sin, death, and the powers of darkness, when all things will be made new. God will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more pain or sorrow. Creation itself will be restored to its intended glory, and we, the redeemed, will live in perfect fellowship with God. Christ’s return marks the beginning of an eternal reign of peace and joy, where He will rule forever, and we, His people, will reign with Him.

Living in light of that glorious day transforms the way we view our present circumstances. Our hope is anchored in the certainty of Christ’s return, and it is that hope that empowers us to live faithfully now, knowing that our ultimate joy and peace are secured. In Christ’s return, we will find our deepest longings satisfied. And until that day, our lives are shaped by the certainty that he will indeed come again.

Peter was a fisherman, rough around the edges, with a quick temper and a tendency to speak before thinking. One day, as he worked by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, a man came to him with a simple invitation: “Follow me.” Peter, leaving his nets behind, didn’t hesitate. He followed Jesus, though he had no idea just how much his life would change.

At first, Peter’s enthusiasm was unmatched. He was the first to declare that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised one of God. But often, he was also the first to stumble. He spoke boldly, but sometimes foolishly, eager to be a leader but unaware of the humility and patience Jesus was teaching him. When Jesus spoke of his coming death, Peter rebuked him, only to hear shocking words from Jesus: “Get behind me, Satan!” His heart was in the right place, but his understanding was incomplete.

The moments of failure were numerous. On the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter swore he would never leave him. Yet, when the pressure mounted, Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times. The rooster crowed, and Peter’s heart broke. His mistake was monumental, and the weight of his failure felt unbearable. But even in that moment of crushing defeat, Jesus was there, waiting. After the resurrection, Jesus met Peter on the shore and asked him, “Do you love me?” Three times, Peter answered, “Yes, Lord,” and Jesus restored him, commissioning him to feed his sheep.

Over the years, Peter’s transformation continued. No longer the impulsive fisherman, he grew into a bold and faithful leader of the early church. His once hasty decisions were replaced with wise counsel. He learned to rely on God’s Word and to lead with the humility he had once lacked. On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood before a crowd, no longer the man who had denied Jesus, but the man who boldly proclaimed the gospel. Three thousand souls were added to the church, a testimony to the grace that had shaped Peter’s life.

Peter’s story didn’t end there. He traveled, preached, healed, and guided believers, becoming a cornerstone of the early church. His faith, once shaky and uncertain, had grown firm. What began with an impulsive fisherman had become a mighty leader, shaped by years of following Jesus, stumbling and rising again, but always moving forward in the power of God’s grace.

Peter’s life is a powerful reminder that spiritual growth is not always a straight line. There are setbacks, stumbles, and moments of confusion along the way. Yet, just as Peter was transformed from a rough fisherman into a bold leader of the early church, so too are the King’s people progressively shaped by his grace. Little by little, through every failure and victory, we are being conformed to the image of the King. As his people, we are called to follow him, to reflect his character, and to live in a way that advances his kingdom on earth. Just as Peter was transformed through his relationship with the King, so are we, continually growing in our faith and purpose as citizens of his kingdom.

The Spirit’s Work in Sanctifying Believers

Peter’s life is a powerful illustration of what it means to be sanctified. Sanctification is the process by which God, through his Spirit, makes believers more like Christ, shaping them from the inside out. It begins the moment we are saved and continues throughout our lives.

The path of sanctification, however, is not one we can walk on our own. Just as the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasures” (Phil 2:12–13). Peter didn’t work on his sanctification in isolation. Yes, he had to make decisions, face challenges, and grow, but it was God the Spirit who continued to work in him, reshaping his character, his desires, and his actions.

Think of the many times Peter failed: when he denied Jesus three times, when he rebuked Jesus for speaking of his suffering, or when he attempted to walk on water and sank. Each of these failures were opportunities for God to work in him. The same is true for us. Like Peter, we are not left to struggle alone in our sanctification. God is at work within us, teaching us, molding us, enabling us to do what is pleasing to him. The Spirit works within, guiding our will, empowering our actions, and giving us the strength to obey.

Little by Little

Sanctification is not instantaneous, but gradual. Our journey of becoming more like Christ unfolds over time. Just like the growth of the human body, spiritual growth is not always tied to dramatic, crisis moments, but rather to steady, progressive sanctification. Think of the way Peter’s boldness gradually shifted from being impulsive and reckless to being full of conviction and wisdom. After the resurrection, we see a Peter who, though still passionate and bold, was now confident in the gospel, ready to stand up in front of thousands and declare the truth of Jesus Christ.

His speech on the day of Pentecost stands in stark contrast to his earlier denials. The same Peter who had once cowered before a servant girl now stood in front of a hostile crowd, proclaiming the resurrection of Christ with boldness and authority. This wasn’t the result of a single moment of crisis, but the result of years of being shaped, corrected, and transformed by Christ’s teachings. Just as Peter was sanctified little by little, so too is our growth in holiness a gradual process. We may long for the instant change, the moment when sin is completely eradicated from our lives, but God often works in us in the day-by-day journey, slowly refining us as we follow Christ.

Means of Grace

God has given his people a variety of means of grace through which the Holy Spirit works to sanctify and transform them into the image of Christ. These means are not flashy or extraordinary, but ordinary tools used by the Spirit to bring about lasting change. Each of them is centered in the Word of God. Through the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit reveals the truth of the gospel, convicts us of sin, and guides us in godly living. As we read, hear, and meditate on God’s Word, we are shaped and transformed by its power. The preached Word, in particular, plays a crucial role in sanctification. Through faithful preaching, the Spirit convicts our hearts, teaches us about God’s law, and challenges us to live according to his will.

Prayer is another essential means of grace. Just as Jesus called his disciples to pray, so too are we called to seek God through prayer. It is through prayer that we communicate with God, lay our burdens before him, and align our desires with his, strengthening our faith and drawing us closer to him.

The regular gatherings of corporate worship are important means by which God sanctifies his people. As we gather together to worship God through singing, prayer, and the reading of Scripture, we are reminded of his greatness, his holiness, and his love. Corporate worship is a powerful tool for growth, as it unites believers in praise and strengthens us in our walk with Christ.

The sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are particularly powerful means of grace. Through remembering their baptism, believers are strengthened and encouraged to live for the King with whom they have been united. The Lord’s Supper nourishes believers spiritually, reminding us of Christ’s sacrifice and renewing our covenant relationship with him. These sacraments are not just rituals; they are visible signs of the invisible grace God has applied to our lives that progressively form us to live for him.

Equally important is faithful church involvement, where believers gather for mutual edification. In the fellowship of believers, we are encouraged and strengthened in our faith. The church is not merely a place to go, but a community in which we are actively involved, caring for one another and building each other up. The mutual edification of the body is vital for sanctification, as we bear one another’s burdens, encourage each other in the faith, and hold each other accountable.

These ordinary means of grace are the channels through which the Holy Spirit works to sanctify us. They are the tools he uses to transform us into the image of Christ, shaping our hearts, strengthening our faith, and enabling us to live out our calling as his people. Through these means, the Spirit not only works individually in each believer’s life but also unites the body of Christ as a whole, making us more like Christ and empowering us to carry out his mission in the world.

Freedom from Sin

Christian liberty is a powerful aspect of sanctification—the freedom that believers receive through Christ to live according to God’s will. Before coming to Christ, believers are slaves to sin, unable to break free from its grip. But through Christ’s sacrifice, the power of sin is broken, and believers are set free. As Paul writes in Romans 6:6, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” This freedom does not mean a license to sin, but rather the liberty to choose holiness, to live in obedience to God, and to reflect his character in every aspect of life.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Christians are empowered to live in this freedom, progressively growing in the ability to resist temptation and walk in righteousness. As sanctification progresses, the believer experiences the increasing ability to choose what is good and pleasing to God, living a life that reflects their new identity in Christ. This freedom is not merely the absence of sin’s power, but the positive ability to live in joyful obedience, walking in the fullness of God’s will and reflecting his glory in the world. Christian liberty is a mark of the transformed life, one that is not bound by sin but free to pursue holiness and to live as the King’s people.

Living for the King

Sanctification means living out the implications of being a follower of Christ. In our families, we are called to love and serve one another sacrificially. Husbands are instructed to love their wives as Christ loved the church, and wives are called to respect their husbands (Eph 5:25–33). Parents are told to raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, and children are called to honor their parents (Eph 6:1–4). In the family, sanctification is seen in the way we mirror the love, humility, and grace of Christ, creating homes that reflect his kingdom.

As citizens, we are called to submit to governing authorities and to live peaceful, godly lives (Rom 13:1–7; 1 Tim 2:1–2). This is not only for our benefit but also for the witness we bear to the world. Our submission is not blind obedience, but a recognition that God is sovereign over all and that our citizenship in his kingdom guides how we live in the kingdoms of this world.

In our relationships with fellow believers, we are urged to love one another deeply, to serve each other in humility, and to pursue unity in the Spirit (Rom 12:9–16; Eph 4:1–3). The body of Christ is meant to be a living witness of God’s love, where believers support, encourage, and edify one another.

In our vocations, following Christ calls us to work diligently and with integrity, as if we are working for the Lord and not for man (Col 3:23–24). Whether in the home, in the workplace, or in public service, our work is an act of worship. We are called to reflect Christ’s excellence and servant-hearted leadership in all that we do, using our talents and resources to serve others and to bring glory to God.

In all these areas of life, sanctification means living as the King’s people—people whose lives reflect his holiness, his love, and his truth to the world around them. It is in the ordinary and the everyday, in our relationships and work, that we most clearly demonstrate the transformative power of the gospel.

Perseverance to the End

Near the end of his life, Peter wrote to the scattered believers, urging them to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). His words, a culmination of years of walking with Jesus, were a testament to the work God had done in him. The Peter who once struggled to understand the depths of Christ’s love now embodied it, teaching others to reflect that same love in their lives.

Peter’s life is a powerful testament to perseverance. After his dramatic failure, when he denied Christ three times, Peter could have given up. He could have believed that he was unworthy of the calling Jesus had placed on his life. But instead, he received grace, was restored, and continued to follow Jesus faithfully. Peter’s story demonstrates that though the road of sanctification is marked with setbacks and struggles, God’s faithfulness never falters. His grace is sufficient, and his power is made perfect in our weakness.

Perseverance in the Christian life is deeply connected to the assurance we have in Christ. As believers, we do not live in constant fear of falling away, wondering if our salvation is secure. We have the assurance that, because of God’s faithfulness, we will persevere to the end. Jesus promises that he will never lose any of those who have been given to him (John 6:39). The apostle Paul reminds us that, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). Our assurance is not based on our ability to hold fast to God, but on his unwavering commitment to finish the work he has started in us.

Peter’s life came to an end not in the quiet retirement of an old man, but in the courage and boldness that had defined his life as a disciple. Tradition tells us that Peter was crucified in Rome, and when it came time for his execution, he requested to be crucified upside down, feeling unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord. His final act of obedience, even in the face of death, reflected the transformation that had occurred over the years. From a fearful disciple to a fearless martyr, Peter’s life had come full circle—his faithfulness to the King now extended even to the point of death.

In his final days, Peter’s life told a story of God’s transforming power. He had gone from a fisherman to a faithful apostle, from a man of uncertainty to a pillar of the church. He had lived out the truth that following Christ was not a one-time event, but a lifelong journey—a journey of growth, grace, and continual renewal. Peter’s story is the story of every believer. We begin with brokenness and failure, but as we follow the King, we are made new. Over time, we are shaped and molded into his likeness, becoming a people who live faithfully for our King. Just as Peter’s life bore witness to the transformation Christ brings, so too should our lives reflect the King’s work in us. The King’s people are a work in progress, but in his hands, we are being made into something beautiful, something eternal.

The sun was setting over Jerusalem, casting a warm glow across the city. In the midst of the busy streets, a new movement was quietly taking root—something unlike anything the city had ever seen. It was not born from political ambition or worldly power, but from the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a promise made long ago by the risen Christ. Just days before, a small group of disciples, who had once been scattered and fearful, were now filled with boldness and unity. They had witnessed the resurrection of their Lord, and now, they were witnesses of his ongoing work in the world.

The day of Pentecost had come, and the church—God’s people—had been birthed. As the apostles spoke, thousands gathered, hearts pierced by the gospel. The Spirit moved, and those who heard the message believed, repenting and being baptized. In that one day, three thousand souls were added to their number. It was a moment of awe and wonder, the beginning of something eternal and life-changing.

And so, the church began—not with power, but with purpose; not with programs, but with people. The believers, now united by the grace of God, devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. They sought the wisdom of those who had walked with Jesus, listening intently to the words that spoke of the kingdom of God and the work of salvation. It was not merely a gathering of individuals, but a community bound together by the truth of the gospel, ready to live as Christ’s body in the world.

Day by day, they continued steadfastly in fellowship, eating together in one another’s homes with joy and sincerity. Their meals were not just moments of nourishment but opportunities to live out the reality of the gospel. As they broke bread together, they were reminded of Christ’s body broken for them, a reminder that they were not only family, but the family of God. They prayed together, lifting up their voices in praise to the God who had saved them, the God who was now among them through his Spirit.

In their unity, there was a selflessness that was foreign to the world around them. Those who had wealth sold possessions and shared their resources with anyone in need. There was no division, no competition, no selfish ambition—only the desire to care for one another as they had been cared for. The church was not an institution, but a living, breathing body, living out the love and generosity that Christ had shown them.

As they gathered in the temple courts, their praise echoed in the streets. They were a community marked by their love for God and for one another, and it was undeniable. The world took notice. The favor of the people was upon them, and the church grew every day. The Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved.

This is the picture of the church as God intended it—alive with the Holy Spirit, united in purpose, and devoted to the teachings of Christ. It is a people, not a building; a community, not an event. The church exists to worship, to be transformed by the Word of God, and to carry out the mission of God in the world. In this early church, we see the doctrines of the church come alive: doctrine, as the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings; fellowship, as they shared life together; worship, as they prayed and broke bread in remembrance of Christ; and mission, as God added to their number daily.

The Church as the Body of Christ

Scripture is filled with vivid pictures to help us grasp the reality of Christ’s church. The Church is a body—a living organism made up of many parts, but united by the same purpose. Each individual is a vital part of a greater whole, connected to Christ, the head of the body. Paul would later expound on this in his letters, describing the Church as a living, breathing body where each member had a role to play. “Now you are the body of Christ,” Paul wrote, “and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:27).

The imagery of the Body is powerful. It is not just that the Church is a community of individuals—it is that, through Christ, they are one body. Every believer, every person who called Christ their Lord, is connected to the head of the Body—Christ himself. Each member, whether they are the hand, the foot, the eye, or the ear, plays a unique and important role in the kingdom. The Church is not an organization—it is a living organism, pulsating with the life of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus had spent three years teaching his disciples what it meant to live as a part of this body. He had shown them the heart of God, the mind of God, and the hands of God. He had demonstrated how the King’s kingdom would grow, not through military power, but through love, service, and sacrifice. And now, as he stood before them, he was commissioning them to continue his work. They would be his hands and feet on earth, carrying out the work of reconciliation between heaven and earth.

The Church as the Bride of Christ

But the Church is not only described as the body of Christ; it is also his bride. This image speaks to the deep, intimate relationship between Christ and his people. Just as a husband and wife are united in love and purpose, so too are Christ and the Church. This union is one of pure, self-sacrificial love—love that transcends time, circumstance, and human failure.

The apostle Paul writes about the bride in Ephesians 5:25–27, where he speaks of Christ’s love for the Church: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

The Church is the bride of Christ, chosen and loved by him. Christ’s love for his people is not conditional or fleeting—it is eternal. His sacrifice for the Church was the ultimate act of love, laying down his life for her, to make her holy and blameless. This deep, covenantal relationship is at the heart of the Church’s identity. The Church is loved by Christ with a love that cannot be measured, and in return, the Church is called to love him with all her heart, mind, and soul. The image of the bride calls the Church to live in purity and faithfulness, just as a bride prepares for the return of her bridegroom.

The wedding imagery is not just metaphorical; it speaks to a future hope. In the final pages of the Bible, in Revelation 19, the Church is described as a bride, beautifully dressed and ready for the wedding feast of the Lamb. The King, the Bridegroom, will one day return to claim his bride, and all things will be made new. The Church, as the bride, will be presented to the King in all her glory, radiant and without blemish.

The Church as the Temple of the Holy Spirit

But there is yet another way the Church is described: as the temple of God. In the Old Testament, the temple was the place where God’s presence dwelt among his people. It was holy, set apart, and dedicated to the worship of God. But in the New Testament, the temple is not a physical building; it is the people of God—the Church. The apostle Paul writes, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16).

The Church is now the place where God’s presence is most profoundly felt. Each believer, united in Christ, is a living stone in the building of God’s holy temple. Together, the people of God make up a spiritual house, a temple where God’s Spirit dwells and where worship is offered in spirit and truth.

This temple is holy, and it is through the Church that God’s presence is made known in the world. The Church is meant to be a reflection of God’s holiness and a place where his name is honored. The Church is a sacred space, a community of believers where the Holy Spirit dwells, empowering the body to live according to God’s will.

The Marks of the True Church

As the days and months progressed, the first Christians continued to gather together in homes and public spaces, wondering what exactly set them apart. They were not just another group of people calling themselves believers; they were the Church, the Body of Christ. But what defined them? What made their gatherings truly different from any other community claiming to follow the way of Jesus? In the midst of their wondering, the answer began to take shape. Through his apostles, Jesus taught them the marks of the true Church, distinct signs that would guide them through every season and keep them firmly planted on the mission he had set before them.

The Preaching of the Word

It all began with a Word. The first mark of the true Church was the preaching of that Word—the Word that spoke the cosmos into existence, the Word that carried the good news of God’s Kingdom to the broken world. Jesus had preached it, and now his followers would carry on the message. The apostles, armed with the truths of Scripture and the stories of Christ’s life, began proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!” They weren’t just telling stories; they were declaring that everything had changed. The Savior had come. The way to God had been opened.

In the heart of this early Church, preaching wasn’t just an event—it was the very heartbeat of the community. On the day of Pentecost, Peter’s words pierced the hearts of thousands, and that day, they were baptized, transformed, and added to the Church. It was through the Word that God called his people, shaped them, and gave them life. Just as a tree needs the sun and rain to grow, the Church was nourished through the Word. It was the source of their life, the foundation of their faith, and the way they were to walk as they lived out the Kingdom of God in the world. The Word was not just to be heard; it was to be obeyed, shaping every part of their lives.

The Administration of the Sacraments

The second mark of the true Church was the faithful administration of the sacraments. These visible signs—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper—were instituted by Christ, and they were the Church’s way of displaying the unseen, making the invisible grace of God tangible to the senses.

Baptism, the first sacrament, was an entrance into this new community, a sign of the believer’s union with Christ’s death and resurrection. It was a public declaration that the person had been cleansed, made new, and now stood as a part of the family of God. In that act, the believer was marked with the name of Christ, set apart to walk in newness of life.

The Lord’s Supper, the second sacrament, was a meal that drew believers together in communion with Christ. Each time they ate the bread and drank from the cup, they were reminded of his body broken for them, his blood shed for their forgiveness. But it wasn’t only a memorial; it was a means of grace. In this symbolic meal, the Church was spiritually nourished, strengthened for the journey. It was the place where they were reminded of the Covenant, renewed in their commitment, and fed with the sustaining power of Christ himself.

These sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, were like markers on the road, guiding the faithful and reminding them that their lives—every part—were held in the hands of the Savior.

Church Discipline

And then, there was church discipline. Though it might seem like an uncomfortable subject, it was an essential mark of the true Church. Discipline, in its biblical sense, wasn’t about condemnation—it was about restoration. Jesus himself had outlined the steps for addressing sin within the community of believers, telling them that when one wandered away, the Church should pursue the sinner, not to shame but to restore.

In the early days, the community was committed to purity—both in their doctrine and their practice. Sin, when left unchecked, had the power to poison the community, and so discipline was carried out, not as an act of punishment, but as an act of love. It was a reminder that God was holy, and his people were called to reflect that holiness in their lives. If a brother or sister was caught in sin, the aim was always to restore them to the fold, not to ostracize or condemn. Church discipline was a way of protecting the integrity of the community and upholding the righteousness of God. It was a sacred responsibility to guard the heart of the Church, ensuring that every member could live in true fellowship with God and one another.

As each of these marks took shape—preaching the Word, administering the sacraments, and practicing discipline—the early Church was not just a social group or a religious society. They were the Body of Christ, called to be a living witness to the Kingdom of God. Each mark reflected the very nature of Christ’s mission on earth, and each one guided the Church as it grew and spread throughout the world. What began in Jerusalem soon echoed to the ends of the earth, carried forward by a community that was marked by God’s Word, his sacraments, and his holy discipline. Through these practices, the Church became a living reflection of Christ’s love, holiness, and authority.

The Mission of the Church: Proclaiming the Gospel to All Nations

The final aspect of the Church’s identity is its mission—the reason it exists in the world. The Church is not an isolated community; it is a community sent on a mission. The mission of the Church is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations, to make disciples of all people, and to bring those new believers into fellowship with the church through baptism.

When Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20, he commanded his disciples to go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to obey everything he had commanded. This mission is global in scope. The Church is not to be confined to one place or people group but is sent into all corners of the earth to bring the message of salvation through Christ.

The Church’s mission is empowered by the Holy Spirit, who gives boldness, wisdom, and strength to proclaim the gospel. The Church exists to extend the reach of God’s kingdom, to bring the message of hope and salvation to a lost world. The Church is not an end in itself; it exists to glorify God by reaching the nations with the gospel. The work of the Church is never complete until every tongue, tribe, and nation has heard the gospel. The King’s People are sent into the world as ambassadors of the Kingdom, bearing the message of reconciliation, hope, and life. and the King’s reign advances.

It was a day like any other in the small town of Bethany, the city nestled on the Mount of Olives, just a short distance from Jerusalem. As Jesus stood before them, his disciples, still recovering from the shock of his death and resurrection, now faced the reality of his final departure from earth. This would be the moment when Jesus, in the fullness of his glory, would ascend into heaven. The disciples looked on in wonder, their hearts heavy with the weight of loss but also filled with the promise of what was to come.

Jesus lifted his hands and, blessing them, spoke words that would forever alter the course of history: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). With those words, he was lifted up into the clouds, disappearing from their sight. The ascension was not an end, but the beginning of the spread of the King’s good news across the earth, redeeming people through the work of the Holy Spirit and the faithful witness of the Church.

As the disciples stood there, gazing into the sky, two angels appeared beside them and spoke with gentle authority: “Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). This statement was a promise of Jesus’s return, but it was also a declaration of his intercession for his people as he now sits at the Father’s right hand, awaiting the moment when he will return to establish his eternal kingdom.

Jesus had already spoken of the coming of the Holy Spirit during his time on earth. In the upper room, he had promised his disciples that he would not leave them as orphans. He said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17). The Holy Spirit, the third person of the diving Trinity, would enable them to continue the work he had started. Christ would continue to work through the Holy Spirit, who would save his people and empower the church to carry out the mission he had given them. The Spirit would not only remind them of Jesus’s words but would guide and strengthen them to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.

The Holy Spirit

Fifty days after Jesus’s resurrection, the disciples gathered in a room in Jerusalem during the feast of Pentecost. Suddenly, the room was filled with an audible sound—like the rush of a violent wind—and the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began speaking in tongues, proclaiming the mighty works of God. The crowd that had gathered for the feast was stunned. They marveled at the sight of these uneducated men speaking in languages they had never learned. Some mocked them, but Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, stood up and began to preach the first great sermon of the church.

He declared that Jesus—the same Jesus they had crucified—was the Messiah, the risen Lord, and the one who had been exalted to the right hand of God. Peter proclaimed the message of repentance and forgiveness, inviting all who would hear to call on the name of the Lord and be saved.

In that moment, the Spirit was not just filling the disciples; he was marking the beginning of the gospel’s advance through the church. This was not a movement of human effort or worldly wisdom. The King was waiting in heaven, and his Spirit was moving on earth, empowering his people to carry out the work he had set before them.

The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan. The Holy Spirit had always been active in the world, but now the Spirit came to indwell believers in a new and powerful way. This event marked the beginning of the new covenant in which the Spirit would take up residence in the hearts of those who believed in Jesus, empowering them for service and mission.

The Holy Spirit is not a force or a mystical presence, but the third person of the Triune God—fully God, co-eternal with the Father and the Son. From the very beginning, the Holy Spirit has been active in the work of creation, the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan, and the empowerment of God’s people. Yet his coming in a new and profound way at Pentecost marked a turning point in God’s relationship with his people.

The Spirit’s Work in the Elect

As Peter preached to the crowd, the Holy Spirit was working in the hearts of the listeners. The message of the gospel was applied by the Spirit in a powerful and personal way. The Spirit convicted those who heard the message of their sin. They were “cut to the heart,” as Luke describes it, and cried out in desperation, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). It was through the Holy Spirit’s convicting power that their hearts were awakened to the gravity of their sin and their need for salvation. This is the work of the Spirit to bring conviction and repentance. It is not through the skill of the preacher or the persuasive words of man that hearts are changed, but through the Spirit’s convicting power.

Yet in his conviction of sin, the Holy Spirit does not leave the sinner in despair, but he also brings about a new birth. Without the work of the Holy Spirit in regenerating dead hearts, no one could respond to the gospel. Jesus taught that a person must be “born again” by the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). This regeneration is a radical transformation of the heart, where the once-dead spirit is made alive to God. It is a divine work that opens the eyes of the sinner to see the glory of Christ and to recognize their need for salvation. The Apostle Paul writes in Titus 3:5 that God “saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” This washing of regeneration is the Spirit’s work in making a sinner into a new creation.

The Holy Spirit also illuminates the mind, giving the sinner the ability to understand and embrace the gospel. The truth of Christ, which once seemed foolish or incomprehensible, now becomes the wisdom of God. This is why Paul, in 1 Corinthians 2:14, tells us that “the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” The Spirit must open the eyes of the heart so that the sinner can understand and receive the message of salvation, showing the sinner that Christ is their only hope and that the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

Repentance and Faith

When the Spirit grants life to a dead soul and opens their blind minds, they immediately respond. Peter called the people to such a response in Acts 2:38, urging them to “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,” he was proclaiming the necessary conditions for forgiveness from sin and new life in Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable, both being necessary conditions for salvation. These two graces are the marks of genuine conversion and are intertwined throughout Scripture.

The first condition of salvation is repentance from sin. In Jesus’s story in Luke 15:11–24, the prodigal son squandered his inheritance in reckless living. Yet he soon experienced a deep sense of regret and sorrow. In his brokenness, he came to his senses and realized that his rebellion against his father was not only a failure toward him but also against God. In verse 18, the prodigal son says, “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.’” This moment marks a true repentance—he turns away from his sinful actions and seeks forgiveness. His repentance is genuine, not just a passing feeling of regret, but a decision to return to his father and restore the relationship that had been broken.

Repentance involves a radical change of heart and mind. It is more than just feeling sorry for sin; it is a complete turning away from sin and turning toward God. Repentance is a fundamental shift in the way one views sin, oneself, and God. It is a godly sorrow that leads to a renunciation of sin and a desire to follow God’s ways.

Jesus began his ministry with the call to repentance, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). Repentance is necessary because it clears the path for the work of salvation. Without it, a person cannot enter the Kingdom of God, for they remain in their sin, still under its penalty and power. In Luke 13:3, Jesus warns, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Repentance is the first step, a turning away from sin, but it must be followed by faith for the sinner to be fully reconciled with God. In Mark 5:25–34, a woman had been suffering from bleeding for twelve years and had spent all her money on doctors, but her condition only worsened. Yet, when she heard that Jesus was passing by, she believed that if she could just touch his garment, she would be healed. Her faith was simple but profound. When she did touch his garment, Jesus immediately felt the power go out from him and turned to her, saying, “Daughter, your faith has made you well” (Mark 5:34). Her faith was not just in the physical act of touching Jesus, but in the belief that he had the power to heal her. She trusted in his ability to save her from her affliction, and Jesus responded to her faith by healing her.

While repentance involves turning away from sin, faith involves turning to Christ, trusting in him as the Savior. Faith is not just a mental acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord; it is a personal trust in him for forgiveness and eternal life. Faith is the hand that reaches out to accept the gift of salvation, trusting in Christ’s finished work on the cross.

Justification: The King’s Righteousness Imputed to Us

A person in whose heart the Holy Spirit has worked, causing them to respond with repentant faith, is delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of Christ, experiencing justification from sin and adoption into the family of God.

A sinner is like a defendant who stood in the court of God, surrounded by accusations too numerous to count, each one a weighty charge against his soul. The judge, holy and righteous, looked upon the broken and guilty figure before him. There was no defense, no plea for mercy—only silence. It was clear: the penalty for sin was death. Yet, just as the final judgment was about to be declared, a figure stepped forward from the crowd. It was the King himself, the Son of God, who had walked among them, healing the sick, calming the storm, raising the dead. But now, he stood before the judge, not as the accuser, but as the one who would bear the judgment in the place of the guilty.

The King, full of grace, turned to the judge and said, “I will take the penalty for his sin.” And in that moment, as the courtroom stood still, he took the sins of the world upon himself. The Judge, though he had every right to condemn, declared, “Let their debt be wiped away. The penalty is paid.” The righteous King’s perfection was exchanged for the guilty’s punishment. He bore what should have been theirs.

This is the amazing result of repentant faith in Christ—Jesus, the innocent, perfect Son, stood in the place of the guilty. Through his life of perfect obedience, he had fulfilled all righteousness. Every command of the law that humanity had broken, he had obeyed perfectly. But more than that, in his death, he took upon himself the penalty of sin, the very wrath of God. This was the great exchange: our sin was placed upon him, and his righteousness was placed upon us.

In Romans 5:1, Paul says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Because of what Christ did, because he took our place, we are now declared righteous, not because of our own deeds, but because of his perfect obedience. Jesus’s righteousness is imputed to us—it’s as if we were the ones who perfectly obeyed God’s law. In that courtroom moment, the verdict was clear: not guilty, because of what Jesus had done.

But justification is not just about forgiveness. It’s about the amazing truth that when we trust in Christ, his righteousness becomes ours. In Christ, the sinner is not just pardoned but clothed in the righteousness of the Son, the King. It’s a transfer of status from guilty to innocent, from condemned to accepted, because of the work of the King.

Adoption: The Believer’s Union with Christ

The doors of the orphanage creaked open, and a figure stepped inside. The children, some with wide eyes and others with downcast gazes, looked up, wondering who this stranger was. His presence seemed different, somehow—majestic but filled with kindness. The orphanage was no place of joy, but this man radiated something new, something like hope. He walked slowly, his eyes scanning the children, and then he stopped. He knelt before one small, frightened boy, offering him a hand. “I choose you,” he said softly. The boy, unsure of what this meant, hesitated, but the man’s smile was warm and full of promise.

That day, the boy was taken in, not as a servant or a stranger, but as a child of the man who had chosen him. The papers were signed, the adoption was final. No longer was the boy an orphan, but a son—he had a family now, a name, an inheritance. The love of the man who had chosen him became his greatest treasure.

This is what happens when Christ brings a believer into God’s family. Through his death, believers are not just forgiven, but they are brought into the family of God, made co-heirs with Christ, receiving the fullness of his eternal promises. The resurrection of Jesus, too, is the proof that this adoption is secure. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, so too will we, sharing in the eternal inheritance of God’s family.

In Ephesians 1:5, Paul tells us that God “predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” Through Christ’s work, we are not merely forgiven, but we are made children of God. The story of adoption is a beautiful one, for it means that we are no longer outsiders, no longer alienated from God, but are welcomed into his family. Jesus, through his life and death, secures our place at the Father’s table. We are no longer orphans wandering without hope. Through Jesus, we are welcomed into the household of God. This adoption is the greatest privilege. It means that we are heirs of God’s promises, recipients of his love, his protection, and his eternal kingdom. Through the work of Christ, God calls us his children, giving us all the rights and privileges that come with belonging to his family. And just as Christ rose from the dead to secure our salvation, he also ensures that our adoption into his family is permanent, guaranteed by the resurrection, the ultimate sign that we are his forever.

Darkness descended on Jerusalem like an impenetrable veil, not a darkness of night but of divine judgment. It was a tangible shroud, the kind that seemed to weigh heavily on every heart, the kind of darkness that spoke of an ending and a beginning all at once. It was the kind of darkness that swallowed the city, suffocating the air and stilling even the most restless souls.

At that very moment, Jesus of Nazareth, the long-awaited Messiah, hung on the cross. The agony on his face, the crown of thorns pressed cruelly into his brow, and the blood that soaked his body were all outward signs of the cosmic reality unfolding in that very hour. The King, the Savior of the world, was being judged. The righteous One was taking the place of the unrighteous. In that profound darkness, he bore something that was invisible to the human eye but infinitely heavier than any physical pain—the weight of the sins of the world. And in that brutal moment, a victory was being won—though none in the crowd, not even his disciples, could have seen it clearly.

It was a cold paradox: Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the One who had calmed storms, healed the sick, and raised the dead, now suffered at the hands of men. He was mocked, ridiculed, beaten, and rejected—yet in the heart of this very suffering, he was securing the redemption of all who would believe in him. The cross, which seemed like the ultimate defeat, was, in reality, the greatest victory the world would ever know.

Triumph in the Darkness

The Roman soldiers raised the cross, lifting Jesus higher and higher until his feet were nailed securely to the wooden beam. The agony was unimaginable as the weight of his body bore down upon the nails, leaving him suspended between heaven and earth. The crowds below were a mix of jeering faces, some full of disdain, others overcome with sorrow, but none fully grasping the weight of what was happening before their eyes. It was the moment of history’s greatest tragedy and its greatest triumph. The King of Glory, the eternal Son of God, who had walked among his people and performed miracles, was now hanging on a cross as though he were a criminal—disregarded by most and misunderstood by all.

On the cross, Jesus was not just suffering the pain of crucifixion; he was bearing the very wrath of God for the sins of humanity. This was the fulfillment of God’s justice, for the penalty of sin was death. The eternal Son of God took upon himself the eternal punishment that humanity had earned through its rebellion. The death of Jesus was the necessary act of God to satisfy the demands of justice and restore what was broken. The Lamb of God, spotless and without sin, willingly took the place of sinners, accepting the punishment that was rightfully theirs. Where humanity had failed, Jesus, the perfect Son of God, succeeded.

No other means could satisfy God’s justice. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22). No mere human could bear the infinite weight of sin; only the perfect Son of God could take on such a burden. Without Jesus’s perfect sacrifice, humanity would have been lost, cut off from God forever. It was not optional; it was essential for the restoration of the relationship between God and his people.

Because he was the sinless Son of God, his sacrifice had infinite worth. He was not just a martyr; he was the God-man, the only one who could bear the weight of the world’s sin and conquer it. His death was sufficient for the sins of all who would believe in him—past, present, and future. The eternal value of his sacrifice means that it is not just a moment in time; it is the means of salvation for all who trust in him. Through his suffering and death, Jesus secured eternal life for his people, a life purchased with his own blood.

As Jesus hung there, taking the full penalty of sin upon himself, the love of God was fully revealed. In that moment of agony, we see God’s justice being upheld and his mercy extended to sinners. God did not simply overlook sin; he dealt with it in the person of his Son. Jesus’s sacrifice was the ultimate act of love—laying down his life so that we might live, enduring the punishment we deserved so that we could be reconciled to the Father. Through his death, God offered forgiveness to all who would turn to him in faith, securing a future where justice and mercy forever meet.

When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” he was not simply declaring the end of his earthly suffering; he was proclaiming the completion of God’s redemptive plan. The victory had been won. The penalty for sin had been fully paid. The way to salvation was now open, and all who would believe in him could have eternal life. The atonement was complete. Through Jesus’s sacrifice, the work of salvation was finished, and the gift of eternal life was secured for all who trust in him.

The cross was the moment when God’s justice was fully satisfied and his love abundantly poured out. It was the moment of victory over sin and death, the moment when the way to eternal life was secured for all who would believe. Through his death, Jesus fulfilled the purpose of his coming—not to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:17).

As Jesus breathed his final breath, something extraordinary happened—something that no one could have anticipated. In the temple, in the holy of holies, the place where God’s presence dwelt, the veil of the temple—the very curtain that separated sinful man from the holy presence of God—was torn in two from top to bottom (Matt 27:51). The veil, thick and impenetrable, was not torn by human hands, but by God himself, as if to declare that through Jesus’s sacrifice, the barrier that separated man from God was removed. This was the symbolic tearing away of every obstacle that stood between God and his people. No longer would sacrifices be required to atone for sin; Jesus had done it all. No longer would a high priest have to intercede on behalf of the people; Jesus himself was now the mediator between God and man. Through his death, he opened the way for all who believe to come into the presence of the Holy God, not as strangers or enemies, but as children of God, adopted into his family.

The soldiers lowered the cross, lifting Jesus’s lifeless body from the wood and preparing to place it in the tomb. The earth, which had darkened at midday in mourning, now seemed to hold its breath as the finality of the moment set in. His followers, bewildered and grief-stricken, could hardly comprehend that the man they had believed to be the Messiah—the Savior, the King—was now gone. The hope they had placed in him seemed dashed, and their world, which had been filled with anticipation and awe, was now marked by sorrow and despair.

The disciples, still in the shadows of grief, began to gather in the quiet, unsure of what would come next. The King had been crucified, and all their dreams seemed to have died with him. His body lay cold in the tomb, the stone sealing the entrance. For them, the end of Jesus’s earthly life seemed to be the end of all things. They remembered his words, his promises, but now, with his death, those words seemed distant, unfulfilled. How could they have misunderstood so much? How could this be the Savior they had long awaited?

In their sorrow, they had no way of knowing that the story of Jesus was far from over. His death was not a failure, but a victory that would not be fully realized until the third day, when the stone was rolled away and the tomb stood empty. But for now, all they could do was wait, uncertain of what would come next, with their hearts heavy and filled with questions.

The disciples, gripped by the weight of their grief, found themselves at a crossroads: faced with the unbearable loss of their Master, they were uncertain of what this all meant. The King had died. What would happen now?

Victory Over Death

The morning light broke over the garden tomb on the first day of the week, casting a soft glow on the stone that had been rolled away. Mary Magdalene, along with the other disciples, had come to mourn, to prepare Jesus’s body for the final resting. But when they arrived, something extraordinary had already happened: the tomb was empty. The stone, which had sealed the grave so securely, was no longer in place. Jesus, the one they had seen crucified, was no longer there. His body was gone.

This was the moment of Christ’s greatest triumph, the moment that marked the complete victory over death. Though he had died, the King’s story did not end at the cross. His resurrection was the undeniable sign that the victory he won through his death had been sealed. Jesus had taken upon himself the full penalty of sin, but in rising from the dead, he demonstrated that death no longer had power over him. In this one victorious act, Jesus broke the chains of sin and death, and he secured eternal life for all who would trust in him. His victory was not limited to himself; it was for all who would place their faith in him. As the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus’s resurrection is the beginning of a promise—he is the first to rise, but all who belong to him will follow. In his resurrection, we see the power of God to bring life from death, to fulfill the promise of eternal life that he had made from the very beginning.

The resurrection also stands as the ultimate confirmation of Jesus’s identity. He was not simply a martyr who died for a cause, nor was he an ordinary man whose life came to an untimely end. Jesus was the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and the King of Kings. His resurrection was the divine vindication of every claim he had made about himself. It was proof that he was indeed the promised Messiah, the one who had the power to lay down his life and to take it up again (John 10:18). In conquering death, he showed that he had authority over all things, including sin, death, and the grave.

As Mary Magdalene stood outside the tomb, confused and weeping, Jesus appeared to her, calling her by name. In that moment, his resurrection was not just a return to life; it was the beginning of a new reality. Jesus was not merely restored to his former state; he was ushering in a new era—a new creation, where death had no final say. His resurrection was the first step toward the new heavens and the new earth, where death would be no more, and all things would be made new.

“Do not cling to me,” Jesus told Mary, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17). His resurrection signaled the beginning of a new relationship between Jesus and his people. The victory over death was not just for Jesus—it was for all those who would trust in him. His victory was not confined to the moment of his rising; it was the firstfruits of what would be the ultimate restoration of all things. Through his resurrection, believers are promised that they too will rise, that death will not have the final word, and that eternal life is secured for all who follow him.

The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate demonstration of God’s power and faithfulness. In rising from the dead, Jesus demonstrated that God’s plan for salvation was complete. The penalty for sin had been fully paid, and now the way to eternal life was open for all who would come to him in faith. The resurrection is the proof that Christ has conquered sin and death, and it is the assurance for believers that his promises will be fully realized.

Through his resurrection, Jesus not only proved his divine authority, but he also brought a new hope to humanity. Because he lives, we too shall live. The story did not end at the cross, but found its fulfillment in the resurrection, where victory was won and death was defeated once and for all.

Conclusion

The King’s victory was secured through his death, but it was finalized in his resurrection. Through the cross, Jesus atoned for sin, bore the wrath of God, and made a way for all who believe to be reconciled to God. Through the resurrection, he conquered death, securing the hope of eternal life for his people. Through his work, he has justified us, declared us righteous, and has brought us into the family of God. The King has triumphed over sin, death, and Satan, and through his victory, we share in that victory forever. The work of Christ is finished. It is a victory that cannot be undone. And in this victory, we find our hope, our life, and our inheritance in Christ. Sinners can be saved, adopted, and justified through his work. The King’s victory is not just a past event—it is the present reality for all who trust in him, and it is the future hope of those who will reign with him forever.

The sun was high over the Jordan River, its golden rays piercing the air and casting long shadows across the crowd that had gathered at the riverbank. The people had come from all over Judea to hear the preaching of John the Baptist, who called them to repentance and baptized them in the waters as a symbol of cleansing and renewal. The air was thick with anticipation as John, a wild and fiery prophet, stood in the water, calling out to those who came to him: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

As the crowd swelled, a figure approached from the distance—Jesus of Nazareth. At first glance, he seemed like any other man, but there was something about him that set him apart. John saw him and paused. He knew the moment had come. His eyes widened with a mix of awe and reverence, and he said, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” (Matt 3:14). John, who recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, was hesitant to baptize him, knowing that Jesus was sinless and had no need for repentance.

But Jesus, in perfect humility, responded to John, saying, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15). In this simple statement, Jesus revealed the profound truth of his mission. Though he was sinless, he entered the waters of baptism to identify with humanity, to take his place among the sinful people he had come to redeem. He was not just a man but the God-man, the Savior who would fulfill the righteousness of God on behalf of his people.

The Anointed King

As Jesus entered the water, the scene grew still. John immersed him in the Jordan River, and as he came up out of the water, something extraordinary happened. The heavens opened, and the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus like a dove, resting on him in a visible sign of divine approval. In that moment, the voice of God the Father thundered from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17).

This moment at the Jordan River was a pivotal revelation of who Jesus was and what he had come to do. The Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—was unmistakably present in this act. The Father’s voice declared the divine approval of the Son, the Spirit descended upon Jesus as a sign of his anointing, and Jesus himself, the Son, stood as the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan.

In his baptism, Jesus was identified as the Anointed One—the Messiah, the Christ. The words of the Father marked the beginning of his public ministry, the moment when he was publicly declared as the One who would fulfill God’s promise to send a Savior. This was the moment the Seed of the Woman, promised in Genesis 3:15, was publicly revealed. In the Garden of Eden, Adam had failed to keep God’s command and was cast out of the garden, but now where Adam had faltered, Jesus would succeed.

The Holy Spirit descending upon him was a sign of his anointing as King. In this moment, Jesus was publicly declared to be the King of God’s Kingdom, the One who would restore what had been lost in the fall and fulfill God’s original design for humanity to live in perfect obedience and fellowship with him.

The heavens opening and the voice of the Father affirming the Son pointed to a divine reality: Jesus was not just a man—he was God himself, come to dwell with his people. He was the eternal Word made flesh, the second person of the Trinity, who had taken on human nature to accomplish the work of salvation. In his baptism, Jesus both revealed his divine identity and embraced his role as the perfect representative of humanity—the One who would fulfill the righteous demands of God’s law on behalf of his people.

This moment marked the beginning of the fulfillment of the long-awaited promises of Scripture. As the Anointed King, Jesus would demonstrate his dominion over creation, his power to forgive sins, and his authority to restore the broken relationship between God and humanity. The baptism of Jesus was not only the beginning of his public ministry—it was the moment when the King of Heaven, the Seed of the Woman, was publicly revealed to the world.

Christ’s Active Obedience

The wilderness was quiet, but the tension in the air was palpable. Jesus, fresh from his baptism, stood alone in the desolate expanse. For forty days, he had fasted and prayed, seeking the will of his Father, preparing himself for the battle ahead. The physical hunger he felt was intense, but his focus was on a far greater hunger—the call to fulfill God’s plan for redemption. Yet in this moment of weakness, the ancient serpent came once again, yearning to thwart God’s plan to make Jesus king over all the earth.

The first temptation came like a whisper through the barren silence, a subtle challenge to Jesus’s identity and mission. The devil knew that Jesus had not eaten in forty days, and he saw an opportunity to exploit his hunger. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “command these stones to become bread.” The offer seemed so simple, so easy—Jesus had the power to satisfy his own need, to turn the stones into bread and end his hunger. But Jesus, without hesitation, responded with a firm command: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). In this moment, Jesus chose obedience over self-preservation, affirming his commitment to trust in God’s provision rather than taking matters into his own hands. His obedience here would not be driven by his immediate need but by his unwavering submission to the will of the Father.

The devil, undeterred, took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. From this towering height, the devil again sought to challenge Jesus’s trust in God. “If you are the Son of God,” he taunted, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘he will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Matt 4:6). The devil twisted Scripture, tempting Jesus to use his divine power for show, to put God to the test and prove his identity in a dramatic display. But Jesus, once again, countered with the Word of God, saying, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matt 4:7). Jesus, in his response, rejected the temptation to manipulate God’s promises for his own gain. He chose trust, not spectacle, fully submitting to the Father’s plan without demanding proof.

The final temptation was the most tempting of all—an offer of worldly power and glory. The devil, showing Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in their splendor, said, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matt 4:9). The devil offered Jesus a shortcut to the power and dominion that were rightfully his, but only at the cost of his allegiance. Jesus, without a moment’s pause, rejected the offer with a resounding rebuke: “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (Matt 4:10). In this final moment, Jesus demonstrated his unyielding loyalty to the Father. He refused to trade worship of God for the fleeting pleasures of earthly power, reaffirming that his kingdom was not of this world.

In each of these temptations, Jesus demonstrated the active obedience to God’s law that Adam had failed to show in the garden. While Adam had been commanded to obey God’s law and failed, Jesus, the second Adam, succeeded. Where Adam had listened to the voice of the serpent and disobeyed, bringing sin into the world, Jesus stood firm against the devil’s temptations and obeyed the Father perfectly. In doing so, he fulfilled what Adam could not: perfect obedience to God’s covenant. Jesus’s active obedience in the wilderness was not just a matter of resisting temptation in the moment—it was a decisive act in God’s redemptive plan. By refusing to give in to temptation, he laid the groundwork for the perfect life of obedience that would culminate in his sacrificial death on the cross. Through his obedience, Jesus fulfilled the original purpose for humanity: to reflect God’s image perfectly, to obey his law, and to rule over creation as God’s faithful representative.

The Son of Man

The crowd pressed in around Jesus as he sat teaching in a house, packed with eager listeners. Outside, a group of friends carried a paralyzed man on a mat, desperate for him to be healed. But the house was so crowded that there was no way to get through the door. Undeterred, they climbed onto the roof, made an opening, and lowered their friend down right in front of Jesus. The room fell silent as the paralytic lay there, looking up at Jesus with hope and anticipation.

When Jesus saw their faith, he spoke the words that would stun everyone in the room: “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). At first, the crowd must have been confused. This was a man who had come for healing, for his paralysis to be cured. But Jesus went deeper. He didn’t just address the man’s physical need—he went straight to the heart of the matter, speaking to his spiritual condition.

The Pharisees, who were observing this moment with suspicion, immediately began to question in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7). The tension in the room was palpable. These religious leaders, experts in the law, understood the gravity of what Jesus had just said. To forgive sins was to claim the authority of God himself, something no one but God could do. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, didn’t let the challenge go unanswered.

“Why do you question these things in your hearts?” he asked them. “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?” (Mark 2:8). It was a probing question, one that would reveal his true authority. Jesus continued, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—and turning to the paralytic, he said, “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home” (Mark 2:10–11).

In an instant, the man, once unable to move, stood up, picked up his mat, and walked out in full view of everyone. The crowd was astonished and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this” (Mark 2:12).

In that moment, Jesus demonstrated that he was not just a healer, but God himself with the power to forgive sins. The miracle was not simply a display of power; it was a sign that pointed to something deeper—his divine authority over all of creation. Jesus was the One who had come to exercise the dominion over creation that Adam had failed to carry out. In this instance, he not only healed the sick but also showed his power over the deepest need of humanity: sin. Where Adam’s disobedience had fractured humanity’s relationship with God, Jesus’s authority to forgive sin marked the restoration of that relationship.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus demonstrated his divine power in ways that left no doubt as to his identity as the Son of God. His miracles were signs that revealed the in-breaking of God’s kingdom and pointed to his authority over all creation.

One of the most dramatic examples of this occurred as Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee in a boat, when a fierce storm arose, threatening to capsize them. The disciples, fearing for their lives, woke Jesus, who was asleep in the boat. He rebuked them, saying, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (Matt 8:26). Then, with a simple word, Jesus calmed the storm, saying, “Peace, be still.” The winds and the waves obeyed his command, and the disciples marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matt 8:27).

In this miracle, Jesus demonstrated his divine authority over the natural world. The sea and the wind obeyed him because he is their Creator. This wasn’t just a compassionate act to save his disciples from danger; it was a proclamation of his power. He was the One who had established the laws of nature, and now, with a word, he demonstrated that he had authority over them. His ability to calm the storm was a sign of his dominion over creation, fulfilling what God had originally intended for humanity to do. Adam had been given the charge to rule over creation, to steward the earth and its creatures, but it was Jesus, the second Adam, who truly exercised this dominion with authority.

Another powerful demonstration of Jesus’s divine power occurred when he raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead for four days, and his body had already begun to decay. Jesus, deeply moved, went to the tomb and commanded that the stone be rolled away. He called out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43). To the amazement of all who were present, Lazarus walked out of the tomb, alive. This miracle was a clear sign of Jesus’s power over death itself, demonstrating that he was the giver of life and the one who had the power to raise the dead.

These miracles were not merely acts of compassion but also declarations of Christ’s divine nature. In them, Jesus revealed that he was not just a prophet or a wise teacher; he was the very God who had come to restore his broken creation. Through his works, he displayed his power over nature, illness, demons, and even death, showing that he was the fulfillment of God’s plan to redeem the world. And in doing so, he showed that he was the true King, exercising dominion over all things in a way Adam never could.

Most powerfully, Jesus displayed his dominion over sin itself. His authority to forgive sins, something only God could do, established his identity as God incarnate. Where Adam had failed to keep the covenant of works, leading to humanity’s fall, Jesus succeeded. He lived the perfect life, fulfilling the righteousness required by God’s law, and his active obedience became the means by which his people could be made righteous. Through his perfect obedience, Jesus reversed the curse brought about by Adam’s disobedience, and he became the true King who would restore creation.

The Perfect, Obedient King

Jesus’s life was the fulfillment of God’s original intent to have an earthly king who would perfectly obey God’s law and establish righteousness on behalf of his people. Through his active obedience, Christ fulfilled the righteousness that was required for humanity to inherit the blessings of God’s kingdom. In him, the original purpose for mankind was realized: a perfect, obedient representative who would restore what was lost in the fall.

In his obedience, Jesus became the new Adam, the one who did what Adam could not do. Where Adam failed to obey God and brought sin into the world, Jesus obeyed perfectly, fulfilling the law and earning righteousness. This righteousness is not his alone; it is credited to those who believe in him, just as Adam’s sin was credited to all humanity. Through his life, Jesus established the perfect obedience that was required of humanity and made it available to all who would place their trust in him. His righteousness, earned through his perfect life, is imputed to his people, and in this way, Christ’s active obedience restores what was lost in the garden.

The night over Bethlehem was quiet, yet a stillness fell upon the world, as though creation itself was holding its breath in anticipation. The stars glittered above the humble town, lighting the darkness, but it was the birth of a child in a small, unassuming stable that would light the hearts of mankind for all eternity. In the silence of the night, the King of the universe had entered his creation—not in power and splendor, but in weakness and humility, born in a manger to a poor couple in a little town.

The long-awaited Messiah, promised throughout the Scriptures, had arrived—not as the world expected, not with the triumphal fanfare of earthly rulers, but with the quiet humility of a child wrapped in swaddling clothes. This was not just any child; this was the incarnation of the eternal God, the Son of God taking on human flesh.

The Pre-Existence of Christ

Before time itself had a name, before the first stars were set in place, there was a deep, eternal communion—an unbroken fellowship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The world had not yet been spoken into existence, yet the Son, the Word, existed in perfect union with God. He was not a creation, not a thought that came into being; he was the Creator. In the quiet eternity before creation, he was with God, one with the glory, the love, and the power of the Godhead.

The first words of the Gospel of John pull back the curtain on this ancient reality: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word, here, is not a mere sound or idea, but the eternal Son, the one through whom everything was made. He wasn’t part of creation; he was the very means by which it came into being. John continues, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” Before there was a “beginning” to time, before there was anything to begin, there was Christ—woven into the very fabric of all things, holding the universe together by his will.

But this eternal Son, the Creator and Sustainer of all, chose to step into his creation. He who had no beginning took on a beginning, taking on the fragile, limited form of humanity. In the quiet of a Bethlehem night, under the gaze of a silent sky, he who spoke the universe into existence allowed himself to be cradled in the arms of a young mother, wrapped not in glory but in swaddling clothes. The Word, who had existed from the beginning, had now made himself known in a way that humanity could comprehend—through flesh, through blood, through a baby.

This is the great mystery—the eternal Son, through whom all things were made, became part of his own creation. He who existed before time began, who was not bound by it, now entered it to accomplish the most extraordinary of acts: to redeem the very people he had created. The Incarnation was not his beginning; it was his arrival. And in that arrival, everything changed—for now the Word was not only in the beginning, but the Word was with us.

Eternal God Becomes Man

The incarnation is the central doctrine of the Christian faith, the belief that God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, took on full human nature while remaining fully divine. In the birth of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word who had existed with God from the very beginning (John 1:1), became flesh and dwelt among his creation (John 1:14). This event—the coming of God as a man—is the fulfillment of God’s promises and marks the beginning of a new chapter in God’s redemptive plan.

In his incarnation, Jesus was not part divine and part human, nor was he a human being who achieved divinity. Instead, he was the perfect union of the divine and human natures in one person. This is known as the hypostatic union. Jesus is fully God and fully man, two distinct natures united in the one person of Christ. He is truly divine, the eternal Son of God, sharing the same essence as the Father and the Holy Spirit. And he is truly human, fully experiencing all that it means to be human, yet without sin.

The divine nature of Jesus is evident throughout his life. He performed miracles that only God could do, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, and forgiving sins. His ability to walk on water, calm storms, and know people’s thoughts reveals his divine power. Yet, he also lived as a man. He ate, slept, and grew like any other human being. He experienced hunger, thirst, and pain. He wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus and cried out in anguish on the cross.

In this union of natures in one person, Jesus is truly divine and truly human. As God, he reveals the Father to us in a way no human could. As man, he identifies with our weaknesses, sympathizes with our struggles, and provides the perfect mediator between God and humanity. He is the perfect Savior, able to fully represent both God and man.

The hypostatic union is essential because it is the means by which Jesus could be the perfect mediator between God and humanity. As God, he could reveal the Father perfectly, and as man, he could represent humanity and bring redemption to the fallen world. He needed to be fully God to bear the weight of the world’s sin and to provide a sacrifice of infinite worth. But he also needed to be fully man to stand in our place, to live the life we could not live, and to die the death we deserved. In his person, God and man were united in a way that was mysterious and profound, yet necessary for the salvation of mankind.

In Luke 2:10–11, the angel’s announcement to the shepherds contains the fullness of this miraculous event: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” This Savior, who was born that night, was not just a man, but the Christ, the Lord, the Son of God who had come to rescue his people from their sins.

God With Us

It had begun on an ordinary day in the town of Nazareth when a young woman named Mary, betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph, went about her tasks. She was quiet, humble, and faithful, living out her days with little thought of what was to come. But all at once, the stillness of her life was shattered. An angel, radiant and terrifying in his glory, appeared before her, filling the room with the weight of his presence. His name was Gabriel, a messenger from the throne of God.

“Do not be afraid, Mary,” the angel said, his voice echoing in her heart. “For you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:30–31). Mary, stunned and confused, questioned how this could be since she was still a virgin. Gabriel’s response carried the weight of divine mystery: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

In this moment, the miraculous nature of Christ’s conception was revealed. The child who would be born to Mary would not be the result of human effort or natural conception but of a divine act. The Holy Spirit, the divine breath of God, would overshadow Mary, and in that instant, the Son of God would be conceived in her womb. This was no ordinary birth after all—this was the entrance of the Creator into his own creation.

The virgin birth of Jesus is not just a fascinating detail in the story of his coming; it is foundational to understanding who he is. By being conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was not tainted by the sin passed down through human generation. He was not born of a sinful man, but of a woman who, though human, was chosen by God to bear a sinless child. In this way, the virgin birth preserved the divine holiness of Jesus, making him the only one capable of bearing the weight of humanity’s sin. Only a sinless Savior could atone for the sins of the world. Had Jesus been born like any other human, he would have shared in the fallen nature of mankind, and he could not have been the spotless Lamb capable of taking away the sins of the world.

This divine conception also fulfilled the ancient prophecy given through the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means, ‘God with us’” (Isaiah 7:14). In the birth of Jesus, God was indeed with us—not in a distant, abstract way, but through the physical presence of his Son, born into the world he had created.

Moreover, the virgin birth also testifies to the divinity of Christ. Jesus was not simply a man who later became divine. He was not a man who was chosen by God and anointed with some special power. No, he was God incarnate, the eternal Word who took on human flesh. As the angel told Mary, the child to be born would be called “the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). In his conception by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was both fully divine and fully human. The mystery of the virgin birth points to the profound union of these two natures in the person of Christ.

The virgin birth is the first miracle in the life of Jesus, a miracle that sets the stage for the greater works he would do—healing the sick, raising the dead, forgiving sins, and ultimately, offering himself as a perfect sacrifice for the salvation of the world. In that humble moment, when the eternal Son of God was conceived in the womb of a young woman, the course of human history was forever changed. God had come to his people, not as a conquering king but as a vulnerable child, ready to reveal the full depth of his love and grace.

A King in a Manger

When we think of a king’s birth, we typically imagine a scene filled with grandeur, royal attendants, a palace, and all the riches that accompany royalty. But the birth of Jesus was nothing like that. Bethlehem, a small and insignificant town, was the setting for the arrival of the King of Kings. And his place of birth was not a royal palace, but a manger, a feeding trough for animals. Jesus, the eternal King of the universe, was born not into the splendor of earthly kingship, but into the humblest of circumstances.

The humility of Jesus’s birth reflects the very nature of his mission. He came to serve, not to be served. The King of heaven did not enter the world with displays of power, but with the quiet humility of a servant. This humility is not a contradiction of his divinity but an expression of his mission. Jesus came not to conquer by force, but to redeem through sacrifice. His humble birth foreshadowed the life he would live—the life of a servant who would ultimately lay down his life for the salvation of humanity.

The arrival of Jesus in such lowly circumstances reveals the heart of God. The Creator, in his infinite glory, chose to enter the world as a helpless baby, to live among the poor and marginalized, and to give his life as a ransom for many. This is the mystery of the incarnation: that the infinite God would choose to enter his creation, not in power and glory, but in weakness and vulnerability.

Fulfillment of Old Testament Promises

The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises throughout the Old Testament, promises that had been made since the very beginning of creation. In the garden, God appointed Adam as his royal representative, giving him the responsibility to obey his law and steward the earth under his reign. But Adam, in disobedience, broke God’s law, bringing sin and death into the world. God, in his mercy, promised a Redeemer who would one day restore what had been lost in the fall—a King who would crush the serpent’s head and bring about the redemption of God’s people (Gen 3:15).

Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. He is the Second Adam, the one who would perfectly obey God’s law where Adam failed. Where Adam’s disobedience brought sin and death, Jesus’s obedience would bring righteousness and life. He would pay the penalty for the sins of God’s people, dying the death they deserved, and in doing so, he would restore the broken relationship between God and man. Just as Adam was meant to rule over the earth as God’s representative, Jesus, the true King, would fulfill that original calling, reigning over all creation as the King of Kings, just as God intended from the beginning.

Throughout the Old Testament, prophecies pointed forward to this coming Redeemer. He was the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15), the prophet like Moses who would lead God’s people (Deut 18:15), and the Son of David, the eternal King who would reign forever (2 Sam 7:16).

Through His perfect obedience, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection, Jesus would establish God’s gracious covenant of redemption, ushering in a kingdom of peace, justice, and righteousness—a kingdom that will last forever.

The sun no longer seemed as bright as it once had. The air, though still filled with the songs of birds, carried a dissonance, as though creation itself was groaning under the weight of an insidious, creeping darkness. It had been centuries since the fall of Adam and Eve, and since then, humanity had continued its tragic descent into sin, away from the good, harmonious creation God had designed. The garden was gone, but its shadow haunted the world. Where once humanity was tasked to live in peace with God and nature, now the world had been ravaged by the unchecked spread of sin.

The world was now a place of violence, corruption, and a growing estrangement from God. The Creator’s image in humanity, though not erased, had been distorted to the point that took those things God intended for their good and turned them into further means of rebellion and abuse. Humanity had spread and multiplied, but the increase in number came with an increase in wickedness. The world, which had once been blessed by God, had become a place filled with pain and disorder. God’s kingdom, once flourishing, had become a kingdom in darkness.

Genesis 6 begins with an ominous description: “When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose” (Gen 6:1–2). The seeds of corruption are planted early in human history, and by the time we reach this chapter, the world is far removed from the innocence of the garden.

The Spread of Sin

As the years passed, humanity’s sin grew more pervasive, more entrenched. Sin had affected human relationships, creating violence, betrayal, and corruption in every sphere of life. The image of God in humanity was distorted, and the natural order, which had once flourished in harmony, was now marked by decay.

Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The situation had deteriorated to such an extent that God himself looked upon the earth and saw that humanity’s thoughts, actions, and desires were wholly consumed by evil. It was not simply that people sinned occasionally or out of ignorance; it was that their hearts were bent toward sin at all times. The entire course of human history, from Adam’s fall to this point, had been a tragic unfolding of increasing rebellion, and the corruption was now total. The seed of the serpent seemed to be winning.

The consequences of sin were not limited to human relationships but also extended to creation itself. In Romans 8:20, Paul writes that creation itself was subjected to “futility” because of humanity’s sin. The earth, once blessed by God and filled with life, was now under the curse of sin, experiencing the decay and disorder that comes from a broken relationship between humanity and God. The very ground, which had once yielded fruit in abundance, now yielded thorns and thistles. Creation itself had become a reflection of humanity’s alienation from its Creator.

The violence mentioned in Genesis 6 is a clear indication of the brokenness of the created order. Sin’s reach had stretched so far that it permeated every human action and every institution. No relationship remained unaffected. Families were torn apart, communities ravaged by violence, and the image of God in humanity was increasingly obscured. The rebellion of one generation had bred corruption in the next, and there seemed to be no end in sight.

Conflict

The rebellion of mankind, now fully realized in the days before the flood, is the culmination of the ongoing struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent—the ongoing conflict between righteousness and sin that began in the garden. In Genesis 3:15, God had promised that the seed of the woman would one day crush the head of the serpent, but that the serpent would bruise his heel. This tension between the two seeds would unfold over the course of human history, as humanity alternately yielded to God’s plan or rebelled against it.

In the world before Noah, the tension between these two seeds became more evident. On the one side, there was the righteous seed—those who sought to walk with God, like Noah, who “found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen 6:8). On the other side, there was the wicked seed—those whose hearts were bent toward evil continually. The two seeds were at war, and the result was a world so thoroughly corrupted that God could no longer overlook the wickedness.

The seed of the serpent had flourished in humanity’s rebellion, leading to violence, wickedness, and a complete abandonment of God’s way.

But in the midst of this, there was Noah. A man who, though surrounded by corruption, still walked with God. Noah, in the midst of the storm of wickedness, was the only one who found favor in God’s eyes. Imagine Noah, alone in his righteousness, building the ark while the rest of the world continued on in its evil ways. Noah preached repentance, but no one listened. They laughed at him. They mocked his warnings. They didn’t believe the flood would ever come.

God’s Just Judgment of Sin

God, in his holiness, saw the evil that had taken root. He saw the wickedness of humanity, and his heart was grieved. It was as if there was no place left untouched by sin. The world had become a breeding ground for evil, and the time had come for God’s justice to be executed.

For 120 years, Noah worked tirelessly, hammering away at the wood of the ark, as the world around him lived in utter defiance of God. But the day came when the heavens opened, and the floodwaters began to rise. This was the judgment of God. The waters broke forth from the earth, and the heavens poured down in torrents. The ground shook beneath as the people who had mocked Noah now scrambled to save themselves. But it was too late. The ark was sealed, and the floodgates of judgment had been opened.

As the water rose, so did the cries of the people. It was a scene of desperation, of chaos. Those who had laughed at Noah’s warnings were now calling out to God, but there was no answer. God’s judgment was just, and the flood was the consequence of sin that had gone unchecked for generations. It was a judgment that fell on the entire world—except for Noah and his family. Only those in the ark, the place of refuge, were spared.

This was God’s righteous judgment on sin—a judgment that was long in coming, but certain and devastating when it arrived. In the flood, we see not just the devastation of sin, but the mercy of God’s preservation of the righteous. The same waters that destroyed the wicked were the waters that saved Noah and his family. The ark, in many ways, is a symbol of Christ. Just as Noah and his family were saved by entering the ark, so too are we saved from the judgment of sin through Christ, the true refuge from the coming wrath.

The flood reminds us that God’s judgment on sin is real and terrifying, but it also points forward to a greater judgment. Jesus spoke of the days of Noah as a warning, saying, “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:37). Just as God judged the world in Noah’s day, so he will judge the world at the return of Christ. But just as Noah was saved through the ark, so we are saved through Christ, the one who bore God’s wrath in our place.

God’s Providential Preservation of Creation

The flood had devastated the earth. It was a moment in history marked by God’s just judgment against the evil that had grown to fill the earth. And yet, even in the midst of the destruction, God demonstrated his sovereign and merciful hand over creation. After the waters receded, when Noah and his family emerged from the ark, God established a covenant with Noah sealed by a sign in the sky—the rainbow.

God’s words to Noah were clear: “I establish my covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen 9:11). This was a covenant not only with Noah, but a promise to preserve all creation. The rainbow became the outward sign of this promise, a symbol of God’s providence and his faithfulness in sustaining creation despite the curse. The rainbow was not merely a beautiful phenomenon of nature; it was a reminder that God, in his mercy, would providentially preserve the earth in the midst of its brokenness. The earth, though still cursed due to sin, would continue to be sustained by God’s hand.

This covenant did not remove the effects of the curse—humanity still faced the consequences of sin, and creation continued to groan under the weight of it. Yet in his kindness, God promised to uphold the world, to maintain the cycles of nature, and to provide for his creatures. As the seasons would continue to come and go, as the crops would grow, and as the sun would rise and set, it would all serve as a reminder of God’s covenant faithfulness. In a fallen world, where chaos could have been the final word, God’s providence persisted, sustaining life in the midst of judgment. The rainbow was a declaration that though the world was now marked by sin and suffering, it was still held together by the Creator’s care.

God’s Common Grace

After the flood, God made another important declaration to Noah and his descendants, establishing the foundation for human society and government. In Genesis 9:6, God declares, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” With this, God not only reaffirmed the sanctity of life but also instituted the principle of justice to govern human relationships. This is the beginning of what we call God’s common grace—God’s provision of order, justice, and goodness in human societies, even amidst the fall and the curse.

The common grace of God is evident in the preservation of family, human societies, and the establishment of civil authorities, even for those who do not believe in God. Despite humanity’s fallen nature, God, in his mercy, allows these institutions to remain as a means of restraining evil and promoting good. This is a significant aspect of God’s grace in the world—the acknowledgment that, though mankind is sinful and deserving of wrath, God still allows society to function, and even flourish in limited ways, through his grace. In the family, marriage, and community, God has provided a framework for human flourishing, a picture of his original design that still operates within a fallen world.

Human governments, established by God as a means of promoting justice and peace, are another expression of his common grace. Even governments that reject God’s sovereignty or refuse to acknowledge him are still used by God to carry out his will, at least in part, by restraining evil and promoting the common good. The fact that societies are able to function with laws, systems of justice, and basic order is a direct result of God’s grace, though not always recognized as such. God’s restraining grace keeps evil from fully unraveling society, and his common grace allows humanity to experience peace, security, and prosperity in certain seasons.

Continued Promise

Amidst the growing darkness of sin that had enveloped the world, God spoke once more, promising hope for the future. After the flood, as Noah and his descendants repopulated the earth, God made a covenant with a man named Abraham. This covenant, like a spark of light breaking through the stormy clouds, marked the beginning of God’s plan to redeem the world. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, a people set apart for God’s purposes. “Through you,” God said, “all the nations of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). Though Abraham was old and childless at the time, God’s promise held the weight of eternity. Through Abraham’s descendants, God would bring forth the one who would restore his kingdom, the promised King who would bring justice and peace.

Abraham’s descendants had grown into a nation, and God, through Moses, established another covenant—one built upon law and holiness. The Mosaic covenant was like a guidebook for how Israel was to live in God’s kingdom. With the giving of the law, God showed them how to walk in righteousness and reflect his holiness. But even as he gave the law, he also revealed the deep truth: no one could keep it perfectly. The law pointed to a greater need—a need for a Savior, a King, who would come to fulfill the law perfectly on behalf of God’s people.

As the centuries passed, God sent prophets to remind Israel of the promises he had made. They spoke of the coming King who would sit on David’s throne, one who would rule with justice and righteousness. These promises echoed in the hearts of God’s people, who longed for the day when the King would come and set all things right. The law, the sacrifices, and the rituals pointed forward to that day when the true King would arrive—a King who would bring both redemption and restoration.

Through the covenant with Abraham and the law given to Moses, God was shaping a people, preparing the way for the promised King. This nation, set apart for God’s glory, was to be a light to the world, testifying to the coming of the King who would fulfill God’s promises and bring about the final redemption of his kingdom.

Roman Catholicism has a theology of the Lord’s Supper that, not only imagines that they are re-sacrificing Christ each time, but also mystifies the true blessing of this biblical ordinance. Because, in their theology of transubstantiation, the bread magically transforms into the body of Christ and the cup magically transforms into the blood of Christ, they teach that we are automatically spiritually nourished simply by eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ. And as a result, most Roman Catholics presume upon the magical efficacy of the elements, thinking that eating and drinking covers up their sin.

Believers in the church at Corinth had a similar problem. They believed that their sinful idolatry and sexual immorality was magically covered by their participation in the Lord’s Supper.

Paul corrects this way of thinking in 1 Corinthians 10 by drawing a comparison between the Israelites receiving food and drink from God and the Lord’s Supper. He says, they “all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink.”

Paul is clearly referring here to the manna God sent from heaven and the water he gave them from the rock. But like with literally passing through the red sea, this literal food and drink symbolized an important blessing that came as a result of their covenant relationship with God. This blessing is the spiritual nourishment they received from God during their journey to the Promised Land.

‌We can see that he is focusing on their spiritual nourishment because of what he says next: “For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” Paul is obviously not saying that a literal rock followed them around as they traveled through the wilderness. Jewish tradition actually taught that a literal rock followed the Israelites, but that’s clearly not what Paul meant. He is emphasizing the fact that God’s covenant people were spiritually nourished by Christ as he abided with them on their journey.

Paul is using the nourishment that God provided for the Old Covenant people of God as an illustration of the spiritual nourishment God provides for us through eating and drinking at the Lord’s Supper.

‌Now here is a point at which we have to avoid two false tendencies. By spiritual nourishment, we can’t mean some sort of magical efficacy in the bread and the cup like Rome teaches. No, the bread and the wine remain what they are. There is nothing magical about them.

But neither can we fall into the other tendency of undervaluing the blessings we receive when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is more than just a memorial meal that reminds of Christ’s death. Paul is arguing here that like Israel in the wilderness, we are spiritually nourished by Christ when we eat the bread and drink the cup at the Lord’s Supper.

‌So how, then are we spiritually nourished? Paul actually fully develops this point in the rest of 1 Corinthians 10 and on into the primary chapter on the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11. We won’t look at his argument in detail, but his point can be summarized this way: The Lord’s Supper nourishes us spiritually because of what it symbolizes.

‌What does the Lord’s Supper symbolize? Jesus himself made this very clear when he instituted the Supper: He held up the bread and said, “This is my body, which is for you.” He held up the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” The bread and the cup are visible signs of the body of Christ and the blood of Christ—together, they are visible signs the death of Christ, which is the means by which we enter into the New Covenant.

‌Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Lord’s Supper is a memorial, which in Scripture is a visible picture of God’s gracious work on behalf of his people. As our confession states, The supper of the Lord Jesus is a perpetual remembrance and showing to all the world the sacrifice of [Christ] in his death. As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11:26, as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

‌In other words, the Lord’s Supper is a visible sign of the death of Christ on our behalf.

‌So how, then, does this visible sign of Christ’s death spiritually nourish us? Paul tells us in verse 16 of 1 Corinthians 10:16:

‌The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

‌The word “participation” there is the word koinonia—fellowship; communion. Drinking the cup, which represents Christ’s blood, and eating the bread, which represents Christ’s body, is communion with Christ. It is fellowship with him. This is the nature of our covenant relationship with Christ. Paul said earlier in 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Like Christ was spiritually present with Israel in the wilderness, providing them spiritual nourishment, so Christ is spiritually present when we gather at the Table, and he spiritually nourishes us with the blessings that come from our communion with him. The Lord’s Supper is not a funeral. Jesus rose from the dead. He is alive, and he is the host of the meal. And so as we eat and drink, our fellowship with Christ is nourished and strengthened by the blessings of the gospel that the bread and cup represent.

‌The 1689 Baptist Confession expresses what happens at the Supper so well, avoiding both of the wrong tendencies:

Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance, do them also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally [physically], but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death; the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally [physically], but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.

‌In other words, as the physical food and drink physically nourish our bodies, so what the elements represent—Christ crucified—spiritually nourishes us as we partake of the Supper. As C. H. Spurgeon said, “At this table, Jesus feeds us with his body and blood.” Not physically, but spiritually.

‌But notice what the confession insists is necessary to receive such inward spiritual nourishment: it says we spiritually receive and feed upon Christ crucified by faith.

‌We are not spiritually nourished simply by eating and drinking; we are spiritually nourished when we come by faith recognizing what these elements represent, and once again renewing and strengthening our faith in the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf. As Jesus himself indicated, it is a covenantal meal—this is my blood of the covenant; it reminds us of our covenantal relationship with God, and specifically reminds us of the means by which we entered the covenant—the broken body and shed blood of Christ.

And since it is a covenantal meal, the Supper is a formal ceremony in which Christ once again renews his gospel promises to us. Every time we eat, Christ is in essence saying to us: You are mine. I shed my blood for you. You are joined to me. You are forgiven. Remember and believe this.

‌And in this covenantal meal, we also are reaffirming our commitment to communion with Christ. Every time we eat, we are in essence saying to Christ: I am yours. You bought me. I pledge myself to you.

‌Really, marriage is a beautiful picture of our covenant relationship with Christ. A man and a woman covenant together in a wedding; this is akin to our salvation when God makes a commitment to save us out of his great love, and we make a commitment to love and serve him. Baptism is like our wedding vows, where we formalize and confirm the covenant relationship with a physical act that will continually remind us of the covenant. But then a husband and wife do things throughout their marriage to nourish their love and commitment to one another. One thing that some couples do is renew their wedding vows. They’re already married; those vows don’t “get them married again.” But by repeating their vows again, they renew their love and commitment to each other.

‌The Lord’s Supper is a weekly covenant meal in which we renew our gospel vows to Christ. He renews his promises to us, and we renew our promises to him. And by regularly renewing our vows, we are strengthening our relationship with Christ throughout our Christian lives. This is why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper weekly. We need weekly nourishment from Christ! We need to weekly witness Christ renewing his covenant promises to us, and we need to weekly renew our covenant promises to him.

Further, the Supper is a way to nurture our fellowship with Christ, but we don’t come to the Table as individuals. We come together as members of one body to the Table of the Lord. And in so doing, we portray and reaffirm that our union with Christ is corporate. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:17, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” In the Supper, we are reaffirming our union with and commitment to Christ, but we are also reaffirming our union with and commitment to one another. As our Confession states, The Supper is a bond and pledge of believers’ communion with Christ and with each other.

‌In many ways, then, baptism and the Lord’s Supper are blessings to us in very similar ways, with baptism taking place at the beginning of our journey to the Promised Land, just like Israel, and the Lord’s Supper being a means of spiritual nourishment all along the way, just like Israel in the wilderness. This is what we mean when we say that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are means of grace—they are blessings from God that spiritually nourish and strengthen our faith in Christ’s death and resurrection because of what they represent.

But we must not miss Paul’s primary thrust in 1 Corinthians 10. Look again at what he says in verse 5.

‌Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

‌Do you see what Paul is saying here? The Old Covenant people of God enjoyed rich blessings from God. They were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, which confirmed that they were God’s redeemed people. They were nourished by Christ as they received food and drink from God himself.

‌And yet, with most of them God was not pleased. They were overthrown. They desired evil.

‌How can this be?

‌Well this is Paul’s main admonition for us concerning the New Covenant blessings of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Most of the Israelites participated in these blessings from God presumptuously. They did not allow these gifts to do for them spiritually what God intended for them to do. Instead, they spurned the gifts, spurned the giver, and chased after idols.

‌And Paul’s concern is that the Corinthian believers were doing the same thing. Here are two rich blessings from God meant to strengthen and encourage believers in their covenant relationship with him, and yet the Corinthian believers presumed upon God’s gifts by living immoral lives.

‌Paul says, don’t follow the example of the Israelites. Don’t presume upon the gifts of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Don’t think that you can just go on sinning, and then your baptism and participation in the Lord’s Supper will magically cover up that sin. No, it’s actually the other way around. Remembering your baptism and participating in the Lord’s Supper are meant to sanctify you and keep you from sinning.

‌Yes, because of what they represent, baptism and the Lord’s Supper encourage us, they strengthen us, they confirm for us that we are God’s covenant people. They are God’s way of reminding us that we are his.

‌But they are also our pledge of allegiance to Christ. They are a way for us to regularly promise to obey Christ, to reaffirm our love for Christ, and to deepen our fellowship with Christ so that the allurement of sin’s promises of pleasure pales in comparison to the joy we share in our communion with Christ.

‌Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are visible signs of our covenant relationship with God whose purpose is to nurture that covenant relationship as we journey to the Promised Land.

‌So let us appropriate these means of grace—these blessings—as God intends us to.

‌Remember your baptism, but not presumptuously. Remember your baptism so that it gives you joyful assurance that you are Christ’s and motivates you to live for him.

‌And come to the Table of our Lord, but not presumptuously. Commune with Christ as you eat and drink of these visible signs of what he did for you, so that with a thankful heart you flee from idolatry and enjoy the kind of pleasure that only fellowship with Christ and his body can bring.

Christians today often have one of two tendencies when it comes to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. On the one hand, some Christians overestimate the power of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They assume that simply by being baptized or simply by eating and drinking the Communion elements, they are somehow magically infused with grace from God.

This is certainly true of the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics believe in something called ex opera operato, which is Latin for “from the work worked.” They believe that the water and the bread and the wine possess an efficacy in and of themselves such that they confer grace upon the participant whether or not that individual has personal faith or even understands what is going on.

‌But this tendency is even true of some non-Catholics who assume that simply by participating in baptism or the Lord’s Supper they are given grace from God that absolves them from sinful behavior in their lives. They can live how they please, they assume, as long as they make sure they regularly get “juiced up” by the Lord’s Supper.

‌The second tendency is probably more common for us as Baptists, and that is the tendency to underestimate the power of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. There’s a danger of overestimating their power, but there is also a danger of underestimating their power. For many Christians, baptism is just something we need to do because Christ commanded it, and it identifies us as Christians, but not much more. In many churches, the Lord’s Supper is observed infrequently, and when it is observed, it is just tacked on to the end of a service without any serious attention given to it. Or even in churches that observe the Lord’s Supper more frequently, many Christians participate without really knowing what the Supper is supposed to do for them.

‌Both of these tendencies end up producing the same result: sinful living. Those who presume upon the magical efficacy of baptism and the Lord’s supper think that participating in them covers up their sin. And those who undervalue baptism and the Lord’s Supper fail to utilize to their fullest two very important means by which God intends to strengthen our relationship with him and make us more holy.

Both tendencies fail to recognize the true God-ordained purpose of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and in particular their vital connection to our covenant relationship with God.

Believers in the church at Corinth suffered from this very problem. They were living idolatrous, sinful lives, assuming that their baptism proved that they were secure, so they didn’t need to worry about their sin being judged, and that eating the bread and drinking the cup magically prevented their idolatrous living from actually affecting them in any negative way. They thought they could go on sinning, and then participation in the Lord’s supper would magically take care of that sin.

‌Israel as an Analogy

Paul addresses this problem in 1 Corinthians 10 by correcting their thinking regarding the purpose and power of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and he does so by drawing a comparison between the benefits of baptism and the Lord’s Supper for New Covenant Christians and the blessings enjoyed by Israel as the Old Covenant people of God.

Just like New Covenant Christians, Old Covenant Israel was the covenant people of God. Out of all the nations of the world, God chose Israel to be his special people, and he demonstrated their special status by freeing them from bondage to the Egyptians and by promising that one day they would possess the promised land.

And as God’s covenant people, Israel enjoyed special blessings between the point when they were delivered from bondage and when they would possess the promised land. Paul identifies two of those blessings in this text, and you can see the comparison he is making between these two Old Covenant blessings and the New Covenant blessings of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

First, Paul describes what happened just after the Israelites were freed from Egyptian bondage: they were guided by God’s glory cloud through the Red Sea, which he describes as analogous to baptism. Second, he describes the way God nourished them through divinely supplied food and drink during their journey to the Promised Land, which he is clearly comparing to the Lord’s Supper.

These comparisons help us to understand the true nature and purpose of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and help us to recognize the problem with taking part in them in a presumptuous way.

Here is Paul’s central point in this passage, and then we will unpack it in order to make sure that we rightly understand the purpose and power of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Paul’s point is this: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are visible signs of our covenant relationship with God whose purpose is to nurture that covenant relationship as we journey to the Promised Land. Rightly understanding this will help us to rightly appropriate these blessings as God intends us to.

Let’s look at how Paul makes this point with regard to baptism in 1 Corinthians 10.

First, Paul says that the Israelites “were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” Paul is referring here to what took place between Israel’s delivery from bondage and the start of their journey to the Promised Land.

Think about what happened as Israel passed through the Red Sea. They literally went down into the waters of God’s judgment, those waters that would indeed judge the Egyptians, but the covenant people of God who had been rescued from Egyptian bondage passed through those waters of judgment unscathed.

That event confirmed to the people that they had truly been freed from slavery. Pharaoh had let them go, but now he was pursuing them again, and the people feared that they were not really free. So God proved to them that they were truly free by parting the Red Sea, bringing them safely across, and then using that same water to judge the Egyptians. This confirmed to God’s covenant people that the Egyptians had no power over them, and the waters of God’s own judgment would not be used against them. No, they were the redeemed covenant people of God, and the fact that they now stood on the opposite shore of the sea unharmed confirmed that they truly were a free people.

In this way, the Israelite’s baptism was a visible sign and seal of their deliverance from bondage.

And as Paul says here, passing through the sea was a sign and seal of their deliverance because it symbolized their union with Moses as their deliverer. They were “baptized into Moses” in a sense. This simply means that passing through the Red Sea signified at the start of their journey to the Promised Land their union with Moses as their deliverer and their allegiance to Moses as their leader and mediator with God. God was soon going to give the people his Law through Moses, and being baptized into Moses, the people were in a sense saying, Yes, we are the covenant people of God, and we will follow Moses as mediator of the covenant.

Paul is comparing this blessing for the Old Covenant people of God to the New Covenant blessing of baptism. Just like with Israel’s baptism, Christian baptism confirms that we have truly been freed from the bondage to sin, that we truly are the covenant people of God.

Just like Israel’s baptism, Christian baptism is a sign and seal of our deliverance from bondage to sin because baptism symbolizes our union with Christ as our Deliver. As Paul states in Romans 6:3, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Our baptism into Christ Jesus signifies our union with Christ and our allegiance to Christ as our leader and mediator with God. We are committing in our baptism to obey the Law of God mediated to us through Christ.

Now notice that Israel’s baptism came after their salvation, not before. John Gill makes this point. He says, “This their baptism in the sea was after their coming out of Egypt, and at their first entrance on their journey to Canaan’s land, as our baptism is, or should be, after a person is brought out of worse than Egyptian bondage and darkness, and has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and at the beginning of his profession of him, and entrance on his Christian race.”

In other words, baptism does not come before we are saved from bondage, and baptism does not save us. Rather, God has chosen to save us, and after we are saved, baptism is a visible sign and seal that we have been freed from the bondage to sin, that sin no longer has any power over us, and that we are now a member of God’s covenant people.

Now hopefully, then, you can see how baptism is not just a perfunctory duty to perform; because of what baptism signifies, baptism is a great blessing for us, and what Israel’s baptism did for them helps us to understand this.

Do you remember what the Israelites did after they passed through the Red Sea? They sang a song of joy! Why? The Israelites had already been freed from slavery when Pharaoh let the people go after the first Passover, but now, having been guided by God’s glory cloud through the judgment waters safely to the other side, the Israelites had joyful assurance that they were truly God’s redeemed covenant people. That’s what it means that their baptism was a seal of their redemption—it was confirmation that they had truly been freed from bondage and were being guarded by God’s gracious hand of protection.

And in the same way, our baptism is a sign and seal of our redemption—it is confirmation that we are redeemed. Our baptism ought to give us joyful assurance that we have been freed from sin, that sin no longer has any power over us, and that we are truly members of God’s covenant people.

Sometimes we modern Baptists especially view baptism as merely a time when we publicly announce that we are a Christian. Baptism does do that, but we often fail to recognize this important blessing of baptism: our baptism gives us joyful assurance because it confirms for us that we truly are part of God’s covenant people.

This is exactly the central point our Confession of Faith makes about baptism. Chapter 29, paragraph 1 of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith says this:

Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death and resurrection.

‌Do you see the emphasis of our Confession there? Baptism is not primarily a sign for other people, although it is that. Baptism is primarily a sign for the party baptized. Baptism is for our benefit. It benefits us, not because it saves us, not because it has some sort of magical power. Rather, baptism is a benefit for us because of what it signifies.

As we have seen, our baptism signifies that we have been united with Christ, and therefore we have been freed from bondage to sin. That already happened the moment we were saved, and we may know intellectually that it is true; but though we were freed from sin’s bondage, here comes sin again pursuing us, determined to bring us back into slavery. But by passing through the judgment waters unscathed, we can have joyful assurance that that sin will not be able to enslave us again.

That’s what the waters of baptism signify: God’s judgment. Throughout Scripture, water is an agent of God’s judgment. Think about Noah’s flood, for example, which God sent to judge the world. And yet God brought his covenant people safely through the waters God used to judge sinful humanity. The same was true for Israel—God brought his covenant people through the very waters he used to judge the sinful Egyptians.

And this is what is symbolized in our baptism. We are plunged into the waters of judgement, waters in which we could drown if we were left there. When a person is plunged under the water, it’s very natural to experience a moment of fear—you don’t want to be left under the water. Being plunged into the water signifies God’s judgment, that judgment of death for sin that Jesus experienced on the cross.

But in our baptism, we’re not left under the water; just like Israel came up on the other shore of the Red Sea, so we come up out of the judgment waters unscathed. We are saved from the judgment waters, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:21, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We die with him in the judgment waters, but we are raised with him. As Paul says in Romans 6:5, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Where we felt a moment of fear being plunged under the water, now coming up out of the water, we feel relief and joyful assurance—I’m ok; I haven’t drowned; I haven’t been judged.

‌Why? Because I’m one of God’s covenant people. He chose to free me from sin’s bondage. He made me his own. God’s judgment holds no fear for me, not because I did anything to escape his judgment, but because someone else took my judgment for me. Jesus Christ willingly submitted to the judgment of God in my place—he was drowned in the waters of judgment instead of me, and he was raised to new life, having satisfied the just judgment of God. And because God chose to unite me to his Son, I pass through the judgment of God in Christ unharmed, and I rise again in Christ victorious.

‌Our baptism is a sign and seal that we have gone into the judgment waters with Christ, and we have come out the other side alive. ‌This is how baptism is not just a perfunctory ritual we go through because we’re commanded to; baptism is meant to be a great blessing to us.

‌Baptism gives us joyful assurance that we are part of God’s covenant people. Do you ever find yourself doubting whether you are truly part of God’s covenant people? Is sin once again pursuing you like Pharaoh, and you’re worried it will enslave you again? Does Satan tempt you to despair and tell you of the guilt within?

‌Remember your baptism! Your baptism was a sign and seal of the fact that you have passed through the judgment waters of God unscathed because you are in Christ who put an end to all your sin. Every time you witness another baptism in our church, you should remember your own baptism and the joyful assurance it brings that you are a member of God’s covenant people.

‌Perhaps God has freed you from slavery to sin, and you are believing in him for your salvation, but you have never been baptized. Do you wonder why you lack assurance of salvation? If you are a Christian but have never been baptized, you are forsaking a powerful means of assurance that you are a Christian. If you are trusting in Christ for your salvation, but you’re sort of waiting until you have full assurance before you are baptized, you’re thinking backwards. If you are trusting in Christ, then be baptized, and your baptism will help to give you full assurance—that is one of its great blessings from God.

‌But there’s a second way that baptism is a blessing to us: our baptism should motivate us to holy living. Remember, our baptism signified our allegiance to Christ as our leader. It marked the beginning of a journey toward the Promised Land, and in our baptism we committed to obeying Christ as our Lord.

‌In the first couple centuries of the church, it was common for someone being baptized to be asked, “Do you renounce Satan and all his works?” And the believer would respond, “I do.” Our baptism signifies that we are leaving the temptations of Egypt behind, and we are committing to follow Jesus to the Promised Land.

‌This is Paul’s point in Romans 6:3–4: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” What’s the point of that? Escape from judgment, yet, but more than that. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. … For one who has died has been set free from sin.” Your baptism confirms that you are free from bondage, so stop living like you’re still in slavery!

And this is Paul’s primary motivation in 1 Corinthians 10. He wanted the Corinthian believers to remember their baptism, to remember that they were baptized into Christ as their leader, which should motivate them to forsake their immoral, idolatrous living.

This should be true of us as well: When you are tempted to sin, remember your baptism: you have been set free from sin, so live like it! You committed to follow Christ. Every time you witness another baptism in our church, you should remember your own baptism and your public commitment to follow Christ as you journey to the Promised Land.

‌So baptism is a great blessing from God, because it is a sign and seal of our covenant relationship with God that freed us from sin’s bondage and the judgment of God, and therefore remembering our baptism should give us both joyful assurance and motivation to flee idolatry and obey Christ.

The garden was perfect. Every leaf on every tree gleamed with the fresh dew of dawn; the birds sang their songs of praise to the Creator, and the rivers ran with crystal-clear water. There was peace—perfect peace—between man, woman, and God. Adam and Eve stood as the crown of creation, reflecting the image of their Creator, made to rule and steward the earth in perfect harmony with him. Yet in the stillness of that paradise, a serpent entered—a creature whose craftiness would soon unleash the tragic downfall of mankind.

The serpent, however, was not a mere creature of the garden. He was a once-glorious angel who had been cast out of heaven for his rebellion against God. In the perfect fellowship of the heavenly realm, Satan was created as a beautiful and powerful angel, entrusted with great responsibility. But pride took root in his heart. He sought to overthrow God, desiring to make himself like the Most High. His ambition led to his rebellion, and with it, a third of the angels were swept away in his revolt. Cast out of heaven, Satan set his eyes on the pinnacle of God’s creation, eager to usurp Adam’s rule over the earth.

The tragedy begins with a question—a subtle question that slithers into the mind of Eve. The serpent approaches her, his voice smooth and alluring, and his words strike with precision. “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 3:1).

The question, at first glance, seems innocent enough, but it is a seed of doubt sown in Eve’s heart. The serpent’s craftiness is evident in his method. He does not come with overt lies; he begins by distorting the truth, questioning God’s Word, making Eve wonder if God’s command was as good as it seemed. Did God really say? This is the first step in the rebellion: questioning the goodness and truth of God’s command.

Eve pauses. She has lived in perfect harmony with God, enjoying the beauty of the garden and the abundant freedom of creation. She has everything—except one thing. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One tree. That one command, the only prohibition in paradise, has now become the object of suspicion. It is not just the act of disobedience that begins in Eve’s mind—it is the subtle belief that God’s word might not be trustworthy.

Her response is measured, yet still with a hint of uncertainty: “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’” (Gen 3:2­­–3). Eve recalls the command, but in her response, something is missing—she adds, “nor shall you touch it,” which is not part of the original command. In her words, the prohibition is heightened, as if she has already begun to feel the weight of that one restriction in the garden, perhaps adding to the perception of something forbidden or distant.

The serpent listens intently, and then he strikes. “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4–5). With this single statement, the serpent introduces two subtle deceptions: God is holding something back from them, and eating the fruit will make them like God—able to discern good and evil, to be like him in knowledge and wisdom.

In this moment, Eve’s thoughts whirl. The fruit, once merely a forbidden object, now seems to hold the promise of something greater—a power, a freedom, an equality with God himself. The serpent’s words promise that she will not die but will be transformed, elevated to a state of godlike wisdom. Eve’s heart, once content in the garden, is now seduced by the allure of autonomy—the desire to know what God knows, to stand on her own apart from his command. The choice seems irresistible.

Adam stands silently beside her, a passive bystander in the unfolding drama. He says nothing. He watches, but does not act. In his silence, he consents. He fails to intervene, to lead his wife with the truth, and to protect her from the serpent’s lies. Even worse, he fails to act in his God-appointed role as the king who should have judged the usurper of God’s reign.

Eve reaches out. Her hand trembles slightly as she takes the fruit. She bites into it, and the sweetness floods her senses—like the first breath of freedom, a promise of wisdom fulfilled. Her eyes are opened, but they are not opened in the way she imagined. In an instant, the world around her shifts. The shame enters her heart like a shadow, and she sees, for the first time, her nakedness. Her innocence is gone.

She turns to Adam, and in that moment, he too desires the fruit. He takes it, and eats.

And in that act of rebellion, humanity falls. Sin enters the world.

Sin

Immediately, the effect of Adam and Eve’s sin is catastrophic. The image of God in humanity is not lost entirely, but it is deeply distorted. Originally, they were made in the perfect image of God, reflecting his goodness, holiness, and righteousness in the world. But when they rebelled against God’s command, the pristine image of God within them was marred. What once reflected the Creator’s holiness now bore the stain of sin.

In that moment, the harmony with God was broken. The perfect relationship they once had with their Creator, marked by fellowship and mutual delight, was shattered. Instead of the peace that had existed, the very fabric of creation seemed to warp, and shame entered the human heart for the first time. Before the fall, Adam and Eve knew no shame. They were naked, yet unashamed, reflecting a pure innocence and transparency with one another. But now, their eyes were opened, not to wisdom or enlightenment, but to guilt and fear—feelings that had never existed before. The purity of their hearts was replaced by the corruption of sin.

In a futile attempt to cover their shame, Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together, trying to hide their nakedness from each other and, more importantly, from God. But these fig leaves could never cover the deeper problem—their sin had not only affected their outward appearance but had corrupted their very nature. The consequences of their rebellion were far more profound than they could comprehend. What had once been a relationship of trust and joy with their Creator was now a relationship broken by guilt, fear, and judgment.

The cool of the evening, when God would walk with them in the garden, is no longer a time of sweet fellowship but of dread. God’s presence, once a source of comfort, is now a cause of fear. Adam and Eve, who had previously enjoyed unbroken communion with their Maker, now seek to hide from him. Fear enters their hearts, and they run away from the One who had given them life. God calls out to them, but they do not want to be found. Their rebellion has turned them away from their Creator, and now, they are alienated from him, unwilling to face the consequences of their actions.

As a result of Adam’s sin, human nature is now totally depraved. Total depravity does not mean that humans are as evil as they could possibly be; rather, it means that every part of humanity—mind, will, emotions, and body—is affected by sin. The fall has corrupted the whole person. Every aspect of Adam and Eve’s being is now tainted by sin, and this corruption is passed down to all of humanity. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2, man is “dead in trespasses and sins” and follows the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil. The heart, once pure, is now bound by sin, and its desires are set against God. We are not merely sick or wounded but spiritually dead, incapable of coming to God apart from his grace.

The curse of sin now reigns. Death, which was not part of God’s original design, now looms over creation. But death is not just physical death—it is a deeper, spiritual death. It is the separation from God, the rupture of the fellowship that Adam and Eve once enjoyed. The death that enters through sin is not merely the physical decay of the body; it is the death of the soul, the alienation from the source of all life. The moral law of God, which was once written on the hearts of Adam and Eve, is now buried beneath the weight of their rebellion, and they, along with all their descendants, need a Redeemer to restore them to life and fellowship with God. The world is left in a state of brokenness, awaiting redemption.

Before the fall, Adam and Eve were free. They had the capacity to choose to obey God and live in harmony with him. This freedom was not the freedom to live in perfect harmony with God’s will. The free will that Adam and Eve possessed was the freedom to choose what was good, as they were perfectly aligned with God’s intentions.

But after the fall, free will was enslaved by sin. The ability to choose freely between good and evil became corrupted. Humanity, in its fallen state, now has a bondage to sin—the capacity to choose what is good is impaired, and the will is inclined to evil. As the Apostle Paul writes, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God” (Rom 8:7). In our fallen state, we are no longer free to choose God as we were meant to; instead, we are slaves to sin and death.

With one choice, the world was forever changed. Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin. All humanity shares in the guilt of Adam’s rebellion. The effects of Adam’s sin are passed down to all his descendants. We are born with a sinful nature, inclined to sin and rebellion.

Judgment

God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin is both a declaration of justice and a promise of redemption. The eternal law of God, established by God in the garden, has been broken. Adam and Eve were placed under a covenant with one simple command: obey God’s Word. Yet, in their rebellion, they chose to break that covenant. And because God is just, he must judge any transgression against his law.

First, God addresses the serpent, whose role in the fall cannot go unpunished. “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life” (Gen 3:14). The serpent, which may have once been a creature of beauty or grace, is now reduced to crawling on its belly, a symbol of humiliation and defeat.

God then turns to the woman, addressing the consequences of her disobedience. To her, he says, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Gen 3:16). The intimate and harmonious relationship between the man and the woman is now disrupted. What was once a beautiful partnership will now be marred by pain and struggle. Childbearing, which was meant to be a source of joy, is now fraught with suffering. Her relationship with her husband will now be characterized by a desire for dominance, while he will exercise rule over her. This shift in the dynamic between man and woman highlights the brokenness that sin has introduced into human relationships. The harmony of creation has been replaced with discord and strife.

God turns next to Adam, pronouncing the curse upon the ground as a result of his sin: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life” (Gen 3:17). The ground, which was once a fertile and flourishing place, now becomes a source of frustration and hardship. Adam’s labor, which was meant to cultivate and care for God’s creation, will now be filled with sweat, toil, and unrelenting struggle. The earth that once yielded its fruits abundantly will now resist his efforts. What was once a place of bounty will now produce thorns and thistles. God tells Adam, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19). The promise of life, of a thriving existence in perfect communion with God and creation, is replaced with the harsh reality of death. Death is now the inevitable outcome of all Adam’s work. The very ground that Adam was meant to rule over now becomes his adversary, and the breath of life that God had given to Adam will one day return to the earth from which he was made.

This sequence of curses demonstrates the far-reaching effects of sin. Not only do Adam and Eve face the immediate consequences of their rebellion, but the entire created order is affected. The harmony that once existed between humanity, the earth, and God is broken. The joy of creation has given way to pain, toil, and suffering. All of what God created as good now groans in the pains of God’s curse (Rom 8:22).

The Promise of Redemption

But in the midst of judgment, there is grace—God’s first promise of redemption. As he pronounces the curse upon the serpent, God also speaks words of hope that would echo throughout all of history: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). This declaration marks the beginning of God’s redemptive plan. Even as humanity faces the consequences of their sin, God’s promise is made clear: a deliverer will come—a Seed of the woman who will defeat the serpent. This Seed, though wounded in the process, will deliver the decisive blow to the serpent’s head, symbolizing the crushing defeat of sin, death, and Satan.

In these words, we find the first glimmer of hope in a world now plunged into sin and despair. The fall of mankind has fractured the harmony of creation, bringing death and suffering, but this promise reveals that God’s plan for restoration was already set in motion. While Adam and Eve’s disobedience broke their covenant with God and set the stage for a fallen world, God’s immediate response is not to abandon his creation but to enact his plan of redemption. The curse upon humanity and the world was not the end of the story—it was the beginning of a story that would ultimately lead to restoration.

This promise is known as the protoevangelium—the “first gospel.” It is the initial proclamation of salvation that, although veiled in a curse, offers a glimpse of a new, gracious covenant: the defeat of evil and the restoration of what was lost. The Seed of the woman who is promised here is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who, though he would suffer, would triumph over sin and Satan through his death and resurrection. His victory at the cross would crush the head of the serpent, undoing the work of the fall and securing redemption for all who trust in him.

In Genesis 3:15, we also see the foreshadowing of the ongoing struggle between the forces of evil and God’s people. The enmity between the serpent and the woman’s offspring signifies the tension and conflict that will characterize the world throughout history. Satan’s efforts to deceive, destroy, and lead humanity into further rebellion will be met by the faithful opposition of God’s people, culminating in the victory of Christ over the powers of darkness. This first promise of redemption sets the course for the entire biblical narrative, pointing toward the day when Christ will return to finally defeat the serpent and restore all things.

Thus, even in the darkest moment of the fall, God’s grace shines through. His promise of a Savior reveals his unwavering commitment to redeem his creation. The consequences of sin are severe, but God’s plan to restore and renew the world is far greater. The tragedy of the fall is not the final word; it is the first chapter in the grand story of redemption. Through Christ, the Seed of the woman, the hope of salvation has been secured, and the ultimate defeat of evil is assured. This promise of redemption is not just a glimmer of hope—it is the foundation of God’s eternal plan, and it remains the hope of all creation.

In the beginning, there was only God—eternal, unchanging, and self-sufficient. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in perfect communion, shared an unbroken fellowship of love and joy. God lacked nothing. But then, like the sound of a trumpet breaking the silence, the King spoke. His voice rang out over the empty void, and the very fabric of reality began to tremble. “Let there be light,” he commanded, and in an instant, light pierced the darkness, as if the very essence of God’s presence had woven itself into the fabric of creation. The darkness, once heavy and endless, was now split by the brilliance of light—a light that would never be extinguished.

The King was shaping a realm, a kingdom where he would reign in glory and dwell with his people. The very earth was being fashioned to reflect the splendor of his throne.

A Kingdom Shaped by the King’s Words

Before that first day of creation, there was no space, no mass—there was not even time. Only God existed. But with nothing but the power of his voice, God created matter, ready to be fashioned as he pleased. As light and darkness were separated, the foundation for time itself was laid—day and night, to mark the rhythm of creation. He even crafted spiritual beings—angels—who began to fill the heavens with a chorus of praise, singing together as the foundations of the earth were formed.

On the second day, the King spoke again. “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters” (Gen 1:6). As his command echoed through the chaos, a great expanse formed—the sky—stretching above, a vast canopy between the waters below and the waters above.

With a powerful word on the third day, the King called forth dry land, commanding the waters to retreat and make room for the earth. “Let the dry land appear,” he said, and immediately the land emerged from beneath the waters, rich with promise and potential. As though painting the earth with the colors of life, the King called forth the trees and plants, each one bearing fruit and seed, each one a symbol of God’s provision, designed to bless his people with abundance.

The fourth day came, and the King turned his attention to the heavens. “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night,” he commanded, and the sun, the moon, and the stars were placed in the sky, their light shining with purpose—marking seasons, days, and years, all under the sovereign reign of the King.

On the fifth day, the King declared, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures,” and the seas filled with life. Great whales glided through the deep, schools of fish darted in every direction, and the skies became alive with the flight of birds, all filling the world with motion and sound. The King’s realm was alive, vibrant, and full of life.

Man Made in God’s Image

On the sixth day, God created man. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen 1:26). The King—who had already spoken life into the heavens, the earth, and all that is in it—created man not like all the other living creatures, but as his image-bearer. Distinct from the rest of creation, man was created with the unique capacity to reflect God’s character in a personal, relational way. To be made in God’s image means that humanity was endowed with reason, creativity, morality, and the capacity for relationship—qualities that enable us to reflect God’s likeness in the world.

Man was made to reign as God’s vice-regent over all creation. The very blessing given to Adam in Genesis 1:28 is that he was to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion.” These royal verbs—subdue and have dominion—are of profound significance. They speak of a responsibility to steward, care for, and guard the sanctity of God’s realm. Adam, as the King’s representative, was to reflect God’s reign through the way he governed creation. He was to rule with wisdom, justice, and mercy, ensuring that the beauty and order of the King’s sanctuary were preserved and spread throughout all the earth.

Man’s role, however, was not only royal. In addition to being a king and representative of God’s rule on earth, humanity was also meant to be priestly in nature. Genesis 2:15 says that God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. While this language might at first seem to refer to the practical task of gardening, it carries much deeper connotations. The verbs “work” and “keep” are often used in the Bible in contexts related to priestly duties, particularly in connection to the temple and the tabernacle.

In Numbers 3:78, these verbs describe the Levites’ sacred task of maintaining the sanctity of the temple, guarding its holiness, and ensuring that no impure or profane thing entered. Similarly, Adam was tasked not just with tilling the ground, but with guarding the sanctity of the garden, ensuring that it remained undefiled and holy, a true sanctuary for God’s presence.

This was Adam’s calling: to serve as king and priest within God’s temple-garden. As priest, he was to worship and keep the sanctuary pure, offering obedient service to the Creator. As king, he was to exercise dominion over creation, ensuring that everything within God’s realm reflected the King’s glory and order.

In this way, the Garden was not just a place of beauty and fruitfulness; it was a holy sanctuary meant to be a blessing for God’s people created in his image. The garden was meant to be a meeting place between God and man, a place where God dwelt with his people.

The Two Shall Become One

As the King brought his creation into existence, he not only established a world teeming with life and beauty but also ordained the foundational structure for human relationships. From the very beginning, marriage was instituted as a vital part of God’s kingdom. “It is not good that the man should be alone,” God declared (Gen 2:18), and from that statement, he created the first family. He formed woman from man, and brought them together as companions, co-laborers in the stewardship of the earth. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24).

This union between man and woman was designed to reflect God’s image, as both the male and female together form the fullness of humanity. The family, established in Eden, was meant to be a microcosm of God’s rule on earth—a place where love, order, and mutual respect were to thrive in harmony with the divine purpose. Through marriage, the kingdom of God would expand, as couples were commanded to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen 1:28), raising children who would carry the image of God into the world.

The family, then, is not merely a social institution but a covenantal reality, reflecting God’s covenant with humanity. Just as God relates to his people in covenant, so too does the marriage covenant serve as a model of his faithful love and commitment. In the family, the roles of husband and wife mirror the relationships within the Godhead—distinct yet united in purpose. The husband is called to sacrificial love, providing leadership, protection, and guidance, while the wife, as the helper suitable for him, supports and nurtures, creating a partnership of mutual communion under the reign of God. Their children are to be brought up in the fear and knowledge of the Lord, discipled in God’s ways, and prepared to carry his image into the next generation.

The Sanctification of Creation

On the seventh day, after the King had shaped and filled his realm, he rested. The Creator, who had spoken everything into existence with his mighty Word, paused to delight in the beauty and order he had brought into being. This rest was not out of weariness, for the King, being all-powerful, needed no rest. Instead, his rest was an act of sanctification, a blessing of completion, a holy marking of his work.

To sanctify means to set apart as holy, and God’s rest on the seventh day marked creation as holy, set apart for a purpose. Just as the King had spoken all things into existence with intention, now he sanctified time itself, establishing a rhythm of work and rest. The seventh day was holy because it was set apart for God’s presence, a day for his people to join in his rest and to delight in the perfect order of creation.

By resting, God set a pattern for his creation, not just for his own delight, but for the good of his people. This pattern of rest was given to humanity as a gift, an invitation to reflect God’s own nature in the rhythm of life. Just as the King rested, so too were his image-bearers to rest, not because they were tired, but because the act of rest allows for reflection, celebration, and renewal. The Sabbath day is not merely about stopping work; it is about stepping back and seeing the work of God in its fullness, delighting in the beauty of the Creator’s plan. Rest is an opportunity to recognize that everything, from the smallest blade of grass to the vast expanse of the heavens, is good because the King has declared it so.

The Law of God in Creation

From the very first act of creation, the King’s glory was on display. The light that pierced the darkness reflected his holiness. The sun, moon, and stars revealed his order, and the plants and animals reflected his creativity and abundance. The world he created was a revelation of his nature, a world designed to declare his greatness. In the mountains, the King’s majesty was displayed. In the rivers, his provision could be seen. In the night sky, his faithfulness was written across the heavens.

The earth, with all its natural beauty and intricacy, testifies to the divine order and wisdom of the Creator. But even beyond physical characteristics, there was something more foundational embedded in creation: the law of God. This law is woven into the fabric of creation itself, reflecting God’s perfect, holy character. From the beginning, it was clear: this was a holy kingdom, where the Creator’s will was interwoven into the very structure of the world.

God’s law is evident in the orderly, predictable patterns of nature. And just as God’s law in nature sustain and preserve life—guiding the orbits of planets, the growth of plants, and the balance of ecosystems—so God’s moral law governs the relationships between human beings, preserving the sanctity of life, justice, and righteousness within his created order.

God’s law is intrinsic to the way the world was made, and it is written into the hearts of men and women (Rom 2:14–15), showing that even those who have never heard God’s Word have a sense of right and wrong, because God’s law has been inscribed on their conscience. Just as the natural laws of gravity or thermodynamics apply universally to all creation, the moral law applies to all of humanity because it is a reflection of the Creator’s will.

Therefore, along with the roles of king and priest came a significant responsibility: Adam was entrusted with God’s law. In the garden, God’s law was not written in stone but given directly to Adam as part of his sacred responsibility. Genesis 2:16–17 recounts how God instructed Adam regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Here was God’s law made explicit to his people through positive decree. The garden was filled with abundant provision, but the one prohibition was to refrain from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This law was not arbitrary; it represented the boundary of obedience to the Creator and an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty. Adam’s obedience would reflect his role as God’s priestly representative, honoring God’s holiness and keeping the sanctuary pure. His role as earthly king was bound to this law; the whole world was to reflect God’s order, and this began in the garden where Adam’s obedience to God’s law would shape the way he governed the rest of creation.

God was making a covenant with his people—obey God’s law, and true blessing will come; disobey, and you shall surely die. As Adam stood in the midst of the garden, surrounded by life and beauty, his role as God’s royal representative was clear. He was to reflect the holiness of the Creator, guard the purity of the sanctuary, and rule the creation in wisdom and justice. All creation was God’s temple, and Adam was to fulfill the royal and priestly duties of ensuring that God’s glory filled the earth. But this paradise was not to last forever without challenge. The King’s perfect realm was in place, but the story was only just beginning.

The King speaks, and the world listens.

In the beginning, when the heavens and the earth were formless and empty, the King uttered a command, and the void began to take shape. From chaos and darkness, the order of creation emerged. God spoke, and his Word brought forth light, separated waters, formed the land, and populated the earth with life. The Word of the King holds power beyond comprehension. The very fabric of reality is held together by the force of his voice.

The first words God spoke were not vague, drifting into the silence as mere whispers. No. They were commands with infinite power, uttered with divine authority: “Let there be light,” and there was light (Gen 1:3). That single sentence unleashed a wave of cosmic transformation, one that would echo throughout eternity. It is the Word of God that shapes, sustains, and upholds all creation. It is his Word that draws all things into existence and guides them according to his will.

Yet the power of the King’s Word is not confined to the creation of the world. It is not a relic of the past, merely a spoken event that formed the universe. The Word of God is living, active, and continuing to accomplish God’s purposes today. It is the means by which the King communicates with his creation, reveals his will, and accomplishes his redemptive purposes in the world. From the moment of creation to the present day, the Word of the King remains central to all reality.

The Word in Creation

In the opening verses of Genesis, we see God speaking the world into existence. The Word is not simply the tool by which the King creates; it is the source of creation itself. “Let there be light,” God says, and light comes forth (Gen 1:3). “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together,” and the seas are formed (Gen 1:9). The Word of God is the cause of all things that exist.

This is a foundational truth: creation is not an accident. The universe did not come into being by chance or through some impersonal process of evolution. It was the will of the Creator, executed by his Word over the space of six literal days. The material world is the result of God’s intentional design, a realm formed by the King’s voice to display his glory.

The King’s Word not only brought the world into existence; it continues to hold it together. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:16-17, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.… All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” This reveals that Christ—the Word of God—is not only the Creator but also the sustainer of creation. He “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb 1:3), ensuring that the cosmos operates in harmony and order.

This truth about Christ’s sustaining power underscores his sovereign reign over all creation. It is not a passive rule but an active, ongoing governance. Every moment, every breath, every atom in the universe is sustained by his will. Just as he spoke the world into existence, his Word continues to maintain its existence. The same power that called light from darkness in the beginning is the same power that sustains the ongoing existence of all things, from the smallest particle to the vast galaxies.

The Word as Communication

At its core, God’s Word is the means by which he reveals himself. Creation, in its vastness and beauty, serves as the first witness to God’s existence and glory. The intricate design of the universe, from the grand expanse of the heavens to the smallest details of nature, points to the Creator’s infinite wisdom and power. The stars declare his majesty, and the mountains stand as silent testaments to his might. Yet, while creation reveals the greatness and sovereignty of God, it cannot speak to the depths of his character or the specific details of his plan for redemption. For that, we need God’s Word—his special revelation—where he communicates directly to us, showing not just who he is, but how he desires to relate to his creation, particularly to the people he made in his own image.

The Word of the King holds supreme authority. When God speaks, things happen. The cosmos itself is shaped by his voice. In the same way, God continues to speak today, communicating his will and purposes through his Word, which is written and preserved for us in the sixty-six books of the Bible. But it is essential to understand that God’s written Word is not simply a human record of divine thoughts; it is inspired by God—his very breath breathed out into the pages penned by the human authors of Scripture. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God,” which means that God himself is the ultimate author of the Bible. The Holy Spirit worked through the human authors, guiding their thoughts, preserving them from error, and ensuring that the result was exactly what God intended to communicate to his people.

This concept of inspiration is foundational for understanding the nature and authority of Scripture. It means that the words written down by men are, in fact, the very words of God. They are not merely reflections of human wisdom or tradition but are the divine revelation of God’s will and purpose. When we read the Bible, we are encountering the voice of the King.

Because Scripture is inspired by God, it is inerrant—it is without error in everything it teaches. Scripture is true and trustworthy in all matters it addresses, whether they pertain to faith, morality, history, or science. This truth is vitally important, as it assures us that when we turn to the Bible, we can trust it fully. The King’s Word, written in the Scriptures, is as authoritative and reliable as his spoken word in creation.

The Word’s Sovereign Power

When God speaks, his Word is not impotent. It does not return to him void but accomplishes the purpose for which it was sent (Isa 55:11). Whether creating the heavens, commanding the seas, or calling sinners to repentance, the Word of the King has the power to shape reality itself.

This authority is seen most clearly in the ministry of Jesus. When he speaks, things happen. He commands the storm to cease, and the wind obeys (Mark 4:39). He calls the dead to life, and they rise (John 11:43–44). Jesus’s Word is the authoritative Word of God, carrying with it the power to heal, to restore, and to save.

This power is not only present in Christ’s earthly ministry but extends to all of God’s Word. The Bible, as God’s Word, carries the same authority—it is living and active (Heb 4:12). It is not a collection of suggestions or guidelines, but the very Word of the King. It speaks with authority, demanding obedience and offering life.

The Word as Judge

The King’s Word also comes with the authority to judge. Throughout Scripture, we see the Word of God acting as a discerner of hearts, exposing sin, and calling people to repentance. In 2 Samuel 12, after King David commits adultery with Bathsheba and arranges for the death of her husband, Uriah, God sends the prophet Nathan to confront him. Nathan, guided by God’s Word, tells David a parable about a rich man who takes a poor man’s only lamb to prepare a meal for a traveler, even though the rich man had plenty of his own flock. Upon hearing the story, David becomes enraged and declares that the rich man should die and repay four times the value of the lamb. Nathan then speaks the piercing words, “You are the man!” (2 Sam 12:7).

Nathan reveals to David that the rich man in the parable was actually David himself, who had taken Uriah’s wife and caused his death. Nathan exposes David’s sin by declaring, “Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?” (2 Sam 12:9). Here, the Word of God, spoken through the prophet Nathan, is a sword that cuts through David’s self-deception and exposes the darkness of his heart. It reveals the truth of his actions—adultery, murder, and a disregard for God’s commandments.

Nathan’s message does not end with mere exposure; it also brings judgment. He tells David that because of his sin, there will be consequences: “The sword will never depart from your house…because you have despised me and taken the wife of Uriah to be your own” (2 Sam 12:10). Yet, Nathan also speaks of grace. Though David will face judgment, Nathan declares, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die” (2 Sam 12:13). Despite the gravity of David’s sin, God, in his mercy, offers forgiveness and spares David’s life.

David, upon hearing the convicting Word of God, humbles himself and repents. Psalm 51 is his heartfelt response to the confrontation, where he confesses his sin and asks God for forgiveness: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1). The Word, as both judge and redeemer, calls David to repentance, and David acknowledges his sin before God.

Just as Nathan’s parable revealed the truth of David’s sin, so too does the Word of God expose the areas of rebellion and brokenness in our lives. The Word of God does not merely inform us about right and wrong but judges the intentions of our hearts, prompting us to acknowledge our sin and turn to God for forgiveness. It is a sword that divides, laying bare our deepest flaws, yet it is also the means by which we are reconciled to God when we respond in repentance.

The Word of God as the Means of Salvation

The Word of the King is not just our authority and judge; it is also redemptive. God’s Word has the power to save. A vivid examples of this is the apostle Paul. Before his salvation, Paul a man driven by hate and a desire to destroy the church. But as he traveled toward Damascus in order to arrest Christians there, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, brighter than the midday sun. Saul fell to the ground, blinded by the brilliance, and heard a voice calling out, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). This was no ordinary encounter. It was the very Word of Christ speaking to him—words that pierced the darkness of Saul’s heart and revealed the truth. He responded, trembling and astonished, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5).

At that moment, Saul’s life was transformed. The Word of Christ, spoken with divine authority, not only confronted him with his sin but set in motion his transformation from the chief of sinners to the apostle of grace. The same Word that called the world into existence now spoke life into Saul’s soul, giving him eyes to see and ears to hear. His conversion was the result of the powerful, redemptive Word of God at work.

Saul’s conversion illustrates how faith comes through hearing the Word of God. In Romans 10:17, Paul writes, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” It was through the proclamation of the Word—the direct voice of Christ speaking to Saul—that faith was birthed in his heart. It was not through Saul’s own efforts or a decision he made on his own; it was through the hearing of the Word of Christ that his heart was opened, and his life was changed. The King’s Word is the very means by which salvation is received.

In 2 Corinthians 4:6, Paul also draws a parallel between creation and the spiritual rebirth of believers: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” When Jesus said, “Let there be light,” in Genesis 1, he was speaking creation into existence. When he says, “Let there be life” through the gospel, he is creating a new creation in the hearts of believers. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The Word of God is the means by which we are saved, and it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

And the Word of God continues to transform believers as well. As Jesus declared, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). God’s Word has the power to breathe life into dry bones, to restore what is broken, and to give hope to the hopeless. As we hear the Word, it does more than just inform our minds; it changes our hearts. The Word of God renews us from the inside out.

Living Under the Authority of the King’s Word

To live under the authority of the King’s Word is to live in obedience to God. The King’s Word is not optional or up for debate. When the King speaks, we listen. The Word of God is a guide to how we live, a rule for how we interact with the world and with one another.

Obedience to the King’s Word is the natural response to hearing it. Jesus himself said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). True love for the King is shown through obedience to his Word. The King’s Word is not burdensome; it is life-giving (1 John 5:3). When we live according to God’s Word, we are living in alignment with the King’s purposes, reflecting his glory in the world.

God’s Word provides the guidance we need for every aspect of life. It offers wisdom for relationships, direction for decision-making, and comfort in times of sorrow. The King’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). It shows us the way forward, both in the everyday choices of life and in the grand narrative of salvation. The Word is the compass by which we navigate this life, pointing us back to the King and his purposes.

The Word of the King is the source of all creation, the means of revelation, the authority by which we live, and the power by which we are saved. From the first “Let there be light” to the final “It is finished,” the King’s Word accomplishes all things. It calls the world into being, it redeems a people for God’s glory, and it sustains us in every moment. As we live under the authority of the King’s Word, may we reflect his glory in the way we obey, trust, and proclaim the truth of his Word.

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the true King.

The earthly throne was empty, its occupant taken by death. For fifty-two years, Uzziah had ruled over Judah, a reign marked by strength and prosperity but also marred by pride and rebellion. Now he was gone, and uncertainty filled the air. Who would lead the people? Who could secure the future? It was into this moment of crisis that God revealed himself to Isaiah, lifting his eyes above the shifting sands of earthly kingdoms to behold the unshakable throne of heaven.

This was no earthly vision. Isaiah was not seeing a mere human ruler but the Lord himself—the King of kings. The throne, high and exalted, dominates the vision. Its occupant, veiled in radiant majesty, is attended by seraphim whose cries shake the very foundations of the temple. Smoke fills the air, a visible sign of the holy presence of God. The train of his robe cascades down in grandeur, filling every corner of the temple.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,” the seraphim cry, their voices like rolling thunder. “The whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isa 6:3). This repeated declaration underscores the essence of God’s nature: holiness. His glory radiates not only through the heavenly temple but across all creation.

Overwhelmed by the sight, Isaiah responds with trembling words: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isa 6:5).

Isaiah’s vision is a revelation of ultimate reality. At the center of all existence stands the eternal King—holy, sovereign, and glorious. The rest of Scripture unfolds this truth, revealing a God whose kingship defines all of creation, history, and redemption.

The Eternal King

The vision begins with a throne, high and lifted up, the ultimate symbol of sovereignty. The height of the throne signifies the authority of the one who sits upon it. This King is not subject to any power; he reigns supreme over all creation. No one is above him; no power can rival him. Thrones in the ancient world symbolized dominion and judgment, and this throne is no exception. It is the seat of the King who rules over all the earth and the heavens beyond.

God’s sovereignty extends to every corner of history. He raises up kings and brings them down. He directs the course of nations and ordains the steps of individuals. Nothing happens outside his will. From the tiniest atom to the grandest galaxy, everything exists under his authority. As Psalm 103:19 proclaims, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” Even acts of human rebellion ultimately serve his purposes, as Joseph declared to his brothers: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen 50:20).

Isaiah’s vision of God’s sovereign rule provides comfort and assurance. Earthly kings may falter, but the throne of God is unshakable. The King of heaven is not merely a spectator of history; he is its author.

The train of his robe fills the temple, a visual representation of his majesty. In the ancient Near East, the length of a king’s robe symbolized the greatness of his status. Here, the King’s robe cascades down, filling every corner of the heavenly sanctuary. It is a picture of a glory that cannot be contained, a majesty that overflows.

Smoke fills the temple, an image that evokes the awesome presence of God throughout Scripture. When God descended upon Mount Sinai, the mountain was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended in fire (Exod 19:18). In the tabernacle, the cloud of God’s glory covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the space so completely that even Moses could not enter (Exod 40:34–35). Smoke in Isaiah’s vision signifies the same overwhelming presence of God’s glory and power.

The temple itself is significant. It is not merely a building but the dwelling place of God, the intersection of heaven and earth. The earthly temple in Jerusalem was a shadow of this heavenly reality. Here, Isaiah is transported beyond the earthly copy to the true temple of God’s presence, where his glory shines without restraint.

Then there are the seraphim, which means “burning ones,” emphasizing their purity and their role as ministers of God’s glory. Their very presence declares the holiness of God. They cover their faces, not daring to look directly at the King, and they cover their feet, acknowledging their unworthiness to stand before him. With their remaining wings, they fly, ready to carry out his commands. The cry of the seraphim—“Holy, holy, holy”—rings out as the anthem of heaven. This threefold repetition of “holy” is unique in Scripture. It emphasizes the superlative nature of God’s holiness—he is not merely holy but the holiest of all. Holiness is not just one of God’s attributes; it is the essence of who he is. To be holy is to be set apart, utterly distinct from all creation. God’s holiness speaks of his moral purity, his infinite worth, and his absolute otherness.

In Isaiah’s encounter, God’s holiness exposes the prophet’s sin. Standing in the presence of the Holy One, Isaiah becomes painfully aware of his unworthiness. This is what holiness does: it reveals the chasm between God’s perfection and our imperfection.

Holiness also defines the character of God’s reign. Every decree he issues, every act he performs, flows from his perfect nature. His justice is holy justice; his mercy is holy mercy. Unlike earthly rulers, whose decisions are tainted by sin, God’s rule is flawless.

God’s kingship is eternal. Unlike earthly rulers, whose reigns are fleeting, the reign of God has no beginning and no end. Psalm 90:2 declares, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

This eternal nature sets God apart from all creation. Everything else—stars, nations, and even time itself—had a starting point. But God always was, and he always will be. His eternal nature assures us that his promises will endure. When he speaks, his words are as unchanging as his being. When he reigns, his kingdom will never be shaken.

Tri-Unity

The vision of God high and lifted up draws us into a profound and mysterious truth revealed throughout Scripture: God is Triune. He is one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a mystery beyond full human comprehension, yet it is essential to understanding not only who God is but how he works in the world. The Father is fully God, the Son is fully God, and the Holy Spirit is fully God, and yet they are distinct from one another in personhood. Each one of them has a unique role, but they are united in essence, perfectly one in being, power, and glory.

Imagine the vastness of this truth, how it stretches beyond our imagination: God, in his very nature, is not solitary but relational. He has never been alone, never been without relationship. From eternity past, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have existed together in a perfect, loving communion—a fellowship so deep and harmonious that it defines who God is. The essence of God is love, and this love is not some abstract concept but a lived reality between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose relationship is one of perfect unity and mutual glorification.

In Isaiah’s vision, we see a glimpse of this divine dance. As the seraphim circle God’s throne, they cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” This threefold declaration of God’s holiness is not an accident; it is a profound reflection of the Triune nature of God. The three “holies” point to the three persons of the Godhead—each equally holy, each worthy of worship. The holiness of God is not fragmented but shared perfectly between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Their holiness is not a single attribute but a dynamic, relational reality—a mutual glorification of one another that mirrors the perfection of their unity.

We finite beings often have difficulty understanding the Trinity because we naturally think of three as separate. Yet God’s essence is not composed of parts or pieces; he is one undivided being. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit do not each have a share of God’s essence but rather, each is fully and completely God. This simplicity means that there is no division in God’s being—no compartmentalizing of attributes. The entire essence of God is present in each person of the Trinity. The Father is not more God than the Son, and the Son is not more God than the Spirit. They are fully and equally God, coexisting in perfect unity.

This threefold unity echoes the eternal fellowship that exists within the Godhead. From the Father’s loving initiation, through the Son’s faithful accomplishment, to the Spirit’s empowering presence, the Trinity works together in perfect harmony. From the very beginning, God has been one and yet three, indivisible and inseparable in operation. The actions of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are never in opposition to one another, but they are always in perfect harmony.

For instance, in creation, while the Father is the initiator of the divine will, the Son is the Word through whom all things are made, and the Spirit brings life and order to creation. All three persons are involved, not in separate actions, but in one united action. In the work of salvation, the Father sends the Son, the Son accomplishes the work of redemption, and the Spirit applies that work to the hearts of believers. Each person of the Trinity acts in concert, inseparably, and yet every undivided action of God is performed by each divine person in accordance with his eternal relationship to the other persons. This inseparable operation shows the unity and simplicity of the divine essence, and how, in everything, God acts as one.

The doctrine of the Trinity is not just a theological idea to be pondered in isolation; it is a truth that shapes how we understand God’s presence and his work in the world. In creation, the Father speaks, the Son creates through his Word, and the Spirit moves over the waters, bringing order from chaos. In redemption, the Father sends the Son to rescue his people, and the Son, through his life, death, and resurrection, accomplishes the work of salvation. The Spirit then applies that work to our hearts, regenerating us and bringing us into fellowship with the Father and Son.

And it is not just in creation and redemption that the Triune God is at work. It is in every moment of life that we encounter the dynamic presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father guides and sustains, the Son intercedes on our behalf, and the Spirit empowers and strengthens us. The very relationship that defines God’s being is now made available to us, drawing us into the eternal fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, making us one with him.

The unity of the Triune God is a perfect and eternal fellowship, and we, as believers, are invited into that fellowship. The story of the Bible, from the first pages of creation to the final consummation of all things, is the story of the Triune God drawing a people to himself, inviting them into the shared life of the Trinity. The holiness, love, and glory that define God are now being extended to us, that we might share in his joy, his peace, and his eternal life. As the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together in perfect harmony, so we, as the people of God, are called to live together in unity, reflecting the image of our Triune Creator.

Christ—the Revelation of God

The apostle John tells us that “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him” (John 12:41). The “him” John refers to is none other than Jesus Christ. John affirms that the vision Isaiah had of the Lord on the throne was, in fact, a vision of Christ seated on the throne, high and lifted up. The glory Isaiah saw was the glory of Christ

This helps us understand that the ultimate revelation of God is Christ. John opens his Gospel with this profound declaration: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). John refers to Christ as the Word—this divine Logos. As he states later, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (Jn 1:18). Christ is the revelation of all that God is. He is the eternal Word, pre-existent before all creation, through whom all things were made.

In John 14:9, Jesus tells his disciples, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” To see Jesus is to see the Father; to know Christ is to know God. Christ is the revelation of God, not visually, but in the same way that our words reveal our invisible nature. As the author of Hebrews exclaims, Christ “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb 1:3).

Thus, we can share Isaiah’s vision—we can come to truly see God—by looking to Jesus Christ. He is the Word, the ultimate communication of God to his creation, the very one who reveals the heart of the Father. Through Christ, we come to understand who God is and what he has done for us, as he has made his eternal purposes known through his Son.

Living Under the King’s Reign

Isaiah’s vision demands a response. The sight of God’s holiness humbled him, the sound of the seraphim’s song convicted him, and the touch of the burning coal cleansed him. He left that throne room a changed man, ready to say, “Here am I! Send me” (Isa 6:8).

To live under the reign of the eternal King is to recognize his absolute authority and to align our lives with his will. It means bowing in reverence before his holiness, trusting in his sovereignty, and rejoicing in his eternal nature. It means responding to his call with willing obedience, knowing that his reign is good and his purposes are perfect.

Living under the King’s reign also means proclaiming his glory. Just as the seraphim declare his holiness, so we are called to bear witness to the greatness of our King. This is not a passive task; it is a life of active worship and joyful obedience.

Isaiah’s vision lifts our eyes to the true King, the one who reigns in holiness, sovereignty, and eternity. This is the God who calls us to worship, who rules with justice and mercy, and who invites us to live as citizens of his kingdom. As we continue walking through the story of the King and his realm, may our hearts echo the song of the seraphim: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Psalm 110 is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament, because it is a very important prophetic psalm about the promised fulfillment of God’s covenant with David. The psalm begins with David prophesying. “Yahweh says”—that word “says” is a Hebrew word “often used to depict an oracle or a revelation.”[1] So the psalm literally begins, “The prophecy of Yahweh to my lord.”

Now pause for a moment. Here is David, God’s Anointed King, prophesying about someone he calls “my lord.” The sovereign king, Yahweh, is speaking to an earthly king even greater than David. David apparently recognized that someone would come after him who would be greater than him. One of his descendants would be God’s Anointed One—his Messiah—in a way even greater than David. Yahweh speaks to this Anointed One, David’s Lord, and says, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (110:1).

This is a promise of dominion. In the ancient world when a king conquered his enemy, he would rest his foot on the neck of his conquered foe as if he were his footstool, as a representation of his dominion. This is a promise of fulfillment of the dominion blessing that God has promised to Adam (Gen 1:28) and what God had promised to David (1 Chron 17). This is a promise of anticipation and hope when David may have been tempted to despair, or when Israel returns from exile to a city and temple that are destroyed and no Davidic king is sitting on the throne.

In the midst of that darkness and despair, the editors of the Psalter, carried along by the Holy Spirit of God, wanted God’s people to remember that a descendant of David is still coming who would be greater than David; Yahweh himself would say to that Anointed One, “sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

And this is why Psalm 110:1 is the most quoted verse from the Psalms in the New Testament. Here is the promise of a King greater than David who will fulfill the promises made to David and be given dominion over all things at Yahweh’s right hand. The apostle Peter makes this very point in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). David isn’t talking about himself here, Peter argues, “For David did not ascend into the heavens” (Acts 2:34). This has to apply to someone else, one of David’s sons who would ascend to Yahweh’s right hand.

Well, but maybe this refers to some kind of heavenly being who is greater than David, seated at Yahweh’s right hand in heaven. No, the author of Hebrews quotes this verse and says, “But to which of the angels has [Yahweh] ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?” (Heb 1:13). No, says Peter at Pentecost, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). Peter would say later to the high priest in Acts 5:

³⁰ The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Jesus of Nazareth is the one David calls Lord in Psalm 110—he is David’s son but David’s Lord. He is the Anointed One, the One who would fulfill God’s promises to David. He lived a perfect life in obedience to God’s law, something David never did, and Solomon never did; he died on the cross—as the author of Hebrews says in chapter 10, he “for all time a single sacrifice,” and then God raised him from the dead and exalted him at his right hand; he “sat down at the right hand of God,” the author of Hebrews says, “waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet” (Heb 10:12). It is finished.

A Priest Forever

But notice that the author of Hebrews not only used the kingly language of Psalm 110—his enemies will be made his footstool, he also used priestly language. An earthly priest, he says in Hebrews 10:11, “stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” But when this Anointed One “had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (v 12). That phrase from Psalm 110:1, “sat down,” signifies both the rule of a king and the finished, once-for-all sacrifice of a perfect priest. God had promised in 1 Samuel 2, after the sin of Eli’s sons,

³⁵ And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

This is exactly what David prophesies in Psalm 110:4:

The Lord has sworn
      and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
      after the order of Melchizedek.”

David’s Greater Son, he prophesies, will not only be a conquering king, he will also be a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek, that mysterious king of Salem (the future location of Jerusalem) whom Abram encounters and whom Moses calls a “priest of God Most High” (Gen 14:18). As the author of Hebrews says in chapter 5, Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek” (vv 9–10).

David’s Greater Son will be both king and priest, Psalm 110 prophesies. David was never a priest like this; his son Solomon was never a priest like this. Only David’s Son whom he would call Lord would be both king and priest, and the New Testament tells us that this is Jesus. Jesus the Anointed One offered himself for all time a single sacrifice for sins, God raised him from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and then he sat down at the Father’s right hand, signifying both his right to rule and his finished priestly work.

Future Hope

And yet, God’s promise has not yet fully come to pass. Purification for sins is finished. Jesus is now seated at Yahweh’s right hand, and he intercedes for his people as the great High Priest (Heb 6:12), but the victory promised in verses 2–3 of Psalm 110 is still future even for us:

² The Lord sends forth from Zion
      your mighty scepter.
      Rule in the midst of your enemies!
³ Your people will offer themselves freely
      on the day of your power,
      in holy garments;
from the womb of the morning,
      the dew of your youth will be yours.

The author of Hebrews said as much. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, “waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet (Heb 10:13)—waiting for when Yahweh would send out of Zion the rod of his strength and give him rule in the midst of his enemies. Waiting for when his people will offer themselves freely on the day of his power in the beauty of holiness.

Verse four and the first phrase of verse 5 are fulfilled, but the rest of the psalm is yet to be fulfilled:

⁵ The Lord is at your right hand;
      he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
⁶ He will execute judgment among the nations,
      filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
      over the wide earth.
⁷ He will drink from the brook by the way;
      therefore he will lift up his head.

For David and for Israel returned from exile, this whole psalm was unfulfilled prophecy, meant to form anticipation and hope in the midst of darkness and uncertainty.

But for us, verse one is already fulfilled, and verse four is already fulfilled; that’s what all of these NT quotations are arguing. Jesus the Anointed One is seated at the right hand of God the Father; God “has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name”—what is that name? The name of Lord, of King, of the Davidic ruler—“so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9–10). And Jesus the Anointed One has offered the once-for-all sacrifice, sitting down like no other priest was every able to do.

Verse one of Psalm 110 is already fulfilled, but verses 2–3 are not yet fulfilled. Verse four is already fulfilled, but verses 5–7 are not yet fulfilled. They are meant to create in us anticipation and hope in the midst of darkness and uncertainty.

And, in fact, we have even more reason to have hope in the complete fulfillment of this psalm, the final fulfillment of God’s covenant with David, because we have confidence that part of this prophecy is already fulfilled. If God has already fulfilled verse one, we can be confident that he will fulfill the rest.

[1] Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms, 3:873.

[2] Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006), 106.

This essay was adapted from Musing on God’s Music: Forming Hearts of Praise with the Psalms by Scott Aniol.

God’s covenant with Abraham accomplished three important things. First, in this covenant, God formally established his redemptive kingdom in which he distinguished his chosen people from the rest of the human race. Second, God’s covenant with Abraham also established the specific family from which the Second Adam would come—“kings shall come from you.” God will make a covenant with one of those anointed kings, David, that the Anointed King would come through his line.

And indeed, the Second Adam came in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who perfectly fulfilled the role of God’s king/priest. Like with the first Adam, the serpent tempted Jesus and tried to usurp his rule, but Jesus conquered him. Like with the first Adam, God appointed Jesus to be a priest, and Jesus perfectly obeyed by cleansing the temple and offering up himself as an atoning sacrifice. Unlike the first Adam, Jesus passed the test and earned the right to rule as the perfect king/priest, and after his resurrection from the dead, he ascended into the heavenly palace/temple itself, where he sat down at the right hand of God’s throne. Christ succeeded where Adam failed and is now enjoying the blessings Adam never attained.

Two Kingdoms

This establishes the reality of two kingdoms: (1) a universal common kingdom, God’s sovereign superintendence over all things—including creation and human institutions, cultures, and societies, and (2) a redemptive kingdom, God’s specific rule over his redeemed people.

Because of Adam’s failure, these two kingdoms are at this present time distinct, but God intends one day to unite them into one Kingdom. This is the third, and perhaps most concrete way Scripture uses “kingdom” terminology: it prophesies the reign of a perfect King in which he will unite God’s universal reign with his redemptive reign, a day when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9), when Christ will “have dominion from sea to sea, and from River to the ends of the earth” (Ps 72:8).

God has always intended for the common and the redemptive to be united in one perfect Kingdom. In God’s providence, Adam’s failure prevented that, but the Old Testament prophets continued to promise it, such Daniel:

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. (Dan 2:44)

But notice also that although Christ has already established his rule over his redeemed people, as Hebrews 2:8 says, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.” Christ is, as Psalm 110 states, presently seated at the Father’s right hand until the Father makes his enemies his footstool. The perfect eternal Kingdom has been promised and ensured, but it is not yet a complete reality. It will happen only after Jesus comes again, when “the kingdom of this world”—that is, the common kingdom—“will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (Rev 11:15).

In the Old Testament, however, God did foreshadow what this union would look like. The third thing accomplished in the Abrahamic Covenant by God choosing this one family was the establishment of a nation that would serve as both a prototype of the united Kingdom of God and further evidence that sinful humans could not achieve it. In other words, God chose the nation of Israel to be a model of the union between the universal common kingdom and the redemptive kingdom.

By means of the Mosaic covenant, Israel became a proto-typical theocratic union of kingdom and worship. The Mosaic Law given at Mt. Sinai united redemptive qualifications with moral and civil in which the Law governed every aspect of their society. This was an earthly picture of what the united universal redemptive kingdom would look like.

Christ’s first coming qualified him as the perfect king/priest and accomplished the means of redeeming a people who would comprise the citizenship of the universal redemptive Kingdom, but Christ’s first coming never brings with it the same union of the civil and redemptive that existed in either the Garden of Eden or Israel’s kingdom. Christ preached this kingdom while he is on earth, and he promised that it will come. But this concrete, literal kingdom that unites the universal common kingdom with the redemptive kingdom, according to Christ in John 18:36 “is not of this world”—that union is not a present reality. It will happen only after Jesus comes again and all things are in subjection to him.

How Then Shall We Live?

This biblical understanding of the two kingdoms of God and their future union has several important implications for our lives as Christians and for our church ministry and our relationship to the world around us, which I will expand in the following chapters.

First, Adam failed to be the king/priest God commanded him to be, and since we were in Adam, we will never be able to be what he was supposed to be. We are not new Adams who are supposed to do what Adam failed to do by somehow exercising dominion over creation.

Rather, point two, Christ is the last Adam. He accomplished what Adam failed to do, and he will exercise dominion over all creation when he comes again. To believe that it is somehow our responsibility to do what Adam failed to do would be to distrust the sufficiency of what Christ accomplished. It is not up to us to somehow “extend his reign”; Christ will do that, not us.

Third, we cannot do what Adam failed to do, but we who are redeemed—we who are in Christ—do get to inherit the perfect kingdom Adam never achieved.

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:17)

Because Christ rose from the dead, we who are in him will rise from the dead, because he has been glorified, we will be glorified, and since Christ reigns in glory, we who are in him “will also reign with him” (2 Tim 2:12).

But not yet; not until Jesus comes again. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:22–25,

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

God is currently putting Christ’s enemies under his feet; when he is finished, the end will come, and then Christ will share his reign with we who believe in him.

Fourth, until he comes again, we believers live on this earth, pursuing various cultural endeavors, our jobs, participation in government, etc. in response to the fact that Christ has already done what Adam failed to do, not in an attempt to achieve what Adam failed to do. Nor should we expect the sort of Christianization of culture promised for the messianic kingdom to take place in this present age. That’s not going to happen until Jesus comes again.

We Christians absolutely should do good to all people, we should work hard in the vocations to which God has called us, we should rear children who love and obey God, we should stand up against injustice when we see it, we should be engaged in politics to help restrain evil in this world—but we should not feel the weight of trying to do what Adam failed to do.

Christ has already done it! We live and work in this present age out of a response to what Christ has accomplished, looking forward to that day when he will complete it—when he will completely destroy his enemies and take dominion over all. During the present age, we live faithful and holy lives in the culture, and we pursue more kingdom citizens through bold proclamation of the gospel until the day when we will enjoy Christ’s eternal kingdom, ruling and reigning with him.

This essay was adapted from Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faithfulness in God’s Two Kingdoms by Scott Aniol.

You don’t have to turn on the news or visit a news website very long to get very depressed. We live in a day of despair, threat of war, violence, murder, poverty, sickness, abortion, waning morality, injustice, and racial tensions. Even from the perspective of the unbelieving world, things look pretty bleak.

But from the Christian perspective, things look perhaps even worse. We recognize these things as symptoms of deeper problems. We look around us and see fewer and fewer people, even in our own country, who truly worship God. Further, self-professed Christians are worshiping themselves rather than the true God. Professing believers refuse to listen to God’s Word and are following after their own lusts. Even people who claim the name of Christ are perpetuating immorality and injustice in our world.

All of this bleak assessment of our world leads us to ask, is there any hope? Israel during the time of Isaiah’s prophecy resembled in many ways the condition in which we find ourselves today. During Isaiah’s childhood, Israel and Judah experienced prosperity and freedom from foreign powers. Yet the people of Israel very quickly took that prosperity and peace for granted and began to forsake the Lord. They stopped trusting God’s promises. They began to follow after false idols and idolatrous practices. They recognized the hostile foreign powers growing around them, and instead of trusting in God’s promises to protect them, God’s people turned to the promises of this world. Perhaps Isaiah himself describes it best when, in Chapter 6, he relates his calling to be a prophet of the Lord, confessing that he is a man of unclean lips, and he dwells among a people of unclean lips.

For this reason, much of the prophecy of Isaiah follows this theme of judgment and doom. Yet this is not the only theme of the prophecy; indeed, it is not really even the primary theme of the prophecy. We find right at the beginning of chapter 2 a shadow of hope in the midst of this turmoil. Now, Isaiah says, you are experiencing impending judgment. You have failed to worship God as you ought, you are not listening to the word of God, and war is coming. But there is still hope. There is a day coming that will bring hope to God’s rebellious and condemned people.

A Day is coming when the worship of God will be preeminent.

First, Isaiah says that in that day, “the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the highest of the mountains.” Clearly, the “house of the Lord” here is the Temple—the center of Yahweh’s worship, and the mountain is Mt. Zion, the place upon which God’s house sits. Isaiah is about to prophesy that the house on that mountain is about to be destroyed. But in a future coming day, the mountain of the Temple of God will rise up above all other mountains and be established as the highest of them all.

This prophecy signifies that in that coming day, the worship of God will be preeminent. Right now, the pure worship of God is under attack and the worship of false gods is flourishing. But in that future day, pure worship of the one true and living God will rise above all others. All other mountains—all other places of worship—will shrink under the majestic greatness of Mt. Zion. Mt. Gerazim will be but a small hill, Mt. Olympus a mere bump in the road, and Baal’s Mt. Carmel will appear as an anthill.

All of the places of worship will be nothing compared to the house of the Lord. God’s people will no longer flock to the high places of the false idols; instead, they will stream toward the highest mountain of all, where they will once again return to true worship.

But notice that it is not just God’s people who return to worship. It is not as if all of the other nations will continue to worship in their false houses on their false mountains in that day. No—the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the highest mountain, it will be lifted above all the other hills, and “all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob.”

In that coming day, not only will the true worship of Yahweh be restored for the people of Israel; all the nations will descend from their crumbling temples on their puny hills and will flow like a surging river up to the true Temple on the preeminent mountain. What hope this must have brought to Isaiah’s discouraged heart! Here he is in the midst of an unclean people who have forsaken the worship of the one true God in favor of worshipping false, insignificant idols made by human hands.

But revelation has come to him that a day is coming when these rebellious people will turn away from those false gods and will return to worshiping the true God. And not only that, all the peoples of the earth will join Israel in worshiping the God of Jacob.

A day is coming when all people will hear and obey the Word of the Lord.

But there is a second hope-filled blessing this coming day will bring. In verse 2, the peoples of the nations say, “’Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

A day is coming when not only will the true worship of God become preeminent, but also all people will hear and obey the Word of the Lord. No longer will they follow after their own lusts, no longer will they obey the laws of men. They will flock to the mountain of the Lord to worship him and to hear from him. God will be revealed to them out of Zion, and the response of all people will be to worship and obey.

A day is coming when there will be perfect justice and peace.

A third hope-filled promise is found in verse 4:

He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

God himself will be ruler and judge in that day. When any potential disputes arise, God himself will deal justly. And I say, “potential,” because it is certain that with God as just judge, there will be no real disputes. People in that day will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. In other words, they will have no purpose for weapons of war because there will be no war. God will judge justly, all people will hear and follow his verdicts, and thus there will be no real conflict between the nations.

That day will come when Jesus comes again.

But the question is, when will this day come? The first clue in our text comes in the very first phrase: “It shall come to pass in the latter days.” That phrase “latter days” is a technical eschatological expression, often used to refer to the end of time, so it would have had an eschatological connotation for the original audience of this prophecy.

Perhaps one of the most notable of these is another of Isaiah’s own prophecies in Isaiah 11:4:

But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

This prophecy of the coming day of hope is referring to the promised Messiah! His coming will bring with it justice and peace, with his coming the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the highest of the mountains, and all the nations will flow to it desiring to worship him and obey his Word.

But the question for us today is this: Messiah has already come—Jesus Christ is his name; so why hasn’t this prophecy been fulfilled? We realize that the prophecy of Isaiah 2 is as much a future promise for us as it was for Isaiah. Jesus the Messiah came as promised 2,000 years ago, but he promised that he would come again.

Our Response

And so our response to this prophecy should be the same as what was expected of Israel in Isaiah’s day:

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

The nations do not yet have the light of God’s Word. They are not yet flowing to the mountain of the Lord to hear his Word. But we have no excuse. We, like Israel, do have the light of the Lord, and so we should walk in it. This prophecy of future worship and obedience of all the nations should motivate those of us who already claim to be the people of God to walk in his ways.

In the midst of depressing, perilous times filled with idolatry, rebellion, and war, we should have hope in the return of our Savior. In that day, Jesus will reign wherever the sun shines. There will be no more sorrow or sin, nor will thorns infest the ground. His blessings will flow as far as the curse is found. He will rule the world with truth and grace, and make the nations prove his righteousness.

Let us have hope. Let us worship and obey. And let us join with every kindred, every tribe, and to him all majesty ascribe.

Culture is not neutral; artistic expression is not neutral. Rather, culture is the product of human creativity such that we take what God has made, interpret that natural revelation, and then creatively communicate that interpretation by reorganizing what God is made into something new.

However, an artist’s creative interpretation of God’s natural revelation is subject to his humanity. As Ryken insists, “Since art not only presents experience but also interprets it—since it has ideational content and embodies a world view or ethical outlook—it will always be open to classification as true or false.”[1] Therefore, for Christians, making or evaluating culture must always be measured against God’s special revelation.

A helpful text that helps articulate this idea is Titus 2:1: “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” What is Paul talking about here when he refers to “what accords with sound doctrine”? Is he talking about other intellectual truths that accord with doctrine. No, he tells us what kinds of things accord with sound doctrine in the following verses (vv 2–10). Some of what Paul lists there involve specific kinds of behavior, but most of what he lists as that which “accords with sound doctrine” or what “adorns the doctrine of God our Savior” (v 10) involve inward qualities like sobriety, dignity, reverence, self-control, integrity, steadfastness, and purity.

But here’s the thing: these are inward qualities that in many ways are difficult to precisely define or articulate. Take reverence, for example. What is it? Clearly there must be an objective reality called “reverence,” but how would you define it? It’s difficult, right?

Yet the difficulty in describing a character quality does not render it subjective. God commands us to be characterized by reverence, dignity, and self-control—these are what “accord with sound doctrine.” So we have a responsibility to discern what these qualities are like and cultivate them in our lives. These are applications of sound doctrine (words) in life behavior (works).

So how do we both communicate and cultivate these kinds of non-verbal qualities to others? This is the power of art. Scripture itself embodies and communicates these kinds of qualities like reverence and dignity through the artistic imagery it employs in the communication of God’s truth—Scripture itself artistically embodies sound doctrine. It is filled with imagery, poetry, narrative, and other artistic devices that do communicate truth through propositions, but Scripture also communicates embodied qualities that accord with sound doctrine through artistic imagery. As Ryken observes, “Everything that is communicated in a piece of writing is communicated through the forms in which it is embodied.”[2]

So Scripture commands us to be reverent, and then various artistic elements in Scripture show us what reverence is like. Scripture tells us to love God, and then its artistic expressions embody appropriate love. Scripture admonishes us to be godly, and its artistic expressions form our conception of what godliness should be like.

Embodying God’s Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

This is the importance of culture making for Christians. Through creating art, Christians are able to communicate and cultivate interpretations of God’s world that accord with sound doctrine through beauty.

Art embodies qualities in the way we have been discussing because as we have seen, art presents an interpretation of the ideas it carries. As Ryken notes,

Artists do more than present human experience; they also interpret it from a specific perspective. Works of art make implied assertions about reality.[3]

How so? In exactly the same way that reverence, dignity, and self-control accord with sound doctrine. Reverence is not just another way of articulating sound doctrine—reverence embodies sound doctrine; it applies sound doctrine in real life.

In the same way, art can embody ideas. Ryken explains:

The method of art is to incarnate meaning in concrete form. The artist shows, and is never content to only tell in the form of propositions. The strategy of art is to enact rather than summarize.[4]

This makes sense when we remember that art—whether we’re talking about poetry, literature, drama, or music—is itself human behavior; art is human expression. What we express through an artistic medium is not just ideas abstractly stated; rather, an artistic expression is a person’s interpretation of ideas in concrete forms.

Therefore, we must recognize that all cultural expression, whether produced by citizens of God’s common kingdom or citizens of God’s redemptive kingdom, embodies implied interpretations of God’s revelation. And so, we Christians must always ask about any work of culture:

Does the interpretation of reality in this work conform or fail to conform to Christian doctrine?[5]

In other words, do the qualities embodied in this work of art accord with sound doctrine?

I am afraid that most Christians do not recognize this, and this is evidenced at very least by the fact that many Christians are afraid to affirm and defend absolute beauty in the same way we do absolute truth and morality. We have bought into the modernist idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the postmodern multicultural agenda that argues art is merely neutral contextualization of a given civilization. We still view beauty and the arts as means to the end of making truth interesting instead of as ends in themselves. We view beauty as something to see rather than something by which we see.

I phrase it that way specifically because again, often when we consider aesthetics, it becomes something we talk about and think about. Talking about, thinking about, and looking at beauty are all good as far as they go, but works of beauty—that which shapes our loves and cultivates virtue in us—are not something to look at but rather what we see through.

By aesthetics, I am referring to the very broad idea that finds its roots in the Greek word aisthanomai, which means, “I perceive, feel, sense.” Aesthetics involves all that affects perception. It involves the how ideas are expressed and communicated. It certainly includes a consideration of beauty and art, but it is far more than that. Every way in which we learn, every way in which we encounter truth aesthetically shapes the way we perceive the truth. Aesthetic form is the container in which we perceive truth, and the truth takes the shape of the container such that perception of the truth is affected by the container.

So the power of aesthetics is that everything about the forms through which we perceive truth forms us to know and love God and his world through renewed eyes.

The apostle Paul prays for this very kind of renewal in Philippians 1:9–11, when he says,

‌And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Paul knows that what truly characterizes a Christian is love, what he describes in the previous verse as “the affection of Christ Jesus.” Jesus himself taught that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

But this love is not the romanticized sentimentalism so characteristic of our day. Notice in particular how Paul characterizes this love—“love with knowledge and discernment.” Here, perhaps, is an apt description of the goal of Christian sanctification—that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

What Paul prays for here is a love characterized by “full knowledge,” knowledge of God and his world, knowledge of his works through history, knowledge of his Word. But Christian love is not characterized by knowledge alone, and likewise the goal of Christian sanctification is not simply knowledge. What does Paul say: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge, and all discernment.” There’s the other half of Christian love; there’s the other half of the goal of your sanctification, and indeed what you must pursue in the entirety of your life, including the common grace aspects of culture and the arts. This is the biblical virtue of wisdom, the ability to take all of the knowledge we have gleaned about God and his world and then discern how other elements fit into the larger whole, whether they be ways of life, personal experiences, events happening around us—wisdom is the ability to discern what fits in God’s design for the world and what does not fit.

The cultivation of knowledge and discernment is the aim of Christian sanctification because it prepares us for a life of properly fitting together all of the particular information we will encounter around us into the larger whole as God intends. There are many people who have accumulated a lot of knowledge, but relatively few who truly know what to do with that knowledge, who have the ability to perceive how that knowledge fits together properly. As Paul continues to say in Philippians 1, “so that you may approve what is excellent.” That’s wisdom. That’s discernment.

Now here’s the fascinating thing about this little word “discernment” in Philippians 1:9. “Discernment” is a translation of the Greek word aisthanomai—from which we get the English word “aesthetics.”

This reveals the important, fundamental purpose behind beauty in Christian sanctification and why, therefore, culture is not neutral. The aesthetic elements of the common kingdom are not merely value-added; they are not included merely to make the acquisition of knowledge more engaging or interesting. The aesthetic elements of our sanctification are fundamentally moral because they help form discernment within us—they help form wisdom. This is the formative power of beauty.

‌The Eyes of Your Heart

Now how, exactly, does beauty form wisdom? I’d like to highlight two ways that beautiful cultural expressions can and should form within us a capacity to see God’s order and beauty in his world.

First, beautiful works of the imagination form our capacity to properly perceive fittingness in God’s world. Beauty is fittingness, and so when we immerse ourselves in beauty—in works of art and means of communication that manifest a profound fittingness in God’s world as he has intended, our moral imaginations are shaped as to what is fitting in the created order.

One of my favorite paintings on display at the national gallery in Washington D.C. is a work called “Fanny/Fingerpainting” by Chuck Close. If you turned the corner in the gallery and encountered the painting up close, all you would see would be a mess of fingerprints. Apparent randomness and disorder. But as you back away from the painting, you would behold a stunningly detailed portrait of an old woman that looks photo realistic. What appeared up close to be random disorder actually fits in much larger beautiful whole.

This kind of phenomenon characterizes all beautiful art to one degree or another in an almost endless variety of ways. A moment of musical dissonance frozen in time seems harsh and purposeless, but conceived as but a moment in a larger musical composition, we begin to understand how the parts fit into a beautiful whole. One gesture of the body alone may seem awkward, but together with other complementary gestures, it creates a beautifully graceful dance.

By studying and immersing ourselves in, and especially performing, truly beautiful works of art like these, we are developing wisdom, the ability to perceive a part—a moment frozen in time—and discern how that part fits in the whole of God’s all-wise and beautiful plan for his world.

And likewise, second, beauty in worship orients us to what is fitting in our relationship to God and his world. As Vanhoozer observes,

Both great art and worship awaken our senses and imaginations to the contours of the created order. Yet, unlike art, worship engrafts us into the drama of redemption, into that Trinitarian design for life in which beauty is a loving consent toward another.[6]

The beauty of gospel-shaped, covenant-renewal worship[7] regularly orients us to the drama of redemption, enabling us with enlightened eyes to perceive God’s work in the world for his glory and the glory of his people. Beautiful liturgy and music orders our affections into what Lewis called “stable sentiments.”[8] Worship that liturgically participates in the real worship of heaven realigns us with that true reality.

Citizens of God’s redemptive kingdom cannot approach culture and the arts within God’s common kingdom as if those things are neutral. Beauty is not optional, incidental, or simply for valueless entertainment. Beauty is what forms within us true love with knowledge and all discernment. True beauty equips us to navigate the complexities of life in God’s world; beauty makes us wise.

Our world is filled with ugliness, disorder, chaos, and pain. Considered as frozen moments in time, such realities might cause us to despair if we cannot perceive how these moments of ugliness fit into an ordered plan of a sovereign God. But having the eyes of our hearts enlightened, having gained through beautiful art “the ability to grasp meaningful patterns or conceive unified wholes out of apparently unrelated elements,” we are better able to “‘see’ God and the kingdom of God at work in the world.”[9]

[1] Ryken, The Liberated Imagination, 196.

[2] Leland Ryken, Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1993), 20.

[3] Ryken, The Liberated Imagination, 26.

[4] Ryken, The Liberated Imagination, 28.

[5] Ryken, The Liberated Imagination, 179.

[6] Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Pictures at a Theological Exhibition: Scenes of the Church’s Worship, Witness and Wisdom (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2016), 139.

[7] For more on this, see my book, Biblical Foundations of Corporate Worship (Conway, AR: Free Grace Press, 2022).

[8] C. S Lewis, The Abolition of Man (New York: HarperOne, 2001), 24–25.

[9] Vanhoozer, Pictures at a Theological Exhibition, 27.

This was an excerpt from Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faithfulness in God’s Two Kingdoms by Scott Aniol.

Jesus taught in John 15 that abiding in Christ—communing with him—is as simple as allowing his words to abide in us and our words to abide in him. God speaks to us through his Word, and we speak back to him in prayer. But this is not just listening and talking out of duty, like a husband who murmurs “Yes, dear” behind a newspaper as his wife tells about her day. In John 15:9 Jesus compares the essence of fellowship he desires with the kind of fellowship he shares with the Father:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

To abide in Christ is to abide in his love. This is a relationship of love. It is hearing from Christ and speaking back to him out of a heart of love and devotion to him, a fellowship that results in full joy.

In other words, Christ describes the nature of our relationship with him, not in terms of a legal contract or duties performed, but rather in terms of the heart’s affection for him.

The Greatest Commandment

The centrality of affection for God is exactly what Jesus taught in Matthew 22 when he was discoursing with the religious leaders of the Jews. They were vigorously testing him, trying to get him to slip so that they could slander his growing reputation. They ask the Lord, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” By this question, they hoped to trap Jesus into emphasizing one or another of the commandments of the law, thus allowing them to criticize his lack of emphasis in another. But Jesus responded without hesitation, and the answer he gave was not what they had expected:

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” (Matt 22:37–38)

The greatest commandment, according to Jesus, that for which we were created, is actually very simple: love the Lord your God. This is the heart of communion with God.

The greatest commandment, according to Jesus, that for which we were created, is actually very simple: love the Lord your God. This is the heart of communion with God.

Jesus quoted the central statement of faith in the Old Testament, found in Deuteronomy 6:5. In Hebrew the word for “love” referred to an inclination of the whole person, the determined care for the welfare of something or someone. It might well include strong emotion, but its distinguishing characteristics were the dedication and commitment of choice. It is the love that recognizes and chooses to follow that which is righteous, noble, and true, regardless of what one’s feelings in a matter might be. It is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek agapao in the New Testament. This word has the same sense of intentional, purposeful, and committed love that is an act of the will. This love for God is different than the emotion and tender affection that we might feel for a child or a friend. This love for God is different than physical, sensual love. This love is a purposeful inclination of the mind and will.

Christ’s primary intent here is to emphasize that this love for God should involve every part of who we are. To the ancient Hebrews, “heart” referred to the core of one’s personal being. It is the inner self, the whole person. The book of Proverbs says that out of the heart “flow the springs of life” (Prov 4:23). This is not just intellectual assent; it is an intense, willful love from our whole being. The term “soul” refers to the inward, spiritual essence of a person. It is the same word that Jesus used when he cried out in the Garden of Gethsemane the night he was arrested: “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death” (Matt 26:38). Our love for God should be at the center of our very being. “Mind” implies loving the Lord with intellectual energy and strength. This means actively engaging our minds and understanding in the things of the Lord, and we come to know God through listening to him in his Word.

So you see, at the heart of our communion with God is that we love him with our entire being. God doesn’t desire empty words or empty rituals. He wants our personal affection. He wants affection that is directed to him and not thoughtless emotion that takes more pleasure in itself than in him.

God-Glorifying Heart Response

Yet in a sentimentalist, emotionally-charged day and age, it is critical that we consider carefully the exact nature of our heart’s affections toward God, because we can so easily define that nature of our communion with God in terms of feelings that actually glorify self more than they do God.

The Bible describes many different kinds of appropriate affections toward God that constitute the heart of our communion with him; we’ve already seen at least two of them—joy and love, but there are others, including contrition, peace, lament, gentleness, and so forth.

Yet there is one affection characteristic of God-glorifying worship that is often more emphasized in Scripture than the others, possibly because it reveals the nature of affections that truly glorify God rather than personal, self-gratifying feelings. Second Corinthians 4:15 highlights this most important expression of communion with God, helping us to understand the character of affections that truly bring ultimate glory to him:

For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Here Paul explains that he was willing to endure any trial or hardship in his proclamation of the gospel “for your sake”—for the sake of the Corinthians to whom he ministered. This appears to be a very human-centered, human-focused reason. But then at the end of the verse he says that he did it “to the glory of God.” So which is it? Did he minister for people, or did he minister for God? What Paul says in between these two statements explains the relationship between “for your sake” and “to the glory of God” and reveals the affection central to communion with God.

First, Paul explains that ministering the gospel for their sake helped to extend God’s grace to more and more people. Paul ministered the gospel to the Corinthians because it is through the clear preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ that God spreads his grace. As we have already noted earlier in 2 Corinthians 4, it is God’s gracious work of regeneration that shines the light of the glory of Jesus Christ in dark hearts and draws them to faith in him. And this is exactly why Paul says in verse 15 that he ministered the gospel among the Corinthians. He did it for their sake so that God’s grace would extend to more and more people.

Now what is this grace that Paul is talking about? Sometimes grace is defined as undeserved favor. It is favor that God shows to people who do not deserve it. It is a gift given to someone who has not done anything to earn or merit it.

But grace is really even more significant than that. Grace is not simply undeserved; grace is actually ill-deserved. In other words, grace is a gift given not just to one who doesn’t deserve it; it is a gift given to someone who deserves the opposite. Grace is giving the silver to Jean Val Jean after it has been discovered that he stole the silver. It’s not just that he didn’t deserve the silver; he actually deserved to be imprisoned for theft, and yet grace gave him what he ill-deserved. Grace is Aslan giving his very life for Edmund’s freedom even though it was Edmund’s treachery against Aslan that had enslaved him to the White Witch.

And grace is the Son of God dying on behalf of a people who hate and reject him. This grace is what spread to more and more people as Paul ministered the gospel. In this passage, it is the free gift of salvation that God gives to people who are ill-deserving. As we have already seen, verse 3 tells us that all people are in the condition of perishing; all people are blinded by sin and Satan; they reject God, and they sin continually against him. They deserve judgment and condemnation.

And yet God, in his grace, shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Like the Corinthians, our blinded eyes were opened, our dark hearts were enlightened, and we recognized the beauty of the glory of Jesus Christ and found forgiveness from our sins through faith in him, restoring rich communion with God.

And so, as Paul preached the unadjusted gospel for the sake of the Corinthians, this ill-deserved favor spread to more and more people. Yet this still seems very human-centered. What is it about doing ministry for the sake of people, what is it about God showing grace to people that have rejected him, that brings him ultimate glory?

The answer is in the verse: “so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” You see, the link that turns grace into glory is gratitude. Or, to put it another way, the affection of gratitude toward God for his grace in our lives is what brings ultimate glory to him. Paul knew that ministering the gospel of God’s grace to as many people as possible would be used by God to extend grace to more and more people; and as that grace extended to more and more people, Paul knew that it would increase gratitude, which is what gives God the supreme glory.

Now what is it about the nature of gratitude that brings so much glory to God? Why is it that gratitude connects the grace that he has shown ill-deserving sinners with his own glory? It is in answering this question that the centrality of gratitude in communion with God will become apparent.

Gratitude is a response to grace. God acts in grace, and we respond in gratitude. In particular, gratitude is a response of our affections toward God. It is very similar in many ways to responding with love toward God or joy or praise. These are spiritual affections with which we respond in communion with him when he has shown favor toward us.

But notice that Paul didn’t say that what brought God most glory was increase of love toward him as grace extends to more and more people or increase of joy or praise. God’s grace in our lives certainly does produce those affections, and God is certainly glorified when love and joy and praise toward him increase. But I believe that there is a particular reason Paul focuses on gratitude here instead of other affections.

Nothing More Than Feelings

You see all true spiritual affections have an object, and their object is always God. This is why true spiritual affections are different from what we often mean when we talk about our feelings. Feelings are different than affections. Feelings often have no object; mere feelings wallow in themselves. When we experience mere feelings apart from spiritual affections, our focus is not on any object; our focus is purely on ourselves and the feelings themselves. We love the feeling of love; we delight in the feeling of joy.

So sometimes we just feel happy, and someone might ask, “Why are you happy?” And we reply, “O, I don’t know; No reason; I just feel happy.” But that’s different from spiritual affections at the heart of our communion with God. Affections always have an object; they always have a reason.

The problem is that sometimes we use the same word to describe both an affection and a feeling. For example, “love” could describe the affection we express towards a spouse, a child, or the Lord because we value them. This affection has an object and it is directed toward that object. This love is more about an inclination toward the object and a commitment we have toward that object that it is about a particular feeling. The feelings may come and go, but true love endures all things.

But the word “love” can also describe a warm feeling we have. And even though that feeling may be directed toward a particular object, we tend to enjoy the feeling for itself rather than the object of the feeling. Love in this respect is something people fall in and out of. When the feeling passes away, we say that we are no longer “in love.” What we describe as joy, or even praise, is very similar. We could mean an affection we have toward an object, or we could mean a mere feeling we enjoy for itself. Often we mean both.

The thing about the affection of gratitude is that there really is no feeling we associate with it. I mean, think about it: what is the “feeling” of gratitude? And, by definition, gratitude always has an object. The object is always the focus of gratitude. So you might say, “I just feel happy, but I really don’t have any particular reason.” But you would never say that about gratitude. If you “feel” grateful, there is always a reason. You always feel grateful toward someone because of something they did for you or something they gave you or simply because of who they are.

With this understanding we are beginning to see why Paul would choose the affection of gratitude as that which connects God’s grace to his glory instead of something like love or joy or praise. But before we develop that further, I want to look at two more ways gratitude is different than other affections.

Unlike most other feelings, gratitude isn’t something you can artificially work up through external means. If you feel sad, you can work up happiness through something external like upbeat music or funny entertainment. In that case there really is no object of the happiness; you just feel happy because the music or the entertainment made you feel happy. We do this regularly in our lives.

But how do you work up gratitude? You can’t really. It has to have a reason; it has to have an object. That distinguishes gratitude from just about every other kind of affection.

Finally, remember that we are talking about affection that we give to God in response to his gracious gift to us. Now it is true that getting a gift from someone often produces in us other kinds of emotions like joy, but isn’t it often the case that when that happens, we direct the joy toward the gift instead of the giver? When someone gives us something, we often are filled with happiness, but sometimes we’re mostly happy about the gift rather than the one who has given us the gift—someone gives you a new car, and you delight in the car; you love the car. This is even often true with the gift of salvation, unfortunately. God gives us the gracious gift of free forgiveness from sin, and we are happy about that, but often we are mostly happy that we don’t have to go to hell, or we’re happy that we get to spend eternity in heaven, than we are actually happy in God.

Gratitude never works this way. We could never direct gratitude toward a gift. You don’t say “thank you” to the car you’ve been given; by definition, by essence, the affection of gratitude is directed toward the giver.

So the reason I believe Paul chose to focus on gratitude as the link between grace and glory is that while love or joy or praise could certainly be directed toward God as a result of his grace toward us, many times what we call love or joy or praise are actually mere feelings that are more about us or the gift than the one who showed grace toward us.

This is why true and genuine gratitude always glorifies God. If God shows grace toward us, and we are truly grateful, that gratitude inherently has God as its object, and it inherently acknowledges that we are undeserving of the gift. This glorifies God. Attempting to love God or joy in God—which we should do of course—often results in narcissistic indulgence wherein we love the feeling of love or joy rather than God. But gratitude never works that way. By definition and essence, gratitude is a humble acknowledgement of our unworthiness to receive the gift and a profound exaltation of the giver. God said in Psalm 50:23, “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.”

We often think of praise or joy or love as the ultimate expressions of worship toward God. We expect that true worship will be characterized by intense emotion and heightened praise and excited joy. But really, the affection most associated in Scripture with worship is actually something perhaps less flashy, less viscerally intense, and less directly connected to particular feelings; the affection most associated in the Bible with worship is gratitude.

Listen to how God characterizes Christian worship at the end of Hebrews 12:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

The heart of communion with God is a response of all that we are to the grace that he has shown to us; it is a recognition of our unworthiness that leads to unspeakable love and inexpressible joy as we hear him speak and express our hearts to him.

This was an excerpt from Draw Near: The Heart of Communion with God by Scott Aniol.

A key implication of both the fact that God made man in his own image and that God blessed him is man’s ability creatively organize God’s creation into new creations. In the act of creating, we perhaps most perfectly image the Creator God. And at least one implication of God’s blessing upon Adam of subduing the earth is to organize God’s creation for the benefit of others. This act of taking what God has made and forming it into something else is what we call “culture.” As Ken Myers has said, “Culture is what we make of creation.”[1]

The importance for the issue at hand is to understand exactly what we are doing when people make culture, and especially how we as Christians ought to approach the matter of culture making in such a way that we are rightly reflecting our dual citizenship in heaven and on earth. In other words, the act of making culture is inherently good since it is part of God’s image in us and his blessing upon us, but as citizens of the redemptive kingdom, we need to be sure that how we make culture reflects that ultimate citizenship.

Interpreting God’s Natural Revelation

God has revealed himself, both through what he has made—creation, and through what he has said—Scripture. But it is still up to human beings to interpret that revelation and then communicate it to others. We perceive God and his truth by means of both his natural revelation and his special revelation, but then we must properly interpret that revelation and arrive at the correct conclusions about God’s reality.

Of course, depravity leads to the suppression of the truth. Man left to himself will wrongly interpret God’s revelation, as we have already noted from Romans 1. This is the essence of the Fall—Satan took what God said and reinterpreted it to mean something contrary to what it really means. And ever since that time, sinful people have been misinterpreting the revelation of God, suppressing the truth by their unrighteousness. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Rom 1:22–23). They took what God made to be revelation of himself and creatively reshaped them into objects of worship to replace him.

This reveals the importance for Christians who make culture to be sure that what we make of what God made rightly reflects the God-intended meaning of his natural revelation. And the primary way we are able to do that is by interpreting God’s natural revelation in light of his special revelation.

The critical point to recognize about culture making, then, is that all culture making is interpretation of God’s natural revelation. An artist takes the stuff of God’s creation—God’s natural revelation—and creatively reorganizes it to emphasize a particular truth, shaping the listener or observer through that interpretation. Like a sermon is interpretation of God’s Word, art is interpretation of God’s world. Leland Ryken notes, “Art aims to convey not primarily the facts of life but the truth and meaning of those facts.”[2] Art incarnates meaning in concrete form; it is the product of human creativity that expresses imaginative aspects of truth beyond mere fact.

Looking Through

One of the last short stories C. S. Lewis wrote was called “Light.” In the story a man named Robin, who was born blind, has recently had his sight restored through surgery. Robin finds himself quite disappointed with his restored sight, however, because he really wants to see that thing called “light” that he has heard so much about, and yet, while his wife and others insist that light is all around him, he can’t see light. Weeks of being able to see but not being able to see light leads Robin to despair and ultimately death. Of course, Robin’s problem, and even the problem of his wife and others who could not manage to help him, was that light is not something we see; light is something by which we see.

Lewis’s story is ultimately about the nature of human knowing, but it also illustrates well, I think, how we often approach the subject of beauty. In our post-Enlightenment era, beauty is something we look at; it is a subject we talk about; it is, perhaps, something we ought to learn to appreciate and enjoy.

However, as with light in Lewis’s story, God’s beauty is not merely something to think about, to look at, and to simply recognize or even delight in, but rather beauty is a significant way we come to know God and his world through. Or, to put it another way, beauty is not simply a category that stands alongside truth and goodness; rather, beauty is the means through which we come to really know what is true and good. This is so because beauty is not something we arbitrarily determine, beauty is inherently rooted in the nature and character of God, and he communicated beauty in what he made.

Belief in transcendent beauty is rooted in a conviction that God is the source, sustainer, and end of all things. The Bible clearly proclaims that God is self-existent and self-sustaining, and all things come from him (Rom 11:36). Everything that is true is so because God is Truth. Everything that is good is so because God is Good. And everything that is beautiful is so because God is Beauty. There are no such things as brute facts apart from God; they are facts because God determined them to be so. There are no such things as moral standards that are merely conceived out of convention apart from God; actions are moral or immoral because God says they are. And in the same way, beauty is not in the eye of the beholder; something is beautiful when it reflects God who is beauty.

A Scripture passage that perhaps most clearly articulates this is Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Here we find a list of absolute standards by which we must judge all things, including culture. The qualities listed as our standard could be grouped into three categories: truth, goodness, and beauty. Something is true when it corresponds to God’s reality; something is good when it corresponds to God’s morality; and something is beautiful when it is worthy of our delight as compared with God’s beauty.

With this in mind, Christians as image-bearers of God must be committed to thinking God’s thoughts after him, to behaving in certain ways that conform to God’s moral will, and to loving those things that God calls lovely. Thoroughly Christian living is therefore concerned with orthodoxy—right belief, orthopraxy—right behavior, and orthopathy—right loves.

And yet the realm of orthopathy—right loving—is often missing from even the most robust Christian theology. We are all about rigorous doctrine, and we recognize our goal of cultivating thoroughly Christian values in every area of life, but do we recognize beauty as an essential means through which this will happen?

The primary, fundamental reason we ought to recognize the significance of beauty as a central means through which our loves are shaped and through which we really come to know God and his world is that the Bible itself is God’s truth communicated in beautiful forms. God’s Word is more than merely a collection of theological information. Instead, God’s revelation of truth and goodness comes to us in various aesthetic forms such as narratives, poetry, and oratory that employ diverse aesthetic language.

These aesthetic forms are essential to the truth itself since God’s inspired Word is exactly the best way that truth could be presented. Clyde S. Kilby observes, “The Bible comes to us in an artistic form which is often sublime, rather than as a document of practical, expository prose, strict in outline like a textbook.” He asserts that these aesthetic forms are not merely decorative but part of the essential presentation of the Bible’s truth: “We do not have truth and beauty, or truth decorated with beauty, or truth illustrated by the beautiful phrase, or truth in a ‘beautiful setting.’ Truth and beauty are in the Scriptures, as indeed they must always be, an inseparable unity.”[3] To put it another way—truth, goodness, and beauty, are three strands of a single cord that cannot be separated if we desire to truly know God and his world.

[1] Ken Myers, Mars Hill Audio Journal, vol. 78, 2006.

[2] Leland Ryken, The Liberated Imagination: Thinking Christianly About the Arts (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2005), 26.

[3] Clyde S. Kilby, Christianity and Aesthetics (Chicago: Inter-Varsity Press, 1961), 21.

This was an excerpt from Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faithfulness in God’s Two Kingdoms by Scott Aniol.

Despite my many protestations (including a whole book addressing the topic), it is still quite common within Evangelical circles to equate culture and ethnicity.

I was once reminded of this when a popular evangelical leader argued in a well-publicized conference that in order to repair what he believes to be systemic racial divides within evangelicalism, we need to be willing to change our worship “styles.” In other words, this speaker apparently believes that there are certain cultural forms (the core of a so-called worship “style”) that are inherent to particular ethnicities, and thus in order to attract or be “welcoming” to these other ethnicities, we need to be willing to “crucify” our preferred cultural forms in favor of those inherent to the ethnicities with whom we are trying to reconcile.

On one level, this argument is another prime example of what I have called the “unproven second premise.” In other words, this speaker believes we need to be willing to “crucify” our preferences for certain cultural forms in order to make other ethnic groups feel welcome in our churches, and his unproven assumption is that cultural forms are essentially neutral and thus merely “preferences.” Yes, if we base our worship “style” on preference alone, then of course we should be willing to “crucify” that. But this speaker wrongly assumes that we have chosen to use specific cultural forms in our worship only because of preference, rather than deeper rationale based on theology of worship and what cultural expressions mean, among other factors.

However, the more dangerous implication of this speaker’s argument is that he apparently assumes that ethnicity and culture are inherently connected. Let me explain:

Unquestionably, it would be sinful to explicitly forbid or implicitly shun a particular ethnic group from participating in your church’s worship or joining your church. It would be wrong to make as a condition for worship or church membership a specific skin color, ancestral heritage, family background, national citizenship, or anything else inherently tied to a person’s ethnicity. This would be racist.

But by specifically calling out worship “style,” this speaker is also including things like musical style and other cultural expressions in the list of characteristics inherent to a person’s ethnicity. He apparently assumes that every person from a particular ethnicity will necessarily prefer the same kind of music, as if preference for certain music is genetically predetermined, like skin color or hair texture.

Now here is the problem with this assumption: If we are going to insist that culture is inherent to ethnicity, then we need to be consistent and apply this logic to all culture. If culture and ethnicity are inherently connected, then we must also include the following cultural behaviors as inherently tied to a person’s ethnicity:

• polygamy
• cannibalism
• foot binding
• female genital mutilation
• self-flagellation
• impaling
• finger amputation (yubitsume)
• firewalking
• human sacrifice

These behaviors are no less part of “culture” than musical style. If preference for certain music is genetically or ethnically predetermined, then so is cannibalism.

The problem is, of course, that from a Christian perspective, these behaviors are wrong. They are cultural practices that are, biblically speaking, inferior to other cultural behaviors like monogamous marriage, refusal to eat human flesh, caring for one’s body, etc. Any consistent, Bible believing Christian would have to say that these cultural practices are inconsistent with not only what it means to be a Christian, but also what it means to be a human being created in God’s image. Other cultural practices, while certainly not necessarily explicitly sinful, are nevertheless at very least unwise, unhealthy, or otherwise inferior to alternative behaviors. For example, who would question the superiority of antibiotics to the cultural practice of blood letting?

However, there are certain ethnicities for whom these practices are part of their heritage, just like certain musical styles are part of their heritage, sometimes to the degree that the ethnicity and the cultural practice are almost inseparably linked. The apostle Paul acknowledged this reality when he asserted that “all Cretans are liars” (Titus 1:12). Apparently that particular ethnic group was known at the time to be characteristically liars; it was part of their culture.

Yet, if culture is inherent to ethnicity, as this speaker implied, and we recognize that certain cultural practices are sinful or at least inferior, then what we are saying is that some ethnicities are inherently sinful or inferior. This is racist.

This is why it is so important to recognize that culture and ethnicity are not they same thing.

Ethnicity refers to ancestry, family background, or nationality. Culture refers to behaviors.

People of all ethnicities are equally created in the image of God, equally good, and equally valuable. Cultural behaviors come from and reflect beliefs and values and thus may be either good or bad.

It is certainly true that some ethnicities have particular behaviors, including musical styles, as part of their heritage, but these behaviors, including musical styles, are behaviors, not natural traits, and thus may be good or bad. They are not genetically predetermined or otherwise inherent to the people themselves.

Yes, we must be welcoming in our churches to people from all ethnicities without distinction. But in order to do this, we must not adopt cultural forms that are ill-fitted to holy worship just because a particular ethnicity prefers those cultural forms. It matters not if certain cultural expressions are part of our heritage, what we grew up with, all we’ve ever known, or our so-called “heart language.” If those expressions are not fitting for reverent worship of the living God, then we should be willing to “crucify” those expressions since we were redeemed from the way of life inherited from our fathers (1 Peter 1:18). Instead, since culture is not inherent to ethnicity, we should conform our worship “style” to Scripture, not ethnic preference.

Here’s the bottom line: When people imply that certain musical styles (or any aspects of culture) are inherent to ethnicity, they fuel racial divide instead of solving it.

Sanctification is a lifelong process for a believer. Although a Christian is freed from the power and penalty of sin, he still must deal with the presence of sin around and within him. If, as stated in 1 Corinthians 10:31, man’s chief end is to glorify God, then the essence of sin is failing to accomplish this purpose. Indeed, Romans 3:23 defines sin as falling short of the glory of God. Piper’s explanation of what this means will shed some light on the connection between sin and beauty:

What does it mean to “fall short” of the glory of God? It does not mean we were supposed to be as glorious as God is and have fallen short. We ought to fall short in that sense! The best explanation of Romans 3:23 is Romans 1:23. It says that those who did not glorify or thank God “became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images.” This is the way we “fall short” of the glory of God: we exchange it for something of lesser value. All sin comes from not putting supreme value on the glory of God—this is the very essence of sin.

So sin is essentially failing both to apprehend and to take pleasure in God as supreme beauty. Romans 3:10–12 emphasizes the sinfulness of men, “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”

The London Baptist Confession correctly summarizes the doctrine of human depravity when it states that sinful man is “wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body”— that is, mind, will, and emotions. This doctrine of total depravity implies that man is completely unable to apprehend the beauty of God. When we were converted, we were given “new life” and the ability to apprehend God for who He is.

However, our sensibilities still remain partially corrupt, and the remainder of our lives on earth is occupied with sanctification, the process through which the Holy Spirit of God progressively restores the purity of man’s soul—mind, will, and emotions. Thus, a Christian is constantly aware of his need to be improved and seeks, through the power of God in accordance with His Word, to progress further toward purity. The pursuit of purity includes the realm of his mind (his ability to distinguish truth from error and believe only in what is true), his will (his ability to discern right from wrong and act accordingly), and his emotions (his ability to apprehend rightly and to delight in the beauty of God). Thus, “The Christian is well aware that his tastes may be lower than his best judgment or his conscience might dictate.”¹Kilby, Christianity and Aesthetics, 23. This is a problem for the Christian, because if someone has the ability to appreciate and take pleasure only in inferior beauty, he will not be able to appreciate rightly God’s superior beauty. For this reason, earthly beauty—right reflections of divine beauty—can accomplish a sanctifying work whereby a Christian’s aesthetic sensibilities are improved so he might be better equipped to apprehend and delight in God. As Augustine states, “Our whole business in this life is to restore to health the eye of the heart whereby God may be seen.”²Augustine, Sermon 88.5.5

For instance, if someone were to claim that a sunset were ugly, we would charge him with being dishonest and not giving proper acclaim to God’s beautiful creation. People may differ on whether they prefer to watch a sunset, but to deny its beauty is to deny the beauty of God. Christians must strive to make correct judgments with regard to beauty just as they should when judging truth or goodness.

The Sanctifying Work of Beauty

The concept of the sanctifying work of beauty is common in theological writing. For instance, Herman Bavinck notes that “[beauty] deepens, broadens, and enriches our inner life, raises us momentarily above the horizontal, sinful, and sad actuality, and in a purifying, liberating, and saving manner affects our bowed and disconsolate hearts.”³Herman Bavinck, “Van Schoonheid en Schoonheidsleer,” chap. in Verzamelde Opstellen (Kampen: Kok, 1921), 279. Likewise, Frank Burch Brown remarks, “There is something about beauty, when it is appreciated rightly, that already begins to have a kind of sanctity and that points to a higher level of reality, beautiful in itself.”⁴Frank Burch Brown, Good Taste, Bad Taste, and Christian Taste, 58.

Furthermore, theologians have specifically linked beauty with the Holy Spirit, the person of the Trinity primarily involved with the work of sanctification. Jonathan Edwards adds his voice to this subject as well. He highlights the beautifying of the world as one of the Holy Spirit’s primary functions and cites Genesis 1:2 in support, which he paraphrases as “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters . . . to bring it . . . into harmony and beauty.” He also quotes Job 26:13, drawing upon the Hebrew word play between “breath” and “spirit” to translate it, “God by his Spirit garnished the heavens.”⁵onathan Edwards, An Unpublished Essay of Edwards on the Trinity, with Remarks on Edwards and His Theology, ed. George P. Fisher (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1903), 90. Edwards points to sanctification as another of the Holy Spirit’s primary functions, and he sees a close relationship between the two functions of sanctifying and beautifying. One statement from a sermon will summarize Edward’s thinking on this point: He says that the light of the Holy Spirit, which is “a kind of emanation of God’s beauty,” gives a “sense of the heart” whereby Christians discover “the divine superlative glory” of God.⁶Jonathan Edwards, “A Divine and Supernatural Light,” Works, Mark Valeri, vol. 17, Sermons and Discourses 1730-1733 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 408-26. He asserts, therefore, that all true beauty can “enliven in us a sense of spiritual beauty.”⁷Jonathan Edwards, The Nature of True Virtue (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1960), 52.

How this sanctifying work is accomplished through the beauty of music certainly warrants deeper investigation. To answer this, we must remember music’s emotional connection. For instance, American composer Leonard Bernstein theorized that music exists as “heightened speech” and that this heightened speech is essentially “intensified emotion, . . . certainly the deepest [universal] we all share.”⁸Leonard Bernstein, The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 15. Of course, Bernstein is not the first to see a fundamental connection between music and emotion. Even the Bible relates music’s power to its ability to express emotion.

Christians should be concerned to sanctify not only their minds and wills but also their emotions. Thus we need music, and perhaps this is one of the reasons the Bible stresses the importance of music for believers. This need is further illustrated in the writing of music education specialist Bennett Reimer. He explains that our ability to articulate how we feel is limited when we use only words to describe our emotions.⁹Bennett Reimer, A Philosophy of Music Education: Advancing the Vision, third edition (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 2003), 84. This weakness in mere words is because “our affective experiences are seldom if ever discrete; instead, our feelings mingle and blend in countless, inseparable mixtures that the words of language cannot begin to describe because they are inherently not designed to do so.”¹⁰Reimer, 84. The answer, according to Reimer, is that music is able to bring our feelings to “the level of awareness” by which we may “[know] through experiencing what ordinary language cannot express.”

What music does, then, is to make available for awareness, in how its organized sounds move and interrelate, the infinitely extendable, infinitely subtle, infinitely “complexifiable” possibilities of the feelings we are capable of having and so crave to have to fulfill our capacities for consciousness and cognition.¹¹Reimer, 83.

In other words, music’s ability to express emotion through use of symbols allows man to know experientially what is normally frustratingly elusive and to make value judgments about his feelings based on something external to himself. Thus man’s emotions can be educated or, in Christian terms, sanctified.

How Music Can Sanctify the Emotions

The manner in which music may help to sanctify the emotions, and thus improve man’s ability to rightly apprehend God’s beauty, is by expressing only good, right, and wholesome emotions. Philosophers and theologians have always believed that music can affect human character. For instance, Augustine believed strongly in a distinction between objectively good and bad music and that good music could actually improve people.

In Martin Luther we find perhaps the clearest articulation of how good music can sanctify. Luther knew that words alone were deficient as emotional enrichment; he needed music to encourage true piety and religious fervor. He believed that “notes bring the text to life.”¹²Tischreden 2345 in Friedrich Blume, et al, Protestant Church Music: A History (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1974), 14. Since music can enhance the emotions and ennoble the soul, it can—when united with sound theology — provide adequate means for expressing right piety for God. “After all, the gift of language combined with the gift of song was only given to man to let him know that he should praise God with both word and music, namely, by proclaiming it through music and by providing sweet melodies with words.”¹³Helmut T. Lehmann, ed. Luther’s Works, vol. 3 (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1965), 321-324.

Luther turned to the words of the Bible for examples of music’s power in this regard. The book of Psalms itself, when set to fine music, “helps greatly to produce this effect [of encouraging piety], especially when the people sing along and do so with fine devoutness.”¹⁴Edwald M. Plass, gen. ed., What Luther Says, vol. 2 (Saint Louis: Concordia, 1959), 981. Luther referenced men such as Elisha and David as biblical examples of using music to enrich the emotions. Luther’s sermons and other writings are replete with advice to use music as a means to encourage right emotions such as “a calm and joyful disposition.”¹⁵Lehmann, vol. 49, 427. To an organist in Freiberg, Luther wrote,

When you are sad, say to yourself, “Come! I will strike up a song to my Lord Jesus Christ on the regal, be it Te Deum Laudamus or Benedictus, for the Scriptures teach me that He rejoices in glad song and the sound of strings.” So with renewed spirit reach for the claves and sing until your sad thoughts are driven away, as did David and Elisha.^[25]

This kind of emotional enrichment drew Martin Luther to relish fine music for use in the church, because he saw music as a gift from heaven, “an endowment of God, not a gift of men,” to be used “in the service of him who has given and created [it].”¹⁶Martin Luther, Works: Spiritual Hymn Book, vol. 6, 284. Luther had no patience for those who would not submit themselves to the benefits of musical enrichment for the betterment of the soul. He called them “stumps and blocks of stone.”¹⁷Lehmann, Luther’s Works, vol. 49, 427-429.

In Luther’s mind, this power of music to stimulate right emotions and elevate the soul created better people. Luther noted that good music developed “people of wondrous ability, subsequently fit for everything,” for “he who knows music has a good nature.”¹⁸Lehmann, vol. 45, 369-370. That is why he believed so strongly that young people should be educated in music, so they “might have something whereby [they] might be weaned from the love ballads and the sex songs and, instead of these, learn something beneficial and take up the good with relish, as benefits youth.”¹⁹Plass, 980-981. Luther wanted good people, rightly conformed to the teachings of Scripture in knowledge and affection, and he found in music the perfect gift from God for this task.

In summary, only well-crafted music, because it is demonstrably beautiful, can educate the emotions and ennoble character. It can do so exactly because good creations of beauty are a reflection of divine beauty and help to cleanse sinful affections and make one more able to appreciate what he should. Plato’s philosophy presents a clue as to how this sanctification takes place. He insisted that music be not merely “pleasant” but “correct,” and by correct he means that it must correspond rightly to “cosmic harmony.”²⁰Andrew Barker, Greek Musical Writings, 152. The Christian interpretation of such thinking is found in Augustine who tied that “cosmic truth” with God’s perfections.²¹Quentin Faulkner, Wiser Than Despair, 75. And so it is to the cosmos— nature—that a Christian must look if he is to rightly represent divine beauty. Creation itself is beautiful in that it comes from the hand of Beauty Himself, and so, as Kilby notes, man-made “art may rightly take its cue from God’s own practice, for He tells us that the heavens declare his glory.”²²Kilby, 30. In studying the beauty of creation and attempting to mimic its qualities in art such as music, a Christian may educate his tastes and prepare himself to be able to apprehend the beauty of God.

This article is an excerpt from Worship in Song: A Biblical Approach to Music and Worship (BMH Books, 2009) by Scott Aniol.

In John 3:12, Jesus poses an important question: “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” This question sets the stage for consideration of Old Earth Creationism (OEC) and its impact on Christian doctrine. OEC, which posits that the universe is billions of years old, rejects Young Earth Creationism (YEC), which affirms that God created the universe in six literal, consecutive 24-hour days, just a few thousand years ago.

The question before us is: How important is it to believe in a literal six-day creation?

Defining Young Earth Creationism

Let’s begin by defining Young Earth Creationism (YEC), which holds several key tenets:

1. The universe was created recently, in six literal, 24-hour days.
2. The global flood described in Genesis was a catastrophic, worldwide event.
3. Adam was a literal, historical figure, whose fall introduced death into the universe.

As to exactly how old the earth actually is, YEC proponents vary somewhat, but all within the thousands rather than billions of years range. Some consider the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 to be exhaustive and unbroken, thus indicating a strict 6,000-year timeline from creation to the present.

However, others, including John Whitcomb in The Genesis Flood, suggest that there could be a range of 6,700 to 8,700 years. They allow for potential gaps in these genealogies, as seen in other parts of Scripture (Exodus 6, Luke 3:36) and argue that to “beget” does not always mean to father a biological child, such as in Matthew 1:18 where the term is used to describe a great-great-grandson.

Nevertheless, YEC insists on thousands of years, while OEC claims millions or billions, and thus there is unity among YEC advocates. For example, Answers in Genesis, which argues for the gapless genealogy view, affirms,

While some disagreement exists between young-earth creationists over whether or not these are strict, gapless genealogies, we affirm that Genesis points to a date of creation between about 6,000–10,000 years ago.

Defining Old Earth Creationism

Old Earth Creationism (OEC) encompasses a variety of views, from theistic evolution to progressive creationism. Some key models include the following:

Gap Theory

This view proposes millions of years between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. It was held by Thomas Chalmers in the early nineteenth century and rose to prominence in the latter part of the century, while more recently the view has declined.

Day-Age Theory/Progressive Creation

This view interprets the “days” of Genesis as long periods of time, each spanning millions or billions of years. Its most significant proponent today is Hugh Ross. Ross argues that the big bang aligns with biblical creation and that God’s creative acts occurred over millions of years. This allows Christians to use the term “creationist” but still maintain so-called “respectability” in the eyes of the world by rejecting six literal days. In reality, it is a subset of theistic evolution, but with the caveat that God intervened at specific points to create new forms of life—these point of divine intervention are the “days” of creation.

Framework Hypothesis

This view sees Genesis 1 as a poetic or literary framework, not a historical account. William Lane Craig is like the most popular advocate of this position today, and it was also held by theologians such as Meredith Kline, who argued,

As far as the time frame is concerned, with respect to both the duration and sequence of events, the scientist is left free of biblical constraints in hypothesizing about cosmic origins.

Despite these varied positions, OEC can be summarized with a few key tenets:

Key Tenets of Old Earth Creationism

1. Genesis 1 is Poetry: Many OEC proponents argue that Genesis 1 should be interpreted as poetry, with days 1–3 and 4–6 forming parallel, symbolic structures rather than a literal sequence of events. For example, day 1 (light and darkness) parallels day 4 (heavenly light bearers), and so forth.
2. Nature as a Reliable Record: Ross argues that nature is an additional “book” of revelation, as reliable as Scripture itself. He claims that the “record of nature” revealed through scientific study is as authoritative as the Bible.
3. Big Bang and Billions of Years: OEC embraces the big bang theory and posits that the universe is around 13–15 billion years old. Progressive creation teaches that the big bang theory has been proven by scientific evidence, and therefore this theory becomes the basis by which the Bible is interpreted.
4. Overlapping Periods of Creation: Each “day” in Genesis represents long epochs, during which God progressively created new species while others went extinct. Ross argues that life on earth would not be possible without billions of years: “Life is only possible when the universe is between 12 and 17 billion years.” Day 3, for example, had to be 3 billion years since that is how long it would take to create rock layers, he argues.
5. Evolutionary Order: Proponents of OEC accept the evolutionary order for the development of life on earth, even though this contradicts the order given in the Genesis accounts of creation. For example, evolution holds that the first life forms were marine organisms, while the Bible says that God created land plants first. Reptiles are to have predated birds in evolution, while Genesis says that birds came first. Likewise, evolution believes that land mammals came before whales, while the Bible teaches that God create whales first.
6. Pre-Adamic Creatures: OEC affirms the existence of humanlike creatures before Adam and Eve, though they claim these beings did not have a spirit made in God’s image. They want to be able to affirm a literal Adam and Eve while also affirming the existence of hominids before them.
7. Local Flood: OEC interprets the Genesis Flood as a local event, rather than a global catastrophe. Why does this matter to them? More on that in a moment.

The Problem of Authority: Scripture or Science?

At the heart of the debate between OEC and YEC is the issue of authority. Is Scripture the ultimate authority on all matters, or should scientific interpretation of natural revelation hold equal weight?

First, it is critical that we differentiate between the facts and the interpretation of those facts. What most scientists describe as “facts” are actually interpretations of the facts. We can agree with Ross that nature is God’s revelation, as Psalm 19 and many other passages of Scripture affirm, but God’s natural revelation must be rightly interpreted.

The truth is that all interpretation of facts begins and ends with what we determine our starting place to be. Whatever is our ultimate authority will determine how we interpret the “data” of the universe. If we start with naturalistic assumptions as our authority, then we will interpret the data from that perspective. But if we start with Scripture as our authority, then we will interpret the data through the lens of Scripture.

Some might argue that this is circular reasoning. Well, yes it is. All reasoning is in the end circular because we always have to presuppose our authority and interpret information from that starting point.

Evolutionists begin with naturalist assumptions—the material world is all that exists. From that set of assumptions, evolutionists interpret data and arrive at certain conclusions.

Christians, however, begin with the assumption that God is real, he created all things, and he inspired sixty-six inerrant books of the Bible. From that set of assumptions, Christians interpret date and arrive at certain conclusions.

The point is this: what you determine as your primary authority will determine how you interpret the information you encounter. If science and human reason are your authority, you will arrive at particular conclusions. But if Scripture is your primary authority, it will often lead you to entirely different conclusions.

Because here’s the problem: while nature is God’s revelation, because of sin, we will never interpret God’s general revelation correctly on our own. We need special revelation to interpret general revelation correctly.

Romans 1:18–20 teaches that nature reveals God’s invisible attributes, but due to sin, human interpretation of this revelation is flawed. As Louis Berkhof rightly argues,

Since the entrance of sin into the world, man can gather true knowledge about God from His general revelation only if he studies it in the light of Scripture, in which the elements of God’s original self-revelation, which were obscured and perverted by the blight of sin, are republished, corrected, and interpreted. . . . Some are inclined to speak of God’s general revelation as a second source; but this is hardly correct in view of the fact that nature can come into consideration here only as interpreted in the light of Scripture.

Without the Bible, our understanding of creation will inevitably be distorted by our sinful nature.

This is where OEC falters. By placing scientific consensus on equal footing with Scripture, OEC undermines the authority of God’s Word. OEC advocates argue that nature can be interpreted on its own terms, but Scripture clearly teaches that human reason, clouded by sin, cannot fully grasp God’s truth without divine revelation.

Problems with Progressive Creation

Even more than the issue of authority, however, there are several theological and textual problems with OEC, particularly the progressive creation model.

1. Textual Problems

The Meaning of “Day” in Genesis 1: The Hebrew word yom (“day”) can refer to a 24-hour day or a longer period of time (e.g., Gen 2:4).

However, there are several grammatical and contextual evidences that yom in Genesis one refers to literal 24-hour days. First, when yom is singular and is used in a non-compound grammatical structure (as it is hundreds of times in the Old Testament), it has a uniform reference to a 24-hour day.

Second, when yom is used with ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.), it consistently refers to literal days throughout the Old Testament. Of the more than 150 uses of yom with an ordinal number in the rest of the Old Testament, just one (Hos 6:2) refers to something other than a literal day.

Third, Genesis 1 includes the phrase “evening and morning,” which strongly indicates a literal day.

Fourth, anything other than literal days does not make sense with Exodus 20:11:

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

God ordained a literal Sabbath day because God rested on a literal day. The Sabbath day does not make sense with a day-age theory.

Genesis 1 as Historical Narrative: Genesis 1 is certainly stylized, but the text bears all the marks of Hebrew historical narrative, not poetry.

First, the repeated use of the waw-consecutive verb structure (“and it was”) indicates a sequence of events, not a symbolic or poetic structure. Throughout Genesis 1 we read, “And God said . . . and there was . . . and God saw,” which indicates a sequence of events.

Second, Hebrew historical narrative often uses a particular word (et) that signifies a coming direct object, which almost never occurs in poetry. For example, this grammatical construction is used in 2 Chronicles 3:1:

Then Solomon began to build [et] the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.

The same construction is used in Genesis 1:1:

In the beginning, God created [et] the heavens and the earth.

Third, we do have examples in Scripture of poetic descriptions of creation that are quite different from the historical narrative of Genesis 1. Consider, for example, Psalm 104, which describes God “covering himself with light as a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent,” laying “the beams of his chambers on the waters,” etc. Psalm 104 is definitely poetry. Genesis 1 is not.

Dr. James Barr, a professor of Hebrew at Oxford University who does not believe Genesis is true history says this:

So far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Gen. 1–11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that (a) creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience, (b) the figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the biblical story, (c) Noah’s Flood was understood to be world-wide and extinguish all human and animal life except for those in the ark.

Here is the bottom line: You cannot believe in the inerrancy of Scripture and still believe in old earth creationism.

2. Theological Problems

Beyond the textual problems, the theological problems for OEC are even more troublesome.

Death Before the Fall: OEC teaches that death and disease existed for billions of years before Adam’s sin. Ross explains, “The groaning of creation in anticipation of release from sin has lasted fifteen billion years and affected a hundred billion stars.”

However, Romans 5:12 clearly states that death entered the world through Adam’s sin. This strikes at the very heart of the gospel. If death did not come through Adam, then life cannot come through the Second Adam.

Pre-Adamite Creatures: The idea of spiritless humanlike creatures before Adam also contradicts Acts 17:26, which teaches that all nations of men came from one man—Adam. If there were humanlike beings before Adam, then Adam’s unique role as the head of the human race is called into question, undermining the biblical teaching of original sin and salvation through Christ, the Second Adam.

Here is the bottom line: Old Earth Creationism significantly harms the gospel.

Explaining the Evidence: A Young Earth Perspective

So how, then, do we explain the scientific data? If we start with the assumption that the Bible is true, then we can easily interpret the general revelation.

Appearance of Age: The data appears to show that the universe is very old. If we assume naturalist assumptions, then we interpret the data to mean that the universe evolved over a long span of time.

But if we assume biblical assumptions, then we can interpret the same data and come to a very reasonable conclusion: God created all things a relatively short time ago with the appearance of age.

Adam was created as a man, not as a single cell. If Adam had been scientifically tested on day after he was created, the data would have indicated that Adam was an adult male a couple decades old. Yet is would have been incorrect to conclude that Adam was a couple decades old; he was not—he was only a day old.

And likewise, the “evidence” that the universe is billions of years old can be explained in just the same way—God created the universe with the appearance of age, just like Adam.

The Global Flood: Further, a global flood, as described in Genesis 7, explains much of the geological evidence that OEC proponents interpret as proof of an old earth. The flood would have caused massive sedimentary deposits, fossilization, and other features that are often attributed to millions of years of slow processes. This, of course, is why OEC advocates universally reject a global flood.

Conclusion: The Authority of Scripture vs. The Authority of Man

Ultimately, the debate between Young Earth Creationism and Old Earth Creationism is a debate about authority. YEC begins with the assumption that God’s Word is true and authoritative, while OEC allows distorted human interpretation of nature to influence its understanding of Scripture. Ultimately, the issue of a young earth is about the authority of the Word of God versus the authority of the words of sinful men.

Old Earth Creationism contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture, severely distorts the biblical teaching on death, and ultimately undermines the very gospel itself by calling into question the clear teaching of Genesis, which gives the whole basis for Christ’s atonement and our need for a Redeemer.

And as John 3:12 reminds us, if we do not believe what God has revealed about earthly things, how can we believe what he has revealed about heavenly things?

How ought we Christians live in light of the God-ordained institution of human government? The New Testament clearly defines our responsibilities.

First, as citizens of the common kingdom, we ought to submit to the human institutions that God has appointed. Remember, these human institutions are God’s institutions. The common kingdom is God’s kingdom. God established common institutions like family and government for the purpose of providentially ruling and sustaining humanity in a sin-cursed world. On that basis, we ought to submit to these common institutions that God has appointed. Paul says this succinctly:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Rom 13:1–2

Peter writes similarly in 1 Peter 2:13–17,

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

As Jesus said in Matthew 22:21, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” Notice what Peter says in 1 Peter 3:16—because we are citizens of the redemptive kingdom, we are free, but that doesn’t mean we just throw off the governing authorities of the common kingdom that God has appointed, especially doing so to cover up evil in reality. We are to submit to and honor the governing authorities that God has instituted.

Now a couple important qualifications about this command. First, New Testament commands regarding human government were not given in a representative democratic republic. Christ, Paul, and Peter said these things in a Roman dictatorship. They did not say this in a situation where the governing officials were generally moral people, some of which even claimed to be Christian, like we have had historically in the United States. No, the emperor who Peter says to honor was very likely the infamous Nero. Various parts of Peter’s letter indicate that the Christians to whom he was writing were already beginning to experience persecution from the government that would soon intensify.

The point is this: the command to submit to and honor governing authorities instituted by God is not dependent upon the moral goodness of the ruler but rather on the fact that God has instituted that ruler—as immoral and hostile to Christianity as he may be—for the purpose of sustaining order in the world. Peter says this in verse 14: God has appointed these governing authorities to punish evil and praise those who do good. When we submit to our governing authorities, we are submitting to God, and we are doing so for our own good.

However, there are limits to this submission. Jesus said, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”—that’s two kingdom theology in a nutshell. Often, these two commands do not conflict. But if they do, “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). As we have already seen, this is where a healthy understanding of God’s two kingdoms is helpful. We ought to recognize that the institutions God appointed for the common kingdom have been given specific jurisdictions, and that is where their authority ends. Paul says in Romans 13 that God gave human government the jurisdiction of punishing wrongdoing, especially violence, and that gives governments the authority to enact and enforce laws that prohibit violence against others. Paul also indicates in 1 Timothy 2:2 that governments ought to protect religious freedom, and both Peter and Paul indicate that governments should commend those who do good to others.

But government has not been given jurisdiction by God over education or health—that is the jurisdiction of the family. And the institution God appointed for the redemptive kingdom—the church—has been given specific jurisdictions. The church ought not meddle in matters under the jurisdiction of the family or government, but neither should the government meddle in matters under the jurisdiction of the church. Sometimes in discussions like this, this is called “sphere sovereignty.”

So as Mark Snoeberger well articulated it:

We must obey the government (1) unless the government explicitly tells us to disobey God, or (2) unless the government exceeds its jurisdiction so as to speak authoritatively into a sphere regulated by another, God-instituted authority.¹Mark Snoeberger, “How Can We Simultaneously ‘Submit to Every Ordinance of Man’ and ‘Obey God Rather Than Men’?,” Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary (blog), September 24, 2020, … Continue reading

We also need to consider the fact that we do have a somewhat unique situation in a constitutional republic. We do not have a king. The president of the United States is not the equivalent to the emperor—the president has been elected by the people and has sworn to uphold the Constitution. In reality, the Constitution of the United States is the equivalent to the emperor in Peter’s admonition.

So if the Constitution is our “emperor,” what would it mean for us to honor the emperor? It would mean to uphold it. It’s not perfect, but the emperor in Peter’s day was not perfect either, to say the least. Our political situation is far better than what New Testament Christians had. We have the privilege of participation in our governmental system that New Testament Christians did not have. So in our situation, to honor the emperor means to vote, to be active in the political system, seeking to support candidates whose political policies will best accomplish what God has appointed as the purpose of government.

We can’t just sit back and say, “We’re citizens of another kingdom; so politics don’t matter.” No, because we are citizens of another kingdom, we must honor the emperor that our King appointed. So vote, stand for morality in our society, and be active in the political process for God’s glory and, as Peter says in verse 17, for the honor of everyone and the love of the brotherhood.

Furthermore, Christians ought to be active in the sphere of government, seeking to encourage, and in some cases strongly advocate for, human governments to fulfill their God-ordained responsibilities under his sovereign rule. But when government exceeds its God-given role or advocates for activities that contradict God’s moral law, Christians have a responsibility to speak up; and especially in a democratic republic, Christians ought to exercise their Constitutional rights to vote and advocate for leaders who will act properly in their role as servants of God.

Ultimately, however, we do not put our trust in princes, nor do we expect civil government to do what only the King of Kings will do when he comes again. As Sam Waldron helpfully argues,

Civil authority is not to be made the object of misdirected hope or consuming attention by the people of God. The mark of the perversion of the biblical perspective is the refocusing of hope on social change. This error pervades modern theologies of social change. The true hope of the people of God is the reestablishment of the theocratic kingdom. This, as the Scripture declares, will be the achievement not of civil reformation but of cataclysmic and supernatural divine intervention.²Sam Waldron, Political Revolution in the Reformed Tradition: A Historical and Biblical Critique (Conway, AR: Free Grace Press, 2022), 113.

Civil magistrates preserve peace and order in this present evil age, but true peace will come only when Jesus returns.

This is an excerpt from Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faithfulness in God’s Two Kingdoms by Scott Aniol.

God is Sovereign King, and he takes care of his world. In his common grace, he even takes care of those who reject him, and as we have seen, he does so through particular common grace institutions that he created. These include the institution of family, common human vocations, and as we will address in this chapter, human government.

God’s Servants

In Genesis 9:6—notably after the Fall and after the Flood—God established the institution of human government:

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

God gave the responsibility of capital punishment—an exercise of his just judgment of sin—to all humankind as a means through which he would sovereignly control man’s sinfulness and preserve the world and its order. This responsibility, which takes shape in formal human governments over the course of history, has been given to humankind collectively, not just believing people. Thus, even unbelieving governors, when they exercise justice against wrongdoing, are an extension of God’s universal rule.

Romans 13:1 emphasizes this point:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

The governing authority Paul references is not the redemptive rule of God over his people; this is the earthly administration of making and enforcing laws that preserve peace and justice in the common, everyday affairs of life. This kind of earthly rule—a rule that comes with authority derived from the ultimate Ruler—has been instituted by God himself. Even something seemingly mundane and “earthly” has been instituted by God in just the same way as he instituted the church and rulers within the government of God’s redeemed people.

What is remarkable about this passage is the Roman political situation in which Paul wrote this. For over 500 years Rome had existed as a republic, but it was now transitioning to a monarchy. Emperor Nero had gained power after his mother had poisoned his father, and under Nero’s reign persecution against the Jews and Christians was on the rise and taxes were oppressive. It is in this less-than-ideal political situation that Paul instructs Christians to “be subject to governing authorities.”

Why? Because “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” As we have seen, God instituted human government, however imperfect, as a common grace institution with the purpose of maintaining peace and order in a sin-cursed world.

And not only that, look at what Paul says about a governmental ruler who does what God has instituted in punishing wrongdoing and protecting the innocent:

. . . for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. (Rom 13:4)

Do you see what he is saying there? A government employee like a governor, legislator, judge, or police officer who does his job and enforces laws that help to establish peace and order in society is a servant of God. And what does Paul say at the end of the verse? When he punishes wrongdoing, he is actually carrying out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Paul calls magistrates literally “deacons of God,” but he says this of pagan Roman governors who didn’t even acknowledge the fact; indeed, they did not believe it. But nevertheless, they were deacons of God when they carried out God’s wrath, similar to how the Lord called King Cyrus his “anointed” (Is 45:1). God is ruling over his universal, common kingdom, and he is doing that through unbelieving human rulers.

However, the other important point to recognize here is that since God is the one who instituted human government as an extension of his providential rule over all, human governments are subject to the moral law of God. Human governments are not ultimate; governments must operate as God intended them to operate.

And indeed, even pagan rulers can abide by and enforce the moral law of God. Paul articulates in Romans 2:14–15 the reality of “when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires . . . even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” This is what Greg Bahnsen referred to as “borrowed capital”—pagans borrowing biblical values in certain areas of their lives.¹Greg L. Bahnsen, Pushing the Antithesis: The Apologetic Methodology of Greg L. Bahnsen (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2007), 103. Even though it is inconsistent with what they say they believe, pagans made in God’s image nevertheless sometimes take advantage of his common grace and do what the law requires.

This does not mean that the realm of politics is somehow a “neutral sphere.” The fact is that there is no neutrality on any issue; every matter is either consistent with God’s law or it contradicts God’s law. There is only right or wrong, good or bad, light or dark. The only grounding for successful living that makes consistent sense in God’s world is one rooted in the authoritative truth of God’s holy Word and repentant faith in Christ.

Yet because all men are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27), because “the heavens are telling the glory of God” (Ps 19:1) and God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Rom 1:20), and because God shows common grace even to the unjust (Matt 5:45), unbelieving people often reflect a transcendent morality in their lives that in actuality is inconsistent with their stated belief system.

Common Grace Politics

So governments that help to establish and enforce general morality in society are doing God’s work to preserve peace and order even when those governments do not even acknowledge or recognize that they are doing so. And the fact is, all successful political systems throughout world history have done this to one degree or another. Societies with pagan magistrates throughout history have sought to build their political systems on transcendent morality, even though they could not fully account for that morality. The pagan Greco/Roman thought of Paul’s day embodied transcendent moral grounding for its political philosophy as they applied God’s law written on their hearts.

C. S. Lewis makes this observation in both Mere Christianity and The Abolition of Man, and in the latter he provides an appendix of many examples of civic laws from various nations around the world that are an embodiment of transcendent morality that ultimately comes from God. These are the very laws that we ought to be promoting and supporting in our own legal system. Pagans can recognize the wisdom of these laws and keep them, though in truth, to do so is inconsistent with their own pagan worldview.

Throughout history, pagans have often figured out successful legal systems that reflect biblical values because, since God designed the world to work in a certain way, those kinds of systems just work best for the order and prosperity of a society. That’s the reality of common grace politics. The truth is that in matters of the state, the only two options are not Christ or chaos. In his kind providence, God specifically designed human government to provide a third common grace option given to all humankind (not just his redeemed people) that imperfectly preserves a degree of order and peace until Christ establishes his perfect theocratic Kingdom on earth.

God’s covenant with Noah in Genesis 9 reveals God’s plan to preserve humankind and creation until the Second Adam establishes his earthly rule. Because of the reality of human rebellion, God provided measures by which in his providence he would preserve the stability of a cursed world through the earthly institution of human government, with its God-given responsibility of capital punishment. Before the Flood, it was Christ or chaos, and it quickly devolved into chaos. After Genesis 9, and especially after Babel, nations formed and prevented chaos as God works his plan of redemption for his people.

Now, it is important to recognize that no human government is perfect; none will be until Jesus comes again. But imperfect, common grace order is why God created human government, not utopia. Utopia will come when the King comes.

Limited Government

It is also important, however, to recognize that since God is the one who instituted government, government has limited jurisdiction. God’s initial institution of government in Genesis 9 explicitly designated the specific jurisdiction God appointed for the institution: the protection of human life. Additionally, Romans 13 also reiterates the kind of morality government has been charged with enforcing:

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Rom 13:8–10)

In other words, the context of Paul’s discussion of governing authorities indicates what aspects of God’s moral law God has appointed government to enforce, namely, what we call the “Second Table” of God’s law (Commandments six through ten). These are God’s moral laws that involve human relationships.

Note that government has not been given jurisdiction to enforce all of God’s moral law. Magistrates have not been tasked with enforcing the First Table of God’s moral law, those laws involving human relationship to God. Adherence to those laws comes only when the Holy Spirit of God regenerates a human heart, writing those laws upon the heart so that believers in Jesus Christ voluntarily submit themselves to those laws. Thus, establishment of the First Table of God’s moral law falls under the jurisdiction of the church, not government, and only through divine weapons of the Word.

So this means extremely limited government that has jurisdiction exclusively involving the punishment of murder, theft, and other crimes against human life and safety. As Thomas Jefferson famously quipped, “government is best which governs least.” Full theocracy is not the goal, but simply the preservation of human life and safety in a sin-cursed world.

This is an excerpt from Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faithfulness in God’s Two Kingdoms by Scott Aniol.

The account of Jacob’s Ladder in Genesis 28:10–22 is one of the most fascinating and profound moments in the Old Testament. This vision, in which Jacob dreams of a ladder or stairway connecting heaven and earth, is not only a personal encounter between Jacob and God, but it also carries deep theological meaning for God’s people throughout Scripture. In this event, God reaffirms the covenant promises made to Jacob’s forefathers, Abraham and Isaac, but he also provides a unique revelation about his divine presence and plan to restore humanity to communion with him.

The Context of Jacob’s Vision

Before delving into the meaning of Jacob’s ladder, it’s important to understand the background and context of the narrative. At this point in his life, Jacob is fleeing from his brother Esau, who has vowed to kill him after Jacob deceitfully took both his birthright and blessing. Jacob is running for his life, leaving behind his family and the land that had been promised to his descendants. Not only is Jacob physically on the move, but spiritually, God has not prominently featured in Jacob’s life up to this point.

Jacob had received the blessing and the birthright through deception, and his life until now had been characterized by self-reliance and trickery. Unlike his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac, Jacob had not yet received direct revelation from God. However, this would change as Jacob stops to rest during his journey. As he sleeps with a stone for a pillow, God reveals himself to Jacob in a striking dream.

The Ladder: What Did Jacob See?

In Genesis 28:12, we read that Jacob dreamed of a ladder set up on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and angels of God ascending and descending on it. The word translated as “ladder” in most English Bibles is a hapax legomenon, meaning it only appears once in the entire Hebrew Bible. Scholars debate the exact meaning of this word, and some suggest that “ladder” could be translated as stairway or steps.

This word is thought to be related to an Akkadian term that describes ziggurats, which were large temple towers commonly built in Mesopotamia. A ziggurat was a type of stair-step structure that represented a place where heaven and earth were thought to meet, and where gods could descend to interact with humanity. The imagery of a stairway or ladder is, therefore, deeply symbolic in Jacob’s dream. It portrays a connection between heaven and earth, with angels ascending and descending upon it, symbolizing God’s active presence in the world and his interaction with creation.

But the most important part of this vision is not the ladder or even the angels, but the fact that God himself stands at the top of the ladder, as stated in verse 13. This indicates that God is the source of the connection between heaven and earth. He alone is the one who bridges the gap, not human effort or works.

The Ladder and the Theme of God’s Dwelling Place

To fully appreciate the significance of Jacob’s ladder, we must consider the broader biblical theme of God’s desire to dwell with his people. In Genesis 1-2, we see that God’s original intent for creation was for humanity to dwell with him in Eden, a garden that served as a sanctuary where God walked in communion with Adam and Eve. Eden was, in a sense, a mountain sanctuary, as evidenced by Ezekiel 28:13–14, which describes Eden as “the holy mountain of God.”

After the fall, however, humanity was exiled from Eden, and the connection between heaven and earth was broken. But throughout Scripture, God’s plan to restore this connection and dwell with his people remains central. Jacob’s vision of the ladder is a visual representation of God’s ongoing intent to bridge the gap between heaven and earth and restore his presence among humanity.

The mountain sanctuary theme continues throughout the Old Testament, particularly in the construction of altars, which were miniature mountains that represented places where God’s presence was manifested. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all built altars to commemorate encounters with God, symbolizing God’s dwelling with them and his promises. Later, this concept is fully realized in the tabernacle and the temple, with the temple being built on Mount Zion, serving as the dwelling places of God among His people.

Jacob’s Ladder and the Covenant Promises

This is what Jacob’s ladder pictured. As God stands at the top of the ladder, he speaks to Jacob, reaffirming the covenant promises that he had previously made to Abraham and Isaac. God promises Jacob that he will give him and his descendants the land on which he is lying, that his descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth, and that through Jacob and his offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed. These promises echo the ones made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 and to Isaac in Genesis 26:3-5.

This moment is crucial because it signifies God’s official passing of the covenant to Jacob. While Jacob had already received the blessing from his father Isaac, it was through trickery and deceit. Now, God himself is affirming Jacob as the true heir to the promises. This divine affirmation is critical, as it establishes Jacob’s place in the lineage of God’s chosen people and solidifies the continuation of the covenant promises through him.

What makes this moment even more significant is the tension in the narrative: while God is promising Jacob the land, Jacob is actually leaving the land at this very moment. He is fleeing for his life and heading toward Haran, far from the land of promise. This tension highlights the faithfulness of God, who assures Jacob that even though he is leaving the land, he will one day bring him back to it. God’s promise extends beyond the present moment and looks forward to the future fulfillment of his covenant, despite Jacob’s current circumstances.

Jacob’s Ladder and the Tower of Babel: A Theological Contrast

But to understand the full theological significance of Jacob’s ladder, it is helpful to compare it with another appearance of a ziggurat in Genesis: the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. In the story of Babel, humanity attempts to build a tower that reaches to the heavens, a human effort to ascend to God and make a name for themselves. This tower was likely a ziggurat, similar to what Jacob saw in his dream, but it represented a humanistic attempt to establish a connection with the divine apart from his redemptive work.

The failure of the Tower of Babel, where God confused the languages of the people and scattered them, stands in stark contrast to Jacob’s ladder. While Babel represents humanity’s prideful effort to reach heaven through their own means, Jacob’s ladder represents God’s initiative to establish the connection between heaven and earth. God shows Jacob that he is the one who provides the way for humanity to reach him, not through human effort but through his covenant promises and his grace.

In this sense, Jacob’s ladder can be seen as God’s response to the failure of Babel. While the people of Babel sought to ascend to God through their own strength, God shows Jacob that it is only through his divine provision that heaven and earth can be connected.

Bethel: The House of God

Jacob’s response to the vision is one of awe and reverence. Upon waking, he declares, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17). Jacob names the place Bethel, which means “house of God,” recognizing that this location is a sacred space where heaven and earth intersect.

Jacob’s act of setting up a pillar and anointing it with oil is significant because it mirrors the construction of altars by his forefathers. This pillar becomes a symbolic altar, representing the place where God has revealed himself and where worship is due. By pouring oil on the pillar, Jacob is setting apart this place as holy, acknowledging that God’s presence was revealed to him here.

Bethel would later become a key location in Israel’s history, serving as a center of worship for the Israelites. However, it would also become a place of idolatry, as King Jeroboam would later establish a rival altar there, leading the northern kingdom into sin. This tragic twist highlights the importance of faithful worship and the danger of corrupting sacred spaces.

Jesus as the Fulfillment of Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob’s ladder is not only significant within the context of the Old Testament, but it also points forward to the New Testament, where it finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. In John 1:51, Jesus makes a direct reference to Jacob’s ladder, telling Nathanael, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” In this statement, Jesus identifies himself as the true ladder, the ultimate connection between heaven and earth.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the vision Jacob saw. Whereas the ladder in Jacob’s dream symbolized the connection between heaven and earth, Jesus himself is the embodiment of that connection. Through His incarnation, life, death, and resurrection, Jesus bridges the gap that sin created between humanity and God. He is the mediator through whom we can now come into the presence of the Father.

In Hebrews 12:22-24, the author speaks of believers coming to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, through faith in Christ. This imagery of Mount Zion echoes the mountain sanctuary theme that began in Eden and continued through the altars, the tabernacle, and the temple. Now, through Christ, believers have access to the heavenly sanctuary, where they can worship God in spirit and truth.

The Theological Significance of Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob’s ladder is more than just an isolated event in Jacob’s life; it is a profound theological symbol of God’s plan to restore humanity to communion with him. The ladder represents God’s initiative to reconnect heaven and earth, to restore what was lost in the Garden of Eden, and to provide a way for humanity to dwell in his presence once again.

This vision points forward to the tabernacle and temple, which served as temporary dwelling places for God’s presence among his people, but ultimately, it points to Jesus Christ, who is the true ladder, the temple of God, and the way to the Father. Through Jesus, we have access to the heavenly sanctuary, and we are called to ascend the mountain of the Lord and worship him in spirit and truth.

The question of whether New Testament prophecy has ceased or continues is a significant debate within evangelical circles. At the heart of this issue lies the tension between the concept of a closed canon—wherein the New Testament serves as the final authoritative guide for faith and practice—and the possibility of ongoing prophetic revelation. Moderate charismatics attempt to provide a framework for understanding how prophecy can continue without undermining the authority of Scripture by suggesting that prophecy today is of a different kind than in the Old Testament.

For example, Wayne Grudem proposes two levels of prophecy—one apostolic and inerrant, the other non-apostolic and errant, which has become a foundation for those who argue for the continuation of prophecy in the church today. He argues,

Prophecy in ordinary New Testament churches was not equal to Scripture in authority but was simply a very human—and sometimes partially mistaken—report of something the Holy Spirit brought to some-one’s mind.¹Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today, rev. ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2000), 18.

The examination of Grudem’s argument below is based largely on Bruce Compton’s excellent article, The Continuation of New Testament Prophecy and a Closed Canon: Revisiting Wayne Grudem’s Two Levels of NT Prophecy.

Understanding Grudem’s Two Levels of Prophecy

Grudem’s thesis distinguishes between two types of prophecy in the New Testament: apostolic prophecy, which is inerrant and authoritative, and non-apostolic prophecy, which is fallible and does not carry the same divine authority. Grudem posits that apostolic prophecy, such as that of Paul and other apostles, was foundational to the early church and ceased with the completion of the New Testament canon. However, non-apostolic prophecy continues in the church today. This form of prophecy, according to Grudem, involves believers communicating impressions or thoughts brought to their minds by the Holy Spirit. These impressions, while potentially helpful, can be mistaken and do not bear the same weight as Scripture.

For Grudem, this distinction allows for the continuation of prophecy without challenging the closed canon. Since only apostolic prophecy was inerrant, the ongoing gift of prophecy in local congregations today does not threaten the final authority of Scripture. Grudem’s view has found support among continuationists, who believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including prophecy, continue to operate in the church today.

A Critique of Grudem’s Framework

Grudem presents three primary arguments in defense of two levels of New Testament prophecy.

1. The Distinction Between Apostolic and Non-Apostolic Prophets (Ephesians 2:20)

Grudem’s first argument is based on Ephesians 2:20, where Paul refers to the church being “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” Grudem argues that this passage refers to a single group of individuals—apostles who were also prophets—who provided the revelatory foundation for the church. These “apostolic prophets” spoke with inerrant authority, while non-apostolic prophets operated on a lower level of fallible prophecy. This distinction, Grudem argues, allows for the continuation of non-apostolic prophecy without compromising the closed canon.²Grudem, Gift of Prophecy, 329–46.

On the contrary, as Compton convincingly argues, the grammatical structure of the passage points to two distinct groups—apostles and prophets. Both groups were involved in laying the church’s foundation through authoritative, inerrant revelation. He notes that Grudem’s reliance on a particular Greek grammatical construction (the Granville Sharp construction³The Granville Sharp Rule says that when two singular, personal, and non-proper nouns of the same case are connected by the conjunction καί and governed by a single article, both nouns refer to the … Continue reading) to argue for a single group of apostle-prophets is problematic: “The problem with Grudem’s interpretation is that nowhere else in the New Testament does the plural Granville Sharp construction involving two nouns clearly fit the identical category and refer to a single group.” All other cases of this construction in the New Testament indicate that the two terms are either separate or that one is a subset of the other. They can’t be joined together.

In fact, the New Testament consistently distinguishes between apostles and prophets, and there is no compelling evidence to suggest that Ephesians 2:20 refers to a single group. Ephesians 3:5 distinguishes between the two when it states, “which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” Paul does the same in 1 Corinthians 12:28: “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.” Quite simply, no biblical evidence exists to distinguish “apostolic prophets” from “non-apostolic prophets.”

Therefore, if both apostles and prophets provided the foundation for the church, their revelation must have been equally authoritative and inerrant. This undermines Grudem’s attempt to distinguish between two levels of prophecy. If New Testament prophets spoke with divine authority, then their prophecy cannot be ongoing, as this would imply that the canon is still open.

2. The Testing of Prophets (1 Corinthians 14:29)

Grudem’s second argument is that the New Testament commands believers to evaluate prophetic utterances to distinguish between what is true and what is false, implying that New Testament prophecy is fallible. He points to 1 Corinthians 14:29, where Paul instructs the church to “let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.” Grudem interprets this as an instruction to sift through prophetic words, accepting what is accurate and rejecting what is not, thus supporting the idea of non-inerrant prophecy.⁴Grudem, Gift of Prophecy, 54–62.

However, the practice of testing prophecies does not imply that true prophets can err. Rather, the command to test prophecies is aimed at discerning between true and false prophets. In both the Old and New Testaments, testing a prophet was a means of verifying whether the individual was genuinely speaking from God. Once a prophet was established as true, their prophecies were understood to carry divine authority. Grudem’s view creates a contradictory situation where a true prophet could still deliver a mixture of truth and error, which is inconsistent with the biblical concept of prophecy. As Compton argues,

If conformity to divine truth is the criterion for judging a true prophet, then, by definition, a true prophet cannot prophesy that which is false and still be classified as a true prophet. Grudem cannot have it both ways. He cannot have the prophets in 1 Corinthians 14:29 be true prophets and, at the same time, argue that their prophecies can contain error such that the Corinthians needed to sift the good from the bad.

3. The Prophecy of Agabus (Acts 21:10–11)

Grudem’s third argument involves the prophecy of Agabus in Acts 21, where Agabus predicts that Paul will be bound by the Jews and handed over to the Gentiles in Jerusalem. Grudem claims that this prophecy contains inaccuracies, as it was the Roman authorities who physically bound Paul, not the Jews. He uses this example to argue that New Testament prophecy is fallible, even when the prophet claims to speak under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.⁵Grudem, Gift of Prophecy, 77–83.

However, the details of Agabus’s prophecy can easily be harmonized with the actual events. While the Romans did bind Paul, it was the actions of the Jews that led to Paul’s arrest. In fact, Paul himself describes what happens in terms consistent with Agabus’s prophecy: “I was delivered as a prisoner from
Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans” (Acts 28:17). Furthermore, Agabus introduces his prophecy with the phrase “Thus says the Holy Spirit,” a formula that typically indicates divine authority. If Agabus were truly speaking under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as the text suggests, then his prophecy cannot be classified as errant.

The Canon and the Continuation of Prophecy

The bottom line is that rather than protecting the closed canon, Grudem’s view undermines the integrity of the canon by allowing for ongoing revelation, even if that revelation is fallible. If New Testament prophecy continues, and if prophets today receive direct revelation from God, this raises questions about the sufficiency of Scripture. Even Grudem acknowledges, “If everyone with the gift of prophecy in the New Testament church did have . . . absolute divine authority, then we would expect this gift to die out as soon as the writings of the New Testament were completed and given to the churches.”⁶Grudem, Gift of Prophecy, 45–46.

The New Testament itself teaches that prophecy, as a revelatory gift, was foundational for the early church and that this foundation was completed with the writing of the New Testament (Eph 2:20, 3:5, 1 Cor 12:28). Grudem attempts to address this concern by arguing that non-apostolic prophecy lacks divine authority and therefore does not threaten the closed canon.

However, this creates a problematic distinction between revelation that is authoritative and revelation that is not. If a prophet is truly receiving a message from God, then that message must carry divine authority, regardless of whether the prophet communicates it perfectly. The idea that God would reveal something to a prophet but allow the prophet to communicate it inaccurately raises serious theological questions about the nature of divine revelation.

As Compton convincingly argues, “Grudem has failed to make his case for New Testament prophecy that is errant and lacking in divine authority.” Compton demonstrates that “the evidence speaks unequivocally in support of the inerrancy and authority of New Testament prophecy.” Thus, Grudem and other evangelical continuationists can’t have it both ways: “If New Testament prophecy is ongoing, then the canon cannot be closed. Or, if the canon is closed, then there can be no continuing New Testament prophecy.”⁷Bruce Compton, “The Continuation of New Testament Prophecy and a Closed Canon: Revisiting Wayne Grudem’s Two Levels of  NT Prophecy,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 22 (2017): 71.

A Call for Cessationism

The miraculous gifts of the Spirit, including prophecy, ceased with the close of the apostolic era and the completion of the New Testament canon. There is no biblical basis for distinguishing between two levels of prophecy—all New Testament prophecy was authoritative and inerrant. As such, the continuation of prophecy would necessarily imply that the canon is still open, a position that contradicts the historical and theological understanding of Scripture as the final and complete revelation of God.

For evangelicals committed to the authority of Scripture, this issue is not merely academic. It has profound implications for how we understand the nature of God’s revelation, the role of the Holy Spirit in the church, and the sufficiency of the Bible for faith and practice. While there is room for respectful dialogue between cessationists and continuationists, the integrity of the canon and the nature of divine revelation are critical issues that must be carefully guarded.

Ultimately, the debate over New Testament prophecy and the closed canon is a reminder of the importance of Scripture as the final rule for faith. Any view that allows for ongoing prophetic revelation risks undermining the very foundation upon which the Christian faith is built.

In the early church, believers experienced miraculous gifts from the Holy Spirit, including healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues. Today, many Christians—particularly those in charismatic and Pentecostal movements—believe that these gifts continue. However, there is significant debate surrounding the nature and continuation of these spiritual gifts, especially the gift of tongues. Understanding the biblical context of tongues is crucial to discerning whether this gift continues today in the same way or whether it served a specific, time-bound purpose in the early church.

The first appearance of the gift of tongues occurs in Acts 2, a pivotal passage for understanding the nature of this spiritual gift. When examined closely, this text reveals important insights into what the gift of tongues truly is and how it was used by the early church.

The Gift of Tongues in Acts 2: Known Human Languages

In Acts 2, Luke records the event of Pentecost, where the apostles and about 120 followers of Jesus gathered together in Jerusalem. Suddenly, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in “other tongues.” The word used here for “tongues” is glossais, which refers to the tongue as an organ.

At first, the text does not clarify whether these tongues were actual languages or something else. However, in verse 8, the crowd of Jews gathered in Jerusalem from various nations expressed amazement, asking, “And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” Here, the word used for “language” is dialecto, which means a specific language.

These two terms—glossais and dialecto—are used interchangeably in Acts 2. In verses 10–11, the crowd continues to marvel that they hear the apostles speaking in their native languages. Thus, it becomes clear that the tongues being spoken by the apostles were distinct, known languages, not unintelligible speech. This was not an example of a “heavenly” or “angelic” language, but the miraculous ability of the apostles to speak languages they had never learned.

This first occurrence of tongues in Scripture provides a clear biblical definition: the gift of tongues is the supernatural ability to speak in known human languages. This is a significant departure from how many charismatic Christians understand tongues today, where it is often associated with ecstatic, unintelligible speech. Even early Pentecostal leaders, such as Charles Parham, initially believed that the modern phenomenon of tongues was the ability to speak foreign languages, though this claim was later disproven.

Tongues in 1 Corinthians 14: Known Languages or Something Else?

Those who believe in the continuation of the gift of tongues often argue that there are two types of tongues in the New Testament. They assert that while the tongues in Acts 2 were known languages, the tongues described in 1 Corinthians 14 represent something different—possibly a personal prayer language or private form of worship.

For example, Sam Storms claims that Acts 2 is the only instance where tongues consist of known languages. He argues that 1 Corinthians 14 describes a different kind of tongues-speech, one that is not necessarily intelligible. According to Storms, tongues in 1 Corinthians are a private spiritual gift used for personal devotion, and he even suggests that Christians have a “moral and biblical obligation” to seek such spiritual gifts.

However, is there evidence that the tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 were different from those in Acts 2? A careful examination of the biblical text reveals no indication that tongues in 1 Corinthians are substantially different from those in Acts. In both contexts, the gift of tongues is described as a miraculous ability to speak languages unknown to the speaker but understandable to others. Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians regarding tongues emphasizes the need for interpretation in the church so that those hearing the message can understand and benefit from it (1 Cor 14:5-6).

Furthermore, the purpose of the gift of tongues in the early church was not merely for private devotion but to serve as a sign—particularly to the Jewish people.

The Purpose of Tongues: A Sign to the Jews

To understand the purpose of the gift of tongues, we must consider the historical and theological context in which it was given. Throughout the Old Testament, God’s focus was primarily on the nation of Israel. They were his chosen people, and salvation came through the Jews (John 4:22). However, with the coming of Christ and the establishment of the church, God’s plan for redemption expanded beyond the boundaries of Israel to include people from every nation.

The gift of tongues was a powerful sign of this shift. It demonstrated that the gospel was for all people—Jews and Gentiles alike—and that the dividing wall between nations had been broken down. Tongues were a sign to the Jews that salvation was no longer exclusive to Israel, but that God was now drawing people from every tribe and language into his church.

This is why tongues first appeared at Pentecost in Acts 2, a time when Jews from many nations were gathered in Jerusalem. The fact that they heard the apostles speaking in their own languages was a clear indication that the gospel was now going out to the nations. In 1 Corinthians 14:21-22, Paul quotes Isaiah 28:11-12, which speaks of God using “foreign tongues” as a sign of judgment on Israel for their unbelief. Paul applies this to the gift of tongues in the church, reinforcing the idea that tongues were a sign to the Jewish people that God was now extending His grace to the Gentiles.

The Transitional Nature of Tongues

The appearance of tongues in the New Testament was not a permanent feature of the church but rather served a transitional purpose in God’s redemptive plan. This transitional nature is evident in the three occurrences of tongues recorded in the book of Acts.

1. Acts 2: The first appearance of tongues at Pentecost marked the inclusion of Jews from many nations into the church. The apostles spoke in known languages, signifying that the gospel was for all nations, not just for Israel.
2. Acts 10: The second occurrence of tongues happens when Peter preaches the gospel to Cornelius, a Gentile, and his household. When the Holy Spirit falls on them, they begin to speak in tongues, demonstrating that Gentiles were now fully included in the church. This event confirmed to the Jewish believers that God was bringing Gentiles into the fold without requiring them to become Jews first.
3. Acts 19: The third and final instance of tongues in Acts occurs when Paul encounters a group of Gentile disciples in Ephesus who had only experienced John’s baptism. When Paul explains the gospel to them, they believe in Christ, receive the Holy Spirit, and speak in tongues. This event underscores the point that Gentiles from all nations were being brought into the church, not just those within Israel’s borders.

These three instances of tongues all share a common purpose: they were a sign that the gospel was no longer limited to one nation. Tongues served as a clear indicator that God was including people from every language in his plan of salvation.

The Cessation of Tongues

By the time Paul writes his later epistles, the gift of tongues had largely fulfilled its purpose. It had served its role as a sign to the Jews and as a confirmation that Gentiles were part of the church. This is why tongues are only mentioned in 1 Corinthians, one of Paul’s earlier letters, and not in his later writings. By this point, the church had begun to mature, and the need for transitional signs like tongues had passed.

Paul himself hints at the cessation of tongues in 1 Corinthians 13:8, where he says, “Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease.” This suggests that tongues were never intended to be a permanent feature of the church but were a temporary gift that would eventually pass away once they had fulfilled their purpose.

And as argued earlier, there is no biblical support for the argument that the tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 were any different from those in Acts 2. Both describe the supernatural ability to speak in known human languages for the purpose of communicating the gospel and serving as a sign to unbelievers.

Understanding the True Nature of Tongues

The biblical gift of tongues was the miraculous ability to speak in known human languages, given as a sign to the Jewish people that the gospel was now for all nations. This gift was transitional in nature, serving a specific purpose in the early church as the gospel went out to both Jews and Gentiles. As the church matured and the New Testament was completed, the need for the gift of tongues passed away.

While many professing Christians today believe that the gift of tongues continues as a form of private prayer language, this practice has no basis in Scripture. The tongues described in the Bible were always intelligible languages, not ecstatic speech, and they served a clear purpose in the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan.

In understanding the true nature of tongues, we can rejoice in how God used this gift to signal his intent to bring people from every nation into his church, and we can rest in the sufficiency of Scripture as the final revelation of his will for us today.

When Paul wrote his second epistle to his spiritual son, Timothy, the days were dark for Christians. The first major Roman persecution against Christians had begun on July 18, AD 64, when Emperor Nero started a fire that ravaged Rome so he could rebuild the city to his liking. Nero, seeking a scapegoat for the disaster, blamed the fire on the Christians, launching a brutal campaign of persecution against them.

Among the many casualties of Nero’s reign of terror was the Apostle Paul, who was imprisoned in Rome when he wrote this letter to Timothy. Paul knew his death was imminent, and he made that clear later in the letter, telling Timothy he was nearing the end of his life. Shortly after writing this, Paul was beheaded for his faith. This epistle, 2 Timothy, would be Paul’s last letter, filled with the weight of a man standing on the threshold of eternity.

Imagine for a moment that you’re Timothy, or perhaps just a regular Christian living in Ephesus during this time. You’re trying to make a living, follow Christ, and remain faithful. What would you need to hear when the world around you seemed to be unraveling? When your leaders are imprisoned or killed, and your faith makes you a target?

You might feel discouraged. You would probably be angry at the injustice. Perhaps you’d be tempted to rise up in revolt, as the pagan Ephesians had done when Paul preached against their worship of Artemis. Or maybe you’d be tempted to hide your faith, keeping it private to avoid persecution.

Paul, however, writes to Timothy to address these very temptations. “Don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord,” Paul urges (2 Timothy 1:8). Remember those who have gone before you. You have been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ—do not shrink back (1:14). Don’t be ashamed of my chains (1:16), but rather, fan into flame what God has called you to do (1:6).

Paul uses his own example to strengthen Timothy: “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (1:12). Paul remained steadfast to the end, enduring suffering as a “good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2:3), and he calls Timothy, and all of us, to do the same.

But how can we endure such suffering and stand firm in our faith when everything around us seems to be collapsing? How can we keep living faithfully for Christ when persecution and oppression increase?

Even though we live centuries after Paul’s time, his message to Timothy is important for us today. Persecution against Christianity seems to be on the rise globally. According to the 2024 World Watch List by Open Doors, nearly 5,000 Christians were killed for their faith last year. Thousands more were abducted, churches were attacked, and Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes. In total, more than 365 million Christians worldwide face high levels of persecution—an increase from previous years. That’s about 1 in 7 Christians.

While in many Western countries, we do not yet face the same extreme levels of persecution as our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, we can sense the growing hostility. Christian business owners are being sued for standing by their faith. Biblical views are labeled as intolerant, and even quoting Scripture is sometimes considered “hate speech.” Anti-Christian policies are beginning to find their way into legislation.

So, how do we endure this rising pressure and stand firm in the faith? In 2 Timothy 2:8-13, Paul offers three foundational truths that help us endure through suffering.

1. Christ Is Risen and Exalted as King

Paul’s first exhortation is to remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David (2 Timothy 2:8). Paul is not concerned that we might forget Jesus, but he calls us to continually keep Christ before us—to remember him in a way that sustains and strengthens us through trials.

But what exactly are we to remember about Christ? His resurrection. Christ’s victory over death is central to the gospel. While we often focus on His crucifixion and the forgiveness it secured for us, it is the resurrection that secures the victory. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17 that without the resurrection, our faith is futile, and we are still in our sins. Christ’s resurrection is proof that death is not the final word.

Why is this so important for enduring suffering? Because before there was resurrection, there was death. Before Christ could rise in victory, he had to suffer and die. His journey was one of suffering before glory. This sets a precedent for us as well. We, too, will endure suffering before experiencing glory.

But his resurrection wasn’t the final victory. Paul goes on to remind us that Jesus is the “offspring of David,” which highlights His role as the promised Messiah. Christ’s resurrection wasn’t just a personal victory—it was His declaration as the eternal King, fulfilling the covenant God made with David. This King will reign forever, and we are part of His kingdom. Yet, even Christ had to endure suffering before being exalted to rule.

As followers of Christ, we can expect a similar path. Suffering comes before glory. Just as Christ endured before His resurrection and ascension, we too will endure hardships before receiving the fullness of our reward. This truth is essential for maintaining perspective when persecution strikes. If we forget that suffering precedes glory, we may be tempted to despair or fall away from the faith.

2. The Word of God Is Not Bound

The second truth Paul gives to help us endure is found in verse 9: Though we may be bound, the Word of God is not bound. Even if we face persecution, imprisonment, or worse, the message of the gospel cannot be shackled.

This was a personal reality for Paul, who was imprisoned as he wrote this letter. He tells Timothy that it is for the sake of the gospel that he suffers, “bound with chains as a criminal” (2:9). Yet, despite his physical limitations, Paul knows that the Word of God continues to spread, unstoppable by human efforts.

Throughout history, persecution has often served to spread the gospel even more. Instead of halting the advance of Christianity, opposition has often fueled its growth. Suffering for Christ can be one of the most powerful testimonies of the faith. When people see believers standing firm in the face of persecution, it demonstrates the power and truth of the gospel.

For this reason, Paul encourages Timothy—and us—not to focus on our limitations but to trust in the power of God’s Word. Our suffering does not hinder God’s plan, and it may even be the means through which others come to faith. As Paul says in verse 10, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

3. Our Future Resurrection to Reign with Christ

The final truth Paul gives us is found in verses 11-12: If we endure, we will also reign with Him. Paul assures us that just as Christ was raised to reign, so too will we be raised to eternal life and share in His rule.

This promise of future resurrection and reign with Christ is a profound motivation for enduring suffering. Just as Jesus’s resurrection was not the end but the beginning of His eternal reign, so too our suffering will be followed by glory. Paul reminds us that the hardships we face in this life are temporary. They are the prelude to eternal glory.

However, this reign is contingent upon our endurance. “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” Endurance is key. We must remain faithful to Christ, even through trials, to receive the reward promised to us.

Paul also issues a sobering warning in verse 12: “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.” To turn away from Christ in times of trial is to forfeit the promise of reigning with Him. God is faithful to His promises, both of blessing and judgment. Those who persevere in faith will share in Christ’s glory, but those who deny Him will be denied the reward of eternal life.

Do This in Remembrance of Me

In light of these truths, how do we practically remember Christ’s resurrection and the promises of glory that sustain us through suffering? One of the ways God has ordained for us to continually remember is through the rhythm of the Lord’s Day. Each Lord’s Day, as we gather for worship, we are reminded of Christ’s victory over death and the promise of His return.

The Lord’s Day serves as a weekly reset for our souls—a time to step away from the cares of this world and remember the eternal perspective. As we confess our sins, hear the Word preached, and partake in the Lord’s Table, we remember the suffering Christ endured on our behalf and the glory that awaits us.

Observing the Lord’s Day in this way helps us to fix our eyes on Jesus, as Hebrews 12:2 exhorts us to do. “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.” Christ’s example of endurance motivates us to press on, knowing that our suffering is not in vain.

In a world increasingly hostile to the Christian faith, Paul’s message to Timothy is as relevant now as it was then. We are called to endure suffering for the sake of Christ, knowing that suffering precedes glory. We are reminded that while we may be bound, the Word of God is never bound. And we are assured that if we endure, we will share in Christ’s resurrection and reign.

As we face trials and opposition, may we continually remember these truths, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. And may the Lord’s Day serve as a weekly reminder of the victory that is already ours in Christ and the glory that is yet to come.

In our church, we elders have just finished preaching through the book of Hebrews over the course of many months. One thing that has struck me is the inevitability of suffering, which is why enduring faith is so necessary. But I am fearful that most Christians today are not prepared for the inevitable suffering to come. Instead, many Christians today expect that if they are living for Christ faithfully, they should expect victory and comfort.

Our experience of suffering has not yet reached the level that the early Christians were experiencing, but we all know it is coming. Are we ready for it? Are we prepared to endure when being a faithful Christian increasingly becomes scorned in our society? Are we ready to endure to the end?

Hebrews 11 emphasizes the need for this kind of enduring faith, and the final verses of the chapter encapsulate well why this is so important. The author starts in verse 33 with a list of victories of faith:

• ‌“who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, and obtained promises”—conquest of nations
• ‌“stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword”—escaped death
• “were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight”—military victories

‌And then there is one final sentence at the beginning of verse 35 that stands as the climax of this section that describes the victories of faith:

Through faith, “women received back their dead by resurrection.”

‌This is the climax of the list. What could be more noteworthy than this? A widow who hosted Elijah receives her son back from the dead. The Shunammite woman receives her son back from the dead. Even in the New Testament, the widow of Nain gets her son back, Mary and Martha get their brother back, and Peter raises Tabitha from the dead.

What could be more notable a victory of faith than the dead rising to life?

‌And so, in this first from 33 to the beginning of verse 35, the author describes the victories of faith: conquest of nations, escape from death, military victories, and resurrection, all obtained through faith.

‌Is Victory Guaranteed?

‌Now the natural question is this: does the author intend us to conclude from this list that true faith will always inevitably lead to victory? I mean, the original audience probably read this list and were like, “Yes! This is what we have been promised. This is what we expect to be happening, but it is not happening. Why aren’t we experiencing these miraculous victories like the people of old?”

‌And today, the whole Word of Faith movement is based on the conviction that if we just have enough faith, then we will be healed, we will be healthy and prosperous, we will conquer all things. And so, the teaching goes, if we are suffering, then that just means we don’t have enough faith.

‌There are even other movements today that believe that we ought to expect national conquest. We ought to expect the world to get better and better. Physical victories ought to be the normal experience of faithful Christians. You just have to claim it by faith.

‌Sufferings of Faith

‌But no, this paragraph includes a second list that tells an entirely different story. This list is still under the umbrella of “through faith,” but instead of describing the victories of faith, this set portrays a stark contrast. And the author actually contrasts them in reverse.

• some “went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (v37b)—instead of the conquest of nations, some were alienated from nations.
• some “were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword” (v37a)—instead of escaping death, some died.
• some “suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment” (v36)—instead of military victories, some experienced military defeat.

‌And the striking thing about all of these contrasts is that they are all still through faith. Through faith some conquered nations, and through faith others were alienated from nations. Through faith some escaped death, and through faith others died. Through faith some won military victories, and through faith others suffered military defeat.

‌You see, there is not always a one-to-one correspondence between faith and victory. Sometimes faith corresponds with suffering. Probably the most vivid example of this in Scripture is Job. Here was a righteous man of faith, and yet he suffered greatly. His friends tried to claim that his suffering was evidence of his lack of faith, but that was not the case. Through faith, Job suffered.

So the author is saying, you may need to readjust your expectation of what life is going to be like as a Christian. God may choose to give you conquest and military victories and even escape from death, but even then, those are temporal victories and they are not guaranteed.

And actually, the whole chapter is set up to show us that our expectation ought to be that we will suffer for our faith. We don’t want to suffer, we certainly shouldn’t suffer because we have done wrong, but we must be prepared to suffer.

‌Jesus himself said, “In the world, you will have tribulation” (Jn 16:33).

‌Peter says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

Paul says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim 3:12–13).

‌This is what the author of Hebrews wants to stress as he has organized his hall of faith in Hebrews 11. Here were people of God who suffered. Sometimes they experience temporal victories, but most of them experienced alienation, military defeat, and even death.

And yet they endured. They did not give up. They did not capitulate. They did not compromise.

How? Through Faith. That is the whole point of the chapter. Enduring faith is what will carry us through the suffering to persevere to the end.

‌Faith in a Better Resurrection

But faith in what? Again the author has structured these final verses to draw us unmistakingly to the correct answer. Right between the list of victories and sufferings is the central point in verse 35.

‌We have already seen that the first part of verse 35 is the climax of the focus on the victories of faith: “Women received back their dead by resurrection.” The second half of verse 35 is the climax of the focus on the sufferings of faith, and it is the central point of the whole thing:

“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.”—Instead of temporary resurrection, this is eternal resurrection.

You see, the key to an enduring faith is recognition that this life is not all that there is. The key to an enduring faith, especially in the midst of suffering, is to get our eyes off of our present earthly trials and fix our eyes firmly on the life to come. The key to endurance in the midst of suffering is faith in a future resurrection, a resurrection to a better life.

All through Hebrews 11, the author has been preparing his audience for this climax: You will likely suffer, but if you endure by faith, you will rise again to a better life.

And it is that endurance that is the key. “Some were tortured,” verse 35, “refusing to accept release”—they endured the suffering. How? Because they were confident that they would rise again to a better life. Again, the author is bringing to completion what he had said just before chapter 11. You have need of endurance so that you may receive what is promised when the coming one comes—what has been promised? What will we all receive when he comes? A better resurrection to a better life.

This is how we endure. This is the nature of enduring faith. When the suffering comes, when the persecution comes, when we face defeat and alienation and even threat of death, we endure by removing our eyes from our present life and fixing our eyes on the life to come.

A better life that will be characterized, as Hebrews 4:1 states, by eternal rest. Eternal inheritance, Hebrews 9:15 says.

This is what people of faith set their hope on. This is what causes all of God’s people to endure through the sufferings and pain and even death of this life—enduring faith comes from setting our eyes upon a better life, an eternal rest, the promised eternal inheritance. Paul says to Timothy, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Tim 2:11–12).

But the temptation is to expect that eternal inheritance now. We want rest now. We want a better life now. We want earthly victory now. We want to reign now.

All of those things have been promised, but not now. We are called to wait patiently. We are called to endure. We are called to faith—assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things we do not see now.

An eternal inheritance has been promised to us, but suffering comes first. Just like our Lord, suffering comes before glory; death comes before life.

But the promise is certain: we will rise again to a better life. Peter says, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Pet 4:13).

‌Conclusion

‌You may be suffering today. You have physical ailments that just won’t go away. You can’t find a job. You have wayward children. You’re depressed. You’re tired.

What hope do you have? Don’t set your ultimate hope on the things of this world. If you do, you’re bound to be discouraged.

Instead, set your hope on the certain promise of a future resurrection to a better life.

Recently, Ryan Denton wrote an article on Reformation21 that is making a bit of a stir online titled, “What is a Hyper-Cessationist?” Denton is convinced that modern cessationism has gone beyond the cessationism of the past and “has become a thick, wet blanket used to smother anything that smacks of the supernatural.” This is what he calls “hyper-cessationism.” I’ve seen Denton label R. Scott Clarke with this moniker, and, more recently, G3.

Denton’s argument contains several key flaws that deserve response, and as I’ll show, the truth is actually the opposite of what he argues.

The Holy Spirit’s Work Today

Denton defines “hyper-cessationism” (a term he appears to have coined) as teaching that

God has no interaction with us apart form His Word, and that all miracles except for conversion have ceased. At the very least, claims of the miraculous are to be looked at with disdain and doubt. They teach there are no more spiritual gifts. There are no more “signs and wonders.”

According to Denton, a “hyper-cessationist”

aggressively tries to undermine or disprove anything abnormal in the Christian life; who is automatically skeptical of the miraculous, including but not limited to revival, healing, dreams, and visions; and whose worldview is closer to functional deism or rationalism despite theoretically denying such.

There are many problems with these descriptions, but let me first respond to the claim that any modern cessationist believes all miracles and spiritual gifts have ceased. This is simply a caricature. I know of no cessationist who believes these things. Josh Buice recently wrote a helpful articulation of how the Spirit works today, and I wrote a whole book about it.

In what has become the best defense of biblical cessationism available, A Biblical Case for Cessationism, Tom Pennington writes,

To be clear, we believe the Holy Spirit has continued the work He began at Pentecost in Acts 2 throughout the church age and today. He is actively displaying the power of our resurrected Lord in and through the people of Christ’s church. Everything of eternal significance that happens in the church or in the life of any Christian is due to the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.¹Pennington, Tom. A Biblical Case for Cessationism: Why the Miraculous Gifts of the Spirit Have Ended (Douglasville, GA: G3 Press, 2023), 3.

In my book on the Spirit’s work, I write of Spirit gifting,

The whole purpose behind the Spirit gifting individual believers is so that they can function within the unified body that he is building. Whether the gifting is supernatural or providential, the result is the same. The Spirit gives gifts for the purpose of bringing order to the body of Christ.²Aniol, Scott. Holy Spirit: God of Order (Douglasville, GA: G3 Press, 2024), 137.

No cessationist believes that God cannot and does not perform miracles today or that he does not continue to gift believers to serve the church. This claim upon which Denton’s article rests is simply a caricature.

Cessationism is more than simply the cessation of new doctrine or ethics

Not only does Denton caricature cessationism, he also defines what it means to be a cessationist quite poorly. In the opening paragraph, he states,

As a capital “R” Reformed person, I would call myself a cessationist. This simply means that I believe God has “ceased” giving any new doctrine and/or new ethics. You could also describe it as the belief that there is no more canon to be given. It also means God will not give any more infallible revelation that has the authority of Scripture itself.

Notice the three characteristics of cessationism as Denton describes them:

1. God has ceased giving new doctrine and/or new ethics
2. No more canon to be given
3. God will not give any more infallible revelation.

Notice in particular the implication of that last point: apparently Denton believes that while God will not give any more infallible revelation, he still gives fallible revelation. Denton does not believe that this new revelation has the authority of Scripture, nor does he believe the revelation will impart new doctrine or ethics, but God will still give revelation nonetheless.

And Denton believes that the giving of new, fallible revelation is full consistent with being a cessationist.

The problem with this is that those who define themselves as cessationist, or theologians in the past upon whom we have placed the label, have always defined their position as much more than only the cessation of infallible revelation. Here is how Pennington defines cessationism:

Cessationists argue that it is neither the Spirit’s plan nor His normal pattern to distribute any of the miraculous spiritual gifts to Christians and churches today. The miraculous gifts played a unique role in the Spirit’s work in the New Testament church and were never meant to be normative outside of the first-century, apostolic era.³Pennington, Cessationism, 4.

In other words, cessationism teaches that all miraculous gifts have ceased, including tongues, healing, and prophecy. Further, since Denton’s article addresses mostly the topic of revelation, here is what Pennington says regarding the cessationist position on the matter:

To be clear, we do not believe that God is still speaking audibly like He did in the Old and New Testament eras. We also do not believe He is giving revelation through visions and dreams, or even prompting believers through inward impressions and feelings. But we do believe God is speaking today—in and through the Spirit-inspired Word.⁴Pennington, Cessationism, 19.

As I will show below, this is fully consistent with what most orthodox theologians of the past have taught.

What Denton is defending is a two-tier definition of revelation that was invented by conservative, “open-but-cautious” charismatics who would never claim the label “cessationist.” Cessationists have consistently argued that God-given revelation is always infallible or without error. Scripture never allows for the category of fallible revelation. If it’s fallible, it’s not from God.

Conservative charismatics like Wayne Grudem and Sam Storms, on the other hand, argue that while the authoritative canon of Scripture is closed, we ought to still expect “spontaneous revelation from the Holy Spirit” today.⁵Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today, Rev. ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2000), 120. In this more moderate view, prophecy today does not have the same sort of inerrancy or authority as biblical prophecy or inspired Scripture, but it is still direct revelation from the Spirit. I am thankful that these men defend the closed canon and the unique authority of Scripture, starkly differentiating their teaching from that of other more dangerous charismatics. Nevertheless, we must still measure their teaching against what the Bible actually teaches.

My point here is not to argue against second-tier prophecy (you can find arguments against that in both Pennington’s book and my book).⁶For an excellent scholarly analysis of Grudem’s view of fallible prophecy, see Bruce Compton, “The Continuation of New Testament Prophecy and a Closed Canon: Revisiting Wayne Grudem’s Two … Continue reading What I’m simply showing is that Denton apparently wants to welcome Grudem and Storms into the cessationist ranks and is arguing that anyone who would object to this is a “hyper-cessationist.”

No, cessationism has always taught that the miraculous gifts have ceased, including the receiving of revelation from God, and that there is only one category of God-given revelation: infallible and authoritative Scripture. Pennington writes,

The real biblical gift of prophecy and today’s charismatic version are irreconcilable. The biblical text defines the gift of prophecy as an infallible means of communicating new revelation from God to His people. In the case of the New Testament gift, God was giving new revelation and direction to the church as the New Testament was being written. Both the nature and the purpose of the New Testament gift were identical to the Old Testament prophets and their prophecies. Charismatic prophecy never meets that standard.⁷Pennington, Cessationism, 122–23).

Our authority is Scripture, not past theologians

Denton’s argument is that such a position that revelation is always infallible and authoritative and that such revelation has ceased does not fit with the views of past theologians.

Denton quotes several theologians such as John Owen, William Bridge, Richard Baxter, Cotton Mather, George Gillespie, and Samuel Rutherford, who appear to believe that God may still give revelation through visions, dreams, apparition, or even inspiration. He quotes others who claim that John Knox, John Huss, John Wycliffe, and Martin Luther believed the same. Finally, he quotes examples from Augustine and Irenaeus, who apparently believed that blind men were receiving sight and dead men were rising from the dead in their day.

Before dealing with these quotations directly, I must make one point very clear: our authority is Scripture, not past theologians. Whether or not these men Denton quotes believed in some sort of continuation of revelation and miraculous gifts is irrelevant. What does the Bible say?

I will note that Denton’s article is completely devoid of Scripture. Furthermore, none of the theologians he quotes base their statements on Scripture, either. I’ve studied the fuller context of as many of the quotations I could access, and none of them are grounded in Scripture. The statements quoted are merely conjecture or based on personal experience.

We can and should learn from and benefit from theologians of the past, and any theological position that finds little or no historical precedent should be suspect.

But ultimately our authority is in the Word of God, not men.

While a few theologians in the past believed that God leads through dreams, visions, and impressions, the vast majority did not

However, even taking into consideration theologians of the past, Denton’s claim is suspect. While a few cases of continuationists appear throughout church history, the vast majority of orthodox theologians taught that miraculous gifts and giving of revelation have ceased, and God now works primarily through the Word he inspired.

Ironically, even the book from which Denton draws his argument makes this very point. In his article, Denton heavily depends on Garnet Howard Milne’s The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Cessation of Special Revelation. To read Denton’s article, one would think that the central thesis of Milne’s book is to argue for a softer view of cessationism based on demonstrating that a majority of Westminster Divines allowed for the possibility of second-tier, fallible revelation. Denton portrays Milne’s book as defending Denton’s own argument about “hyper-cessationism.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In what has been universally lauded as an excellent example of scholarly work, Milne’s central thesis of the book is that “an analysis of the Westminster divines reveals their pervasive commitment to a cessationism of a rather comprehensive type.”⁸Garnet Howard Milne, The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Cessation of Special Revelation: The Majority Puritan Viewpoint on Whether Extra-Biblical Prophecy Is Still Possible (Eugene, OR: Wipf … Continue reading Milne is actually arguing against the claim by charismatics that the Westminster Divines never intended to articulate a cessationist position. Rather, Milne convincingly argues that the Westminster Divines believed that “the possibility of further revelation has ceased, both for the purpose of doctrinal insight and for ethical guidance” (145). They believed that “inspired dispatched from heaven for the purpose of opening up the sense of Scripture, for assurance of personal redemption, or for any other purpose, were considered to be no longer possible” (123).

In other words, by Denton’s own definition, the Westminster Divines were “hyper-cessationist.”

So what of the theologians Denton cites? Milne acknowledges that some theologians in the past, such as John Knox, have claimed to receive prophecy. But he mentions this to make the point that a majority of Westminster Divines did not believe in such revelation (147). Those who did believe that prophecy continues were in the extreme minority, and Milne depicts these few individuals as continuationists, not cessationists (159–69).

Further, Milne does acknowledge that a few of the Westminster Divines believed in mediate (in contrast to immediate) revelation from God through angels and dreams (184). However, far from defending such views or portraying them as standard, historic cessationism, Milne argues that such (minority) views were based upon a faulty, unbiblical psychology (185). He shows how others, such as Rutherford and Gillespie, had contradictions within their own beliefs, and that their statements that appear to defend mediate revelation from God were careless and unfounded (237–45).

Far from supporting Denton’s claim that cessationists of the past were more open to revelation from God than modern cessationists, Milne’s book definitively argues that the majority view of the Westminster Divines and Puritans was that all revelation from God has ceased. As Joel Beeke writes in the foreword to Milne’s book, “Ultimately, Milne shows that nearly all Puritans consistently rejected post-apostolic, extra-biblical revelation” (xiii).

Cover for “open-but-cautious” continuationism

In reality, Denton does not prove that modern “cessationism has morphed into something dark and suffocating” compared to the cessationism of the past. Rather, he is apparently seeking to welcome “open-but-cautious” charismatics, like Wayne Grudem, who argue for second-tier, fallible prophecy into the cessationist fold.

Conservative continuationists like Wayne Grudem are godly, faithful brothers who in many areas of theology have been extremely helpful to the church. But they are not cessationists by either biblical or historic standards.

We who are cessationists should continue to boldly defend what we believe the Bible teaches: God has ceased giving miraculous gifts of healing, tongues, and prophecy. There is no second-tier, fallible prophecy. God certainly can perform miracles today, and he continues to gift his people to serve within the church.

But it is not rigid, unbiblical, or unhistorical to affirm that the Spirit of God works primarily today through the sufficient, profitable, infallible, and authoritative Word that he inspired and that we should not expect miraculous experiences as normative today. Nor is it “suffocating” to rejoice in the amazing ways the Spirit continues to work today through his Word. As I argue in the conclusion to my book,

The Spirit brings order to the disordered minds and hearts of his elect when he convicts them of their sin and gives them new life, when he unites them into the triune communion and particularly to Christ himself in his Body. He continues to order the lives of his people in empowering them to submit to his Word and be sanctified by it, conforming them to the image of Christ and producing fruit consistent with the harmony and beauty of God’s character. And he builds up the unity of Christ’s body through providentially gifting his people with abilities to use in service of God and one another in the church, particularly in corporate worship, where he forms his people through filling them with his Word read, preached, prayed, and sung.⁹Aniol, Holy Spirit, 159–60.

Are evangelicals really at the point where to claim that the Spirit works primarily through his Word is a problem? It appears so.

Sadly, attempts in modern times to soften what we believe about the way God speaks to his people have significantly weakened trust in the sufficiency of God’s Word.

One of the central battled cries of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation was Sola Scripture—Scripture Alone! The Reformers rightly criticized the Roman Catholic Church’s elevation of church tradition to the level of Scripture, instead insisting that “neither the Church nor the pope can establish articles of faith. These must come from Scripture” (Martin Luther).

Yet at the same time, each of the Reformers held the historic Christian creeds in high regard, particularly considering the Nicene Creed to be a clear and even authoritative articulation of the deity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity and an essential safeguard against heresies like Arianism.

So what are we to do with this? How do we reconcile the supreme authority of God’s Word over all matters of faith and practice with what almost every significant theologian in church history has believed about the necessity of historic creeds like the Nicene Creed?

Should we adopt the seemingly noble motto, “No creed but the Bible,” or should we recognize the Nicene Creed as important to what we believe?

We need look no further than the original impetus for the formation of the Nicene Creed to recognize why, although the Bible is the “norming norm which is not normed” and our supreme authority, the Nicene Creed is normative for the Christian faith, under the authority of Scripture.

The Greatest Controversy in the History of Christianity

Without question, the greatest controversy in the history of Christianity was the threat of Arianism in the fourth century. Arius (256–336) taught that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was created by the Father and thus subordinate to the Father. “When the Son was not, the Father was God,” became his creed.

Arius was largely responding to the false views of Origen, who believed that though the Son was uncreated, he is nevertheless slightly less divine than the Father. Arius argued instead that if the Son is, indeed, less divine than the Father, then he must not be of the same substance as the Father and is simply the first created being.

While not many Christians in the West embraced Arius’s teaching, Christians in the East did. Orthodox theologians such as Alexander of Alexandria opposed Arius, but the controversy reached such an intensity that Emperor Constantine decided it was his responsibility to step into the fray and moderate the debate.

The Slap Heard Around the World

In 325, Constantine convened a council of around 300 bishops and a significantly higher number of other presbyters and deacons to debate the matter in Nicaea, located in the northwestern part of what is now Turkey.

Since Constantine’s primary theological advisor, Hosius of Cordova, was a Western bishop who was convinced of Christ’s full deity, Constantine involved himself in the council’s debates and pushed for an anti-Arian resolution.

Many theologians argued that Arianism contradicted clear teaching from Scripture, including a deacon named Athanasius and a bishop from Myra named Nicholas. Legend says that at one point in the debate, Nicholas slapped Arius across the face and called him a heretic.

Yes, I believe in St. Nicholas—he was a great, anti-Arian theologian!

What resulted is what we now refer to as “The Nicene Creed.” The version of the creed we recite today is a later development (more on that in a moment), but the key language concerning the full deity of Christ was mostly intact in 325:

We believe . . . in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.

The most important theological development of this statement about Christ is the phrase “of one substance with the Father.” In Greek, “of one substance” is the word homoousios; in Latin it is consubstantial. The word is not a biblical word, but rather a term the Nicene theologians determined was a succinct way to articulate the biblical doctrine of Christ’s deity.

If Christ is “of the same substance” as the Father, then he can be neither created by nor subordinate to the Father. Thus, any teaching claiming that there was a time when the Son was not or that he is less divine than the Father was deemed heresy.

Debate over One Letter

The importance of this word and the creed in which it is found became immediately apparent in the fifty years following Nicaea, where debate over Christ’s deity continued with fervor in the East.

Three different factions within the Eastern Church continued to debate the matter. A small Arian faction continued to defend the idea that the Son of God was created and thus unequal to the Father. The Nicene faction argued that the Son was uncreated and equal to the Father since the Father and Son have the same essence (ousia).

However, a much larger faction who followed Origen’s teachings argued that though the Son was uncreated, he is unequal to the Father. The Origenists thought that the Nicenes were dangerously close to the Sabellian heresy, which taught that the Father and Son are the same person. They also did not like that the Nicenes had invented a non-biblical word (homoousios) to defend what they believed the Bible taught. “No creed but the Bible” was the motto of the Origenists.

The debate led to the formation of a new council in the East in Antioch (341), which created a new creed. This creed, instead of stating that the Father and Son are of the same essence (homoousios), stated that they are of a similar essence (homoiousios).

One little letter “i” made all the difference.

Athanasius’s Battle with the “Christian” Princes

Enter Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria. Athanasius had been present at Nicaea as a deacon and was one of the most articulate defenders of Christ’s full deity. He devoted his life to defend the deity of Christ and orthodox trinitarianism against Arianism.

His primary problem were the pesky emperors.

Five times different emperors exiled Athanasius, hindering his ability to fight the rise of Arianism.

Constantine exiled Athanasius from 335–337 because of false accusations raised by Arians that Athanasius had organized a dock strike in Alexandria.

Constantine’s son, Constantius, exiled Athanasius twice (339–346, 356–362). Constantius was an Arian who insisted, “Whatever I believe must certainly be true, otherwise God would not have delivered the world into my hands.”

When emperor Julian took power in the East, he denied Christianity altogether (earning him the name “Julian the Apostate”), and allowed Athanasius to return. However, when Athanasius resumed debating the Arians, Julian again sent Athanasius into exile.

When Valentinian became emperor, Athanasius once again returned, but Valentinian put his Arian brother Valens in charge of the East, who then banished Athanasius once again.

(This is the problem with giving the state power over the Church!)

Finally, Athanasius was allowed to return to Alexandria in 336, where he spent the final 7 years of his life. Athanasius’s fortitude and endurance, despite all the persecution from various emperors, is the only reason Arianism was eventually defeated.

Cappadocians at Constantinople

Athanasius’s relentless defense of orthodox trinitarianism held back the rise of Arianism until three influential theologians finally achieved unity between Nicenes and Origenists against the Arians.

Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus, bishops in the region of Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey), achieved this unity by persuading both sides to agree upon the theologial language used to describe God.

The problem was with the meaning of two terms: hypostasis and ousia. The Nicenes used both terms to mean “substance,” but the Origenists defined both terms as “persons.”

The Nicenes said that the Father and Son have one hypostasis and one ousia (substance).

But the Origenists said that the Father and Son are two hypostases and two ousiai (persons).

The Cappadocian Fathers proposed that they all agree to use one term to mean substance and the other to mean persons so that they could clearly articulate what the Bible teaches. All parties agreed to use ousia to refer to the one divine essence and hypostasis to refer to the distinct persons of Father, Son, and Spirit.

This allowed all parties to agree against the Arians: God is one ousia (substance) in three hypostases (persons).

This moved the Origenists to stop saying the Son is inferior to the Father and encouraged the Nicenes to unequivocally denounce the Sabellian heresy, uniting both parties against the heretical teaching of Arianism.

The Final Creed Takes Form

At the Council of Constantinople in 381, this new unified anti-Arian party revised the original Nicene Creed, expanding it to also clearly affirm the deity of the Holy Spirit along with the Son. This Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is the “Nicene Creed” we recite today (with one phrase added later in the sixth century—”and the Son”):

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and
unseen.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father; God from
God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten not made, one in being with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again, in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one, holy, catholic,¹“universal” and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Boundaries of Truth

The history behind the Nicene Creed’s formation illustrates its necessity: the Nicene Creed helps to protect us from unbiblical heresy by unifying us around an agreed-upon summation of the authoritative teaching of Scripture. Creeds are in no way authoritative over Scripture, but creeds like the Nicene Creed are authoritative inasmuch as they accurately reflect Scripture’s doctrine.

Thus, we need creeds. Any time in history where certain groups have championed the creed (irony intended) “No creed but the Bible,” those groups have strayed into theological error and even heresy.

One example will suffice to illustrate the point: During the life and ministry of the great English hymnwriter Isaac Watts, Arianism once again reared its ugly head. In a noble attempt to win over the Arians to a more biblically orthodox position, Isaac Watts essentially adopted a “No creed but the Bible” posture. He thought that by avoiding the historically agreed-upon language of the creeds, such as homoousios, and instead restricting himself to only using the language of Scripture, he would be able to convince the Arians of the full deity of Christ.

Instead, Watts ended up sounding Arian (and even Unitarian) himself. Watts never denied the deity of Christ or orthodox trinitarianism, but he sounded like he did because he used language that contradicted historical creeds. And further, many of those in Watts’s day who claimed to accept no human creed ended up fully denying the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and even the sufficient atonement of Christ.

As we have seen in the historical survey above, the particular terminology and formulas in historic creeds emerged with special care given to avoid heresy, and so we should not be surprised when, in departing from historically accepted formulas, we fall under the charge of heresy, or even actually adopt heretical views.

It is actually quite arrogant to isolate ourselves from the historic doctrinal formations of those who have come before us, assuming we are wiser than they were. If one’s doctrine of the Trinity, for example, departs from the language of the Nicene Creed, then the burden of proof lies with them to prove where the creed is in error.

Creeds are not infallible, nor is their authority over Scripture. Nevertheless, historic creeds are essential to the unity and theological orthodoxy of Christians today.

Meaning in music is a tricky thing.

Most people think it’s tricky because music is so abstract and lacks specificity such that describing its meaning with words is nearly impossible. On the contrary, meaning in music is tricky for exactly the opposite reason.

As Felix Mendelssohn once noted, “What music expresses its not too indefinite to put into words; on the contrary, it is too definite.” In other words, we often have difficulty describing what music means with words because words lack the specificity that music has. Let me explain further.

Most people acknowledge that music, at its most basic level, expresses emotional content. However, articulating what that emotional content is can often be a challenge. Yet as Mendelssohn correctly observed, this is due to the fact that words often lack the nuance to accurately identify a particular emotion.

We often use single words to describe very different kinds of emotions. Let’s use “joy” as an example. We use that one word to describe what a sports fan feels when his team wins the game, what a father experiences while playing with his children, and what a cancer patient feels when he learns that his cancer is gone. Yet these “feelings” are each quite different from each other internally, and they express themselves externally in often very different ways as well.

A sport’s fan’s “joy” usually expresses itself with exuberance, wild gestures, and yelling. A father’s “joy” is warm and peaceful. The cancer patient’s “joy” often results in tears. Each of these may rightly be called “joy,” but that word doesn’t quite capture the nuance of difference between them. Music doesn’t have that problem.

Unlike words, music is able to express nuanced emotional content. We think music is abstract because we can’t put it into words, but that’s not the fault of the music; it’s the words that are lacking. This is why music is often called the language of emotion. Music mimics what emotions feel like and how they express themselves, and in this way music is able to express what words alone cannot.

This is also why music is so powerful both as a tool for expressing what cannot be put into words and for teaching and shaping the heart. I can say “I have joy in God,” but unless I go on to more thoroughly elaborate what kind of joy I mean, the term alone is inadequate. Music allows me to specific what kind of joy I mean. Likewise, I can tell someone to “Rejoice in the Lord,” but using music allows me to further specify what that feels like and helps to shape the person’s heart toward an appropriate expression of joy.

There are two additional implications from this understanding: first, meaning in music is discernible. Contrary to what many evangelicals believe today, we can determine what music means. We may find difficulty in putting that into words, but that doesn’t mean it is not possible.

Discerning meaning in music is just as possible as discerning what another person is feeling by observing his behavior. We can tell when another person is sad or happy, elated or depressed, by watching their posture, facial expressions, and bearing or by listening to their tone of voice. We can also tell the difference between a sports fan kind of joy and a cancer patient kind of joy in the same way, though we might not be able to express it perfectly in words.

Second, musical meaning on this level is universal. There are all kinds of other meanings in music that are not universal, limited to particular people, times, cultures, and experiences. But to acknowledge non-universal meaning on an association level does not deny universal meaning as well.

Meaning on the level I’ve been describing is universal because all people—regardless of gender, ethnicity, culture, or time—are part of the “culture of humanity.” We all share similar physiological, biological, and emotional characteristics such that when music expresses emotion on that level, its meaning is universal.

Christians must not fall into the trap of ignoring or even denying universal meaning in music because there are many different kinds of emotion, and not all of them are appropriate for expressing biblical truth or worshiping God. Some kinds of joy, love, grief, fear, and delight are fitting for God and his truth; others are not. Thus not every example of “happy” music is appropriate for expressing the words “Rejoice in the Lord,” nor is every kind of “love” music appropriate for expressing love to God.

Music, like any form of communication, carries meaning. Therefore, Christians must be discerning about what music they listen to for entertainment, and certainly what music we use in the worship of God.

Há uma crise de masculinidade atualmente, não somente na cultura secular, uma crise de masculinidade em nossas igrejas.

Por um lado, a verdadeira masculinidade tem sido severamente efeminizada, impactando até os homens Cristãos. A cultura moderna celebra a androginia, promovendo ideais onde os traços masculinos são minimizados ou desencorajados. Homens são encorajados a abraçar as características femininas, evitando qualidades como força e liderança.

Mas por outro lado, há uma reação igualmente problemática a efeminização por muitos homens hoje, presente tanto na cultura secular e na igreja, é uma espécie de machismo bruto que acaba substituindo uma distorção antibíblica por outra, deixando de capturar a visão bíblica da masculinidade que Deus expôs nas Escrituras.

Nem a efeminização nem o machismo captam corretamente o retrato bíblico de masculinidade.

A Solução Bíblica

Então, qual é a solução para a crise de masculinidade dos homens Cristãos?

Existem muitas passagens bíblicas que podem ajudar, mas uma que descreve sucintamente as principais características da masculinidade bíblica é 1 Coríntios 16:13-14:

Sede vigilantes, permanecei firmes na fé, portai-vos varonilmente, fortalecei-vos. Todos os vossos atos sejam feitos com amor.

Ao olharmos desatentamente, podemos ser tentados a ver esses imperativos como uma despedida de Paulo, no final da carta, para repetir admoestações com cinco mandamentos desconectados. Mas, na verdade, esses cinco imperativos. resumem princípios-chave que resolvem todos os problemas que Paulo aborda na carta. E embora eles sejam instrutivos a todos os membros da igreja, notamos rapidamente que são particularmente importantes para os homens.

Se os homens Cristãos querem remediar a crise de masculinidade hoje, isso é o que devemos buscar:

Seja Vigilante

O primeiro mandamento é ”seja vigilante”. Literalmente, ”acorde”. Os verdadeiros homens Cristãos precisam estar espiritualmente despertos e alertas. Nunca podemos dormir no trabalho.

A importância da vigilância espiritual é fundamental para todos os Cristãos, mas é particularmente importante para os homens que são líderes de suas famílias e igrejas. Os homens nunca estão de folga. Como Pedro diz:

Sede sóbrios e vigilantes. O diabo, vosso adversário, anda em derredor, como leão que ruge procurando alguém para devorar. (1 Pe 5:8)

A maioria dos bons homens estaria vigilante se soubessem que existe um grande perigo. Assim como quando vamos a um restaurante com a nossa família e observamos a movimentação das pessoas.  Assim como quando estamos caminhando por uma parte perigosa da cidade e os nossos olhos estão atentos à procura de ameaças. É assim que os homens Cristãos devem se comportar espiritualmente em todos os momentos, porque existem sempre perigos à espreita – perigos espirituais que ameaçam a alma de nossas famílias e de nossas igrejas.

Muitas vezes, quando estou indo para casa, mentalmente exausto depois de um longo dia, tenho que repetir para mim mesmo: ”Você não pode relaxar quando chegar em casa”. Ah, como eu gostaria de me deitar no sofá e dormir. Não, tenho de pedir forças ao Senhor e lembrar que minha esposa tem lutado com os filhos o dia todo e que cada um deles têm seus próprios problemas também, e o diabo está ao derredor, faminto por suas almas! Tenho que entrar em vigiando.

Seja em nossas famílias ou em nossas igrejas – ou em nossas próprias vidas, não devemos esperar até que o problema se torne grande para o resolvermos. Não posso dormir, sabendo que a casa está pegando fogo e não descanso sem antes evitar incêndios. Devemos estar despertos, alertas, vigilantes, sempre ativamente procurando por probleminhas que podem se tornar grandes e queimar tudo.

Muitas vezes, a paternidade, assim como o pastoreio, pode parecer apenas a arte de apagar incêndios, ou seja, – corrigir problemas. Nós tapamos um vazamento aqui, para que outro vazamento comece, e assim por diante. E às vezes, isso é inevitável.

Mas estou convencido, como pai e pastor, que muitos problemas podem ser previstos antes mesmo de ocorrerem se estivermos vigilantes. Precisamos estar procurando sinais de incêndios em potencial, para podermos preveni-los antes que se alastrem.

Homem, para o bem da sua alma, para o bem das almas dos membros da sua família e para o bem de cada alma da sua congregação, vigie. Acorde. Observe a cultura, procure por sinais de perigo. Atente-se para as vidas de seus filhos, procurando por maneiras de os ajudar a irem a Cristo. Olhe pelos outros homens de sua igreja, buscando oportunidades de encorajá-los ou admoestá-los.

Fique atento.

Permanecei Firmes na Fé

Em segundo lugar, permanecei firmes na fé.

Mantém-te firme. Mas não um tipo de firmeza machista, infundada e orientada pelo ego. É assim que muitos ”homens” agem hoje, não é? Ah, eles são firmes, mas sua firmeza se baseia em provar algo ou defender seu ego.

Não, Paulo diz: ”Permanecei firmes na fé”. O artigo definido – a fé – é importante. A fé é o conteúdo da revelação de Deus. É a verdade da Palavra de Deus.

Isto é semelhante ao que Paulo diz em 1 Timóteo 6:12:

”Combate o bom combate da fé. Toma posse da vida eterna, para a qual também foste chamado e de que fizeste a boa confissão perante muitas testemunhas.”

Ele não diz apenas ”combate o bom combate de uma fé”. Ele diz:”Combate o bom combate da fé”, a verdade da Palavra de Deus.

Homens, estamos em uma batalha. Esta realidade é uma das principais razões pelas quais temos de estar atentos. Uma das coisas para as quais devemos nos atentar são os ataques contra a fé, contra a verdade da Palavra de Deus. Mas quando identificamos esses ataques, o que fazemos? Nós nos mantemos firmes. Lutamos. Defendemos.

Esta não é somente uma tarefa para pastores. A razão pela qual as igrejas são tão fracas hoje é porque os homens da Igreja pensam que apenas os pastores precisam defender a fé. Não, a Igreja é a coluna e baluarte da verdade. Todos os Cristãos – especialmente os homens Cristãos – devem defender a fé.

Homens, devemos assumir a liderança; devemos permanecer firmes na fé. Não pense que este não é o seu trabalho. Não pense que isso é apenas a responsabílidade dos pastores, professores da Escola Dominical ou professores do seminário. Não, este é o trabalho de todos os crentes e principalmente dos homens da igreja. Esta é uma linguagem militar – firme – a linguagem dos homens. Protegemos as mulheres e as crianças dos ataques de Satanás, nos posicionamos como coluna e baluarte da verdade, nos posicionamos contra as ideologias mundanas e teologias pagãs que ameaçam a fé. Devemos permanecer firmes na fé.

Homens de Atitude

E isso nos leva, então, ao terceiro mandamento. ”Sede vigilantes” – essa é certamente a responsabilidade de todos os Cristãos, mas essa é uma linguagem militar; é especialmente a tarefa de um homem. ”Permanecei firmes” – essa é certamente a responsabilidade de todos os Cristãos, mas é especialmente o trabalho de um homem.

No terceiro mandamento, Paulo simplesmente sai e diz – ”portai-vos varonilmente”. Mais uma vez, trata-se de uma linguagem militar. Isso incorpora a ideia de coragem e maturidade. Não tenha medo, não seja um menino. Seja um homem. Posicione-se corajosamente. Seja vigilante, mantenha-se firme. Seja um homem de atitude!

Paulo especificamente condenou os Coríntios por seu fracasso nesse sentido. No capítulo 14, disse ele, não sejam como crianças. Sejam maduros. Ele disse no capítulo 3 que ele queria abordá-los como adultos maduros, mas em vez disso, ele tinha que tratá-los como crianças. Ele queria dar-lhes comida sólida, mas eles não estavam prontos.

E assim, ele os trata como crianças que são.

Que preferis?  Irei a vós outros com vara ou com amor e espírito de mansidão? (1 Co 4:21)

Digo regularmente aos meus filhos mais velhos: ” vocês estão na idade em que eu não deveria ter de os ameaçar com castigos. Deveria poder tratá-lo como adulto e ter uma conversa razoável. Você deve responder cumprindo as suas responsabilidades. Pare de agir como criança, tenha uma atitude madura”.

É a ênfase das Escrituras. Devemos nos esforçar para crescer em maturidade, devemos crescer em coragem, procurar permanecer firmes na fé, sempre atentos às maneiras pelas quais a fé está sendo atacada e as nossas famílias também.

Ah, como a igreja de hoje desesperadamente precisa de homens maduros e corajosos que sejam vigilantes e que permanecem firmes na fé.

Infelizmente, vivemos na época em que igrejas louvam a imaturidade, ela é ridicularizada e considerada cativante. ”Meninos são meninos”, ouvimos quando alguns adolescentes fazem algo errado.

Não, a infantilidade dos jovens ou de homens não é cativante, homens de verdade abandonam a meninice (1 Co 13:11).

Infelizmente, vivemos na época em que igrejas louvam a imaturidade, ela é ridicularizada e considerada cativante. ”Meninos são meninos”, ouvimos quando alguns adolescentes fazem algo errado. Não, a infantilidade dos jovens ou de homens não é cativante, homens de verdade abandonam a meninice (1 Co 13:11).

Seja Fortalecido

E então, temos um quarto mandamento: literalmente, ”fortalecei-vos.” Este é o único verbo passivo nesta lista de comandos. Na verdade, Paulo não diz: ”seja forte”. Ele diz: ”fortalecei-vos.” Por que? Porque você não pode se fortalecer. Somente Deus pode te fortalecer.

Isso decorre do que vem antes. Só podemos ser vigilantes, permanecer firmes na fé e agir como homens se formos fortalecidos para o fazer, não de dentro de nós, mas de Deus. Ele deve nos fortalecer para cumprir essas responsabilidades que Deus nos deu como homens Cristãos.

Homens que pensam que são fortes em si mesmos, na verdade, têm uma falsa visão da verdadeira força Cristã. Isso era verdade para os Coríntios. Mas Paulo os admoesta:

Aquele, pois, que pensa estar em pé veja que não caia. (1 Co 10:12)

Eles pensavam que eram fortes, pensavam que eram capazes de resistir, mas era uma força falsa; era uma força auto-fabricada. Era uma espécie de machismo terreno que é inflado, egocêntrico, exibicionista e ostentador, que exibia como eram fortes, em vez de realmente serem fortalecidos pela graça que está em Cristo Jesus.

Esse tipo de força falsa está se tornando cada vez mais um problema hoje, especialmente entre os homens Reformados. Há um tipo de machismo Reformado que está em ascensão hoje que não está sendo fortalecido pela graça que está em Cristo Jesus, mas tem que ver com ego e postura. Esse era exatamente o problema dos Coríntios, e se não tivermos cuidado, isso pode se tornar um problema para o movimento Reformado hoje.

Não devemos ser como os Coríntios. Eles estavam agindo como crianças, mas se você ler o livro, você pode dizer que estavam provocando, desafiando Paulo a desafiá-los. Eles estão ”agindo como homens”, mas na verdade, são meninos que fingem ser homens através de um machismo falso e egocêntrico.

Esta não é a verdadeira masculinidade. Esta não é a verdadeira força. A verdadeira força que vem de Cristo é caracterizada pelo tipo de força que Cristo demonstrou. Que homem forte havia lá além de Jesus Cristo? Mas ele não ostentava a sua força. Ele não é orgulhoso. Ele não tentou provar que é forte e importante. Não, Cristo ”a si mesmo se esvaziou, assumindo a forma de servo” (Fp 2:7).

A força semelhante a Cristo é humilde; ela se manifesta por ser um servo. Sim, assumimos a liderança. Sim, somos vigilantes, permanecemos firmes, agimos como homens, mas fazemos isso no serviço de Cristo, servindo famílias e igrejas que Deus nos chamou para auxíliar.

Este é o tipo de vigilância, firmeza e masculinidade que precisamos: serviço.  Liderança, sim, mas uma liderança que serve. Homens, somos chamados a servir. Isso pode parecer contra-intuitivo. Devemos liderar? Sim, mas liderar como Cristo.

Se a nossa força vem de dentro, seremos inflados, machistas, movidos pelo ego e, por último, abusivos. Mas se a nossa força vem pela graça de Cristo através do Espírito de Cristo, nossa força será mansa, humilde e orientada para servir a Deus e aos outros.

Todos Os Vossos Atos Sejam Feitos com Amor

E, finalmente, ”todos os vossos atos sejam feitos com amor.” Aqui está o mandamento final que caracteriza todos os demais, e apoia ainda mais a ideia de uma verdadeira força semelhante a de Cristo que acabamos de discutir. Liderança auto-centrada, força auto-centrada, é abusiva, é mais sobre o homem do que sobre aqueles que ele é chamado a servir.

É verdade, a força semelhante a de Cristo é caracterizada pelo amor. Não estamos falando de um sentimento dócil. Amor é, em última análise, auto-sacrifício. ” Ninguém tem maior amor do que este: de dar alguém a própria vida em favor dos seus amigos.”, disse Jesus (João 15:13).

Os Coríntios podem ter pensado que eles eram fortes, mas a evidência final de que eles não eram fortes como Cristo é que eles não eram amorosos. Eles eram uma igreja dividida, cada pessoa se posicionava para a sua própria glória e condição, em vez de estarem unidos na mesma mente e no mesmo julgamento (1 Co 1:10).

Eles eram sexualmente imorais de maneira que Paulo diz que não existía tal imoralidade nem mesmo entre os pagãos (1 Co 5:1), uma das evidências mais hediondas do machismo egocêntrico.

Acusavam-se uns aos outros (1 Co 6), os cônjuges se privavam (1 Co 7), os chamados irmãos ”fortes” oprimiam os fracos entre eles (1 Co 8), consumiam comida na Ceia do Senhor (1 Co 11)… e a lista continua.

Você pode imaginar – não é como se esta igreja estivesse cheia de homens passivos e afeminados. De todas essas descrições de divisão, imoralidade e abuso, é claro que esta igreja estava cheia de homens ”fortes”, pelo menos de uma perspectiva terrena. Eram homens ativos, agressivos, inflados, machistas, egocêntricos e egoístas interessados somente em si mesmos, em suas condições, em seus prazeres, em suas chamadas ”experiências espirituais” e em suas chamadas ”liberdades Cristãs.” O mundo provavelmente olhava para esta congregação e dizia: ”Esse grupo é cheio de homens fortes – esses são os homens másculos.”

Mas não eram homens Cristãos. Eles não estavam atentos às maneiras pelas quais poderiam servir suas esposas, seus filhos e a outros membros da igreja, eles estavam focados nas maneiras pelas quais poderiam promover a si mesmos. Eles não estavam firmes na fé da Palavra de Deus, estavam firmes em seus próprios interesses. Eles não estavam agindo como homens corajosos e maduros, eles estavam realmente agindo como neninos. Eles não estavam exibindo força semelhante a de Cristo no serviço aos outros, eles estavam exibindo uma pseudo-força no serviço a si mesmos. Em última análise, eles não estavam amando. Não eram servos abnegados.

Homens, que imagem de ”masculinidade” nos caracteriza? Masculinidade machista, egoísta, agressiva e abusiva? Ou amor sacrificial?

A verdadeira masculinidade bíblica, semelhante a de Cristo, é amorosa. E se formos verdadeiramente amorosos com essa definição bíblica de serviço sacrificial, então seremos homens vigilantes, ativamente procurando por maneiras de proteger as nossas famílias e outros membros da Igreja, ativamente procurando por maneiras de servi-los. Seremos homens que permanecem firmes na fé, não por algum tipo de egoísmo inflado que tem algo a provar, mas porque temos zelo pela Palavra de Deus. Seremos corajosos, não de uma forma agressiva e abusiva, mas de uma forma que protege aqueles que cuidamos. Mostraremos a verdadeira força, não de dentro, mas de cima. Uma força altruísta e verdadeiramente amorosa.

Sejamos homens de verdade.

There is a masculinity crisis today, and it is not only in the secular culture—this masculinity crisis is in our churches.

On the one hand, true masculinity has been severely feminized in today’s culture, which has impacted even Christian men. Modern culture celebrates androgyny, promoting ideals where traditional masculine traits are downplayed or even discouraged. Men are encouraged to embrace feminine characteristics while shunning qualities like strength and leadership.

But on the other hand, an equally problematic reaction to this feminization by many men today in both secular culture and churches is a sort of rugged machismo that replaces one unbiblical distortion with another, failing to capture the biblical vision of manhood that God has laid out in Scripture.

Neither feminization nor machismo rightly capture the biblical portrait of masculinity.

The Biblical Solution

So what, then, is the solution to the masculinity crisis for Christian men?

There are many biblical passages that could help, but one that succinctly describes key characteristics of biblical manhood is 1 Corinthians 16:13–14:

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

We might be tempted to view these imperatives as Paul’s final ditch effort at the end of this letter to cover all of his bases with five unrelated commands. But actually, these five imperatives summarize key principles that solve all of the problems Paul addresses in the letter. And while these commands are certainly given to all members of the church, we quickly notice that they are particularly instructive for men.

If Christian men want to remedy the masculinity crisis today, this is what we must pursue.

Be Watchful

The first command is “be watchful.” Literally, “be awake.” True Christian men need to be spiritually awake and alert. We can never lie down on the job.

The importance of spiritual alertness is key for all Christians, but it is particularly important for men who are the leaders of their families and churches. Men are never off-duty. As Peter says,

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pet 5:8)

Most good men would be watchful if they knew there was potential danger. We go to a restaurant with our family, and we sit with our back to the wall and our eyes on the door. We’re walking through a shady part of town, and our eyes are darting around looking for threats. This is how Christian men must conduct themselves at all times spiritually, because there are always dangers lurking—spiritual dangers that threaten the health of our families and our churches.

Many days when I am driving home from work, mentally exhausted from a long day, I have to just repeat to myself, “You can’t relax when you get home.” Oh how I would love to just plop down on the couch and take it easy. No, I have to ask the Lord for strength and remind myself that my wife has been wrestling with the kids all day, and each of my children has different issues they’re struggling with, and the devil is prowling for their souls! I have to enter that house in a state of watchfulness.

Whether in our families or in our churches—or in our own lives, we must not wait until a problem becomes so bad that we can’t avoid it any longer. Like, I’m asleep, unaware that the house is on fire, and I don’t wake up until the flames start burning my own flesh. No, we must be awake, alert, watchful, always actively looking for little signs of issues that we can address now before they burn the house down.

Many times fatherhood, like pastoring, can feel like we’re just cleaning up messes—fixing problems. We plug up one leak over here only for another leak to spring over here, and so forth. And sometimes that’s unavoidable.

But I’m convinced as a father and as a pastor that many problems can be foreseen before they even occur if we are watchful. We need to be looking for early signs of problems and danger so that we can prevent them before they become even bigger problems.

Men, for the sake of your own soul, for the sake of the souls of your family members, and for the sake of every soul in your congregation, be watchful. Wake up. Watch the culture, looking for signs of danger. Watch your children’s lives, looking for ways to help lead them to Christ. Watch the other members of your church, looking for ways to encourage them or admonish them.

Be watchful.

Stand Firm in the Faith

Second, stand firm in the faith.

Stand firm. But not just a macho, baseless, ego-driven kind of firmness. This is how many “men” today act, don’t they? Oh, they’re firm, but their firmness is mostly about proving something or defending their ego.

No, Paul says stand firm in the faith. The definite article there—the faith—is important. The faith is the content of God’s revelation. It is the truth of God’s Word.

This is similar to what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:12:

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

He doesn’t just say here, “Fight the good fight of faith”—He says, “Fight the good fight of the faith,” the truth of God’s Word.

Men, we’re in a battle. This reality is one of the key reasons we need to be watchful. One of the things we need to be alert for is attacks against the faith, against the truth of God’s Word. But when we identify those attacks, what do we do? We stand firm. We fight. We defend.

This is not the job of pastors alone. Part of the reason churches are so weak today is because the men of the church think only pastors need to stand for the faith. No, the church is the pillar and buttress of the truth. All Christians—especially Christian men—must defend the faith.

Men, we must take the lead; we must stand firm in the faith. Don’t think that this is not your job. Don’t think that this is only the job of pastors or Sunday school teachers or seminary professors. No, this is the job of all believers, and this is the job primarily of the men of the church. This is military language—stand firm—the language of men. We stand to protect the women and children from the attacks of Satan, we stand as a pillar and buttress of the truth, we stand against worldly ideologies and pagan theologies that threaten the faith. We must stand firm in the faith.

Act Like Men

And this leads, then, to the third command. “Be watchful”—that’s certainly the responsibility of all Christians, but that is military language; it is especially the job of men. “Stand firm”—that’s certainly the responsibility of all Christians, but it is especially the job of men.

And with this third command, Paul just comes right out and says it—”act like men.” Again, this is military language. This command embodies both the idea of courage and maturity. Don’t be fearful; don’t be like a child. Be a man. Stand courageously. Be watchful, stand firm. Act like men.

Paul specifically condemned the Corinthians for their failure in this respect. In Chapter 14, he said, don’t be like children. Be mature. He said in chapter 3 that he wanted to address them as mature adults, but instead he had to treat them like children. He wanted to give them solid food, but they weren’t ready for it.

And so he treats them like the children they are.

What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? (1 Cor 4:21)

I tell my older children regularly, You are at the age where I should not have to threaten you with punishment anymore. I should be able to treat you like the young adult that you are and have a reasonable conversation with you, and you should respond by fulfilling your responsibilities. Stop acting like children; act your age.

This is the emphasis of Scripture. We should strive to grow in maturity, to grow in courage as we seek to stand firm in the faith, always watchful for ways in which the faith is under attack, and our families are under attack, and our churches are under attack.

Oh how the church today desperately needs courageous, mature men who will be watchful and stand firm in the faith.

Unfortunately, we live in a time when, even in churches, boyish immaturity is merely snickered at or even considered endearing. “Boys will be boys,” we hear when a couple teenagers do something immature.

No, childishness in young men or older men is not endearing; real men give up childish ways (1 Cor 13:11).

Be Strengthened

And then we have a fourth command: literally, “be strengthened.” This is the only passive verb in this list of commands. Paul doesn’t actually say, “be strong.” He says, “Be strengthened.” Why? Because you can’t strengthen yourself. Only God can strengthen you.

This flows out of what comes before. We can only be watchful, stand firm in the faith, and act like men if we are strengthened to do, not from within ourselves, but from God. He must strengthen us to fulfill these responsibilities God has given us as Christian men.

Men who think they are strong in themselves actually have a false view of true Christian strength. This was true of the Corinthians. But Paul admonishes them,

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Cor 10:12)

They thought they were strong, they thought they were able to stand, but it was a false strength; it was a self-made strength. It was a sort of earthly machoism that’s puffed up and more about ego and showmanship and strutting around flaunting how strong we are instead of truly being strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

This kind of false strength is increasingly becoming a problem today, especially among Reformed men. There is a sort of Reformed machoism that is on the rise today that isn’t being strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, but rather about ego and posturing. That was exactly the problem with the Corinthians, and if we’re not careful, that could become a problem for the Reformed movement today.

We must not be like the Corinthians. They were acting like children, but if you read through this book, you can tell that they are strutting around, daring Paul to challenge them. They’re “acting like men,” but actually children who are pretending to be men with a false, self-centered machoism.

This is not true manliness. This is not true strength. True strength that comes from Christ will be characterized by the kind of strength Christ exhibited. What stronger man was there than Jesus Christ? But he did not flaunt his strength. He was not puffed up. He did not try to prove how strong or important he was. No, Christ “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:7).

True, Christ-like strength is humble; true, Christ-like strength manifests itself through being a servant. Yes, we take the lead. Yes, we’re watchful, we stand firm, we act like men, but we do so in the service of Christ and in the service of the families and churches God has called us to serve.

This is the kind of watchfulness, and firmness, and manliness that we need: servanthood. Leadership, yes, but servant-leadership. Men, we are called to serve. That may sound counter-intuitive. We’re supposed to lead, right? Yes, but lead like Christ.

If our strength comes from within, we will be puffed up, macho, ego-driven, and ultimately abusive. But if our strength comes by the grace of Christ through the Spirit of Christ, our strength will be meek, humble, and geared toward serving God and others.

Let All That You Do Be Done in Love

And then finally, “let all that you do be done in love.” Here is the final command that characterizes them all, and it further support the idea of true, Christ-like strength we just discussed. Self-focused leadership, self-focused strength, is abusive; it’s more about the man than about those he is called to serve.

True, Christ-like strength is characterized by love. This is not talking about some squishy feeling. Love is ultimately self-sacrificing service. “Greater love has no one than this,” Jesus said, “that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

The Corinthians may have thought that they were strong, but the ultimate evidence that they were not strong as Christ is strong is that they were not loving. They were a divided church, each person posturing for his own glory and status, rather than being united in the same mind and the same judgment (1 Cor 1:10).

‌They were sexually immoral in ways Paul says are not tolerated even among pagans (1 Cor 5:1), one of the most heinous evidences of self-centered, machoism.

‌They were suing each other (1 Cor 6), marriage partners were depriving each other (1 Cor 7), so-called “strong” brothers were oppressing the weak among them (1 Cor 8), they were hogging food at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11) . . . we could go on and on.

‌You can almost imagine it—it’s not as if this church was filled with passive, effeminate men. From all of these descriptions of division and immorality and abuse, it’s clear that this church was filled with “strong” men, at least from an earthly perspective. These were active, aggressive, puffed up, macho, self-centered, egotistical men interested only in themselves, their status, their pleasures, their so-called “spiritual experiences,” and their so-called “Christian liberties.” The world probably looked at this congregation and said, “That group is full of really strong men—those are men’s men.”

‌But they weren’t Christian men. They weren’t being watchful for ways they could serve their wives and their children and other church members, they were watchful for ways they could advance their own status. They weren’t standing firm in the faith of the Word of God, they were standing firm for their own interests. They weren’t acting like courageous, mature men, they were actually acting like little children. They weren’t exhibiting Christ-like strength in service to others, they were exhibiting pseudo-strength in service to themselves. Ultimately, they were not loving. They were not self-sacrificing servants.

‌Men, which picture of “manliness” characterizes us? Macho, egotistical, aggressive, abusive manliness? Or self-sacrificing love?

True biblical, Christ-like manliness is loving. And if we are truly loving, but this biblical definition of self-sacrificing service, then we will be men who are watchful, actively looking out for ways we need to protect our families and other church members, actively looking for ways to serve them. We will be men who stand firm in the faith, not out of some sort of puffed up egotism that has something to prove, but because we are jealous for God’s Word. We will be courageous, not in an aggressive, abusive way, but in a way that protects those under our care. We will exhibit true strength, not from within, but from above. A strength that is selfless and truly loving.

Let us be that sort of men.

All five Solas of the Reformation find their fullest expression in the public worship of God’s people. We can see this in just two verses in Hebrews 12:

²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire.

In previous articles, we have seen how Scripture alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and faith alone are all embedded in the biblical idea of acceptable worship.

Finally, acceptable worship is worship that brings glory to God alone. There are two ways in Hebrews 12:28–29 in which the public worship of God’s people is the fullest expression of this Sola as well as the others.

First, once again, the word “acceptable” highlight the fact that worship is for God’s glory alone. The word translated “acceptable” comes from a root that means, “to please”—we saw the same term in chapter 11—without faith it is impossible to please God. We are to offer worship to God that pleases him.

It’s his worship after all. It’s for his glory alone. God created all things for his glory alone. Before the foundation of the world he chose a people for his glory alone. He sent his Son to redeem that people for his glory alone. And he calls his people to worship him acceptably for his glory alone.

Worship is not for our glory; worship it not ultimately to please ourselves. Worship is meant to please God alone.

But second, worship is acceptable only when it is offered in a particular manner that brings God glory alone. Often Christians assume that as long as we worship the right God and we do so by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, then the manner of our worship does not matter. All he cares about is the sincerity of our hearts. We may worship in whatever manner pleases us. Whatever manner makes us feel close to God.

But on the contrary, what does verse 28 say? “Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.”

There is a standard for the manner of our worship, and that standard is not us. The standard is not what makes us feel near to God. The standard is not determined by the culture around us, or what is familiar and comfortable to us.

According to the standard of God’s authoritative Word, there is a manner of worship that brings God glory alone, and it is worship in reverence and awe. This involves more than just the object of our worship, more than just the means by which we offer God worship, more than just the sincerity of our hearts. To offer God worship in reverence and awe encompasses everything about the manner in which we draw near to God.

We draw near to God, not presumptuously, not as if we are the ones initiating worship, not inviting God to come down and join us, not concerned with pleasing ourselves, not concerned with making worship “feel” exciting.

No, we come with humility and meekness, recognizing that we do not deserve to be in God’s presence; we come only at his command and through the means that he has provided to give him the glory he deserves and to renew our gospel covenant with him.

Calvin noted, “All men have a vague general veneration of God, but very few really reverence him; and wherever there is a great ostentation in ceremonies, sincerity of heart is rare indeed.” In other words, the more complex and showy our worship is, the less reverent it is. Calvin said specifically of this text in Hebrews, “Although readiness and joy are demanded in our service, at the same time no worship is pleasing to him that is not allied to humility and due reverence.”

We ought to comport ourselves in corporate worship in a way that manifests reverence and awe. The way we dress for worship ought to manifest reverence and awe. The way that we read Scripture publicly, and pray, and preach ought to be performed in a manner that exhibits reverence and awe.

And our singing ought to embody reverence and awe. The acceptability of our worship music involves more than just the doctrinal accuracy of the lyrics, though our lyrics must be regulated by Scripture. But the music itself must embody reverence and awe. This ought to influence what kinds of songs we choose to sing, the way we sing, what instruments we use, how we play those instruments.

This was a significant emphasis of the Reformation. Martin Luther warned against “profane music, which is unspiritual, frivolous, proud, and irreverent,” and instead said we should sing music that is “sacred, glowing with love, humble, and dignified.” Calvin, too, insisted that music should have weight and majesty rather than being light or frivolous. He said, “there is a great difference between music which one makes to entertain men at tables and in their houses, and the psalms which are sung in the church in the presence of God and his angels.”

How we pray, how we preach, how we conduct ourselves, how we dress, and how we sing—the manner of our worship—is not culturally neutral or mere preference. No, there is a manner of worship that pleases our flesh, and there is a manner of worship that gives glory to God alone.

In fact, everything preceding this flows to this final end—the glory of God alone!

Only worship that is regulated by the Word of God alone—Sola Scriptura—will bring glory to God alone.

Only worship that is a grateful response to the undeserved gift of an unshakable kingdom—Sola Gratia—will bring glory to God alone.

Only worship in which we draw near through the blood and high priestly ministry of Christ alone—Solus Christus—will bring glory to God alone.

Only worship in which we draw near to the heavenly sanctuary by faith alone—Sola Fide—will bring glory to God alone.

And only worship in which our manner exhibits reverence and awe—Soli Deo Gloria—will bring glory to God alone.

So many Evangelicals today say they believe in Sola Scriptura, but their worship betrays their enslavement to the authority of culture and self.

They say that they believe in justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, but their worship betrays a works righteousness in which somehow what we do ushers us into God’s presence.

They say they believe in the glory of God alone, but their worship betrays the glory of self.

Oh how we need a fresh Reformation of worship today, worship that embodies the great Solas of the Reformation, worship that is deeply rooted in the authority of Scripture, worship that renews us in the gospel of Jesus Christ, worship that truly pleases God.

Oh how we need a fresh Reformation of worship today, worship that embodies the great Solas of the Reformation.

Churches might say that they are striving to be biblical and gospel-centered; churches might even say that they are Reformed. But churches will not long maintain allegiance to the sufficiency of Scripture and the primacy of the gospel if their worship is not Reformed according to Scripture.

But if we do not refuse him who is speaking, offering to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, then God is duly glorified, and nothing, nothing is better for our own souls.

When we draw near to God in obedience to his demands, by grace, through faith, in Christ, for his glory, then we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. We will join our hearts and voices with the angels and saints who forever surround the throne, upon which Jesus the mediator of a new covenant sits, we are joining with those who are forever singing Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!

That is what we have come to when we draw near to worship God acceptably in reverence and awe.

If we wish to be faithful to the biblical doctrines recovered in the Protestant Reformation, then our worship must be according to Scripture alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone. Indeed, when we draw near according to Scripture, by grace, through Christ, we are entering the very presence of God in heaven for communion with him.

However, although drawing near to the heavenly sanctuary is a very real reality in Christ, it is not yet a physical reality. Our bodies are still here on earth, while we really are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. What this reveals is the important spiritual essence of our participation in the heavenly worship of God through Christ. As Paul says in Ephesians 2, we have access to the Father through Christ in one Spirit. The Spirit of God is the agent who makes this possible because it is a spiritual reality.

The problem is that physical human beings naturally tend toward defining the essence of our communion with God in physical terms. This was the challenge for the Hebrew converts to Christianity that the author of Hebrews was addressing.

‌As Jews, when they thought of worship, they thought of it in terms of the physical temple, animal sacrifices, and ceremonies. These were physical rituals of worship established by God at Sinai, but the author of Hebrews emphasizes in verse 18 that we have not come to that mountain that may be touched. Those physical rituals of worship were but a mere copy and shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, he says in Chapter 10. Now, we come to a better mountain, we come to the heavenly mountain through Christ alone.

‌But since the true form of these realities is something that we experience spiritually now and not yet physically, these Hebrew Christians struggled. Those Old Covenant external forms of worship “felt” more real, and so they were being tempted to forsake spiritual worship in the heavenly temple in favor of earthly, physical forms of Old Covenant worship.

‌And many Christians throughout history have likewise failed to understand the spiritual reality of our participation in heavenly worship. Many medieval Christians wanted to experience the worship of heaven tangibly here on earth, either expecting that heaven came down to them while they worshiped or that they were experientially led into the heavenly temple through the sacramental ceremonies. They desired a heavenly worship “that can be touched.” And so they drew much of their worship practice from the Old Covenant, introducing into their worship an altar and priests with beautiful robes and trappings, and the lighting of candles and incense, and elaborate processions and ceremonies.

‌But the seventeenth century Reformers progressively broke away from those Old Covenant forms of worship because they contradicted a biblical theology of worship by grace alone through Christ alone. In commenting on medieval worship, Calvin said, “What shall I say of ceremonies, the effect of which has been, that we have almost buried Christ and returned to Jewish figures?” He complained, “A new Judaism, as a substitute for that which God has distinctly abrogated, has again been reared up by means of numerous puerile extravagances.”

‌And likewise, much of contemporary worship today is filled with similar extravagances. Many times in worship today, Christians expect to be able to tangibly feel the manifest presence of God when they worship, whether through a visible display of his glory, miraculous gifts, or emotional euphoria that is carefully engineered through manipulative extravagances. The goal of music and the “worship leader” is often to “usher worshipers” into the presence of God in heaven. This has resulted in a new understanding of the place of music in corporate worship, where music is now considered a sacramental means through which people experience God’s presence in worship. We want to be able to “feel” God’s presence; we want to tangibly experience communion with God.

‌When we’re asked the question, how do you know that you’ve worshiped, we want to be able to say something like “I felt God.” I experienced his presence.

‌But here’s what we need to remember: while we truly are in God’s presence through Christ, it is in the Spirit, and it is not yet a physical reality. It will one day be a physical reality. But that time has not yet come. We are already there spiritually, but not yet bodily.

‌Worship by Faith, not Sight

‌This is why faith alone is necessary for drawing near to worship God in his heavenly temple.

Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Faith is the means by which we are able to draw near to communion with God through Christ in the heavenly temple, though we do not yet experience that communion in physical ways. The author of Hebrews defines faith in chapter 11 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” He says in verse 6 that without faith, “it is impossible to please [God] (same word translated “acceptable” in our text), for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” We worship by faith and not by sight. We worship by faith and not by feeling.

‌Drawing near to God through Christ by faith alone means that we do not depend upon any physical evidence to give us assurance that we are truly worshiping. To worship by faith alone means that we do not define worship by a physical experience, feeling, or any other tangible proof.

‌To worship by faith alone means that we believe in the sufficiency of Christ’s death on our behalf to gain us acceptance into God’s presence, we follow his Word for how he wants us to draw near to him through reading and preaching the Scriptures and prayer and singing, and then we simply trust that we are truly worshiping regardless of any physical factors. Worship is not tied to any physical location, ritual, ceremony, or feeling. Worship is simply a spiritual drawing near to God through Jesus Christ, and in order to do this, we must have a full assurance of faith alone.

‌When we’re asked the question, how do you know you’ve worshiped, we ought to answer: I know I’ve worshiped, because I drew near to God, according to Scripture alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith alone.

If you do that, then you have worshiped God acceptably.

According to Hebrews 12:25–29, acceptable worship is that which is regulated by Scripture alone. The doctrine of Sola Scriptura finds its fullest expression in biblically-regulated worship.

But not only that, so also the public worship of God is the fullest expression of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

These doctrines are also embedded in that word “acceptable.” You see, simply by virtue of our sin nature, we are inherently not acceptable to God. And so the question must be asked, how is it that we sinners can approach God to offer him acceptable worship in the first place?

‌By grace alone

Well the first part of the answer is found in the opening phrase of verse 28: “let us be grateful.” Importantly, the word translated “grateful” is the Greek word charis, which mean’s “grace.” So the text literally reads, let us have grace. Idiomatically, the expression “have grace” can mean “be grateful,” but we ought not miss the essential connection between thankfulness and grace. In fact, the Greek word most often translated thanksgiving is the word eucharistia—the reality of grace is baked right into the idea of thanksgiving. We are to be grateful—we ought to worship—because we are receiving something that we did not earn or merit—that’s grace.

Worship is not something that we initiate. We do not invite God down to us in worship; we do not perform for God in worship. No, worship is a response to something that we are receiving from God by grace alone.

Which is, of course, exactly what the author continues to say: “let us have grace”—why?—because “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We are receiving this blessing, not on the basis of any merit of our own. We are receiving this blessing by grace alone. And on that basis, we offer to God acceptable worship.

‌In Christ alone

But second, what is it that we are receiving by grace alone? What is this kingdom that cannot be shaken? Well, the author has just described for us this unshakable kingdom beginning in verse 22.

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Hebrews 12:22–24

This unshakable kingdom is the promised heavenly kingdom. The heavenly city. The heavenly sanctuary where angels and saints surround the throne in perpetual worship. That is what we are receiving. In fact, that is what, according to verse 22, we have come to.

The Greek word translated “you have come”—proserchomai—is a word that appears over and over again in the book of Hebrews; it is a central theme in the book, most often translated “draw near.”

This idea appears in the three primary climaxes of the author’s argument. The first is found in 4:16, which says, “Let us then with confidence draw near (same term as chapter 12—proserchomai) to the throne of grace.” The second is found in chapter 10, where the author says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” And the final climax of the book is here in 12:22, which says, “But you have come”—proserchomai—to Mount Zion.”

‌Drawing Near to God in Worship

So what is the importance of this command? What does “drawing near” mean? This word, proserchomai, is a term that “is used exclusively of an approach to God.”

This idea of drawing near to God permeates the storyline of Scripture. It is what Adam and Eve enjoyed as they walked with God in the cool the day (Gen. 2:8). It is described in Exodus 19:17 when Moses “brought the people out of the camp to meet God” at the foot of Mt. Sinai. It is what Psalm 100 commands of the Hebrews in Temple worship when it says, “Come into his presence with singing and into his courts with praise.” It is what Isaiah experienced as he entered the heavenly throne room of God and saw him high and lifted up.

‌To draw near to God is to enter his very presence, to bask in his glory, to have perfect communion with him in his presence. To draw near to God is the essence of worship.

‌We Cannot Draw Near Because of Sin

‌But again, how can sinners draw near to a holy, sinless, just, and righteous God? How can we receive this unshakable kingdom? How can we come to the heavenly sanctuary? How can sinners offer to God acceptable worship? All of our righteousness is like filthy rags.

The fall of mankind into sin destroyed the possibility of drawing near to God. After Adam and Eve sinned they no longer enjoyed the privilege of walking with God in the garden; instead they hid from him in fear and desperately tried to cover their guilt with leaves. And ever since that time, any attempt to draw near to God results in a profound recognition of guilt and unworthiness. The Israelites experienced this when they drew near to Mt. Sinai; when they witnessed the majesty and greatness and white-hot holiness of God, they trembled in fear and begged Moses to go in their behalf. This is the reason that although God inhabited the holy place in the temple, no person could enter his presence except the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. This is what Isaiah experienced when he saw the Lord high and lifted up in all of his glory and holiness and cried out with, “Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

The problem is that we have no right to draw near to God; we do not have access to him because of our sin. The only way God enabled people to partially draw near to him was through temporary sacrifices, and even then there were barriers keeping people from the very presence of God himself; and we know what happens if you even touch the symbol of God’s presence, the ark—Remember Uzzah? Even Psalm 100 calls people to come only into the outer courts of the Temple, not into the actual presence of God. Old covenant people had no direct access.

‌But Hebrews tells us that we have come, not just to the outer court, not just into the entrance of the temple, but beyond the veil into the very presence of God. How? Verse 24 tells us, we have come “to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

We have come to the heavenly sanctuary on the basis of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ alone.

Chapter 4:16 tells us that we may with confidence draw near to the throne of grace since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Chapter 10:19 tells us that we may draw near to God’s holy presence “by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” On the basis of the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his high priestly ministry alone, we have confidence to enter the holy place of God.

This is what God pictured when he slew the animal in the garden and covered Adam and Eve’s guilt. This is what was pictured when Moses offered a sacrifice at the foot of Mt. Sinai so that the elders of the people could approach God. This is what was pictured each year in Israel on the Day of Atonement when an animal was sacrificed and the high priest entered the holy place to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. This is what was pictured when the seraph took a burning coal from the altar and placed it on Isaiah’s lips, saying, “your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And this was pictured at the moment of Christ’s death when the veil of the temple was torn in two, opening access to draw near to the the presence of God. There is now a new and living way to draw near to God, and that way is Jesus Christ alone.

And as Calvin so rightly noted, we are justified by grace alone through Christ alone so that we can draw near to God in worship. Here Chapter 12 tells us that through Christ alone, we are able to draw near to the presence of God to worship him in his heavenly temple. Worship is a spiritual ascent into the heavenly sanctuary by grace alone through Christ alone, the mediator of a new covenant.

Calvin expressed this beautifully:

Now that the Mosaic ceremonies are abolished, we worship at the footstool of God, when we yield a reverential submission to his word and rise to a true spiritual service of him. … Christ is he… in whom the whole fulness of God’s essence and glory resides, and in him therefore, we should seek the Father. With this view he descended, that we might rise heavenward.

‌This is why Reformed worship has historically embodied the gospel in its liturgy. Reformed worship is not about creating an experience of God’s presence or even just giving us opportunity for authentic expression; Reformed worship is covenant renewal worship in which the liturgy embodies the gospel, the means by which we are able to draw near to God, and thus we are regularly renewed in the gospel as we draw near to God each Lord’s Day.

We draw near by grace alone through Christ alone.

Today when most Christians think about the Reformation, they think of it in terms of a recovery of important biblical doctrine, and that is certainly true. The sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformers stood firm against the erroneous teaching of the Church of Rome and championed critical biblical doctrines we often summarize in the Five Solas.

‌But what many Christians fail to recognize today is the emphasis the Reformers placed on the application of these biblical doctrines. And indeed, many today, even those who consider themselves Reformed, often divorce theology from practice. But we must remember that all of these men who we associate with the Reformation were pastors, and the theology that they so masterfully taught was only to serve the church.

‌The Reformers fervently taught how the biblical doctrines they recovered were to be necessarily applied to all areas of church life and individual life. In fact, Reformation is incomplete if it is not manifest in the church’s practice. And perhaps the greatest area of practical reform emphasized by these men as the necessary application of sound doctrine was the reform of worship.

‌Many Christians today may be surprised at how much importance the Reformers placed on the corporate worship of God’s people. In fact, in a significant way, the Reformation was at its heart a Reformation of biblical worship.

‌A striking example of this is John Calvin’s 1543 treatise to Emperor Charles the V explaining why the Reformation was necessary called “On the Necessity of Reforming the Church.” Now, if you were going to write to the emperor to explain why Reformation was necessary, what would you list as most important? Calvin said that there are two principle things upon which Christianity stands and from which flow the whole substance of Christianity: “first, the mode in which God is duly worshiped; and second, the source from which salvation is to be obtained.”

‌Remarkably, in listing what he believed to be the most important aspects of biblical Christianity, Calvin listed worship first and salvation second. For Calvin, salvation is important, but salvation is ultimately a means toward the end of rightly worshiping God. In his Institutes, Calvin stated, “Surely the first foundation of righteousness is the worship of God.” And in contrast, “There is nothing more perilous to our salvation than a preposterous and perverse worship of God.”

‌You see, the Reformers rightly believed that Reformation of theology alone is insufficient; true biblical Reformation will be manifest in our practice of worship. And therefore, all of the significant biblical doctrines recovered in the Reformation find their fullest expression in the public worship of God’s people.

‌Do Not Refuse Him Who Is Speaking

‌We see this clearly in the book of Hebrews, which was written to an audience that was forsaking critical doctrine about the nature of salvation in Christ that was leading them toward erroneous worship. The whole climax of the book is in 12:28–29 where the author urges them to worship God acceptably as the fullest expression of the important doctrines he develops in the book, doctrines we could easily file under the headings of the Five Solas of the Reformation.

First, I want you to notice the doctrine of Sola Scriptura in our text. Notice the command to offer to God acceptable worship. This, of course, implies that there is such a thing as unacceptable worship. If there is such a thing as acceptable worship, then upon what standard do we determine what worship is acceptable to God? Look back up at verse 25.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.

‌Acceptable worship, the author is arguing, is that which conforms to what God has spoken. Do not reject the Word of the Lord, he says, but rather, let us offer to God acceptable worship that conforms to what God has spoken.

‌In other words, acceptable worship must be regulated by Scripture alone.

‌This is why the Reformers believed that worship regulated by the Word was the most significant expression of the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. John Knox said, “All worshiping, honoring, or service invented by the brain of man in the religion of God, without his own express commandment is idolatry.”

‌This is what Scripture teaches. God created Adam and commanded him to worship acceptably according to his commands. God did not just create his people and then leave them to determine the best way to worship him. No, God spoke his Law to his people to clearly articulate how he wants to be worshiped.

‌In Deuteronomy 12, in the context of giving God’s people “the statues and rules” concerning their worship, he says in verse 32: ‌

Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.

The only acceptable worship is that which he himself has commanded. Anything not commanded in Scripture for worship is forbidden.

Now some might claim that this strict biblical regulation of worship is just an Old Testament requirement. We now live in an age of grace, they may argue, so we have freedom to go beyond what God has commanded.

But on the contrary, the book of Hebrews stresses the fact that as recipients of the new covenant, we must be careful to pay attention to what we have heard (2:1), we must listen to his voice and not harden our hearts (4:7), we must submit our worship to the living and active Word of God (4:12).

We must see that we do not refuse him who is speaking (12:25), and the author explicitly stresses the continuity of this point between the Old Covenant—when God warned them on earth—and the New Covenant—when God warns us from heaven.

God commanded his people at Mt. Sinai to watch themselves carefully and be sure to worship exactly as he has spoken, “for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deut 4:24). And he says to us in Hebrews 12:28-29, ‌

Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire.

At many times and in many ways, God has spoken, what God has spoken as been inscripturated in the written Word of God, and therefore our worship must be fundamentally regulated by what God has spoken in his inspired Word.

And so this is why Reformers such as Bucer, Calvin, Knox, and then later English Puritans and Separatists, including seventeenth century Particular Baptists, articulated what we have come to refer to as the regulative principle of worship. Both the Westminster Confession and the Second London Baptist Confession unequivocally state,

But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture. (22:1)

‌We cannot say that we fully affirm Sola Scriptura unless our worship is regulated by the Word of God alone.

God commands us to teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, not as something optional, extra, or somehow disconnected from our mission to make disciples. No, as is clear from the broader context of Colossians 3, God commands us to sing, because singing is essential to discipleship.

On that basis, let us consider a few direct applications for your home and church.

1. Sing as much as you can.

Singing is not optional. You can’t just say, well, singing is just not my thing. No, God commanded us to to sing because it is essential to our discipleship.

So sing as much as you can. In your home, sing before meals and after meals, make singing an emphasis in your times of family worship, sing before bed, sing in the car. Sing, sing sing. And our churches should be filled with congregational singing.

Be discerning in what you sing. Make sure that what you are singing accomplishes the goals of forming the kind of mature disciples mentioned here in Colossians 3 and all through the Scripture.

But once you have discerned what will help with the discipleship of your family or your church best, then sing! Singing ought to be a normal, regular occurrence in our homes and in our churches.

You might say, but I don’t know how to sing. I didn’t grow up singing, and I just don’t know how.

That leads to the next application.

2. Learn to sing, and teach your children to sing.

Singing is a skill, but it is a skill anyone can learn if you put a little effort into it.

What would you say if you were encouraging another Christian to faithfully read his Bible, and he said, “Well, I don’t know how to read. I didn’t grow up reading, so i just can’t read.” What would you say? Oh, OK. Well if you didn’t grow up reading, I guess we’ll just give you a pass on reading your Bible.

No! We would say, “Brother, that’s really too bad. I’m so sorry for you. So, now you need to learn how to read. God has commanded you to read his Word, so you need to do whatever it takes to learn the skills necessary to obey God’s command and feed your soul.”

The same is true for singing. Not having grown up singing is no excuse to disobey the command of the Lord. If you don’t know how to sing, then do whatever it takes to learn the skills necessary to obey God’s command and disciple your soul. Find another Christian who sings well and get help. There are all sorts of resources today to help you sing. Anyone can learn to sing, it just takes effort like any other skill.

And don’t make the same mistake for your own children.

Can you imagine a parent who said, “I’ll teach my children to read if they show an affinity for it”? Then why do we do the same with singing? God commanded his disciples to read the Word, and God commanded his disciples to sing the Word. Parents, make sure your children learn music. Get them into piano lessons. Enroll them in a good children’s choir. Raise up your children to be singers.

3. Get a good hymnal.

I can’t stress this enough. There are certainly benefits to singing lyrics off of a screen, and I would never say it is wrong to do that.

But singing off a screen can never replace the benefits of a good hymnal. Much of the music illiteracy that plagues the church today is due to the decline of hymnals, where you can see the actual musical score.

You say, but I can’t read the musical score. Well we just talked about that! Using a hymnal can help you learn to read music. I never taught my children to sing harmony. They learned it naturally because we sing all the time out of hymnals with printed music, and the learned to follow along with the notes on the page.

There is no more simple music than a hymn. You can learn to sing, you can learn to read the musical score, and you will be better off for it!

Using hymnals in church also makes singing more corporate, because you have to share with the person next to you, encouraging loving harmony as you sing together. You can point to the words and notes with your young children. Our youngest practically learned to read following along with the words in our hymnal.

Plus, you can’t take the screen home! You need a collection of good hymnals at home for your whole family so that you can sing together.

And let me encourage you to get a good hymnal that has songs that meet all the requirements we’ve mentioned, and one that includes psalms. We have Psalms and Hymns to the Living God if you need a good Psalter-Hymnal. And, by the way, we have recordings of piano accompaniments for every psalm and hymn in our G3+ app so that you can have accompaniment as you sing at home as well.

4. Sing heartily.

Oh come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us make a loud shout to the rock of our salvation.

Ps 95:1

In John Wesley’s directions for singing, written in 1761, he said, “Sing lustily and with good courage.”

We have unfortunately been so influenced in our churches today by the singing of pop music, which is breathy and unsupported—the very opposite of lustily and with good courage. Christians today have been taught by pop culture that if you really mean it, you’ll close your eyes, scrunch your face, sway a little, and sing in a light sensual manner.

Don’t sing like that. That’s not how God created us to sing. That way of singing comes from the sensuality of pop music, it is a kind of singing that embodies the passions of the flesh, not from a robust love for God’s truth. Worldly culture is attacking the church and the family, worldly music has weakened congregational singing.

Sing aloud to God our strength. Sing heartily!

And let me say a word to those of you who accompany singing and who lead singing: You have to accompany and lead in a way that supports robust, hearty singing. Unfortunately pop music and music illiteracy has influenced the way many accompany singing as well.

If you play and lead heartily, you will help people sing heartily.

5. Men, you’ve got to take the lead on this.

Men simply don’t sing in our culture. Singing is thought to be a feminine exercise. And actually, most of singing today in pop culture is very feminine. Most modern male pop singers sing in a very feminine way, that has come to affect even those men who lead singing in churches, and so many men just don’t know what it is to sing in a manly way. Boys grow up thinking singing is for girls.

It’s time to change that.

Good singing is masculine. Exhibit A: David, sweet psalmist of Israel and Warrior King of Israel. I guarantee that David didn’t get back from slaughtering Philistines and then sing praise to the Lord in a breathy, sensual manner.

Men, like in every other spiritual enterprise, we must lead in singing. Make effort to learn to read music, make effort to learn to sing well, be discerning in what songs you choose for your family or church to sing, and then just sing. We’re experiencing a very encouraging revival in our church of men who are recognizing their lead to learn to sing. They are coming to Matt Sikes and me and asking us for help. This is what we need in our churches.

Mean, Sing with strength. Sing so that your boys never think of singing as something that is feminine. Sing robustly. None of this breathy crooning so common in pop music. Sing like men. Full-throated, resonate, from-your-diaphragm singing. Sing like warriors. Sing like men.

Dads, one of the most significant, impactful, and enduring things you can do is regularly sing with your children.

Conclusion

O that we would recover a robust culture of disciple-making singing once again in our homes and churches. Singing that fills our children’s hearts with the Word of Christ. Singing that builds up their hearts with mature affection for Christ and calms their fleshly passions. Singing that sets our affections on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Listen to what Basil of Ceaesarea said in the 4th century about singing psalms. I can’t help but think that he had the commands of discipleship in Colossians 3 in mind when he wrote this:

A psalm is the tranquility of souls, the arbitrator of peace, restraining the disorder and turbulence of thoughts, for it softens the passion of the soul and moderates its unruliness. A psalm forms friendships, unites the divided, mediates between enemies. For who can still consider him an enemy with whom he has sent forth on voice to God? So that the singing of psalms brings love, the greatest of good things, contriving harmony like some bond of union and uniting the people in the symphony of a single choir.

Singing is important because God commanded it. And God commanded us to sing, because singing is essential to discipleship.

Colossians 3:16 is one of the most well-known verses in Scripture about singing, yet we often fail to recognize how the command to sing fits in the broader context of Colossians 3 regarding the nature of discipleship.

The first fifteen verses of Colossians 3 could be summarized with these four commands. Disciples of Christ must:

1.   Put to death earthly passions.

2.   Put on spiritual affections

3.   Live in loving harmony with the body

4.   Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

This is what it means to seek things that are above.

Singing

Which brings us to the focus on singing in the rest of verse 16. After all of those commands for disciples, Paul adds the following (I’m going to use the Legacy Standard Bible here, which retains the Greek word order):

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratefulness in your hearts to God.

Now the question before us is this: How does this focus on singing fit within the context of these commands for disciples? How does singing fit with discipleship?

Well first, notice the actions connected with singing: teaching and admonishing. This is discipleship language. “Teaching” here is the same word Jesus uses in the Great Commission: “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” “Admonishment” is a kind of correction necessary for discipleship. Paul is explicitly connecting singing with discipleship.

In other words, this focus on singing is not disconnected from the other commands regarding discipleship in this context.

Rather, singing is an essential part of discipleship.

This is important to recognize. In our day and age, music has largely been relegated to an “extra-curricular.” It’s non-essential. It’s just entertainment. Singing is just for people who have a “musical affinity.” But the command given here in verse 16 is not directed only to Christians who happen to like singing. This command is given to the whole church.

Here is the central point: God commands us to sing, because singing is an essential part of discipleship.

In fact, singing is an essential part of discipleship because it helps disciples of Christ accomplish all of the other commands in Colossians 3, and singing does that in unique ways that nothing else can. Let’s work our way back through the commands in this passage and consider how singing functions uniquely in each.

1. Singing helps the Word of Christ richly dwell within us.

It’s one thing to read the Word of Christ. It’s one thing to listen to the Word of Christ. It’s an entirely different thing to let the Word of Christ richly dwell within us. How do we do that?

Well, the Word of Christ is able to richly dwell within us through what the Bible calls “meditation.” Psalm 1:2 says that the blessed man meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. The Hebrew word literally means to “vocalize,” and so it has the idea of murmuring about something; sometimes this word is translated “to muse” on something. What do we do when we muse on something? It’s more than just something we do with our mind, it’s something we do with our heart; to meditate on something, to muse on something is to allow it to form and shape our hearts.

Meditation is slow formation. It doesn’t happen quickly. Letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly takes time. You take time to really taste and savor the truths of God’s Word. It’s like when you get a piece of your favorite candy, like a Jolly Rancher or a sweet tart. You could just chew it all up quickly and swallow it, but that’s too quick. You don’t get to really taste the sweetness of the candy. No, the best way to eat a piece of candy is to let it roll around in your mouth so you can really taste it all the way until it melts away.

That’s what meditating on the Word of Christ is like. We muse on God’s Word so that it dwells in us richly. And one of the best ways God has given us to slowly savor the Word of Christ is when we sing the Word of Christ.

Singing slows you down. You can’t rush through the words when you sing. Singing forces you to take time with each word, savoring the rich truth. We muse on the Word of Christ when the Word of Christ takes on the form of music.

Martin Luther said it best: “Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through music.”

However, the Word of Christ will not dwell richly within us if what we sing is not a faithful expression of sound doctrine. We need to carefully evaluate what we’re singing to make sure that the lyrics are faithful to the teaching of God’s Word.

This is also why it is so important that we actually sing the Word. There is some debate about what the terms “hymns” and “spiritual songs” mean in Colossians 3:16, but there is no debate about what the word “psalms” means. We need to sing the psalms—we need to sing the actual Word of Christ. God has inspired songs for us to sing so that the Word of Christ can richly dwell within us as we meditate on those words. And if we actually sing inspired Scripture, we won’t have to worry about whether or not what we are singing is sound doctrine. It’s God’s Word! Of course it’s sound doctrine.

This is why I wrote a whole book to help people understand the Psalms and why we published Psalms and Hymns to the Living God, a new hymnal that contains all 150 psalms plus carefully chosen hymns that are faithful to the Word of Christ.

Disciple-making music must express sound doctrine.

2.Singing harmonizes God’s people.

The beauty of singing is that it embodies the kind of harmony we are to be cultivating as disciples in the body of Christ. Singing together is at its essence bringing into unity a diversity of voices.

Even if we all sing just the melody with no instruments, we will still have an amazing amount of diverse voices unified into one. In fact, it is the very harmony of diverse sounds that creates an even greater beauty than a single voice alone. There is perhaps a no more beautiful expression of harmony in diversity than people singing together. Singing together harmonizes us.

Further, good music makes you long for unity, harmony, and resolution. If you know anything about music, you know that music contains consonance—when two or more pitches sound in harmony, and dissonance—when two or more pitches sound out of harmony. All music has dissonance, even a simple hymn, but good music never leaves the dissonance unresolved. Good music uses dissonance to make us long for consonance, and then it resolves that dissonance into beautiful harmony.

The very act of singing together cultivates harmony in our homes and in our churches.

3. Singing forms mature affections.

Paul said in verse 16 that singing teaches and admonishes us. Now I do not doubt that the teaching here involves using the words to teach truth as well. But the primary part of man that is being taught by music is his affections. This is evidenced by the phrase, “with thankfulness in your hearts,” emphasizing the internal aspect.

We tend to think of discipleship only in terms of teaching truth to our minds, and that is important. But the intellectual acquisition of knowledge alone is not discipleship. We will not observe all that Christ commanded with only knowledge of his teaching. In order to make disciples, we must form spiritual affections. And good singing does that—good singing teaches not just our minds, it teaches our affections.

Just like we need teaching to correct our wrong thinking and our wrong acting, so we need teaching to correct our wrong feeling. This is the unique power of music. Words alone are often inadequate to express the nuances of various kinds of affections that music can capture.

Let’s take one of the affections in our text, for example: love. We are told to put on love.

But what does Paul mean with that word love? We use that one word to describe all sorts of things. The kind of “love” expressed in pop culture is hardly the same as true, biblical love between a husband and wife. And marital love is different than love between brothers and sisters in Christ. And that love is different than love for God. Same word, but completely different things.

The difference between these types of love is often difficult to articulate. And so how do you disciple someone to have biblical love for God and for others in the body of Christ?

This is the power of art in Scripture. The Bible doesn’t define reverent love with a long, drawn out dictionary definition. The Bible defines reverent love like this:

I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

Psalm 18:1–3

This is reverent love embodied in the very poetry of Scripture, it is poetry that both artistically defines love and forms that love within us.

So Scripture commands us to love God, and then its artistic expressions embody appropriate love. Scripture commands us to put on spiritual affections, and then various artistic elements in Scripture show us what those spiritual affections are like.

Music is simply an extension of this. All of the rich complexities of music, including melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, timbre, dynamics, tempo, density, and performance style all work together to musically embody very nuanced affections, and singing that music then helps to form those affections within us.

When we might have difficulty putting into words the difference, for example, between immature selfish love and mature reverent love, music can embody the latter and actually help to form that within us. My book Worship in Song explains how music does this in far more detail than we have time for this morning.

However, it is important to recognize that not just any singing will make disciples in this way. We must be discerning with what we sing, not only the lyrics, but also the music.

If our goal is discipleship, then our music must be disciplined. If our goal is maturity, then our music must be mature. You don’t form disciplined, mature, sanctified Christians by singing undisciplined, immature, or unsanctified music. You don’t form serious-minded, sober, courageous Christians by singing sappy, sentimental, or trite music. In those cases the form of instruction is working against the goal of instruction.

If we want our singing to form mature disciples of Christ, then what we sing must embody mature affections like those listed in Colossians 3. If we want to form disciples who are compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient, then the music we sing must musically embody compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

This is what spiritual maturity looks like. Other passages in Scripture describe Christian maturity with qualities like reverence, sober-mindedness, dignity, and self-control. If we want to form disciples who are characterized by those virtues, then the music we sing must be reverent, sober, dignified, and controlled.

Musical forms aid in disciplined formation by being disciplined forms themselves.

This is why Paul tells us to sing spiritual psalms and hymns and songs as opposed to fleshly songs, which leads to the next point.

4. Singing kills earthly passions.

Scripture teaches that even our natural passions need to be controlled and calmed lest the control us and become our god. Theologians through most of church history until recent times warned against unrestrained fleshly passions. And they found that singing good music would help to tame such earthly passions.

Particularly because of commands in Scripture (like Colossians 3 and elsewhere) that disciples are to be humble, meek, dignified, and self-controlled, we must give care to avoid music that would cause us to have unrestrained passions, music that is ostentatious, immodest, undignified, and uncontrolled.

This is why theologians throughout history warned about music that simply arouses passions instead of spiritual affections.

Martin Luther warned against profane music, which is unspiritual, frivolous, proud, and irreverent, and instead said we should use music that is “sacred, glowing with love, humble, and dignified.” Calvin, too, insisted that music should have weight and majesty rather than being light or frivolous.

Again, we cannot form disciples who kill earthly passions if our music is sensual. If we want to make disciples, we must avoid music that arouses earthly passions.

Singing sets our affections on heavenly things.

All of this leads to the goal: if we fill our lives with the kind of singing that lets the Word of Christ richly dwell within us, that harmonizes us with the body, restrains earthly passions, and cultivates spiritual affections, that kind of singing will ultimately help us to seek those things that are above. That kind of singing fits with our purpose of making mature disciples of Jesus Christ who observe everything that Christ commanded.

One of the most well-known verses in all of Scripture about singing is found in Colossians 3:16. And yet, we often quote that verse in isolation and do not recognize the broader context in which Paul gives the command to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. But as I would like us to see from this text over the next couple weeks, there is an essential connection between singing and discipleship that ought to compel us to place a high emphasis upon singing in our homes and churches.

In Matthew 28, Christ commissioned his apostles to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded. In many ways the NT epistles in particular were written to do just that: they teach believers to observe everything that Christ commanded, many times in very practical ways that apply Christ’s teaching to everyday life issues.

The book of Colossians is no different. The end of the book in particular, beginning in verse 18 of chapter 3, deals with how to be a good Christian wife, and husband, and parent, and child, and servant, and master, and even how to relate to the unbelievers around you.

Characteristics of Disciples

But before getting to that very practical application of how to observe what Christ commanded, in the first half of chapter 3, Paul tells us what kind of disciples we need to be in order to live in a Christ-glorifying manner.

He begins by describing the nature of who we are as Christians: “If then you have been raised with Christ.” All who are united to Christ are also seated with him in heaven. Verse 3 alludes to this reality: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ is that we are hidden with Christ in God. The first step to being a disciple is to be in Christ through faith in him.

On the basis of that gospel reality, Paul gives one overarching command that he then fleshes out through the rest of the text: “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” We are to direct the center of our spiritual desires upon heavenly things, where Christ is, and not earthly things. As disciples of Christ—followers of Christ, we must set our spiritual focus upon him, not on earthly things.

And Paul then gives us four ways in which disciples of Christ should set their affections on things above and not on things that are on the earth. We’re not going to explore this at depth, but I just want to briefly survey them as we move toward verse 16.

1. Put to death earthly passions.

First, beginning in verse 5, Paul commands disciples to put earthly passions to death. We are to kill immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness. We are to put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lies.

It is important to recognize here that these sins are actually abuses of natural, God-given passions—they are not bad in themselves, but our passions  must be controlled lest they lead us to sin. God has given us sexual desire, but uncontrolled, it leads to immorality. God has given us physical emotions, but uncontrolled, they lead to evil desires and wrath, and so forth.

Altogether, these are what theologians for most of church history referred to as earthly passions. In Philippians 3:19, Paul describes enemies of Christ with similar language: their minds are set on earth things. And he uses a very common Greek metaphor of the day to describe them: “their god is their belly.” In ancient Greek, the belly was often used as a metaphor of physical passions that, left uncontrolled, will lead people to immoral behavior.

But Paul says that a disciple of Christ must kill uncontrolled, earthly passions that lead us to sin.

2. Put on spiritual affections.

Instead, second, disciples of Christ must put on spiritual affections. Verse 12 literally reads that we are to put on “hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” The Greek word translated “hearts” is a word that literally refers to the upper chest. The KJV translated this “bowels of mercy.”

Again, this was a common Greek metaphor. While “belly” referred to physical passions, “chest” referred to noble spiritual affections. So Paul is saying here, disciples of Christ must kill the belly, and put on the chest. Kill earthly passions, and put on spiritual affections. Kill anger, wrath, and malice, and put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

3. Live in harmony with the body of Christ.

Third, as this moves toward practical application, Paul gives a command for disciples to live in loving harmony with the body of Christ. He says in verse 13 to bear with one another, to forgive each other. Verse 14,

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

We were called in one body, Paul says in verse 15, but that one body is made up of many members with a diversity of backgrounds and ethnicities and experiences and gifts. Paul describes such diversity in verse 11: Greeks, Jews, circumcised, uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free. That kind of diversity, left to itself, creates chaos.

Rightly ordered love, Paul is saying, will bind God’s diverse people together in perfect harmony in such a way that when disorder threatens the body, the peace of Christ will rule in our hearts. That kind of loving, peaceful harmony is what we were called to in the body of Christ. This kind of loving harmony is why we must kill self-focused passions and put on spiritual affections.

4. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

And then finally, the fourth command Paul gives to disciples in verse 16 is to “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Discipleship is impossible without the Word of Christ since Jesus said that making disciples fundamentally involves teaching them to observe all that he commanded. In order to observe Christ’s teaching, Christ’s teaching must dwell in us richly.

It is inspired Scripture, Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16, that is profitable for discipleship: for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” That’s a succinct definition of a disciple, and that can’t happen without the Word of Christ richly dwelling within us.

Now we could, of course, spend a whole lot more time expanding these verses and the implications of what Paul commands of disciples, but for our purposes it is instructive to summarize with these four commands. Disciples of Christ must:

1.   Put to death earthly passions.

2.   Put on spiritual affections

3.   Live in loving harmony with the body

4.   Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. This is what it means to seek things that are above.

Next week, we’ll see how Paul’s command to sing fits within this larger theme of discipleship.

Lots of confusion reigns today regarding how we ought to expect the Holy Spirit to work, but it does not have to be this way. Careful reading of Scripture gives us a robust picture of what should be our expectation for how the Holy Spirit works today.

The Spirit Brings Order

First, the Holy Spirit’s purpose in all he does is to bring order, to both individual Christians and to the Body as a whole. The descriptions in Scripture of the Holy Spirit’s activity overwhelmingly attest to this purpose. The Spirit brought order to the material God created at the beginning of time, and he brings order to time itself in unfolding God’s plan in history. He worked to bring peace and blessing to Israel as he dwelt among them in the Old Testament temple, and he does the same as he dwells within the New Testament temple. This was his purpose in special empowerment given to Israel’s kings and prophets and his purpose in the foundational gifts he gave to the apostles and prophets during the formation of the church.

And that purpose remains the same today. The Spirit brings order to the disordered minds and hearts of his elect when he convicts them of their sin and gives them new life, when he unites them into the triune communion and particularly to Christ himself in his Body. He continues to order the lives of his people in empowering them to submit to his Word and be sanctified by it, conforming them to the image of Christ and producing fruit consistent with the harmony and beauty of God’s character. And he builds up the unity of Christ’s body through providentially gifting his people with abilities to use in service of God and one another in the church, particularly in corporate worship, where he forms his people through filling them with his Word read, preached, prayed, and sung.

The Spirit Works Through His Word

Second, one of the most influential and long-lasting works of the Holy Spirit to bring order to his people was the inspiration of his Word; this is why the most frequently described act of the Holy Spirit in Scripture is the giving of revelation, and why his work of “filling” a believer (Eph 5:19) is paralleled in Paul’s writings with the Word of Christ “richly dwelling” within a Christian (Col 3:16). Thus, believers should expect that the Holy Spirit will work today primarily through his Word, and he will never act contrary to his Word.

For this reason, we must never conceive of any work of the Spirit today apart from his Word. If we expect the Spirit to do something apart from Scripture, we will inevitably subordinate Scripture itself to a subjective experience. We may say we believe Scripture to be sufficient, but ultimately we will ignore the objective Word, always seeking for subjective experiences, feelings, “inner voices,” or impressions that we assume to be the Spirit’s illuminating work. Likewise, we will also find ourselves frustrated when we don’t experience some sort of feeling that we assume to be the Spirit’s work. We will wonder why he isn’t “speaking” to us.

Rather, we must recognize that he has already spoken to us through his sufficient Word—we ought not expect any further revelation. We must simply pray that he gives us wisdom to appropriate his Word and then actively apply and submit ourselves to what he has already spoken.

Further, if we don’t properly understand how the Spirit works through his Word, when we come across a difficult passage of Scripture, instead of studying diligently and seeking the teachers God has gifted to his church, we will become frustrated. Why isn’t the Spirit helping me understand this text?

Even Peter acknowledged that some passages of Scripture are “hard to understand” (2 Pt 3:16). The Spirit is not going to somehow make them less difficult, but he will give us such a love for Scripture that we want to be taught and to engage in our own diligent study so that we may understand. Through illumination, the Spirit has already removed what is the most significant impediment to spiritual understanding—a heart veiled by depravity.

The Spirit Works through Ordinary Means of Grace

Third, the sufficiency of the Spirit-inspired Word of God leads also to the conviction that he has given the church in that Word all the revelation necessary concerning the means by which the Spirit will work:

The Spirit commands us, in the context of teaching him how to behave in the house of God, “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture (1 Tm 4:13). He repeats similar commands in Colossians 4:16 and 1 Thessalonians 5:27.

The Spirit also commands pastors to “devote yourself . . . to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Tm 4:13) and “preach the Word;  be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tm 4:2).

The Spirit commands that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and for all who are in high positions (1 Tm 2:1). He commands the Colossians to “continue steadfastly in prayer (4:2), and to the Ephesians he admonishes, “praying at all time in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication . . . making supplication for all the saints” (6:18).

In both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, the Spirit commands gathered believers to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, thereby “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Eph 5:19) and “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Col 3:16).

The Spirit recorded Christ’s command in his Great Commission to the disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

And finally, Paul told the Corinthian church that he passed on “the Lord’s Supper” to the church, having received it from the Lord himself (1 Cor 11:20, 23).

In other words, the Holy Spirit inspired the sufficient revelation concerning the elements of gathered worship, and so we should expect that he would naturally work through those elements—reading the Word, preaching the Word, praying the Word, singing the Word, and visualizing the Word through baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

This is why Christians have traditionally called these prescribed elements the “ordinary means of grace”—these are the primary means Christians should expect the Holy Spirit to ordinarily work his grace into our lives. Thus, Charles Spurgeon’s catechism reads, “The outward and ordinary means whereby the Holy Spirit communicates to us the benefits of Christ’s redemption, are the Word, by which souls are begotten to spiritual life; baptism, the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and meditation, by all which believers are further edified in their most holy faith (Acts 2:41-42; Jas 1:18).”¹Question 71 (Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Catechism, 1855).

And so, we should expect the Holy Spirit’s ordinary work to be that of sanctifying us through the effectual means of grace that he has prescribed in his Word. The regular, disciplined use of these means of grace progressively forms us into the image of Jesus Christ; these Spirit-ordained elements, what Robert Letham calls “God’s prescribed vehicles through which he communicates his mercies to us by the Holy Spirit,”²Robert Letham, Union with Christ (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2011), 139. are the means through which Christians “work out [their] own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in [them], both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12–13).

If we fail to trust the Spirit to work through the ordinary means he prescribes, we will fall into methods of sanctification and worship that actually hinder the Spirit’s work of sanctification and building up of the body. This is evident with those who are otherwise committed to the sufficiency of Scripture, but nevertheless expect the Spirit to work in extraordinary ways. Inevitably they tend toward manipulative methods, especially worship music, that they assume is necessary for the Spirit to work, but in reality encourage immaturity and disorder among God’s people.

Worship the Spirit

While the Holy Spirit of God, who with the Father and the Son should be worshiped and glorified, may certainly do whatever he pleases in the world, he is not a God of disorder, but a God of peace. The testimony of Scripture concerning the ordinary ways he works and a careful study of the New Testament’s explicit treatment of his ordinary work in worship should lead Christians to expect, not extraordinary experience when the Holy Spirit works, but harmony, peace, and order.

Let us worship God the Holy Spirit, who shapes, guides, and fills us with his Word, by which he brings our lives into order and harmony with the good purposes and will of God.

The central work of the Holy Spirit is to bring order to the people and plan of God, and he does this work primarily through the Word that he inspired. This is no different for corporate worship. Paul stresses this in 1 Corinthians 14:36–38:

Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

Paul was inscripturating direct revelation from the Lord here; carried along by the Holy Spirit, Paul was contributing to that “prophetic Word more fully confirmed,” the written Word of God, which always carries the final authority. Paul highlights this as well in the fact that prophecy given in a corporate worship service had to be tested (v. 29), a standard that was exactly the same for prophecy in the Old Testament (Dt 13:1–5, 18:15–22). The Spirit works in worship, as he does in all of his works, primarily through his authoritative written Word.

If we truly want our worship to be “Spirit-led,” then the way to ensure that happening is to fill our services with the Scripture that the Spirit gave us and through which he has promised to work. We ought not place priority in corporate worship upon the individual authentic expression of worshipers. Rather, the emphasis ought to be placed upon the corporate edification of the congregation as the Spirit speaks to us through his Word read, preached, prayed, and sung—everything about a Spirit-led worship service ought to mold and shape us into the kinds of people who will worship God acceptably each and every day of the week as the Spirit produces sanctified fruit within us through his Word.

Build up the Body

Because of the influence of first revivalism in the nineteenth century, and then Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century, evangelical worship today has come to be defined primarily as private authentic experience rather than edification of the body. But understanding what the New Testament clearly teaches about the active role of the Holy Spirit in corporate worship, we ought to work to return to a more biblical understanding of worship itself.

In fact, modern evangelicalism tends to view salvation, sanctification, spiritual gifts, and worship as primarily private experiences. But what we need to recover is an understanding of how all of these works of the Spirit are connected to the corporate gatherings of the church. While the Spirit does absolutely work in individual lives, he does so through the body of Christ and by his Word.

In fact, the gathered worship of the Spirit-indwelt temple, the church, is the primary nexus of the Spirit’s active work today. The Holy Spirit does work outside of corporate worship to be sure, but the gathered worship of God’s people is where the Spirit accomplishes most of his work.

In corporate worship, the Spirit convicts men of sin and assures them of pardon in Christ. In corporate worship the Spirit sanctifies his people, producing his fruit within them. In corporate worship, the Spirit’s gifts are manifested as believers exercise those gifts for the building up of the body. And the Spirit accomplishes all of this in corporate worship through the Word that he produced.

So if you want to experience the Spirit’s active work in your life, then look to the church. Join a faithful church, commit to faithful participation in all of its meetings, and actively seek to build up the body as God intends. In and through your active participation in the church of Jesus Christ, you will truly experience the Holy Spirit’s works in your life.

First Corinthians 14 is clear that the central purpose of corporate worship is the disciplined formation of God’s people. All things should be done decently and in order in corporate worship, for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit’s work in worship, therefore, is to bring order and discipline to the worship of God’s people.

With orderly, disciplined formation being the expectation for how the Holy Spirit will work in worship, what role does emotion and music play in worship, and how are they related to the Holy Spirit? This question is particularly relevant since emotion and music are central to the contemporary expectation of how the Holy Spirit works.

Very simply, understanding the ordinary way the Holy Spirit works in worship leads to the conclusion that emotion and singing come as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life, not as a cause of the Holy Spirit’s work. This is one of the primary misunderstandings of many contemporary evangelicals today, who expect music to bring the Holy Spirit’s experiential presence as they are filled with emotional rapture.

Calvin Stapert helpfully corrects this thinking with reference to Ephesians 5:18–19 and Colossians 3:16:

“Spirit-filling” does not come as the result of singing. Rather, “Spirit-filling” comes first; singing is the response. . . . Clear as these passages are in declaring that Christian singing is a response to the Word of Christ and to being filled with the Spirit, it is hard to keep from turning the cause and effect around. Music, with its stimulating power, can too easily be seen as the cause and the “Spirit-filling” as the effect.¹Calvin R. Stapert, A New Song for an Old World: Musical Thought in the Early Church (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2006), 19–20.

“Such a reading of the passages,” Stapert argues, “gives song an undue epicletic function and turns it into a means of beguiling the Holy Spirit.” By “epicletic,” Stapert refers to the expectation that music will “invoke” or call upon the Holy Spirit to appear. Stapert argues that such a “magical epicletic function” characterized pagan worship music, not Christian.²Stapert, New Song for an Old World, 20.

This is exactly what contemporary Pentecostalized worship expects of music. Historians Swee Hong Lim and Lester Ruth note how the importance of particular styles of music that quickly stimulate emotion rose to a significance not seen before in Christian worship. They observe, “No longer were these musicians simply known as music ministers or song leaders; they were now worship leaders.” The “worship leader” became the person responsible to “bring the congregational worshipers into a corporate awareness of God’s manifest presence” through the use of specific kinds of music that created an emotional experience considered to be a manifestation of this presence. This charismatic theology of worship raised the matter of musical style to a level of significance that Lim and Ruth describe as “musical sacramentality,” where music is now considered a primary means through which “God’s presence could be encountered in worship.”³Lim and Ruth, Lovin’ on Jesus, 18. As Lim and Ruth note, by the end of the 1980s, “the sacrament of musical praise had been established.”⁴Lim and Ruth, Lovin’ on Jesus, 131.

With this theology of the Holy Spirit, rather than using music to contribute to the goal of disciplined formation, music is carefully designed to create a visceral experience of the feelings that then becomes evidence of God’s manifest presence. This results in music that must be immediately stimulating, easily arousing the senses and sweeping the listeners into an emotional experience which they interpret to be a work of the Holy Spirit.

In contrast, when we have a more biblical expectation that the Holy Spirit is a God of peace who works to order our souls in corporate worship, the role of music and emotion take on an entirely different function. Often psalms and hymns serve as God’s words to us, either directly quoting from or paraphrasing Scripture itself. As 1 Corinthians 14 makes clear, this is where biblical worship must begin: God’s Word that builds us up, that sanctifies into mature worshipers. This is why our music must be profoundly biblical and richly doctrinal.

And second, psalms and hymns can also give us language for our responses to God’s revelation. But it is important to remember that the purpose of what we are singing is not merely to express what is already in our hearts; the purpose of what we sing is to form our hearts, to shape our responses toward God. The goal of this worship is discipleship—building up the body.

Furthermore, while the New Testament does describe certain “emotions” that rise out of the heart of a Spirit-sanctified believer, such as the “fruit of the Spirit,” these will be characterized, not by extraordinary euphoria, but by what Jonathan Edwards calls “the lamb-like, dove-like spirit or temper of Jesus Christ.” Truly Spirit-formed “religious affections,” according to Edwards, “naturally beget and promote such a spirit of love, meekness, quietness, forgiveness, and mercy, as appeared in Christ.”⁵Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, New Ed (Banner of Truth, 1978), 272.

Contrary to caricatures, this kind of disciplined formation in worship is deeply emotional, but the music is not intended to stimulate or arouse emotions; rather, deep affections of the soul are cultivated by the Holy Spirit through his Word, and music gives language to appropriate responses to the Word. As we have seen, to be filled by the Spirit is the same as “Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you.” So that comes first: The Spirit fills us with his Word, then we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs that teach our hearts to express rightly those gracious affections that have been formed in our hearts by the Spirit of God through the Word of God.

In fact, particularly because the characteristics of the Spirit’s fruit consisting primarily of qualities like dignity and self-control, care ought to be given in corporate worship to avoid music that would cause a worshiper to lose control. Historically, Christians with a biblical understanding of the Spirit’s work recognized that although physical feelings are good, they must be controlled lest our “belly” (a Greek metaphor for bodily passions) be our god (Phil 3:19).

Rather, since the Spirit cultivates reverence, dignity, and self-control within believers, music should be chosen that will likewise nurture and cultivate these qualities and the affections of the soul like compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Col 3:12) and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:23). The fact is that qualities like intensity, passion, enthusiasm, exhilaration, or euphoria are never described in Scripture as qualities to pursue or stimulate, they are never used to define the nature of spiritual maturity or the essence of worship, and they are never listed as what the Spirit produces in a believer’s life.

The God of peace cultivates peace in the hearts of worshipers, not unbridled passion.

Often when Christians today think of the Holy Spirit’s work in worship, they anticipate that if he is working, then there will be high euphoria, and surprising, spontaneous outbursts of praise. But is that really how we ought to expect the Spirit to work in corporate worship?

The metaphor of the Spirit building believers into a temple for God in Ephesians 2 helps us understand his role in corporate worship corporate worship. The temple metaphor is not coincidental; the gathered NT church is the dwelling place for the Spirit of God in this age in the same way that the temple was God’s dwelling place in the OT economy. Paul describes the body of individual believers as “a temple of the Holy Spirit within you” (1 Cor 6:19), which refers to his indwelling presence of individuals believers. But Paul also uses the temple metaphor in several texts with plural pronouns, describing the gathered church collectively, such as 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 6:16. Here is the same language in Ephesians 2:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Eph 2:19–22)

Peter also uses the same language:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pt 2:4–5)

 The church collectively is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit dwells within the gathered church in a manner distinct from his indwelling individual believers. And, as Ephesians 2:18 makes clear, this happens through the person and work of Jesus Christ “in one Spirit.”

This also may be what Christ meant in John 4 when he said that God is seeking those who will “worship the Father in spirit and truth” (v. 23). Since “God is a spirit” (v. 24) and does not have a body like man, true worship takes place in its essence in the non-corporeal realm of the Spirit, which is why it is essential that the Holy Spirit dwell within the NT temple—the church—in the same way he dwelt in the temple of the Old Testament. God promised Israel that he would dwell among them (Ex 29:45), and we are told that his Spirit did so in order to instruct them (Neh 9:20; Hg 2:5). And while in the Old Testament, worship was specifically localized to that physical, Spirit-indwelt temple, “the hour is now here” (v. 23) that worship takes place wherever two or three Spirit-indwelt believers gather together, for there he is “in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).

God of Peace

Furthermore, Scripture clearly teaches that Holy Spirit’s work in corporate worship is one of ordering. The key passage for this focus is 1 Corinthians 14:26–40. Apparently, Christians in the church at Corinth had similar expectations about the Holy Spirit’s work in worship being extraordinary experience as contemporary Christians do.

Yet Paul corrects their expectation by emphasizing that even if the Holy Spirit works in extraordinary ways in worship, like with tongues or prophecy, “God is not a God of confusion”—in other words, disorder—”but of peace” (v. 33). The meaning of the term translated “peace” is a state of completeness, soundness, and harmony. Paul’s argument here appears to be that even within a context of expecting the Holy Spirit to work in miraculous ways in Corinth, confusion and disorder are evidences that he is not working. It is a God of peace who is at work in corporate worship.

This should not surprise us. From the very first work of the Spirit in creation through each of his works in Scripture, the Spirit’s purpose has been one of peace—bringing completeness, soundness, and harmony to God’s world and God’s people. The Spirit is the beautifier of creation and the beautifier of human souls. He brought harmony through giving revelation and through inspiring Scripture. And he brings harmony to the body when peace rules therein.

We see something of this in Colossians 3, where Paul describes the church as a body where rightly ordered love “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (v. 14). How does that happen? We have already seen how. Our loves are rightly ordered by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, and we are bound together in perfect harmony as the Spirit builds us into a holy temple. Paul continues, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed. You were called in one body” (v. 15). That peace, too, describes a wholeness, right ordering, and harmony. Again, we have seen this happens only through the work of the God of peace.

And how does the Spirit cultivate such harmony, peace, and unity of the body of Christ, his holy temple?

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col 3:16)

We let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly as we allow the Spirit to fill us with his Word (Eph 5:18). This is the purpose of corporate worship. In corporate worship, the Spirit fills us with the Word of Christ, binding us together in perfect harmony, cultivating peace and order in the body as we sing to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

The God of peace brings harmony and order to the body in corporate worship.

Disciplined Formation

This is Paul’s central argument in 1 Corinthians 14, the only full chapter in the New Testament given entirely to the subject of worship. He argues that in the context of a corporate gathering of the church—”when you come together”—the believers in the Corinthian church should desire the gift of prophecy over the gift of tongues. He summarizes his thesis in verse 5:

Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

I believe that both the gifts of prophecy and tongues have ceased because of their temporary nature; however, what this chapter teaches about these gifts within church gatherings reveals the Spirit’s work of bringing harmony to the body through corporate worship. In other words, the reasons Paul gives for why the Corinthian believers should desire prophecy over tongues in corporate worship helps us to better understand the essence of the Spirit’s work in worship.

Paul’s argument is that for corporate worship, the gift of prophecy—divine revelation from God—is more desirable than the gift of tongues—which was an individual’s expression of praise to God in a known language that no one else in the congregation understood. The nature of those two gifts is important: prophecy is from God to men; tongues are from men to God. Prophecy is understandable to all; tongues are only understandable to the one speaking (if no one else in the congregation speaks that language). Prophecy is for corporate edification; tongues are for individual expression.

Now why does Paul argue that for corporate worship, the Corinthian believers should desire prophecy over tongues? Notice the core reason Paul is making this argument throughout the chapter:

On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. (v 3)

The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. (v 4)

Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up. (v 5)

Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? (v 6)

So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said?For you will be speaking into the air. (v 9)

So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. (v 12)

For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. (v 17)

Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. (v 19)

And this point really all climaxes in verse 26:

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

In other words, one of the core reasons Paul insists that the gift of prophecy was to be desired over tongues in corporate worship is that the Spirit’s purpose for corporate worship is edification of the whole body, not just individual experiences.

This argument helps us understand that one of the fundamental purposes of a corporate worship service is for the Spirit to build up and order the body. The Spirit’s primary role in corporate worship is that of disciplined formation through his Word. We come to worship to be built up by God’s Word, to be formed into the image of Christ by God’s Word, to have our affections sanctified anew by the God’s Word. We come to a corporate worship service so that our responses of worship—our lives of worship—might be shaped by God’s Spirit through his Word.

And notice also that Paul tells us exactly how this kind of edification in corporate worship takes place: edification in corporate worship takes place through order, not disorder. Christians in the church at Corinth assumes that true worship will be spontaneous, and too much structure stifles the Holy Spirit. True worship takes place when I am uninhibited; no constraints.

But Paul is emphatic in verse 33: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” And remember, Paul is dealing here with Holy Spirit given miraculous gifts. Arguing from the greater to the lesser, if the Holy Spirit worked in corporate worship through order even when he gave miraculous gifts, certainly his work is orderly once those gifts have ceased. It is a God of peace who is at work in corporate worship. The Spirit’s work in corporate worship is that of disciplined formation.

Structure and order within a worship service does not stifle the Holy Spirit’s work; he works through the structure and order. Structure and order within corporate worship does not hinder our relationship with God, it builds our relationship with God. It is through structure and order that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, edifies us, and forms us into worshipers of God.

On this basis, Paul provided clear principles for order in the Corinthian worship services, fully consistent with the Holy Spirit’s ordinary activity. “Only two or at most three” people may speak in tongues in any given service, “and each in turn” (v. 27). If there is no one to interpret the tongues, “let each of them keep silent” (v. 28). Only two or three prophets should speak, others should weigh what is said (v. 29), and they should do so one at a time (v. 30). Far from expecting the Holy Spirit to sweep through the congregation, causing worshipers to be overcome with his presence, “the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets” (v. 32). Far from quenching the Holy Spirit, order within corporate worship is exactly how the Holy Spirit works, desiring that “all may learn and all be encouraged” (v. 31).

Thus in corporate worship, exactly because of how the Holy Spirit ordinarily works, “all things should be done decently and in order” (v. 40).

The primary work of the Holy Spirit today in a Christian’s life is his sanctifying believers to be “spiritual”—to be characterized by inner life and external behavior that conforms to the will of God.

However, another result attributed often to the Spirit in the New Testament is gifting. Some gifting was special empowerment for leadership of God’s people. This unique gifting given temporarily to key figures like prophets and apostles often resulted in revelation, special miracles, notable power, and even less extraordinary gifting like boldness and courage. Often this empowerment was described as being “filled [pimplēmi] with the Spirit,” where the Spirit is the content of the filling.

It was by means of this extraordinary Spirit filling that key individuals prophesied. And in the same way, by means of this unique Spirit filling  the disciples spoke in tongues (Acts 2:4), the disciples were given extraordinary boldness to speak the Word of God (Acts 4:31), and Paul was equipped for his apostolic work (Acts 9:17). This kind of filling and gifting is unique and ought not be something we should expect today.

But this is also true of the more ordinary Spirit filling (plērēs/plēroō), where this language is used to describe the Spirit’s work in every believer’s life to sanctify him through his Word and equip him for service. For example, by means of this ordinary Spirit filling, Jesus was given strength to resist temptation (Lk 4:1–2), the first deacons were equipped to serve (Acts 6:3), and Stephen was given courage in the face of death (Acts 7:55).

Furthermore, the New Testament uses several terms to describe gifts that are given by the Spirit of God to believers:

• pneumatikon – “spiritual gifts” (1 Cor 12:1)
• charisma – “grace gifts” (1 Cor 12:4; 1 Pt 4:10)
• diakonia – “service” (1 Cor 12:5; 1 Pt 4:10)
• energema – “activity” (1 Cor 12:6)
• doma – “gift” (Eph 4:8)
• merismos – “distributed gifts” (Heb 2:4)
• phanerosis – “manifestation” (1 Cor 12:7)

As can be seen in the representative Scripture references listed above, many of these terms are clearly used to describe the same thing. First Corinthians 12 in particular makes this clear, where the same concept is called “spiritual gifts” (12:1), “grace gifts” (12:4), “service” (12:5), “activities” (12:6), and “manifestation” (12:7). Similarly, 1 Peter 4:10 uses both “grace gifts” and “service” to describe the same thing.

First Corinthians 12 explains that these gifts are given “through the Spirit” (v. 8) or “by the one Spirit” (v. 9), and that they are “the manifestation of the Spirit” (v. 7). Since these passages explicitly ascribe the giving of these gifts to the Holy Spirit, other passages that discuss such gifts may also safely be attributed to a work of the Holy Spirit.

Clearly 1 Corinthians 12 is a key passage that helps us to understand the nature of these gifts. Several important points can be drawn out concerning gifts of the Spirit. First, Paul emphasizes their variety (vv 4, 5, 6). The Greek word translated “varieties” in each of those cases is the word from which we get our English word, “diversity.” And the word translated “apportions” in verse 11 is the verb form of the same word translated “varieties” earlier.

Second, Paul emphasizes that the Spirit gives such gifts to every believer: “to each” (v 7); “to one,” “to another” (v 8); “to another” (v 9), “to another,” “to another” (v 10); “to each one individually” (v 11). This is also clear through the rest of the chapter as he emphasizes the important function of every member of the body, each of whom has been gifted.

Third, both the use of the term diakonia (“service”) as a term for such gifting and the whole point of Paul’s discourse in this passage make clear the purpose of Spirit gifting: service within the body of Christ. He says directly in verse 7, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Thus, we could define these gifts are Spirit-given abilities “given for service within the ministry and outreach of the local church,”¹McCune, A Systematic Theology: Volume 2, 349. Wayne Grudem, a continuationist, defines them similarly: “A spiritual gift is any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry … Continue reading including miraculous gifts (e.g. prophecy, miracles, healing, and tongues) and non-miraculous gifts, which Stitzinger describes as abilities that “operate within the natural realm of order even though God’s hand of providence is involved”²Stitzinger, “Spiritual Gifts: Definitions and Kinds,” 161. (e.g. evangelism, teaching, mercy, administration, etc.).

How Does the Spirit Give These Gifts?

Now most cessationists claim that only so-called “miraculous” gifts have ceased, but other gifts of the Spirit continue, such as teaching, hospitality, evangelism, etc. I believe that is a perfectly acceptable position considering the purpose of the gifts. However, I will make a brief case here for why I believe all gifts supernaturally given by the Spirit have ceased in this age, though he continues to gift his people providential through natural means.

This is admittedly a minority position, even among cessationists. Most who hold to a cessationist view limit the cessation of gifts only to what they describe as “miraculous sign gifts”—prophecy, healing, tongues, etc. The argument, with which I wholeheartedly agree, is that these gifts were provisional in nature, given temporarily to unique individuals like prophets and apostles at key transitional periods in the progress of God’s redemptive plan. Their purpose was to bring God’s people and purposes into order during times when new revelation was necessary and “epochally significant”³Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 224. events were happening in history.

In the New Testament, Larry Pettegrew stresses that “the Spirit gave gifts to the first Christians if for no other reason than to make the transition from the old covenant program to the new covenant program as smooth as possible.”⁴Larry D. Pettegrew, The New Covenant Ministry of the Holy Spirit, Second edition (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2001), 157. This is why, for example, Paul describes “signs and wonders and mighty works” as “signs of a true apostle” (2 Cor 12:12). Pettegrew’s full explanation is worth quoting:

[1] The revelational gifts, therefore, were bestowed on the apostles and prophets to explain what the church was to believe and how it was to operate in the first age of the new covenant program. [2] The miraculous gifts were given to authenticate the new covenant ministry and authority of the apostles—especially in the giving of revelation. [3] Many of the other gifts were given to enable the churches to function according to the will of God when no New Testament Scriptures were available on a widespread scale.⁵Pettegrew, The New Covenant Ministry of the Holy Spirit, 186–87.

Yet notice that Pettegrew includes in his list of temporary gifts that the Spirit gave for transitional purposes “revelational gifts,” “miraculous gifts,” and “other gifts,” which would include “non-miraculous” gifts like teaching, evangelism, mercy, administration, etc.

I agree with Pettegrew for two primary reasons: First, all gifts described as such in the New Testament were miraculous. Consider Peter, for example, the bumbling disciple who often put his foot in his mouth during Jesus’s ministry, who preached boldly and eloquently on the Day of Pentecost after he had been supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit. The gift itself is not usually characterized as “miraculous,” but the means of gifting was certainly supernatural. Peter’s ability to preach from that moment on was not natural, learned, or developed; it was instantaneous and unexpected—it was supernatural.

Second, as Pettegrew emphasizes, even these gifts we would normally not characterize as supernatural were given to believers in the first century to bring the church in order during that transitional period moving from the old covenant era to the church age. The served the same function as the so-called “miraculous gifts,” and so the more “ordinary” gifts would have ceased as well once all of the revelation necessary for the firm establishment of the church had been inscripturated.

Providential Gifts

However, this does not mean the Spirit does not give gifts to the church today. He does. But rather than gifting believers in instantaneous, supernatural ways like he did during transitional periods, the Spirit gifts believers today providentially through natural means.

We do not see cases, for example, of an individual who could hardly put two intelligent words together prior to his conversion, instantaneously able to preach with eloquence when he receives the Holy Spirit. Rather, what we see is God providentially gifting individuals with abilities like teaching, administration, or mercy naturally so that when those individuals come to faith, they can use those God-given gifts for ministry within the church. I agree with Pettegrew when he says, “We today have providential abilities, talents, or gifts that parallel the gifts of the New Testament era.”⁶Pettegrew, The New Covenant Ministry of the Holy Spirit, 187.

I think this is important because many times the assumption that the Spirit still gives believers gifts in a supernatural way today fuels the “spiritual gift” fads in which Christians take quizzes to determine what their gifts are and then assume that if some area of service is not on their list, then they shouldn’t be expected to serve in that way. It also contributes to a sort of laziness in actually cultivating and learning new skills and abilities that can be used in the service of the church since they assumption is that if I don’t have a particular gift from the Spirit, then there’s nothing I can do about it.

No; similar to sanctification, all gifting does come from God, but we are still responsible to cultivate and grow in our God-given abilities for the edification of the body.

I also believe attempting to distinguish between “miraculous gifts” and “non-miraculous gifts” is one reason many people have a hard time accepting that only the miraculous gifts have ceased today. I understand the difficulty since such distinctions are somewhere artificial. Instead, I would suggest that all miraculous gifting has ceased since those gifts were temporary and transitional in nature, though God still gifts the church providentially through natural means.

This certainly does not limit attributing all good gifts to the Spirit of God. Indeed, “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). Nevertheless, there is a difference between gifts that the Spirit gives supernaturally, and those that he givens providentially and naturally.

Here is an example to drive this point home: If I have cancer, and after months of chemotherapy and surgery I am declared free from cancer, who gets the credit? Ultimately God does. Yet God’s healing did not come supernaturally; God healed me providentially and naturally by means of doctors and medicine. God gets no less credit or glory by healing me through natural means than he would through supernatural means.

Likewise, if I am enslaved to a particular sin, and after months of faithful church membership, Bible reading, and discipline I am freed from that enslavement, who gets the credit? Ultimately God does. Yet God did not instantaneously zap me with freedom from that sin; God freed me providentially and naturally by means of the spiritual disciples of this Word. God gets no less credit or glory by freeing me through those means than he would through instantaneous delivery.

The same is true of gifts from the Spirit today. The Spirit gifts every believer with ministry abilities for the edification of the church, and he does so providentially and naturally. When an individual is converted, the sanctifying work of the Spirit motivates him to use his gifts for ministry, and the Spirit empowers him to do so faithfully. But we are still responsible to work, to learn, and to cultivate the gifts God has given us. God gets no less credit or glory, because every good gift comes from him.

Ordering the Body

This concept of ordering describes the purpose of the Spirit’s work of gifting, specifically, an ordering of the body of Christ. Paul states that “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7). And that common good, according to Paul is the unity of the body:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (1 Cor 12:12)

The whole purpose behind the Spirit gifting individual believers is so that they can function within the unified body that he is building. Whether the gifting is supernatural or providential, the result is the same. The Spirit gives gifts for the purpose of bringing order to the body of Christ.

Paul explicitly connects the Spirit’s giving of gifts to bringing order within the church a few chapters later, commanding, “Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor 14:12). The Holy Spirit’s gifting of individual Christians with a diversity of ministry abilities serves to build up the unity of the church—many members of one body (Rom 12:5), with the goal that this body will “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). Or, to use another NT metaphor for the church, by the Spirit, believers “are being built together into a dwelling place for God,” “a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph 2:21–22).

Therefore, our response to this work of the Spirit should be clear: serve the church. Don’t worry about trying to figure out what your “spiritual gifts” are. Simply serve the church in any way you can. The Spirit has providentially gifted you to do so, so serve, and marvel at the ways the Spirit of God has uniquely gifted you to minister to others.

Many Christians today would tell you that if the Holy Spirit is working in your life, then you will experience extraordinary manifestations. But is that really the main way the Holy Spirit works?

By far, the dominant action attributed to the Holy Spirit with relation to every Christian is his work of sanctification. In the New Testament, to be “filled with the Spirit” means to be characterized as spiritually mature and godly as we are more and more controlled by the Spirit as he fills us with his Word.

Therefore, of particular importance for this discussion is a careful focus on what Paul calls “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22–23, the results of such an ordering in the life of the Christian: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Indeed, the overwhelming emphasis in the NT concerning what will characteristically define the life of a mature, Spirit-filled Christian is on sobriety, discipline, dignity, and self-control—Paul commands believers to “think with sober judgment” (Rom 12:3), “be sober” (1 Thes 5:6, 8), and “be self-controlled” (Tit 2:12), as does Peter (1 Pt 1:13, 4:7, 5:8; 2 Pt 1:6). In particular, he urges older men to “be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness,” older woman to “be reverent in behavior,” and younger women and men to “be self-controlled” (Tit 2:2–6).

These qualities are what characterize believers as “spiritual” because they have let the Word of Christ richly dwell in them, submitting to the Sprit’s sanctifying control through his Word as he brings order and stability to the believer’s life. We wouldn’t really characterize this sanctifying work of the Spirit as “extraordinary experience,” though it certainly is a divine work.

Furthermore, contrary to what might be common expectations among evangelical Christians today, Scripture never describes the fruit of the Spirit’s work in a believer’s life with language like intensity, passion, enthusiasm, exhilaration, or euphoria. These are disordered passions.

Rather, sanctification is the result of the progressive work of the Spirit to sanctify a believer, to bring a believer’s whole person into harmony with the will of God, through the ordinary disciplines of his Word. John Murray summarizes the Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification: “It is the efficacious and transforming enlightenment of the Holy Spirit by which the people of God attain ‘unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:13).”¹John Murray, Principles of Conduct: Aspects of Biblical Ethics (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1957), 225.

Walk by the Spirit

Galatians 5:16 tells us clearly how we should respond to this understanding of how the Holy Spirit works in our sanctification: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Unlike salvation, which is monergistic, that is, the Holy Spirit does all the work in regenerating dead souls, sanctification is synergistic, meaning that although sanctification would never happen apart from the Holy Spirit’s active work, we have part to play as well: We must walk by the Spirit.

What does it mean to walk by the Spirit? Based on what we have seen, the answer should be evident. To walk by the Spirit is to let him fill us with his Word, and so we must read his Word. To walk by the Spirit is to pursue those qualities that characterize the Spirit, and so we must meditate upon Scripture and actively work to pursue those things. To walk by the Spirit is to allow the Spirit to lead us through his Word, and so we must meditate upon and memorize Scripture so that when we come to decisions in our lives, we will choose that which aligns with God’s moral will as he has articulated in in Scripture.

Let us actively walk by the Spirit, so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Likely the most important truth about the Holy Spirit’s active work that we must remember is that the Holy Spirit always works through his Word. Through his illuminating power, the Spirit opens our minds and hearts to accept and submit to the authority of the Word that he inspired. And thus it is through such submission to the Word that the Spirit sanctifies us. This is critically important to recognize: the Holy Spirit will not sanctify us apart from his Word.

In fact, this is exactly what is indicated when Paul commands us to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18). Like Spirit baptism and illumination, Spirit filling is another work of the Spirit that has been significantly confused in by errant teaching, but careful attention to the biblical text will give us clarity as to the exact nature of this work of the Spirit.

Sometimes in Scripture, language of filling is used to describe the special empowerment that the Spirit gave to key leaders of God’s people during important periods in redemptive history. In the New Testament, these all appear in Luke and Acts, where Luke uses the term pimplēmi, in which the grammar clearly indicates that he is the content of the filling. These leaders were filled with the Spirit in a unique way that empowered them to lead God’s people.

In contrast, Luke uses the adjective plērēs five times in which the grammar indicates that the Spirit is the content of the filling and that this is a figurative expression. In other words, these cases describe individuals who are characterized as being “spiritual.”¹These instances are Luke 4:1; Acts 6:3, 6:5, 7:55, 11:24. Similarly, in one case Luke uses the verb plēroō in Acts 13:52 to describe the disciples as characterized by spiritual joy. This is similar to when we might describe someone as being a “spiritual” person or a “godly” person. What we mean is that the person’s life is characterized by qualities that identify him with qualities of God himself.

So to summarize, Luke uses two different word groups to distinguish two kinds of filling:

• pimplēmi refers to unique filling for special ministry
• plērēs/plēroō refers to ordinary filling, meaning characterized as “spiritual”

Paul’s command in Ephesians 5:18–19 is related to the second use but grammatically different:

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.

In both cases above, the Spirit is the content of the filling, either in a unique sense or in an ordinary metaphorical sense. Paul uses the same verb that Luke used in Acts 13:52, plēroō, but with a different grammatical construction. Instead of “Spirit” being the content (genitive) of the filling, in Ephesians 5:18 “Spirit” is the object (dative) of the preposition en (translated in the ESV as “with”). Greek grammarians note that this grammatical construction never indicates content in the New Testament.²Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament with Scripture, Subject, and Greek Word Indexes (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 1997), 374–75. Rather, “Spirit” refers to the means instead of content. Here are helpful illustrations of the difference between content and means:

Illustrations of the difference between content and means³Andrew David Naselli, Let Go and Let God? A Survey and Analysis of Keswick Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2010), 252.

In other words, in Ephesians 5:18, “Spirit” is the means of filling rather than the content of filling, and thus it would be better to translate the command as “be filled by the Spirit” (the Greek preposition en can be translated either way).

So if the Spirit is the means of filling in Ephesians 5:18, what is the content of the filling? The best way to determine the answer is by looking at the parallel verse in Colossians 3:16:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

The command here is nearly identical to Ephesians 5:18, but instead of the command being to let the Spirit fill us, the command in Colossians 3:16 is to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. The implication is that these are related concepts, and thus the content of the filling is the Word of Christ.

The command of Ephesians 5:18, then, ought to be clear: Paul commands us to let the Holy Spirit fill us with his Word. The point is clear: the Spirit always works through his Word. To be filled by the Spirit is to be filled with the Spirit’s Word.

And, of course, this is why Spirit filling is so crucial to our sanctification, since it is the Word that the Spirit breathed out “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tm 3:16–17). The “filling” picture embodied by the plērēs/plēroō word group expresses the nature of how sanctification happens. In all of those cases, the ordinary filling with/by the Spirit signifies submission to his control by his Word. Sanctification does not take place apart from the Sprit’s work, but it is not passive—we must read the Word and submit ourselves to it; that is what it means to be filled by the Spirit.

It is no secret that the Holy Spirit’s work today is one of the most misunderstood doctrines, and this is certainly the case with regard to what the Spirit is doing every day in a Christian’s life.

When Christians think of the Holy Spirit’s work, they usually think of miraculous works. But the most prominent work of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the New Testament is the sanctification of believers. Throughout Scripture, the Bible portrays the Holy Spirit’s work as that of bringing the plan and people of God into order, and this is certainly true of the “moral ordering” he accomplishes in the lives of Christians on a daily basis. This re-ordering began with salvation and continues with the Spirit’s frequently mentioned work of sanctification (Rom 15:16, 1 Cor 6:11, 2 Thes 2:13, 1 Pt 1:2). Next to salvation itself, the Spirit’s work of sanctification is his most significant ongoing work in this age.

However, because Christians are so confused about the Spirit’s work and so infatuated with his miraculous works, many are often unclear as to what the Spirit is doing to sanctify them. This is particular a problem with his work of indwelling and illuminating.

Indwelling

The Spirit’s indwelling presence begins at conversion and continues permanently through the life of a believer. The Spirit’s indwelling helps assure us that we are children of God, but it also refers to the work of the Spirit by which our inner beings are continually “strengthened with power” (Eph 3:16). Through the Spirit’s indwelling work, we are able to love Christ as we ought, resist sin, and grow in holiness. This is what Paul prays for at the end of Ephesians 3:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:14–19)

This ministry of the Spirit, as Paul indicates in Ephesians 3, results in an ordering of the life of a believer. That fact that our bodies are temples of the Spirit is both the critical means by which we can battle fleshly sin and an important motivator to actively do so. As Paul admonishes,

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. (1 Cor 6:18–19)

The Spirit’s indwelling ministry also makes him a helper for the believer. Jesus described the Spirit as the “Helper” and “Comforter” (Jn 14:16, 26). Likewise, Paul tells us that when we are desperately weak and in need such that we groan in prayer, not even knowing exactly what to ask, the Spirit intercedes on our behalf (Rom 8:26–28).

Illumination

As is true of regeneration at the moment of conversion, the Spirit’s continued indwelling presence involves the continued work of illumination. One significant way we see an improper view of the Holy Spirit’s work is in how many people understand the doctrine of illumination as one in which the Spirit communicates the meaning of Scripture to us or otherwise helps us understand the Bible’s meaning.

But this is not what illumination means. We ought not to expect the Spirit to speak to us outside of Scripture. So what, then, do theologians mean when they talk about Spirit illumination?

While the term illumination does not appear in Scripture, it does describe a collection of concepts involving the Spirit’s work in relation to his Word in the believer’s life. Illumination begins at conversion with regeneration, which involves the Spirit enlightening our minds and opening our eyes to the beauty of the gospel and the authority of the Word rather than giving us special insight or understanding of the Bible’s meaning. Thus, illumination begins at conversion as a result of the Spirit’s work of regeneration and his indwelling presence, and it continues for the duration of a believer’s life as a necessary means of sanctification.

One text that refers to the continuing benefit for believers of what we may call illumination is Ephesians 1:16–23. Here Paul specifically uses the phrase “having the eyes of your heart enlightened” (v. 18). And what is the result of such illumination? The result of this enlightening is that believers continue to recognize the value and authority of the truth of God’s revelation for the entirety of their lives.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

No new revelation is imparted; rather, illumination causes believers to accept God’s Word for what it is—the sufficient, authoritative revelation of God.

In Philippians 3:15, Paul tells believers, “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.” Here, too, “reveal” refers not to new knowledge but to a kind of spiritual maturity that rightly submits to and appropriates God’s written revelation. Likewise, in Colossians 1:9, Paul prays that believers “may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Again, this refers not to new revelation or even intellectual comprehension but rather to spiritual recognition of the significance of God’s Word in the believer’s life and the ability to rightly appropriate God’s Word.

These texts do not describe the Holy Spirit giving believers new revelation or even new meaning of a biblical text. As Carl Henry argues,

The Spirit illumines the truth, not by unveiling some hidden inner mystical content behind the revelation . . ., but by focusing on the truth of revelation as it is. The Spirit illumines and interprets by repeating the grammatical sense of Scripture; in doing so he in no way alters or expands the truth of revelation.¹Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, 283.

The bottom line is that Scripture is sufficient for our sanctification. The Spirit revealed the things of God to specific men who penned the Words of Scripture (1 Cor 1:10). The meaning of Scripture is in the text, and it is self-authenticating, sufficient, and authoritative. Our responsibility is simply to apply the sufficient Word to our lives.

But neither does illumination mean that we are given new understanding of the text. In other words, illumination does not eliminate the need for diligent study in order to understand Scripture—it does not give us understanding in an intellectual sense. We must still work to grasp the meaning of Scripture. As Paul tells Timothy, we must work diligently so that we might “rightly [handle] the Word of truth” (2 Tm 2:15).

Rather, illumination means that our enlightened minds continue to recognize Scripture as God’s revelation throughout our lives. A Spirit-illumined Christian does not doubt that what God has written is the truth, though he may have to work to intellectually understand the meaning of what he is reading.

Spirit illumination also causes us to recognize that what we are reading in God’s Word is authoritative for us. Since our enlightened hearts recognize the Bible as God’s revelation that is true and beautiful, we know that it has authority over us. These are not simply abstract words from God, they are words we ought to obey.

Illumination does not reveal to us the meaning of a biblical text, but it does cause us to recognize the significance of Scripture for our lives. Calvin notes that “by the inward illumination of the Spirit he causes the preached Word to dwell in [believers’] hearts.”²Calvin, Institutes, III, xxiv, 8. Because an illumined believer recognizes the truthfulness and beauty of the Word, he also recognizes how important it is that he intentionally apply the Word to his life.

However, the specific ways in which we ought to apply God’s Word to our lives are not going to be somehow “revealed” to us, through direct revelation, a “still small voice,” or some improper understanding of illumination. We have already been illumined, and that illumination is ongoing; we must now work hard to discern ways in which our lives need to change as a result of God’s sufficient Word.

As Paul prayed in Colossians 1:9, we ought to pray for “spiritual wisdom and understanding,” that is, the God-given ability to rightly apply God’s Word to our lives. And he will give us that wisdom. But spiritual wisdom means that we will be able to rightly apply the Word, it does not mean that the Spirit is going to apply it for us. The Spirit gives us wisdom, he does not give us new revelation. As 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, by the Spirit believers are enabled to “accept the things of the Spirit of God.”

Finally, an illumined believer will willingly submit to the authoritative revelation of God. This is the natural outcome of all that has come before. Believers recognize the Bible to be God’s truthful, beautiful, authoritative, significant revelation, and since our hearts have been enlightened, we want to obey it.

This is not to say that we will perfectly obey or that we will not struggle with sin. But the same Spirit who enlightened our hearts at conversion also convicts us of sin, and at the end of the day, all true believers will progressively become more and more sanctified as they submit themselves to the authority of Scripture.

In sum, we could define illumination as “that special activity of the Holy Spirit by which man can recognize that what the Scripture teaches is true, and can accept and appropriate its teaching.”³Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, 282.

Praise be to God for his Spirit’s supernatural work of illumination in our hearts. Without it, we would not be able to accept the things of the Spirit of God, we would not recognize them as the truthful, authoritative revelation of God that they are, and we would not willingly submit ourselves to them.

But because at the moment of our conversion, our hearts were enlightened to the truths of God, we accept his inscripturated Word as God’s revelation, and we work diligently to apply the truths therein, for it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil 2:13).

There is some debate as to whether with Spirit baptism (mentioned 11 times in the NT), the Holy Spirit is the agent of baptism or the medium of baptism. While viewing the Holy Spirit as the agent of Spirit baptism is a grammatical possibility in some texts, such as the key text of 1 Corinthians 12:13, the four earliest references to Spirit baptism (Mt 3:11, Mk 1:8, Lk 3:16, Jn 1:33) predict that Christ is the one who does the action of baptizing in (en) the Spirit, parallel to John baptizing in (en) water, thus identifying the Spirit as the medium of the baptism.

However, regardless of whether one takes the Spirit to be the agent or medium, the results are clearly articulated in 1 Corinthians 12: Spirit baptism unites all believers to Christ from the moment of their salvation and forevermore.

Because this is a highly controversial matter especially with the influence of the charismatic movement today, it deserves some attention. Let’s examine the key text:

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13)

First, who are the subjects of Spirit-baptism? Paul says we all were baptized. Who are the “we all”? All Christians. If you are a Christian, then you have been Spirit baptized. Spirit baptism is not limited only to apostles or to super-Christians or to any subgroup within the body of Christ. We all were baptized in the Spirit.

Second, when does Spirit baptism occur? Well what is the tense of the verb here? We all were baptized. It is past tense. So Spirit baptism occurred sometime in the past for all Christians. And the fact that Paul can say that “we all were baptized” must indicate that Spirit baptism occurred at the moment of our salvation. If Spirit baptism took place some time after salvation, then Paul would not be able to say “we all were baptized.” Paul did not say “some were baptized,” and he did not say “we will be baptized” or “we might be baptized.” Paul said, “we all were baptized.”

This also means that Spirit baptism happens one time, at the moment of our salvation, and it never happens again. This is true of all believers from the moment of their salvation for all time. And it also means that Spirit baptism is not something that we need to seek for, pray for, or actively receive somehow. All Christians were baptized in the Spirit the moment they put their faith in Christ. Spirit baptism is something like justification; it happens the moment we are saved, it’s not something we feel or pursue; it’s simply something that occurs as a result of our faith in Christ. It is not experiential, though it has dramatic effects for a believer’s life.

And that leads us to the nature of what Spirit baptism is. Paul says here that we all were baptized in one Spirit. So the Spirit of God is like the water with which we were immersed—the word “baptize” literally means to dunk—we were all dunked with the Spirit at the moment of our salvation; in fact, Paul continues that analogy of the Spirit and water at the end of the verse when he says, “all were made to drink of one Spirit.” The Spirit is the water with which we all were baptized.

Now the one question about Spirit baptism that this verse does not address is who is the one doing the baptizing? But we do have an answer to that elsewhere in the New Testament, and the earliest and perhaps best way we can answer that question is to look at the first chapter of John’s Gospel.

‌In verse 33, John the baptizer says, “I myself did not know him”—referring to Jesus Christ—”but he who sent me to baptize with water”—the word translated “with” there is the same preposition in 1 Corinthians 12:13 translated “in” the Spirit—”he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with”—same preposition—”the Holy Spirit.” So John the Baptist is predicting Spirit baptism, and he specifically tells us who it is who would do the baptizing. Who is it? Jesus Christ baptized all of us with the Spirit at the moment of our salvation.

Now this, of course, leads us to the final piece of a complete understanding of the nature of Spirit baptism, and that is its results. What happened to us when Jesus Christ baptized us with the Spirit at the moment we trusted him for our salvation? At that moment, Jesus Christ immersed us with one Spirit into one body.

So Jesus is the baptizer, and the Holy Spirit is the water, and the body of water, or the pool, or the lake into which we were all baptized is the body of Christ. Through Spirit baptism we are made one with that body. So while Spirit baptism is a work of Christ rather than action of the Holy Spirit, it is nevertheless possible only because of the Spirit’s unique presence in the New Covenant age.

Through the Spirit, we who believe are united to Christ and to one another in Christ’s body. Through the Spirit, we who believe enjoy a special communion with Christ and with the Father, along with everyone else who believes (2 Cor 13:14). As Paul clearly states, “For through [Christ] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph 2:18). This is why Jesus had promised that in the day he would send his Spirit, “you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (Jn 14:20).

Many of the Holy Spirit’s works in history unique in unfolding God’s eternal plan in past history. The purpose of ordering the plans of God accomplished by the Spirit through creation, revelation, and special empowerment have been finished. Creation is complete, the Spirit-inspired Word is complete, and Spirit empowerment functioned at key transitional periods in the history of redemption that finished their intended purpose. Therefore, we should not expect these sorts of extraordinary works until the next stage in redemptive history—when the Anointed King comes again.

However, some of the ordinary activities of the Spirit have been at work since the beginning of time and will continue until the eternal kingdom. The most notable of these is the Holy Spirit’s work in salvation.

Scripture appropriates specific acts to each divine person of the godhead in the salvation of God’s elect. The Father planned salvation and sent his Son into the world to save his people. The Son took on flesh, lived a perfect life, and died to pay the penalty of sin, accomplishing redemption for his people. And as with other aspects of God’s eternal plans, the Spirit actively works to order and complete God’s plan of salvation in the lives of his elect.

This work begins with convicting sinners. Jesus promised that he would send the Spirit to “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (Jn 16:8). Without the Spirit’s conviction, sinners would have no spiritual awareness of their need of salvation. Conviction is the first step in bringing sinful, disordered souls into order and harmony with God’s perfect will.

Regeneration

Next, the Spirit gives new life. Jesus specifically identified the Spirit as the one who gives new birth (Jn 3:5, 8). Likewise, Paul describes him as “the Spirit of life” (Rom 8:2) and tells us in Titus 3:5 that God saved us “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” This work of the Spirit ties directly to his very first work—creation. The regenerating work of the Spirit is his recreation of dead sinners into new creations (2 Cor 5:17).

Some theologians also refer to this regenerating act of the Spirit as “illumination.” This doctrine of illumination is one area where many Christians have unbiblical thinking in which they assume illumination means that the Spirit will reveal to us the meaning of Scripture. However, the reality is that Spirit illumination is part of the Spirit’s regeneration that happens at conversion.

One of the key texts is 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:16. In this passage, Paul describes the fact that “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18). This passage clearly teaches that a key difference between believers and unbelievers is the fact that unbelievers simply do not recognize the truthfulness, beauty, and authority of God’s Word (specifically the gospel), while a believer is one who has come to recognize Scripture as such, not because of any human persuasion, but simply through “the Spirit and of power” (2:4).

Another key passage is 1 Corinthians 2. Verses 10–13 speak of the inspiration of Scripture by means of apostles and prophets. However, verses 14–16 do touch on what we may describe as Spirit illumination.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ¹⁶ “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The key phrase is “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God.” When the natural man reads Scripture, he does not accept it as God’s authoritative revelation. Rather, he sees it as foolishness. He does not understand its spiritual significance.

On the other hand, the spiritual person recognizes the Word of God for what it is and therefore submits himself to it. These verses do not speak of intellectual understanding but spiritual understanding. If we want to use the term illumination to describe what’s going on in these verses, it refers to the Spirit’s regenerating work to cause his elect to recognize the significance and authority of the written Word of God. Furthermore, this act of the Spirit is not something that necessarily happens in separate points of time as we read the Word; rather, it is something that comes as a result of the new birth—the Spirit gives us new life and enlightens our hearts and minds to recognize the significance of his Word.

In other words, 1 Corinthians 2 refers to two acts of the Spirit: inspiration, whereby the authors of Scripture wrote the very words of God, and illumination, whereby believers are enabled to recognize the spiritual significance of the Word of God.

Second Corinthians 4 makes a similar assertion, this time using explicit language of “enlightening.” The gospel is “veiled to those who are perishing” (2 Cor 4:3), Paul argues. Believers accept and submit to the gospel only because God has enlightened their hearts:

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:6)

This is illumination—a work of God’s Spirit upon a believer whereby he recognizes the beauty and glory of the gospel and therefore willingly submits himself to it. It should not surprise us that the same divine person who brought order out of chaos and light out of darkness at the beginning of time is the same one who enlightens dark hearts and brings order to disordered souls in conversion.

John Calvin argued, “Man’s mind can become spiritually wise only in so far as God illumines it. . . . The way to the kingdom of God is open only to him whose mind has been made new by the illumination of the Holy Spirit.”¹John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press, 1960), II, iii, 20. An illumined believer finds value and worth in what he is reading, because it is the very Word of God. He delights in the Word of God (Ps 1:2); he loves God’s Word (Ps 119:97).

As Calvin seems to suggest, illumination begins at conversion, not as distinct occurrences later: “Christ, when he illumines us into faith by the power of the Spirit, at the same time so engrafts us into his body that we become partakers of every good.”²Calvin, Institutes, III, ii, 35. From the moment our hearts are enlightened at conversion, we recognize the truthfulness and beauty of Scripture, and therefore we delight in it for the rest of our lives. An enlightened believer does not doubt or reject God’s Word.

When an unbeliever reads Scripture, he may understanding everything he is reading, but he simply does not recognize what he is reading to be the very words of God. An illumined believer, however, recognizes that what he is reading in Scripture is from God. As Rolland McCune argues, “illumination removes man’s innate hostility toward God and Scripture and imparts intuitive certainty that Scripture is from God and is, therefore, truth and authoritative.”³McCune, Systematic Theology: Volume 1, 56.

In this sense, there really is no such thing as a believer who has not been illumined; the enlightening of the mind and heart that removes any doubt as to the truth of God’s written Word occurs at the moment the Spirit regenerates a new believer. J. I. Packer observes that illumination opens “minds sinfully closed so that they receive evidence to which they were previously impervious. . . . It is the witness of the Spirit . . . which authenticates the canon to us.”⁴J. I. Packer, “Biblical Authority, Hermeneutics, and Inerrancy,” in Jerusalem and Athens: Critical Discussions on the Theology and Apologetic of Cornelius Van Til, ed. E. R. Greehan … Continue reading

This new birth immediately results in repentance and faith. Regeneration itself is experiential, but its actual effects that are experienced by an individual is his expression of repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ, both of which are gifts of God that result from the Spirit’s regenerating work (Eph 2:8–9). First John 5:1 says that “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” Spirit-wrought regeneration has to come first—a dead heart would never respond in faith on its own (Eph 2:5), but once the Spirit brings new life, the individual will believe.

Indwelling

As a result of the regenerating work of the Spirit, he also permanently indwells all believers. Jesus promised his disciples that he would send them “the Spirit of truth” and that he would “be with [them] forever” (Jn 14:16, 17). This abiding work of the Spirit is absolutely necessary for sanctification to take place. Paul makes this point in Romans 8, where he argues that “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” The only possible way we can please God is because “the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Rom 8:8, 9).

The indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit, which is true for all Christians from the moment of their conversion, means that all three persons of the triune God indwell believers—we are “filled with all the fullness of God.” In Ephesians 3:17, Paul refers to Christ dwelling in our hearts as a result of the Spirit’s work, and indeed, Paul mentions Christ dwelling us in Romans 8:9, Galatians 2:20, and Colossians 1:27. Jesus himself said that in sending the Spirit to his disciples, “I will come to you,” and as a result, “you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (Jn 14:18, 20). Communion with God is possible because of the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit of God.

This relational nature of the Spirit’s indwelling should also help us avoid thinking of the Spirit’s indwelling presence as something spatial and material, as if a ghost possesses someone’s body. It is not spatial, but relational. The Spirit’s indwelling presence is not about location, it is about his work within the believer’s life. This work results in communion with the triune God, in assurance and in sanctification.

Assurance

The Bible also speaks of the Holy Spirit as sealing our salvation, giving us inner assurance that we are indeed children of God, which is a result of his indwelling presence. Paul states,

And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, ²² and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Cor 1:21–22)

Later Paul describes the Spirit as a pledge (2 Cor 5:5). Likewise, he says in Ephesians 1:13, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

This is an objective reality, but it also results in subjective, experiential assurance. Paul assures believers that “the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God” (Rom 8:16). This is not through new revelation or “inner promptings,” but rather through the Spirit giving us an inner confidence in God’s Word and in the relationship that we have with him through the gospel.

Praise the Holy Spirit

Does the Holy Spirit of God actively work today? Clearly he does—salvation would not be possible without him. Each of these works that the Spirit accomplishes to perfect and complete the plan of the Father and the atoning work of Christ for his elect is a divine work, and these works will continue until the end of the age.

Most of these works are experiential—the believer experiences the effects of what the Holy Spirit does. He is convicted of his sin, only because of the Spirit’s active work. His mind and heart are given new life and enlightened to the beauty and truth of Christ and the gospel. The Spirit experientially indwells the believer and gives him assurance that he is now a child of God. None of these works will have immediately observable, external effects like speaking in tongues or prophecy, but they are such transformative, life-altering divine acts that the person in whom the Holy Spirit does these things will never be the same.

And furthermore, though these divine acts of the Spirit are in one profound sense supernatural—they can only happen by the power of the Spirit, he accomplishes these works through natural means. The Holy Spirit convicts sinners (Jn 16:8), but he does so by means of the Word he inspired, which is profitable for such conviction (2 Tm 3:16).

The Holy Spirit regenerates dead hearts, but he does so by means of his Word. He does not “zap” new life in a person’s heart independently of the Word—”faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). Part of the Spirit’s work of creating new life is putting his law within new believers and writing it on their hearts (Jer 31:33).

Likewise, the Spirit’s indwelling presence is his Word dwelling within us. The Spirit actively fills us with his Word, which results in all of the experiential benefits of his work (Eph 5:18, Col 3:16). I mentioned earlier the fact that the Spirit’s dwelling within in us is often described as being filled with the fullness of the triune God (Eph 3:19), and so what Christ says about his abiding presence is true also of the Spirit. In John 15, Jesus equates his abiding within a believer with his words abiding within them. The same is true of the Spirit: for him to indwell a believer means that his Word indwells them.

And so it should not surprise us that the assurance the Spirit brings to a believer that he is a child of God also does not come apart from his Word. Ephesians 1:13 captures all of these works of the Spirit well and explicitly attributes them to the Word: “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

Without the work of the Holy Spirit, there would be no salvation. God the Spirit completes and perfects the plan of God the Father and the atonement of God the Son in the lives of God’s elect. The Spirit brings order to disordered souls. And he accomplishes all that he does through his sufficient Word.

Don’t ever think that because the Holy Spirit no longer empowers individuals in extraordinary ways or gives direct revelation that he is no longer active in his divine work. No—without the Holy Spirit, no one would come to Christ in saving faith.

We ought to marvel daily in the Spirit’s incredible supernatural works in which he orders the souls of his elect and brings to completion Christ’s saving work on their behalf. In fact, when we desperately long for other extraordinary works of the Spirit, that actually causes us to miss the wondrous ways he is at work in the saving of souls. Praise the Holy Spirit for his amazing works in saving his people.

One of the Holy Spirit’s primary works has been to give revelation to key leaders of God’s people in the progress of God’s redemptive history, culminating in Holy Scripture, which was written by men who were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

But the Holy Spirit also gave some of these same leaders special empowerment in addition to direct revelation. For example, the Old Testament describes the Holy Spirit being “upon” Moses and the elders of Israel, Joshua, judges such as Gideon and Samson, and prophets such as Elijah and Micah. He also uniquely came upon Israel’s kings, Saul and David.

Theocratic Anointing

This Spirit empowerment gave individuals a variety of special abilities primarily so that they could lead God’s people. This is why such special empowerment is sometimes called “theocratic anointing.” In fact, often the prophecy itself was given as a sign that these individuals were chosen and empowered by the Spirit for such leadership.

For example, as ruler of Israel (Acts 7:35), Moses had a special anointing of the Spirit (Nm 11:17). God confirmed that anointing in the sigh of the people through the miracle of changing Moses’s staff into a snake (Ex 40:30–31). Later, Moses “took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it” (Nm 11:25). The special empowerment by the Spirit was so that the elders could “bear some of the burden of the people” as rulers alongside Moses, and they prophesied as confirmation that they were to share the burden of leadership.

That leadership passed on to Joshua as Moses’s successor, who then is described as “full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him” (Dt 34:9). God specifically told Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Jo 1:56). And God confirmed Joshua’s leadership of the people with the crossing of the Jordan river on dry ground (Jo 4), a supernatural miracle that would have immediately brought to mind Moses’s miracle of crossing the Red Sea (Ex 14:31). The result was that Joshua was confirmed as ruler of the people: “On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life” (Jo 4:14).

Four judges of Israel, are described as having this special Spirit anointing: Othniel (Jgs 3:10), Gideon (Jgs 6:34), Jepthah (Jgs 11:29), and Samson (Jgs 15:14). It is not a stretch to assume that this theocratic anointing came upon all of the judges whom God appointed as leaders of his people.

When leadership of Israel moved to a monarchy, so did the theocratic anointing of the Spirit. After Samuel anointed Saul as king of Israel (1 Sm 10:1), “the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them” (1 Sm 10:10). The same happened later to David: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Sm 16:13). Likewise, Solomon’s prayer for wisdom was, in effect, a request for the same special empowerment from the Spirit (1 Kgs 3:9). The first result of the empowerment given to him by the Spirit was his ability to wisely judge the case of the two women fighting over the death of one of their babies. This exercise of divine empowerment confirmed Solomon as leader of God’s people: “And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice” (1 Kgs 3:28).

Prophets, too, appear to have had a special empowerment from the Spirit, though perhaps this would not necessarily be called theocratic anointing since they were not rulers. Yet the purpose of such empowerment was similar: to confirm them as messengers of God. For example, the Spirit was known to carry Elijah to places unknown (1 Kgs 18:12), and Micah declared of himself, “I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might” (Mic 3:8). Indeed, as we have already noted, Spirit empowerment and direct divine revelation went hand in hand.

So this empowerment was primarily given by the Spirit to equip leaders of God’s people, often resulting in unique wisdom, physical strength, and revelation from God, to bring God’s people into order with God’s plan and purposes. And the miraculous works performed by these individuals as a result of the Sprit’s anointing were for the purpose of confirming them as rulers and messengers of God in the sight of the people.

This act of the Holy Spirit was never permanent. The Spirit left Samson after Delilah cut his hair, for example, causing him to lose his special strength (Jgs 16:20). The most notable illustration of this is when “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul” after his sin (1 Sm 16:14). Just prior to that, Samuel had anointed David as the new king of Israel, “and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Sm 16:13). This also explains why David prayed that God would not take his Holy Spirit from him after his sin with Bathsheba (Ps 51:11). David wasn’t afraid that he would lose the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit that brings salvation—once we are saved, we never lose the Spirit in that sense (Eph 1:13–14). Rather, what David feared was that the Spirit would remove his special anointing empowerment given to him as king of Israel.

This special Spirit empowerment was even applied to non-believers on occasion. King Saul is, of course, an example of this. Though God anointed him as king of Israel and gifted him with special empowerment from the Spirit, his actions revealed that he was not a true follower of Yahweh. Likewise “the Spirit of God came upon” Balaam and caused him to bless Israel, though Balaam’s desire was to curse Israel (Nm 24:2).

What is clear, then, is that this empowerment by the Spirit is not related to other works by the Spirit that are given to all believers. This empowerment is unique gifting by the Spirit to leaders of God’s people and prophets in order that he might work his plan among them.

This fact alone reveals the unique nature of Spirit empowerment—it is not intended for every believer, or even just those who are especially holy. Rather, the Spirit empowered very specific individuals who were especially chosen by God to deliver his revelation or otherwise order the people and plan of God at significant stages in redemptive history. Between those significant transitional stages, such empowerment is not ordinary or necessary.

Filled with the Spirit

Old Testament prophecy also foretells a similar empowerment given by the Spirit to the coming Messiah. Isaiah 11:2 prophesies,

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

This is the same theocratic anointing of the Spirit given to leaders of God’s people, especially kings of Israel.

Not surprisingly, then, the earliest examples of this Spirit empowerment in the NT apply specifically to Jesus Christ, first pictured when “the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove,” at his baptism (Lk 3:22). John the Baptist later declared that Jesus had been given “the Spirit without measure” (Jn 3:34). Notably, Jesus launched his public ministry in Nazareth when he read Isaiah’s prophecy that the Spirit would anoint the Messiah and claimed to be that very Anointed One (Lk 4:16–21).

Although Jesus himself is fully divine, Jesus often attributed his power while on earth to the Holy Spirit. He was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted (Mk 1:12), and he returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” (Lk 4:14). Jesus claimed that he cast out demons “by the Spirit of God” (Mt 12:28). And Jesus declares that anyone who attributed one of his works done in the power of the Spirit to Satan “will not be forgiven” (Mt 12:31). Later, Luke describes Jesus’s teaching as having been given “through the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:2) and noted how “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38).  

The Holy Spirit also uniquely empowered other key spiritual leaders in the NT, such as John the Baptist, whom Gabriel promised would “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Lk 1:15). Christ’s apostles, too, are described similarly. For example, on the Day of Pentecost, the apostles “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). Likewise after they experienced persecution, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). After Saul was converted on the road to Damascus, Ananias laid hands on him and Saul was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17; cf. 13:9).

In these cases, Luke describes this special empowerment as being “filled with the Holy Spirit,” but it is important to recognize the difference between this special filling and the kind of filling Paul commands in Ephesians 5:18 when he admonishes, “be filled by the Spirit.”

In Luke and Acts, Luke uses the term pimplēmi in the passive voice, in which the grammar clearly indicates that the Holy Spirit is the content of the filling and that the individual filled with the Spirit does not do anything to cause it.¹These appear in Luke 1:15, 1:41, 1:67; Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31, 9:17, 13:9. Luke uses different terms to describe the kind of filling that is true of all believers. He uses the term plērēs in five places and plēroō once to designate a more generally Spirit filling of the disciples in Acts 13:52, and this latter term is what Paul states as a command in Ephesians 5:18. In other words, it is important to recognize the distinction between the more general Spirit filling commanded of all believers (plērēs/plēroō) and the Spirit filling given to key leaders of God’s people to empower them in their role (pimplēmi).

Ordering God’s People

The empowering of individual leaders for special service was for the ultimate purpose of bringing to order God’s redemptive plan in both Israel and the church. This is true of Moses and the elders of Israel. As Sinclair Ferguson notes,

Just as the Spirit produced order and purpose out of the formless and empty primeval created “stuff” (Gn 1:2), so, when the nation was newborn but remained in danger of social chaos, the Spirit of God worked creatively to produce right government, order, and direction among the refugees from Egypt.²Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 22.

This is true as well for his empowering of apostles in the early church, gifting them with the necessary abilities to both quickly spread the gospel message beyond Jerusalem “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) and firmly establish the doctrine and practice of the early church (2 Cor 12:12, Heb 2:4). Paul clearly states in Ephesians 2:20 that the apostles and prophets, these individuals specially empowered by the Holy Spirit, served a unique function as the foundation of the church. The Spirit was ushering in a new age in God’s redemptive plan. Once the church had been put in order, the Spirit no longer had reason to empower people in that way.

In other words, while it is accurate to say that the Holy Spirit has empowered individuals in extraordinary ways, these were rare, they were specifically for key leaders of God’s people, and their function was to bring God’s purposes into order in human history. To focus on the relatively few cases in biblical history of extraordinary works of the Holy Spirit and draw from those a theology that assumes this to be his regular activity fails to take into account the purpose of these works in the overarching plan of God.

Testifying of Christ

One of the fundamental problems with how many people conceive of the Spirit’s work in history like special empowerment is that they focus only on individual acts, failing to recognize how each act of the Spirit functions in the larger scope of God’s redemptive plan. This is why it is so important to recognize the Spirit’s work as that of bringing order and completion to the plan of God. This is true of creation, revelation, and empowerment: each of these is a working out of the eternal plan of God.

Ultimately, God’s plan is one of bringing himself glory through creating his kingdom on earth, ruled by man made in his image.³See my book, Citizens and Exiles. The Spirit brought this plan into order by as he created the earthly kingdom realm for man to inhabit and rule. Since Adam failed in this kingly role, God’s plan also included the sending of a Second Adam who would succeed where the First Adam failed and redeem a humanity who would rule and reign with. The Spirit’s also brought order to that part of God’s plan through the virgin conception of the Son of God.

The revelation given by the Spirit to particular individuals throughout history and ultimately inscripturated in the sixty-six books of the Bible was also inherently connected to this overarching purpose: through Spirit-given revelation, God established covenants with his people by which he would bring his plans to pass, he ordered Israel into a nation that would guard the covenants and produce the Messiah, and he prophesied of the coming King.

And empowerment of key individuals, especially the theocratic anointing of rulers of his people, was also how the Spirit moved forward the plan of God to bring the perfect Redeemer-King. And as we have seen, this work culminated in anointing the Messiah himself and empowering his apostles to witness of him to the ends of the earth.

What this summary of God’s plan for history demonstrates is that the Spirit’s work to bring order and completion to that plan is ultimately about testifying of the Anointed Messiah. In all that he does, from bringing harmony to the world, to unfolding God’s revelation, to empowering God’s leaders, the Spirit points to Christ. The Spirit does not perform his work randomly, independently of the plan of God, or in order to draw attention to himself. The Spirit’s work always leads to the establishment and recognition of Christ the King over all the earth.

Jesus himself describes the Spirit’s role in this way:

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (Jn 16:12–15)

Notice what Christ says: the Spirit will glorify him. The Spirit’s revelation is truth that testifies to Christ: “This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth” (1 Jn 5:6).

What Christ says of the unique role of the Spirit in this age was true in the Old Testament as well. Again, all of the unique theocratic anointing moved toward the ultimate anointing of the Messianic King. Most significantly, the Scriptures he inspired testify to Christ (Jn 5:46).

Furthermore, the Spirit’s work in salvation, sanctification, gifting, and worship are all about causing his people to submit themselves to Christ as King, be conformed into Christ’s image, build up his body, and worship him rightly. These works order God’s chosen people into his plan for them.

God the Father has an eternal plan, God the Son accomplished the means for that plan to be fulfilled, and God the Spirit completes and perfects that plan directly in the world. Bringing harmony to creation, revealing God’s plan to his people, and special empowerment of unique leaders of God’s people at significant points in the outworking of that plan all involve how the Holy Spirit brings the plan of God into order.

Trust in Christ

When we truly understand the Holy Spirit’s purpose in empowering individuals throughout history, it ought to lead us to one unmistakable conclusion: the Holy Spirit of God wants us to trust in Christ. Everything he has done to order God’s plan through special empowerment led to the Anointed One, Jesus the Messiah.

The fact that the Holy Spirit empowered certain individuals in history ought not cause us to long for the same kind of empowerment; to do so is evidence that we misunderstand the Spirit’s purpose. Rather, trust in the One who came in the line of Spirit-anointed kings, the One Spirit-empowered prophets foretold, the One for whom the Spirit filled John the Baptist to prepare, the one of whom the apostles were empowered to witness: Jesus Christ.

While creation is the Holy Spirit’s first act in Scripture, the overwhelmingly dominant work attributed to the Spirit in both Testaments is the giving of revelation.

Scripture frequently attributes direct revelation from God given to prophets to the person of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams because the Spirit of God was in him (Gn 41:38). Messengers of Saul and Saul himself were able to prophecy when “the Spirit of God came upon” them” (1 Sm 19:20, 23). David’s last words were a prophecy, and notice who he credits for the revelation: “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (2 Sm 23:2).

In fact, the New Testament explicitly attributes David’s revelation to the Spirit (Mt 22:43). The Spirit spoke through Zedekiah (2 Chr 18:23), Micaiah (1 Kgs 22:24), Amasai (1 Chr 12:18), Zechariah (2 Chr 24:20), Ezekiel (Ez 2:2), and Micah (Mi 3:8). The preponderance of attribution to the Spirit of God’s revelation could lead us to assume that all divine revelation came by means of the Holy Spirit.

In the New Testament we see the same sort of attribution. The Spirit spoke to Jesus himself (Mt 4:1), and he promised his disciples that the Spirit would speak through them:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (Jn 14:26; cf. Mt 10:20, Lk 12:12)

Later, apostolic revelation is explicitly attributed to the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1–2; cf. Eph 3:5).

The Spirit spoke through Elizabeth (Lk 1:41), Zechariah (Lk 1:67), Simeon (Lk 2:26), Stephen (Acts 6:8), Philip (Acts 8:29), Peter (Acts 10:19), Agabus (Acts 11:28), Paul (Acts 13:2, 20:23, 21:11, 1 Cor 2:13), and leaders of the Jerusalem council (Acts 15:28). The Spirit also “came on” the first Gentiles who were converted outside Israel, causing them to prophecy, as confirmation that they, too, were added to Christ’s body (Acts 19:6). And the Spirit gave revelation to others during the foundational years of the church before God’s revelation had been inscripturated in the completed canon of Scripture (Acts 21:4, 1 Cor 14).

Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah epitomize the nature of biblical prophecy. God told Jeremiah, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth” (Jer 1:9). Since the Spirit is God, the revelation he gives is God’s words. Isaiah, too, is told that God’s words are in his mouth, and this giving of divine revelation is specifically attributed to God’s Spirit “who is on you” (Is 59:12). God had characterized Moses as a prophet in a similar way, and in promising a Messianic prophet who would follow in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets of old, God emphasized the authoritative nature of such prophecy:

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. ¹⁹ And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. (Dt 18:18–19)

Because of the divine weight of such prophecy, those who claimed to be prophets had to be tested, and any who failed the test would be killed since he was falsely claiming to speak the very words of God (Dt 13:1–5, 18:15–22). Paul commanded the same standard of testing prophecy in the New Testament (1 Cor 14:29).

To prophesy is to speak the very words of God. Sometimes those words are predictive; more often those words are instructive or exhortative. But no matter the content, prophecy is the delivery of direct, divine revelation from the Spirit of God to the degree that one who prophesies can always unequivocally say, “Thus says the Lord.”

God-Breathed

Similar to his work of creation, Spirit-given revelation had the ultimate purpose of bringing order to God’s plan in the world. The Holy Spirit gave special revelation to disclose the nature and character of God, explain God’s requirements, correct sin, and give hope for the future. In fact, based on the fact that the giving of revelation is the most repeated work of the Spirit in both Testaments, it is safe to say that the primary way God orders his plan in history is through Spirit-given revelation. At each major stage in the progress of God’s plan, the Spirit of God revealed the truth necessary for God’s people to be blessed.

But ultimately, the Holy Spirit inspired a “prophetic word more fully confirmed” (2 Pt 1:19–21), the canonical Scriptures, given to believers “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tm 3:16–17). Paul plainly describes Scripture as God breathed—produced by the very Spirit of God. What the New Testament explicitly teaches regarding divine inspiration was already implicitly taught in the Old Testament. For example, when God told Isaiah that his Spirit would put words in his mouth, he declared that those words would “not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring . . . from this time forth and forevermore” (Is 59:21).

The nature of such inspiration is important as well: the Holy Spirit did not inspire the Scriptures by bringing authors into a sort of mystical trance as they were “carried along” (2 Pt 1:21); rather, as helpfully defined by John Frame, inspiration is “a divine act that creates an identity between a divine word and a human word”¹John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God, vol. 4 (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2010), 140.—each author conscientiously penned the Scriptures (Acts 1:16, 4:25, Heb 3:7, 1 Cor 2:12–13) using craftsmanship (e.g. the Psalms), research (e.g. Lk 1:1–4), and available cultural forms and idioms.

In other words, Spirit-inspired revelation is both for the purpose of order and produced in an orderly fashion.

The Profitable Word

The key text on the inspiration of Scripture, 2 Timothy 3:16–17, confirms that the purpose of Spirit-given Scripture is to order our lives:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

‌The term translated “breathed out by God” is Theopneustos; Theos is the Greek term for “God” and pneuma means “breath” or “spirit.” The very words of Scripture were produced by the Spirit of God as he carried along holy men of God. Every word of Scripture carries with it the weight of “Thus Says the Lord.”

And because of this, Spirit-produced Scripture is profitable and sufficient to make us “complete, equipped for every good work.” The word translated “complete” and the word translated “equipped” are actually different forms of the same term that communicate the idea of being perfectly adapted for a task. This significant work of the Spirit of God to produce sixty-six inerrant, infallible books of inscripturated revelation is sufficient for every remaining activity the Spirit work to bring order to God’s plan and people.

‌In other words, as we consider other works of the Holy Spirit in Scripture, what we notice is that the Holy Spirit’s active work today is all done through the sufficient Word that he inspired. The Holy Spirit regenerates dead hearts through his sufficient Word. The Holy Spirit illuminates blind hearts, causing believers to accept the sufficient Word as the true words of God. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin through his sufficient Word. He sanctifies us through his sufficient Word. He comforts us through his sufficient Word. To be filled by the Spirit (Eph 5:19) is to let the sufficient Word of Christ richly dwell within us (Col 3:16).

Without the Holy Spirit’s work, the Word would not be effectual for regeneration, sanctification, conviction, or comfort—The Holy Spirit actively works through the sufficient Word that he inspired to make it effectual in our hearts. And the truth is that all of these works of the Holy Spirit are supernatural experiences, and he accomplishes those supernatural works through his inspired Word.

‌We ought not wonder why the Holy Spirit isn’t speaking to us any more today. Rather, we must recognize that the Spirit of God has already spoken to us and continues to do so through his sufficient Word—we ought not expect any further revelation or even impressions. We must simply pray that the Spirit will give us wisdom to appropriate his Word and then actively apply it and submit ourselves to what he has already spoken.

The first instance of the Spirit’s work appears in the opening verses of Scripture.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Gn 1:1–2)

On day one of creation, God created all matter, time, and space. Think about it—before the first day of creation, all that existed was the triune God. There was not matter, time, or space. God created all of that on the first day.

But as Genesis 1:2 tells us, that space and matter—heaven and earth—was “without form and void.” Simply creating matter and space did not mean they were yet arranged in such a way so as to be inhabitable by human beings.

And so, it was the Spirit of God who hovered over the face of the waters as the person of the triune God who brought order to creation. The Hebrew term rûach can mean “breath,” “wind,” or “spirit,” depending on the context. The same is true in the New Testament of the term pneuma. We can have confidence that the term in Genesis 1:2 refers to the Holy Spirit because of the verb “hovering,” which would not fit “wind” or “breath.” Moses uses the same verb to describe God “hovering” over his people at the end of the Pentateuch as well, which appears to be a deliberate parallel with the opening verses of the Pentateuch (Dt 32:11).

Additionally, as we will soon note, Moses portrays deliberate parallels between the Spirit’s work in creating the world and his work in the creation of the tabernacle, further evidence that he intended rûach to refer to the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2. Similarly, Job states, “By his wind [rûach] the heavens were made fair” (26:13), and Job 33:4 clearly refers to the divine Spirit when it states, “The Spirit [rûach] of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

In other words, in the opening words of Scripture we find the Spirit of God actively involved in the work of creation. Indeed, in the opening chapter of Genesis we find all three persons of the triune God active in creation: God [the Father] created the heavens and the earth, he did so through his Word [the Son], and the work was brought to completion by his Spirit—these appropriations of the work of creation to persons of the godhead reflect their eternal relations of origin. Psalms 33:6 portrays this trinitarian act of creation: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath [rûach] of his mouth all their host.” So all three persons of the godhead were involved in creation, and as is true with all of God’s works, God performed the work through the Son, and that work was brought to perfection by the Spirit.

Thus, in the six days of creation, the Holy Spirit of God brought order to the cosmos—he brought to completion and perfection the creative activity of God. This orderliness is reflected in the Greek term cosmos, which the Greek translation of the Old Testament uses to characterize the finished work of creation: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host [cosmos] of them” (Gn 2:1). Paul uses this same term to describe creation in his sermon on Mars Hill: “The God who made the world [cosmos] and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.”

The Holy Spirit of God formed the cosmos, an ordered arrangement of heaven and earth such that creation displayed his own orderliness. This is why God declares his creation “good” (Gn 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). The Hebrew word implies more than just moral goodness; the term embodies the idea of aesthetic beauty and harmony. Creation is beautiful because it reflects the order and harmony of God himself.

Psalm 104 poetically embodies this idea of creation manifesting the beauty and order of God, identifying the person of the Trinity who brings about such wondrous creation:

³⁰ When you send forth your Spirit [rûach], they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

The Holy Spirit of God, in his active work of creation, brought wondrous order to the world that God made.

Wisdom and Beauty

Notice also the particular quality that characterizes the Spirit’s work of creation in Psalm 104:24:

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Wisdom is the quality the psalmist ties to the Spirit’s creative work, and this helps us to further confirm the nature of this first work of the Spirit. Wisdom is the capacity to fit things together as they ought to be, the skill to create harmony and order. Thus we should not be surprised when Proverbs 3:19 states that the Lord founded the earth by wisdom—by the skill to fit things together in a harmonious fashion.

This harmony and order of creation that was brought about by the Spirit of God is what we call beauty. Beauty is fittingness, order, and harmony. This is ultimately the Holy Spirit’s work in creation. As Ambrose of Milan noted, “After this world being created underwent the operation of the Spirit, it gained all the beauty of that grace, wherewith the world is illuminated.” The Holy Spirit is the beautifier.

Sinclair Ferguson notes that this very first action of the Holy Spirit in Scripture is “that of extending God’s presence into creation in such a way as to order and complete what has been planned in the mind of God.”¹Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 21. Emphasis original. Jonathan Edwards developed this theme in his discussion of the Holy Spirit’s work in creation:

It was more especially the Holy Spirit’s work to bring the world to its beauty and perfection out of the chaos, for the beauty of the world is a communication of God’s beauty. The Holy Spirit is the harmony and excellency and beauty of the Deity . . . therefore it was his work to communicate beauty and harmony to the world, and so we read that it was he that moved upon the face of the waters.²Jonathan Edwards, “Miscellanies,” no. 293, in Works of Jonathan Edwards, 13, The “Miscellanies,” (Entry Nos. a–500), ed. Thomas A. Schafer (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996), 384.

“This,” Ferguson continues, “is exactly the role the Spirit characteristically fulfills elsewhere in Scripture.”

In other words, the Spirit’s first act reveals his characteristic role within the godhead: the Holy Spirit is the divine person who orders and completes the divine plan in the created order. As we have noted, creation is one undivided act of the undivided God; all three person of the godhead were active in creation. However, the Spirit in particular completes creation. As Gregory of Nyssa notes, “Every operation which extends from God to the Creation . . . has its origin from the Father, and proceeds through the Son, and is perfected in the Holy Spirit.”³Gregory of Nyssa, “On ‘Not Three Gods,’” in Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, Etc., ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. Henry Austin Wilson, vol. 5, A Select Library of the Nicene … Continue reading Or as Basil of Caesarea says, the Father is the “original cause,” the Son is the “creative cause,” and the Spirit is the “perfecting cause” of creation.⁴Basil of Caesarea, The Book of Saint Basil on the Spirit, NPNF 2, 8:23.

Perfecting, completing, beautifying—these are the nature of the Holy Spirit’s work.

Creation of the Tabernacle

In fact, the Spirit of God’s creative work in Genesis 1 parallels another work of creation and beautification in Scripture—the creation of the tabernacle. Note what God says concerning the tabernacle artisans:

And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³ You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit [rûach] of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. (Ex 28:2–3)

Interestingly, the term translated “skill” is Hebrew word for wisdom, the same virtue that characterizes God’s work of creation attributed to the Spirit. In order that the artisans might be able to design beautiful garments for Aaron, God filled them with a spirit [rûach]—same Hebrew word that refers to the Holy Spirit—of wisdom—the capacity to create beauty and order.

Later, the connection between beauty, wisdom, and the Spirit of God is made even more explicit when God describes those who would build the tabernacle itself:

The Lord said to Moses, ² ”See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³ and I have filled him with the Spirit [rûach] of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, ⁴ to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, ⁵ in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. ⁶ And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you. (Ex 31:1–6)

The Hebrew word translated “ability” in this passage is the same term translated “skill” in Exodus 28 and translated “wisdom” in Psalm 104:24 and Proverbs 3:19. Notice its close association with “craftsmanship to devise artistic designs.” And most significantly for our discussion, notice how God endowed Bezalel (and Oholiab) with such ability to make the beautiful tabernacle with all of its elements: “I have filled him with the Spirit of God.”

As the divine person who characteristically brings beauty and order to God’s creation, the Spirit also enables humans to do the same. The Holy Spirit’s work of beautifying could be considered a subset of the broader category of ordering.

One other biblical example drives home this characteristic work of the Holy Spirit to bring order out of chaos. Isaiah 32 comes in the midst of a series of “woe” oracles that pronounce judgment upon the people of Israel. Yet chapter 32 promises a day when such judgment will be reversed at the coming of Messiah’s kingdom. One way the prophet describes such a day is with a contrast between judgment and blessing. He states that Jerusalem “will be deserted . . . until the Spirit [rûach] is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest” (Is 32:14–15, NKJV).

The Spirit of God is the one who comes to turn judgment and desolation into fruitfulness and beauty.⁵It is significant that Peter quotes similar language about the pouring out of the Spirit from Joel 2 when he describes what is happening on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17–21). This should weigh … Continue reading He turns what is disordered and ugly into order and beauty.

Creation of Human Life

The Spirit of God was instrumental in bringing harmony and beauty to all creation at the beginning of time, and he had a particularly significant part in the unique creation of human life. Genesis 2:7 states,

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

“Breath” here is a different term than the one translated “Spirit” [rûach] in 1:2; however, the two terms are often used in parallel senses, indicating an intentional connection between “breath” and the Holy Spirit. For example, Job 27:3 employs both terms in a parallel fashion when it states, “as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit [rûach] of God is in my nostrils.” And even more significantly, Job 33:4 uses both terms with direct reference to the creation of man:

The Spirit [rûach] of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

The Spirit of God is the breath of the almighty that gives life to every man, that creates harmonious life in what would otherwise be lifeless clay. By the power of the Spirit, man was uniquely given a spirit, unlike anything else in God’s creation.

This, too, was a means by which the Spirit brought God’s eternal plan to create a people for his name’s sake. Isaiah 43:7 states that God made man for his own glory, and the Spirit brought that purpose to completion in creating life in Adam.

The Virgin Conception

The Spirit of God was also instrumental creating another human life—the Last Adam, Jesus Christ. The conception of the Messiah was accomplished not through the union of a man and a woman; rather, Mary “was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Mt 1:18, 20). Gabriel had announced to Mary that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Lk 1:35). As he had done with the original creation, the Spirit took what had already been created by God (Mary’s body) “in order to produce the ‘second man’ and through him restore true order, just as he brought order and fullness into the formlessness and emptiness of the original creation.”⁶Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 39.

Understand these two significant works of bringing life and order to creation in both the First Adam and the Last Adam helps us to recognize the Holy Spirit’s characteristic work: what the Spirit does is never for its own sake or performed independently of the purposes of God. Every work of the Spirit serves God’s eternal plan for his world and his people. In ordering God’s creation, beautifying Israel’s tabernacle, and bringing life to the First Adam and the Last Adam, the Spirit perfects and completes God’s eternal plan in history.

Ultimately, current expectations concerning the Holy Spirit’s work in worship must derive, not from experience, but from Scripture. Too often in modern evangelicalism, expectations regarding how the Holy Spirit works are based upon anecdotes, stories, or other testimonies of people’s experiences rather on what the Bible actually teaches. Unfortunately, this is just as true of those who claim to be cessationists as it is of charismatics.

In his book, The Work of the Holy Spirit, Abraham Kuyper presents several helpful reasons we must not derive our theology of the Holy Spirit on the basis of experience.¹Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1900), 4ff. First, it is difficult to discern the difference between people whose experience we believe to be “pure and healthy” and those we “put aside as strained and unhealthful.” We may think we have reasons for trusting one person’s experience over another, but at the end of the day our determination of which experiences to believe is subjective. We need a more objective standard than anyone’s personal experience, no matter how much we trust them.

Second, “the testimony of believers presents only the dim outlines of the work of the Holy Spirit.” Even if a person is accurately describing their experience, what they describe in only their finite perception of the effects of his work and can never capture the fullness of what he does.

Third, great men in church history who have spoken “clearly, truthfully, and forcibly” about the Spirit’s work in their lives, in contrast to those who speak “confusingly,” do so by using language taken directly from Scripture. In other words, many of the Spirit’s works are indeed experiential, but even in describing our subjective experiences of the Spirit’s work, it is best to use objective language from Scripture.

Finally, when people do describe their experiences in words other than Scripture, this is typically because of the influence of some strong preacher or teacher whose language these people begin to borrow. In other words, the language we use to describe the Spirit’s experiential work will come from somewhere; it is best that our language come from Scripture itself rather than from someone else.

For all of these reasons, we cannot derive our expectations regarding how the Holy Spirit works from our own experiences or other people’s testimonies of their personal experiences. Rather, we must align our expectations of the Holy Spirit’s work with the teachings of Holy Scripture.

Works of the Holy Spirit in Scripture

Scripture contains roughly 250 explicit descriptions of the Holy Spirit’s actions, 90 in the Old Testament, and 165 in the New Testament.²Thanks to PhD students in a seminar I taught on the Holy Spirit and Worship at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and especially my graduate assistant John Gray, for helping to compile and … Continue reading

Revelation

Overwhelmingly, the dominant action ascribed to the Holy Spirit in both Testaments is the giving of revelation (37 times in the OT and 64 times in the NT). God the Spirit speaks through prophets and apostles, and ultimately inspires the Holy Scriptures themselves (2 Tm 3:16, 2 Pt 1:21).

In the Old Testament, much of the revelation of God given to his people through human prophets occurs after the Holy Spirit “came upon” them. For example, this is true of Joseph (Gn 41:38), the elders of Israel (Nm 11:25), Balaam (Nm 24:2), and Saul (1 Sm 10:10). David, too, declared, “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (2 Sm 23:2), and several places in the New Testament attribute David’s prophecies directly to the Holy Spirit (Mt 22:43; Mk 12:36; Acts 1:16, 4:8). And certainly other cases of divine revelation, though not explicitly attributed to the Holy Spirit, were his work. For example, Nehemiah 9:20 describes all of the prophecy given to the Israelites in the wilderness as instruction from God’s good Spirit.

In the New Testament, prophetic words are almost always described as a work of the Holy Spirit, including those given to Elizabeth (Lk 1:41), Zechariah (Lk 1:67), Simeon (Lk 2:25–26), Stephen (Acts 6:10), and even Jesus himself (Acts 1:2).

Likewise, he guides the apostles into the truth (Jn 14:26, 16:13) necessary to establish Christian doctrine and set the church in order (1 Tm 3:15). Jesus had promised them that the Spirit would speak through them (Mt 10:20, Mk 13:11, Lk 12:12), and so several apostles are specifically identified as those through whom the Spirit gave revelation, including Peter (Acts 10:19) and Paul (Acts 20:23).

Empowerment

Second in order of frequency in the OT and third in the NT is special empowerment given to individual leaders whom God has called to perform special ministry on his behalf, often closely associated with giving revelation. This act of the Holy Spirit occurs 20 times in the OT and 18 times in the NT, describing the Spirit’s work upon men like Moses (Nm 11:17), Joshua (Dt 34:9), judges (Jgs 6:34, 13:25), and prophets (1 Kgs 18:12). Likewise, in the New Testament, the Spirit uniquely empowered Jesus Christ (Jn 1:32), John the Baptist (Lk 1:15), and the apostles (Acts 2:4).

Other Actions of the Spirit

Actions of the Holy Spirit in the OT fall off considerably in frequency after the top two categories. They can be described as follows: The Holy Spirit participated in creation (Gn 1:2, Jb 33:4, Ps 104:30), gifted Bezalel and Oholiab with skill to build the tabernacle (Ex 31:1–5, 35:30–35), and dwelt in the midst of Israel (Neh 9:20, Hag 2:5; cf. Ex 29:45).

In the NT, however, the second most frequent action of the Holy Spirit after revelation is the sanctification of believers, appearing at least 24 times. This work of the Spirit characterizes Spirit filling (Acts 6:3, 11:24, Eph 5:18) and describes the Spirit’s work to progressively produce holy fruit in a believer’s life (Rom 15:16, Gal 5:22). In the NT the Holy Spirit also indwells (17 times), regenerates (13 times), assures (5 times), convicts (2 times), and illuminates (2 times).

Finally, Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12–14 discuss gifts that are given to believers; 1 Corinthians 12 explains that these gifts are given “through the Spirit” (v. 8) or “by the one Spirit” (v. 9), and chapter 14 calls them “manifestations of the Spirit” (v. 12). Since these passages explicitly ascribe the giving of these gifts to the Holy Spirit, other passages that discuss such gifts may also safely be attributed to a work of the Holy Spirit (e.g. 1 Tm 4:14, 2 Tm 1:6).

Ordinary but Divine

As we consider the characteristic nature of the Spirit’s work among us, it is important to define some terms. On the one hand, we might use the contrasting terms extraordinary and ordinary. By extraordinary, I mean works of the Spirit that are unique to certain time periods or individuals. They are out of the ordinary—unusual, unexpected, and surprising. In contrast, ordinary works are those the Spirit has performed in the past and continues to perform in the present. These works occur with regularity and ought to be our expectation of how the Holy Spirit will normally work.

However, it is important to note that even ordinary works of the Spirit are nevertheless still divine. To call them ordinary is in no way to imply that they are any less wondrous. Every work accomplished by the Spirit is divine, which is to say that these works could be accomplished only by God himself. The Bible teaches that the Sprit normally works in ordinary ways today, but this does not imply that we ought not marvel at the ways the Spirit does continue to work today. Indeed, the divine works accomplished by the Spirit would not take place accept through him, and for this reason alone we ought to marvel at everything he does.

We also could use the contrasting terms supernatural and natural. By supernatural, I mean works of the Spirit which involve bypassing the natural order of things. Supernatural acts are works like stopping the sun, parting the sea, immediately healing physical ailments, speaking directly to men, or causing them to speak in languages they have never learned. By natural, I mean works of the Spirit that operate within the natural order of things, even though God’s providence is always involved. But again, it is important for us to recognize that even when the Holy Spirit works providentially through natural means, his work is no less divine or wondrous. The fact that the sun rose this morning is natural, but it is nevertheless a divine act.

Finally, it is also important to distinguish between works that are judicial, experiential, or external. Judicial works of the Spirit are objective realities that the Spirit accomplishes, but they are not works of which we would be experientially aware. Experiential works of the Spirit are those that impact our daily experience, and thus we are aware of their effects. External works are those with visible effects that are observable even to other people. And once again, works of the Spirit in all three categories are equally divine and praiseworthy.

The importance as we consider works of the Spirit in Scripture is that everything the Spirit does is a divine work that should cause us to marvel, though some of his works are ordinary activities he accomplishes through natural means, and not all have external effects.

Characterizing the Holy Spirit’s Work

Taking all of the biblical data concerning the Holy Spirit’s work throughout history into account, there is no doubt that he sometimes works in extraordinary, supernatural, observable ways. Yet extraordinary works of the Spirit are not the ordinary way God works his sovereign will through the course of biblical history. When extraordinary experiences occur, they happen during significant transitional stages in the outworking of God’s plan. They have specific purposes, and once those purposes are fulfilled, they cease.

Rather, the ordinary work of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture is better characterized, not as extraordinary experience but rather as an ordering of the plan and people of God. Indeed, this overarching characteristic of ordering describes much, if not all, of what the Holy Spirit does throughout Scripture, including giving revelation, creating life (both physical and spiritual), and sanctifying individual believers. Louis Berkhof helpfully summarizes the Holy Spirit’s work in this way, with particular attention to the other divine persons:

In general it may be said that it is the special task of the Holy Spirit to bring things to completion by acting immediately upon and in the creature. Just as he himself is the person who completes the Trinity, so his work is the completion of God’s contact with his creatures and the consummation of the work of God in every sphere. It follows the work of the Son, just as the work of the Son follows that of the Father.³Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1938), 98. Emphasis added.

Therefore, we should expect the Spirit to normally work today in ways that bring order and completion to the plan and people of God.

Contemporary evangelicalism, I believe, has been thoroughly Pentecostalized with the expectation that if the Holy Spirit is active and working, then we will witness extraordinary effects ranging from direct revelation, special gifting, and emotional euphoria. In addition to receiving new revelation from the Holy Spirit, many professing Christians today also believe that the Holy Spirit continues to gift believers with special abilities like healing and speaking in tongues.

The first appearance of tongues in Scripture, Acts 2, is the single most important text for discerning the nature of this gift. Notice, first, that Luke states in verse 4 that the apostles and 120 followers “began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The word “tongues” there is the Greek term glossais, which is the word used to describe the literal tongue organ in the mouth, so at this point the text is not clear as to what exactly “tongues” means.

But in verse 8, the Jews say, “And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” Here the word “language” is the term dialecto, from which we get our English word “dialect,” and it is clear that they are referring to distinct, known languages—different “dialects” from the various nations from which they came, listed in verses 10–11.

What’s more, these same Jews say at the end of verse 11, “we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” The word “tongues” here is the same as verse 4—glossais, yet it is clear that they are using it interchangeably with dialecto—”languages” in verse 8. In other words, what is apparent in this first appearance of tongues in Scripture is that “tongues” and “languages” are exactly the same thing. They are interchangeable. Therefore, the gift of tongues is the ability to speak in known languages that the speaker himself does not know.

This biblical definition of tongues as speaking known languages is a far cry from the practice of tongues by charismatics today. In fact, even Charles Parham, the preacher connected with the first supposed case of tongues that sparked the modern Pentecostal movement, claimed that Agnes Ozman spoke in Chinese, though this was quickly proven false.¹Vinson Synan, The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, 1901–2001 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 88. Even D. A. Carson, a continuationist, acknowledges that “Modern tongues are lexically uncommunicative and the few instances of reported modern [speaking in foreign languages] are so poorly attested that no weight can be laid on them.”²D. A. Carson, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987), 84.

But as with the matter of extraordinary revelation, moderate continuationists also defend the continuation of the gift of tongues. And like with revelation, they often do so on the basis that there are two different kinds of tongues. They agree that tongues in Acts 2 were known languages, but they insist that tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 were something different. For example, Sam Storms argues,

Acts 2 is the only text in the New Testament where tongues-speech consists of foreign languages not previously known by the speaker. This is an important text, yet there is no reason to think Acts 2, rather than, say, 1 Corinthians 14, is the standard by which all occurrences of tongues-speech must be judged.³Sam Storms, The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts, 2nd ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2013), 180.

According to Storms and other continuationists, the Spirit continues to give the gift of tongues today as a means of person private devotion to God. In fact, Storms says that Christians have “a moral and biblical obligation” to seek spiritual gifts like this.⁴Storms, The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts, 157.

Rise Up and Walk!

Modern charismatics also claim the Spirit still gives the gift of healing. As with revelation and tongues, it is important to define what healing is biblically. When examining cases of healing in Scripture, it is clear that healings in Scripture were instantaneous. Once a person was declared healed, he did not have to wait for a period of time before he was completely healed. This healing was no gradual process. Furthermore, healings are always of diseases that are untreatable like blindness or lameness or even death. Healings were also complete, and they reversed all of the damage caused by whatever malady the individual suffered.

What is also evident from biblical healings is that those who heal do not do it of their own power or even of their own initiative. In fact, they have no control over the timing of when healings would be performed. For instance, even though the apostle Paul performed many spectacular miracles of healing, he endured a thorn in the flesh until the end of his life (2 Cor 12:7–9). He also apparently could not heal Epaphroditus, though he prayed for him (Phil 2:25–30). In other words, no individual permanently had “the gift of healing,” but the Spirit did gift individuals with the ability to heal in certain circumstances according to his divine will.

Of course, on the one hand are the faith healers like Aimee Semple McPherson, Oral Roberts, and Bennie Hinn, who have held extravagant healing meetings, complete with “slaying people in the spirit” and other frenzied chaos. The “healing” reported from such meetings are highly suspect.

But like with revelation and tongues, more moderate orthodox charismatics also teach that Spirit-given healing continues today. For example, Sam Storms teaches that the Spirit gifts certain individuals in certain circumstances a special measure of faith by which their prayers can produce supernatural healing.⁵Storms, The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts, 70.

I raise examples of more moderate charismatics like Sam Storms, not to lump them together with the prosperity gospel heretics—far from it. These men are orthodox evangelical teachers whose writing in many areas I find helpful. Rather, I raise them to illustrate what I believe to be confusion today even among otherwise orthodox individuals regarding how we ought to expect the Holy Spirit to work today.

Transitional Gifts

Of course, there is wide debate today concerning whether and which of these gifts continue today. As I have discussed previously regarding direct divine revelation, there is a very simply reason I believe gifts of the Spirit have ceased: they were inherently transitional in nature. The Spirit gave revelation and empowered key individuals during important transitional periods in the progressive unfolding of God’s redemptive plan.

The same is true with gifts like tongues and healing. With tongues, which as I demonstrated earlier is the ability to speak in known languages, the purpose was inherently transitional in nature. We have to remember that up to the time of the New Testament, God’s focus had been exclusively upon the people of Israel. At the Tower of Babel God confused the languages, and from that point on the focus of his love and work was upon the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Salvation was from the Jews (Jn 4:22).

But as of Acts 2, membership in the church of Jesus Christ is not limited to one nationality. This was a concept completely foreign to a Jew, and the gift of tongues is therefore a poignant sign to the Jews that they are no longer the exclusive focus of God’s attention and love—now there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him. It was a sign to them that God was shifting his focus away from them for a time and toward the Gentile nations.

In fact, Paul specifically makes this point in 1 Corinthians 14, when he quotes Isaiah 28:11–12 in verse 21: “In the Law it is written, ‘By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.’” The appearance of these “strange tongues” during these early years of the church was a pronouncement of curse upon the nation of Israel, and it signified to everyone that salvation was no longer held within one ethic group.

And it is for this reason that twice more God sends the gift of tongues in the book of Acts. The second appearance of tongues comes in chapter 10 where the gospel first comes to Gentile people. Peter proclaims the gospel to Cornelius and his household in verse 34, saying, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable him.” But remember, even Peter had at first been hesitant to take the gospel to the Gentiles, so God made clear that these Gentile converts were indeed part of the church, and he did so through giving them the same sign he had given in Acts 2. In verse 46 Luke records that these Gentile converts began to speak in tongues, evidencing that they, too, had been Spirit baptized.

The third appearance of tongues in Acts 19 is similar. While Cornelius and his household were Gentile converts within Israel, in chapter 19 Paul encounters some Gentile disciples in Ephesus who had been baptized into John’s baptism but apparently had not yet heard about Christ. Upon believing in Christ, they began to speak in tongues and prophesying, evidencing that Gentile converts outside Israel were, too, now part of the body of Christ.

The gift of tongues, as is evident in the three appearances in Acts along with what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, had a very specific purpose: it served as a sign that membership in the church was without national distinction. Furthermore, there is no biblical support for the argument that tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 were any different than those in Acts 2, and it should not surprise us that the only mention of tongues or prophecy in the New Testament epistles is in 1 Corinthians, an early Pauline letter. By the time he wrote to most other churches, those gifts had served their purpose and passed away.

The gift of healing was also transitional. Acts 2:43 specifically said that the signs and wonders were being done by apostles. In fact, 2 Corinthians 12.12 says that miracles were marks of someone who was an apostle. There are roughly thirty-three miracles in the book of Acts. Twenty-six of them are performed by apostles, and the rest are done by angels except for a few miracles done by Stephen, Philip, and Barnabas, each prominent founders of the church.

All of this information leads us to safely conclude that signs and wonders were exclusively by apostles or close associates of apostles. The primary purpose of miracles was to authenticate the message of these apostles concerning Jesus as the promised Messianic king. This has been true of every period of redemptive history: miracles authenticated God’s revelation at every key stage in kingdom history throughout the Old Testament. The same is true in this key transitional period in the book of Acts. This is exactly where the Sprit’s works fit—in bringing order to God’s plan of establishing his kingdom on earth with Christ as king.

At this time in the book of Acts, there was no completed Bible; there was no unified message of the Holy Spirit, and so he had to authenticate his true message through miracles in order to distinguish which messages were truly his. But now the Scriptures are finished. We have a completed Canon of Scripture. Because of this, the Holy Spirit no longer needs to authenticate his message through some kind of external means like miracles.

The Holy Spirit now authenticates his completed Word directly. As 1 John 5:6 says, the Spirit Himself testifies as to the truthfulness of the message of Jesus Christ. If anyone says something contrary to the Scriptures, we know it is untrue because we have a completed Bible. They did not have this privilege yet, and so the Holy Spirit had to do something external to authenticate his message.

Here is the key: Before the complete Canon of Scripture, the Holy Spirit authenticated His message through signs and wonders. Now that the Bible is completed, the Bible itself is self-authenticating, meaning that it needs nothing outside itself to authenticate its message. Since the Holy Spirit inspired the message itself, he can attest to its truthfulness through illuminating the heart of the listener, that is, removing any doubt or question as to whether or not it is true. And because the completed Bible is self-authenticating through the illumination of its Author, signs and wonders are no longer needed.

I am convinced that contemporary Evangelicalism has been Pentecostalized in significant ways that even many non-charismatics don’t recognize. One significant way this reveals itself even among those who would claim to be cessationists is in common evangelical expectations regarding how God speaks to us and how he reveals his will to us. It is very common in modern evangelicalism, for example, to hear Christians talk about how God “spoke” to them, revealing his will in mystical ways outside his Word.

This teaching characterizes charismatics to be sure, many of which believe that the Holy Spirit still gives revelation with the same level of authority that he did to prophets like Elijah and Isaiah and apostles like John and Paul.

However, more moderate charismatics like Wayne Grudem and Sam Storms argue that while the authoritative canon of Scripture is closed, we ought to still expect “spontaneous revelation from the Holy Spirit” today. In this more moderate view, prophecy today does not have same sort of inerrancy or authority as biblical prophecy or inspired Scripture, but it is still direct revelation from the Spirit. I am thankful that these men defend the closed canon and the unique authority of Scripture, starkly differentiating their teaching from that of other more dangerous charismatics. Nevertheless, we must still measure their teaching against what the Bible actually teaches.

On the other hand, even many prominent evangelical teachers who claim to believe that prophecy has ceased nevertheless teach that we ought to expect the Holy Spirit to speak directly to us, not with words, and they don’t even call it prophecy, but they teach that the Holy Spirit speaks to us through impressions, through promptings, a still small voice, or an inner peace.

Perhaps no single book has done more to spread this kind of expectation among evangelical Christians than Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God. Blackaby says, “God has not changed. He still speaks to his people. If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience.¹Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King, Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2004), 137. This is someone who claims to be a cessationist. Other teachers like Charles Stanley and Priscilla Shirer have taught that we need to learn to listen for God’s voice outside of Scripture, we ought to expect to receive “personal divine direction,” “detailed guidance,” and “intimate leading.”²Priscilla Shirer, Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When He Speaks (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2012), 18, 20.

Another way this expectation appears is in common beliefs regarding the doctrine of illumination. Often we hear prayers like, “Lord, please illumine your Word so that we can understand what it says,” or other similar language. Intentional or not, many believers seem to expect that the Spirit is going to help us understand what Scripture means or that he is going to “speak” to us specific ways that the Word applies to our personal situations. However, neither of these are what the biblical doctrine of illumination means.

The fact is that many Christians today think that supernatural experiences were just the normal, expected way God spoke to everyone in biblical times. Here’s Henry Blackaby again:

The testimony of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is that God speaks to his people, . . . and you can anticipate that he will be speaking to you also.³Blackaby and King, Experiencing God, 57.

Charles Stanley argues,

[God] loves us just as much as he loved the people of Old and New Testament days. . . . We need his definite and deliberate direction for our lives, as did Joshua, Moses, Jacob, or Noah. As his children, we need his counsel for effective decision making. Since he wants us to make the right choices, he is still responsible for providing accurate data, and that comes through his speaking to us.⁴Charles F. Stanley, How to Listen to God (Grand Rapids: Thomas Nelson, 2002), 3.

These are not charismatics or continuationists. These are teachers who claim to be cessationists, and yet they insist that we ought to expect to hear from God outside his Word. And yet, this really is no different from how moderate continuationists define prophecy today.

In fact, Tom Schreiner admits as much in his book, Spiritual Gifts. Schreiner says this:

What most call prophecy in churches today, in my judgment, isn’t the New Testament gift of prophecy. . . . It is better to characterize what is happening today as the sharing of impressions rather than prophecy. God may impress something on a person’s heart and mind, and he may use such impressions to help others in their spiritual walk. It is a matter of definition; what some people call prophecies are actually impressions, where someone senses that God is leading them to speak to someone or to make some kind of statement about a situation.⁵Thomas R. Schreiner, Spiritual Gifts: What They Are and Why They Matter (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2018), 118.

And Schreiner even admits that this is not much different from the moderate continuationist theology of prophecy:

The difference between cessationists and continuationists is in some ways insignificant at the practical level when it comes to prophecy,for what continuationists call prophecy, cessationists call impressions. As a cessationist, I affirm that God may speak to his people through impressions. And there are occasions where impressions are startlingly accurate.⁶Schreiner, Spiritual Gifts, 119. Emphasis added.

I respect Tom Schreiner greatly, but the problem is that teachings about Holy Spirit impressions such as these are not based on any Scripture at all. Rather, they use phrases like, “We have all experienced this kind of thing,” “these impressions are startingly accurate, so they must be from God,” or they quote a few vague statements by Spurgeon, Edwards, or Lloyd Jones that sound like they believed in such impressions.

I would estimate that a vast majority of evangelical Christians today believe that the Holy Spirit speaks through promptings and impressions, especially with regard to his will for our lives. If you want to truly know God’s will, then the Bible is not enough. The Bible does not tell you specifics about God’s “secret will” for your life, so if you want to know it, you need to learn to listen to God’s voice. Not audible words of course, not prophecy—we’re cessationists after all, but we ought to expect to receive nudges or impressions from the Spirit, an inner peace that will give us guidance.

But what does the Bible actually say about how we should expect God to speak to us?

The More Sure Word

In understanding the nature of the Spirit’s work of giving revelation, it is important that we understand the relationship between the revelation that he gave through prophets and the revelation that he inspired in the sixty-six canonical books of Scripture.

Peter addresses this very issue in 2 Peter 1, where he states in verse 21, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Peter is discussing the nature of Spirit-inspired biblical revelation because of the false teachers who had emerged, some of whom claimed to speak for God.

Peter begins his argument, however, by appealing to his eyewitness status as an apostle of Jesus Christ—“we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” When he made known to the people truth about Jesus Christ, Peter argues, he did not follow cleverly devised myths; rather, his teaching is based on what he personally witnessed as an apostle of Christ.

To what is he referring in these verses? He is referring to the supernatural experience of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ in the presence of Peter, James, and John on the mountain. However, notice what Peter says next in verse 19: “And we have the prophetic Word more fully confirmed.” Despite all of Peter’s own experiences of receiving divine revelation from God himself, Peter identifies the foundational source of God’s truth: the prophetic Word. Peter is saying that God revealed his truth, not only through direct divine revelation, but fundamentally through his Spirit-inspired Word.

Peter and the other apostles did experience direct, first hand revelation from God’s Spirit. Those supernatural experiences were truly ways in which God confirmed his truth to his apostles. And yet, as Peter is trying to defend God’s truth, someone could very easily say, “Why should we take your word for it? People experience things they can’t explain all the time; who’s to say that such experiences are direct revelation from God?” Peter answers that natural objection by saying, “Don’t take my word for it. Trust the sufficient Word of God.”

In fact, he goes even beyond that. The verse literally reads, “And we have more sure the prophetic Word.” Do you see what Peter is saying here? Here is an apostle of Jesus Christ, one who walked with Jesus and saw his miracles and heard his teaching, one who performed signs of a true apostle, one of only three who saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain and literally heard the voice of God from heaven, and despite all of those amazing supernatural experiences, Peter says, “We have a prophet Word even more certain, more confirmed, more sure than those supernatural experiences. We have the written Word of God, and that Word is sufficient.”

‌Often Christians today assume that if the Spirit of God spoke directly to them like he did to prophets and apostles in Scripture, they would far more easily align their lives with God’s will for them. But Peter is saying that the Spirit-inspired Word is more certain than if the Spirit spoke directly to us.‌

Consider what he says in the next phrase in verse 19: “to which you would do well to pay attention.” Pay attention to the sufficient Word. We ought not to expect the Spirit to speak directly to us, because even if he did, the Word would still be more sure than that direct revelation from the Spirit. Why would we want something less sure than the Word of God?

There are those today who insist that nowhere does Scripture say that the Spirit has stopped giving direct revelation now that Scripture is complete, but that is exactly what Peter is saying here. The written Word of God is more sure than direct revelation; direct revelation was only necessary for a time because the more sure written Word was not yet complete. Now that the written Word is complete, we no longer need those less sure revelation. The only reason to believe that God’s Spirit still speaks through divine revelation is if you believe the canon of Scripture is incomplete; if you believe that the canon of Scripture is closed, then you ought not expect any additional divine revelation. Even Grudem acknowledges, ““If everyone with the gift of prophecy in the New Testament church did have . . . absolute divine authority, then we would expect this gift to die out as soon as the writings of the New Testament were completed and given to the churches.”⁷Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today, 45–46.

As I have noted, any people today think that supernatural experiences were just the normal, expected way God spoke to everyone in biblical times. But this reveals two misconceptions about the examples of direct revelation that is recorded for us in Scripture.

First, direct revelation from the Spirit was rare in biblical history. People assume they happened all the time, but really, they occurred mostly in only three general periods: the patriarchs and Moses, Elijah and the prophets, Jesus and the founding of the church by his apostles. There are large spans of history between those three primary periods where hearing from God’s Spirit outside of his Word was not the normal experience.

Even in Acts, the normal expectation was not to expect direct revelation from God, but to trust his sufficient Word. Direct revelations occur only nine separate times over the course of thirty years in the Book of Acts. On the other hand, there are at least 70 instances in Acts where Christians, including the apostles, made decisions without direct revelation.

When the apostles were choosing a replacement for Judas, they did not ask for direct revelation—they consulted the Word, and then made an informed decision. When they chose the first deacons, appointed elders, decided where to preach the gospel, and even at the Jerusalem Counsel, God’s people made important decisions, not on the basis of direct revelation or impressions from the Holy Spirit, but on the basis of careful application of the sufficient Word. Direct revelation was not a regular occurrence even for the apostles in the first century.

Second, people misunderstand the purpose of those instances of direct revelation. Those experiences did not exist for their own sake as the normal way God revealed his will to his people. Rather, those times when the Spirit spoke directly through prophets were for the purpose of confirming the written Word of God as it was being given as the more sure Word, and once the written Word was confirmed, direct revelation was no longer necessary.

Think about those three periods of history: God spoke directly to the people through Moses, but then God wrote his revelation in the tablets of stone and in his written Word. The direct revelation confirmed that the law and the testimony was from God, but once it was written, God didn’t speak directly to the people. He expected the people to trust and obey something more sure—his written Word. God’s Word was sufficient.

The Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets like Elijah and Isaiah, but then those prophets wrote what God said. The direct revelation confirmed that the prophecy was from God, but once it was written, God didn’t speak directly to the people. He expected the people to trust and obey something more sure—his written Word. God’s Word was sufficient.

And likewise, God’s Spirit spoke directly through Jesus and his apostles. But then, as Peter said in chapter 3, the apostles wrote what God said. The direct revelation confirmed that the revelation was from God, but now that it has been written, we should not expect God to speak directly to us. God expects us to trust and obey something more sure—his written Word. God’s Word is sufficient.

It is foolish for us to look at what God was doing in those three unique periods when he was progressively delivering his revelation and assume them to be normative for us today. Those three periods when Spirit did speak directly produced the more sure written Word of God: (1) Moses, (2) Elijah and the prophets, (2) Jesus and the apostles—the Law, the Prophets, and the New Testament. And, remarkably, this is exactly who gathered together on the Mount of Transfiguration: Moses, Elijah, Jesus and his apostles—representatives of the 66 inspired, authoritative, inscripturated, more sure, sufficient Word of God, and this Word will be sufficient until Jesus comes again.

‌The reason that the written Word is more sure than direct revelation from the Spirit is because of the nature of inspiration. Peter addresses this in verse 20:

Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of men.

In other words, the inscripturated Word of God does not come from a human source. If it did, Scripture would not be inerrant, infallible, authoritative, or sufficient. This is the problem with even supernatural subjective revelations—they are fallible because humans are fallible. Visions can be caused by lack of sleep, inner promptings can be indigestion, and dreams can be caused by too much spicy food. If you heard a voice from heaven, you couldn’t be certain it was actually God.

But what has been written down in the Scriptures is not like this. It does not come from a human source. This is what makes Scripture even more trustworthy and preferred to direct revelation from God. No prophecy of Scripture comes from a human source. Rather, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (v. 21). Peter is saying that we ought to trust the sufficient Word because it is revelation from God’s Spirit that is even more sure than if he spoke to us directly.

Trust the sufficient Word. It’s all we need. We do not need supernatural subjective experiences, we do not need the voice of God from Heaven, we do not need a still small voice in our hearts, we do not need visions or dreams or impressions or “nudges from the Holy Spirit”—we have something better than all of that. We have more sure the written Word of God. Scripture is sufficient.

“Our church’s worship is pretty formal, but I prefer Holy Spirit-led worship.”

Such was a comment I overheard once by a young evangelical describing his church’s worship service, illustrating a very common perception by many evangelicals today—if the Holy Spirit actively works in worship, the results will be something extraordinary, an experience “quenched” by too much form and order.

But this expectation appears in more than just worship. If you were to ask the average Christian today what our expectation should be regarding how the Holy Spirit works, I believe most Christians would answer something like this: If the Holy Spirit is actively working, his work will be evidenced by some sort of extraordinary experience—intense feelings, inner promptings, miraculous gifts, or even visible manifestations.

As that representative list illustrates, this expectation takes a variety of forms, but likely the most prevalent form of this expectation revolves around worship.

Extraordinary Worship

Arguably, the default expectation of contemporary evangelical worshipers is that the Holy Spirit works in worship in such a way so as to create an extraordinary experience, well expressed in the popular worship song by Bryan and Katie Torwalt:

Holy spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord ¹“Holy Spirit,” 2011, https://songselect.ccli.com/Songs/6087919/holy-spirit. This is a CCLI Top 10 song.

Many theologians and authors who have helped to shape contemporary evangelical worship embody a theology of the Holy Spirit’s primary work as that of making God’s presence known. For example, Wayne Grudem argues, “The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially the church. . . . It seems that one of his primary purposes in the new covenant age,” Grudem continues, “is to manifest the presence of God, to give indications that make the presence of God known. . . . To be in the Holy Spirit is really to be in an atmosphere of God’s manifested presence.”²Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 634, 641, 648. Zac Hicks agrees: “The Holy Spirit has an agenda in manifesting his presence to us.”³Zac M. Hicks, The Worship Pastor: A Call to Ministry for Worship Leaders and Teams (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 33. Bob Kauflin believes that “there are times, of course, when we become unexpectedly aware of the Lord’s presence in an intense way. A sudden wave of peace comes over us. An irrepressible joy rises up from the depths of our soul.”⁴Bob Kauflin, True Worshipers: Seeking What Matters to God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2015), 133. “None of us,” Kauflin insists, “should be satisfied with our present experience of the Spirit’s presence and power.”⁵Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008), 84–85.

This expectation is certainly not new; theologians such as John Owen and Jonathan Edwards addressed the religious “enthusiasts” of their day.⁶See Ryan J. Martin, “‘Violent Motions of Carnal Affections’: Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, and Distinguishing the Work of the Spirit from Enthusiasm,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 15 … Continue reading However, the contemporary iteration is rooted in a Pentecostal theology of the Holy Spirit’s work. In their insightful Concise History of Contemporary Worship, Lovin’ on Jesus, Swee Hong Lim and Lester Ruth convincingly demonstrate that Pentecostalism, with its “revisioning of a New Testament emphasis upon the active presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit,” is one of five key sources of contemporary worship.⁷Swee Hong Lim and Lester Ruth, Lovin’ on Jesus: A Concise History of Contemporary Worship (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2017), 17–18. The other four are youth ministry, baby boomers, Jesus People, … Continue reading They suggest that “Pentecostalism’s shaping of contemporary worship has been both through its own internal development and through an influencing of other Protestants in worship piety and practice,” including the following ways its theology has shaped contemporary worship:

1. mainstreaming the desire to be physical and expressive in worship
2. highlighting intensity as a liturgical virtue
3. a certain expectation of experience to the forms of contemporary worship, and
4. a musical sacramentality [that] raises the importance of the worship set as well as the musicians leading this set.⁸Lim and Ruth, Lovin’ on Jesus, 18.

They explain, “Pentecostalism contributed contemporary worship’s sacramentality, that is, both the expectation that God’s presence could be encountered in worship and the normal means by which this encounter would happen,” creating an “expectation for encountering God, active and present through the Holy Spirit.”⁹Lim and Ruth, Lovin’ on Jesus, 18. Daniel Albrecht agrees: “The presence of the Holy Spirit then is fundamental to a Pentecostal perspective of worship. The conviction that the Spirit is present in worship is one of the deepest beliefs in a Pentecostal liturgical vision. The expectancy of the Spirit’s presence is often palpable in the liturgy. . . . Their liturgical rites and sensibilities encourage becoming consciously present to God—even as God’s presence is expected to become very real in worship.”¹⁰Daniel E. Albrecht, “Worshiping and the Spirit: Transmuting Liturgy Pentecostally,” in The Spirit in Worship—Worship in the Spirit, ed. Teresa Berger and Bryan D. Spinks (Collegeville, MN: … Continue reading

Monique M. Ingalls agrees with this assessment after her ten year study (2007 to 2017) of contemporary worship in several different settings.¹¹Monique M. Ingalls, Singing the Congregation: How Contemporary Worship Music Forms Evangelical Community (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018). She notes the connection between centrality of contemporary worship music and the desire of worshipers to experience “a personal encounter with God during congregational singing.”¹²Ingalls, Singing the Congregation, 85.

Indeed, an expected experience of the Holy Spirit’s active presence is often directly tied to music, specifically to the “flow” of the emotional expressiveness of the worship music. Hicks suggests, “Part of leading a worship service’s flow . . . involves keeping the awareness of God’s real, abiding presence before his worshipers. As all of the elements of worship pass by, the one constant—the True Flow—is the presence of the Holy Spirit himself.” This kind of flow, according to Hicks, “lies in understanding and guiding your worship service’s emotional journey.”¹³Hicks, The Worship Pastor, 184. “Grouping songs in such a way that they flow together,” worship leader Carl Tuttle explains, “is essential to a good worship experience.”¹⁴Carl Tuttle, “Song Selection & New Song Introduction,” in Worship Leaders Training Manual (Anaheim, CA: Worship Resource Center/Vineyard Ministries International, 1987), 141. The goal and expectation of any worship service, according to Barry Griffing, “is to bring the congregational worshipers into a corporate awareness of God’s manifest presence.”¹⁵Barry Griffing, “Releasing Charismatic Worship,” in Restoring Praise & Worship to the Church (Shippensburg, PA: Revival Press, 1989), 92. James Steven notes, “By investing heavily in particular signs of the Spirit’s presence, such as ecstatic physical patterns of behavior, church members define the Spirit by the empirical measurement of particular phenomena, which if absent imply that the Spirit has not ‘turned up.’”¹⁶James Steven, “The Spirit in Contemporary Charismatic Worship,” in The Spirit in Worship—Worship in the Spirit, ed. Teresa Berger and Bryan D. Spinks (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009), … Continue reading

For Pentecostals and other continuationists, this expectation includes miraculous gifts such as tongues and prophecy, but even for other evangelicals who do not hold to a continuationist position on miraculous gifts, the default expectation is that the Holy Spirit will manifest God’s presence in other extraordinary ways such as a heightened experience of emotional euphoria.

Thus, worship in which the Holy Spirit is directly active is often necessarily connected with spontaneity and “freedom” of form. Worship that is structured and regulated is the opposite of “Spirit-led” worship in this view. As Lim and Ruth note, most contemporary worship, impacted as it is by this understanding of the Holy Spirit’s work in worship, considers “extemporaneity as a mark of worship that is true and of the Holy Spirit, that is, worship in Spirit and truth (John 4:24). This view of extemporaneity” they note, “has been held widely within Free Church ways of worship.”¹⁷Lim and Ruth, Lovin’ on Jesus, 38. What Albrecht observes of Pentecostal worship has become the standard expectation for most of evangelicalism:

In the midst of radical receptivity, an encounter with the Holy Spirit may occur. Pentecostals envision such encounters as integral to the worship experience. While an overwhelming or overpowering experience of/in the Spirit is neither rare nor routine for a particular Pentecostal worshiper, the experiential dimension of worship is fundamental. The liturgical vision sees God as present in the service; consequently, Pentecostals reason that a direct experience of God is a normal expectation.¹⁸Albrecht, “Worshiping and the Spirit: Transmuting Liturgy Pentecostally,” 240.

This expectation is clearly embodied in charismatic theology, but even with more moderate charismatics, or non-charismatics who have been what I describe as “Pentecostalized,” there is a certain expectation that in a worship service, the Holy Spirit of God will manifest himself in some observable, tangible way. And if we don’t feel something intense, if we don’t have an authentic experience, then something is wrong.

This theology of worship began in Pentecostalism, but it has now expanded to other groups who would not necessarily affirm Pentecostal theology of spiritual gifts, and has come to characterize contemporary worship.

The important question is how this expectation measures up against the teachings of Holy Scripture.

Meu objetivo é convencê-lo de que é importante que a música faça parte de sua grade de ensino domiciliar. Eu quero persuadi-lo de que a música é essencial para o desenvolvimento educacional de seus filhos. Muitos, talvez, já reconheçam os benefícios da música na vida das crianças. Entretanto outros pensam que a música é simplesmente um benefício recreativo na vida das pessoas, e se seu filho demonstrar interesse ou talento na área musical, você o incentivaria a participar aprender mais. Mas se os filhos não gostam muito de música, então ele não deveria se dedicar a ela. Vou tentar convencê-lo de que toda criança – toda pessoa – deveria ter acesso a boa música.

Você provavelmente espera que eu cite estudos científicos sobre como a música ajuda no desenvolvimento cognitivo e o convença da validade do “efeito Mozart”. Eu tratarei um pouco sobre o assunto porque acredito que esses benefícios existam. Contudo, não creio que sejam os melhores argumentos para defender a educação musical. Existe uma razão fundamental pela qual a música deve fazer parte da sua casa e me concentrarei nesse aspecto.

Como pais cristãos, vocês educam seus filhos na educação e instrução do Senhor (Efésios 6:4).

Como pais cristãos, sei que vocês têm o encargo de educar seus filhos. O seu objetivo é desenvolver cada elemento da pessoa do seu filho para que se torne um adulto responsável. A Bíblia instui os pais sobre o desenvolvimento educacional dos filhos e fornece princípios sobre como você pode contribuir na área educacional. Quero dar-lhe dois exemplos – um do Antigo Testamento e outro do Novo Testamento – que apresentarão um esboço de como você deve educar seus filhos e veremos como a música pode ajudar significativamente nessa tarefa.

Tomemos, por exemplo, o exemplo da ordem de Deus aos israelitas para ensinarem a confissão de fé hebraica aos filhos. A declaração central de crença do povo escolhido de Deus é encontrada em Deuteronômio 6:4-9. É interessante notar a ordem que Ele lhes dá no final dos versos:

“Ouça, ó Israel! O Senhor, nosso Deus, o Senhor é único! Ame o Senhor, seu Deus, de todo o seu coração, de toda a sua alma e de toda a sua força. Guarde sempre no coração as palavras que hoje eu lhe dou. Repita-as com frequência a seus filhos. Converse a respeito delas quando estiver em casa e quando estiver caminhando, quando se deitar e quando se levantar. Amarre-as às mãos e prenda-as à testa como lembrança. Escreva-as nos batentes das portas de sua casa e em seus portões.

É uma ordem para ministrar verdades importantes nos seus filhos, e o que é importante para a nossa discussão é que os elementos de uma pessoa são enfatizados na confissão de fé. Deus se dirige ao homem inteiro – o que pensamos, o que fazemos e o que sentimos. Ele primeiro abordou o que eles deveriam acreditar em suas mentes: que Deus é um e que ele é Yahweh. Ele então abordou suas emoções: eles devem amar esse Deus. E finalmente, dirigiu-se às suas vontades: eles devem obedecer a Deus. O restante das Escrituras trata do mesmo modo com o homem – sua mente, vontade e emoções devem cair debaixo do governo de Deus. Todos os três trabalham em conjunto para que uma pessoa glorifique a Deus: intelecto, ação e afeto.

Outro exemplo bíblico que gostaria de destacar é desenvolvimento educacional de Jesus Cristo. Lucas 2:52 diz que Jesus “crescia em sabedoria, em estatura, e em graça diante de Deus e dos homens”. “Sabedoria” refere-se ao seu conhecimento acadêmico e à sua capacidade de usar esse conhecimento para tomar boas decisões. “Estatura” refere-se ao seu desenvolvimento físico. “Graça diante de Deus” faz referência à sua maturidade espiritual. E “Graça diante dos homens” trata de suas habilidades sociais. Este versículo sempre forneceu uma boa base para uma filosofia educacional abrangente em artes liberais.

Com base nessas duas passagens, traçarei um esboço sobre o fundamento que você já está ensinando na educação domiciliar e demonstrarei como a música pode ser fundamental para o seu desenvolvimento. No que se refere a algumas pessoas, a música servirá apenas como auxílio para seus objetivos educacionais, mas para outras, elas não conseguirao se desenvolver sem alguma influência musical na sua vida.

Meu objetivo é demonstrar como a música ajuda na educação domiciliar:

1. Fisicamente
2. Academicamente
3. Socialmente
4. Moralmente
5. Emocionalmente
6. Espiritualmente

A musica ajuda no desenvolvimento motor de seu filho

A música pode ajudar especialmente bebês e crianças pequenas em seu desenvolvimento físico. Se seus filhos já estão na estranha adolescência, talvez seja tarde demais para eles! Na verdade, mencionarei algumas maneiras pelas quais até os adolescentes podem ser ajudados fisicamente por meio da música, mas é quando as crianças estão se desenvolvendo fisicamente que a música pode ser mais útil.

As crianças desenvolvem-se fisicamente através do movimento, e a música é essencialmente movimentação. Os fisioterapeutas dizem que a repetição de movimentos é importante para o desenvolvimento cerebral e motor. Ritmo, andamento e diferentes tipos de sons musicais ajudam a tornar o crescimento de uma criança rápido e suave.

As crianças movem-se naturalmente ao som da música, e estudos mostram que quando balançam e balançam ao ritmo da dança, o seu ouvido interno é desenvolvido e o seu equilíbrio também. À medida que crescem, a internalização do ritmo constante os ajuda na coordenação e na capacidade de andar com firmeza.

Outra habilidade importante que as crianças aprendem desde cedo é algo chamado controle inibitório – a capacidade de parar e ficar quieto. Todos nós já vimos crianças que ainda não conseguem fazer isso; elas são naturalmente muito agitadas. Expor as crianças a música com ritmos (velocidades) variados irá ajudá-las a desenvolver a habílidade de se aquietar.

Todos nós sabemos como as crianças são perspicazes. Elas percebem pequenas mudanças em seu ambiente. Quando as crianças são expostas à música com toda a sua maravilhosa variedade de sons, as crianças aprendem a ser ouvintes ativos. Isto ajuda-as a distinguir entre diferentes tipos de sons – agudos e graves, altos e suaves – e este tipo de discriminação sonora estimula os primeiros fundamentos da criança para aprender a variedade de sons da língua. Estudos mostram que crianças expostas à música desde cedo geralmente desenvolvem habilidades linguísticas com mais facilidade. Além disso, ouvir música a capela também acelera o ritmo da criança em aprender a falar, assim como se desenvolve quando se conversa com ela.

Existem duas áreas no desenvolvimento físico de uma criança que ajudarão até crianças mais velhas e adolescentes. Elas são especialmente verdadeiras para crianças que não apenas ouvem música regularmente, mas também participam de apresentações musicais. O primeiro é a criatividade. À medida que uma criança experimenta as variedades musicais e até mesmo peças musicais com enredos ou histórias interessantes, ela será atraída pela criatividade. A outra é um maior desenvolvimento em na coordenação. Se você cria adolescentes que têm dificuldade em saber a diferença entre o pé esquerdo e o direito, a música pode ser a resposta! Tocar instrumentos musicais, seja piano, trompete ou flauta, ajuda a desenvolver habilidades motoras, coordenação olho-mão e até capacidade pulmonar (se for um instrumento de sopro).

A música ajuda no desenvolvimento acadêmico

Agora é aqui que entraremos um pouco no chamado “efeito Mozart”. Você provavelmente já ouviu ou leu pesquisas que indicam que a música torna as crianças mais inteligentes. Bem, estou aqui para lhe dizer que isso não é totalmente verdade. Não existem provas de que a música realmente torne uma pessoa mais inteligente. No entanto, a investigação parece indicar que existe uma correlação entre a participação na música e o desempenho académico. E deixe-me dizer que em todas as áreas, tocar música é sempre mais benéfico do que apenas ouvir música, embora ouvir também seja crucial e benéfico.

Não vou aborrecê-lo com muitas estatísticas e pesquisas, mas vou citar um estudo como exemplo e depois explicar como o envolvimento musical ajuda no desenvolvimento acadêmico. Aqui está um trecho de um artigo de uma mulher chamada Dee Dickinson publicado pela New Horizons for Learning (1993) chamado “Music and the Mind (Música e a Mente)”.

Recentemente surgiram vários relatórios que atestam a ligação entre a música e o desempenho académico. Um estudo sobre a capacidade de estudantes de ciências de catorze anos em dezessete países, os três primeiros países foram a Hungria, os Países Baixos e o Japão. Todos os três incluem música em todo o currículo, desde o jardim de infância até o ensino médio. Na década de 1960, o sistema Kodály de educação musical foi instituído nas escolas da Hungria como resultado do excelente desempenho acadêmico das crianças nas suas “escolas de canto”. Hoje, não há alunos da terceira série que não consigam cantar no tom e afinado. Além disso, o desempenho académico dos estudantes húngaros, especialmente em matemática e ciências, continua a ser notável. A Holanda iniciou o seu programa musical em 1968 e o Japão seguiu o exemplo, aprendendo com a experiência dos outros países.

Outro relatório revelou o fato de que os principais projetistas técnicos e engenheiros do Vale do Silício são quase todos músicos praticantes.

Um terceiro relatório revela que as escolas que produzem hoje o maior desempenho académico nos Estados Unidos dedicam 20% a 30% do dia às artes, com especial destaque para a música. Estão incluídas a escola primária St. Augustine Bronx que estava prestes a falir em 1984, após implementar um programa intensivo de música, tem hoje, 90% dos alunos lendo no nível escolar ou acima dele.

Existe uma variedade de razões pelas quais o envolvimento musical ajuda no desempenho acadêmico, algumas das quais são razões puramente práticas. Por exemplo, tocar um instrumento musical requer disciplina, concentração, paciência e trabalho duro. Essas são habilidades que também são necessárias para os acadêmicos.

Mas também existem evidências de que a participação na música aumenta a capacidade de uma pessoa a pensar abstratamente, o que ajuda na matemática e ciência. Também, como já vimos, auxilia no desenvolvimento linguístico, o que é essencial no meio acadêmico. Finalmente, como a música é racional e abstrata, ela ajuda a estabelecer a ponte entre os lados esquerdo e direito do cérebro.

Música ajuda no desenvolvimento social

Envolver as crianças em grupos musicais como corais, aulas de música, bandas ou orquestras também lhes proporciona ferramentas maravilhosas para o seu desenvolvimento social. A participação em tais grupos lhes ensina trabalho em equipe, humildade e capacidade de conviver com os demais.

Música ajuda no desenvolvimento moral

Como cristãos, eu sei que vocês estão preocupados em ensinar aos seus filhos a verdade bíblica que guiará as suas vidas. Um compositor de hinos disse a famosa frase: “Fatores aprendidos na música são lembrados por muito tempo”. Muitos de vocês provavelmente já usaram a música para ajudá-los a aprender os livros da Bíblia ou alguns fatos. As melodias musicais ficam gravadas em nossas cabeças, e se combinarmos a música com as verdades bíblicas, isso nos ajudará a reter essas verdades. É claro que cantar hinos atinge esses objetivos.

Música ajuda no desenvolvimento emocional

Até agora, o uso da música para ajudar o desenvolvimento físico, académico, social e moral dos seus filhos não é o único método para amadurecê-los. Tentei demonstrar como a música seria definitivamente um auxílio nessas áreas, mas obviamente você precisaria de outras atividades também. Por exemplo, o atletismo ajuda no desenvolvimento físico da criança, o envolvimento ativo na igreja local é essencial para o desenvolvimento moral de uma pessoa e, obviamente, os seus filhos precisam aprender disciplinas acadêmicas para se desenvolverem intelectualmente.

Mas e quanto à próxima área da educação de seus filhos – as emoções? Ouso dizer que você provavelmente não deu muita atenção ao desenvolvimento emocional de seus filhos, ou pelo menos não tanto quanto nessas outras áreas. No entanto, se você conhece a Bíblia, sabe que as afeições de uma pessoa são tão importantes quanto aquilo que ela acredita ou faz. Por exemplo, o maior mandamento de todas as Escrituras, segundo Jesus Cristo, é amar o Senhor com todo o nosso ser. A maturidade de nossas emoções é crucial.

Então, como vocês, como pais cristãos, podem ajudar a desenvolver e amadurecer as emoções de seus filhos da mesma forma que os ajudam a desenvolver-se física, moral ou intelectualmente? Certamente, a verdade bíblica é a raiz das afeições corretas, por isso o uso de palavras através do ensino e da pregação ajuda a amadurecer as emoções dos crentes, bem como o seu intelecto e moralidade. Mas a verdade é que as emoções simplesmente não podem ser expressas adequadamente em palavras. Se eu quiser lhe dizer em que você deve acreditar, uso palavras. Se quero lhe dizer como você deve agir, uso palavras. Mas se eu quiser lhe dizer como você deveria se sentir, as palavras são inadequadas.

Além disso, as palavras não são apenas incapazes de dizer como você deveria se sentir, mas também são inadequadas como expressões de como você se sente. Qualquer marido sabe o que é ser incapaz de expressar adequadamente com palavras o amor que sente pela esposa. Nenhuma esposa fica satisfeita com um ocasional “eu te amo” – apenas palavras para expressar o que pode ser melhor expresso por outros meios. Às vezes, um olhar ou um toque expressam mais afeto sincero do que qualquer palavra. É por isso que temos poemas de amor – eles nos ajudam a expressar o amor de uma forma que não pode ser expressa apenas com palavras. Da mesma forma, os cristãos precisam de outra linguagem além das palavras para prescrever as afeições que deveriam ter e descrever as que realmente têm. Essa linguagem é a musical.

Se você, como pai, está preocupado com o pleno desenvolvimento de seus filhos, então deve se preocupar com o desenvolvimento emocional tanto quanto com o físico ou acadêmico. Deus nos deu a música como uma ferramenta para nos ajudar a expressar emoções boas. Qualquer leitor casual das Escrituras reconhecerá a clara conexão entre música e expressão emocional. Aqui estão alguns exemplos:

Como Moisés e o povo de Israel expressaram sua alegria por terem sido libertados do Egito? “Então Moisés e os israelitas cantaram este cântico ao Senhor: “Cantarei ao Senhor, porque Ele é exaltado”. (Êxodo 15:1)

Quando os israelitas derrotaram os cananeus em Juízes 5, eles cantaram uma canção: “Ouvi isto, reis! Ouçam, vocês governantes! Cantarei ao Senhor, cantarei; Cantarei ao Senhor, o Deus de Israel”.

Quando Davi quis expressar um coração quebrantado e contrito ao Senhor, ele o fez através da música no Salmo 51.

No Salmo 108, Davi diz especificamente que cantará e fará música com a alma, unindo a música e a expressão das emoções.

O Salmo 147 diz que devemos expressar nossa ação de graças através da música.

E, claro, os Salmos estão repletos de mandamentos para expressarmos nosso carinho e louvor ao Senhor através da música.

Efésios 5:19 diz que devemos cantar e entoar melodias com o coração ao Senhor.

Em Atos 16, quando Paulo e Silas estavam na prisão e provavelmente temiam por suas vidas, o que eles fizeram? Eles cantaram hinos a Deus.

Tiago 5:13 diz: “Algum de vocês está com problemas? Ele deveria orar. Alguém está feliz? Deixe-o cantar uma canção de louvor.”

E o fato é que cantaremos como expressão de nosso carinho por Deus por toda a eternidade! (Apocalipse 5:13)

Quase não há menção à música na Bíblia sem alguma conexão com a emoção. Se algo fica claro na discussão bíblica sobre a música, é que Deus pensa que a música é importante. Nós também deveríamos. A música fornece uma linguagem para a expressão das emoções boas, e a boa música realmente educa as nossas emoções para que elas se desenvolvam de maneira saudável.

É por isso que aqueles que dizem que a música é apenas para recreação ou simplesmente para diversão estão ignorando completamente a função da música. Mesmo aqueles que argumentam que o principal benefício da música é ajudar no desenvolvimento físico ou académico das pessoas ignoram a função fundamental da música. Certamente a música pode ajudar em outras áreas de desenvolvimento, como vimos. Mas ensinar – palavras – é realmente a melhor maneira de desenvolver o intelecto de uma criança. A música pode ser um auxílio importante, mas é através das palavras que as crianças aprendem matemática, história e ciências. Esta confusão pode ser a razão pela qual a música é vista com tanta indiferença na nossa sociedade e especialmente no nosso sistema educativo. A música é vista apenas como diversão ou um meio para atingir um fim, e não um fim em si mesmo. Mas uma compreensão adequada da música como a linguagem das emoções é a única coisa que pode amadurecer adequadamente uma pessoa emocionalmente porque enfatiza a verdadeira importância da música.

Acredito que o progressivo descaso com a educação musical na nossa sociedade é uma das principais razões de tantos problemas sociais. Existem, é claro, muitas outras razões para os muitos problemas da nossa sociedade, entre as quais a depravação da humanidade. Mas o fato é que nossa sociedade é emocionalmente pouco desenvolvida. Por que? Porque cada vez menos pessoas são educadas em boa música. As pessoas estão com raiva, amargas e irracionais. Por que? Porque eles não se envolvem com boa música, e a única música que ouvem é aquela raivosa, amarga e irracional que permeia as ondas de rádio.

O que levanta um ponto importante: a música educa as emoções, mas pode educá-las para o bem ou para o mal. Não é qualquer música que amadurece as emoções de uma pessoa. Algumas músicas irão degradar suas emoções. Portanto, é importante que discriminemos o tipo de música a que nos expomos e aos nossos filhos.

Portanto, a música pode realmente ajudar a amadurecer seus filhos física, acadêmica, social e moralmente. Mas o principal benefício – o benefício crucial – da educação musical na vida de qualquer pessoa é que ela é realmente a única coisa que Deus nos deu para ajudar a amadurecer as nossas afeições. Se você está realmente preocupado com o desenvolvimento integral de seus filhos, então eu realmente acredito que você deve incluir algum tipo de educação musical na vida deles (e na sua vida).

Música ajuda no desenvolvimento espiritual

A última área do desenvolvimento do seu filho que quero discutir brevemente é o desenvolvimento espiritual – sua “Graçadiante de Deus”. Mencionei há pouco que, de acordo com Jesus Cristo, a afeição adequada pelo Senhor é o maior mandamento. E também vimos muitas passagens bíblicas que enfatizam que a música é a melhor forma de moldar e expressar nosso amor por Deus. É por isso que existe música nas igrejas! É por isso que você dar acesso a boa música em sua casa. A boa música ajudará a moldar a afeição de seus filhos por Deus e lhe dará uma linguagem para expressar o seu amor por Ele.

Sugestões Práticas

Espero tê-lo convencido de que a música deveria pelo menos fazer parte de suas atividades regulares de educação domiciliar. Gostaria de concluir com algumas sugestões práticas de como você pode dar acesso a boa música em sua família e, especificamente, como você pode ter certeza de que ela está educando seus afetos e os de seus filhos da maneira correta.

1. Certifique-se de que a música que você tem em casa educa o afeto de seus filhos para o bem e não para o mal.

Assim como existem boas emoções, também existem as más. Consequentemente existem tipos de música boas e más, dependendo do que ela expressa. Portanto, você deve discernir que tipo de música permitirá em sua casa. Assim como você faria pesquisas para determinar que tipo de comida é saudável para seus filhos ou quais livros didáticos educariam melhor a mente de seus filhos, você também deve fazer pesquisas para determinar como a música comunica emoções e que tipo de música é melhor para sua família.

2. Apresente música boa para seus filhos

Você pode dizer: “Meus filhos não gostam de música clássica”. Bem, então cabe a você mudar seus gostos. Você faz isso com vegetais, não é? Se dependesse dos seus filhos, eles comeriam chiclete e algodão doce o dia todo. Mas você sabe que carne, batatas e vegetais são melhores para eles, então você exige que eles comam, e logo eles desenvolvem um gosto pelo que é melhor. O mesmo se aplica à boa música.

3. Leve seus filhos para concertos

A apreciação e o amor dos seus filhos pela boa música aumentarão ainda mais se você os expor à música ao vivo. Na verdade, uma das melhores maneiras de despertar o interesse de seus filhos em aprender um instrumento musical é com música ao vivo.

4. Envolva seus filhos em bons grupos musicais

Além de ajudar a educar as emoções de seus filhos, o envolvimento em grupos musicais ajudará a desenvolver suas habilidades sociais e também traz outros benefícios.

5. Encoraje seus filhos a aprender um instrumento musical

Ouvir boa música é bom, mas tocar um instrumento musical é melhor. Muitos dos benefícios da música discutidos acima só são plenamente percebidos quando você realmente toca a música – especialmente com um grupo. Encontre um professor de música local, invista em um instrumento e faça seus filhos tocarem, mesmo que você não ache que eles tenham talento musical específico. Você pode se surpreender.

6. Consistência é a chave

Não consigo contar quantas vezes ouvi falar de pais que permitem que seus filhos comecem em um instrumento musical ou um coral, e então, depois de alguns meses ou um ano, quando a novidade acaba (o que inevitavelmente acontecerá!), eles deixam seus filhos desistirem. Isto certamente não ajudará a desenvolver paciência, resistência e disciplina na criança, e apenas o engajamento consistente na música terá efeitos a longo prazo.

7. Cante, cante e cante!

Obtenha um ou dois bons hinários e faça do canto uma parte regular do seu dia. Cante de manhã, cante antes das refeições, cante durante o dia e cante durante o culto familiar. Quanto mais você canta, mais seus filhos (e você!) serão verdadeiramente nutridos na disciplina e na instrução do Senhor, e mais crescerão em sabedoria, em estatura e no favor de Deus e dos homens.

My goal in this essay is to convince you that it is important that music be a part of your homeschool. My goal is to persuade you that music is essential to your children’s educational development. For you this may not be necessary—you recognize the benefits of music in the lives of your children. But perhaps you view music as simply a recreational perk in people’s lives, and if your child demonstrates interest or talent in music, then you would be happy to encourage that child participate in musical activities. But if another of your children doesn’t particularly care for music, then he or she is just fine without it. I am going to try to convince you that every child—every person—should have music in his or her life.

Now you probably expect me to cite scientific studies about how music helps cognitive development and convince you as to the validity of the “Mozart effect.” I will do some of that here, because I do believe that those kinds of benefits do exist. However, I do not think that these are the best arguments to defend music education. There is a more fundamental reason that music should be a part of your home, and we will get to that shortly.

As Christian parents, you are bringing up your children in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).

As Christian parents, I know that you have a burden to educate your children. It is your objective to develop every element of your child’s person so that he will grow to be a mature adult. The Bible gives parents instruction about the educational development of their children that can provide principles for how you can help in that education. I want to give you two examples—one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament—that will lay out an outline for this of how you should be educating your children, and we will see how music can significantly help in all these areas.

Take, for instance, the example of God’s command to the Israelites to teach the Hebrew confession of faith to their children. The central statement of belief for God’s chosen people is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-6, and it is interesting what command he gives them at the end of these verses:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Here is a command to impress these important truths on their children, and what is important for our discussion is what elements of a person are emphasized in this confession of faith. God addresses the whole of man—what we think, what we do, and what we feel. He first addressed what they must believe in their minds: that God is one and that he is Yahweh. He then addressed their emotions: they are to love that God. And finally, he addressed their wills: they must obey that God. The rest of Scripture deals the same way with man—his mind, will, and emotions are to fall under the rule of God. All three work together in order for a person to glorify God: intellect, action, and affection.

The other Scriptural example I would like to highlight is from Jesus Christ’s educational development. Luke 2:52 says that Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” “Wisdom” refers to his academic knowledge and his ability to use that knowledge to make good decisions. “Stature” refers to his physical development. “Favor with God” references his spiritual maturity. And “favor with men” deals with his social abilities. This verse has always provided a good basis for a well-rounded liberal arts educational philosophy.

Based on these two passages, I am going to lay out a basic outline upon which you are already focusing your children’s education, and I will demonstrate how music can be instrumental in accomplishing each of them. In some areas music will serve only as an aid to your educational goals. But in others—one in particular—helping your child reach his full potential will be virtually impossible without some musical influence in his or her life.

It is my goal to demonstrate how music will help your children:

1. Physically
2. Academically
3. Socially
4. Morally
5. Emotionally
6. Spiritually

Music will aid your child’s physical development.

Music can help particularly infants and young children in their physical development. If your children are already in their awkward teenage years, then it may be too late for them! I’ll actually mention some ways that even teens can be helped physically through music, but it is when children are first developing physically that music can be a great help.

Children develop physically through movement, and music is essentially movement. Physical therapists tell us that repetition of movements is important for brain and motor development. Rhythm, tempo, and different kinds of sounds in music all help make a child’s physical growth both quick and smooth.

Children will naturally move to music, and studies show that as they rock and sway to the rhythm of the music, their inner ear is developed and their balance improves. As they grow older, an internalization of steady beat helps them with coordination and the ability to walk steadily.

Another important skill that children learn at an early age is something called inhibitory control—the ability to stop and stay still. We’ve all seen children who can’t quite do this yet; they often run into things. Exposing children to music with varying tempos (speeds) will help them develop this ability sooner.

We all know how perceptive young children are. They notice any small changes in their environment. When children are exposed to music with all its wonderful array of variety in sounds, children learn to be active listeners. This helps them to be able to distinguish between different kinds of sounds—high and low, loud and soft—and this kind of sound discrimination stimulates the child’s first foundations for learning the variety of sounds of language. Studies have shown that children who are exposed to music at an early age usually develop language skills more easily. Furthermore, listening to vocal music will quicken a child’s pace in learning to speak as well, just as speaking to him would.

There are two areas in a child’s physical development that will aid even older children and teens, and both of them are especially true of children who not only regularly listen to music but also participate in musical performance. The first is in creativity. As a child experiences the varieties in music and even pieces of music with interesting story-lines or plots, he will be drawn into the creative endeavor. The other is further development in coordination. If you’ve got teens who have trouble knowing the difference between their left foot and their right, music might be the answer! Playing musical instruments, whether piano or trumpet or flute, helps develop motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and even lung capacity (if a wind instrument).

Music will aid your child’s academic development.

Now this is where we’ll get into the so-called “Mozart effect” a bit. You’ve probably heard or read research that indicates that music makes children smarter. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not entirely true. There’s no proof that music actually makes a person smarter. However, research does seem to indicate that there is a correlation between participating in music and academic achievement. And let me say at this point that in all these areas, actually participating in music is always more beneficial then just listening to music, although listening is also crucial and beneficial.

Now I’ll not bore you with a whole lot of statistics and research, but I will reference one research study as an example, and then explain how musical involvement aids academic development. Here is an excerpt from an article by a woman named Dee Dickinson published by New Horizons for Learning (1993) called “Music and the Mind.”

Recently a number of reports have appeared that attest to the connection between music and academic achievement. In a study of the ability of fourteen year-old science students in seventeen countries, the top three countries were Hungary, the Netherlands, and Japan. All three include music throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through high school. In the 1960’s, the Kodály system of music education was instituted in the schools of Hungary as a result of the outstanding academic achievement of children in its “singing schools.” Today, there are no third graders who cannot sing on pitch and sing beautifully. In addition, the academic achievement of Hungarian students, especially in math and science, continues to be outstanding. The Netherlands began their music program in 1968, and Japan followed suit by learning from the experience of these other countries.

Another report disclosed the fact that the foremost technical designers and engineers in Silicon Valley are almost all practicing musicians.

A third report reveals that the schools who produced the highest academic achievement in the United States today are spending 20% to 30% of the day on the arts, with special emphasis on music. Included are St. Augustine Bronx elementary school, which, as it was about to fail in 1984, implemented an intensive music program. Today 90% of the students are reading at or above grade level.

There are a variety of reasons that musical involvement aids academic achievement, some of which are purely practical reasons. For instance, playing a musical instrument requires discipline, concentration, patience, and hard work. These are skills that are also necessary for academics.

But there is also evidence that participation in music does increase a person’s ability to think abstractly, which would help in mathematics and science. It also, as we have already seen, aids in a person’s language development, which is crucial in academics. Finally, because music is both rational and abstract, music helps bridge between the left and right sides of the brain.

Music will aid your child’s social development.

Involving children in musical groups such as choirs, music classes, bands, or orchestras provides them with wonderful tools for their social development as well. Participation in such groups teach them teamwork, humility, and the ability to interact well with others.

Music will aid your child’s moral development.

As Christians, you are concerned with teaching your children biblical truth that will guide their lives. One hymn-writer famously said, “Things learned in song are remembered long.” Many of you have probably used music to help you learn the books of the Bible or some other facts. Musical tunes stick in our heads, and if we match music with biblical truths, it aids in our retention of those truths. Of course, singing hymns accomplishes these goals.

Music will aid your child’s emotional development.

Now up to this point the use of music to aid your children’s physical, academic, social, and moral development is not the only method for maturing your children in these areas. I have tried to demonstrate how music would definitely be a help in these areas, but you would obviously need other activities to develop your children. For instance, athletics aid a child’s physical development, active involvement in a local church is essential to a person’s moral development, and obviously your children need to be taught academic disciplines in order to mature intellectually.

But what about this next area of your children’s education—their emotions? I dare say you probably haven’t given much consideration as to the emotional development of your children, or at least not nearly as much as in these other areas. However, if you know your Bible at all, you know that a person’s affections are just as important as what he believes or what he does. For instance, the greatest commandment in all of Scripture, according to Jesus Christ, is to love the Lord with all of our being. The maturity of our emotions is crucial.

So how can you, as Christian parents, help to develop and mature your children’s emotions in the same way that you help them develop physically or morally or intellectually? Certainly, biblical truth is the root of right affections, so the use of words through teaching and preaching does help to mature believers’ emotions as well as their intellect and morality. But the fact of the matter is that emotions simply cannot be adequately put into words. If I want to tell you what you should believe, I use words. If I want to tell you how you should act, I use words. But if I want to tell you how you should feel, words are inadequate.

Furthermore, words are not only incapable of telling you how you should feel, but they are also inadequate as expressions of how you feel. Any husband knows what it is to be unable to adequately express with words the love he has for his wife. No wife is satisfied with an occasional, “I love you”—only words to express what can be better expressed by other means. Sometimes a look or a touch does more to express heartfelt affection than any words can. Or this is why we have love poems—they help us express love in a way that cannot be expressed with just words. Likewise, Christians need another language than just words to both prescribe the affections they should have and describe the affections they do have.

That other language is music.

If you as a parent are concerned with the full development of your children, then you must be concerned with their emotional development just as much as their physical development or their academic development. God has given us music as a tool to help us express right emotions. Any casual reader of Scripture will recognize the clear connection between music and emotional expression. Here are just a few examples:

How did Moses and the people of Israel express their joy in being delivered from Egypt? “Then Moses and the Israelites sand this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.” (Ex. 15:1)

When the Israelites defeated the Canaanites in Judges 5, they sang a song: “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

When David wanted to express a broken and contrite heart to the Lord, he did so through music in Psalm 51.

In Psalm 108, David specifically says that he will sing and make music with his soul, linking music and the expression of emotions.

Psalm 147 says that we should express our thanksgiving through song.

And, of course, the Psalms are filled with commands to express our affection and praise to the Lord through music.

Ephesians 5:19 says that we are to sing and make melody with our hearts to the Lord.

In Acts 16 when Paul and Silas were in prison and probably fearful for their lives, what did they do? They sang hymns to God.

James 5:13 says: “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing a song of praise.”

And the fact of the matter is that we will be singing as an expression of our affection for God for all eternity! (Rev. 5:13)

Scarcely is there a mention of music in the Bible without some connection to emotion. If anything is clear from the Bible’s discussion of music, it is that God thinks that music is important. So should we. Music provides a language for a right expression of emotion, and good music actually educates our emotions so that they develop to maturity.

This is why those who say that music is only for recreation or simply for enjoyment are completely missing the function of music. Even those who argue that the primary benefit of music is to aid in the physical or academic development of people are missing the fundamental function of music. Certainly music can help in other developmental areas, as we’ve seen. But teaching—words—is really the best way to develop a child’s intellect. Music can be an important aid, but it is through words that children learn math and history, and science. This confusion may be the reason music is viewed with so much indifference in our society and especially in our educational system. Music is seen only as enjoyment or a means to an end, and not an end in and of itself. But a proper understanding of music as the language of emotions, and the only thing that can adequately mature a person emotionally, would emphasize the true importance of music.

I firmly believe that a progressive neglect of music education in our society is one of the primary reasons for so many societal problems. There are, of course, many other reasons for the many problems in our society, not the least of which is the depravity of mankind. But the fact is that our society is emotionally ill-developed. Why? Because fewer and fewer people are educated in good music. People are angry and bitter and irrational. Why? Because they do not involve themselves with good music, and the only music they do hear is the angry, bitter, irrational music that permeates the radio waves.

Which raises an important point: Music educates the emotions, but it can educate them for either good or bad. Not just any music will mature a person’s emotions. Some music will debase your emotions. Therefore, it is important that we be discriminating in what kind of music to which we expose ourselves and our children.

So music can truly help mature your children physically and academically and socially and morally. But the primary benefit—the crucial benefit—of music education in anyone’s life is that it is really the only thing that God has given us to help mature our affections. If you are truly concerned about your children’s full development, then I truly believe that you must include some kind of music education in your children’ lives (and your life for that matter).

Music will aid your child’s spiritual development.

The final area of your child’s development that I want to briefly discuss is his spiritual development—his “favor with God.” I mentioned a moment ago that according to Jesus Christ, proper affection for the Lord is the greatest commandment. And we also saw many Scripture passages that emphasize that music is the greatest way to shape and express our affections for God. This is why we have music in churches! And this is why you should have music in your home. Good music will help shape your children’s affections for God and will give you a language for the expression of right affections to God.

Practical suggestions for incorporating music into your child’s development

I hope I have convinced you today that music should at least be a part of your regular homeschool activities. I’d like to conclude with some practical suggestions of how you can make music a part of your family, and specifically how you can make sure that it is educating your affections and your children’s affections in the right way.

1. Make sure that the music you have in your home is educating your children’s affections for the good and not debasing them.

Just as there are right and wrong kinds of emotions, so there are right and wrong kinds of music depending on what kinds of emotions it expresses. Therefore, you must be discerning as to what kind of music you will allow in your home. Just as you would do research to determine what kind of food is healthy for your children or which textbooks would educate your children’s minds the best, so you must do the research to determine how music communicates emotions and what kind of music is best for your family.

2. Expose your children to recordings of good music.

You may say, “My children don’t like classical music.” Well, then it is up to you to change their tastes. You do this with vegetables, don’t you? If it were up to your children, they would eat bubblegum and cotton candy all day. But you know that meat and potatoes and vegetables are better for them, so you require them to eat them, and pretty soon they develop a taste for what is better. The same is true for good music.

3. Take your children to good concerts.

Your children’s appreciation and love for good music will further increase if you expose them to live music. In fact, one of the best ways to get your children interested in pursuing a music instrument themselves is with live music.

4. Involve your children in good musical groups.

Along with helping to educate your children’s emotions, being involved in musical groups will help develop their social skills and has other benefits as well.

5. Encourage your students to start a musical instrument.

Listening to good music is good, but playing a musical instrument is better. Many of the benefits of music discussed above are only fully realized when you actually perform music—especially with a group. Find a local music teacher, invest in an instrument, and get your children playing, even if you don’t think they have a particular musical talent. You might be surprised.

6. Consistency is the key.

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard of parents who allow their children to start a musical instrument or a choir, and then after a few months or a year when the novelty wares off (which it inevitably will!), they let their children quit. This certainly will not help to develop patience, endurance, and discipline in the child, and only consistent participation in music will have longterm effects.

7. Sing, sing sing!

Get ahold of a good hymnal or two, and make singing a regular part of your day. Sing in the morning, sing before meals, sing during the day, and sing during family worship. The more you sing, the more your children (and you!) will be truly nurtured in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, and the more they will grow in wisdom, in stature, and in in favor with God and men.

Stories shape us.

When we read a story, we enter a world that the author has created and thus become shaped by that world. Experiencing the world of the story forms our imaginations of reality, our perceptions and affections, and even our worldview and beliefs.

The same is true—perhaps even more so—with the stories of Scripture. Biblical narratives shape our imagination of who God is, what he is like, and what he expects of his people. The difference, of course, between biblical stories and fictional stories is that the narratives of Scripture actually happened, but the power of stories in the Bible is no different—they help to form who we are. When we read biblical narratives, we enter the stories of historic events in God’s providential plan ourselves, and they affect us as if we were living those stories ourselves.

This is exactly why God gave us his revelation in various aesthetic literary forms. Scripture is filled with narratives and poetry; even the more didactic portions of the Bible are filled with poetic devices that shape our minds and our hearts. God the Holy Spirit, “carrying along” men of God (2 Pet 1:21), inspired the stories of Scripture—he literally “breathed them out” (2 Tim 3:16)—in order to form us into the people he intended for us to be.

The aesthetic forms of Scripture provide a way of communicating God’s truth that would be impossible with systematic statements of fact alone. Since God is a spirit and does not have a body like man, since he is infinite, eternal, and totally other than us, God chose to use particular aesthetic forms to communicate truth about himself that would not have been possible otherwise. These aesthetic forms are essential to the truth itself since God’s inspired Word is exactly the best way that truth could be presented. There is a reason the Bible calls God a “king” rather than simply asserting the doctrinal fact of his rulership. There is a reason the Bible calls God a shepherd, fortress, father, husband, and potter rather than simply stating the ideas underlying these metaphors. These images of God paint a picture that goes far beyond mere doctrinal accuracy. They communicate something that could not be expressed in mere prose. They shape our imagination of who God is, both expressing and shaping right affections for God, which are central to Christianity.

All of these realities emphasize the need for all Christians to regularly read the Word of God. Immersing ourselves in the Word—all of it, but especially the stories and poetry—helps to grow us in our knowledge and love of God and to live in a way that brings him glory.

It is important to regularly read all of Scripture. However, sometimes it might be helpful to give focused attention to the narratives and poetry of Scripture. This could be helpful for any Christian—spend some dedicated time slowing down and really immersing yourself in the Bible’s stories.

But it could also be helpful especially for young children, who might not be ready to read through the whole Bible in a year, or for times of family worship, where attempting to read through the whole of Scripture in a year might be too much.

The 5 Day Bible Narrative Reading Plan and Guide

This is why I created the 5 Day Bible Narrative Reading Plan and Guide. I have created a 52-week Bible reading plan that focuses only on the narratives of Scripture, along with all of the psalms and proverbs. Further, the plan schedules readings for five days per week, giving readers the weekend to catch up if they fall behind.

Additionally, I have also created a 52-week catechism, compiling focused questions and answers from historic catechisms like the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism, Benjamin Keach’s catechism, and Charles Spurgeon’s catechism. Narrowing this tool to 52 questions and answers allows an individual or families to memorize one per week, and then review again in subsequent years, allowing these doctrinal statements to form and shape belief.

In the devotional guide, I have provided notes, summaries, and questions for personal reflection or group discussion. The notes are designed to answer some of the more challenging issues of the texts, give historical context, or provide classic, conservative interpretation and application.

Finally, each week of reading also has a passage of Scripture to memorize and a hymn to sing, both of which usually correspond to the primary themes of the Bible readings, the catechism, or both.

Ways to Use This Resource

This resource could be used in a number of ways. An individual could use this for personal Bible study and meditation. The plan also works perfectly for upper elementary age children (my two oldest children have used this reading plan for the past five years, ages 8 and 10 when they started it), and the study notes will help answer questions they might have. Parents could use this for family worship as well, reading the passages together and using the questions for discussion. The notes will also help the parents be able to answer questions their children (or they themselves!) might have as they read. Or a whole family could read through the plan together, parents and older children reading the passages individually earlier in the day and using the memory passages, hymns, catechisms, and reflection questions during family worship. My family has done this for two years now, and we have benefitted greatly.

I originally intended for the plan to be used beginning in January and running through the calendar year, but you really could start any time during the year, maybe beginning at the start of a school year or any other time. It is designed to begin on Monday, however, so even if you begin in January, wait to start on the first Monday of the month.

My prayer is that this guide can be a useful resource for helping the stories and poetry of Scripture to shape us into mature, God-fearing Christians, to the glory of God.

Click here to download the reading plan and access the guide.

Was Jesus born in the bleak midwinter? Understood as poet Christina Rosetti meant it, the answer to the question is, Yes.

English poet Christina Rossetti penned the poem, originally titled “A Christmas Carol,” sometime before 1871 at the request of William James Stillman, editor of Scribner’s Monthly, where the poem was first published in January 1872. The fact that she titled it the way she did seems to imply that Rossetti’s goal was for the poem to be used as a carol, but it wasn’t until after her death that it appeared in the English Hymnal (1906) as a hymn to a tune by Gustav Holst.

Here is the text:

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

I raise the issue of winter portrayed in Rossetti’s first stanza because it well illustrates a problem with how many, if not most, evangelicals think about hymns today.

Most Christians today seem to view the purpose of hymns as merely good theology set to a pretty tune so that truth is enjoyable to sing. They approach hymn (and poem) texts, therefore, with an eye for propositional accuracy most of all—a very prosaic perspective.

So with this particular poem, for example, I have been told directly, by several pastors in fact, that they would not allow this hymn to be sung in their service because, “it really doesn’t have a whole lot of doctrine in it,” and “Jesus wasn’t really born with snow on the ground, so it’s historically incorrect.”

Now don’t get me wrong—I do think that it is important to examine the theology of what we are singing, I strongly advocate hymn texts that are rich with doctrine, and we should never sing something that is theologically inaccurate.

But to approach poetry as if one is a journalist is to miss the purpose and power of poetry.

Poems are not supposed to tell truth in the manner of a history textbook or a newspaper column. In fact, as Leland Ryken once noted, poems are lies that tell the truth. They make statements that aren’t scientifically accurate, but whose imagery grips the imagination and says something that mere factually correct propositions could not on their own.

Scripture itself is filled with this kind of poetic imagery. Is God technically a shepherd, a king, or a hen? Considered from the perspective of a court reporter, no he isn’t. But understanding the function of metaphor, he is indeed those things.

If Scripture had been written by the aforementioned pastors, they probably would have said, “The Lord is a God who really cares for us and protects us and feeds us. A lot.” But David wrote the divinely inspired words, “The Lord is my shepherd,” metaphorically capturing all of that, and so much more, in a concise manner that grips the imagination.

So what Rossetti is portraying in her poem is not a weather report on the day of Christ’s birth. Rather, she is using quite conventional metaphorical imagery to paint a picture of the condition of the world when Jesus was born. This was a harsh world, a world that was cold as ice, dark as midnight, and hard as iron. Think of the picture C. S. Lewis pains in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: “Always winter but never Christmas.” Sin had built up upon the world like snow piled upon snow upon snow upon snow. This world was bleak.

And it is into this world that the God of Heaven descended. Rossetti beautifully contrasts the bleakness of a cold dark world with the warmth and light of the stable. You can almost see the light and feel the warmth through her words.

Contrast Rossetti’s theologically dense imagery with many contemporary Christian songs. Most song writers today either write lyrics that are mere prose set to a catchy tune, or they pack in as many cliche metaphors as they can with no internal coherence or logical narrative.

Christina Rossetti is one of the greatest Christian poets in the tradition, and I strongly commend that you include this carol (among others) in your Christmas worship. Not only will the imagery grip the imagination, but it also provides a wonderful opportunity to teach people the real purpose and power of Christian poetry and song.

Advent is upon us! This is a wonderful time of year to both remember the prophecies regarding Christ’s first coming and anticipate his coming again. If all of the prophecies concerning his first coming were fulfilled with complete literalness, we can have confidence that those prophecies yet to be fulfilled will also come to pass in his second coming.

The four Sunday’s leading up to Christmas have traditionally focused on these themes, and we have some wonderful hymns in our heritage that help us do just that. Here are some of them:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (VENI EMMANUEL)

One of the most well-known Advent hymns, this hymn is also one of the oldest hymns still in common use among Protestant churches today. Originally written in Latin in the twelfth century, it was translated into English during the nineteenth-century Oxford Movement in England by John Mason Neal in 1851. It is a hymn of hope in the redemption that comes with Christ’s coming, and it is filled with allusions to Old Testament Messianic prophecies. Its tune is from a thirteenth century plainsong, fitting for this ancient Latin hymn.

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Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (HYFRYDOL)

This well-known hymn, written by Charles Wesley in 1744, expresses similar themes and allusions to biblical prophecy concerning the coming of Christ, one who was born to deliver his people. As is common with Wesley’s writing, it is filled with beautiful poetic imagery such as “born a child and yet a King.”

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Savior of the Nations, Come (NUN KOMM, DER EIDEN HEILAND)

This Advent hymn, even older that “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is lesser known but just as worthy of singing today. The text is attributed to the “Father of Latin Hymnody,” Ambrose of Milan, in the fourth century. Martin Luther translated the hymn into German in 1523, and William M. Reynolds translated Luther’s German into English in 1880. The tune comes from one of Luther’s hymn collections, Enchiridia, in 1524.

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Comfort, Comfort Ye My People (GENEVAN 42)

This hymn was originally a German setting of Isaiah 40:1-15 by Johann Olearius in 1671, and translated into English by Catherine Winkworth in 1863. It captures the prophecies concerning John the Baptist’s preparation for Messiah, fitting for the Advent season. Its tune, as the name indicates, comes from John Calvin’s 1551 Genevan Psalter.

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Hail to the Lord’s Anointed (ST. THEODULPH)

James Montgomery penned this hymn in 1822 as a setting of the Messianic psalm, Psalm 72. It prophecies the coming of Christ, “David’s greater Son,” who will comes to set captives free and reign over all. This is an example a setting of a prophecy wherein the first and second comings of Christ are blurred together. The tune is a traditionally from a German hymn from the seventeenth century, but the hymn may also be sung to the more familiar ST. THEODULPH (“All Glory, Laud, and Honor”).

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O Lord, How Shall I Meet You (WIE SOLL ICH DICH EMPFANGEN)

This Advent hymn comes from the famous Berlin collaboration of pastor Paul Gerhardt and musician Johann Crüger in 1653. It is a beautiful prayer reflecting on the proper response to the coming of Christ, translated into English in 1863 by Catherine Winkworth.

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The King Shall Come (MORNING SONG)

This very old hymn, this time in Greek, was translated into English in 1907 by John Brownlie. It reflects upon prophecies mostly yet to be fulfilled in Christ’s second coming, “when morning dawns and light triumphant breaks.” The tunes is a beautiful traditional American melody from the 1813 Kentucky Harmony.

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Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending (HELMSLEY)

Another Advent hymn that focuses on the second coming of Christ, this was written by Charles Wesley in 1758. Anglican Thomas Olivers composed the tune in 1763, and English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams gives us the beautiful harmonization.

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Jesus Shall Reign (DUKE STREET)

This hymn is probably the most familiar on the list (with the exception of the next one), and it is not often directly associated with Advent. Yet Isaac Watts wrote this text as a setting of Psalm 72, a prophecy of the future global rule of Christ over all after his second coming (see my explanation here).

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Joy to the World (ANTIOCH)

One of the most well-known “Christmas hymns” is actually about Christ’s second coming, not his first! Isaac Watts wrote this text in 1719 as a setting of Psalm 98. While the psalm itself doesn’t necessarily clearly indicate which coming is in view, Watts’s description of Christ’s coming, when “sins and sorrows” will no more grow and thorns will no more “infest the ground” identifies a future time when Christ extends his rule “far as the curse is found.” Lowell Mason arranged the tune in 1848 from a melody in George Frederic Handel’s Messiah.

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Ask most Americans, and December marks the beginning of Christmas. When are the 12 Days of Christmas? Why, they’re December 14–25, the days leading up to Christmas Day.

But on the contrary, in the Christian tradition, the Twelve Days actually refer to the celebration of Christ’s nativity—also called “Christmastide”—between Christmas (December 25) and Epiphany (January 6), the day that celebrates the visit of the Magi. For this reason, the evening of January 5 is called “Twelfth Night,” made famous by William Shakespeare’s play of that title.

It is actually the American marketing machine that has led to the erroneous labeling of December 14–25 as THE Twelve Days of Christmas. For retail business, December 25 marks the end of the Christmas season.

The days preceding Christmas—four weeks to be exact—are more traditionally referred to as Advent, the time in which Christians have historically anticipated both the First and Second Comings of Jesus to earth. In the historical tradition, Christians don’t actually celebrate (or sing about) Christ’s birth until Christmas Eve, and then they continue to sing about and celebrate the Nativity for the Twelve Festival Days of the season.

This celebration of Advent is part of what we sometimes refer to as the “Christian Year” or the “Liturgical Calendar.” And often when the topic of the liturgical calendar comes up, some Christians (especially Baptists) get a little uneasy. Isn’t the liturgical calendar Catholic? they often ask. Should Christians really celebrate something like Advent?

A Brief History of the Christian Year

In order to answer that question, let’s begin with a little history on when and why observances of the Christian Year came developed.

The first annual liturgical celebration to emerge among early Christians was not surprisingly that of the death and resurrection of Christ, which in the New Testament era would have corresponded in time with the Jewish Passover. Often this celebration became the time when new converts were baptized. Over time, Christian leaders debated whether the resurrection of Christ should always be celebrated on a Sunday or if it should correspond to the Jewish Passover, which is determined by the new moon and therefore occurred on different weekdays each year.

In 325, the Council of Nicaea addressed the controversy over dating for the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. Though Christ’s death and resurrection occurred during the moveable feast of Passover on Nisan 14, according to gospel accounts, church leaders at Nicaea decided to separate their celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the Jewish calendar, which they considered to be disorganized and in error. Consequently, they determined that, contrary to modern Jewish dating of Nisan 14, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection should always occur on a Sunday following the vernal equinox (the beginning of spring, when the sun is directly above the equator). Later at the Synod of Whitby in 664, the standard tradition became to observe the holiday on the first Sunday following the full moon after the spring equinox. This is how we still mark the date of Easter today (even Baptists!).

Observances of other days in the church calendar developed similarly. Letters composed by Athanasius of Alexandria from 329–333 indicate an expansion of celebrating Christ’s resurrection to include the six days prior as “the holy days of Pascha,” now often called “Holy Week.” Later in 334 he enlarged the season even further with a forty-day period of preparation called “The Great Fast” (now called “Lent” from the “lengthening” of hours in spring), forty days corresponding to Christ’s period of preparation in the wilderness following his baptism. This practice appears to have solidified by the late-fourth century church order, Apostolic Constitutions.

A specific celebration of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week first appeared in Jerusalem shortly following the Edict of Milan in 313, when Christians there reenacted the event with a procession into the city that included waving palm branches and singing “Hosanna!”

The Apostolic Constitutions also mentions the celebration of Christmas, which, from a sermon of John Chrysostom (c.349–407), appears to have been first celebrated on December 25, 386 in Antioch. The establishment of that particular date arises from an ancient Jewish belief that great prophets of Israel died on the same date as their conception. Early Christians seem to have applied this belief to Jesus; thus, since March 25 was considered to be the original date of Christ’s death, they determined that it was also the date of his conception. Then, they simply added nine months to arrive at December 25. The popular notion that the date of Christmas arose from a “Christianization” of the pagan winter solstice festivals lacks any evidence.¹Frank C. Senn, Introduction to Christian Liturgy (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 113–115.

The Apostolic Constitutions also prescribes the festival of Epiphany (Greek meaning “to appear”) to be celebrated on January 6 in commemoration of the visit of the magi and Jesus’ childhood, including his baptism, Ascension Day forty days after Easter, and Pentecost ten days later. It is unclear when Advent first appeared, the period of preparation four weeks prior to Christmas, but monks in France observed the season at least as early as 480. Later, the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany were celebrated as the extended period of Christmastide.

Thus, by the end of the fifth century, the basic liturgical calendar had been formed:

The importance of this brief history is to note, first, how early in church history these observances developed, and second, the fact that the development of these celebrations had no inherent connection to theological errors that eventually developed in medieval Catholicism.

Much later, Roman Catholicism added certain rituals to the observance of these holidays that embody problematic theology, and they added other “holy days” that celebrated so-called saints, Mary, and other Roman Catholic idolatrous practices.

However, the observance of these holidays themselves were originally nothing more than a time to focus special attention on particular events in the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming of Jesus Christ. As the term “Christian Year” implies, these are way for Christians to sanctify the year, to always be driven to focus on Christ and the significance of his work on behalf of his people.

So this helps us to frame the original question a bit more clearly: Can Christians celebrate aspects of Christ’s life in their worship? Of course! In fact, we must regularly remember who Christ is and what he has done for us. We can and should do this at any time throughout the year, of course, but by intentionally setting aside certain times in the year to focus on specific aspects of Christ’s life ensure that we actually do so. Similar to preaching verse by verse through books of the Bible, intentional celebration of the Christian Year makes certain that we give proper attention to every aspect of Christ’s life each year.

Someone might object that by “scheduling” remembrances of Christ, we devolve into legalistic ritual. But think carefully about the logic of that objection. Would we say the same thing about celebration of the Lord’s Supper? Would we say the same with celebrating birthdays or anniversaries? Certainly not. We recognize that, although we should always value and celebrate life and marriage, setting aside particular days for remembrance is a good and even necessary thing; it helps us to recalibrate and ensure that we give those important realities the attention they deserve. We should expect nothing less for remembering Christ.

I always find it ironic when I hear American Christians state with convictions—and a little bit of piety—that they won’t be tied down by “Catholic” traditions like the Church Calendar, and yet through their actual practices they prove to be constrained by a liturgical calendar of another sort—The Liturgical Calendar of American Consumerism.

They insist that they won’t celebrate Epiphany, the Baptism of Christ, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Eastertide, Pentecost, Ascension Day, Trinity Sunday, Advent, or the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas.

And yet instead, their churches celebrate New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, Easter Bunny Day, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and a Christmas season stretching from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day—days with customs rooted not in biblical events or Christian tradition, but in the tradition of American consumerism.

There is no biblical mandate to celebrate the Church Year, and if someone chooses not to follow the traditional Church Calendar, I will not insist that they must.

Yet how Christians do celebrate seasons like Advent does reveals what most influences them. And as I often tell my students, it is impossible to avoid being influenced by some tradition; the question is, which tradition most influences your church’s practice, that of historic Christian churches or that of American commercialism?

Advent can be a wonderful time of the year to both remember the prophecies regarding Christ’s first coming and anticipate his coming again. If all of the prophecies concerning his first coming were fulfilled with complete literalness, we can have confidence that those prophecies yet to be fulfilled will also come to pass in his second coming.

The four weeks of Advent help us to remember and focus upon these themes. We ought not add any rituals or elements of worship beyond what God has prescribed in his Word; but through carefully chosen Scripture readings, hymns, prayers, and sermons, our hearts can be formed by Scripture to cry out as we should, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!”

One of the fundamental assumptions in modern evangelical worship is an emphasis upon authenticity in worship. This comes in several different forms, but it often manifests itself in an insistence that whatever expressions of worship are most natural and “real” to a given worshiper are by their very nature, therefore, acceptable. The implication is also that someone can’t really worship God unless he or she is able to do so in a way that is truly “authentic” to them.

I have mixed feelings about the use of this term as it relates to worship because, on the one hand, of course I am in favor of authentic worship if by that one means worship that is not fake or hypocritical. But on the other hand, I object to the way in which this word is most often used with regard to worship and the kinds of implications it is used to defend.

Defining Terms

The issue really comes down to a couple different definitions of the word, “authenticity.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary, which has chosen the term “authentic” as the 2023 word of the year, gives the following two definitions of the term:

1. not false or imitation : real, actual
2. true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character

If the definition one uses when arguing for authentic worship is the first one, then I am fully in favor. God does not desire worship that is false, fake, or put on. In fact, this was what God condemned of the post-exilic Jews (see Malachi 1) and the New Testament Pharisees (Matt 15:8). God desires sincere worship (Heb 10:22) that follows his commands.

However, it usually the second definition that is implied when people talk about authentic worship today. In other words, in order for worship to be truly “authentic,” people have to be real to themselves. I cannot worship, the argument says, unless I can do so with expressions that are true to me, those with which I am personally comfortable and that are part of my culture and preferences.

David de Bruyn deals with this issue helpfully in his new book, The War on Words: Ten Words Every Christian Should Fight For, but I would like to explore several problems with this way of thinking here.

“Authentic” expressions are often sinful.

First, “authentic” expressions defined this way are often sinful. Since culture is human behavior, and all human behavior is moral (i.e., either good or evil), then the possibility that someone’s “authentic” expression is sinful is quite real.

Furthermore, since the Bible teaches that every person is totally depraved (Gen 6:5, Eph 4:17–19), the way any person naturally expresses himself could be sinful. Total depravity does not mean that man is as depraved as he could be, but that all of man is completely depraved. No part of man escapes the reach of depravity, not his will, not his actions, not his preferences, not his culture, and certainly not the way he expresses himself in worship.

Now of course, when we are talking about authentic worship, we are talking about professing Christians. Some might insist that although unbelievers are totally depraved, believers have been changed, their desires have been renewed, and they have the Holy Spirit to lead them in their judgments and expressions.

This is certainly the case. New creatures in Christ have been made new (2 Cor 5:17). They are no longer slaves to sin (Rom 6:17–18). The Holy Spirit indwells them (Rom 8:9–11).

Nevertheless, although believers have been delivered from the penalty and power of sin, they have not yet been delivered from the presence of sin. Even believers still struggle every day with the influences of remaining depravity. Paul himself testified of such struggles in Romans 7:15–25.

Even believers cannot fully trust their own judgments and expressions without clear guidance from God. True, the Holy Spirit indwells believers, but this does not mean a Christian automatically makes right decisions or naturally worships in an acceptable way (Heb 12:28). The Holy Spirit sanctifies us through his Word and by giving us wisdom to rightly apply it to our lives and make decisions that are pleasing to him. We must study it and apply its teachings to every situation in our lives, and sometimes this will lead us to recognize that our “authentic expression” is actually not pleasing to him.

Acceptable worship is not natural; it must be learned.

Second, the common evangelical view of worship assumes that acceptable worship will come naturally to all Christians. They assume that a new Christian will instinctively know how to worship acceptably, and therefore his natural impulses are the best guide. In fact, on this reasoning, unbelievers know how to worship as well; they only need to change their beliefs and the object of their worship, and then whatever expressions are natural to them are acceptable.

Yet while it is true that Christians are new creates with new hearts and new desires, ingrained habits, misguided assumptions, and remaining depravity prevent anyone from simply “knowing” how to worship God acceptably. Many people assume that worship comes naturally—that Christians should just worship with whatever expressions are most comfortable to them. But if Scripture and church history reveal anything to use about worship, it is that left to themselves, even God’s people will worship poorly. They must be taught to worship.

This is one of the purposes of ordered public worship. Those with more Christian maturity structure worship in such a way that it shapes the worshipers’ expressions and teaches them how to worship God acceptably.

The need for “my expression” is self-centered individualism rather than biblical thinking.

This leads to the next problem with an emphasis on “authenticity” in worship: this insistence that “I need to express my faith with my expressions in my own authentic way” is based more on post-Enlightenment individualism than upon the biblical emphasis on community and the unity of the body. Constant clamoring for “new” and “fresh” is not a biblical perspective—biblical Christianity is old and stable. Insistence that each new generation, for examples, needs new expressions that are authentic to them is one that comes from a self-focus and the cultural realities of a post-Enlightenment and post-Industrial Revolution Western mindset.

With music in particular, there was a shift post-Enlightenment that made the focus of music “my authentic expression” that fails to reflect a biblical worldview centered on preserving biblical tradition and community. Those who clamor today for “my authentic expression” may need to step back for a moment and recognize where that perspective came from; it wasn’t Scripture.

I am certainly not arguing against new music; far from it. But we must recognize that anything new we produce will always be built on something that has come before. The “authentic” expressions of new converts or people immersed in the world’s culture will naturally build upon the value systems and expressions of that culture. I would suggest that the more biblical pattern would be to build new songs on the expressions of those mature Christians who have come before us, and this requires actively cultivation that tradition.

Truly authentic worship is that which conforms to God’s standards.

The bottom line is that the standard of acceptable worship can never be self. We need a standard outside of ourselves by which we measure the acceptability of our worship. Rather than focusing on personal preference or cultural norms as the ultimate standard of authentic worship, truly authentic worship is that which conforms to God’s standards.

This is reflected in the third dictionary entry for “authenticity”:

3. worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact; conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features

Truly “authentic” worship is not that which is based on one’s own natural instincts, “heart language,” preferences, or cultural context. Truly authentic worship is that which conforms to a standard—the standard of God’s Word.

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln established an annual national holiday of Thanksgiving to be observed on the last Thursday in November. Most of us look forward to this holiday, a day on which we eat good food, enjoy time with family and friends, and perhaps watch some football. And we will probably set aside at least a little time to thank the Lord.

We all likely recognize the importance of being thankful. But how many of us really see gratitude as an important part of our worship? We might associate praise, love, and joy with worship, but thanksgiving?

The affections of our hearts are central to true worship. Yet while praise, joy, contrition, and love are all important affections for worship, I believe gratitude is the most important worship affection. Here’s why:

First, gratitude isn’t a feeling.

All true spiritual affections of worship have an object, and their object is always God. This is why true spiritual affections are different from what we often mean when we talk about our feelings. Feelings often have no object. When we experience only feelings apart from spiritual affections, our focus is not on any object; our focus is purely on ourselves and the feelings themselves. We love the feeling of love; we delight in the feeling of joy.

But the thing about the affection of gratitude is that there really is no feeling we associate with it. Think about it: what is the “feeling” of gratitude?

Therefore, second, gratitude always has an object.

You might say, “I just feel happy, but I really don’t have any particular reason.”

But you would never say that about gratitude. If you are grateful, there is always a reason. You always are grateful toward someone because of something they did for you, or something they gave you, or simply because of who they are.

Third, unlike most feelings, gratitude isn’t something you can artificially work up through external means.

If you feel sad, you can work up happiness through something external like upbeat music or funny entertainment. In that case there really is no object of the happiness; you just feel happy because the music or the entertainment made you feel happy.

But how do you work up gratitude? You can’t. It has to have a reason; it has to have an object. That distinguishes gratitude from just about every other kind of affection.

Therefore, gratitude is always affection that we give to God in response to his gracious gifts to us. We often direct feelings like delight toward the gift rather than the giver. But if we are truly grateful, by definition—by essence, gratitude is directed toward the giver.

This is the central reason I believe that gratitude is the most important worship affection: while love or joy or praise could certainly be directed toward God as a result of his grace toward us, many times what we call love or joy or praise are actually mere feelings that are more about us or the gift than the one who showed grace toward us. Gratitude ensures that we are directing the affections of our hearts to God above all.

This is why God said in Psalm 50:23, “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.”

We often think of praise or joy or love as the ultimate expressions of worship toward God. We expect that true worship will be characterized by intense emotion, heightened praise, and excited joy.

But really, the affection most associated in Scripture with worship is actually something perhaps less flashy, less viscerally intense, and less directly connected to particular feelings; the affection most associated in the Bible with worship is thanksgiving.

Listen to how God characterizes Christian worship at the end of Hebrews 12:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Though during this present age kingdom and cultus (God’s worshiping community) are separated, God intends one day to join them together under the rule of his Anointed One. The question for us is, of course, where we currently fit in this plan of God for a holy theocracy, a perfect union of kingdom and cultus under the kingly rule and priestly ministry of the Second Adam.

The book of Hebrews addresses both kingdom and cultus in this present age. First, the author quotes God’s declaration in Psalm 8 that he intends for man to exercise regal dominion over all the earth; however, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him” (Heb 2:8). The First Adam failed, and still all things are not yet in subjection to the son of man. But, “because of the suffering of death,” Jesus is “crowned with glory and honor” (Heb 2:9)—he has earned the right to rule; Christ is, as Psalm 110 states, presently seated at the Father’s right hand until the Father makes his enemies his footstool. The perfect eternal kingdom has been promised and already ensured, but it is not yet a consummated reality. Christ sovereignly rules over all creation as the Son of God, and Christ presently rules over his redeemed people, but the consummation of his rule over all things on earth as the Son of Man will happen when he comes again, when “the kingdom of this world”—that is, the common grace kingdom—“will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (Rev 11:15).

In other words, if we want to look to the Old Testament for an analogy to our present situation as Christians in this age, we are more like the sojourning patriarchs and the exiled Hebrews than either the Edenic or Mosaic holy theocracies. And, of course, this is exactly how the New Testament portrays us. Peter specifically calls us “sojourners and exiles” (1 Pet 2:11). “Our citizenship is in heaven,” Paul tells us (Phil 3:20); we are “citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19). Like Abraham on his pilgrimage or Daniel in Babylon, Christians participate in the common grace aspects of the earthly kingdoms in which we dwell, but we “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb 11:16); we long for the heavenly Jerusalem above our highest joy (Ps 137:6). And that heavenly Jerusalem will one day descend to the earth, uniting kingdom and cultus as was God’s intention from the beginning.

Yet Hebrews also reveals to us the nature of our worship in this age as well. The author proclaims at the end of chapter 12,

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Heb 12:22–24)

This is the heavenly palace/temple Isaiah and John envisioned, the place where God himself sits enthroned, surrounded by heavenly beings.” To this higher kingdom where God reigns Christian worshipers come to the reality, to the true worship of heaven itself. Paul describes this reality for Christians in Ephesians 2:6 when he states that God has “raised us up with [Christ] and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Christ is seated in heaven as the king/priest, and since we are in him by faith, we are with him there. And he tells us how just a few verses later in Ephesians 2:18: “For through [Christ] we . . . have access in one Spirit to the Father.” We have access to the Father because in one Spirit through Christ, we are actually there, in the presence of God in heaven.

Pure Worship

This biblical understanding situates us in this present age as dual citizens. As members of the human race we are citizens of common grace earthly kingdoms, and so we participate as such. But ultimately we are a called out cultic community with “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for [us], who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet 1:4–5). Consequently, as Peter goes on to say, “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. . . . Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers” (1 Pet 1:15, 17–18).

In other words, though we are citizens of common grace kingdoms, our conduct ought to be set apart from that of unbelieving people because we are a set apart cultic community. In 1 Peter 1, Peter addresses our holy conduct in the midst of the unbelieving people of the common kingdoms in which we find ourselves, and in chapter 2, Peter grounds the basis for that holy conduct in our present situation as a called out cultic community. He says in 2:4, “As you come to him”—the phrase “come to him” has the same root as when Hebrews 12:22 says “you have come to Mount Zion.” This indicates the reality of drawing near to the presence of God in the heavenly temple as a cultic community through Christ in the Spirit. This is what Isaiah and John experienced as they entered the heavenly temple of God and saw him high and lifted up. To come to God is the essential characteristic of our situation as a called out worshiping community.

And Peter makes this very clear with the picture he continues to build:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 2:4–5)

Peter uses the metaphor of a temple to describe the nature of who we are as the NT church—we are a spiritual house with Jesus Christ as our cornerstone. Again, this refers to the heavenly temple to which Hebrews 12 says we have come. But Peter extends the picture further. Not only are we a spiritual temple, we are also a holy priesthood, a cultic community set apart from the rest of humanity. We are priests who “offer spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Peter continues to describe us this way in 2:9–10:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Peter is emphasizing our status as citizens of the higher kingdom—we are a called out people for God’s own possession. Though we are still citizens of common grace kingdoms, we are nevertheless set apart from the other non-redeemed citizens of common kingdoms because we have received God’s mercy—we are God’s unique people, “sojourners and exiles” as Peter calls us once again in verse 11.

But what is critically important to recognize about the flow of Peter’s thought here is the connection he makes between our status as a called out cultic community and our lives as citizens of common grace kingdoms. His focus in the first 10 verses of chapter 2 on our cultic reality fuels his discussion in the rest of the chapter regarding how we ought to live among the unbelieving people of the world. As he continues in verse 11,

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

As a called out cultic community with heavenly citizenship, we ought to live honorably among unbelievers, showing them through our lives and witness how they may join us. Peter had commanded believers in the previous chapter to be holy, to not be “conformed to the passions of your former ignorance” (1 Pet 1:14), and later in chapter 4 he will urge them to refrain from “doing what the Gentiles want to do” (1 Pet 4:3). Paul commands believers to “no longer walk as the Gentiles do” (Eph 4:16) and “be not conformed to this world” (Rom 12:2). The rest of Peter’s letter essentially fleshes out what it looks like for a member of the called out cultic community to live as a citizen in common grace kingdoms, including his role within government (2:13–17), vocation (2:18–25), and family (3:1–7), fully expecting that since we are a distinct people, we will have to suffer for righteousness’ sake (3:14).

How Pure Worship Forms a Pure Church

This is the essential connection point between our identity as a called out worshiping community and our active engagement in the common kingdoms of this world. Pure worship on earth in which we participate in the real worship of heaven forms a pure church, a called out community that will live faithfully in the common kingdoms of the world. This is why our worship now ought to be regulated by Scripture and modeled after the theological pattern of true worship as foreshadowed in the rituals of OT worship and revealed in the biblical visions of heavenly worship. From creation to consummation, the corporate worship of God’s people is a memorial—a reenactment—of the “theo-logic” of true worship: God’s call for his people to commune with him through the sacrifice of atonement that he has provided, listening to his Word, responding with praise and obedience, and culminating with a beautiful picture of perfect communion with God in the form of a feast. This reenactment in a corporate worship service of God’s covenant work for us is what will progressively form into us the theologic of heavenly worship that will profoundly affect how we live in this present evil age.

Worship now that is shaped by the true spiritual realities of heavenly worship is what God has designed to sanctify us to live by faith in light of those realities, just like the saints of old. Worship in this life that is shaped by our covenant relationship with God through the gospel, the spiritual realities of heavenly worship, sanctifies us into a pure church who live in light of that relationship as we wait for our blessed hope. By reenacting what we are in Christ, Christian worshipers become what we are.

We come now by faith and not by sight since we are not yet in the higher kingdom physically; but one day faith will be sight. Now, we gather around Christ’s table to remember the hope of glory, and we are with him spiritually, though we cannot see him with physical eyes. One day we will sit at his table in our glorified bodies, clothed in fine linen, bright and pure, and we will see Christ bodily with our physical eyes. And we will join our voices in that holy theocracy with “the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.’”

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (12:27–29).

God created man to be a king and priest in his garden sanctuary, an extension of the palace/temple of heaven. Adam failed, however, and he was cast out of God’s sanctuary.

In the interim, between the First Adam’s failure and the Second Adam’s success, the curse resulted in a separation between kingdom and cultus (the worshiping community). First, God provided a means of stability and peace for the kingdoms of the earth. In the midst of his common curse upon all, Kline notes that “common grace was introduced to act as a reign to hold in check the curse on mankind, and to make possible an interim historical environment as the theater for a program of redemption.” Even after Cain murdered Abel, God promised preservation of justice to this unrighteous man, implying the establishment of legal systems that would prevent unbridled evil in the world (Gen 4:13–16). And indeed, Cain built a common grace city where that measure of justice was maintained (Gen 4:17).

God further established other common grace institutions through which he works providentially to preserve peace and order in societies filled with depraved people. Before the fall, he had already established the institution of marriage—and by extension, family—as one of the fundamental building blocks of human society and one of the central common grace human institutions he would use to cultivate and preserve order and flourishing in his world (Gen 2:18–24). After the fall, the family continued to be an institution of blessing for all people (Gen 4:17–22). The work that God had established in the garden as a blessing for mankind, though now cursed because of sin, continued for all mankind as a means of prosperity, including the development of husbandry, the arts, and metallurgy (Gen 4:20–22).

Further, God formally instituted human government as another common grace means for maintaining a semblance of order in what left to themselves would be chaotic societies. In Genesis 9:6, God gave the responsibility of capital punishment to all humankind as a common grace means through which he would providentially control man’s sinfulness and preserve the world and its order. This responsibility, which takes shape in formal human governments over the course of history, has been given to humankind collectively as a common grace institution for their temporal good until the Second Adam establishes his earthly rule. Thus even pagan magistrates can enforce God’s moral law involving peaceful relations between citizens since they are still made in God’s image (though marred by sin), “the law is written on their hearts” (Rom 2:15), and by God’s common grace (Matt 5:45), even unbelievers often recognize that society simply works better when certain morality is enforced.

In other words, the regal aspect of Adam’s garden role continues imperfectly for all humankind as non-redemptive, common grace means to imperfectly preserve a degree of order and peace until Christ establishes his perfect theocratic Kingdom on earth.

However, God also called out a subset from among the common kingdoms as a cultic community to worship him. This distinction between two subsets of humanity was declared already in the promise of Genesis 3:15 when God declared that there would be enmity between Satan’s offspring and the woman’s offspring. When it comes to worship, only two options exist: Christ or Antichrist. There is no neutral middle ground—individuals worship either Christ or Satan, and thus there exists a spiritual antithesis between believers and unbelievers for all of human history. This enmity was manifested immediately after the Fall with Cain and Abel. Abel drew near to God in worship through the sacrificial means God prescribed, thus demonstrating righteous fidelity to the woman’s offspring (Heb 11:4). Cain “was of the evil one and murdered his brother . . . because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 John 3:12).

Unlike within the common grace institutions of the world, where all humans share a measure of commonality, God’s cultic community is set apart from unbelieving humanity. God called out Noah and his family as a redeemed cultic community, saving them from the judgment that fell upon the rest of wicked humanity. In God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen 17:1–8), God called out a redeemed people for his name. As exemplified by Abel, Noah, and Abraham, the requirement for redemption and membership in this cultic community is faith—“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain”; “by faith Noah . . . constructed an ark for the saving of his household” (Heb 11:7); and Abraham “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6).

Abraham and his family were a called-out cultic community. And as such, though they were part of the common kingdoms of the world, they were sojourners and pilgrims. Abraham sought “the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). God’s redeemed people, though still sharing commonalities with the rest of humanity, are nevertheless “strangers and exiles on the earth,” since “they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb 11:13, 16). Their temporal citizenship is in common grace earthly cities, but their cultic identity is in a heavenly temple by saving grace.

Even Israel’s cultic identity pictured this reality. Though by means of the Mosaic covenant, Israel became a proto-typical theocratic union of kingdom and cultus, Israel’s cultic activity was a shadow of the true form of the real worship of heaven seen by Isaiah and John. The author of Hebrews later explains this when he distinguishes between “the true tentthat the Lord set up” and the one set up by man (8:1–2). This heavenly tent is “greater and more perfect” since it is “not made with hands, that is, not of this creation” (9:11). He calls the earthly places of worship and all that they entail “copies of the heavenly things” (9:23) and “copies of the true things” (9:24). The Mosaic Law in general is “a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities” (10:1). The forms and rituals of Israel’s earthly worship pictured the true worship of the heavenly temple.

Furthermore, even though Israel as a nation was a union of kingdom and cultus, it is important to recognize that the two were still distinct in a significant sense, made clear by the fact that no one leader held authority over both kingdom and cultus. God established political leaders (judges and kings) to rule the kingdom and priests to lead the cultus. Only Moses himself served as a political leader and entered into the presence of God to mediate on behalf of the people.

Later, when Israel is exiled and no longer a holy theocracy, the separation between kingdom and cultus are clearly apparent, emphasizing the antithesis between true and false worship—faithful Hebrews “sat down and wept” as they gathered for worship by the waters of Babylon, amidst captors who mocked them (Ps 137). But on the other hand, in terms of the common grace institutions that God set up for the good of all humanity, the Hebrews shared much commonality with their captors. The prophet Jeremiah commanded the people as they were being taken into Babylonian exile to build houses, plant gardens, take wives, and bear children. He told them to “seek the welfare of the city” and “pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer 29.4–7).

In common grace matters, God’s peculiar people could participate alongside unbelieving people. For example, Daniel and other young Hebrew men learned the literature and language of the Babylonians and served in political leadership (Dan 1:3–4, 2:48–49), and Daniel went on to serve in Persian leadership as well (Dan 6:1–3). In fact, Daniel himself acknowledged the good of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule when he says to the king, “You, O king, [are] the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all,” clearly alluding to Psalm 8 and Genesis 1:26–27 (Dan 2:37–38).

This reveals once again the common grace blessing of even pagan governments, which, even though not acknowledging God’s authority, nevertheless serve as his servants for the common good of mankind (Rom 13:4). However, what Israel in exile also clearly demonstrates is the distinction between common grace kingdoms and the set apart worshiping community. Though Daniel willingly submitted to education and served in political leadership, he refused to eat meat that was associated with pagan worship, and he refused to stop worshiping Yahweh as he required (Dan 6:10). Likewise, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego refused to worship pagan gods, proclaiming, “Be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Dan 3:18).

The point is that although the exiled Israelites could participate in the common grace institutions of the nations in which they lived, their worship was distinct. As portrayed in Psalm 137, when faithful Hebrews gathered by the waters of Babylon to worship, they could not help but recognize the clear antithesis between true worship and false worship. God designed for kingdom and cultus to be united in the garden as an earthly extension of the heavenly reality, and his design was typified in the holy theocracy of Israel in its promised land; but as a result of sin, kingdom and cultus have become separated. Both the patriarchs in their sojourning and Israel in exile typify God’s people living in and participating with the common kingdoms of this world while remaining distinct as a cultic community in the pure worship of God.

Either way, however, the purity of God’s worship is the emphasis. God intended for worship in the garden sanctuary to be pure, following God’s clear revelation. Worship during the sojourning of the patriarchs was to be according to God’s revelation. God gave the nation of Israel clear and explicit instructions regarding how he wanted to be worshiped. And Israel in exile was required to continue this pure worship regulated by the revelation of God. Whether or not kingdom and cultus were united or distinct, pure worship was that which follows the clear revelation of God, and pure worship then impacted how they lived in the common grace kingdom.

Yet as God promised in the protoevangelium of Genesis 3:15, he intends to unite kingdom and cultus once again, when the Second Adam succeeds where the First Adam failed in fulfilling his duties as the perfect king/priest. Scripture prophesies the reign of a perfect King, when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9), when Christ will “have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Ps 72:8). He will “rule in the midst of [his] enemies,” and his people “will offer themselves freely on the day of [his] power in holy garments” (Ps 110:2–3).

But he will not only be the king that Adam failed to be, he will also be “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4). Christ will be both king and priest, Psalm 110 prophesies. David was never a priest like this; his son Solomon was never a priest like this. Only David’s Son whom he would call Lord would be both king and priest, and the New Testament tells us that this is Jesus. Jesus the Anointed One offered himself for all time a single sacrifice for sins, God raised him from the dead, he ascended into heaven, then he sat down at the Father’s right hand, signifying both his right to rule and his finished priestly work. God intended for his sovereign rule to be expressed through humanity in Adam, the king/priest.

Adam failed, and David was never designated as a priest. Yet his Greater Son will be both king and priest, just as God originally intended in the Garden.

When we witness terrible atrocities on earth, we must interpret them in light of the heavenly reality. Heaven is a palace from which God rules sovereign over all, and heaven is a temple where he is worshiped as he ought. This is the reality.

How, then, do these visions of God in his heavenly palace/temple impact our understanding of what happens here on earth? What is essential to recognize is that when God created the heavens and the earth, he intended for this reality of the palace/temple of heaven to be extended to the earth. As Psalm 104 states, God stretched out the heavens like a tabernacle. God created the heavens to be a tabernacle of his presence. Further, as Isaiah 6:3 states, it is not just the heavenly temple that is filled with the glory of God, the whole earth is full of his glory. God created the earth not only as the kingdom realm of the sovereign King, God created the whole earth to be his holy temple, filled with his glory.

The Garden Sanctuary

Consequently, a biblical understanding of the nature of heavenly worship and its relationship to God’s plan in history must be situated in God’s intention for mankind as articulated in the creation narrative. On the sixth day of creation, God created man in his image, and God blessed him, saying,

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

This blessing given to mankind at creation crowned him with rule over the earth, granting man the privilege and responsibility to subdue and have dominion over all things. “Subdue” (kābaš) and “have dominion” (rādāh) are royal terms, the former term later used to describe Israel’s subduing of the land of Canaan (Num 32:22, 29; Josh 18:1), and the latter term used to describe the Messiah’s future reign (Ps 110:2). Made in God’s image, man is given the role of God’s regal representative on earth. As Eugene Merrill notes, “Man is created to reign in a manner that demonstrates his lordship, his domination . . . over all creation.” God is sovereign king over all creation, but he formed man in his image to be his vice-regent on earth. This is what David later describes when he says in Psalm 8:4–8,

What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

The realm of this kingdom over which man was to rule as God’s regal representative was a garden God planted as his earthly palace (Gen 2:8). God placed the man whom he had formed in his palace, adorned it with rich food and gold, and put Adam to work:

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Gen 2:15)

Yet here the language shifts from royal language to priestly language, revealing a second role man was to play in the garden realm. The phrase “work it and keep it” signifies much more than the duties of a gardener; rather, as Allen Ross explains,

In places where these two verbs are found together, they often refer to the duties of the Levites (cf. Num. 3:7–8; 8:26; 18:5–6), keeping the laws of God (especially in the sanctuary service) and offering spiritual service in the form of the sacrifices and all the related duties—serving the LORD, safeguarding his commands, and guarding the sanctuary from the intrusion of anything profane or evil.

In other words, the four verbs in Genesis 1–2 that describe man’s purpose in the garden indicate that God created man, not only to be his kingly representative, but also to be his priestly representative. The garden was not only God’s earthly palace, but also his earthly temple. God was present with his people in the sanctuary as he “walked” with them in the cool of the garden (Gen 3:8). Notably, the verb for “walked” (hālǎḵ) in Genesis 3:8 is used later to describe God’s presence in the tabernacle (Lev 26:12; 2 Sam 7:6–7). Man was supposed to “keep” the palace-sanctuary, that is, to guard and protect its purity, preventing those who would attempt to usurp God’s reign and defile his temple.

Thus, what God intended for man in the garden was that he serve as a perfect king/priest within what Meredith Kline describes as a “holy theocracy,” a perfect union between kingdom and cultus, between reigning and worshiping. I am using the term “cultus” here, of course, to refer to the public acts of worship performed by a religious community. Man’s regal work and his priestly work were unified in one kingdom/cultus, an earthly manifestation of the heavenly reality.

However, we know what happened. When the author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8, which claims that God has put everything under the feet of man, he says in the next verse, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him” (Heb 2:8). Adam failed. He disobeyed God’s command to have dominion over creation by allowing a creature, the serpent, to be king. He failed to guard God’s garden sanctuary by allowing Satan to defile it. As the representative of all mankind, Adam failed to be God’s perfect king/priest, and he was exiled from the palace-sanctuary of God’s presence.

Adam’s failure did not end the universal sovereign reign of God over all things, of course, and many of the passages in Scripture that speak of God ruling over all refer to that continual, never-ending cosmic reign of God on his sovereign throne that Isaiah and John witnessed. All aspects of the universe still fall under the sovereign rule of Yahweh. Even Adam’s failure was part of God’s sovereign plan.

Nevertheless, Adam’s failure did end his role as king/priest, and God pronounced a curse upon Adam and Eve and all creation. Yet as part of his curse upon the serpent, God provided a glimmer of hope:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Gen 3:15)

God promised that one day a seed of the women—a Second Adam—would accomplish what the First Adam failed to do. He would crush the usurper’s head and cleanse the defiled Sanctuary, fulfilling the God-given role of the perfect king/priest.

You don’t have to turn on the news or visit a news web site very long to get very depressed. We live in a day of despair, threat of war, violence, murder, poverty, sickness, abortion, waning morality, injustice, and racial tensions. Even from the perspective of the unbelieving world, things look pretty bleak.

But, contrary to what we might think, this is nothing new. Listen to what one pastor wrote:

I doubt much whether there ever was a time in the history of our country, when the horizon on all sides, both political and ecclesiastical, was so thoroughly black and lowering. In every direction we see men’s hearts failing for fear, and for looking for those things that seem coming on the earth. Everything around us seems unscrewed, loosened and out of joint. The fountains of the great deep appear to be breaking up. Ancient institutions are tottering, and ready to fall. Social and ecclesiastical systems are failing, and crumbling away. Church and state seem alike convulsed to their very foundations, and what the end of this convulsion may be no man can tell.

That was J. C. Ryle in 1867. There is nothing new under the sun.

Well, when we observe bad things around us like this, the world tell us, “What you see is what you get.” The world tells us, as the wicked do in Psalm 11, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Give up. Despair. Withdraw. This is all there is.

And we’re tempted, aren’t we? We’re tempted to despair. We’re tempted to give up. Or, like Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane, we’re tempted to walk in the counsel of the wicked and take matters into our own hands.

This is what Asaph experienced in Psalm 73, when he said, “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

But the biblical answer is not found in focusing on what we see around us. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, we walk by faith and not by sight. As Paul says a chapter earlier in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

How? How can we have the same response as Paul to the wickedness around us and the pain and suffering we experience? He says a few verses later in 2 Cor 4:16-18,

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

We recognize that there is more than meets the eye, and seeing with the eyes of faith helps us to endure under the pressures of this world and resist the temptations of the wicked. This light momentary affliction is not the reality—the reality is unseen and eternal, an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

And this is exactly what solved Asaph’s problem in Psalm 73. After describing the apparent prosperity of the wicked, he says in Psalm 73:16-17,

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, ¹⁷ until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

In the sanctuary of God, Asaph is enabled to see the unseen, eternal reality with eyes of faith.

You see, the solution to grappling with the tensions and problems we see all around us in this present evil age is found when we look with eyes of faith to the unseen eternal heavenly sanctuary.

Heavenly Reality

Scripture presents us with two extended descriptions of of the heavenly sanctuary that provide the foundation for our discussion, notably one set in the context of the Old Testament and the other set in the context of the New Testament, emphasizing that what we see here is eternal. In both cases, these descriptions of heaven were presented during a time of problems with the covenant people of God and what was happening in the pagan nations around them, revealing the important, consistent necessity that God’s people bring their current earthly vision into conformity with a vision of heaven.

Isaiah 6

This was true for the nation of Israel; during Solomon’s reign and especially following the divided kingdom, God’s people forsook the pure worship of God by bringing pagan idolatry into the nation. Even noble kings in the southern kingdom, such as Uzziah, approached worship presumptuously and not according to God’s explicit command when he entering into the sanctuary though he had no right to do so.

It is no coincidence that the death of Uzziah is the very context for the prophet Isaiah’s vision of heavenly worship (Isa 6:1–13). In a way, God was reminding Isaiah of the true reality upon which pure earthly worship was supposed to be based as a corrective for the syncretism and idolatry of the people. God called Isaiah up into heaven itself, where he “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.” Isaiah encountered God’s sovereign rule over all.

The heavenly reality that Isaiah saw is a royal palace. God is on his throne. Psalm 103:19 proclaims, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” Psalm 145:13 says, “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.” All aspects of the universe fall under this rule. Heaven is a royal palace with the sovereign King eternally on his throne, and the whole earth is the realm of his kingdom. This is the eternal reality that never changes.

But not only is heaven described as God’s royal palace, Isaiah’s vision continues, “and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Heaven is also a holy sanctuary in which God’s glory is displayed and he is eternally worshiped by angelic beings singing the Trisagion hymn (“thrice holy”).

This heavenly vision establishes a two-fold reality concerning God in heaven: heaven is his palace, and heaven is his temple. He rules over all, and he deserves pure worship. This higher kingdom is a holy theocracy, a royal sanctuary.

However, the sight of God in all of his holiness and splendor caused Isaiah to recognize his own sin and unworthiness to draw near to the presence of God in his palace/temple, what Uzziah should have known before entering the earthly temple as he did. Thus, Isaiah confessed his sin before the Lord: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (v. 5)!

Yet God did not simply expel Isaiah from the royal temple due to his impurity; rather, God provided a means of atonement. One of the seraphim took a burning coal from the altar and placed it on Isaiah’s lips, proclaiming, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Now Isaiah was welcome in the presence of God by the means God himself had provided. Standing accepted in God’s presence, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord giving him a message, to which Isaiah willingly offered obedience, and God sent Isaiah forth with that message of both exhortation and promised blessing to the nation of Israel. Later, Isaiah’s message to the people of Israel reveals that if they submit to God’s exhortation and commit themselves to him, then “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people’s a rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (Is 25:6). God displays his acceptance of forgiven sinners through a celebratory feast.

This reality of worship in the palace/sanctuary of heaven contained a theological pattern that should have provided a corrective for the syncretistic and idolatrous worship of God’s people. But, of course, the hard-hearted people did not listen, and thus they never experienced the full blessings God had promised to them if they repented.

Revelation

In the book of Revelation, God granted the apostle John a similar glimpse into the palace/temple of heaven. As with Isaiah during the reign of king Uzziah, it is no accident that this vision of heavenly worship came at a time when God’s covenant people were in chaos; even a noble church like the one in Ephesus had lost its first love, and many Christians like those in Laodicea had become lukewarm. In John’s vision, like Isaiah’s vision, John sees the Lord seated upon his heavenly throne, ruling sovereignly over all things, and he is surrounded by angelic beings who are offering worship before him. Then follows the presentation of the scroll that reveals the unworthiness of all people to open it (5:1–4) except for the Lamb who was slain, he who provided atonement and ransomed a people for God (5:5–12).

The book climaxes with the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb (19:6–21). This, finally, is the fulfillment of what Isaiah had promised for those who would listen to the Word of the Lord. The heavenly temple descends, and for the first time God’s ultimate intention for his people comes to full realization: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (21:3).

Both of these visions in Isaiah and Revelation are the heavenly reality by which we must interpret what is happening here on earth.

Should Christians care about their bodies? How much emphasis should we place upon bodily exercise?

Some professing Christians in past history have argued that the body is bad—we don’t need to give attention to the body, we just need to focus on spiritual things.

But notice what Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:8: “Bodily training is of some value.” Don’t read that and think Paul is saying bodily training is worthless; he’s not. He is acknowledging here that bodily training does have some value.

Why is bodily training valuable? Well, the Bible actually has much to say about our bodies.

Our bodies matter to God.

First, God made our bodies.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:13–14

Genesis 2 tells us that God formed Adam’s body, and remember, he did this before sin entered the world. The body is a good thing that God made—he saw it, and it was good. God made our bodies, and therefore our bodies are good.

Sin affects our bodies.

But second, sin affects our bodies.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Romans 8:22–23

God created Adam, but Adam disobeyed God; and as a result of Adam’s sin, God cursed the whole creation, including our bodies. From the moment of our conception really, our bodies begin to wear down and decay. It’s not so bad when we’re young and growing, but you hit 40, and it’s all downhill from there.

I jest, but it’s a reality, right? Even the youngest experiences aches and pains. Our bodies get sick. We break bones and sprain ankles. Our bodies are significantly affected by the reality of sin.

Bodily training is of some value.

The reality of sin is exactly why bodily training is of some value. Disciplined exertion of our bodies through exercise and athletics can help to hold back some of the worst effects of the curse upon our bodies. If we stay in shape and eat well, that can have positive effects on our bodies.

However, ultimately, no matter how much bodily training we engage in through the course of our lives, no matter how healthy our diet, no matter how well we keep our bodies in shape, they still will wear down. The best we can do with bodily exercise is to slow the breakdown of our bodies, and that does have some value. But one day each one of our bodies will fail, and we will die. And our bodies will be placed in the ground, and they will return to dust.

Christ will redeem our bodies.

But there is hope. The third reality that Scripture teaches about our bodies is what Paul said Romans 8:23: we eagerly await for the redemption of our bodies. One day our bodies, along with all creation, will be redeemed. That redemption does not come as a result of anything we do—in other words, the value of bodily exercise is not that our own bodily training somehow redeems our bodies. No, Christ will redeem our bodies.

And we know this for one very important reason: Jesus Christ—who is 100% God, and has existed co-equally with God the Father and God the Spirit for all eternity—took on a human body at his incarnation.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Philippians 2:5–7

That body was truly human—Jesus was hungry, he was thirsty, he got sick, he had aches and pains—his body was affected by sin just like ours is. Jesus was not a sinner—Jesus did not sin, but his body felt the affects of the curse of sin.

And Jesus suffered bodily on the cross and died to pay the penalty of sin that all sinners deserve.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:8

Jesus died bodily for our sins, his body was buried in a tomb, but on the third day, Jesus rose bodily from the dead; but now, instead of a body cursed by sin, Jesus had a perfect, glorified body. And he still has that body, and will so for all eternity. Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, where he sits now bodily at the Father’s right hand.

And here’s why this gives us hope. The Bible teaches that those who repent of their sins and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, will one day be raised bodily just like he was! The redemption of our bodies will take place when God raises us from the dead, just like he raised Jesus from the dead.

And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

1 Corinthians 6:14

And when we rise again, Jesus will transform our bodies to be just like his.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body…

Philippians 3:20–21

Godliness Is of Value in Every Way

But this is only true for those who trust in Christ. Only believers in Jesus Christ will be raised bodily; only believers in Jesus Christ will have their bodies redeemed and transformed to be like his glorified body.

And so this is why Paul says in 2 Timothy 4,

Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Bodily training does have some value, because God created the body and he will one day redeem the bodies of his people—but what will bring about the redemption of our bodies one day in the life to come is not bodily training. Our bodies are only part of who we are. When God formed Adam’s body, he breathed into Adam’s body the breath of life, and man became a living soul. We are not only physical, we are also spiritual.

And just as our bodies were cursed by sin, so our souls are cursed by sin. We are born loving sin and hating God. And just as the redemption of our bodies comes through faith in Jesus Christ, so the redemption of our souls comes through faith in Christ. Redemption of both our bodies and our souls comes as a result of faith in the person and atoning work of Jesus Christ, the God-man.

And in fact, as Paul said in Romans 8, we are still awaiting the redemption of our bodies. We who are Christians know that when we were converted, a transformation took place in our souls, but we still feel the full effects of sin in our body. Redemption of the body won’t happen until Jesus comes again, when he returns bodily to this earth.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

1 John 3:2

But what we can experience now is the redemption of our souls. We don’t have to wait. Those who repent of their sins and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone as the substitute for the punishment you deserve, then at that very moment, their soul will be redeemed. We can have hope for eternal life with Christ.

What brings the redemption of our souls and eventually our bodies, is godliness, and we do not attain godliness ultimately through any effort of our own. As sinners, we can do nothing in ourselves to please God or attain redemption. Jesus did that for us. Ultimately godliness comes only through faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness of sins. Paul says this in 1 Timothy 4:10 when he notes that we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially those who believe.

Training in Godliness

But in 1 Timothy 4, Paul is talking to those who are trusting in Christ, and he tells us that we ought to train ourselves for godliness, that is, a life that is characterizes as being like God in holiness and righteousness. “For to this end we toil and strive,” Paul says in verse 10. Paul uses the analogy of bodily training to urge us to apply the same sort of discipline and effort—even more so—in a pursuit of godliness in our everyday lives as those who have already been redeemed by faith in the blood of Christ and who await the redemption of our bodies.

Bodily exercise does have some value. But what has value in every way, what holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come is training in godliness.

How do we training ourselves for godliness? Well, Paul tells us in 1 Timothy4:6: “being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.” We ultimately train ourselves to be godly by giving attention to the truth of God’s Word.

We do this through personal Bible study. We train ourselves for godliness through faithfully sitting under the Word of God preached and taught in church. We do this by opening our Bibles and studying the ultimate man, Jesus Christ, so you can imitate his godliness.

Don’t neglect bodily training—God cares about your body. But far more importantly, don’t neglect the training of your soul through, first, trusting Christ for the redemption of your soul and body, and second, through regular, disciplined study of God’s Word.

On Saturday, October 7, Israel suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. People around the world watched in horror as Hamas launched around 5,000 rockets into Israel, and Palestinian militants broke through checkpoints and border fences into Israel, proceeding to massacre hundreds of men, women, and children and taking others as hostages. As of October 14, around 1,300 Israelis have been killed, most of whom were civilians.

Unfortunately, these atrocities in the Middle East are uncovering a lot of anti-Semitism within some Christian circles. Some professing Christians claim that Palestine has just as much moral high ground as Israel and that the only reason Christians have historically supported Israel is faulty interpretation of Scripture. For example, see this tweet from Andrew Torba, co-founder of Gab and co-author of Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide For Taking Dominion And Discipling Nations:

So what should be the Christian response to the attacks against Israel? Should Christians support the nation of Israel, and if so, why should they? Is the only reason Christians support Israel based on faulty biblical interpretation?

Should we expect Israel to experience God’s special blessing?

Of course, Christians have had an intramural debate for many years about whether Israel presently enjoys the status of God’s chosen nation, or whether they forfeited that blessing in their rejection of the Messiah. And it is also true that many Christians have supported Israel because of their belief that Israel’s occupation of the Promised Land in this age is part of biblical prophecy.

Certainly dispensational premillennialists believe that Israel is still God’s chosen nation and that one day all Israel will be saved and will experience of complete fulfillment of God’s promises to them as a geo-political nation state during the millennial reign of Christ on earth. For example, John MacArthur insists that “there is still a future and a kingdom involving the salvation and the restoration and the reign of the nation Israel, historical Jews.”

Yet it is not only dispensational premillennialists who believe in a future for national Israel. Indeed, many historic Premillennialists, Amillennialists, and even some Postmillennialists have affirmed the salvation and restoration of the nation of Israel, including Martin Bucer, Theodore Beza, William Perkins, Isaac Watts, Jonathan Edwards, J. C. Ryle, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Charles Spurgeon (see relevant quotations here). Of course, most Amillennialists, Postmillenialists, and even some historic Premillennialists today deny that national Israel has any distinct future in addition to the church.

However, and this is the critical point, with each of the eschatological views that do believe national Israel has a future in God’s plan, the salvation and restoration of Israel will occur after Jesus comes again. In other words, even those who believe that Israel will be restored do not believe that restoration comes as a result of any geo-political victories accomplished by men. Rather, these views believe that the restoration of Israel will be preceded by the full salvation of Israel (i.e, they will believe in Jesus the Messiah), and that restoration happens after and because of the return of Messiah to earth.

Further, both Premillennialists and Amillennialists affirm the immanent return of Christ, that is, they believe that Christ could return at any time. He could have returned before the current nation-state of Israel was established in Palestine, and he could return if the nation was ever dispersed again. Christ’s return in both of those eschatological views is not dependent upon whether or not Israel occupies the land in this present age. In both Premill and Amill eschatologies, the next event on the God’s prophetic timetable is the Second Coming of Christ.

This is important for our present discussion for this reason: contrary to what many evangelicals believe, the possibility of a restored nation of Israel as fulfillment of biblical prophecy cannot be the reason Christians support the nation of Israel today. Even Premillennial Dispensationalists should not be “reading eschatology in the news” if they are actually being consistent with their own theological tenets. Even if national Israel has a God-given right to the Holy Land, they have no divine right to the land in this present age, even in dispensational teaching. To quote MacArthur, a dispensationalist, again,

Israel right now is not under divine protection. They are under the promise of God that they will be perpetuated as an ethnic people, but this current group of Jews that live in the world today and in the nation Israel are not now under divine protection. They’re apostate. They’ve rejected their Messiah. They are under divine chastening. But they are still a people and will be to the end.

The fact is that during this present age, no nation enjoys God’s special covenant blessing, even Israel. The only view that might theoretically support Israel for eschatological reasons is a version of Postmillennialism that believes Israel will become a Christian nation before Jesus comes again.

Therefore, Christian support of Israel today should never be based on eschatology.

However, I do believe Christians should support Israel, not because of any eschatological prophecy, but because of God’s intention for all nation-states during this present age.

God intends for nations to protect the life of their citizens.

The idea of nation-states is not man’s idea, it is God’s idea. God created the very concept of families of people organizing themselves into civilized societies for the purpose of protecting life and maintaining some semblance of order in a world cursed by sin. Left to themselves, God knew, sinful mankind would devolve into anarchic chaos. Families would feud, God knew, fighting over land and taking matters of vengeance into their own hands in an unruly manner. And so as an expression of common grace for all people, God ordained that families would be organized into cities and eventually nations.

We see this as early as God’s promise given to Cain that God would not allow disordered vengeance to be taken on him, even for his sin of murder (Gen 4:15). And indeed, Cain built a common grace city where that measure of justice was maintained (Gen 4:17). Later, God formally instituted human government as a common grace means for maintaining a semblance of order in what, left to themselves, would be chaotic societies. In his covenant with Noah after the flood, God established the earthly institution of human government, with its divine responsibility of capital punishment: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Gen 9:6). God gave this responsibility to govern the world and its people to all humankind as a means through which God would sovereignly control man’s sinfulness and preserve the world and its order in this present evil age.

In other words, organized nation-states are good, God-ordained institutions that exist for the purpose of protecting human life. Those nations that fulfill that role, even those whose leaders do not acknowledge God, are nevertheless doing what God intended; they are serving his purposes even if they do not acknowledge him. Romans 13:1 emphasizes this point: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Scripture teaches that God made the nations, “having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Act 17:26).

Now, it is important to recognize that no human government is perfect; none will be until Jesus comes again and rules with a rod of iron. But imperfect, common grace order is why God created nations, not utopia. Utopia will come when the King comes.

Therefore, Christians should support any nation that promotes and protects life as God intended.

The modern nation of Israel promotes freedom and protects life.

Ironically, it appears that many of the evangelicals who support Israel because of biblical prophecy seem to assume that the modern nation of Israel has a religious system of government similar to what it did in the Old Testament. However, this could not be further from the truth. Israel’s government today resembles that of the United States far more than that of King David.

The modern nation of Israel is not a religious theocracy like Israel of the Old Testament; rather, the government of Israel is a parliamentary democracy. And that’s a good thing. God does not intend for any nation during this age to be a theocracy like Old Testament Israel was. The nation does have citizens who are religious Jews, of course, but the nation protects religious liberty.

Part of the confusion for evangelicals might be that the term “Jew” can refer to religion or ethnicity. Of course, for Old Testament Israel, these were one and the same, but for the modern nation of Israel, they are not. The nation of Israel identifies itself as the nation of the Jewish people, but in the sense of ethnic heritage, not religious practice. According to a pew research study in 2016, 81% of Israel’s population are Jewish by ethnicity, but only 41% are religiously Jewish.

All this to say that Israel as a nation protects religious freedom for its citizens. This fact is all the more striking when compared with the other nations in middle east. Most of the population surrounding Israel is Islamic, and while forms of government vary, Islam as a religion (unlike biblical Christianity) has strong theocratic tendencies that discourage or even prevent religious freedom.

Hamas promotes violence and death.

This leads to the central cause of the current crisis. The de facto government of Palestine is Hamas, an Islamic resistance movement that defines itself in its charter as “a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.” In its charter, Hamas declares, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” It further states, “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.” Violence and death is in the very charter of the Palestinian government.

In other words, when you compare Israel and Hamas, one (imperfectly) seeks to protect life and freedom among its citizens, and the other is a religious theocracy whose very charter resolves to annihilate any who do not adhere to its religion. One is (imperfectly) fulfilling God’s intended purpose for a nation, while the other is actively working against that purpose. One is using military force to do what God designed nations to do, while the other is killing simply out of hatred.

The conclusion for Christian should be clear: We ought to support Israel and not Hamas.

But our support for Israel should not be out of some mistaken belief that biblical prophecy concerning Israel will be fulfilled in this age. Rather, our support for Israel should be that Israel as a nation serves as an (imperfect) example of what God designed nations to be. That is good in itself, and it is also good in helping our nation protect our interests as Israel continues to be the strongest ally of the US in the middle east.

Even more important than our support for Israel as a nation, however, ought to be our prayer that citizens of Israel and of Palestine come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Nation-states can protect human life to a certain degree as God intended, but only faith in Christ can grant eternal life. And whether or not you believe that national Israel has a future in God’s eschatological plan, what we can say with certainty is that God wants individual Jews and Muslims alike to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ.

Christians ought to sing all the psalms—including the imprecatory psalms—because the psalms are deeply rooted in confidence that God is the Sovereign King of Kings, and therefore to sing them helps form within us a hope-filled longing for the Return of the King.

We who have already submitted to the sovereign King of Kings are in a unique position. Like Israel in exile, we are citizens of God’s kingdom, but we are currently living in the midst of earthly kingdoms filled with wicked people.

So what are we supposed to do while we wait for the return of the king? Well there are several things Scripture commands us to do. We are to faithfully preach the good news of Jesus Christ, calling sinners to kiss the Son in repentant faith. We are to let our light shine before men so they will see our good works and glorify God on the day when he visits them with judgment. We are to stand firm under persecution, do good until all men, and pray for the salvation of souls.

But God also commands us to faithfully meet together, encouraging one another, and all the more as we see the Day of Judgment drawing near. And when we gather, we worship our King. And what should we sing as we worship our King? We should sing his inspired war songs. The Psalms are the spiritual battle cry of all who currently serve the King of Kings.

These songs express our humble submission to the sovereign King. These songs give us language to praise and thank our King. And these songs are expressions of trust in our Warrior King who will come and defeat all his enemies.

These songs help us to cry out to the only source of help and deliverance we can depend on: the one who is both Yahweh and Man: God’s Anointed, Jesus Christ. When we cry out with the psalms for Yahweh to save us, to deliver us, rescue us, guard us, redeem us, give us victory, and vindicate us, this is war language.

And these songs don’t just give us language to express these sentiments, God’s inspired songs form us to live in this present evil age with courage and hope and confidence that the King will come again and conquer all his enemies. They form us to live like kingdom citizens; the psalms are, as James Mayes so helpfully describes them, the liturgy of the kingdom of God.

These are the songs we sing as we march around the walls of Jericho, not because we are going to take up arms and break through the walls ourselves, but because God himself will conquer the city.

You see, when we see sin and wickedness around us, when we see the nations rage and the peoples meditating on a vain thing, when we see the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed, what can we do? What we don’t do is take up arms. We are in a war, make no mistake, but Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10 that we are not waging war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare, Paul insists, are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds, to destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.

What are those divine spiritual weapons? The weapons of our warfare are what we sometimes call the ordinary means of grace. If you’re concerned by the way godless ideologies are plaguing our society, then gather with the church—that is where the weapons are. Our primary battlefield is not in the political sphere or among the elite culture-makers, our primary battlefield is what we do when we gather as the church—the ordinary means of grace. Preaching, prayer, singing, Scripture reading, baptism, the Lord’s Table—these are the weapons of our warfare. This is our battlefield. Worship is warfare.

And the Psalms are spiritual divine weapons God has given us. When the culture around us raises up arguments and lofty opinions against the knowledge of God, when the fool says in his heart, “There is no God,” we take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and we boldly sing, “The Lord reigns! The gods of the people are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.”

When churches do not sing these war songs, their worship music inevitably devolves into happy-clappy escapist, feel-good ditties that form snowflakes rather than warriors.

We need the psalms, which is why we published Psalms and Hymns to the Living God, which contains settings of all 150 psalms plus hymns that match the character and quality of the God-inspired songs. These are the weapons of our warfare. These are how we battle against arguments and lofty opinions against the knowledge of God.

Without the psalms—the entirety of the psalms, churches are forming men without chests, brains filled with knowledge, but unable to navigate the realities of life in a sin-cursed world; unable to resist the fiery darts of the devil; unable to stand against the onslaught of growing persecution; unable to fight the spiritual battles God has called us to; unable to see with eyes of faith the conquering King of Kings who has promised to return and defeat all his enemies.

But by singing the Psalms—the war songs of the King of Kings, we are arming ourselves with exactly the spiritual divine weapons God has given us in this present evil age as we look for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Many Christians struggle over whether we should be singing imprecatory psalms in our current age of grace. Should we be singing, “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock” (Ps 137:9)?

One major theme in the book of psalms that helps us to understand why we should sing imprecatory psalms is affirmation of the sovereign rule of God over all things. The psalms boldly proclaim, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity” (Ps 96:10).

So how does the theme of God’s sovereign rule help us to understand the purpose of the imprecatory psalms? This leads us to a consider a second major theme that is developed in the Book of Psalms.

Not only do the Psalms affirm the universal sovereignty of God, the psalms also acknowledge the current rebellion of man against that sovereign rule. Over two thirds of the psalms are laments about wickedness, pain, suffering, and defeat.

Much of the first three books of Psalms, the first 89 psalms, are filled with lament after lament—the enemies of God seem to be prospering, and the people of God seem to be crushed. As David says in Psalm 86:1, “I am poor and needy,” a phrase that appears multiple times in the psalms.

We often experience this, do we not? You look around you, wickedness seems to be everywhere, and you wonder, where is God in all this? Isn’t he Sovereign? And not only that, the wicked are prospering! They are defeating God’s people. Isn’t God King? You see that kind of thing over and over again in the psalms, and we experience it all the time.

If God is sovereign King, why does wickedness appear to be reigning on earth?

The Two-Fold Rule of God

Well it is critical to recognize that the Psalms portray the rule of God in two distinct ways. One is the cosmic, sovereign reign of God that appears throughout the psalms and particularly in the Enthronement Psalms. Yahweh reigns. He is King. This is a universal, eternal fact.

But the second way the reign of God is portrayed is with relation to what is going on right now in the history of the earth. With regard to the sovereign rule of God, there is no opposition—Yahweh reigns. But with regard to the history of the world, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh” (Ps 2). “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God’” (Ps 14). God is sovereign over all, and yet it appears right now as if wickedness reigns on the earth.

The Psalms embody this tension between God’s sovereign rule and how things currently appear. They acknowledge it. They don’t ignore it. They don’t try to escape from the tension. The wicked are everywhere, they are prospering, and the Book of Psalms is structured to portray that because it is an unavoidable reality.

We often try to avoid that reality, do we not? We try to escape it, to ignore it. We pretend the wicked aren’t here. We tend to skip over those passages about the wicked in the Psalms; we get to the parts that talk about the Edomites and the Amorites and the foes and the enemies, and we just sort of glide through those sections, looking for the stuff about shepherds and singing and praise. Perhaps we assume those are just David’s enemies and they have no relevance for us today. This is what Isaac Watts essentially did; when he paraphrased the Psalms, Watts typically glossed over any references to the wicked as if they do not really have any relevance for Christians today.

The Psalms predict the day when God’s Anointed King will make war with his enemies.

But these psalms do have relevance for Christians today, because wickedness around us is still a reality.

But a third major theme that is developed in the psalms helps us to know how we can resolve that tension. The psalms affirm the universal sovereign rule of God, the psalms acknowledge the current rebellion of man against that rule, but third, the psalms predict a day when God’s Anointed King will make war with his enemies and conquer them all.

The Five Books of Psalms are deliberately designed to artistically portray God’s plan for human history: God’s intent to make his universal, sovereign cosmic reign over all things a visible, physical reality in a human king who will reign over all the earth.

This was God’s intent from the beginning of Creation. God created the heavens and the earth, and then he blessed Adam, made in his image, with dominion over all the earth. He appointed Adam to be the King and Judge of all, his vice-regent, his earthly representative of God’s cosmic sovereign rule.

Yet Adam failed. When God cast the rebellious Satan from heaven to the earth to be judged by his vice-regent, Adam failed in his kingly duties and instead bowed the knee to an imposter king. And the fact that wickedness appears to be reigning on this earth even now is due to that failure of the king to exercise dominion.

But God still intends to accomplish his original plan. As part of his curse again the serpent, God promised that one day a seed of the women—a Second Adam—would accomplish what the First Adam failed to do. He would crush the usurper’s head and exercise dominion over all the earth (Gen 3:15).

I flesh out this plan of God to exercise his sovereign rule through a human king in my most recent book, Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faithfulness in God’s Two Kingdoms.

This plan is powerfully portrayed in the Book of Psalms. The psalms affirm the universal sovereignty of God over all, but they also affirm a confident expectation in the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15.

God intends to have an earthly king whose kingship represents his Sovereign rule over all the kingdoms of the world. This is what God promised to David right after he brought the ark to Jerusalem when he declared, “I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” And so Psalm 2 affirms, “I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”

This is why David bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem was so important and why the song he wrote on that occasion is featured prominently in the Psalms. When David brought the ark—God’s throne on earth—to Jerusalem where he had his throne, he was submitting his earthly kingship to the sovereign kingship of Yahweh. He was, in a sense, foreshadowing the day when the cosmic rule of the sovereign King of Kings will be united with the earthly rule of an Anointed One. And that is why he so prominently sings, “Yahweh reigns.” David’s offspring will rule the earth, but he will do so in submission to and as an expression of Yahweh’s sovereign rule over all.

Yahweh reigns. That is a never-changing reality. God is sovereign. And so we can have confidence that he will accomplish his purpose to establish David’s throne forever.

So how will he do that? This is where the imprecatory language comes in. David’s Son will take dominion over all the earth as an expression of Yahweh’s sovereign rule by making war with his enemies and crushing them in defeat.

This is what the prophets of old foretold. For example, Isaiah prophesied,

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. ¹⁴ And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land. ¹⁵ Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.

Isaiah 13:13–16

The psalms don’t gloss over this. God’s Anointed King will conquer his foes. He will crush the serpent’s head. “You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps 2:9).

You see, the imprecatory language in the psalms is not unbridled expression of personal rage and vengeance made in a moment of passion. Imprecatory language is not the equivalent of cursing in anger.

Rather, imprecatory psalms are expressions of confident trust that God will accomplish his purpose for mankind that he established at the beginning of history. When the psalmist prays, “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock,” he is simply affirming what Isaiah prophesied God will do.

And neither are these expressions of what we intend to do. We do not take up arms and crush our enemies with the sword. We have been commanded by Christ to love and pray for our enemies, to boldly proclaim the good news of the gospel, confident that God will save his elect through the gospel, turning enemies into friends. We currently live in an age of grace in which God through our proclamation of the gospel is gathering his people unto himself from out of the nations.

No, we do not attempt to subdue the enemies of God with physical force, like Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne did when he forced pagans to be baptized at the point of a sword. No, who is it who will one day take vengeance upon the enemies of God? Who will break the rebellious kings of this earth with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel? Who will dash their little ones against the rock?

It is one sitting on a white horse “called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war” (Rev 19:11).

Dominion over all the nations of the earth will be accomplished by the God-Man, David’s Greater Son, the Anointed One, the only one who can perfectly be a human King who exercises an earthly rule corresponding to God’s cosmic sovereign rule. Jesus Son of the woman can do that because Jesus is Yahweh, and Yahweh reigns.

Dominion over the earth will not be accomplished by any sinful human Prince, even if he is a Christian Prince. Dominion over all the earth will be accomplished when the King returns to conquer all who oppose him.

This is what the Psalms portray when they cry out for vengeance. They cry out for the return of the King! And Book V of the Psalms vividly portrays that coming day.

The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. ⁶ He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. ⁷ He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

Psalm 110:5–7

So why should we sing them, then? I will answer that question next week.

There are several fundamental reasons many churches don’t sing the Psalms today, and I wrote my book, Musing on God’s Music, in order to help correct some of those reasons.

But one key reason Christians shy away from some of the psalms is the sometimes violent imprecatory language found in them. If Christians today do use the psalms, they tend to exclusively gravitate toward psalms of comfort—Psalms 23 is the most likely, or psalms of praise like Psalm 100.

‌But most of the psalms are not songs of comfort or praise. You can’t even get past the first psalm before you read, “the way of the wicked will perish.” In Psalm 2 we read, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.” Psalm 7: “Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies.” Should Christians be singing that? Where is the grace?

‌And, of course, it gets even worse. Should we really sing from Psalm 58, “O God, break the teeth in their mouths. . . . Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun”? The psalm concludes, “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.” And then there is probably the worst imprecatory curse of all in Psalm 137, which proclaims,

‌O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

What are we to do with psalms like these? The fact is that the dark, grim, sometime violent language of many of the psalms has been a stumbling block for many Christians. Isaac Watts said,

Why must I join with David in his legal or prophetic language to curse my enemies, when my Savior in his sermons has taught me to love and bless them?  Why may not a Christian omit all those passages of the Jewish Psalmist that tend to fill the mind with overwhelming sorrows, despairing thoughts, or bitter personal resentments, none of which are well suited to the Spirit of Christianity, which is a dispensation of hope and joy and love?

Likewise, C. S. Lewis considered the imprecatory psalms “devilish,” naive, “diabolical,” given to “pettiness” and “vulgarity.” He stated that their “vindictive hatred,” full of “festering, gloating, undisguised” passions can never be “condoned or approved.”

‌But on the contrary, I would like to show you why not only can we sing psalms like these, but why we must sing psalms like these. We will see that psalms like these are deeply rooted in confidence that God is the Sovereign King of Kings, and therefore to sing them helps form within us a hope-filled longing for the Return of the King.

‌One of the most important things to recognize about the psalms that will help us understand the purpose of imprecatory language is to recognize that the Book of Psalms is not just a random collection of songs. Most Christians today don’t recognize that the 150 psalms were intentionally organized by Ezra or someone like him following the Babylonian exile into five books, and these five books of psalms were arranged to teach us some very important truths. They are organized in such a way that these songs progressively develop several significant themes about God and his plan for the world. And you can find out much more detail about that in my book.

‌One of those central themes that is developed through the five books of Psalms is the universal, sovereign kingship of God.

‌The psalms are filled with imagery that affirms the universal sovereignty of God. In Psalm 2:4, David says that God “sits enthroned in the heavens.” Dozens of psalms refer to God as King. The psalms sing of the scepter of God, the throne of God, and the crown of God, all meant to picture God as the sovereign King. The psalms refer to God as Judge of all the earth. Even the well-loved image of a Shepherd to describe God in psalms like Psalm 23 was a royal image. Psalm 80:1, for example, equates the Shepherd of Israel with the one who is enthroned in heaven.

From the first to the last, the Psalms proclaim the universal sovereign rule of God Almighty: Psalm 103:19 proclaims, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,” David sings in Psalm 145, “and your dominion endures throughout all generations.”

‌Psalm 89, the last psalm of Book III of the Psalter, portrays this vividly. The first half of the psalm praises God for his universal, cosmic, sovereign rule over all.

‌​Psalm 89:6: For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord.

‌​Psalm 89:9: You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.

‌​Psalm 89:11: The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.

‌​Psalm 89:14: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

‌God is sovereign over all.

‌Yet there is a group of psalms in Book 4 that give special, focused attention to the sovereign rule of God. I mentioned earlier that the psalms were deliberately organized into five books, and the psalms within each of the five books were deliberately organized to communicate specific truths.

‌This is clearly apparent in a group of psalms in Book 4 often called “Enthronement Psalms.” While, as we have seen, many of the psalms affirm the sovereign rule of God in some way, Psalms 92–100 do so with vivid focus.

‌Psalms 92 and 100 form bookends to this grouping, and between them we find a powerful, repeated acclamation of the sovereign rule of God: Yahweh malak—The LORD reigns.

‌Ps 93:1: “The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

‌​Psalm 96:10: Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”

‌​Psalm 97:1: The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!

​Psalm 99:1: The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!

‌There is perhaps no more a succinct, vivid expression of the sovereign rule of God over all in Scripture than this acclamation: Yahweh reigns.

‌Yet here’s what’s fascinating about this acclamation: the phrase, “Yahweh reigns” only appears in all of Scripture in Psalms 93, 96, 97, and 99. Except one other place: 1 Chronicles 16.

‌1 Chronicles 16 records a song that David the warrior king wrote. And, in fact, these Enthronement psalms are drawing from portions of David’s song in 1 Chronicles 16. It was originally written by King David on the occasion of bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. You’ll recall that the Philistines had captured the Ark years earlier, and it was only now during David’s reign that he successfully returned it to its proper place in the Tabernacle in Jerusalem.

First Chronicles 16 records the service of dedication that Israel held in honor of the event. David appointed musicians to play and sing during the service, and verse 7 says, “Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.” After this dedication service, David apparently took the song he had written and rearranged it into a couple different songs that Israel then regularly used in its worship and that appear in the book of Psalms.

‌Do you remember what happened when the Philistines had put the Ark in their temple to Dagon? They got up the next morning, and the Dagon idol was flat on his face—and so when David recovers the ark, he sings, “All the gods of the people are worthless idols! The Lord reigns.”

‌“For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods” Psalm 95:3 proclaims. Psalm 97:9 asserts, “For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” This is what David boldly proclaims in his song of thanks when he recovers the Ark of the Lord.

‌But God not only rules over the false gods of this earth, he rules over all the earth.

‌​Psalm 93:4: Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!

‌​Psalm 95:4–5: In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

‌​Psalm 97:4–5: His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

‌​Psalm 99:2–5: The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!

‌Yahweh reigns! The Lord is the sovereign King over all the earth. That is a centrally important theme that is developed in the psalms.

Next week, we’ll see how this theme impacts our understanding of the imprecatory psalms.

Why is it so important to have our motivation right about how we live in society? Why is it important that we don’t try to motivate ourselves and others with grand ambitions of societal transformation?

First, God never promised grand societal transformation, and so if we make that our goal, it can lead to deep discouragement. I know some people who are very active in trying to push for massive social change, and they’re some of the grumpiest and at times angriest people I know. Why? Because they’re not seeing results. They’re discouraged. They may see little advances here or there, but certainly not the kind of massive social change they think God has promised them. And often times, those kinds of people end up burning out. How many big-name Christians have we seen burn out and fall away from the faith in just the past several years? God never commands us to do massive, amazing, earth shattering things in society. He commands us to be holy and faithful.

Second, when societal transformation is our goal, we inevitably lose our mission as the church. If our central mission as a church becomes anything other than making disciples—and even as individuals, if our central mission is grand societal transformation, history has shown that we end up losing the gospel. But if our goal as churches is making disciples who are holy and faithful in society, and if our goal as individual Christians is holiness and faithfulness in society, then we just may have at least a small influence.

Third, when societal transformation is our goal, we fail to recognize the value of the “ordinary”—common vocations and ordinary people. We tend to buy into a celebretyism that praises the larger-than-life people and undervalues faithful, ordinary people. We want heroes, when we should deeply value regular, faithful fathers and mothers and grandparents and pastors and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We chase after big movements and causes, failing to recognize the value of normal, everyday faithfulness of rearing godly children, working hard in our vocations, performing our civic duty in the political sphere, and simply doing it all for God’s glory. And even in the church, we tend to chase after spectacle, big programs, and large causes, rather than trusting the week-by-week ordinary means of grace that disciple us into holy, faithful Christians.

Fourth, actually having significant influence in society almost always requires compromise. This is the main point of James Davison Hunter’s book, To Change the World. He shows that in order to really change the world on a massive scale, we would need to get in positions of power, and in order to get into positions of power, we have to give into the idea that earthly power is where real change takes place, essentially compromising our trust in the sufficiency of God’s Word and the fact that real transformation happens in the human soul through the gospel.

But we see this happening don’t we? People who want to change the world try to work their way into positions of power, and you can’t do that by boldly proclaiming the gospel and standing for holiness. Instead, you have to get those currently in power to accept you, which means you water down your message. And this is what’s behind when you hear elite evangelicals piously proclaim “the world is watching” as a defense for privatized religion. Don’t be bold in your stand against the murder of the preborn—the world is watching; they’ll think we’re being mean to women. No, we need to be more nuanced in our approach so that the world will accept us, and then we can get into those places of influence. This is why you really don’t see very many truly faithful, set apart Christians who are committed to their local church and holy living getting into high political roles. How many truly faithful Christians have become Senators? Some. Not many. How many truly faithful Christians have become the President of the United States? It is very, very difficult—not impossible, but difficult—to get into positions of power and influence and still remain faithful to what God has called us to be as Christians.

I love how James Davison Hunter summarizes the kind of Christian faithfulness I have advocated as Christians living in society—our lives ought to be characterized by faithful presence. Another way to think of it is that we are to live lives of submission to others and their needs. It is instructive that when Peter describes how we ought to live in various kinds of everyday relationships, submission is part of our responsibility.

1 Peter 2:13—“Be subject to every human institution.”

1 Peter 2:18—“Be subject to your masters.”

1 Peter 3:1—“Wives, be subject to your husbands.”

1 Peter 3:7—“Likewise, husbands live with your wives in an understanding way, showing them honor.”

Our lives in society ought not to be characterized by trying to get ahead, trying to advance our own agenda, or trying to do what’s best for us; our goal in society ought to be to submit ourselves to the needs of others—submit to governing authority, submit to our employer, submit to the needs of others in our families.

Our goal in society is not grand scale societal change or cultural transformation—we cannot be Second Adams. We ought simply to live holy lives, demonstrate kindness toward all people, and apply what it means to be a Christian in whatever cultural sphere God has called us. And as a church—as a redemptive kingdom community—we ought to make disciples, gathering more redemptive kingdom citizens and teaching them how to obey Christ in their everyday lives.

This philosophy, I believe, is more faithful to Scripture than the dominant evangelical views today. This biblical understanding protects the unique mission of the church to make disciples and avoids triumphalistic “kingdom” motivation so characteristic of evangelical discussions of Christianity and culture. Setting as our goal the transformation of society almost always results in failure to fulfill the mission Christ gave to his church. Most examples of evangelical desire to “transform culture” are little more than trying to be accepted by the culture. As Andy Crouch has astutely observed, “The rise of interest in cultural transformation has been accompanied by a rise in cultural transformation of a different sort—the transformation of the church into the culture’s image.”[1]

In other words, a biblical philosophy of culture does not understand our role in society to be in terms of cultural redemption or “work for the kingdom.” Rather, we should view the church’s exclusive mission as one of evangelization and discipling Christians to live sanctified lives in whatever cultural sphere God has called us. This is the extent of our “responsibility” toward culture, and anything more than this threatens to sideline what Christ has actually commanded us to do.

There’s a sort of frantic restlessness that inherently characterizes the goal of massive societal transformation; but there is a restful contentment that accompanies a life of Christian faithfulness that says, “I am going to submit to the authority of God’s Word; I am going to rest in the ordinary means of grace; and I am going to work hard at rearing godly children, working heartily as unto the Lord, standing up for righteousness in society, and doing it all for God’s glory.” We live faithfully in this present age, fully optimistic that the Second Adam will accomplish God’s plan for human history “when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed” (2 Thess 1:10).

[1] Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 189.

This was an excerpt from Scott Aniol’s book, Citizens & Exiles: Christian Faithfulness in God’s Two Kingdoms.

When the prophet Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” what he saw was the reality of God’s heavenly temple: “and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Heaven is a royal palace from which God sovereignly rules, but it is also a holy temple, filled with God’s glory. Psalm 104:1–2 says,

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, ² covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.

Notice that language: God stretched out he heavens like a tent—literally, like a tabernacle of his presence. Isaiah 40:22 similarly says that God stretched out the heavens like a tabernacle. God was giving Isaiah a vision of the palace/temple of heaven, an unseen reality that was meant to realign Isaiah’s understanding of what was happening on the earth.

In fact, God actually created this earth to mirror the invisible heavenly reality. As the angels sing in Isaiah 6:3, “the whole earth is full of his glory!” God stretched out the heavens like a tabernacle, and likewise, God created the whole earth to be his holy temple, filled with his glory. The same Spirit of God who gifted Bezalel with the skills to craft Israel’s tabernacle crafted the heavens and the earth as God’s earthly tabernacle (Gen 1:2).

In fact, the way that Genesis 2 describes the Garden of Eden deliberately foreshadows the description of Israel’s tabernacle later in Exodus 25–27. It is a place filled with gold and precious stones. Genesis 2 describes bdellium and onyx stones, and Ezekiel 28 adds sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle. A spring of water “was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground” (v6). And the Garden is filled with every kind of tree that was both beautiful and good for food.

The parallels with Israel’s tabernacle and temple are clear. When God commanded the people to build his sanctuary, the people brought precious metals and gems to adorn it. The implements of worship were covered with silver, bronze, and gold. And later when Solomon builds the temple, he spares no expense in adorning it with gold, sliver, bronze, iron, onyx, colored stones, “all sorts of precious stones and marble” (1 Chron 29:2–3). And like that life-giving spring in the Garden, Psalm 46 proclaims, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.” Finally, the Tree of Life in the Garden was symbolized by the golden lampstand in Israel’s sanctuary.

So the Garden of Eden was God’s earthly sanctuary. Genesis 2 tells us that after preparing this sanctuary, God created Adam in his own image, and put him in the Garden of Eden. The word translated “put” in Genesis 2:15 is not same term as the generic “put” in verse 8. In verse 15, Moses uses a verb that means “set to rest.” God placed Adam in his sanctuary as a place of Sabbath rest. Ezekiel 28 tells us that Eden was a sanctuary garden on the top of the mountain of God. Earth was the tabernacle, and the Garden was the holy of holies, where Adam dwelt in the presence of God. Notably, the verb for “walked” in Genesis 3:8 is used later to describe God’s presence in the tabernacle (Lev 26:12).

Genesis 2:15 says that God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Moses uses specific Hebrew words here—work it and keep it—that he would later use in Numbers to describe the priestly work of the Levites in the tabernacle, who were to guard God’s sanctuary and offer spiritual service before his presence. For example, Number 3:8 uses the same Hebrew words when it says that the priests “shall keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle.”

This is what Adam was tasked to do in the holy of holies of the Garden of Eden. He was supposed to guard the sanctuary, protecting it from anything unclean. And he was to offer perfect obedience to the Lord. If Adam fulfilled this role that God gave him in his sanctuary, Adam would be allowed to eat from the tree of life and enter eternal Sabbath rest in the presence of God in the highest heaven, which is foreshadowed in the weekly Sabbath day. In the beginning, man’s dwelling place coincided with God’s earthly dwelling. This was God’s design.

But Adam failed. He failed to guard God’s garden sanctuary by allowing Satan—a created angelic being—to defile it. He disobeyed God’s command by eating of the forbidden fruit. And so as a result, Adam was expelled from the holy sanctuary of God’s presence. God placed cherubim at the entrance of the garden to prevent man from entering into that Sabbath rest in the sanctuary. And this is why cherubim were embroidered on the veil of the tabernacle that prohibited people from entering the sanctuary of God’s presence.

And yet we have hope. As Hebrews 4:8 promises, “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” through the Jesus, the Son of God, “who has passed through the heavens” (Heb 4:14). Through faith in Christ’s atoning work, the people of God will one day enjoy the eternal rest in the sanctuary of God’s presence that he had intended in the beginning.

And thus, the prophets describe eternal rest for the people of God as a return to the Garden sanctuary God intended all along. The prophet Joel predicts a time when a life-giving fountain will flow from the temple (Joel 3:17–18), and John saw “the river of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 22:1). Isaiah predicts that the future city and temple will be built with precious jewels (Isaiah 54:11–12), as does John (Rev 21:10–21). And John also sees in the place of future rest a Tree of Life with leaves “for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:2).

As Meredith Kline so beautifully states,

As human history has turned out, it is through Jesus, the second Adam, that God’s people find their way into the realm of Sabbath rest with God. It is he who leads them into the true and eternal Canaan, the new Eden. But this redemptive accomplishment of the second Adam illumines the design of the program originally assigned to the first Adam.

Churches as formal, local institutions have been given a very specific, singular mission in this age, best articulated in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19–20.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

You’ll notice that there are several phrases in this text that sound like commands, but grammatically there is actually only one command: “Make disciples” is the mandate Christ gave to his church—nothing more and nothing less. All of the rest of the phrases in this passage that sound in English like commands, which we’ll consider in a moment, actually further explain the central command. In fact, we could even say that all of the commands and discussion throughout the rest of the New Testament that directly relate to the church are simply giving further explanation or correcting errors related to the central command of making disciples. All of that explanation and correction still carries with it the force of a command, but it all comes back to this central command: make disciples.

So what is a disciple? Well, a disciple of Christ is simply a follower of Christ. He is one who obeys Christ’s commands, not simply out of duty, but because he knows, if you love Christ, you will do what he commands (Jn 14:15). And the Great Commission bears this out in verse 20 where it says that part of what it means to make disciples is “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” A disciple is someone who observes Christ’s commands, who submits to his rule. To put it another way, a disciple is a citizen of Christ’s redemptive kingdom.

Now we might say, “Isn’t worship our first priority? Why isn’t our primary mission as churches to worship?” Well keep in mind, to be a disciple is to worship God. Submission to the rule of Christ and obedience to his commands is worship. Don’t think of obedience to Christ as distinct from loving Christ. Jesus said, “If you love me”—if you worship me—“you will keep my commandments.” To be a disciple of Christ is to worship Christ. So we could think of it this way: our mission is to make disciple-worshipers. The ultimate aim of all things is the worship and glory of God, but our specific mission as churches is to disciple worshipers for God’s glory.

But sinners can’t worship God—sinners cannot submit to Christ’s rule; so in order to make disciples who observe Christ’s commands, there are a couple more preliminary steps. First, in the parallel passage in Mark, Christ presents the first step toward making disciples: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). Being a disciple of Jesus Christ requires first that someone hear the good news, repent of their sins, and trust in Christ for salvation. So, the first necessary step in making disciples is proclamation of the gospel.

Second, Christ commands that new believers must be baptized. Physical water baptism is an outward visible sign of inward Spirit baptism. Spirit baptism happens at the moment of conversion and unites us to Christ (1 Cor 12:13)—it makes us citizens of the redemptive kingdom. Water baptism is a public profession of faith and unites us to a visible church—the visible representation of the redemptive kingdom.

And the third necessary component of making disciples is teaching them to observe all that Christ commanded. This is the clear teaching and preaching of Scripture, again all of Scripture, but especially the apostolic teaching recorded in the New Testament.

Spiritual Mission

Notice that with regard to churches, our mission is exclusively redemptive in nature: make disciples. Our mission involves gathering more citizens of the redemptive kingdom through evangelism, baptism, and teaching. The church’s mission is entirely spiritual in nature—it does not involve temporal earthly matters that belong to the common kingdom. The only mandate given to churches that involves physical matters is “contributing to the needs of the saints” (Rom 12:13), but even then, only when the common institution of the family breaks down (1 Tim 5:3–8). Never is the church given the responsibility of meeting the physical needs of society at large. That is the responsibility of institutions in the common kingdoms of this world.

Neither is the church given any commands regarding political involvement. We are to pray “for kings and all who are in high positions,” but churches should not in any official capacity hold political rallies, endorse candidates, or advocate for specific policy positions. Note that even in a very oppressive governmental situation, the New Testament never advocates for churches attempting to overthrow tyrannical governments and establish more righteous governments. That is not the mission of the church. The church’s mission is purely spiritual.

This is important exactly because of Christ’s authority over his church. When the church is operating as a church, it must do what its authority commanded it to do, no more and no less. If our authority as churches is what Christ commanded through his apostles, then we may only do what can follow “Thus says the Lord.”

Now notice that I have been very careful to say “churches” here. I am not saying that individual Christians may not be involved in politics or meet physical needs in society or other cultural matters. This is why we must carefully distinguish between individual Christians in the common kingdom and gathered churches as part of Christ’s redemptive kingdom. These are two distinct kingdoms of God with different citizenships, different responsibilities, and different forms of God’s revelation as their authority. The New Testament does give very clear direction for how individual Christians are to behave as members of society, but gathered churches have a distinctly spiritual mission of making disciples.

Discipling Common Kingdom Citizens

Nevertheless, because members of churches may certainly be involved in various cultural endeavors as citizens of the common kingdom, the church does have a secondary role in cultural engagement: churches should instruct believers in what it means to live Christianly in society. Part of what it means to fulfill the Great Commission is to teach Christians how to live out the implications of their relationship with God and how to obey the Great Commandments through being holy, active citizens in society for the good of their fellow man. Churches should speak to relevant moral issues under attack in society as part of discipling Christians to know how they should live in that society. However, churches must not speak beyond Scripture, may not require of their people what Scripture does not require, and should not in any official capacity meddle in civil affairs.

You might say, “But if these political or social issues are important, then why shouldn’t we as a church make them a primary emphasis?” This is a good question, because we don’t want to fall into the other ditch of saying that none of these issues in culture matter, and we should just stay silent. They do matter. But if we as gathered churches make them our primary emphasis, inevitably the mission that Christ has given us gets sidelined. You begin to hear things like, “Preach the gospel; use words if necessary.” The implication is that we preach the gospel through doing good in society, not through clear, bold proclamation. This is the social gospel, and when you buy into the social gospel, you lose the true gospel.

Churches should certainly stand up for truth and condemn antibiblical ideologies or immorality within the broader society, but there is even a danger here. We must always remember that the primary way churches fight against antibiblical aspects of the society is by making disciples. If we think that the primary way to battle unbiblical conduct is through political schemes, or if fighting against immorality itself becomes our mission, then we lose the gospel, and we actually lose the mission Christ has given us.

This runs contrary to how many evangelicals think. Very prominent leaders within evangelicalism teach that churches should be actively engaged in social, cultural, and political affairs, seeking to do “kingdom work” through “cultural transformation.” Hopefully you recognize the problems with this. This thinking blurs the distinction between the common kingdom and the redemptive kingdom, and it goes beyond what the New Testament clearly commands as the church’s mission. Nowhere does the New Testament command churches to transform or “redeem” culture, engage in political activism, or solve physical problems. The church’s responsibility is to make disciples.

And the reverse is true as well: institutions of the common kingdom ought not meddle in the affairs of the church. Governments, for example, have been instituted by God specifically for the purpose of protecting innocent life, but governments have no authority over churches. Evangelicals who blur the distinction tend to err in this point too, allowing the government to dictate what their churches can and cannot do. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” Christ said, “and to God the things that are God’s.” The church’s authority is Christ alone, explained through apostolic teaching recorded in God’s special revelation.

Restraint

On the other hand, churches may indeed have an influence upon culture due to the fact that the Holy Spirit of God is active in the world through the church in a manner unique to this present age. Paul teaches in 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7 that the Holy Spirit is currently restraining “the lawless one” through his indwelling ministry in the church. This also relates to Christ’s description of his followers as “the salt of the earth,” those who, through living in “peace with one another” can serve to preserve righteousness in the world (Matt 5:13; Mark 9:50).

With this perspective, the church may have a restraining or preserving influence on broader culture to one degree or another, but this is through what James Davison Hunter calls “faithful presence” within the world. Rather than this being a particular political strategy or set of cultural programs, this kind of restraint or preservation is accomplished by churches discipling believers to live Spirit-controlled lives, and through Christians submitting to the sanctifying work of the Spirit in every aspect of life, simply living in unity together as separated Christians in society. In this way, Christians are salt and light, helping through example and act to restrain human depravity in the surrounding culture. We are participating as citizens in the human institutions created by God for the purpose of ordering the natural world and providing restraints upon human sinfulness, not accomplishing “redemptive kingdom work.”

The fact of the matter is that Scripture never promises societal transformation in this age. Things might get better for a time, but usually because more people have come to faith in Christ, not because of some sort of social or political program. And things will get worse; as Paul predicts in 2 Timothy 3:12–13, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” When things get bad, it should sadden us, but it should not surprise us.

But neither should we get discouraged. It is not our responsibility to succeed where Adam failed; Christ has already done that, and his perfect rule will come to pass only when he comes again. In the meantime, we seek to make disciples and live holy lives.

To the End of the Age

Finally, notice how Christ ends the commission: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). Christ is the church’s authority—it is his church, but that also means he won’t leave us. It’s his mission, and so he will see that it comes to pass. We are responsible to make disciples, but Christ will build his church. And he will do so until the end of the age, when he comes again in glory to unite the two kingdoms into one perfect eternal kingdom. Then there will be no distinction: the common and redemptive will be united in subjection under the perfect king. And we will live in obedience to him and worship him perfectly for all eternity.

This is an excerpt from Scott Aniol’s book, Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faithfulness in God’s Two Kingdoms.

Christ promised in his prayer to the Father in John 17 that he would give his disciples—and, by extension, the church they would establish—a mission; he prayed, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (Jn 17:18). After his resurrection, he said something similar to his disciples in John 21:21: “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Sending implies authority. The Father sent the Son into the world, and so Jesus’s mission was to obey what his Father had commanded him to do. In John 4:34, Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” In John 5:30 he said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” In John 6:38 he said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” Jesus was on earth to do what the Father commanded him. And remember, in some way that I don’t pretend to understand, Jesus did not want to go to the cross; he asked the Father to take that cup away from him. But at the end of the day he said, “Not my will, but yours be done.”

And in a parallel way, Jesus sent his disciples, and sending implies authority. The fact that he sent them means they must obey what he commands them to do.

This is why Jesus begins his final address to his disciples in Matthew 28:18 this way:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

He is about to give them their commission, and he does so on the basis of his authority over them. This authority is rooted in his divinity to be sure, but it is actually even more than that. Remember what Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection accomplished: Jesus the Son of Man, the Second Adam, succeeded in being the perfect king/priest where Adam had failed. This earned him the right to rule, not just the right to rule as God over his universal kingdom—the Son of God always had that right; Jesus’s obedience to his Father earned him the right to rule as the Son of Man over the redemptive kingdom. The term in Matthew 28:18 translated “authority” means “the right to rule.” Because Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, . . . God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:8–11).

This is what David prophesied in Psalm 110 when he said, “The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Right after Matthew 28:20, Jesus ascended into heaven, where he is now seated at the right hand of the Father, having earned the right to rule over all. That right to rule over all things will not be fully realized until after all things are put in subjection under his feet. Hebrews 2:8–9 states,

At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. ⁹ But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

But the fact that Christ has earned the right to rule through his death and resurrection means that he does have special authority particularly over citizens of the redemptive kingdom. Christ rules the church. Ephesians 2:20 says that Christ is the church’s cornerstone. Christ sent his disciples with a commission because he has authority over his redeemed people, the church.

It is important to recognize at this point that Jesus’s authority as the Redeemer King over his church is different than his authority as Sovereign King over all things. The triune God has always and will always have authority as Sovereign over all things. Jesus Christ’s unique rule as Redeemer King is at present only true for people he has redeemed. But that is a critical point to remember: we who are redeemed—Christ’s church—must obey what he has commanded us to do as his church. To do less than what he has commanded, or to do more than what he has commanded, is a failure to submit to his redemptive authority over us.

Apostolic Authority

So as Christ’s church, how do we know what he wants us to do? Well, this is why we must notice to whom Jesus is giving this commission—he is commissioning his eleven disciples (and later the twelfth—Paul), giving them derivative authority over the church. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the church, Paul says in Ephesians 2, but the apostles and prophets are the foundation (v. 20). The apostles to which Paul refers are these eleven plus Paul, who were called by Christ himself, taught by Christ himself, personally witnessed Christ risen from the dead, were given direct revelation from God, and were affirmed by God through signs and wonders. These twelve, a few of which penned the New Testament epistles, were the foundation of the church; in other words, Christ rules his church through his apostles. To obey the apostles is to obey Christ, and to ignore them is to ignore their Master.

The apostles have authority over the church, not because they were particularly special or wise, but rather because Christ spoke through them. Christ had promised them that he would bring his words to their remembrance (Jn 14:26) through the Spirit’s ministry, who would guide them into truth (Jn 16:13). Paul said in Galatians 1:11, “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel”—it is Christ’s gospel. In 1 Corinthians 11, when giving the church instructions about how to observe the Lord’s Supper, Paul says, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.”

New Testament Authority

Those apostles received teaching from Jesus Christ himself, and then they wrote down their authoritative teaching “as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet 1:21), which became the New Testament Scriptures that Paul would describe as literally “breathed out by God” (2 Tim 3:16). This is why Paul could say in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 that what he wrote to the churches is the Word of God. In 1 Corinthians 14:37–38, Paul states, “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.” Since the apostles are representatives of Jesus Christ himself, their inspired writings carry his authority.

This is one reason, by the way, I do not care for Bible editions that put Jesus’s words in red letters, as if Jesus’s words are more special or carry more authoritative weight then the black words. No, all the words of Scripture are breathed out by God, and the words written by prophets and apostles carry just as much weight as those spoken by Jesus because actually, all the words of Scripture are God’s words.

So why is this important when thinking about our responsibilities as Christ’s church? When Jesus says, “All authority has been given to me,” that authority is exercised through his apostles, and specifically through what they wrote in the pages of the New Testament. Furthermore, since Jesus affirmed his authority as the basis for the commission he was about to give his apostles as the foundation of the church, what those apostles wrote is the only authoritative instruction concerning how the gathered church is supposed to operate. As part of Christ’s redemptive kingdom, gathered churches must do what Christ commands us to do, and we must not add anything to what Christ commanded us to do.

God has revealed himself generally to all people through what he has made: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps 19:1). This is God’s natural revelation given to all people:

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Rom 1:20)

This general revelation of God is the basis for all aspects of God’s common kingdom. But when it comes to God’s redemptive kingdom—when it comes to a saving knowledge of Christ and how we should operate when we gather together as Christ’s church, God’s general revelation is insufficient. Rather, it is God’s special revelation—his inspired Word—that governs what we do specifically as the redeemed people of God.

And even more specifically, though it is true that the Old Testament is absolutely inspired, authoritative, and profitable for us, the New Testament, especially the epistles, are the specific apostolic instruction that Christ has given to us as the most focused authority for what we do as churches. This is the nature of God’s progressive revelation. Hebrews 1:1–2 succinctly summarize this important doctrine:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

All Scripture is inspired, authoritative, profitable, and sufficient, but not all in the same way. For example, are the Mosaic dietary restrictions profitable? Sure, but not in the same way as Paul’s discussion of dietary restrictions in Colossians 2. This is because God’s working out of his sovereign plan to establish his kingdom on earth is progressive, and thus the revelation he gave us in each successive administration of his plan is also progressive.

The supreme authority for what the New Testament church is and how we are supposed to conduct ourselves in this stage in the outworking of God’s plan must come from the New Testament, particularly the epistles. Edward Hiscox says it this way:

The New Testament is the constitution of Christianity, the charter of the Christian Church, the only authoritative code of ecclesiastical law, and the warrant and justification of all Christian institutions.¹Edward T. Hiscox, The New Directory for Baptist Churches (Valley Forge, PA: Judson, 1894), 11.

Furthermore, we must also remember that not all of the commands given even in the New Testament are for gathered churches; some commands are given to churches “when you come together,” and other commands are given to individuals, such as “husbands, love your wives.” And so it is very important that we carefully consider the central mission that Christ has given through his apostles for gathered New Testament churches.

“Our church’s worship is pretty formal, but I prefer Holy Spirit-led worship.” Such was the comment I overheard recently by a young evangelical describing his church’s worship service, illustrating a very common perception by many evangelicals today—if the Holy Spirit actively works in worship, the results will be something extraordinary, an experience “quenched” by too much form and order. A common perception, to be sure, but how grounded in Scripture is this expectation concerning the nature and purpose of corporate worship?

My goal in this essay is to assess this common expectation, measuring it against what is perhaps the single most important text in the New Testament regarding the nature and purpose of corporate worship. In fact, 1 Corinthians 14 is really the only chapter in the New Testament that gives direct and specific focus to the subject of corporate worship.

However, Paul addresses the subject of corporate worship not exactly directly, but rather indirectly by addressing a problem within the Corinthian church. But in addressing that problem, Paul highlights the central nature and purpose of corporate worship in cultivating our relationship with God.

Corporate Worship Context

Paul’s argument is essentially that the believers in the Corinthian church should desire the gift of prophecy over the gift of tongues. Notice what he says in verse 5: “

⁵ Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

And again in verse 19:

¹⁹ Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

But notice that the context of the discussion in this chapter is “in church” (v. 19), “when you come together” (v. 26); that is, the context is specifically corporate gatherings of the church. But the specific focus is on the use of such gifts in the context of “coming together” within the gatherings of the church.

So, what the chapter teaches about the primacy of prophecy over tongues within church gatherings provides broader principles for the nature of corporate worship. In other words, the reasons Paul gives for why the Corinthian believers should desire prophecy over tongues in corporate worship help us to understand better the nature and purpose of corporate worship.

Tongues vs. Prophecy

But in order to do that, we need to grasp what, exactly, these gifts were. First, what is prophecy?

To prophesy is to speak the very words of God. Sometimes those words are predictive; more often those words are instructive or exhortative. But no matter the content, prophecy is the delivery of direct, divine revelation to the degree that one who prophesies can always unequivocally say, “Thus says the Lord.”

The gift of tongues is the ability to speak in known languages that the speaker himself does not know. And the content of the speech here in Acts 2 is important for our purposes as well: verse 11 tells us that they were speaking “the mighty works of God.” This is speech that brought praise to God, and it was speech in a known language, but one that the speakers themselves had never learned.

The purpose of the gift was as a sign to the Jews that God was shifting his focus away from them for a time and toward the Gentile nations.

There is, of course, debate over whether these gifts of tongues and prophecy continue today or whether they have ceased. Although I will not be able to offer a complete defense in this message, I will just note that the historically held view through the entirety of the church’s history until the nineteenth century is that that these spiritual gifts have ceased.

But This understanding of the gifts in Corinth sheds some light on why Paul would tell the Corinthian believers to prefer prophecy over tongues. Remember, Paul is specifically focusing on corporate worship, and therefore his insistence that tongues is less desirable than prophecy reveals to us some important principles about corporate worship.

The Nature and Purpose of Corporate Worship

So, Paul’s central argument in at least the first half of 1 Corinthians 14 is that for corporate worship, the gift of prophecy—divine revelation from God—is more desirable than the gift of tongues—a sign meant for unbelievers in the form of speaking praise to God in a known language but one not known by anyone in the congregation. This very central argument implies some key principles about the nature and purpose of corporate worship gatherings.

Corporate, Not Individual

First, corporate worship is corporate worship, not individual worship. This is the essential difference between tongues and prophecy: tongues is individual expression toward God, while prophecy has corporate benefit.

Notice how Paul describes the purpose of tongues in verse 2:

² For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.

We saw this in the book of Acts—the content of tongues was praise toward God. Now in the case of Pentecost there were people from various nations present who could understand the specific dialects, but if someone spoke in another dialect within a corporate worship service in the church at Corinth, no one in the congregation would have been able to understand what was being said.

Instead, verse 4:

⁴ The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

The whole rest of the section highlights the personal and individual nature of the gift of tongues. If someone speaks in a language that no one else in the congregation knows, he might bring individual praise to God, and he might have a legitimate individual experience with God that builds up himself, but he is of no benefit to the congregation as a whole. That would be like if someone came into our service this morning and started praising the Lord in Russian. That person might be genuinely worshiping the Lord, but it would be individual worship, not corporate worship. Paul is emphasizing the importance of the corporate nature of a church service here.

Prophecy, on the other hand, is a gift that edifies the entire congregation. Paul states this clearly in verse 3:

³ On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

And again in verse 4:

⁴ The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

When the revelation of God is clearly proclaimed to God’s people in words they can understand, that builds up the church, which emphasizes the importance of recognizing the corporate nature of public worship. This is not to say that individual expression is always inappropriate—as Paul says in verse 5, if there is an interpreter, then tongues speaking can be edifying to all. In other words, if there is individual expression in corporate worship, it must be such that has corporate benefit.

Paul’s emphasis here runs contrary to a common way of thinking that has become prevalent in evangelicalism today, even among those who have in a sense recovered a God-centered focus to corporate worship, in which the purpose of the worship service is assumed to be for individuals to have a personal experience with God. Individual praise to God and self-edification are good, but when we gather as the church, our focus should be corporate, not individual.

When you come to corporate worship, are you just expecting to have an individual experience with God, or are you concerned about the whole body? Corporate worship is not the time to close your eyes and simply focus on God alone. Corporate worship is the time to open your eyes, look around, and join with the whole body in worshiping the Lord.

Believers, Not Unbelievers

Second, corporate worship is for believers, not unbelievers. Notice in verse 22 where Paul says that tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers.

²² Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

As we see in Acts, God gave the sign of tongues in order to help first Jewish unbelievers, then Gentiles within Israel, and then Gentiles outside Israel recognize that anyone who believed in the name of the Lord would be saved. But the purpose of the corporate gatherings of the church is not primarily to bring unbelievers to faith in Christ; corporate worship is first and foremost a gathering of Christians, which is another reason Paul emphasized the superiority of prophecy—a gift of benefit for believers—over tongues in corporate worship.

This is not at all to downplay the importance of evangelism for the church. Indeed, part of what it means to fulfill the Great Commission is to preach the gospel to every living creature. But evangelism should happen primarily as we go out into the world; when we gather as the church, we are gathering as believers.

We should absolutely welcome unbelievers to our church, but we must always remember that a church service is not primarily for them; it is for believers. We really shouldn’t expect unbelievers to feel at home or comfortable in corporate worship; it’s natural for them to feel out of place. But we should always pray with Paul that if an unbeliever does come into our service,

²⁴ But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ²⁵ the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

This won’t happen by designing our service to attract unbelievers or make them feel comfortable. It only happens when church services are designed for believers to worship the Lord.

Edification, Not Expression

Third, Paul’s discussion of tongues and prophecy in this text helps us to understand that the purpose of corporate worship gatherings is edification, not merely expression. We should certainly be expressing worship toward God in a church service, but Paul’s discussion here reveals that expression is not the primary purpose of a corporate worship service; rather the primary purpose of a corporate worship service is edification.

This is a big difference between tongues and prophecy. As we saw in Acts, the content of speaking in tongues was the exultation and praise of God. That’s clear in this chapter as well: Paul says in verse 2,

“one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God,” and he describes the content of tongues speaking in verses 16–17 as giving thanks to God.

¹⁶ Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

So speaking in tongues was certainly an act of individual expression toward God that brought him glory, and yet Paul indicates that in corporate worship, we should be primarily concerned about corporate edification rather than only corporate expression. Just survey briefly with me through the chapter and notice how much emphasis there is here upon the edification of the whole congregation in corporate worship:

1 Corinthians 14:3 ESV

³ On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

1 Corinthians 14:4 ESV

⁴ The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

1 Corinthians 14:5 ESV

⁵ Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

1 Corinthians 14:6 ESV

⁶ Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

1 Corinthians 14:9 ESV

⁹ So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air.

1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV

¹² So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

1 Corinthians 14:17 ESV

¹⁷ For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

1 Corinthians 14:19 ESV

¹⁹ Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

And this point really all climaxes in verse 26:

²⁶ Let all things be done for building up.

In other words, one of the core reasons Paul insists that the gift of prophecy is to be desired over tongues in corporate worship is that tongues is primarily a gift of individual expression toward God, while prophecy is a gift that better fits the formative purpose of corporate worship. This is a passage about corporate worship services, and yet the emphasis is not upon expression of worship only but rather on edification.

Now this is a point that may seem to be a bit counter-intuitive. This is worship after all, isn’t it? Isn’t worship supposed to be for God? Isn’t the whole problem with much evangelical worship today that it is focused on people instead of God? Isn’t it correct to say that in corporate worship there is an audience of One and that our purpose here is to express worship toward him?

Well, while I do believe that the recovery of a God-centered focus in corporate worship is a welcome and necessary corrective to the man-centered, entertainment focus of much of contemporary worship, it is actually incorrect to say that corporate worship is just about expressing praise and thanks to God. Yes, God is the focus of corporate worship, God is the center of corporate worship, and the adoration of God is the goal of corporate worship, but as is clear from what is likely the central text on corporate worship in the New Testament, everything about this service is primarily for the building up of the body. Edification, not just expression.

Worshiping God—glorifying him, valuing him above all else—is certainly the reason we were created and the goal of the Christian life, and we do express that worship toward God in a church service. But the corporate worship services of a church has a particular purpose that fits under the commission given to that church, namely, to make disciples. Our goal as churches is to build up disciple-worshipers who will bring God glory with the entirety of their lives, but that does not happen without intentional discipleship, and one of the primary means that God has given us to form and build those kinds of disciple-worshipers is the corporate worship of a church. In and through corporate worship, we are built up, formed, and discipled to be Christians who love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and mind. Corporate worship is not simply a gathering of a group of individual Christians who express praise and thanks to God individually or even corporately; corporate worship is the method through which God takes people—from the smallest child to the most seasoned adult—and creates mature worshipers through the means that he has ordained.

You see, in a corporate worship service, we are not the primary actors; corporate worship is not us performing for God—that is paganism. A theology of worship that says corporate worship is about us expressing adoration for God is still man-centered—it’s about what we are doing. A properly God-centered theology of worship will recognize that in a corporate worships service, God is the primary actor. It is God who calls us to draw near to him; we do not invite him to come down to us. It is God who speaks to us first; only then do we respond back to him. And even our responses should be based, not on the natural, authentic expressions of our hearts, but rather our responses should be framed by the words, forms, and affections ordained for us by God in his Word. Our natural, “authentic” responses are often immature, undeveloped, fickle, sometimes even sinful, and in need of reform. Corporate worship is the means through which God forms our image of him and matures our responses toward him.

And so our primary concern in a corporate worship service should not simply be the authentic expression of worship toward God but rather how the service is edifying us, how it is cultivating our relationship with God and forming us to be the kind of mature disciple-worships Scripture commands.

We need to be careful not to have individualistic perspectives regarding corporate worship, as if everyone else around us is a distraction to our own personal, authentic expression of worship. No; in corporate worship, we should be concerned about the corporate edification of every individual in the congregation as our singing, prayers, Scripture readings, confession, praise, the sermon, Communion—everything molds and shapes us into the kinds of people who will worship God each and every day of the week.

Order, Not Disorder

Fourth, Paul also tells us exactly how this kind of edification in corporate worship takes place: edification in corporate worship takes place through order, not disorder. Apparently, Christians in the church at Corinth had similar expectations about corporate worship as contemporary Christians do—true worship will be spontaneous, and too much structure stifles the Holy Spirit. They were apparently extending this expectation beyond the miraculous gifts of tongues and prophecy to even singing and teaching (v. 26):

²⁶ What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

But Paul is emphatic in verse 33: “For God is not a God of confusion—in other words, disorder—“but of peace.”

And remember, Paul is dealing here with Holy Spirit given miraculous gifts; yet even in that context, Paul insists that confusion and disorder are evidences that the Holy Spirit is not working. Arguing from the greater to the lesser, if the Holy Spirit works in corporate worship through order even when he gives miraculous gifts, certainly his work is orderly once those gifts have ceased. It is a God of peace who is at work in corporate worship.

On this basis, Paul provides clear principles for order in a worship service, fully consistent with the Holy Spirit’s giving of miraculous gifts. “Only two or at most three” people may speak in tongues in any given service, “and each in turn” (v. 27). If there is no one to interpret the tongues, “let each of them keep silent” (v. 28). Only two or three prophets should speak, others should weigh what is said (v. 29), and they should do so one at a time (v. 30). Far from expecting the Holy Spirit to sweep through the congregation, causing worshipers to be overcome with his presence, “the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets” (v. 32). Far from quenching the Holy Spirit, order within corporate worship is exactly how the Holy Spirit works, desiring that “all may learn and all be encouraged [comforted]” (v. 31). Thus in corporate worship, exactly because of how the Holy Spirit of God works and the purpose of corporate worship to form disciple-worshipers who will properly bring glory to God, “all things should be done decently and in order” (v. 40).

Structure and order within a worship service does not stifle the Holy Spirit’s work; he works through the structure and order. Structure and order within corporate worship does not hinder our relationship with God, it builds our relationship with God. It is through structure and order that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, edifies us, forms us into worshipers of God.

Biblical, Not Unregulated

The preceding two principles lead to an important additional implication: Corporate worship should be biblically-regulated, not unregulated. In other words, if corporate worship is God’s work upon us to make us into mature Christians, then we must be sure to use those means that he has prescribed in his Word to do so. Paul stresses the importance of biblical authority in the context of corporate worship in verses 36–38:

³⁶ Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

Paul was inscripturating direct revelation from the Lord here; carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), Paul was contributing to that “prophetic word more fully confirmed” (2 Peter 1:19), the written Word of God, which always carries the final authority. Paul highlights this as well in the fact that prophecy given in a corporate worship service had to be tested (v. 29), a standard that was exactly the same for prophecy in the OT (Deut 13:1–5, 18:15–22). The written Word of God is always the final authority.

And so, if our corporate worship is going to properly form our relationship with God, then we must be sure that the elements of our worship come from the Word of God. The content of our worship elements must also be regulated by the Word of God. Third, the forms of our worship should be regulated by the Word of God. Fourth, the order of our worship should be regulated by the Word of God.

Conclusion

And so, through an argument mostly about the priority of prophecy over tongues in corporate worship, Paul gives us important principles for corporate worship that still apply even though both of those gifts have ceased. In our corporate worship services, God has given us the primary way to cultivate daily relationship with him, which is our first priority. But in order for our corporate worship services to accomplish the goal for which God designed them, we must make sure that our corporate worship services follow the central principles Paul provides in this central text:

1. Corporate worship is corporate worship, not individual worship.
2. Corporate worship is for believers, not unbelievers.
3. Corporate worship has the primary purpose of edification, not merely expression.
4. Corporate worship accomplishes edification through order, not disorder.
5. Corporate worship should be biblically-regulated, not unregulated.

And if we do follow these principles as we approach our corporate worship as a church, then our relationship with God will be properly formed and shaped according to his designs and his Word. This must be our first priority as a church, because our relationship with God is our first priority as Christians.

What would it mean for our worship to be truly shaped by Scripture? Christians are people of the book. Conservative Evangelical Christians, in particular, demand that their beliefs and lives be governed by Scripture. God’s inspired Word is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16–17). Therefore, for Christ-honoring sanctification to take place, the lives of Christians must be governed and saturated by the living and active Word of God. And for this same reason, corporate worship must also be governed and saturated by the Word; since public worship both reveals belief and forms belief, and thus it must be shaped by Scripture.

Yet, I think it’s safe to say that most modern evangelical Christians have an entirely different conception of corporate worship. Instead of a life-forming drama, corporate worship has become a concert plus a lecture, a time where we sing some songs that give authentic expression to our hearts and listen to a sermon that hopefully will give us some practical advice for the week. Most evangelical Christians would quickly assert that Scripture in general provides for us the necessary theological foundation and content for our corporate worship, but not much more, particularly when you venture into questions of the aesthetics of our worship, the cultural forms our songs employ.

Instead, what I will argue in this essay is that in order for worship to properly form God’s people as God has intended, every aspect of our worship—including our worship aesthetics, must be formed and shaped by the Word of God.

Biblical Worship

This emphasis upon biblical authority over our corporate worship applies in at least four areas; First, the elements of our worship must be regulated by the Word of God. The sufficient Word has given those ordinary means of grace that, through their regular use, will shape believers to live as disciples who observe everything Jesus taught: These elements have been clearly prescribed for the church in the New Testament: First, Paul commands Timothy, in the context of teaching him how to behave in the house of God, “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture (1 Tim 4:13). He repeats similar commands in Colossians 4:16 and 1 Thessalonians 5:27.

Paul also commands Timothy to “devote yourself . . . to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Tim 4:13) and “preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim 4:2).

Third, Paul commands that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and for all who are in high positions (1 Tim 2:1). He commands the Colossians to “continue steadfastly in prayer (4:2), and to the Ephesians he admonishes, “praying at all time in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication . . . making supplication for all the saints” (6:18).

A fourth biblically-prescribed element might not actually be a separate element at all, but rather a form of Scripture reading or prayer, and that is singing. In both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, Paul commands gathered believers to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, thereby “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Eph 5:19) and “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Col 3:16).

Fifth, Christ commanded in his Great Commission to the disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

And finally, Paul told the Corinthian church that he passed on “the Lord’s Supper” to the church, having received it from the Lord himself (1 Cor 11:20, 23). The regular, disciplined use of these means of grace progressively forms believers into the image of Jesus Christ; these Spirit-ordained elements are the means through which Christians “work out [their] own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in [them], both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12–13).

Second, the content of our worship elements must be regulated by the Word of God. Clearly what we teach and preach, what we pray, and what we sing must contain the Word of God, or at very least express sentiments consistent with the Word of God.

Third, the order of our worship should be regulated by the Word of God. If the primary purpose of corporate worship is the edification of believers—God forming us into mature disciple-worshipers, then even the structure of our services should follow what God has given to us in Scripture. God made clear this purpose when he instituted corporate worship assemblies in the OT, establishing a structural pattern that continues also into the NT. God often calls these assemblies of worship “memorials,” meaning more than just a passive remembrance of something, but actually a reenactment of God’s works in history for his people such that the worshipers are shaped over and over again by what God has done. Beginning at Mt. Sinai (Exod 19–24), God instituted a particular order of what the OT frequently calls the “solemn assemblies” of Israel. This order reflects what I like to call a “theo-logic” in which in the assembly, God’s people reenact through the order of what they do God’s atoning work on their behalf. For sake of time, I will just summarize this structure:

God reveals himself and calls his people to worship
God’s people acknowledge and confess their need for forgiveness
God provides atonement
God speaks his Word
God’s people respond with commitment
God hosts a celebratory feast

This same theo-logic characterized the progression of sacrifices within the tabernacle assemblies and the dedication of Solomon’s temple (2 Chron 15–17). In each case, the structure of the worship assemblies follows a theo-logical order in which the worshipers reenact the covenant relationship they have with God through the atonement he provided, culminating with a feast that celebrates the fellowship they enjoy with God because of what he has done for them.

While the particular rituals present in Hebrew worship pass away for the NT church, the book of Hebrews tells us that these OT rituals were “a copy and shadow of heavenly things” (8:5). Thus while the shadows fade away, the theo-logic of corporate worship remains the same: we are reenacting God’s atoning work on our behalf when we gather for corporate worship. Significantly, Hebrews teaches that when we gather for services of worship, through Christ we are actually joining with the real worship taking place in the heavenly Jerusalem of which those Old Testament rituals were a mere shadow. And so it is important to recognize that the two records we have in Scripture of heavenly worship also follow the same theo-logic modeled in the OT. When Isaiah was given a vision of heavenly worship in Isaiah 6, the order of what happens mirrors the same theo-logic as that given to Israel for its worship. Likewise, when John is given a similar vision of heavenly worship, the order of what happens is the same. From creation to consummation, the corporate worship of God’s people is a memorial—a reenactment—of the “theo-logic” of true worship: God’s call for his people to commune with him through the sacrifice of atonement that he has provided, listening to his Word, responding with praise and obedience, and culminating with a beautiful picture of perfect communion with God in the form of a feast. This reenactment in a corporate worship service of God’s work for us is what will progressively edify us over time to live out our relationship with God through Christ as his mature disciple-worshipers.

This is why historic worship services, intentionally structured on the basis of this biblical theo-logic, have always followed a standard order: Worshipers begin with God’s call for them to worship him, followed by adoration and praise. They then confess their sins to him and receive assurance of pardon in Christ. They thank him for their salvation, they hear his Word preached, and they respond with dedication. And the climax of all historic Christian worship has always been expression of communion with God, either through drawing near to him in prayer, or more often in historic liturgies, through celebrating the Lord’s Table. To eat at Christ’s Table is the most powerful expression that Christians are accepted by him. All of the Scripture readings, prayers, and songs in this order are carefully chosen for their appropriateness in a particular function within the gospel-shaped structure.

Fourth, the forms of our worship should be regulated by the Word of God. We must remember that the Bible is not simply a static collection of theological propositions. Rather, Scripture is a collection of God-inspired literary forms that express his truth, and all of Scripture, including its aesthetic aspects, carry the weight of divine authority. Therefore, as we choose artistic forms of expression in our modern cultural context, we must be sure that the way in which those forms communicate truth correspond to the way in which Scripture itself aesthetically communicates truth.

There has been in recent years somewhat of a recovery of this emphasis on the importance of biblical authority over the elements, content, and structure of corporate worship and an understanding of corporate worship as disciple-forming covenant renewal.

What has not yet been recovered in my opinion is a recognition of the disciple-forming power of Scripture-formed music. However, what kinds of poetic and aesthetic expressions God chose to use in the communication of his truth in Scripture should inform the kinds of contemporary musical expressions Christians produce as they communicate the gospel and disciple believers.

Worship Forms Regulated by Scripture

We may—and should—express God’s truth in new ways, but the aesthetic way we choose to newly express biblical truth, even our musical expressions, should accurately correspond to the aesthetic way God chose to express truth in his Word. Scripture must govern not only what is said from the pulpit or the lyrics of the hymns—Scripture’s forms must govern our worship forms. In other words, if we believe in verbal-plenary inspiration, then the meaning of the aesthetic forms we employ in our contemporary worship must accurately correspond to the meaning Scripture’s aesthetic forms embody.

This idea of Scripture governing even the forms of our worship, including our songs, flows directly from the covenant-renewal, gospel-shaped theology of worship we just discussed. Songs within this covenant-renewal worship serve one of two functions: (1) Often psalms and hymns serve as God’s words to us, either directly quoting from or paraphrasing Scripture itself. (2) Psalms and hymns can also serve as our response to God’s revelation.

With both cases, choice of songs depends upon how the lyrical content fits within the dialogical, gospel-shaped covenant renewal service. Songs are not lumped together into a musical “set,” but rather interspersed with Scripture readings and prayers throughout the dialogical, gospel-shaped service.

The goal of covenant-renewal worship is discipleship—building up the body (1 Cor 14:26). Every aspect of the service is chosen, not for how it will give “authentic expression” to the worshipers or give them an experience of God’s presence (see below), but rather how it will build them up, maturing them by the Word of God.

The music itself is actually not very prominent in this theology of worship. Music is important—as I’ve discussed, it provides an interpretation of the theology of the lyrics and gives expression to that interpretation. But music is secondary. The music is selected and performed to modestly support the truth with sentiments that “accord to sound doctrine,” and an emphasis is given to reverence, self-control, sobriety, and dignity in how the songs are led, accompanied, and performed.

Contrary to caricatures, this kind of worship is deeply emotional, but the music is not intended to stimulate or arouse emotion; rather, deep affections of the soul are stirred by the Holy Spirit through his Word, and music simply gives language to appropriate responses to the Word. Emotion in covenant-renewal worship is not often immediate, visceral, or flashy—rather, it is felt deeply in the soul.3 In fact, particularly because of commands in Scripture (like Titus 2:1) that Christians are to be dignified and self-controlled, care is given to avoid music that would cause a worshiper to lose control. Christians with this theology recognized that although physical feelings are good, they must be controlled lest our “belly” (a Greek metaphor for bodily passions) be our god (Phil 3:19). Rather, since reverence, dignity, and self-control are qualities that accord with sound doctrine, music is chosen that will nurture and cultivate these qualities and the affections of the soul like compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Col 3:12) and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:23). This theology takes note of the fact that qualities like intensity, passion, enthusiasm, exhilaration, or euphoria are never described in Scripture as qualities to pursue or stimulate, and they are never used to define the nature of spiritual maturity or the essence of worship.

Musical choices from this perspective are not about new vs. old or the canonization of one kind of music; rather, it is about choosing musical forms that best accord with a covenant-renewal theology of worship.

Since the earliest days of the church, theologians with a covenant-renewal theology of worship cautioned against using music in worship that was simply designed to stir up feelings. Clement of Alexandria, for example, insisted,

But we must abominate extravagant music, which enervates men’s souls, and leads to changefulness—now mournful, and then licentious and voluptuous, and then frenzied and frantic.

Rather, Clement argued that the church’s hymnody should employ “temperate harmonies.” In A New Song for an Old World, Calvin Stapert notes how uniform this understanding of music was among early pastors and theologians.

This emphasis was renewed during the Reformation. Martin Luther and other German reformers insisted that worship music embody reverence. For example, Johann Konrad Dannhauer required that music be “sacred, glowing with love, humble, dignified, the praise of God sung by the voice of men and instruments with becoming grace and majesty,” contrasted with “profane music, which is unspiritual, frivolous, proud, irreverent.” Likewise, Balthasar Meisner insisted,

Let all levity, and sensualism be absent [in worship music]. On the contrary, let gravity and a pious intent of the mind prevail, which does not contemplate and pursue bare harmony but devoutly fits and joins to it the inmost desires and emotions. For unless a ready spirit is joined to the turns of the voice and a vigilant and fervent heart to the varied words, we weary God and ourselves in vain with that melody. For not our voice but our prayer, not musical chords but the heart, and a heart not clamoring but loving, sings in the ear of God.

Calvin, too, insisted that music used for worship fit its solemn purpose, having “weight” and “majesty” rather than being “light” or “frivolous.”

Christians have affirmed this understanding for centuries. They sometimes disagreed over some aspects of what was acceptable, such as Calvin insisting only on unaccompanied psalms; nevertheless, since they had a similar covenant-renewal theology of worship, they all agreed that worship ought to be characterized by reverence and that some kinds of music embodied messages that simply did not accord with sound doctrine. We can see this evidenced by the fact that although Lutherans and Calvinists disagreed about whether we are permitted to sing hymns, for example, they shared tunes among their groups quite freely. They had the same understanding of what kind of music accords with sound doctrine.

Most evangelicals today view art forms as simply pretty packaging for truth or at best a way to “energize” the truth. Worship music, for example is just a way to make truth interesting and engaging in worship. But imaginative forms are not incidental to truth—they are essential to the truth, expressly because they are fundamental to the way Scripture expresses truth. Therefore, like with Scripture, contemporary art forms help to express the imaginative aspect of truth in ways that propositional statements alone cannot; they communicate not just the what of biblical content, but also how that content is imagined.