Hermeneutics: Email about Noninstitutionalism

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Jay F Guin

I get emails —

I recently began attending a noninstitutional church, not because of its noninstitutional doctrine, but simply because it is a great group of people and the fundamental (salvation) issues of Christianity are well preached. However, hearing the noninstitutional doctrine has made me consider some things, and I feel as if after I have analyzed the issues I will be forced to be either much more conservative or much more liberal than I currently am regarding Biblical interpretation. Continue reading →

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Jack Exum, Rest in Peace

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Jay F Guin

I just received a note from Jack Exum, Jr. regarding his father, which I excerpt below —

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Well as you read from my sister-in-law, Linda, dad passed away on Sunday the 7th. He was in the Lake City Medical Center here in Lake City, Fla. My wife Wiwik, Bob, and I were with him. My wife noticed his last breath, she told Bob and he went to get the nurse who verified the fact that he was gone. He had left behind a body that was worn out. Yes, it was and is very hard on us. Preparing the funeral going through all of this was hard. Doesn’t seem real. Still seems like a dream to me. Continue reading →

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Perseverance: Re-Introducing the Subject

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Jay F Guin

The last post of this series has generated well over 300 comments — which I think is a record for One In Jesus. I had no idea! I have to conclude that if perseverance is determined by argumentative tenacity, the Calvinists and Arminians are both sure to perservere to the end!

Now, speaking purely personally, I have no interest in debating the Calvinistic doctrine of election. I mean, any argument that descends to “Why did God kill babies in the Flood?” is fraught with speculation. Besides, the answer is obvious: so innocent babies wouldn’t be raised by evil parents, allowing them to be with God rather than damned by bad parenting! Or I can think of a few dozen alternative explainations for either side.

You see, the Bible doesn’t say, and we’ll gain much more wisdom and truth from the text then from the silences. Been there. Done that. Ain’t a-going back. Continue reading →

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The Lord’s Supper: The Blood of the Covenant

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Jay F Guin

Let’s go back and look a little more deeply into what Jesus actually said when he instituted the Lord’s Supper.

(Mat 26:26-29)  While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Continue reading →

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The Sacred Sandwich: Phillipe, the Postmodern Evangelist

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Jay F Guin

The Sacred Sandwich is always good for a bit of Calvinistic/Evangelical humor. Check out the Postmodern Evangelist.

And, yes, there is such a thing as Calvinistic humor. Of course, that’s what makes the Sacred Sandwich such a rare treasure.

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Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: “My Yoke Is Easy”

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Jay F Guin

Jesus taught,

(Mat 11:28-30)  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

What is a “yoke”? RVL explains that women carried water using a shoulder yoke to carry two jars with the same effort as a single jar on the head. A rabbi called his approach to the scriptures his “yoke,” that is, the interpretive tools he used to make interpretation easier. The rabbis called the text “living water,” and so the yoke helps to carry the water.

Jesus says that we should use his “yoke” and “learn from me.” What was Jesus’ yoke?

Before we get there, we should consider the meanings of other phrases in Jesus’ declaration.

“Give you rest” comes from Exodus, in a conversation between Moses and God, in which Moses asks for instruction from God. Continue reading →

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ElderLink Atlanta

Posted on February 10, 2010 by Jay F Guin

ACUThis year’s ElderLink in Atlanta will be held March 26 – 27 at the North Atlanta Church of Christ. I’ll be there and hope to see some of you there.

I’ll be speaking. I’m part of the panel discussion at 11:15 on Saturday morning, being led by Lipscomb president Randy Lowry. There at 7 panelists and 45 minutes of presentation time. I figure I get to say something like, “Yes, I agree with everybody else.” So don’t come just to hear me talk.

Rather, come because it looks to be great program — dealing with the skills church leaders need to deal with the future of our churches. After all, the times they are a-changing, and we need to be ready.

The Churches of Christ have a desperate need for elder training, and ElderLink fills a critical need. You owe it your church to attend — and bring your preacher along. He’s a leader, too, and the elders and ministers have to be on the same page. And it’d be a good idea to bring some guys that look to be future elders.

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The Lord’s Supper: Introduction and the Synoptic Accounts

Posted on February 10, 2010 by Jay F Guin

I was typing away on this series on moral and positive law and figured I needed to say something more specific about the Lord’s Supper. After all, if there’s any positive command that can be defended, surely it’s the Lord’s Supper. I mean, Jesus told us to have a weekly ceremony on each Sunday to eat a crumb of unleavened bread and drink a sip of grape juice, didn’t he?

So anyway, the post got just way out of hand. I mean as I got into the scriptures, it just got longer and longer … and now it’s its own series.

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the communion. I probably enjoy writing the occasional communion meditation as much as anything I do here. Continue reading →

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Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: “Abolish” and “Fulfill”

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Jay F Guin

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus introduced a large section of his teaching by saying,

(Mat 5:17-18)  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

This passage has troubled commentators for centuries. If Jesus didn’t abolish the Law of Moses, then are we still under the Law? Paul plainly teaches to the contrary. What could Jesus have possibly meant?

When RVL studied in a Jewish seminary, his professors would return his papers with either of two grades: lekayem, meaning fulfill, or batel, meaning abolish, in rabbinic terminology. In other words, to fulfill the Law means to interpret the Law correctly so that it can be lived correctly. To abolish the Law is to incorrectly interpret it — or to interpret it without giving the student what he needs to know to live it.

Lois Tverberg gives a First Century example from Mishnah, Horayot 1:3 —

If the Sanhedrin gives a decision to abolish a law, by saying for instance, that the Torah does not include the laws of Sabbath or idolatry, the members of the court are free from a sin offering if they obey them; but if the Sanhedrin abolishes only one part of a law but fulfills the other part, they are liable.

Jesus is saying that the Sermon on the Mount is a correct interpretation of the Law and the Prophets, in a way that tells us how to live the Law and the Prophets. And this tells us a lot about how to read the Law as Jesus wants it read. Continue reading →

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The Fork in the Road: Moral vs. Positive Law: Created to be Like God

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Jay F Guin

Argument 4

(Eph 4:22-24) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

We were saved for a purpose — to be like God. In particular, we were saved to do good works, which God wants us to do because they are also his works –

(Eph 2:10) For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Now, here we see that we are supposed to be like God in God’s righteousness — covenant faithfulness — which means we are to be penitent, but penitent in a very particular way. We are to be more and more like God. And this means we have to understand the character and purposes of God. Continue reading →

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