Defending Penal Substitution
Ultimately, every single sin ever committed is against God (Ps 51:4). If God, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, decides to take the punishment for the crimes committed against Him, who can object?
Penal substitutionary atonement is difficult to understand, in part because we fail to conceive of the parties involved properly. Matters are complicated when the likes of N.T. Wright hyperbolically refer to “justification” in the traditional sense as a mysterious “gas” that passes through the courtroom. Others imagine God is like a judge who condemns his son to prison because another man stole someone else’s car. If Sam steals Bob’s car, it makes little sense to imprison little Joey, the judge’s son. Many see here “cosmic child abuse.”
However, this is not the biblical picture. Rather, it is not Bob who has been sinned against, but it is God. Ultimately, every single sin ever committed is against God (Ps 51:4). If God, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, decides to take the punishment for the crimes committed against Him, who can object? The analogy of Sam, Bob, and Joey then is faulty. Instead, we should imagine the judge’s own car being stolen. In response, the judge serves the jail sentence instead of Sam, the thief. He does this because he wants to forgive the thief, but he also wants to uphold the law. Serving the sentence is the only way to do both.
Surely this would be unconventional, but who could object to the judge’s actions? Some, to be sure, would scoff at him but is he not perfectly within his rights? The car belongs to him and him alone, and no one has more say in terms of the resolution of the matter than he does. Furthermore, he has been given the authority—and solemn responsibility—to arbitrate in matters of theft. Therefore, he not only has the right to make a legal decision as a judge but also to absorb the repercussion as the car owner.
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3 Things You Should Know about Titus
Titus is to “teach what accords with sound doctrine,” since the same grace of God, which offers salvation to all, also teaches us to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions” (Titus 2:1, 11–12). If we miss that connection between truth and godliness, we have missed the main point of this letter.
Titus is one of the Pastoral Epistles, which is an eighteenth-century term for the books of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus because they are letters from the Apostle Paul to his fellow pastors. Here are three important things to keep in mind as you read this letter.
1. Titus is about the truth that leads to godliness.
At the beginning of his letter to Titus, Paul says that he is “an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness” (Titus 1:1). The stress on truth and godliness continues throughout the letter: these things must always go together.
When it comes to describing the sort of people Titus is to appoint as elders in the churches on Crete, Paul is very clear that they must be “above reproach” and that they must “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught” (Titus 1:6–9). Conversely, the false teachers that Titus has to wrestle with “profess to know God, but they deny him by their works”—which shows they are wrong in both lip and life, in their teaching as well as their behavior (Titus 1:16).
To counter this, Titus is to “teach what accords with sound doctrine,” since the same grace of God, which offers salvation to all, also teaches us to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions” (Titus 2:1, 11–12). If we miss that connection between truth and godliness, we have missed the main point of this letter.
2. Paul calls Jesus “God.”
In chapter 2, Paul says that Christians are “to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12–13). What we might easily miss is the reference here to Jesus as “our great God.”
We know that Jesus is God, of course, from elsewhere in the Bible. His words and actions, His fulfillment of prophecy, and the way the New Testament speaks about Him prove that this is so.
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Are People Basically Good?
The fall is not simply a question of rational deduction. It is a point of divine revelation. It refers to what we call original sin. Original sin does not refer primarily to the first or original sin committed by Adam and Eve. Original sin refers to the result of the first sin—the corruption of the human race. Original sin refers to the fallen condition in which we are born.
It is commonplace to hear the statement, “people are basically good.” Though it is admitted that no one is perfect, human wickedness is minimized. Yet if people are basically good, why is sin so universal?
It is often suggested that everybody sins because society has such a negative influence upon us. The problem is seen with our environment, not with our nature. This explanation for the universality of sin raises the question, how did society become corrupt in the first place? If people are born good or innocent, we would expect at least a percentage of them to remain good and sinless. We should be able to find societies that are not corrupt, where the environment has been conditioned by sinlessness rather than sinfulness. Yet the most dedicated-to-righteousness communes we can find still have provisions for dealing with the guilt of sin.
Since the fruit is universally corrupt we look for the root of the problem in the tree. Jesus indicated that a good tree does not produce corrupt fruit. The Bible clearly teaches that our original parents, Adam and Eve, fell in sin. Subsequently, every human being has been born with a sinful and corrupt nature. If the Bible didn’t explicitly teach this, we would have to deduce it rationally from the bare fact of the universality of sin.
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Report on the 49th PCA General Assembly
Overtures 15 & 29: Strengthening Character Requirements for Ordination. The Assembly voted by a wide margin to amend BCO Chapter 16 to clarifying that officers, “…must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires, the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, and be committed to the pursuit of Spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions” (Overture 29)… To amend BCO Chapter 7 to include the following language: “Men who describe themselves as homosexual, even those who describe themselves as homosexual and claim to practice celibacy by refraining from homosexual conduct, are disqualified from holding office in the Presbyterian Church in America” (Overture 15).
While not clearly a watershed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), great strides were made to strengthen confessional integrity and biblical fidelity.
This year the Presbyterian Church in America met for her 49th General Assembly in Birmingham, Ala. Overall this Assembly was productive, and we accomplished many of the items on my “wishlist” for the PCA. Here are a few of the highlights.
I. Worship & Election of the Moderator
Each year the Assembly begins with a service of worship in which the retiring moderator (i.e., last year’s moderator) customarily preaches a sermon. This year TE Roy Taylor delivered his address based on Matt. 16:5-12, (“The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees”) in which he gave a lengthy history of the Pharisee and Sadducee movements. He warned against the extremes represented by each of those historic factions: we must neither withdraw from the culture nor acquiesce to the culture; we must neither subtract from the Word of God nor add to it. He urged the PCA not to become a rigid, ingrown, in-fighting, ineffectual denomination.
Following the close of the service, the Assembly reconvened for the purpose of electing a moderator. Two faithful men who were both excellent candidates were put forward: Ruling Elders John Bise from Huntsville, Ala., and Melton Duncan from Greenville, SC. Both nominating speeches were a blessing to hear and especially TE Reeder’s speech in which he gave a glorious, yet brief summary of God’s saving work in the gospel. John Bise was elected by the Assembly to be our moderator this year, and he navigated us through the business very well.
II. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE)
After vigorous debate, the Assembly voted by 60% to withdraw from the NAE. Some estimates suggest this will save the PCA in excess of $50,000 annually.
A. Arguments in Favor of Remaining in the NAE
The PCA was a long-time member of the NAE. Those arguing in favor of remaining insisted membership in the NAE gives us a national voice yet costs only as much as a part time assistant pastor, allows us to follow the biblical examples of Joseph and Esther who worked inside pagan governments, enables us to cooperate with other Christians, and allegedly gives the PCA credibility because the NAE logo is the “gold standard” among evangelical organizations.
B. Arguments in Favor of Withdrawing from the NAE
Those advocating departure had three main reasons. First, the PCA General Assembly is competent to speak for herself; she does not need a parachurch to do her bidding. Second, membership in the NAE is expensive and therefore not wise stewardship. Third, because the NAE presumes to speak for her member organizations, the PCA’s membership violates our convictions regarding Christian liberty by forcing PCA members, congregations, and presbyteries to be associated with the NAE and its pronouncements on gun control, abortion, sexuality, economics, etc.
III. Elections for Permanent Committees
This year’s Nominating Committee (NC) worked diligently to present a slate of men who would guide the PCA Agencies well for the next term (until 2026). The Assembly seemed to give its strong endorsement to the work of the NC this year as the vast majority of those put forward by the NC were elected.
One vote was especially close. In the election for Covenant College (CC) Board of Trustees, TE Omari Hill prevailed over TE W. Gregory Marshall by a mere four votes (717-713). It is also noteworthy that three of the men who sided with Missouri Presbytery (MOP) in “Speck 2” (i.e., MOP’s investigation of TE Greg Johnson) were not re-elected to the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC).
IV. Committee on Constitutional Business (CCB)
The minutes (proceedings) of the SJC must be reviewed by the CCB each year to ensure the SJC proceedings are conducted properly. This year two of the eight elders on the committee asserted the SJC had violated its own operating procedures when it took the unprecedented step to re-open and add to the “record of the case” related to MOP’s investigation of TE Greg Johnson. Normally in such cases the SJC simply assesses the procedures and actions of a lower court.
These two elders attempted to submit a “minority report” to give the Assembly the opportunity to determine whether the actions of the SJC in this case were in error. The Moderator, however, ruled that unlike other committees of the General Assembly, a minority on the CCB has no right to submit a report for the Assembly’s consideration. The CCB apparently is the only committee in the PCA able to “deliberate upon and conclude the business” assigned to it.
The moderator’s ruling (sustained by a vote of 53-47%) was disappointing as I believe the SJC erred in the way it conducted that particular case.
V. Selected Overtures
A. Overture 8: Simplifying Oversight & Original Jurisdiction
There are currently two instances (summarized here) in which a group of presbyteries have requested the SJC take over a case from a lower court. The current language in the Book of Church Order (BCO) permits two or more presbyteries to request the SJC to assume original jurisdiction over a case if the lower court “refuses to act” (note: there is parallel language for cases involving Sessions within a Presbytery). But it is difficult to determine what “refuses to act” means. Does it mean “fails to investigate” or “fails to investigate thoroughly” or “fails to indict” or something different entirely?
The new language increases the number of courts (Presbyteries or Sessions) that must make a request for it to be valid, but gives less discretion to the higher court regarding whether to take the case: if the lower court has failed to bring charges in a matter of doctrine or public scandal and the required number of lower courts request it to do so, the higher court must take up the matter itself.
B. Overture 13: Calling Public Officials to Repent of Abortion
The Assembly directed the Stated Clerk to send a letter to our national leaders containing the following language:
…We who love our nation, in the name of God who alone is sovereign, call upon you to renounce the sin of abortion, to repent of the complicity in the mass slaughter of innocent unborn children, who are persons in the sight of God, and to reverse the ruinous direction of both law and practice in this area…
This was adopted unanimously by our General Assembly one day before the SCOTUS decision overturning Roe v. Wade was announced. While we rejoice at the SCOTUS decision that will allow the several states to regulate the slaughter of unborn children, we must continue to pray for the complete abolition of “Abortion” in this Republic and throughout the world.
C. Overtures 15 & 29: Strengthening Character Requirements for Ordination
The Assembly voted by a wide margin to amend BCO Chapter 16 to clarifying that officers,
…must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires, the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, and be committed to the pursuit of Spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions (Overture 29).
There were a few arguments against this language; they were largely centered on what was not being said rather than what was stated (e.g. no affirmation that God loves gay people).
By a much more narrow margin, the Assembly voted to amend BCO Chapter 7 to include the following language:
Men who describe themselves as homosexual, even those who describe themselves as homosexual and claim to practice celibacy by refraining from homosexual conduct, are disqualified from holding office in the Presbyterian Church in America (Overture 15).
There were a great many arguments against this language asserting it was too specific or that it was being inserted in the wrong place in our BCO.
I am grateful this language is here as it enables us to clarify our character requirements for ordained officers in a time of societal crisis on this matter. Because of confusion even in some church courts, I believe our BCO must instruct very clearly and with great specificity in this area to the courts conducting officer-candidate examinations.
The Church has been troubled by those who mistake and confuse celibacy versus chastity, worldliness versus winsomeness, and “take up your cross” versus “live your life.” So we must be clear we understand the standard of holiness the scripture teaches is manifested in those whom Christ calls to serve His bride.
Some of the arguments against the proposed language of Overture 15 asserted it would drive away those who struggle with unnatural affections. But we must remember this language defines officer qualifications and not membership requirements.
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