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Jesus Will Deliver Us from the Wrath of Jesus

By John Piper — 4 months ago

What we have seen is that the “day of judgment,” or “day of wrath,” will be the day of Jesus’s judgment and Jesus’s wrath, acting by the appointment of God the Father. Therefore, when Paul says that Jesus “delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10), we are not to think of the Son rescuing us from the wrath of the Father, but of Jesus rescuing us from his own wrath, which is also the Father’s. He and the Father are one (John 10:30). The coming wrath is “their wrath” (Rev. 6:17). And Jesus, acting on behalf of the Father, is the deliverer at his second coming.

He Will Deliver Us from the Wrath to Come
Against the backdrop of coming judgment, the second coming of Christ is pictured as a rescue of his people. He is coming to save us from God’s wrath. “[We] wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10). The predictions of the day of judgment foresee a peril looming. Paul says it is divine wrath and that Christ is coming to rescue us from that peril. Peter says that God’s people “are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:5). Hebrews 9:28 says, “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Romans 5:9–10 portrays the death of Christ not only as the accomplishment of our past justification, but also as the guarantee of this future rescue from the wrath of God:
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Paul makes plain in 1 Thessalonians 5 that this peril of God’s wrath comes at “the day of the Lord”—the appearing of Christ:
You yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light. . . . For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. (1 Thess. 5:2–5, 9–10)
Jesus Delivers from the Wrath of Jesus
But if we are not careful, we may conceive of our deliverance from wrath at the second coming in a way that badly distorts the reality. It would be a distortion if we thought of God pouring out wrath and his Son mercifully keeping us from the Father’s wrath. It would be a serious mistake to pit the mercy of the Son against the wrath of the Father in this way—as if God were the just punisher and Christ the merciful rescuer. It is quite otherwise.
It is not as though divine judgment gets underway and Jesus shows up to intervene. Jesus himself sets the judgment in motion and carries it out. Jesus is the judge. Jesus brings the judgment. The surprising implication is that when Paul says, “Jesus . . . delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10), he means, “Jesus delivers us from the wrath of Jesus.” This will become obvious as we look at several biblical passages.
Their Wrath
In the book of Revelation, John speaks not only of the wrath of God at the coming of Christ, but also the wrath of the Lamb:
The kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Rev. 6:15–17)
There is no sense of God being wrathful and the Lamb being weak. To be sure, this Lamb had been slain. But now he has “seven horns” (Rev. 5:6). He is not to be trifled with. His coming will be terrifying to all who have not embraced his first lamb-like work of sacrificial suffering (Rev. 5:9–10). The wrath is “their wrath” (Rev. 6:17).
The Father Has Given Judgment to the Son
It is “their wrath” and their judgment because the incarnate Son—the Son of Man—is acting in the authority of the Father:
The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. . . . For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. (John 5:22–23, 26–27)
There is a special fitness in Jesus being the judge of the world. He is the one who came into the world, loved the world, and gave himself for the salvation of the world. There is a special fitness that the one who was judged by the world, and executed by the world, will judge the world.
The World Will Be Judged by a Man
Paul seems to have this same fitness in mind when he says that a man has been appointed as the judge of the world by being raised from the dead:
Now [God] commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30–31)
Peter, in preaching to the household of Cornelius, says the same: “[Christ] commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42). Paul echoes the same conviction in 2 Timothy 4:1–2
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Praying in Jesus’ Name

By Nick Batzig — 4 months ago

Mere intellectual knowledge that Jesus is the only Mediator and the One who fulfills the covenant promises is insufficient for us to receive the promised blessings—we need to exercise personal faith in Christ as the object of the blessings. God has chosen to make faith the instrument of union with Christ. This affects our invocation of the name of Jesus in our prayers to God.

Certain practices have become so familiar among Christians that believers can be in danger of thoughtlessly performing them. We are all prone to simply going through the motions in our Christian lives. For instance, how often have we prayed the Lord’s Prayer without reflecting on the petitions that we are presenting to God? How often have we recited the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed without giving due consideration to the truths that we are confessing? We can easily go through the liturgical motions in a worship service without focusing on what we are doing before God. Similarly, it is altogether possible for believers to close their prayer with the words “in Jesus’ name” or “in Christ’s name” or “for Christ’s sake” as a sort of mindless mantra.
This raises the important question, Why should believers pray to God “in Jesus’ name”? If we are going to employ the name of Jesus in a conscientious way at the end of our prayers, a proper amount of theological reflection is required. Ultimately, we pray in Jesus’ name because He is the only Mediator between God and man, He fulfills all the covenant promises of God, and He is the object of our faith in God. Consider the following.
The Only Mediator
During His earthly ministry, Christ taught His disciples how they should approach God in prayer. He said: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13–14). “Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you” (16:23). Jesus teaches us to do so because He is the exclusive Mediator between God and man. As Thomas Boston explained:
In whose name are we to pray? In the name of Jesus Christ, and of no other, neither saint nor angel, John 14:13. “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, says he, that will I do.” We must go to the Father, not in the name of any of the courtiers, Col. 2:18 but in the name of his Son, the only Mediator.
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Pastoral Search: Ancient Help

By Nathan Eshelman — 4 months ago

Church historians tells us that John was “nearly kidnapped” or “almost abducted” or “forcibly taken”–which essentially means he was kidnapped, abducted, or taken, despite the adverbs. For 700 miles the case was made for why John ought to be the next pastor of the city church in Constantinople and when they arrived back in the city–the city welcomed John of Chrysostom, the most famous preacher of the era, with joy and celebration.

Is your congregation looking for a new pastor? It is a grueling process for some congregations. Pastors, students, and congregations alike find the process to be less than ideal.
Here’s one idea from the late 4th century that could streamline your search:
In 397, the head pastor of the church in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) died. His named was Nectarius. He was wildly popular and the city wondered if they could get another pastor of such skill and giftedness.
Several names were recommended and people within the church began to struggle, politic, and conspire to get their particular candidate elected. One name that was dropped was John Chrysostom, the pastor of the church in Antioch (modern day Antakya), nearly 700 miles to the southeast.
The pastor in Antioch was so well-regarded that the people of Antioch threatened to riot if their pastor was taken away. As a result, the emperor sent troops to Antioch to quell any disruptive and riotous responses to a potential call to their pastor.
Meanwhile back in Constantinople, the head of the search committee, Eutropius the Eunich (unfortunate name, if you ask me), devised a plan to get John to visit the city and, hopefully, become the next pastor.
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A La Carte (October 28)

By Tim Challies — 4 months ago

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Today’s Kindle deals include a huge Reformation Day event from Zondervan. You will probably want to consider some of their systematic theologies (e.g., Horton, Grudem, Reymond) and some of their church history material (e.g., Church History in Plain Language, which is widely regarded as the best single-volume church history). You’ll also find my own Seasons of Sorrow at the lowest price I’ve seen it; the same is true of Pilgrim Prayers, though the discount isn’t quite as steep because it’s so new.

(Yesterday on the blog: A Father’s Prayer for His Son)

Randy Alcorn offers lots for married couples to think about together as they consider how to steward their money. “Were you to survey married couples about their money-management goals, most answers would focus on some form of financial success. Most people strive to accumulate better houses, nicer cars, more toys, and bigger retirement accounts. But when it comes to the dream of financial prosperity and security, we should ask, ‘Whose dream is it?’”

Lauren Whitman writes about regrets in parenting and our fear of bothering Jesus.

Thirty years ago, R.C. Sproul began Renewing Your Mind, a daily teaching broadcast to help Christians grow in their knowledge of God’s Word. Now, the podcast is available on YouTube, featuring daily teaching from Dr. Sproul and other theologians. As we approach the anniversary of the Reformation this week, subscribe to the Renewing Your Mind YouTube channel and hear Dr. Sproul teach from the book of Romans. (Sponsored)

“I think we see this in our culture consistently. In so many ways, our world thinks that it knows better than previous generations. It clearly displays what CS Lewis called ‘chronological snobbery’. However, there is rarely any awareness of lostness. There is little recognition in our culture of where we have come from, where we are, or where we are going. There is a refusal to admit that we might be lost. There are millions of people in our city blind to their lostness.”

John Beeson: “I think some of us similarly treat sin as we treat violence [in movies]. We are drawn to the dopamine hit of getting near sin, but not (hopefully) entering in. We want to test ourselves and prove our mettle, and so we intentionally step into temptation’s path. We want the rush of escape. Temptation is tempting.”

Cheryl considers the way she thinks about her singleness. “I’m afraid I’ve talked about my singleness as something I’m trying to survive way too often. Even though it doesn’t always feel like it, the Bible is clear that singleness is a gift from the Lord as it allows for more time to focus on the Lord.”

Earlier I linked to Randy Alcorn’s article for married couples. This one from Wayne Grudem applies to married and non-married people alike. He looks at the biblical concept of the tithe and then offers lots of common sense tips and pointers for today.

The main purpose in our family has been simple: to gather the family together with God.

The gospel frees me to be honest about the ways I fall short instead of being crushed by them, because it reminds me that Jesus was crushed for me.
—Adam Ramsey

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Road Trip: “Reliability of New Testament Scriptures”, Christ Presbyterian Church, Mobile, Alabama, 10/27/24

By James White — 4 months ago

I did not feel well today, but I pressed on, because I really wanted to share this study of Jude 5, CBGM, the variant in the text, and the biblical tapestry of phraseology and teaching that consistently testifies to the deity of Christ. Please get a deep seat, take some notes, and enjoy!

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Road Trip: “By Grace Through Faith”, Christ Presbyterian Church, Mobile, Alabama, 10/27/24

By James White — 4 months ago

April 1, 2023 – Debate – Is God Necessary for Ethics? Dr. James White & Pastor James Durbin vs Dr. Deen Chatterjee & Jared Anderson, Social and Behavioral Sciences Auditorium, University of Utah, Sponsored by Christ Presbyterian Church of Magna, Utah, and Ratio Christi, 201 Presidents’ Circle, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

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Wisdom Isn’t About Right or Wrong; It’s About Left or Right

By Michael Kelley — 4 months ago

Left and right decisions are different. These are the kinds of decisions in which there is no decision that is inherently more moral than the other. These are times when you just have to choose – to choose this home or that one. This town or that one. This job or that one. Neither choice is sinful, and that’s why these decisions are more complex. And these are the decisions in which you move from morality to wisdom.

What is wisdom?
It’s a word most of us are familiar with, and yet might have trouble defining. It’s also a word we encounter more than a few places in Scripture, but probably most notably in the Book of Proverbs. That’s kind of what the whole book is about:
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight… (Prov. 1:1-2).
Throughout the proverbs, we see that wisdom is something to be grown in, sought after, nurtured, and treasured. We see that it’s not only useful, but extraordinarily valuable – so valuable, in fact, that Solomon himself when given the chance to ask God for any single thing, chose wisdom. And the Lord was pleased:
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be (1 Kings 3:10-12).
So, then, what is it?
I’ve always found J.I. Packer to be helpful in this respect, not only in understanding what wisdom is, but what wisdom is not:
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Friendship is a Discipleship Issue

By T.M. Suffield — 4 months ago

Written by T. M. Suffield |
Sunday, October 27, 2024
We need thicker communities, but saying that and doing it are very different things. Rebuilding life after it’s been stripped apart by the many arms of cultural change will take a long time, maybe even generations, but the church has all that’s required to do so. If we want to get practical, one of the ways we can thicken our communities is to make sure we have friends. Actively seek them, pray for them, make regular (habitual!) time in your life for them.

The lack of male friendship is nothing short of an epidemic. The rise of therapy and a therapeutic culture for men and women is, not always but more often than we’d like to admit, a substitute for friendship. We’re lonely, we need friends, and you need good friends to live the Christian life.
I’m arguing that there are three shifts we can make to address the discipleship crisis. We can embed habits, we can thicken communities, and we can stretch minds.
I reckon we can thicken our communities by considering friendship, tables, and thresholds. Three topics which I write about a fair bit, so this won’t be super surprising.
To be a follower of Jesus you need friends. We might want to disagree and say instead that we need the familial bonds of the household of the church, but if you do this and don’t gain friends, I’m not convinced that you’re actually doing this (or someone else isn’t). Jesus casts his disciples as friends (John 15). Not slaves, but friends. Friendship is the love of the kingdom. It’s tighter than ‘brotherhood’ because it’s bound not by blood but by choice. God the son became God my brother and then called himself God my friend.
We become companions with God—literally ‘same bread’—as we eat with him. We become companions with others when we break bread with them. But that’s getting ahead of myself. In order to live a Christian life that bleeds out of Sundays and starts to colonise every hour of your life you will need friends to live that life with; friends to challenge and to laugh with. I use that martial language deliberately; Jesus is the rightful Lord of your life and will wage war against your other gods.
The remarkable thing is that the warrior King, here to crush your idols, has decided to make you a friend. He’s invited us into his inner ring. One of the ways we encounter Jesus is in other Christians. While we understand friendship in light of Jesus’ friendship of us, rather than the other way around—much like we learn what a father is in the face of the Father—it is easier to understand Jesus as your friend when you have good friends.
This is an instrumental reason to get friends though, don’t do it to understand Jesus better, do it because friends are great. Friend is a word much said and little understood in our present moment.
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Lost in the Maze of Me

By Scott Hubbard — 4 months ago

In the end, self-examination, like all means of God’s grace, is just that: a means. Understanding ourselves holds almost no value if we remain preoccupied with ourselves. But if we allow what we see of ourselves to lead us somewhere else, to preoccupy us with Christ, then introspection will become one more servant of our joy in him. We do not pore over our souls simply to see our illnesses, but so we might show the Great Physician where we need him to lay his healing hands and bestow his benediction of peace.

Christian introspection can feel a little like walking into a broad and intricate maze. Entering the maze is easy enough, but so is getting lost within it. Your sense of direction slips. Promising paths of thought take unexpected and distressing turns. Dead ends abound.
If we want to live safely in this world, then we will need at least some of the self-knowledge that comes from introspection (we might also call it self-examination). “Pay attention to yourselves,” our Lord Jesus told his disciples (Luke 17:3). “Keep a close watch on yourself,” Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:16). “Keep your heart with all vigilance,” the wise man counsels (Proverbs 4:23). So we enter the maze of self for good reason.
Yet anyone who has seriously embarked upon this path of self-knowledge knows how many holes and pits, how many crossroads and mistaken turns, how many briars and thorns line the way. And some Christians, inward and scrupulous by nature, know what it’s like to get lost in that maze for long stretches of time.
Our Lord calls us to look within. Yet alongside healthy introspection are a dozen dangers and dead ends — paths that will yield not more self-knowledge but rather more anxiety, insecurity, distraction, and fear. As we consider the maze before us, then, we would do well to remember some common ways introspection goes wrong.
Dead End 1: Endless Introspection
For some Christians, introspection is less a spiritual practice and more a spiritual atmosphere. They don’t so much visit the maze as live there. These believers often live with split attention — one part of them talking, working, resting, worshiping, the other part standing back and assessing their talking, working, resting, worshiping.
We might find ourselves engaging in endless introspection for several reasons. Maybe we imagine that we really can know ourselves comprehensively if we just look long enough. So, we assess and reassess, guess and second-guess, analyze and scrutinize as if just a little more looking might unmask our inner selves. We may leave little room for Paul’s modest self-awareness (1 Corinthians 4:3–4) or prayers like David’s in Psalm 19:12: “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.”
Probably more often, endless introspection is less intentional. We don’t decide to analyze ourselves so much; we just reflexively find ourselves doing so. The power of this vague, atmospheric self-analysis lies partly in the fact that it can feel productive and obedient. Jesus tells us to watch ourselves; we’re watching. Or so we think. But as with a preoccupied father who feels productive while mentally solving work problems at the dinner table, endless introspection usually distracts us from plainer, more important obedience.
God may command us to look within, but these commands hold a small place among the whole, just a sliver of the pie chart. Far more often, God commands us to look upward and outward — to Christ (Hebrews 12:2), to heaven (Colossians 3:1–4), to the people beside us and the wonders around us and the gifts before us (Matthew 6:26; Philippians 2:3; 4:8). “Love God” and “love neighbor” are our most crucial callings — and continual self-scrutiny undermines both.
So, instead of stumbling around in a maze of thoughts, introspect with intention. Aim to enter this maze with a prayer and a plan, with a clear beginning and end. And even if intrusive thoughts keep tempting you inward, dare to remember that the obedience God expects of you usually lies outward.
Dead End 2: One-Eyed Introspection
Self-examination sometimes gets construed as simply a sin search or idol hunt: we look within to trace our guilt to its buried roots. Granted, Scripture’s calls to introspection often do focus on finding the troublesome parts about ourselves — “any grievous way in me,” as David says (Psalm 139:24).
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The Precious Cure for Our Terrible Disease

By J.C Ryle — 4 months ago

Written by J. C. Ryle |
Sunday, October 27, 2024
It is the blood of Christ, not His example only, or His beautiful moral teaching, but His vicarious sacrifice that meets the wants of the soul. No wonder that Peter calls it “precious.” Precious it has been found by the heathen abroad, and by the peer and the peasant at home…

What is the only remedy for our terrible spiritual disease? What will cleanse us from the guilt of sin? What will bring health and peace to our poor dead hearts, and enable us to walk with God while we live, and dwell with God when we die?
To these questions I give a short but unhesitating reply. For the one universal soul-disease of all Adam’s children there is only one remedy. That remedy is “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). To the blood of Adam we owe the beginning of our deadly spiritual ailment. To the blood of Christ alone must we all look for a cure.
When I speak of the “blood of Christ,” my readers must distinctly understand that I do not mean the literal material blood which flowed from His hands and feet and side as He hung on the cross. That blood, I doubt not, stained the fingers of the soldiers who nailed our Lord to the tree; but there is not the slightest proof that it did any good to their souls. If that blood were really in the Communion cup at the Lord’s Supper, and we touched it with our lips, such mere corporeal touch would avail us nothing.
Oh no! When I speak of the “blood” of Christ as the cure for the deadly ailment which we all inherit from the blood of Adam, I mean the life-blood which Christ shed, and the redemption which Christ obtained for sinners when He died for them on Calvary — the salvation which He procured for us by His vicarious sacrifice — the deliverance from the guilt and power and consequences of sin, which He purchased when He suffered as our Substitute.
This and this only is what I mean when I speak of “Christ’s blood” as the one medicine needed by all Adam’s children. The thing that we all need to save us from eternal death is not merely Christ’s incarnation and life, but Christ’s death. The atoning “blood” which Christ shed when He died is the grand secret of salvation. It is the blood of the second Adam suffering in our stead, which alone can give life or health and peace to all who have the first Adam’s blood in their veins.
A Vital Doctrine in Our Squeamish Age
I can find no words to express my deep sense of the importance of maintaining in our Church the true doctrine of the blood of Christ. One plague of our age is the widespread dislike to what men are pleased to call dogmatic theology. In the place of it, the idol of the day is a kind of jelly-fish Christianity —
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