The Aquila Report Archives - Page 4 of 942

Adam the Man

By T.M. Suffield — 4 months ago

Written by T. M. Suffield |
Saturday, October 26, 2024
For Adam to be our head he must be our ‘father.’ If he isn’t the father of all he cannot be the head of all. That’s the logic of it, that’s why genealogies matter so much in scripture: we’re bonded to one another. Federal heads are always related by lineage. It’s not divine fiat, it works on ordered rules. God comes to reshape these familial ties by making the Father our father and Christ our brother.

I was chatting with a friend about Genesis 1 and whether the earth is young or old the other day. I don’t find it a particularly interesting question, not because there isn’t an answer (there must be) and not because it’s not important (the truth is always important) but because there are so many more interesting things to say about that chapter of Scripture.
I’ve touched on some of them before, but we could include: creation ‘from the head’, the patterns of seven, the baptism of the land, the third day trees, the constraining of chaos, the ‘dragons’ on the fifth day, the sixth day trees, the ten times God speaks, creation through division, and more besides.
Even most of those are fun details we’re supposed to notice and meditate on in light of the rest of the scriptures, the narrative itself is worthy of much reflection on its own terms. God is the creator. God spoke creation. He didn’t slay a dragon and make creation from her corpse (this is a Babylonian creation myth), he spoke it into being. Creation is ordered. It’s spoken from nothing. It took a ‘week.’ He rested when he was done. It would take us a long time to reach questions that might relate to modern scientific ideas of the age of the earth.
I briefly outlined my own position with my friend, which I don’t hold that strongly, while expressing respect for those with convictions different to mine. I mostly expressed that I don’t find it that interesting a question and pointed to many of the more fun things in the text that I’ve alluded to above. There was one point I wanted to stress as important though, concerning Adam.

It is biblically and theologically necessary for Christians to believe in Adam as first, a historical person who second, fathered the entire human race.
Mike Reeves
I agree. Adam was a real man, now dead (and I assume in the presence of Jesus). More than that though, he was also the first human, and the father of all mankind. I think each of these convictions is important.
What does the Bible say.
This is, in part, a matter of trusting the Bible. We should read according to genre, of course. We should read carefully to see that the text says what we think it says. My argument is that the Bible always assumes Adam was a historical man, and the first man.
We start where we always should, with Jesus. Jesus taught that the first man and woman were made by God and were married. In his discussion of divorce in Matthew 19 he turns to Genesis 1 as clearly answering their question.
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In Honor of Fall

By Jacob Crouch — 4 months ago

God’s perfect order in the universe is a reminder that God is able to uphold His word. He made days and nights and seasons to happen in perfect routine throughout all of human history as a blazing reminder that He can, and will, faithfully bring His word to pass.

The air cools, the leaves fall, and the heat of the Mississippi summer begins to fade. Fall is here. My son, trying to explain his experience of the season’s arrival, said, “I feel like my whole chest is full. Like everything is happy. Like… pumpkin patch.” I get it! It’s hard to explain the joy that fills the heart when the hard summer leaves and the gentle weather of Fall shows up. I love the Fall.
I love the holiday season. Thanksgiving and the anticipation of Christmas. I love the smell of fire in the neighborhood and the yards covered in leaves. I love the piles of leaves too, with kids buried underneath. I love cool walks and long sleeves. My heart is even lifted up in meditation and praise more easily when Fall comes around. I love the look of the trees. There’s always a moment that my mind recognizes that something is different. The leaves have been slowly falling, but one day I see it. It’s wonderful.
And God made it. He made the seasons. He did it, “in the beginning.” “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night.
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God’s Sovereign Purposes

By Bill Elliff — 4 months ago

We will bow because of His greatness but also kneel because of His goodness. We will be stunned by how He has used His power perfectly for the good of all. We will worship His mercy, grace, and kindness and be forever captured by the absolute perfection of His love. We will see and rejoice in His glorious sovereignty.

The word “sovereign” means “one supreme in power; ultimate authority.” When we say that God is sovereign, we are stating the truth that no one is above Him and that He rules over everything. But there is something vital we must understand about God’s sovereignty.
God is God and does what He pleases, but God is good and always does what is right.
To misunderstand either side of this equation is harmful. If you do not believe He is God, you will treat Him lightly and not honor, serve, and properly fear Him. You will not acknowledge His lordship nor bend to His rule.
But if you do not believe He is perfect in goodness, you will think ill of Him and not love and respect Him. Every step of His sovereignty is driven by His goodness. God knows what He is about and is always righteous and good.
The Little Sovereign Faces the Sovereign God
Pharoah, in Moses’ day, was the ruler of the known world. He sat on his throne, thinking there was no one greater. He had the most prominent kingdom and the greatest army on the face of the earth.
All the Pharaohs in succession believed they were gods. Four thousand years later, there are still physical reminders of their dynasty. But a shepherd, directed by the Ultimate Sovereign, came out of the desert to humble him and accomplish Divine purposes. God spoke to Moses with this prophecy.
“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” (Exodus 7:3-5)
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The Love Your Neighbor Principle

By Bruce A. Little — 4 months ago

Written by Bruce A. Little |
Saturday, October 26, 2024
A good neighbor is not required to give aid where injury results from one’s breaking the laws of God or man. Second, a good neighbor is one who comes to the aid of another on the grounds of humanity and not some other grounds such as race or sex. Furthermore, any application of the “love your neighbor” principle should be predicated on God’s view of right or wrong and not some political or culturally motivated notion.

As Christians grapple with a response to cultural issues not directly addressed in Scripture, many have turned to applying the “love your neighbor” principle to justify their position. This seems, at least on first look, to be a reasonable approach, however it entails accepting the world’s standard of right and wrong which is suspect from the beginning. For example, during Covid the application of this principle was often used as justification for taking “the jab”. The reasoning was that if I did not, then I would be endangering my neighbor. That would be unloving, or so went the argument, but it was based on misinformation. Another example would be the social re-ordering practice of DEI. Christians climbed on the Social-Justice-Warrior bus in the name of loving their neighbor. What was not considered in both cases was the legitimacy of the claims of harm to my neighbor. This is not suggesting that there were no cases where certain groups had not been given fair opportunity, but that is a totally different issue. The concern here is whether loving my neighbor serves as the fundamental principle for Christian action in these cases, and if not what guidelines should be applied to identify my being a good neighbor. It will help to look at the text where Jesus addresses the love your neighbor principle. Luke 10:25-28 records the words of Jesus in response to a lawyer’s question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
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Is Evangelicalism Really Protestant?

By Aaron M. Renn — 4 months ago

Written by Aaron M. Renn |
Friday, October 25, 2024
Evangelicalism’s culture is not even contiguous with that of mainline Protestantism, much less classical Protestantism. It is very populist and dominated by charismatic pitchman type pastors. It tends to emphasize a therapeutic gospel over a strict ethic. In fact, any type of moral or behavioral code followed too seriously is likely to draw a caution for being legalistic. It’s very aligned with American consumer culture, and American culture generally. And of course it is anti-intellectual, something well-documented in such work as Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.

Reading James Davison Hunter’s Democracy and Solidarity rekindled a feeling that I’ve had many times before in reading books like this. Every time I read a book that describes the religious history of America that talks about the nature of Protestantism in the country, it strikes me that the Protestantism of the American past is alien to today’s evangelicalism. They are different enough to raise the question as to whether or not American evangelicalism is actually Protestant in important ways.
Hunter writes in his book:
For most Americans—whether deist or Calvinist, rationalist and intellectual or revivalist and popular, high church establishmentarian or sectarian—there was a God more or less active in the universe and in human affairs. Indeed, this God was, for most, Christian and, even more, Protestant. Though hegemonic and certainly oppressive to those who dissented, this belief nevertheless provided a language and an ontology that framed understandings of both public and private life. And yet this was also a culture, following Weber and so many others, that was inner-worldly in its orientation and ascetic in its general ethical disposition, an ethic that shunned extravagance, opulence, and self-indulgence and prized hard work, discipline, and utility. In ethics it was individualistic, to be sure, but informed by biblical and republican traditions that tempered individual interest and moved it toward the public interest and common goods. [emphasis added]
It’s certainly hard to argue that contemporary American culture generally, or evangelicalism in particular, are ascetic and oriented towards a traditional disciplined WASP ethic. Undoubtedly, they are if not opulent, consumerist in orientation. I’d be lying if I said I were any different.
You see this change in ethical outlook on life in basically any book on the topic. It’s a move away from the old Calvinist outlook and behaviors and towards modern American post-bourgeois consumerism.
In his famous The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber describes how Calvinism’s concept of calling and election – which he distinguishes from that of Lutheranism – led to furious activity to attempt to objectively demonstrate that one was among the elect.
The religious believer can make himself sure of his state of grace either in that he feels himself to be the vessel of the Holy Spirit or the tool of the divine will. In the former case his religious life tends to mysticism and emotionalism, in the latter to ascetic action; Luther stood close to the former type, Calvinism belonged definitely to the latter. The Calvinist also wanted to be saved sola fide. But since Calvin viewed all pure feelings and emotions, no matter how exalted they might seem to be, with suspicion, faith had to be proved by its objective results in order to provide a firm foundation for the certitudo salutis….Thus, however useless good works might be as a means of attaining salvation, for even the elect remain beings of the flesh, and everything they do falls infinitely short of divine standards, nevertheless, they are indispensable as a sign of election. They are the technical means, not of purchasing salvation, but of getting rid of the fear of damnation.
He describes how this manifested itself in various ways, such as in the Puritan ethics of Richard Baxter:
Waste of time is thus the first and in principle the deadliest of sins. The span of human life is infinitely short and precious to make sure of one’s own election. Loss of time through sociability, idle talk, luxury, even more sleep than is necessary for health, six to at most eight hours, is worthy of absolute moral condemnation. It does not yet hold, with [Benjamin] Franklin, that time is money, but the proposition is true in a certain spiritual sense. It is infinitely valuable because every hour lost is lost to labour for the glory of God. Thus inactive contemplation is also valueless, or even directly reprehensible if it is at the expense of one’s daily work. For it is less pleasing to God than the active performance of His will in a calling. Besides, Sunday is provided for that, and, according to Baxter, it is always those who are not diligent in their callings who have no time for God when the occasion demands it.
The mention of Benjamin Franklin shows that this was one form in which these values were transmitted to American culture. Again, far from contemporary America, which puts a high premium on leisure and consumption over asceticism and production.
Weber’s book is actually short and readable, so is very much worth picking up.
We see the same in French writer Emmanuel Todd’s provocative book The Defeat of the West, which I wrote about earlier this year. Todd sees Protestantism as the foundation of the modern West, and describes it similarly to Weber:
Let us conclude our review of the main characteristics of Protestantism. It is an ethic of work: we are not on earth to have fun, but to work and save. Here we are at the antipodes of the consumer society. Protestantism has also long been synonymous with sexual puritanism.
He sees the collapse of Protestantism as the core factor in the decline of the West, one which lies underneath many of today’s social pathologies.
The original religious matrix was slowly built between the end of the Roman Empire and the central Middle Ages, and then ultimately thickened by the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation.
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Vanguard Presbytery Votes to Call for First General Assembly

By Dewey Roberts — 4 months ago

The three presbyteries will be regional in nature: Southwest Presbytery will encompass Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Missouri. Northern Presbytery will encompass all the congregations north of Tennessee and North Carolina (with the exception of Pathway Presbyterian Church (mission) in Clarksville, TN). The Southeast Presbytery will cover all the states east of the Mississippi River and south of the northern borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. All three presbyteries will have their formal organizational meetings to elect a Moderator and Clerk. They will also decide on a name for their body.

Vanguard Presbytery began on February 6, 2020 with the reception of two ministers, TE Dewey Roberts and TE Michael Frazier. The congregation of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Destin, FL soon voted to follow their pastor, TE Roberts, into Vanguard Presbytery. Other congregations and pastors followed. Vanguard held its formal Convocation in Nashville, TN in July of 2020. Vanguard Presbytery now has 17 particular churches, 10 mission churches, 2 mission works, and one pastor serving in a church that is expected to follow him into Vanguard. Additionally, the denomination is regularly discussing its distinctives with pastors and churches who are inquiring about Vanguard.
At its 14th stated meeting on October 18, 2024, Vanguard Presbytery met at Chapel Woods Presbyterian Church in Snellville, GA. The Presbytery voted unanimously to organize the denomination into three presbyteries and call for a General Assembly to be held some time before the end of August 2025. The three presbyteries will be regional in nature: Southwest Presbytery will encompass Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Missouri. Northern Presbytery will encompass all the congregations north of Tennessee and North Carolina (with the exception of Pathway Presbyterian Church (mission) in Clarksville, TN). The Southeast Presbytery will cover all the states east of the Mississippi River and south of the northern borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. All three presbyteries will have their formal organizational meetings to elect a Moderator and Clerk. They will also decide on a name for their body.
The retiring Moderator of Vanguard Presbytery, RE Mark Grasso, was authorized to appoint the convening Moderator and Stated Clerk for the General Assembly. He appointed TE Dewey Roberts to serve as the convening Moderator and TE Joshua Light to serve as the convening Stated Clerk. Both men will be eligible to be nominated for election by the General Assembly. Moderator Grasso also appointed the convening Moderators and Stated Clerks for each of the presbyteries, which will meet soon to establish themselves as separate presbyteries.
This move to divide into three presbyteries and call for a General Assembly was the appropriate time for Vanguard. First, it was becoming increasingly difficult to do the work of both a national presbytery and a denomination. There are some important distinctives of Vanguard Presbyterian Church which contributed to that decision. Vanguard does not have provisions for standing committees at the General Assembly level. We believe that church history shows that such committees can eventually become unaccountable to their denominations and function as administrative hierarchies within their respective spheres of responsibility. Hierarchy is contrary to the Scriptural principles of church polity.
Second, Vanguard believes that the Scripture establishes that the missionary work of the church is to be carried out by congregations and presbyteries—not the General Assembly. It was the Church at Antioch that sent out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries (Acts 13:1-3). Presbyteries have the authority to ordain and conduct oversight of ministers and their work (1 Timothy 4:14 and 2 Timothy 1:6), which includes the responsibility to oversee their work as evangelists and missionaries. The responsibility of the General Assembly is more legislative and judicial in nature (cf. Acts 15:1-35), especially in deciding such issues that affect the spread of the gospel. Thus, the General Assembly of Vanguard Presbyterian Church will be interested in receiving reports from each presbytery concerning how they are carrying out the Great Commission and how they are encouraging and helping every member congregation to do the same.
There are other unique principles that Vanguard has adopted, particularly in light of the heterodox positions taken by many modern reformed denominations. Vanguard holds that the creation account in Genesis took place in a literal six-day period. We believe this is supported by the Westminster Confession and Catechisms that God created “all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.” We believe those days were all the length of our days—twenty-four hours—since the Scripture says concerning them all that “there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
Vanguard also holds to the office of evangelist as a special gift given to some elders as was held by the New Side Presbyterians in the 18thcentury and the Old School Presbyterians in the 19th century. Indeed, the office of evangelist has great support in the history of the church, in Christian writings, and in the various books of polity of reformed denominations—even if most of those denominations today completely ignore the office of evangelist.
Vanguard also identifies with the theological positions of both the New Side Presbyterians and the Old School Presbyterians. These two movements are mirror images of one another. The New Side Presbyterians during the First Great Awakening emphasized support for that revival while also holding to orthodox theology. During the Second Great Awakening, the Old School Presbyterians opposed the “strange fire” and the heretical positions taken by some people who were actively promoting it, believing that God is the one who sends revival. The only real difference between the New Side Presbyterians and the Old School Presbyterians is the particular circumstances they faced and the times in which they lived. At heart, they agreed on all matters. Also, Vanguard requires full subscription to the Westminster Standards which is a great aid in promoting the unity of the denomination.
One special difference between Vanguard and other denominations is the amount of time spent in worship and prayer at every meeting. Preaching and prayer in Vanguard are not perfunctory, but lively and worshipful. At the most recent stated meeting, presbytery heard two excellent sermons and spent 90 minutes in prayer before conducting our business. The prayer time was an especially meaningful time with heartfelt prayers being offered for matters that are not usually a part of public prayers. Vanguard believes that if presbytery is to be the church of the ministers, then it needs to focus on the two things that the apostles determined should be the main focus of their energies—prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).
While Vanguard began with some churches from the PCA, several of them have come from other denominations and some from mission churches planted by Vanguard. We have some churches in cities where no other reformed churches exist, such as Clovis and Roswell, New Mexico. There are some exciting things that have happened in some of the churches. For instance, the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Live Oak, Texas under the pastoral leadership of TE Dick Jones was organized as a particular church in March of 2021. They recently bought and paid for three acres of land in a choice area for $550,000. The church still has assets in addition to the property of over $600,000. They are planning on erecting the first phase of their building program.
TE Ryan Denton, ordained as an evangelist by Vanguard, has taken the admonition of Paul to Timothy very seriously: “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). Under his faithful evangelistic efforts, there are several churches that have been raised up. He preaches most Sundays to the Lubbock Reformed Church in the morning and the Grace Covenant Reformed Church (mission) in Clovis, New Mexico in the afternoon. Clovis is 100 miles from Lubbock. Thankfully, Ryan has mentored a young man, TE Erick Welsh, who passed his ordination exam at our recent presbytery meeting. There are other works that have been started through Ryan’s efforts or through his faithful follow-up to opportunities brought into his path. This is what Ryan said about why he is in Vanguard today: “I joined Vanguard because of their culture of prayer, national revival, church planting, and evangelism, along with its commitment to the WCF and historic Presbyterianism. As Vanguard continues to grow, these principles continue to be reinforced and unleashed.”
TE Mic Knox is the founding pastor of Gospel Reformed Church (Mission) in Marietta, Georgia. Before coming into Vanguard, his leadership team looked into several denominations and talked with a representative of Vanguard congregations. They chose Vanguard because, “This is the best denomination for us. There really is nowhere else that would be right.” TE Knox preached at the recent presbytery from 3 John 2. He transferred into Vanguard a year ago and his congregation came into the denomination earlier this year. He gave the reasons for his congregation being in Vanguard: “Our Trinitarian, Covenant Lord—who has saved us by grace—providentially guided Gospel Reformed Church to Vanguard because the Holy Spirit has engendered an encouraging, evangelistic ecosystem where the gospel of Jesus is faithfully preached inside the church as well as in the community—which is the Biblically balanced mandate from Scripture. Vanguard’s regenerate and humble Teaching and ruling Elders galvanize one another in local, national, and foreign evangelism; while Vanguard is filled with godly men who love, glorify, and enjoy the Lord, each other, His Bride, and their local communities with deep compassion for the lost.”
The newest minister transferring into Vanguard is TE Sterling Brown who is starting a new church in Richmond, Ohio—Geneva Reformed Church (Mission)—which was ‘birthed from a body of believers fleeing the growing corruption in many of the well-known corporate Presbyterian denominations.” When he and his congregation were looking for a denomination faithful to the Scriptures and the WCF, he chose Vanguard for the following reasons: “We were thankful to join Vanguard Presbyterian Church because of their strong stance on the Word of God, their commitment to the Reformed faith (Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms) and the devotion to God in their understanding that the local church for whom Christ shed His blood is more important than corporate Presbytery.”
Vanguard members rejoice in the number of young ministerial candidates and licentiates as well as the number of students in the Vanguard School of Ministry. TE Al Baker, one of the founders of Vanguard, observed: “Vanguard is the very best denomination in our country and I would not want to be in any other one.” His sentiment is universally shared by others in the denomination.
For more information or to make a donation: Vanguard Presbyterian Church; or contact Dewey Roberts or Joshua Light

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Christophobe Kamala

By Bill Muehlenberg — 4 months ago

While Christians might well want candidates that are more moral, more pure, more faultless, and more pristine, they need to be reminded that Jesus is not running in this election – or in any election. In a fallen world we are ALWAYS left with less than ideal choices. But some are clearly better than others.

We have known for quite some time now that the Democrats in America are overwhelmingly an anti-God and anti-life party. This has been the case for decades now. They had not always been this way, but the hyper-left is now firmly in control of the party, and it seems that these two ‘A’s now reign supreme: atheism and abortion.
All this is easy enough to document. As but one example, consider this: In just this past week Kamala Harris has demonstrated even more of her intense hatred of Christianity:-She and her party makes a blasphemous TV ad mocking Holy Communion.-She tells pro-lifers who said “Jesus is Lord” that they are at the “wrong rally”.-She deliberately refuses to go to the 60-year-old Presidential Catholic charity dinner in NYC.
And some “Christians” think they should support her?! Go figure.
But let me speak to each of these a bit further. The ad featuring Michigan Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer feeding feminist podcaster Liz Plank a Dorito was blasphemous at worst, and just bizarre at best. Christians, and certainly Catholics, know exactly what it was meant to parody. If you have the stomach to view this cringe-worthy and awful ad, you can see it here, with a bit of sensible commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiDJerqeaCc
As to the Christian pro-lifers not welcome at her rally, she had said this: “I think you guys are at the wrong rally. No, I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.” Kamala in effect kicked Jesus out of her meeting, just as the Dems long ago kicked God out of their party. And this was the real Kamala speaking: an unscripted moment with an off the cuff remark. This Christophobe is simply diabolical.
Concerning the presidential dinner, the last person who failed to attend was Walter Mondale some 40 years ago. And as Trump reminded the audience, that did not go so well, as he went on to lose 49 of the 50 US states in the election. It is reported that Kamala was told by her handlers not to go to the Al Smith dinner because it would alienate her liberal base – all the pro-aborts and pro-alphabet people. Hmm, another disastrous call.
When other Dems recognised that refusing to go to the dinner was actually a massive mistake, she went into panic mode and hastily made a video for the event. That too was utterly cringe-worthy and weird. Yet Walz calls Vance and the Republicans weird!
Just how dumb is Kamala and her hardcore progressive machine? While folks in San Francisco and New York might love her anti-God and anti-life agenda, most Americans do not see things that way. There are plenty of Catholic voters in places like Pennsylvania, one of the key swing states that she needs to win.
And her ugly attack on the Christian pro-lifer was in La Crosse, Wisconsin, another place where plenty of conservatives and Christians reside. But she does not give a rip about ordinary Americans. She is hellbent on pleasing her radical leftist supporters at all costs. Appointing Tim Walz as her running mate was another crystal-clear demonstration of this.
If this misotheist baby-hating candidate does win the election in a few weeks’ time, we will simply see much more of this. Consider just one recent case in point. A Tennessee Christian, Bevelyn Beatty Williams, has been prosecuted by the Biden/Harris administration for praying in front of an abortion clinic.
The 33-year-old pro-life activist and mother was convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. For daring to stand up for the unborn, this woman has been sentenced to a three-and-a-half-year prison term! I kid you not. More details can be found here: https://dailydeclaration.org.au/2024/10/18/pro-life-mother-imprisoned-3-years/
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3 Things You Should Know about 2 Peter

By Kim Riddlebarger — 4 months ago

Confusion about our Lord’s return was common in the early church (one can think of the questions and answers about the end times in Paul’s two Thessalonian letters), even as it is in our own day. Bible prophecy pundits have made so many wild and irresponsible predictions about the second coming of Jesus Christ that non-Christians no longer pay any attention to the Bible’s teaching that Jesus is going to return to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new.

1. The Apostle Peter warns the churches of the dangers of false teaching and the ungodliness that it produces.
Peter does not name these false teachers, but from his comments in 2 Peter 2:1–3, it is clear that they were once professing Christians who have since departed from the faith. Peter describes them as introducing destructive heresies, denying the Master who they claim “bought them,” while attracting a large number of followers who blaspheme the Lord. False doctrine inevitably leads to sinful conduct. Because of their apostasy, God’s judgment upon them is certain.
Based on several hints given to us by Peter, it may be the case that these people misused the letters of Paul to justify antinomian (lawless) behavior. In 2 Peter 2:19, Peter writes, “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.” The Apostle goes on to say in 2 Peter 3:15–16 that there are some things in the letters of Paul “that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” Apparently, the content of Paul’s letters was distorted in the Apostolic age, even as it is in our own.
2. Peter speaks of his readers as having a righteous standing before God through faith.
Peter writes, “who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). The faith that grants such a standing is a gift from God given through Jesus Christ—the source of the righteousness of God—and therefore something received (Eph. 2:8–9). All those who have been given such faith are said to be of the same faith as “ours” (the Apostles). Believers obtain this righteous standing before God through the instrument of faith by means of Jesus Christ—who, Peter tells us, is God.
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Understanding Paul’s Veil Imagery in 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:3

By Kenneth Berding — 4 months ago

What are the four truths that Paul wanted to communicate through his use of veil imagery? We should share the gospel openly and confidently (= referent #1). Jews who don’t believe in Jesus misunderstand the main point of the Law (= referent #2). Believers in Jesus are being transformed by the glory of God (= referent #3). Unbelievers have been blinded by Satan (= referent #4).

What does the apostle Paul mean when he uses the word “veil” in 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:3?
For years I didn’t really understand 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:3 because I was looking for a single referent for the veil imagery in the passage. Some time ago, though, I realized that a key to understanding the passage is to acknowledge that Paul keeps shifting the referent as he moves through this section of his letter to the Corinthians. In a span of ten verses, Paul uses the word “veil” four times along with the adjectives “unveiled” and “veiled” (once each). But what is Paul referring to when he utilizes veil imagery? Here’s the passage, with veil language bolded:
3:12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. […skipping 4:1-2 since no “veil” imagery is found in those verses…] 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor 3:12-4:3).
A key to understanding Paul’s use of the veil in this passage is to acknowledge that he shifts the referent (= the thing he is referring to) each time he mentions it.
But first a bit of background. Why does Paul use the image of a veil in the first place? Paul is drawing upon something that happened to Moses during the time the children of Israel were camping out at the base of Mount Sinai. Exodus 34:29-35 explains that when Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the Law tablets, his face shone with the glory of the Lord. This freaked the people out. So Moses decided that he would wear a veil over his face when he was with people. But whenever he went to speak with God, he would take the veil off.
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Truly Understanding Doctrine

By J.V. Fesko — 4 months ago

Written by J. V. Fesko |
Friday, October 25, 2024
As we learn doctrine, we must earnestly pray that the grace of God would not only inundate our minds but that this knowledge would trickle down into our hearts until they are immersed in the truth of God’s word. When we encounter trials in life, for example, we then know in heart and mind that God’s provident hand superintends ever event in our lives and therefore, whether in times of plenty or in want, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13).

As a professor and minister I regularly evaluate students to determine whether they possess the requisite theological knowledge to pass their exams. After a thirteen week semester students must take their final exam to demonstrate they have mastered the knowledge they have learned. It’s not enough to sit and listen—students must prove they also know the material. The same is true of candidates for the ministry. They must show the presbytery that they have the necessary theological knowledge to preach and teach the word of God so they will not lead the church astray. But all too often we can mistake intellectual proficiency with a true and genuine knowledge of the truth. To put it more colloquially, we might be able to rattle off theological knowledge, but is this information written on the walls of our hearts?
Take for example the doctrine of providence. I can ask an ordinand, “What is the doctrine of providence?” and he can respond: “God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.” This is a spot-on perfect answer and comes straight from the Shorter Catechism (q. 11). For this question and answer the ordinand would score a perfect one hundred percent.
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