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V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 4 N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5
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CONTENTS
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N E W S T U D I E S in B I B L I C A L T H E O L O G Y
from
I V P A C A D E M I C
Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works composing
the New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help
Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited
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How can creatures made from dust become members of God’s
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context, literary structure and theology of Leviticus. He follows its dramatic
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“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
In this NSBT volume, Richard Lints argues that idol language in the Bible is
a conceptual inversion of the image language of Genesis 1. He shows how the
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power to explain the “culture of desire.”
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Series Editor: D. A. Carson
N EW STUDIES IN B I B L IC A L THEOLOGY
A biblical theology of the book of Leviticus
L. Michael Morales
Who ShallAscend the
of the Lord? Mountain
Series Editor: D. A. Carson
NEW S TUDI ES IN B IBLICAL T HEOLOGY
The image of God and its inversion
Identity and
Idolatry
Richard Lints
WHO SHALL ASCEND the
MOUNTAIN o f th e LORD A Biblical Theolog y of the Book of Lev iticus
L. Michael Morales
IDENTITY and IDOLATRYThe Image of God and Its Inversion
Richard Lints
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John Owen is widely hailed as one o thegreatest theologians o all time. His manyworks—especially those encouragingChristians in their struggle against sin—continue to speak powerully to readers today,
offering much-needed spiritual guidance orollowing Christ and resisting temptationday in and day out. Starting with an overviewo Owen’s lie, ministry, and historicalcontext, Michael Haykin and MatthewBarrett introduce readers to the pillars oOwen’s spiritual lie. From exploring hisunderstanding o believers’ ellowship with
the triune God to highlighting his teachingon justification, this study invites us to learnabout the Christian lie om the greatest othe English Puritans.
https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/https://www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/http://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justification
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THE 5 SOLAS SERIES
500 YEARS
AFTER THE REFORMATION
WE NEED TO RECOVER
THE 5 SOLAS
AND RESTATE
THEM FOR A
NEW GENERATION
http://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justificationhttp://zondervanacademic.com/products/faith-alone-the-doctrine-of-justification
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Church hisory maters. By looking o hose gians of he faih in he
hisory of he church, no only do we avoid falling prey o he heresies
of he pas, bu we also sand firmly on he shoulders of ohers so ha
we persevere in sound docrine (Tius 2:1).
One se of broad shoulders belongs o he seveneenh-cenury PurianJohn Owen. I is hard o exaggerae he imporance and influence of
Owen’s life and wriings. His books were and sill are some of he bes
works in heology ha we have, sanding alongside hose of Augusine,
Luher, Calvin, and many ohers. The Chrisian oday will benefi in
counless ways from works like On Communion with God, The Doctrine
of Justification by Faith, On the Mortification of Sin, and Of Indwelling
Sin in Believers.
Wha is so remarkable abou Owen, however, is no merely he robus,
biblical naure of his wriings, bu his insisence ha heology affecs
he Chrisian life. In oher words, Owen refused o separae head and
hear. Docrine mus lead o doxology every ime, oherwise we have
no ruly undersood is purpose. Therefore, Owen is he Docor who
looks ino he human soul in order o diagnose our spiriual disease and
offer us a cure in Jesus Chris. If read carefully, i is hard no o finish a book by Owen wihou feeling a desire o know God more.
The upcoming year, 2016, will be he four hundredh anniversary of
Owen’s birh. So wha beter iming for an issue of Credo Magazine ha
aims o inroduce some of Owen’s heology and wriings. Bu as much
as we love you reading Credo Magazine, his issue would be a failure if
you did no sudy and read his Prince of Purians for yourself.
Mathew Barret
Execuive Edior
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Mathew Barret
STAFF EDITORS
Mat Manry
Timohy Raymond
Mathew Claridge
Gary Seward
Joshua Greever
Caharine Clayon John Ferguson
David Livernois
Theodore Lee
Ryan Modisete
Chris Holmes
Seve Lee
Jake Grogan
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Lee Comings
EDITORIAL COUNCIL
Thomas Schreiner
Fred G. Zaspel
Ardel B. Caneday
ADVERTISING
To adverise in Credo Magazine
PERMISSIONS
Credo Magazine grans permission
for any original aricle o be
quoed provided Credo Magazine
is indicaed as he source. For use
of an enire aricle permission
mus be graned. Please conac
FROM THE EDITOR
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FEATURES
A FAITH WE CAN CONFESS
J.V. Fesko Introduces
The Westminster Confession of Faith
DOES THE TRINITY REALLY MATTER?
A Layman’s Guide to John Owen’s
Communion with God
by Ryan M. McGraw
KILLING SIN BY THE POWER
OF THE SPIRIT
John Owen’s Approach to Mortifying
Remaining Sin
by Geoff Thomas
CHRIST’S GIFT TO THE CHURCH:
PRAYER
John Owen on Public Prayer
by Daniel R. Hyde
MY TOP TEN PURITAN AUTHORS
by Joel R. Beeke
8. TEN QUESTIONS WITH
LEONARDO DE CHIRICO
Leonardo Speaks About the Papacy and
Why Italy Needs Gospel Churches Today
12. WHO IS JOHN OWEN?A Timeline of John Owen’s Life
14. THE REFORMED PASTOR
My Top Three Books by John Owen
by Kelly M. Kapic
57. NO COOL RATIONALISM
John Owen’s Pursuit of God
by Matthew Claridge
60. OLD PURITANS WITH
NEW DUST JACKETS
Puritans Every Christian
Should Read
by Matthew Barrett
62. FIRST PRINCIPLES
Learning From a Giant:
Three Reasons to Read John Owen
by Matthew Barrett
& Michael A.G. Haykin
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38
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CONTENTS
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Leonardo De Chirico is he pasor of Breccia di
Roma, a church ha he helped plan in Rome in
2009. Previously, Leonardo planed and pasoredan evangelical church in Ferrara, Ialy, from 1997
o 2009. He earned degrees in Hisory (Universiy
of Bologna), Theology (ETCW, Bridgend, Wales)
and Bioehics (Universiy of Padova). His PhD is
from King’s College (London); i was published
as Evangelical Theological Perspecives on
Pos-Vaican II Roman Caholicism. In 2015, he
published A Chrisian Pocke Guide o he Papacy(Chrisian Focus). He is a lecurer of Hisorical
Theology a Isiuo di Formazione Evangelica e
Documenazione in Padova, Ialy. Addiionally,
Leonardo is he Direcor of he Reformanda
Iniiaive, which aims o equip evangelical leaders
o beter undersand and engage wih Roman
Caholicism, and he leader of he Rome Scholars
Nework (RSN).Did you grow up in he Caholic Church? If
so, wha drew you o become an evangelical
Chrisian?
My amily was an ordinary Ialian amily,
nominally Chrisian and devou o Sain Anony,
bu wih litle grasp o basic gospel ruhs. One
day we were visied by a Swiss couple rom helocal evangelical church ha was going door
o door. They asked i we were Chrisians. The
answer was “yes, o course.” They urher asked i
we had ever read he Bible. The answer was “no.”
Caholics were no supposed o read he Bible.
10 QUESIONSWIH LEONARDO DE CHIRICO
Leonardo speaks his mind abou he papacy and whyIaly needs gospel churches oday.
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They hen replied, “How can you be Chrisian i
you don’ read wha Chris has done or you?” I
was as i a ligh was swiched on in he darkness.
I was he beginning o a journey ha led myaher o become a believer, hen he res o he
amily ollowed a differen sages o lie.
Wha is he main docrinal divide, in your
esimaion, beween Roman Caholics and
Proesans?
In Roman Caholicism he endency is o idolize
he church. The disincion beween Creaor andcreaure is blurred by way o conerring o he
church wha ulimaely belongs o he riune God
alone. The church is elevaed o a posiion ha
makes i an idol, semming ou o a non-ragic view
o sin, he convicion ha in significan ways he
church coninues he incarnaion o Jesus Chris
resuling in an abnormally conflaed ecclesiology.The grea bulle poins o he Proesan
Reormaion, i.e. Scripure alone, Chris alone,
grace alone, are all biblical remedies agains he
idolarous endency o a sel-reerenial church,
which sadly have been rejeced so ar.
In your ongoing ineracion wih Roman
Caholics in Ialy, wha approach have you
aken and found o be effecive when winessing
o hem?
Exposing hem o Scripure as much as possible
and no assuming hey already grasp he basics
o he gospel. They may know some Chrisian
vocabulary, bu i is generally marred, disored
by radiions and devian culural baggage. Mos
Caholics in Ialy are o he “pick-and-choose”
variey and so hey blend unbiblical radiionsand secular unbelie. I is also imporan o show
he personal and he communal aspecs o he
aih in order o embody viable alernaives or
heir daily lives.
You have writen a very helpful litle book on
he papacy. So ell us, wha are posiive and
negaive aspecs of his new pope Francis?There is much senimenalism abou Pope Francis.
He is a champion o he gospel o “welcoming all”
and “showing compassion.” Many secular people,
as well as many evangelicals, are ascinaed
by i. We should ask: Wha abou
repenance and aih in Chris alone?
Wha abou urning back rom idolary
and ollowing Chris wholehearedly?
Wha abou puting he Word o God
firs? Some o he language o he Pope
seems o resemble gospel emphases,
ye he subsance o i is sill heavily
sacramenal and Marian, leaning
owards a liberal orm o Caholicism.
He is he firs Jesui o become Pope andwe should never orge ha he Jesui
order was ounded o figh agains he
Proesan Reormaion by learning is
secres and using hem agains i.
SOME OF THE LANGUAGE OF THE POPE
SEEMS TO RESEMBLE GOSPEL EMPHASIS,
YET THE SUBSTANCE OF IT IS STILL HEAVILY
SACRAMENTAL AND MARIAN, LEANING
TOWARDS A LIBERAL FORM OF CATHOLICISM.
HE IS THE FIRST JESUIT TO BECOME POPE AND
WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET THAT THE JESUIT
ORDER WAS FOUNDED TO FIGHT AGAINST THEPROTESTANT REFORMATION BY LEARNING ITS
SECRETS AND USING THEM AGAINST IT.
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Le’s address he elephan
in he room: Is he Pope he
Ani-Chris?
Luher, Calvin, he seveneenh-
cenury Proesan conessions,
he Purians, Wesley, Spurgeon,
e al., believed ha he papacy
(no his or ha Pope) is he
insiuion ou o which he
Ani-Chris will evenually
come. I share his broadproesan consensus. The
papacy claims chrisological
and pneumaological iles
and prerogaives (e.g. vicar
o Chris, inallible eacher,
supreme head o he church wih ull, immediae
and universal power), coupling hem wih
earhly poliical power. Remember ha Popesare monarchs o a sovereign poliical sae. In he
papacy wha belongs o God and wha belongs
o Caesar ragically inermingle. This poisoned
mixure is he poenial milieu or he Ani-Chris
o rise rom.
You are a pasor of a Reformed Bapis Church
in Rome. Is a church like yours exremelyrare? How has he culure perceived your
congregaion?
Evangelicals are 1% o he populaion in Ialy and
Rome is no differen rom he res o he counry.
We sill sruggle wih he cenuries-long prejudice
o evangelicals being perceived as a cul. Wha
makes our church disinc is ha i is conessional(holding o he 1689 London Conession o Faih
and belonging o a Reormed Bapis associaion
o churches), urban (impacing he culural,
poliical, media, and academic insiuions o
he ciy wih he gospel), and missional (living o
he glory o God in all vocaions and iniiaives).
Unlike culs, we cherish church hisory and claim
o belong o he caholic (no necessarily RomanCaholic!) church. Unlike culs, he gospel we
believe in is or he whole o lie. Unlike culs,
we encourage consrucive and criical culural
engagemen. Thankully, here is a growing
number o churches like ha.
Tell us abou his new piece of propery your
church is purchasing. Why is his so exciing?Because o he presence o he Vaican, Rome
ciy cener has been, unil recenly, a “heresy
ree-zone.” Non-Caholic iniiaives were no
welcomed, i no orbidden. The las propery
ha evangelical churches bough in he cenral
area daes back o 1920. Afer nearly 100 years we
are sending he message ha we love he gospeland we love he ciy. We wan o be a gospel
communiy righ a he hear o i. Apar rom
hosing he aciviies o he church, he propery
will also uncion as a heological sudy cener.
Wih IFED (a Reormed heological insiue:
BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE VATICAN,
ROME CITY CENTER HAS BEEN, UNTILRECENTLY, A “HERESY FREE-ZONE.” NON-
CATHOLIC INITIATIVES WERE NOT WELCOMED,
IF NOT FORBIDDEN. THE LAST PROPERTY THAT
EVANGELICAL CHURCHES BOUGHT IN THE
CENTRAL AREA DATES BACK TO 1920. AFTER
NEARLY 100 YEARS WE ARE SENDING THE
MESSAGE THAT WE LOVE THE GOSPEL ANDWE LOVE THE CITY. WE WANT TO BE A GOSPEL
COMMUNITY RIGHT AT THE HEART OF IT.
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www.iedialia.org) we are providing ousanding
heological raining o los o sudens. In Rome
we will ac as an oupos o evangelical heology,
nex o he Jesui and he Dominican universiies
which are locaed around he corner! The space
has he poenial o become a springboard or
gospel work in he ciy and beyond. For example,
he Reormanda Iniiaive has jus been launched
(www.reormandainiiaive.org). I aims a
helping he world-wide evangelical church o
relae biblically o Roman Caholicism.If our readers ge he chance o visi Rome, wha
wo places mus hey see?
Evangelical ouriss should see he “dark” sides
o Rome as ar as religious reedom is concerned.
For insance, Campo dei Fiori is a beauiul square
nex o he baroque Piazza Navona where Popes
burn hereics o all ypes, Proesans included.In he middle o Campo dei Fiori is an impressive
bronze saue o Giordano Bruno recalling his
execuion ha happened here in 1600 because
he was a “ree hinker” in an age and place where
oal submission o he power o he church was
imposed. A number o Evangelical maryrs ound
he same desiny here.
Anoher place o visi is Pora Pia where he Ialian
army enered he ciy and conquered i in 1870,
hus ending he hisory o he Ponifical sae. The
Bible in Ialian was orbidden in Rome up o 1870.
I was hrough he breach o Pora Pia ha
he firs Bibles prined by he Briish and
Foreign Bible Sociey were smuggled ino
he ciy and reely disribued o he people.The ragic irony o Rome is ha she is known
as one o he cradles o Chrisianiy, bu he
realiy is ha he Bible was a orbidden book
or cenuries. Generally, no our guide ells
you hese sories or shows you hese places.
Le’s ge down o he imporan suff: which
fooball eam should we be rooing for (ha is,“soccer” for our American readers!)?
In Rome here are wo op eams: Roma and Lazio.
People end o be very passionae abou one
or he oher or – should I say – one agains he
oher! People sop alking o you i you happen o
suppor he oher eam. I was no born in Rome, so
I am excused o suppor Torino FC, which is noperceived as a rival o mos Romans. In his way, I
don’ run he risk o losing a riend or supporing
he wrong ooball eam!
If I have jus one meal in Ialy, wha auhenic
dish should I order?
Try “srozzaprei” (lierally “pries sranglers”!).
I’s a savory pasa dish, like hick and wisedmacaroni. I can have various combinaions
wih differen omao-based sauces. In popular
culure, Roman Caholic counryside priess were
eased because o heir voracious appeies and
impressive bellies. So his pasa was supposed o
“srangle” hem because o is hickness. The grea
Dane used he law o realiaion o punish people
in he Inerno. Popular culure made a kind opasa o punish greedy priess. A asy reminder
ha no gluton will inheri he kingdom o God!
THE GREAT DANTE USED THE LAW OF
RETALIATION TO PUNISH PEOPLE IN THE
INFERNO. POPULAR CULTURE MADE A KINDOF PASTA TO PUNISH GREEDY PRIESTS. A
TASTY REMINDER THAT NO GLUTTON WILL
INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
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John Owen is born to
Rev. Henry Owen andhis wife, Hester.
James is succeededby Charles .
Owen begins
grammar school.
Owen enters Oxford
University.
Charles
I
dissolves
Parliament.
William Laudbecomeschancellor of
Oxford.Puritans leave
for New Englandand are led by
John Winthrop.
Owen graduates
with a BA.
Laud is appointedarchbishop of
Canterbury.
The Westminster
Confession of Faith
is completed.
The First Civil War
comes to an end.
The English Civil War begins;
Owen moves to London and gains
assurance of salvation.
Owen leaves
Oxford University.
The Long Parliament
(1640–1653)
convenes.
Owen takes up a pastorate
in Fordham, Essex; Owen
marries Mary Rooke (c.1618–1676). The Westmin-ster Assembly convenes.
The Solemn League andCovenant is signed.
Owen preaches
before Parliament
(April 29).He is inducted as vicar
of Coggeshall, Essex.Owen becomes aCongregationalist.
Parliamen-tarians gainan importantvictory at
the Battle of
MarstonMoor.
Owen is awarded anMA; begins a seven-n-year BD program.
1637 1635164016421643
1645 1646 1647 1648 1649
Charles I is executed;
England is declared acommonwealth.As Oliver Cromwell’s
chaplain, Owentravels to Ireland.
1 6 3 2
1633
1 6 4 4
Laud is executed;
the decisiveBattle of Nasebyis fought.
John Owen (1616-1683) is widely regarded as one o the most influential English Puritans. As a pastor, helonged to see the glory o Christ take root in people’s lives. As a writer, he continues to encourage us toward
discipline and communion with God. His high view o God and deep theological convictions flowed natural-ly into practical application and a zeal or personal holiness. Here are some quick acts about his lie:
Who is John Owen?
ll
http://www.https//www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/http://www.https//www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/http://www.https//www.crossway.org/books/owen-on-the-christian-life-tpb/
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The Toleration Actreceives royal assent.
Owen is appointeddean of ChristChurch, OxfordUniversity.
Owen is appointed
vice-chancellor of
Oxford.
Owen’s church uniteswith that of Joseph Caryl;the congregation nowmeets in LeadenhallStreet, London.
Owen is appointed preacher tothe Council of State and achaplain to Cromwell with theexpedition to Scotland.
Limited religious
freedom is granted by
the Declaration of
Indulgence.
Owen marriesDorothy D’Oyley.
The Act of Uniformity seeks to
impose Anglican uniformity; two
thousand Puritan ministers areejected on St. Bartholomew’s
Day (August 24); Owen moves to Stoke Newington.
The Great Plague kills manyin London; the Five Mile
Act prohibits Nonconform-ist ministers from returning
to parishes.
Cromwell dissolves
Parliament and is
appointed Lord Protector.Owen is awarded anhonorary DD from Oxford.
The Conventicle Actprohibits Nonconformistpastors from preaching.
Owen takes a
leading role at
the Savoy
Assembly.Cromwell dies
(September 3).
OwendiscussesNonconform-ist unity withRichardBaxter.
The Great Fire in
London destroysmuch of the city.
The monarchy is
restored under
Charles II.Owen leaves ChristChurch and Oxford
(March); he lives at
Stadhampton.
1650 1651 1653 1657
1662166416651666
1672 1673 1675 1676 1683
Owen dies (August 24);he is buried in BunhillFields (September 4).
1660
1 6 5 8
1652
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1689
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Picking just three books by John Owen to
recommend is such a difcult task when there are
so many good ones. Nevertheless, here are three
that have profoundly shaped my own thinking
and living:
Communion with the Triune God
While the recent edited version of this classic
work was titled Communion with the Triune God,
the original volume was called Of Communion
with God the Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghost, each
person distinctly in love, grace, and consolation,
or, the Saints Fellowship with the Father, Sonne,and Holy Ghost, unfolded (1657).
That full title explains the goals Owen has in
mind for this book, and in my mind, the results are
fresh and lled with vitality. In this profound and
pastoral work, Owen unpacks the benediction of
2 Cor. 13:14 with theological skill, psychological
insight, and pastoral passion. Probably, no work
has had a greater inuence on all of my theology
and life than this single volume. If you can onlyread one Owen book, without reservation this is
the volume I would suggest to you.
A Discourse on the Holy Spirit
While in reality he published 5 “books” on the
Holy Spirit over the years, it is reasonable to treat
these as a whole, which turns out to be over 1100
tightly printed pages in volumes 3 and 4 of thestandard 19th century edition of Owen’s Works.
It has been argued that Owen’s work on
Pneumatology is the most exhaustive (and
exhausting!) treatment on the person and work
Te Reormed Pastor
MY OP HREE BOOKS BY JOHN OWENby Kelly M. Kapic
1
2
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CONTENTS
of the Holy Spirit ever to have been published
by that time in the history of the Church. Owen
brilliantly draws on early Church Fathers
widely known (e.g., Augustine, Tertullian) andothers less known but deeply insightful on this
subject (e.g., Didymus the Blind). He covers
areas expected and unexpected. For example,
his treatment on the Spirit’s work in the life of
Jesus is helpfully suggestive and constructive.
Throughout this work readers will stumble upon
stunning Trinitarian insights, surprising pastoral
applications, and careful navigation between theextremes of his day (“rationalists” on the one
hand, and “Enthusiasts” on the other). Following
this Puritan you will nd yourself in the hands of
a faithful guide.
Overcoming Sin and Temptation
For the third spot, I am torn. I would like to
pick one of his celebrated works that deal withovercoming sin and temptation since I believe in
those books Owen shows striking psychological
understanding and fruitful proposals for living
in the midst of the ongoing struggle with sin.
However, I will instead use this last selection to
draw attention to one of his fantastic volumes
on Christology: On the Person of Christ or his
Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of
Christ.
The Person of Christ is a masterful example of
a Protestant scholastic treatment of Christology,
lled with careful distinctions and wise reections
even while not forgetting to display pastoral
connections. Yet his Meditations and Discourses,
representing the last work he actually worked on
before his death, is lled with a sense of wonder,warmth, and hope. Here is someone who sees
Jesus not as a theological abstraction, but rather
as the Lover of his Bride. By slowly working
through these volumes one cannot help but grow
in his or her reverence and love for the incarnate
Son of God.
Kelly M. Kapic is Professor of TheologicalStudies, Covenant College. He is the editor of
Overcoming Sin and Temptation and the author
of Communion with God: The Divine and the
Human in the Theology of John Owen.
3
PROBABLY, NO WORK HAS HADA GREATER INFLUENCE ON ALLOF MY THEOLOGY AND LIFE THANTHIS SINGLE VOLUME. IF YOUCAN ONLY READ ONE OWENBOOK, WITHOUT RESERVATIONTHIS IS THE VOLUME I WOULD
SUGGEST TO YOU.
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The Wesminser Confession is arguably he mos
imporan Reformed confession. Writen by some
of he mos ousanding heologians of he sev-
eneenh cenury, his summary of docrine sillspeaks oday! Mathew Barret, execuive edior of
Credo Magazine, alked wih J. V. Fesko, academ-
ic dean and professor of sysemaic heology and
hisorical heology a Wesminser Seminary Cali-
fornia, in order o undersand jus how imporan
his confessional saemen is for he church oday.
Fesko is he auhor of Jusificaion: Undersand-
ing he Classic Reormed Docrine, A Chrisian’sPocke Guide o Growing in Holiness, and The
Theology o he Wesminser Sandards.
John, you’ve been sudying The Wesminser
Confession for years, bu for some of our
readers his may be he firs ime hey have ever
heard of i. Briefly, can you ell us who wroe
his confession and why?
In he middle o he seveneenh-cenury, he
poliical siuaion in England was quie volaile.
The English king, Charles I, waned o bring
all worship in his kingdom ino conormiy
wih The Book of Common Prayer (TBCP). He
unsuccessully ried o impose TBCP upon he
Scotish churches. Iniially he Scos creaed heirnaional covenan in 1638 by which hey sough
o esablish heir churches in he Reormed aih.
This covenan was essenially a declaraion o war
agains King Charles. The king was he head o he
church and o rejec his auhoriy in he church’s
affairs was o rejec his auhoriy as king. The king
unsuccessully ried o approach Parliamen oraise money and an army o figh he Scos. Long
sory shor, Charles and Parliamen wen o war.
A he oubreak o he civil war, he English and
he Scos made an agreemen, he Solemn League
and Covenan (1643), by which hey sough o
promoe and esablish he Reormed aih in
England, Ireland, and Scoland. Par o heir effors
included having Parliamen call an assembly oheologians o wrie a new conession o aih and
caechisms o propagae he Reormed aih and
uniy he hree counries under he same docrine
and pracice. In one sense, he Wesminser
Assembly was a ailure—Presbyerianism ailed
o gain a srong oohold in England or Ireland;
alhough, i was firmly esablished in Scoland.Bu rom anoher vanage poin, he Assembly’s
success was ar greaer han hey could have ever
imagined. Alhough he Wesminser Sandards
never ook hold in England and Ireland, many
THE DIVINES WANTED TO ENSURE
THAT WORSHIP WAS SCRIPTURALLY
SOUND, UNFETTERED BY HUMAN
TRADITIONS, SO THAT THE GLORY OFTHE TRIUNE GOD AND THE GOSPEL
OF CHRIST WOULD STAND OUT. IF
YOU WALK INTO A ROMAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH, CHANCES ARE YOU’LL
BE DAZZLED BY GOLD, OPULENT
VESTMENTS, PICTURES OF SAINTS,
AND PERHAPS EVEN STAINED GLASS
WINDOWS. BY CONTRAST, IF YOU
WERE TO WALK INTO A SEVENTEENTH-
CENTURY SCOTTISH CHURCH, IT
WOULD LOOK NAKED—NOTHING ON
THE WALLS, A SIMPLE PULPIT, AND
SOME PEWS. THE DIVINES BELIEVEDTHAT IN SUCH A SEEMINGLY AUSTERE
SETTING, ONLY THE GLORY OF CHRIST
WOULD SHINE FORTH.
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churches hroughou he world now use hem as
heir conessional sandards.
The Wesminser Confession has much o
say abou he docrine of jusificaion. How
is Wesminser’s saemen on jusificaiondisincively Reformed in conras o, say,
Roman Caholicism and Arminianism?
By he ime he Wesminser divines wroe he
Conession, much heological waer had passed
under he bridge—here had been a number
o significan debaes over he docrine o
jusificaion, as well as debaes conemporarywih he Assembly’s work on he conession.
Righ off he ba, he Conession makes several
imporan qualificaions abou jusificaion.
Jusificaion is no by “inusing righeousness
ino” he elec and “no or anyhing wrough in
hem, or done by hem” (WCF XI.i). Boh o hese
saemens presen objecions o wo differenheological errors—views promoed by he
Roman Caholic Church and Luheran heologian
Andreas Osiander (1498-1552). Rome augh ha
God inused his grace ino a person by means o
his bapism and he work o he Holy Spiri. On
he basis o God’s grace wrough
by Chris, he believer hen
sough o mainain and secure
his jusificaion. The Councilo Tren amously promoed
he idea ha believers would
seek heir iniial jusificaion
by bapism and heir second
or final jusificaion by heir
Spiri-wrough works. The
divines rejec boh o hese
ideas by objecing o inusedrigheousness and arguing
ha jusificaion is no based
upon anyhing done by he
believer. Anoher error hey rejeced was he
view o Andreas Osiander, a Luheran heologian
who augh ha believers share in he divine
righeousness o Chris. In oher words, we are nojusified by Chris’s impued righeousness bu
by being in union wih Chris and sharing in his
own personal divine essenial righeousness. The
divines rejec his by saing ha jusificaion does
no res upon anyhing “wrough in” he believer.
In addiion o rejecing hese errors, he divines
also sae ha believers are no jusified by God“impuing aih isel, he ac o believing, or any
oher evangelical obedience o hem, as heir
righeousness” (WCF XI.i). They do no menion
him by name, bu he divines rejec he views o
Jacob Arminius (1560-1609). Arminius believed
ha God looked upon he aih o believers as i
i were righeousness. The Reormed, by conras,
augh ha aih was insrumenal and laid hold oChris’s righeousness. For Arminius, jusificaion
ress upon aih, whereas or he divines,
jusificaion ress solely upon he obedience and
saisacion o Chris.
UNION WITH CHRIST, AS JOHN OWEN
(1616-83) FAMOUSLY WROTE IN HIS
WORK COMMUNION WITH GOD, PROVIDES
THE FOUNDATION FOR THE BELIEVER’S
COMMUNION WITH THE TRIUNE GOD AND
HIS FELLOWSHIP WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST,
THE CHURCH. THE DIVINES WROTE OF THIS
DOCTRINAL NEXUS BEFORE OWEN WROTE HIS
FAMOUS WORK IN 1657.
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Rome and Arminius were cerainly key errors he
divines waned o avoid and proscribe, bu here
were oher docrines hey also sough o exclude.
On he one hand, hey waned o address he
concerns o aninomians—hose who believed
ha he moral law was compleely eliminaed
or believers. The divines, hereore, augh ha
God expeced good works rom believers, bu
hese good works were no he ground o heir
jusificaion bu insead is rui. Faih does
indeed work by love, bu no or jusificaion(WCF XI.ii). In jusificaion, he principal acs o
saving aih are receiving, resing, and acceping
Chris’s work—hese are all passive elemens
(WCF XIV.i). Relaed o his is he rejecion o
jusificaion rom eerniy. The moderaor o he
Assembly, William Twisse (1578-1646), was par
o a small minoriy o Reormed heologians who
believed ha God jusified he elec in eerniy. When a person made his proession o aih he
merely discovered his already jusified saus.
The divines rejeced jusificaion rom eerniy
and insead disinguished beween God’s decree
o jusiy he elec and heir acual jusificaion in
ime (WCF XI.iv).
On he oher hand, he divines were also keen orejec errors o Neonomianism, he idea ha God
lowered he demands o he law hrough Chris’s
work. The new sandard was sincere obedience.
Richard Baxer (1615-91) laer amously augh
a woold jusificaion, one where a person was
iniially jusified by aih, which was hen ollowed
by a second jusificaion a he final judgmen. A
person could, in heory, ail o be jusified a he
final judgmen because o his lack o piey and
good works. In conras o he views o Baxer,
he divines asser ha he elec can never ruly
all away, hough hey can and do all under his
aherly displeasure (WCF XI.v).
The las wo errors hey address are worh
noing. Again, he divines being ever so polie
do no menion anyone by name. Neverheless,
hey affirm he impuaion o he acive and
passive obedience o Chris when hey say ha
God impues his “obedience and saisacion”
o believers (WCF XI.iii). When we read he
Conession, we migh be emped o look or hese
docrines under conemporary labels, such as heimpued acive obedience o Chris. Ye, we mus
read he Conession in is seveneenh-cenury
conex and recognize ha he divines use
phrases and erms common o heir own period.
THEY DO NOT MENTION HIM BY
NAME, BUT THE DIVINES REJECT
THE VIEWS OF JACOB ARMINIUS
(1560-1609). ARMINIUS BELIEVED
THAT GOD LOOKED UPON THE
FAITH OF BELIEVERS AS IF IT WERE
RIGHTEOUSNESS. THE REFORMED,
BY CONTRAST, TAUGHT THAT
FAITH WAS INSTRUMENTALAND LAID HOLD OF CHRIST’S
RIGHTEOUSNESS. FOR ARMINIUS,
JUSTIFICATION RESTS UPON
FAITH, WHEREAS FOR THE DIVINES,
JUSTIFICATION RESTS SOLELY
UPON THE OBEDIENCE AND
SATISFACTION OF CHRIST.
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I. Tose whom God effectually calls, He alsoeely justifies; not by inusing righteousnessinto them, but by pardoning their sins, andby accounting and accepting their persons
as righteous; not or any thing wrought inthem, or done by them, but or Christ’s sakealone; nor by imputing aith itsel, the act obelieving, or any other evangelical obedienceto them, as their righteousness; but byimputing the obedience and satisaction oChrist unto them, they receiving and restingon Him and His righteousness by aith; which
aith they have not o themselves, it is the gio God.
II. Faith, thus receiving and resting onChrist and His righteousness, is the aloneinstrument o justification: yet is it notalone in the person justified, but is everaccompanied with all other saving graces, andis no dead aith, but works by love.
III. Christ, by His obedience and death, didully discharge the debt o all those that arethus justified, and did make a proper, realand ull satisaction to His Father’s justice intheir behal. Yet, in as much as He was givenby the Father or them; and His obedienceand satisaction accepted in their stead; andboth, eely, not or any thing in them; their justification is only o ee grace; that boththe exact justice, and rich grace o God mightbe glorified in the justification o sinners.
IV. God did, om all eternity, decree to justifall the elect, and Christ did, in the ullnesso time, die or their sins, and rise again ortheir justification: nevertheless, they are not
justified, until the Holy Spirit does, in duetime, actually apply Christ unto them.
V. God does continue to orgive the sins othose that are justified; and although theycan never all om the state o justification, yet they may, by their sins, all under God’satherly displeasure, and not have the light
o His countenance restored unto them,until they humble themselves, coness theirsins, beg pardon, and renew their aith andrepentance.
VI. Te justification o believers under theOld estament was, in all these respects,one and the same with the justification o
believers under the New estament.
THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION ON JUSTIFICATION
CHAPER XI
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The “obedience and saisacion” is a common
seveneenh-cenury phrase ha reers o he
acive and passive obedience o Chris.
Las, he divines address a common Anabapis
error, namely, ha Old Tesamen believers were
saved in a differen manner rom hose in he New
Tesamen. In concer wih some o he earlies
covenan heology o he Reormaion rom Ulrich
Zwingli (1484-1531) and Heinrich Bullinger (1504-
75), he divines affirm ha salvaion was he same
or boh Old and New Tesamen believers—heywere all jusified by grace alone hrough aih
alone in Chris alone.
To say he leas, one should be amiliar wih
he various debaes ha were common o he
sixeenh and seveneenh cenuries in order o
have a richer appreciaion or he inricae manner
in which he divines explain wha jusificaion isand wha i is no.
You’ve done some grea work on he docrine of
union wih Chris. Tell us, how did hose who
wroe The Wesminser Confession undersand
union wih Chris?
Wih he caholic church (noe he lower case“c,” where caholic means universal, no Roman
Caholic), he divines embraced and affirmed
he docrine o union wih Chris. They were no
alone in his as many heologians beore hem—
Augusine, Aquinas, Bernard o Clairvaux—
augh he docrine o union wih Chris. Wihin
heir own conex, he Roman Caholic Church,
Arminius, and even he hereical Socinians, aughdocrines o union wih Chris. I hink he divines
were aware o heir agreemen wih he caholic
docrine, and hence, i is much like he waer
surrounding a fish—he fish doesn’ ake much
noice o wha is amiliar o him. In one sense,
hen, he docrine o union wih Chris does no
eaure as prominenly as i does, or example, in
Girolamo Zanchi’s personal conession o aih, De Religione Chrisiana. In his conession Zanchi
has a separae chaper on union wih Chris ha
leads off his reamen o soeriology. On his
noe, some have even criicized he divines or
no having a docrine o union, bu such analysis
is erroneous.
The divines affirm union wih Chris in a numbero places. For example, hey recognize ha elecion
akes place as he firs insance o union wih
Chris, wha heologians o he period someimes
called he union of he decree (WCF III.v). The
divines also explain, “All sains, ha are unied o
Jesus Chris heir Head, by his Spiri, and by aih,
have ellowship wih him” (WCF XXVI.i). Union
wih Chris, as John Owen (1616-83) amouslywroe in his work Communion wih God, provides
he oundaion or he believer’s communion wih
he riune God and his ellowship wih he body
o Chris, he church. The divines wroe o his
docrinal nexus beore Owen wroe his amous
work in 1657.
Anoher imporan place we should examine
when invesigaing he docrine o union wih
Chris is he Larger Caechism, which asks:
Wha is he communion in grace which he
members o he invisible church have wih Chris?
The answer?
The communion in grace which he members
o he invisible church have wih Chris, is heir
paraking o he virue o his mediaion, in
heir jusificaion, adopion, sancificaion, and
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RIGHT WORSHIP WAS A
REFLECTION OF RIGHT
DOCTRINE; HENCE THE
ASSEMBLY SET OUT TO WRITE ANEW CONFESSION OF FAITH AND
CATECHISMS TO BRING ABOUT
THE REFORMATION OF WORSHIP.
whaever else, in his lie, maniess heir union
wih him (Larger Caechism q. 69).
This quesion sars he Larger Caechism’s
explanaions o jusificaion, adopion, and
sancificaion. Like Zanchi, he divines also
recognized ha union is he conex or all o he
divine blessings o redempion. Bu wha makes
he Reormed undersanding o union unique, in
conras o Arminian, Roman Caholic, or Socinian
views, is ha hey believe in jusificaion by an
exrinsic or alien righeousness impued by aihalone (WCF XI.ii). In conras o hese erroneous
views, he elec ener ino union wih Chris
he momen o heir effecual calling (Shorer
Caechism, q. 30), bu his union wih Chris is
no he basis o heir jusificaion. The believer’s
judicial sanding ress solely in Chris’s work, no
in “anyhing wrough in hem, or done by hem,
bu or Chris’s sake alone” (WCF XI.i).
For some oday, docrine and worship are o
live in wo differen worlds. One has nohing
o do wih he oher, nor should i! However,
The Wesminser Confession, which is hick on
docrine, also has a lo o say abou worship in
he church. How does i connec he dos from
docrine o doxology?
For he Wesminser divines, worship and
heology were inexricably bound ogeher. The
heology o worship (recall Charles I’s effors o
impose TBCP) was one o he chie causes o he
civil war. Wesminser divines, such as Samuel
Ruherord, spen ime in prison because hey
were accused o preaching agains TBCP.
An addiional layer o complexiy is he common
seveneenh-cenury belie ha he ype o
worship praciced by a naion drove he ebb and
flow o world hisory. When he Spanish Armadawas desroyed by a sorm o he Wesern coas o
Scoland, England viewed i as a divine vindicaion
o he Reormed aih over he bankrup heology
o Roman Caholic Spain. They believed ha a
“Proesan wind” desroyed he Spanish flee!
A number o he Wesminser divines also believed
in he imminen reurn o Chris—some houghha Chris would reurn in less han weny
years according o heir exegeical calculaions.
They waned, hereore, o reorm he heology
and worship in he hree kingdoms so ha God’s
wrah would no all on England, Ireland, and
Scoland. Righ worship was a reflecion o righ
docrine; hence he Assembly se ou o wrie a
new conession o aih and caechisms o bring
abou he reormaion o worship.
One such example o Reormed worship comes
in he Regulaive Principle o Worship (RPW)—
all worship pracices mus have precedence in
Scripure. Where Scripure is silen, he church
may no creae or impose new pracices. To
conemporary eyes, his may appear like a raher
sric approach o worship, bu in realiy, i was
a grea relie o many—i mean reedom, no
confinemen. In England, he king (or queen)
could impose TBCP and require all subjecs o
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ollow is rules wihou excepion. For people
who reused, hey could be fined and imprisoned,
and or muliple violaions hey could be
execued. I you reused, or example, o kneel beore he sacramen, hen you could be fined.
Or, i you reused o come o worship services o
avoid cerain imposed pracices, once again, you
could be fined or imprisoned. The Wesminser
divines believed ha no one should be required
o kneel o receive he sacramen because here
was no warran in Scripure or he pracice. The
RPW reed people rom he yranny o abusiveauhoriy; hey could res assured hey would
only be expeced o do he hings required in
Scripure—nohing more, nohing less.
To his end, he Wesminser divines creaed he
Direcory for Public Worship. Imporan is he
firs word in he ile, Direcory. In oher words,
his book offered direcions; i did no imposecommands. Yes, i did ideniy cerain required
elemens o worship, such as he reading and
preaching o he Word, bu i did no speciy
how much o he Word should be read or wha
ype o sermon should be preached. In all o
his he divines waned o ensure ha worship
was scripurally sound, unetered by humanradiions, so ha he glory o he riune God
and he gospel o Chris would sand ou. I you
walk ino a Roman Caholic church, chances
are you’ll be dazzled by gold, opulen vesmens,
picures o sains, and perhaps even sained glass
windows. By conras, i you were o walk ino a
seveneenh-cenury Scotish church, i would
look naked—nohing on he walls, a simplepulpi, and some pews. The divines believed
ha in such a seemingly ausere seting, only he
glory o Chris would shine orh.
We live in a day when he auhoriy of Scripure
is under severe atack. Can The Wesminser
Confession help us recover a biblical docrine
of Scripure once again? If so, how?
These days i seems as hough people seek God
hrough all sors o differen avenues. They look
wihin hoping ha hey’ll find him hrough
mediaion or mysicism. They look wihou
hoping hey will find him in sel-help books,
anasic ales rom people who supposedly died
and came back rom he dead, or even in hecharismaic movemen where well-inended
Chrisians consanly seek a new message rom
God, revelaion ailor-made or heir own lie. In
a similar vein many oday make God in heir own
image—hey worship a god o heir own desires or
ideals. Why worship a God who judges wickedness
when we can pick atribues ha please us as we
walk hrough he docrinal salad-bar o our pos-modern culure?
In conras o hese many rends, he divines
begin heir conession wih he docrine o
Scripure. God’s revelaion, no our imaginaions,
defines him—i reveals who he is and wha he
has done. In he simple words o he Shorer
Caechism, Scripure principally eaches wha we
are o believe concerning God and wha duy he
requires o us (q. 3). Bu ar rom being a lieless
book o rules, he divines believed ha God’s Word
is is own inerpreer. Sure, here are challenging
porions o Scripure which are someimes
difficul o undersand. Bu because he Holy
Spiri has inspired he enire Bible, we can usehe clearer pars o Scripure o inerpre he less
clear pars (WCF I.vii). This principle has been
labeled he analogy o Scripure—or, Scripure
inerpreing Scripure (WCF I.ix). The divines
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THESE DAYS IT SEEMS AS THOUGH
PEOPLE SEEK GOD THROUGH ALL
SORTS OF DIFFERENT AVENUES.
THEY LOOK WITHIN HOPING THATTHEY’LL FIND HIM THROUGH
MEDITATION OR MYSTICISM. THEY
LOOK WITHOUT HOPING THEY WILL
FIND HIM IN SELF-HELP BOOKS,
FANTASTIC TALES FROM PEOPLE
WHO SUPPOSEDLY DIED AND CAME
BACK FROM THE DEAD, OR EVEN
IN THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT
WHERE WELL-INTENDED CHRISTIANS
CONSTANTLY SEEK A NEW MESSAGE
FROM GOD, REVELATION TAILOR-
MADE FOR THEIR OWN LIFE. IN A
SIMILAR VEIN MANY TODAY MAKEGOD IN THEIR OWN IMAGE—THEY
WORSHIP A GOD OF THEIR OWN
DESIRES OR IDEALS. WHY WORSHIP
A GOD WHO JUDGES WICKEDNESS
WHEN WE CAN PICK ATTRIBUTES
THAT PLEASE US AS WE WALK
THROUGH THE DOCTRINAL SALAD-
BAR OF OUR POST-MODERN
CULTURE?
recognized, hereore, ha God no only wroe
he Bible, bu he coninues o use i oday—he
supreme judge in he church or all conroversies
o religion “can be no oher bu he Holy Spirispeaking in he Scripure” (WCF I.x). Noe he
pariciple, “he Holy Spiri speaking” (emphasis).
The divines believed ha God coninues o speak
hrough he reading and especially he preaching
o his Word (Larger Caechism, qq. 154-55).
How ofen do people come o church in eager
anicipaion o hearing God audibly speak o
hem hrough he reading and preaching o
he Word? Do we come o download daa and
inormaion abou God, o hear a pep alk, or or
some pracical advice? Or do we come o hear
he Spiri o he living God speak hrough he
reading and especially he preaching o God’s Word? I suspec i more people had his ype o
undersanding and appreciaion o God’s Word,
hey would realize where he rue manna rom
heaven lies—no in he mysical journey wihin,
or seeking special knowledge rom a gifed ew,
or looking or he one sel-help book ha will
offer grea lie-skills—and hey would seek and
cherish God’s Word.
In your opinion, wha is i abou The
Wesminser Confession ha ses i apar
from oher confessions as a saemen of faih
he church oday should follow?
I really appreciae he docrinal precision o
he Conession. When you ake a close look ahe documen, is careul urns o phrase, wha
i says, as well as wha i doesn’ say, i’s really
a magnificen documen. The divines were
very careul in consrucing his documen—
hey drew lines in he sand on key issues, such
as he imporance o he decree o elecion,
bu also mainained human ree will. The
razor-sharp disincions in he chaper on
jusificaion preserve he alien naure o Chris’s
impued righeousness and careully affirm he
necessiy and imporance o good works or
he Chrisian lie. A he same ime, he divines
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allowed or a grea deal o docrinal diversiy,
which hey accommodaed hrough brillianly
and purposeully ambiguous saemens in he
Conession.The divines, or example, sae ha he reward or
Adam in he covenan o works was “lie” (WCF
VII.ii). They don’ speciy wheher his was eernal
lie or dwelling indefiniely in he Garden o Eden.
This was a subjec o debae among he divines.
Raher han make a decision, hey used he
ambiguous word life so ha boh paries could signoff on he documen. In his respec, he divines
used wisdom regarding where o draw lines in he
sand and when o draw circles. On some issues,
hey said, “Here, and no urher!” On oher issues,
hey agreed o have a principled diversiy. The
church, I believe, desperaely needs his ehos.
Too ofen people define orhodoxy as oeing a
specific line on every single poin o docrine,and he slighes deviaion is characerized as
aposasy. The divines knew where o draw lines
and where o allow or differences o opinion. We
should sudy he Conession o see where hey do
his and see wha we can do o learn rom i.
If readers enjoy The Wesminser Confession,
wha confession or caechism, or wha Purian,should hey urn o nex?
On he shor side, William Ames’s The Marrow
of Theology, or William Perkins’s The Golden
Chaine is a good place o sar. These men were
very influenial in he period leading up o he
Assembly.
An excellen sysem o heology is Edward Leigh’s
Body of Diviniy. Leigh served in Parliamen
during he ime o he Assembly, and hough he
wasn’ a divine, he was inimaely amiliar wih
he heology o he period and ofen caalogs many
o he differen views and common argumens
rom he period. Leigh’s work is excellen. In ac,
I prined he PDF o his Body of Diviniy, oldedhe pages in hal, and had hem bound in hree
separae volumes so I could have hem readily
accessible on my bookshel.
Anoher collecion o consider is The Works of
Thomas Goodwin. Goodwin was an independen
divine who paricipaed in mos o he Assembly’s
significan debaes. The welve volumes o hisworks cerainly provide an excellen window
ino he heology o he period and one o he
Assembly’s greaes minds.
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W
riting on John Owen is like building
an iPad (sorry in advance to non-
Apple fans). The R&D departmentmust work hard to engineer a product using terms
that the average person does not understand, but
without which there could be no iPad. After long
hours of research, planning, meetings, tests, and
trips to China, the iPads begin rolling off the
assembly line. The end product must be useable,
and someone then tries
to show people why they
need one.
I wrote a very expensive
book on Owen and a
very inexpensive book
on Owen. The very
expensive book hashundreds of footnotes and
takes great pains to argue
from primary sources, set
Owen in his historical
context, and interact with
other scholars. It is very
expensive partly becausesome of these scholars
need a paycheck for combing through such works
in order to make them better. My very inexpensive
book on Owen represents what happens when
church members ask, “Why have you spent
so much time writing about John Owen?” My
primary answer is that Owen is the best author in
English to teach us how to enjoy fellowship withall three persons in the Trinity. In that light, my
aim is to sell you an “Owen iPad” by helping you
understand why he is important and how he can
help you know the triune God better.
HOW TO BUILD AN OWEN IPAD: THE CONTEXT OF
Owen’s TriniTarian PieTy
Some scholars have called Owen the greatesttheologian that England ever produced. Yet he is
old and dead, so why should you care? He neither
wrote blog posts nor had Facebook or Twitter
accounts. The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians
4:11-16,
And He Himself gave
some to be apostles,some prophets, some
evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the
saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, tillwe all come to the unity
of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of
God, to a perfect man, to
the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ;
that we should no longer
be children, tossed toand fro and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning
craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the
truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him
who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole
body, joined and knit together by what every joint
supplies, according to the effective working bywhich every part does its share, causes growth of
the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Paul included “pastors and teachers” among the
ofces listed here. Christ’s positive purposes
WE ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO
READ THEOLOGIANS FROM THE
PAST IN THE SAME WAY THAT
WE ARE OBLIGATED TO BELONG
TO LOCAL CHURCHES AND TO
SIT UNDER A LOCAL MINISTRY.
YET CAN WE NOT BENEFIT
FROM THOSE MEN WHO ARE
AMONG CHRIST’S GREATEST
“GIFTS” TO THE CHURCH IN
HER HISTORY?
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in giving such men to the church are to equip
the saints and to promote unity in the faith and
spiritual maturity. His negative purpose is to
protect believers from theological and practical
instability as well as from false teachers. Christ’s
plan for your life is for you to read your Bible daily
and to sit under sound preaching (Acts 17:10-11).
We are not obligated to read theologians from
the past in the same way that we are obligated to
belong to local churches and to sit under a localministry. Yet can we not benet from those men
who are among Christ’s greatest “gifts” to the
church in her history?
In order to prot from Owen’s theology, you need
some history. Owen was born in 1616. He studied
at Oxford University in his early teens, which
was the time to go university if you went at all.
After completing his BA and MA, he began his
seven-year bachelor of divinity degree (for those
interested in seminary, do not try this at home
unless accompanied by an adult, and for students,
your work load is not too bad). Owen dropped
out of his divinity degree early due to persecution
from William Laud, who required “Puritans” to practice things in worship that were against their
consciences, such as bowing to crucixes and
wearing funny bright colored robes known as
“vestments.”
However, Owen eventually earned
the title of doctor of divinity for his
writing skills, became a chaplain toOliver Cromwell, and acceded to
vice-chancellor of Oxford University
where he taught for a decade. After
the monarchy was restored, Owen
used the exorbitant salary he earned
previously at Oxford (about ten times
that of the average minister) to help support Puritan
ministers who were forbidden from preaching. Hewent from preaching before thousands in Ireland
and mentoring students at Oxford to pastoring a
small church of about thirty members. He wrote
many important books.
He died in 1683, comforted that the last book
he saw coming to print aimed to teach believers
how to meditate on the glory of Christ. His life-
long battle with the Socinians, who denied the
Trinity, the atonement, and almost every essential
doctrine of the Christian faith except the doctrine
of Scripture, provided the background for his
practical development of Trinitarian theology. So
we will draw from Communion with God , which
was his primary practical work on the Trinity.
whaT The Owen iPad dOes: The TriniTy,COvenanT TheOlOgy, and UniOn wiTh ChrisT
Three components make the “Owen iPad”:
the doctrine of the Trinity, covenant theology,
and union with Christ. The Trinity means that
God is one in essence and three in person. This
doctrine is revealed in Scripture and is not a
contradiction, since God is one of one thing and
three of something else. The Father begets the Son
OWEN TEACHES US HOW TO HAVE
COMMUNION WITH EACH DIVINE PERSON
JOINTLY AND DISTINCTLY. HIS BOOK ON
COMMUNION WITH GOD TREATS EACH
PERSON IN TURN WITH A PRACTICAL AIM.
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eternally, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father
and Son together. The unity of God means that all
three persons operate inseparably in every divine
work. The distinction between and the order of
the persons means that each divine person works
appropriately in every divine action. To illustrate,
the Father sent the Son to save his elect, Christ
took on true humanity, and he was conceived by
the power of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb
(Luke 1:35). In terms of salvation, the Father
plans salvation, the Son purchases salvation, and
the Spirit applies salvation. God communicatesto us from the Father, through the Son, and by
the Spirit. In turn, we come to God by the Spirit,
through the Son, to the Father (Eph. 2:18).
The next two components work together. God
is high above us (Ps. 113). He comes to us in an
agreement called a covenant. This means that God
must be reconciled to sinners through Christ’s
death and that sinners must be reconciled to God
by the Spirit changing their hearts (Rom. 5:1-10;
2 Cor. 5:18-21; Jn. 3:3-5). Yet what good is it if
Christ has no personal relation to us and we still
stand under God’s wrath? We need faith to unite us
to Christ (1 Cor. 6:17), which means that all that is
his becomes ours. By Christ’s righteous life we arecounted righteous before God (Rom. 5:17-20), by
his cursed death God removes his wrath and curse
due to us for sin (Gal. 3:13), by his resurrection
we walk in newness of life and hope in the life
to come (Rom. 6:1-11), and by his ascension and
session in heaven he prepares a place for us (John
14:3) and lives to make intercession for us (Heb.
7:25). Christ is the bond of union between God
and us, ensuring through the Spirit’s work in our
hearts that we can be saved and walk with God.
This means that the gospel is Trinitarian. The
Father, Son, and Spirit save us together and
each in his own way. We live in covenant with
God through Christ, in which he adopts us as his
children (Gal. 4:1-4) and makes us joint heirsof heaven with Christ (Rom. 8:17). This should
enable us to live the entire Christian life, from the
new birth to the resurrection, in loving fellowship
with all three divine persons.
whaT dOes The Owen iPad lOOk like? The FaTher, The sOn, and The hOly sPiriT
This is where we should get excited. Owen
teaches us how to have communion with each
divine person jointly and distinctly. His book on
Communion with God treats each person in turn
with a practical aim.
The Trinitarian blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14 canhelp us understand and remember how this works.
We hold communion with the Father primarily in
love. Some Christians treat Christ’s intercession
as though it is a cosmic wrestling match between
IN PRACTICAL TERMS, THIS MEANS
THAT YOU MUST GO TO CHRIST
FOR EVERYTHING. WHAT DO YOU
DO, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN YOUSTRUGGLE WITH INDWELLING SIN?
YOU MUST GO TO CHRIST FOR THE
SPIRIT TO GRANT YOU REPENTANCE
AND OBEDIENCE. IF YOU ARE
SERIOUS ABOUT THIS, THEN YOU
MUST USE THE MEANS THAT CHRIST
GIVES YOU TO PUT AWAY SIN,
TRUSTING IN HIM TO BLESS THEM.
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the Father and the Son in which the Son (barely)
prevails in holding back the Father’s wrath. Owen
noted that this insults the Father. It is God the
Father who so loved the world that he gave his
only begotten Son (John 3:16). When John wrote,
“God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), he had the Father
in view primarily, since the Father proved his love
by giving us his Son. While all three persons love
us and Christ’s love surpasses knowledge (Eph.
3:19), we should think of the Father primarily
when we think of the love of God. This should
comfort us and lead us to love the Father everytime we say, “Our Father” in prayer.
We hold communion with the Son in grace. While
“grace” often means today, “I am a very bad person
and I need to keep reveling in my justication
before God,” Owen meant something different.
Grace includes all of the benets imparted to us by
the Father through Christ. This means that Christ
gives us everything we need for justication,
adoption, sanctication, persevering in godliness,
and glorication (Jn. 1:12; Rom. 8:28-39). Christ
is the wisdom and the power of God to salvation
(1 Cor. 1:24), which includes more than forgiving
our sins (1 Pet. 1:5). Since I am united to Christ’s
person through covenant, I partake of all thatChrist purchased.
In practical terms, this means that you must go
to Christ for everything. What do you do, for
example, when you struggle with indwelling
sin? You must go to Christ for the Spirit to grant
you repentance and obedience. If you are serious
about this, then you must use the means that Christ
gives you to put away sin, trusting in him to bless
them. This includes meditation on the nature of
sin, confronting yourself with Scripture, fervent
prayer for help, Christian fellowship, public
worship, sacraments, and other means by which
Christ communicates himself to you. You need to
be where Christ is and trust in his willingness and
ability to enable you to live for his glory. We walk
by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).
We hold communion with the Spirit in comfort.
He creates and maintains fellowship between God
and us. As the seal of our redemption (2 Cor. 1:22),
he regenerates us and stamps us as belonging to
God. As the down-payment of our salvation (Eph.
1:14), he gives us partial possession and a foretaste
of heaven while we walk with God on earth. We
cultivate communion with the Spirit by growingin personal holiness (Gal. 5:25). When we fall
into sin, we live as citizens of hell though we are
truly citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:21). Owen argued
that to the extent that we cultivate communion
with the Spirit we have already begun to enjoy
heaven on earth. Elsewhere he wrote that if we do
not trust in the Spirit to help us know the Lord,then we may as well burn our Bibles! We must
cultivate fellowship with the Spirit by reading our
Bibles on our knees in prayer and by promoting
godly living through using the means of grace.
IT IS PRECISELY BECAUSE OF
GOD’S JEALOUSY FOR HIS
OWN GLORY, WHICH IS BEINGOPPOSED BY PHARAOH, THAT
GOD USING HIS SOVEREIGNTY
TO ACCOMPLISH MIGHTY ACTS
IS JUSTIFIED.
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why dO i need an Owen iPad?
Now you have a task set before you. The
application of Owen’s principles stretches into
every area of theology and into every part of the
Christian life. To see what this looks like, you can
begin by reading my very inexpensive book on
Owen. To see how this works and why, you can
read my very expensive book on Owen. However,the best way to grow in loving fellowship with
all three divine persons is to start reading Owen
himself, beginning with Communion with God.
Owen will help you stretch your mind and train
your spiritual muscles in order to run the race set
before you (Heb. 12:1-2). Take up and read, and
learn to love the triune God and to walk with him
in every area of life.
Ryan McGraw is pastor of First orthodox
Presbyterian Church in Sunnyvale, California;
research associate, University of the Free
State; adjunct professor of systematic theology,
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He
is the author of The Foundation of Communion
with God: The Trinitarian Piety of John Owen (his inexpensive book!) and A Heavenly
Directory: Trinitarian Piety, Public Worship and
a Reassessment of John Owen’s Theology (his
expensive book!).
OWEN ARGUED THAT TO THE
EXTENT THAT WE CULTIVATE
COMMUNION WITH THE SPIRITWE HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO
ENJOY HEAVEN ON EARTH.
ELSEWHERE HE WROTE THAT
IF WE DO NOT TRUST IN THE
SPIRIT TO HELP US KNOW
THE LORD, THEN WE MAY ASWELL BURN OUR BIBLES! WE
MUST CULTIVATE FELLOWSHIP
WITH THE SPIRIT BY READING
OUR BIBLES ON OUR KNEES IN
PRAYER AND BY PROMOTING
GODLY LIVING THROUGH USING
THE MEANS OF GRACE.
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Killing Sin
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J
ohn Owen would shake his head a little at
another article written about his contribution
to understanding the New Testament’steaching on killing remaining sin. He would have
much preferred future generations to be helped
to see more of the glory of God. He would nd
our obsession with killing the esh to be a sign
of our struggles in sanctication. However, given
our evangelical neglect of the duty to kill our sin,
John Owen comes with mighty encouragement to
assist us in our holy ambition to be like Christ.
WHAT TO DO WITH REMAINING SIN
Owen hones in on the Pauline exhortation, “If
you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you
will live” (Rom. 8:13). The Bible afrms that the
Christian has been delivered from the dominion
of sin by the Holy Spirit coming into his life.The Holy Spirit is the Christian’s new master,
deposing King Sin. The Christian has been made
free from sin’s insistent commands that he give in
to sin and satisfy its lusts; every true Christian is
now able to defy sin and do what is righteous. But,
of course, that does not make him sinless. Oh that
he were, but for that he must wait for heaven! The
remaining virus of sin and its misdeeds will ever
trouble us; it will make its presence felt even on
our deathbeds. What are we to do with remaining
sin which, while not controlling us, is still within
us?
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY THAN BY THE SPIRIT
We keep looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, ofcourse. Our constant trust in the Savior is the
source of our victory over sin. That is one biblical
insistence, and another is found in the eighth
chapter of Romans. Paul tells us that our hope lies
in putting to death the misdeeds of the body—
that is, in mortifying remaining sin by weakening,
starving, and murdering everything evil that rises
up within us to defy God and his law. We are to
be engaged in this work by the energy and under
the direction of the Spirit of God. Regeneration is
vain without the work of the Spirit. Sanctication
is vain without the work of the Spirit. The fruit
of Christ-likeness will never appear without the
Spirit. Intercession is impossible without the
Spirit. So we also are impotent to put to death
the misdeeds of the body without the Holy Spirit.
All other ways of killing sin are vain; all other
suggested helps are helpless. It must be done by
the Spirit, by him alone, not by appeal to any other
IF, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU
APPEAL TO YOGA TO KILL
YOUR SINFUL NATURES, ORPURSUE A SOLITARY LIFE IN
AN ISOLATED COTTAGE ON
TOP OF A WELSH MOUNTAIN,
OR BEAT YOURSELF WITH
A WHIP UNTIL THE BLOOD
FLOWS—ANYTHING OTHER
THAN THE GRACE OF THE
SPIRIT TO OVERCOME YOUR
SINS—THEN YOU ARE
SAYING THAT THE HOLY
SPIRIT IS INADEQUATE FOR
THIS WORK. THAT IS AN
INSULT TO HIM.
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power. If, for example, you appeal to Yoga to kill
your sinful natures, or pursue a solitary life in an
isolated cottage on top of a Welsh mountain, or
beat yourself with a whip until the blood ows—
anything other than the grace of the Spirit to
overcome your sins—then you are saying that theHoly Spirit is inadequate for this work. That is an
insult to him.
Remember the promises of God in the Old
Testament, especially in the prophecies of
Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26, that the Spirit will come
and remove those elements of proud, stubborn,
rebellious unbelief from our hearts. That is thework of mortication, and it is only as a gift of
the Spirit of Christ that deliverance from sin and
increased likeness to the Lord can be ours. There
is no other way than by the Spirit. All the work
of weakening sin and increasing love, joy, and
peace is the work of God. So mortication is a
happy work. The very conception is his work; the
continuance is his work; the consummation is his
work. The Paraclete’s task in us is to weaken sin
and strengthen Christ. Only he is sufcient for
this work.
So as you battle with the sin that so easily besets
you, never forget your duty: “You put to death
the misdeeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13). You do
it. You don’t lie back on a comfy bed of ease andwait for the Spirit to do it. You have to put to death
the misdeeds of the body, but you do so by the
Spirit, by his power and love and wisdom. How
so? Owen says ve things.
1. THE SPIRIT ALONE CAN CONVINCE YOUR HEART
OF THE DANGER OF SIN
Your sin may seem to you to be beautiful, so natural,
so obvious, and so rational. “Who could possibly
consider it tawdry and ugly?” Consider the story
of Jonah, for example. Jonah arrives at the port of
Tarshish in deance of God’s command that he go
to Nineveh (which was in the opposite direction).
There Jonah discovers a boat on its way west with
a berth for him, and he has the money for the fare.Isn’t that an obvious indication of God’s approval
of Jonah’s reluctance to go to Nineveh? In ways
like that we persuade ourselves that it is all right
to do what the Lord forbids. We use providence
to support our own rebellion. If we are left to our
own wits it will be a very long time before we
mortify our pride and look to the cross of Christ.
But the Spirit speaks to our conscience, sounds
an alarm, and doesn’t stop. “What are you doing
here Jonah?” Being convinced of the danger of
sin comes only by the work of the Spirit.
SO AS YOU BATTLE WITH THE SIN
THAT SO EASILY BESETS YOU,
NEVER FORGET YOUR DUTY: “YOU
PUT TO DEATH THE MISDEEDS
OF THE BODY” (ROM. 8:13).
YOU DO IT. YOU DON’T LIE BACK
ON A COMFY BED OF EASE AND
WAIT FOR THE SPIRIT TO DO IT.
YOU HAVE TO PUT TO DEATH THEMISDEEDS OF THE BODY, BUT
YOU DO SO BY THE SPIRIT, BY HIS
POWER AND LOVE AND WISDOM.
34 | CREDO MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2015
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2. THE SPIRIT ALONE REVEALS AND TEACHES THE
FULLNESS OF CHRIST TO DELIVER YOU
Think of Christ as the greatest teacher the world
has ever known. What did Jesus say? Didn’t he tell
us that if our eye offended us that we should pluck
it out? What did his apostles say? “If by the Spirit
you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you
will live” (Rom. 8:13). Jesus and Paul are talking
about the same duty. “Hear Christ the teacher,”
the Spirit says. He brings to our remembrance
what the Lord said.
What of our future? Where shall we soon be? Our
God is the end of the journey; we shall soon meet
at the feet of Christ, and separate is that place from
sin. All who have this hope purify themselves,
for God is pure. The Spirit constantly reminds us
of the future God is preparing. “As it is written:
‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has
conceived what God has prepared for those who
love him’—but God has revealed it to us by his
Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:8-10).
Finally, the love of Christ constrains us to put our
sins to death. As the well-known pastor Al Martin
once said,
If you were to see Paul through
a normal day spending his
energies and his faculties in self-
sacricing service for the Lord
Jesus and for the sake of the
souls of men, and at the close of
that day you were to watch him
drop exhausted to his place of
rest, and you were to say to him,
“Paul, what is it that drives you
with what seems to the world
this almost insane passion to
preach the gospel, to rescue men as brands from
the burning, to establish men in the truth as you
write your letters, to give yourself to the formation
and the edication of the churches?”, Paul would
say, “If you want to know in a simple statement
the secret of what drives me, it is this: The love
of Christ holds me in its grip, it constrains me,
that is, Christ’s love for me, the fact that I stand
in constant amazement that the Son of God loved
me and gave himself for me.” This was the gospel
motive, an understanding of the fullness of Christ,
which drove Paul with far more zeal than anylegal motivation could drive a man.
3. THE SPIRIT ALONE SUSTAINS YOUR HEART IN
EXPECTATION OF HELP COMING FROM CHRIST
Listen to John Owen:
Be convinced, I say, of the power that is in
Christ to overcome sin. “Thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins” [Matt. 1:21]. “Who gave himself for