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love is so difficult.
So if our fallen nature is selfish, how can we live self-
lessly? The short answer is that we cant, but God can. The
power for selfless living comes from God. The Holy Spirit
empowers us to love cruciformly. How though? One of
the main ways is by exalting Christ in our hearts. Romans
5 says that we have been justified by faith and have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and that Gods
love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit (Rom. 5:1-5). The Holy Spirit has a floodlight
ministry.
J.I. Packer writes, When floodlighting is well done,
the floodlights are placed
In this series of articles we have been seeking to see how the New Testa-ment Scriptures interpret Old Testament kingdom prophecies. Does the New
Testament interpret the Old Testament as literal, meaning using natural
language, or does the New Testament spiritualize the Old Testament kingdom
promises? We have been testing one of the basic hermeneutical principles of
Dispensational theology called the literal, grammatical, historical, method
of interpretation. In this method, every word is understood in its literal or natu-
ral meaning. The word man means a real man, and the word lion means a
real four legged lion, house means house, etc. NCT will agree we should use
this method when interpreting books like Romans and the gospel of John but
not when interpreting symbolic books like the Song of Solomon or the book
of Revelation. All agree that the context will force a symbolic interpretation of
some texts. In a previous article we dem-
onstrated this with the following texts from
Is s ue 1 8 8 June 2 0 1 2
It is good fo r the heart to be stre ngthened by grace Hebrews 13:9
New Covenant Theology
and Prophecy #6
John G. Reisinger
Where does love come from? In this series of articles,
we have been called to a love that cannot come from
ourselves! We have said that the primary virtue for new
covenant Christians is cruciform love. This is cross-shapedlove. It is the pattern of giving of self for the good of oth-
ers. It is a call to selfless living. The call to selflessness is
extremely hard!
Sin is fundamentally selfishness. It started in the garden
of Eden. Adam and Eve wanted autonomy (self-rule), and
the sons and daughters of Adam have been plagued by the
same disease ever since. Isaiah described us as straying
sheep. We have all gone astray. We have all turned to our
own way. This is why Luther said that since the fall, hu-
manity is curved in on ourselves. This is why cruciform
The Power for Cruciform Love:
1 Thessalonians 4:8-9
A. Blake White
ReisingerContinued on page 2
WhiteContinued on page 12
In This Issue
New Covenant Theologyand Prophecy #6
John G. Reisinger1
The Power for Cruciform Love:1 Thessalonians 4:8-9
A. Blake White1
Postmodernism andChristianity, Enemies? Part 2
Steve West
3
A Wise Man Who Built HisHouse on the Rock
Stan F. Vaninger
5
Outside the BoxJohn G. Reisinger
7
Warfield on the Divine Originof the Bible
Fred G. Zaspel9
Our PurposeJohn G. Reisinger 13
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Page 2 June 2012 Issue 188
Sound of Grace is a publication of SovereignGrace New Covenant Ministries, a tax exempt501(c)3 corporation. Contributions to Soundof Grace are deductible under section 170 ofthe Code.
Sound of Grace is published 10 times a year.The subscription price is shown below. This isa paper unashamedly committed to the truthof Gods sovereign grace and New Covenant
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ReisingerContinued from page 1
ReisingerContinued on page 4
Psalm 22 and Isaiah 11.
Manybulls have compassed me:
strong bulls of Bashan have beset me
round. They gaped upon me with their
mouths, as a ravening and aroaring
lionFordogs have compassed me
Psalm 22:12, 13 &16.
No one would insist that four
legged bulls, four legged dogs and
four legged roaring lions were gath-
ered around the cross. The text is
describing, in symbolic language, two
legged men who were acting like mad
bulls, furious lions and barking dogs.
All interpreters, including the most die
-hard Dispensationalists, will agree
that such an interpretation of Psalm
22, is obvious and clearly demon-strated by the context. The language
in these texts cannot be taken in a lit-
eral, grammatical, historical sense.
They must be understood symboli-
cally. The problem arises when there
are texts where it is just as obvious,
at least to me, that should be taken
symbolically but the Dispensationalist
says, No, no, we must take the Bible
literally. We must be consistent with
the literal, grammatical, historical
hermeneutic. An example of this is
a text like Isaiah 11:6, 7. In this text
we are told that the wordlion must be
taken literally instead of symbolically
as in Psalm 22.
The wolfalso shall dwell with the
lamb, and the leopardshall lie down
with thekid; and thecalfand the
younglion and thefatling together;
and a little child shall lead them. And
the cow and the bear shall feed; their
young ones shall lie down together:and the lion shall eat straw like theox.
Isa.11:6, 7.
The vital question is what rule of
hermeneutics says roaring lion in
Psalm 22 is symbolic; it means a man
is acting like a wild animal, but the
same word in Isaiah 11 must be taken
literally andmeans a four legged
animal acting totally contrary to his
nature. What makes it obvious that
Psalm 22 is to be understoodsymboli-
cally but Isaiah 11 is to be understood
literally, meaning in natural lan-
guage?
Again, all agree that the context in
Isaiah 11 is talking about the king-
dom Christ would establish. The
question is whether it is describing
the present spiritual kingdom that he
established at his first coming or the
so-called future earthly millennial
kingdom taught by Dispsationalism. Is
Isaiah 11 describing a present spiritual
kingdom or is it describing a literal
physical millennial kingdom in the
future at the second coming as the
Dispensationalist insists.
I agree that Isaiah 11 does not
clearly resolve the problem since thecontext does not absolutely prove
that the lions and lambs must be four
legged or two legged. Lets look at
two Old Testament kingdom proph-
esies that are interpreted for us with
New Testament apostolic authority
and see how New Covenant apostles
interpreted Old Testament prophecies
concerning the kingdom. The first pas-
sage is Jeremiah 31:31-34.
31 Behold, the days come, saiththe LORD, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and
with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the
day that I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt;
which my covenant they brake, al-
though I was an husband unto them,
saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Isra-el; After those days, saith the LORD, I
will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts; and will
be their God, and they shall be my
people.
34 And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the
LORD: for they shall all know me,
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Issue 188 June 2012 Page 3
WestContinued o n page 8
tempt at logical deduction and analy-sis, determined what was true. The
prototypical rationalist in this regard
was Rene Descartes. His dictum
cogito ergo sum, I think therefore
I am, is one of the only statements
most people know from the history of
philosophy. But what led Descartes to
make this claim?
As an adult Descartes realized that
much of what he had been taught as
a child was false. He tried to decidehow he could know for sure what was
true and what was false. His strategy
was to practice methodological doubt.
Everything he could possibly doubt,
he doubted. He doubted his senses.
He doubted that 2 +2 = 4 and that a
triangle had three sides, because if
there were a malevolent spirit or de-
mon, the demon could trick him when
he did simple math, or trick him when
he counted the sides of an object.
Descartes did not take this latter ideavery seriously, but he was searching
for something impossible to doubt,
not just something extraordinarily
improbable.
At last, Descartes mind landed
upon a sure foundation, an idea that
he could not doubt even if he tried.
He could not doubt that he existed,
because he was thinking. In order for
him to doubt, he needed to exist and
think. In order for an evil spirit todeceive him, he needed to exist to be
deceived! So the anchor that Des-
cartes grabbed hold ofand for which
the subsequent history of philosophy
has mercilessly accused him of great
fallacieswas that he was a think-
ing, and therefore existing, being.
From these humble origins, Descartes
sought clear and distinct ideas which
also were impossible to doubt. He
In my first article on this topic, Inoted some typical Christian attitudes
towards postmodernism, and I also
suggested that certain postmodern
concerns are both significant and
right. It is worth repeating that these
concerns should be embraced be-
cause there is a sense in which they
are deeply biblical. The fundamental
problem with postmodernism is not
that everything it says is wrong on
the surface, but that it fails to provide
a total worldview which is capableof grounding its claims. One of the
strengths of postmodernism emerges
when it is compared to the epistemo-
logical project of the Enlightenment.
In fact, Christians can affirm many of
postmodernisms criticisms of mod-
ernism.
A disclaimer: what follows is
going to be extraordinarily brief and
lacking nuance. Furthermore, I am not
suggesting direct causal links in eachof these steps, or that postmodernism
is completely tied in theory to every-
thing which preceded it. What I am
attempting to do is merely to provide
the most basic of orientation points in
the history of Western thought. Once
they have been roughed-in, a lens for
viewing postmodernism will emerge.
Of the utmost significance is the
general failure of Western philosophy,
particularly in epistemology. TheEnlightenment ideal was to cast off
tradition and authority (especially
religious tradition and authority) and
autonomously lay reality bare by hu-
man reason and evidential practices.
Two great epistemological methods
were tried, namely rationalism and
empiricism. Rationalists began with
supposedly indubitable principles or
axioms, and then by a rigorous at-
uses a type of ontological argument
to prove the existence of God (his
ontological argument is, regrettably,
perhaps the least convincing of all
ontological arguments), and from
there argues that since God exists and
is perfectly good and omnipotent,
God would not let the evil spirit trickhim when he does math and performs
simple mental activities. God would
also not allow people to be deceived
by their senses, so Descartes is off to
the races with liberty to trust the de-
liverances of his mind and the deliver-
ances of his senses.
The one thing that Descartes gets
completely right, in my judgment, is
that God is necessary if we are to trust
the deliverances of our senses. Whathe gets completely wrong, in my judg-
ment, is thinking that his ontological
argument is even close to success-
ful. Descartes is left with a failure
to prove the existence of God, and
therefore a failure to provide cogent
foundations for relying on his mind or
senses. In the history of philosophy,
rationalism, the style of reasoning
that begins in the human mind and
looks for indubitable propositions
from which to build a sure system of
knowledge, fails every time. Think-
ing about timeless principles fails to
produce knowledge. (I know that Des-
cartes is not the last rationalist, but his
example is illustrative of the general
problems adhering to all accounts of
nontheistic rationalism.)
There is another epistemological
approach, however, which has also
been tried in the history of philoso-
phy. This approach is called empiri-cism, and it starts with data collected
by the senses. If rationalism wants to
start with timeless axioms, empiri-
cism starts with contingent, temporal
data. Data is gathered as it passes
through the senses, and then it is ana-
lyzed in the mind. Such an approach
sounded promising, but quickly
reached a dead end.
Postmodernism and Christianity
Enemies? Part 2
Steve West
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Page 4 June 2012 Issue 188
tal literal. Everyone does both. The
question is who or what establishes
the reason that lion must be symbol-
ized in Psalm 22 and taken literally
in Isaiah 11. The Dispensationalist, in
the New Testament (1 Cor. 11:23-26;
Heb. 8 and 10), takes Jeremiah literal-
ly and spiritualizes the New Testamentinterpretation of it. The non-Dispen-
sationalist does the opposite. He takes
the New Testament interpretation of
Jeremiah as a literal spiritual interpre-
tation of Jeremiah 31. We will admit
without question that if Jeremiah 31
was the only Scripture text to speak of
a new covenant, we would agree that
the new covenant is made with the
nation of Israel and has not yet been
fulfilled. However, both our Lord and
his apostles (1 Cor. 11:23-26; Heb.8 and 10) make it abundantly clear
that the new covenant is made with
the church and the kingdom promise
of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31
is already fulfilled. This is one of the
many examples of how NCT is radi-
cally different in its insistence that the
New Testament must interpret the Old
Testament.
Look at how the writer of the book
of Hebrews understood the promise ofthe new covenant given in Jeremiah
31. After quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34
in Hebrews 10:16-18, the writer ap-
plies the truths of the new covenant
blessing of access into Gods pres-
ence. He is talking about the new
covenant blessing of entering into
the most holy place with assurance
because we are robed in the righ-
teousness of Christ. Christ is the true
high priest over Gods true redeemed
house. The priest he is talking about
is Christ and the house of God over
which this priest reigns is the church.
Read the words carefully and see if
the writer of Hebrews literalizes the
Jeremiah passage or spiritualizes it.
See if he is talking about something
future or something in the present,
talking about the church for which
Christ died or something in the future
ReisingerContinued from page 2
from the least of them unto the great-
est of them, saith the LORD: for I
will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more. Jeremiah
31:31-34.
This prophecy is predicting a new
covenant replacing the old covenantmade at Sinai. The prophecy is very
clear that the new covenant will be
made with the house of Israel, and
with the house of Judah. It is said
to be made with the children of the
Israelites who were redeemed out
of Egypt as recorded in the book of
Exodus. The essence of the promised
covenant literally guarantees the full
salvation of the house of Israel, and
the house of Judah. Any honest literal
interpretation of these words, taken by
themselves, demands a new covenant
being made with the house of Israel,
and with the house of Judahwhereby
every member of the house of Israel
and the house of Judah would be re-
generated and justified. If the literal,
historical and grammatical herme-
neutic is correct, then the Dispensa-
tionalist is correct in his understanding
of the animals in Isaiah 11. The new
covenant, as promised in Jeremiah 31,beyond question guarantees the future
salvation of Israel. The literal, gram-
matical and historical hermeneutic
demands this understanding. The
problem is that such an idea cannot
be made to agree with the New Testa-
ment. The New Testament is quite
clear that the new covenant promised
in Jeremiah has nothing to do with a
future conversion of Israel. The new
covenant is already fulfilled. Accord-
ing to both Jesus and the apostles, thepromised new covenant in Jeremiah
31 is made with the church, not with
Israel. The New Testament spiritual-
izes the house of Israel in Jeremiah
31 to mean the church. Notice that our
Lords understanding of the prophecy
of the new covenant states it is made
with the church, not with Israel.
23 For I have received of the Lord
that which also I delivered unto you,
that the Lord Jesus the same night in
which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks,
he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is
my body, which is broken for you: this
do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also
he took the cup, when he had supped,saying, this cup is the new testament
[NIV, covenant] in my blood: this do
ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remem-
brance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this
bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew
the Lords death till he come. 1 Cor.
11:23-26.
The new covenant established by
our Lord has nothing to do with either
Israels future conversion or their res-toration to the Holy Land. It has to do
with his atoning sacrifice on the cross
for the elect or the church. Neither
Israel nor the land is mentioned in
this passage. It is clear that our Lord
spiritualized Jeremiah 31 and ap-
plied the promise of the new covenant
to the church for which he shed his
blood. Some Dispensationalists, seek-
ing to explain the obvious problem
with their understanding of the new
covenant, have said there are two newcovenants, one for Israel, which is still
future, and another one for Gentiles
which is present. It is impossible to
get any such idea into the texts. Just
as Jeremiah 31:31-34 would need a
literal physical kingdom to fulfill
it if the literal, historical, grammati-
cal hermeneutic was correct, so our
Lords words when instituting the
Lords Supper demands the new cov-
enant must be spiritualized to apply to
the church and the kingdom of grace.
You cannot demand a literal fulfill-
ment of the promise in Jeremiah 31
and then spiritualize the New Testa-
ment interpretation of the same text.
It is obvious that our Lord did not
follow a literal, historical, grammati-
cal interpretation of the old covenant
promise of a new covenant. The
choice is not spiritualize versus to-ReisingerContinued on page 6
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Issue 188 June 2012 Page 5
of a house. In Proverbs 9:1 we read,
Wisdom has built her house. Prov-
erbs 14:1 says, The wise woman
builds her house, but the foolish pulls
it down with her hands. The latter
example combines the wise/foolish
contrast and the use of house.
Proverbs 12:7 is similar, The
wicked are overthrown and are no
more, but the house of the righteous
will stand. We see the contrast be-
tween wisdom and folly as expressed
by righteousness and wickedness of
life, and also the use of house to
speak of ones life.
Proverbs 24:3-4 emphasizes the
positive, Through wisdom a house
is built, and by understanding it is
established; by knowledge the rooms
are filled with all precious and pleas-
ant riches. The writer is not speaking
about building a literal house but uses
figurative language to speak about us,
about our lives, about acquiring wis-
dom. Look again at Matthew 7:24-25.
Jesus simile here of likening life withits trials and tribulations to a house
enduring a storm comes right out of
the fabric of Proverbs.
While few commentators point it
out, This parable of the two houses
[in Matthew 7] is a clear allusion to
the two houses of Proverbs 9 The
person who hears and acts on Jesus
words is like a wise person who builds
his or her house on a rock so that it
can withstand the worst weather.4Proverbs 9 speaks figuratively of two
ways of living, the way of wisdom
4 Craig G. Bartholomew, Ryan P.
ODowd, Old Testament Wisdom
Literature: A Theological Introduc-
tion, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press, 2011), 240. Bartholomew and
ODowd give credit to Ben Withering-
ton III,Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrim-
age of Wisdom, 356-357 for this
observation.VaningerContinued on page 15
A Wise Man Who Built His House on the Rock
Stan F. Vaninger24Everyone then who hears these
words of mine and does them will be
like a wise man who built his house on
the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and thefloods came, and the winds blew and
beat on that house, but it did not fall,
because it had been founded on the
rock. 26 And everyone who hears these
words of mine and does not do them
will be like a foolish man who built his
house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell,
and thefloods came, and the winds
blew and beat against that house,
and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
(Matt 7 ESV)
These four verses are the closingwords of the famous Sermon on the
Mount. Yet they are very different
from the rest of the sermon. These
words, in fact, are reminiscent of
the language of Proverbs. Jesus
employs typical wisdom language
familiar to Jewish sages.1 He uses
the speech forms of a wisdom teacher
(parables) and claims to be the source
of true wisdom.2
Jesus does not quote directly fromProverbs, but important concepts
from Proverbs are lying right on the
surface. Jesus here speaks of the wise
man and the foolish man which is a
familiar theme in Proverbs.3 Proverbs
also frequently uses the metaphor
1 Craig S. Keener, Commentary on the
Gospel of Matthew, (Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 254.
2 Graeme Goldsworthy,According To
Plan: The Unfolding Revelation ofGod in the Bible, (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1991), 206.
3 Hagner points out that wise and
foolish are favorites of Matthew as
opposed to the other gospel writers.
Matthew uses wise 7 times and fool-
ish6 times; only Luke uses wise
(twice) and the other 3 gospel writ-
ers use foolish not at all. Donald A.
Hagner, WBC Volume 33A:Matthew
1-13, (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1993),
190-191.
and the way of folly; the way of righ-
teousness and the way of wickedness.
It is perhaps significant that Jesusdoes not quote directly from Prov-
erbs. He could have. He could have
quoted Proverbs 1:7, The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
But he didnt. He could have quoted
Proverbs 9:10, The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom, and the
knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
These proverbs speak directly to
the issue of the source of true wis-
dom which is found only in the trueCreator-God. But Jesus didnt quote
them.
The words of Proverbs 1:7 and
9:10 were just as true and just as
edifying in the time of Christ as they
were in OT times. But Jesus didnt
quote them. So what did he do? He
said that whoever hears and follows
his words is the wise man. Jesus lays
claim to being the source of true
wisdom.
So something has changed with the
coming of Christ. Actually, a lot has
changed. The fear of the Lord has
been replaced by following Christ.
Its not that there was anything wrong
with the fear of the Lord. Those
verses in Proverbs are still just as true
as they ever were. But they have a
greater meaning and significance with
the coming of Christthe wisdom of
God (1 Cor. 1:24).
What we see here is one large
step forward in Gods progressive
revelation of himself and the way of
salvation. God has come to this earth
in the person of Christ and, through
the incarnation, has become the
embodiment of the wisdom of God.
Paul says so in 1 Corinthians 1:30
Christ Jesusbecame for us wisdom
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Page 6 June 2012 Issue 188
ReisingerContinued on page 16
deliverance, as the LORD hath said,
and in the remnant whom the LORD
shall call.
The kingdom promise made in Joel
2:28-32 is a passage that will test your
consistency in your hermeneutics.
How much of this prophecy should we
take literally and how much shouldwe spiritualize? How much of the
prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost
and how much awaits a future fulfill-
ment? The first question that must
be asked is simple and, if we really
believe the Old Testament must be
interpreted with the New Testament,
is clearly answered in Acts in Peters
sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Peter
tells us how to understand Joel 2:28-
32.
12 And they were all amazed, and
were in doubt, saying one to another,What meaneth this?
13 Others mocking said, These men
are full of new wine.
14 But Peter, standing up with the
eleven, lifted up his voice, and said
unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and allye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this
known unto you, and hearken to my
words:
15 For these are not drunken, asye suppose, seeing it is but the third
hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken
by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the
last days, saith God, I will pourout of my Spirit upon allflesh: and
your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall
see visions, and your old men shalldream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my
handmaidens I will pour out in those
days of my Spirit; and they shall
prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders inheaven above, and signs in the earth
beneath; blood, andfire, and vapour
of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned intodarkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and notable day of
pertaining to Israel and the land. Does
the writer to the Hebrews literalize or
spiritualize Jeremiah 31:31-34?
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also
is a witness to us: for after that he had
said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, saith
the Lord, I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write
them;
17 And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sin.
19 Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which
he hath consecrated for us, through
the veil, that is to say, hisflesh;
21 And having an high priest over
the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil con-
science, and our bodies washed with
pure water. Hebrews 10:15-22.
The second kingdom prophecy we
want to look at is Joel 2:28-32.
28 And it shall come to pass af-
terward, that I will pour out my spirit
upon allflesh; and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old
men shall dream dreams, your young
men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and
upon the handmaids in those days will
I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the
heavens and in the earth, blood, and
fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and terrible day of the
LORD come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of
the LORD shall be delivered: for in
mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be
the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of
the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:12-
21.
When the crowd heard many dif-
ferent tongues being spoken, some
accused the speakers of being drunk.They asked, What does this mean?
Peter assured them the men speak-
ing were not drunk. He told them the
things they were seeing were evidence
that Joels prophecy was being ful-
filled. The kingdom God had prom-
ised had come. The events of Pente-
cost proved it. Peter declared, this is
that which was spoken by the prophet
Joel. Peter definitely saw the events
of Pentecost as fulfi
lling the prophecyof Joel. The kingdom Joel foretold
was coming had come. Joels proph-
ecy was fulfilled at Pentecost. Dispen-
sationalism, in order to be consistent,
must take Joels words literally but
cannot take Peters words literally.
This is obviously a real problem. One
way out of their dilemma is to deny
that Pentecost is a real fulfillment
of Joels prophecy. Instead of taking
Peter literally, they make Peters
words to mean the events of Pentecostare only a type, a fore-shadowing of a
future event. Peter is not saying Joels
prophecy is literally fulfilled, he is
only saying it is kind of a foretaste, or
type, of the real thing. An example of
this view is found in the comments in
John MacArthurs Study Bible in his
introduction to the book of Joel.
A second issue confronting the
interpreter is Peters quotation from
Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2:16-21. Somehave viewed the phenomena of Acts
2 and the destruction of Jerusalem in
AD 70 as the fulfillment of the Joel
passage, while others have reserved its
fulfillment to the final Day of the Lord
onlybut clearly Joel is referring to
the terrible Day of the Lord. The pour-
ing out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
is not a fulfillment, but a preview and
sample of the Spirits power and work,
ReisingerContinued from page 4
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Issue 188 June 2012 Page 7
Outside the BoxContinued on page 18
I once was introduced at a Bible
Conference as a person who knew
how to think outside the box. I
responded, It depends on what box
you are talking about. The phrase,
thinking outside the box, means
different things to different people.
Sometimes, we use it to describeindividuals within a society or culture
who refuse to allow the dictums of
the majority or tradition to rule their
thinking. Within a religious context,
liberal Christians sometimes use the
phrase to describe their rejection of
certain orthodox positions, namely, of
the Bible as the inspired Word of God,
and their subsequent refusal to govern
their lives according to the dictates of
Scripture. Some liberals go so far as to
accuse Christians who are committedto the inspiration and integrity of
Scripture of checking their brains at
the front door of the church. Yet those
who adopt this position fail to realize
that they have created their own box:
a box of unbelief about Gods Word
that restricts their thoughts and shapes
their actions.
For most of my Christian life, I
have tried to think outside the box
of traditionalism while still reveringtradition. I have gladly honored the
fathers in the faith, especially the
Puritans and the Reformers, without
worshipping them or their writings. I
have not failed to write about some of
the atrocities of which some Puritans
and some Reformers were guilty. I see
tradition, when it follows Scripture,
to be a great help. I see traditionalism,
which is tradition for its own sake,
as a man-made box that has shackled
the minds of many. Tradition and
traditionalism are two different things.
Robert Dittmar was my mentor in
some vital areas of my thinking. One
of his favorite statements was, We
must think Gods thoughts after him.
Robert emphasized how the authors of
Scripture constantly urge their readers
to think and to test and try all things
with Gods Word. However, he also
constantly reminded me that I was not
free to sit in judgment of the rightness
or wrongness of what the Bible says.We were to think outside of all man-
made boxes but not to think outside
the box of Scripture. I have applied
Roberts lessons by insisting that
those who read or hear my messages
have the right and the duty to judge
my interpretation of what God says,
but that no one has a right to pass
judgment on what the Bible says. In
Bible classes, I insisted that we test
every interpretation so that no person
becomes a law unto themselves, butthat we must never question what God
has actually said in his Word. We must
prove all things; hold fast that which
is good (1 Thess. 5:21), and the
yardstick we use to test all things is
the Bible itself. That is the verse I put
in the front of every book I am asked
to autograph.
Under the guise of supposed
intellectual honesty, I have watched
both men and women I deeply lovestart to think outside the box of
Scripture. This happens through many
different influences. It may be an
overwhelming desire for recognition
as having a superior intellect. Another
is the quest for fame. Or it may be
something as simple as the influence
of a university professor. The end
is always disaster: the rejection of
the authority of Scripture. A few
of these people have claimed me
as their mentor. I deny them as in
any way being my students. They
have confused my constant urging
them to think outside the box with
a fictional right to be independent
of the authority of Scripture. I have
indeed urged people to learn to think
independently and to acquire a formal
education if possible, but I never in
any way intimated or implied that
thinking outside the box extended to
the rejection of the inspiration and
authority of Scripture.
It is likely that some of these who
have apostatized will accuse me,
along with my Bible-believing friends
of blind faith and of living with my
head in the sand. It is not, however,
a question of faith versus no faith.
All men and women are believers.
All have faith, and all live by their
faith. Some people believe lies. Some
place their faith in God and in his
revelationthe Bible. Others believe
lies and place their faith in themselves
and their right to think and act as they
please. The people who have given up
their biblical faithwho think outside
the box of the Biblecontinue to live
by faith: they merely have changedthe object of their faith. Instead of
trusting the word of an apostle of
Christ, they trust the word of another.
Instead of being boxed in by an
inspired, unchanging word from God,
they are boxed into trusting the ever-
changing philosophies of the world of
pseudo-intellectuals.
Shortly after my conversion, I
took some college courses. I was
completely unprepared for theattack on my faith in Scripture that I
experienced. I thought that I should
have been able to answer any and
every objection by my non-Christian
professors. I started to research every
question that these professors raised.
I soon realized that I would have to
spend all my waking hours studying
nothing but these objections. I would
have to become a scholar in every
disciplineto know everything there
was to knowif I were to answerall the objections. It occurred to me,
however, that every discipline had
within it godly men and women who
had wrestled with the objections
salient to theirfields and who still
believed the Bible. There were
Christians who were psychiatrists,
Christians who were historians,
Christians who were scientists (in
Outside the Box
John G. Reisinger
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Page 8 June 2012 Issue 188WestContinued fr om page 3
The British Empiricists (John
Locke, George Berkeley, and Da-
vid Hume) followed the empiricist
approach to its termination point.
Locke, the first thinker, believed that
all knowledge comes to us through
our senses, but since the data comesthrough our senses, we cannot know
for sure what the object we perceive is
actually like. We need to trust that our
senses dont distort the external world,
but how could we really ever know
this? We can know how our senses
represent the external world to our
minds, but there is one crucial step
between our minds and the external
object, and that step is the mediated
route through our senses.
It was David Hume who really
brought empiricism to its logical con-
clusion, and in so doing showed that it
was a failure to provide a sound basis
for knowledge. Hume demonstrated
that we often see things in what we
observe that we cannot really see.
His famous example is of a billiard
ball: one ball is shot into a second
ball, and the second ball moves. We
say that the first ball caused the
second ball to move. But we did notsee causation. All we saw was the
first ball move, touch the second ball,
and then the second ball move. At no
time did we actually see a cause, or
causation. On empirical grounds, the
data of our senses does not include
causation; it only includes sequence.
To argue that a repeatedly observed
sequence shows causation is to miss
the point: we never see causation.
Speaking of causation is, as Hume
declared, just a manner of speaking
by habit or custom.
In the final analysis, what we end
up with are sensations, and sensations
alone. We get a bit of light, a waft of
odor, feel some warmth, etc., but we
combine these impressions into units
in our minds. A strict empiricist,
however, has no grounds to accept the
bundling of impressions into units.
All sensations are discrete and indi-
vidual: how can we know that they
are related to one another the way our
mind pictures them? Well, to make
a long story short, we cant. We are
left with skepticism, if we are simply
logically faithful enough in our philo-
sophical empiricism. Beyond that,we are also left without ourselves:
Hume argues that our sense of self is
likewise constructed into a unit by
bundling sensations, but this is just as
illegitimate for personal identity as it
is for constructing external reality. In
other words, we lose causation, genu-
ine knowledge of the external world,
and ourselves. Empiricism logically
loses everything.
So we begin with rationalism, withtimeless truths in our minds rather
than with data gathered by the senses.
Where do we end up? Skepticism.
Since that doesnt work, we take a
new path and begin with sense data
and empiricism. Where do we end up?
Skepticism. We can even try, like Im-
manuel Kant, to posit transcendental
preconditions for human experience.
What are we left with? At best we can
have knowledge about our own minds
and how we experience things, but wecant know anything at all about what
anything outside of our mind is like.
There are two totally different realms:
the phenomenological realm of our in-
terior mental life, and the mysterious
noumenological world, where things
as they actually are exist (a world
which we will never know). In fact,
even this is granting a lot, because it
is granting a personal identity, a my
to whom belongs my mind, etc. On
what logical grounds do we warrant
our claim to be a singular personal
identity persisting through time? Both
rationalism and empiricism end up in
a self-stultifying, skeptical swamp.
Part of the charm and success of
postmodernism is it candidly recog-
nizes the abysmal failure of the En-
lightenment epistemological project. I
would much rather categorize myself
with the post-Enlightenment crowd
than with the Enlightenment folk.
The Enlightenment project has failed,
and I see no way of reviving it. If you
start with the human mind and hu-
man experience and try to figure out
reality, you fail. Not only do you fail
to figure out reality, but you lose thehuman mind and intelligible experi-
ence to boot. And that is not just a
trivial philosophical failure; that is an
unmitigated human disaster.
In many ways, I think a good argu-
ment can be made that postmodern-
ism is not post-modern at all. I have
heard the relationship expressed in
two different ways, depending on per-
spective. The first is that postmodern-
ism is Enlightenment rationality goneto seed. The second is that postmod-
ernism is really hyper-modernism, or
what modernism actually is when it
is brought to its logical conclusion. I
favor the second image, while seeing
truth in both. In my judgment, when
the Enlightenment decided to embark
on a quest to figure out reality through
autonomous human beings, it was
guaranteed to fail. Postmodernism is
helping us see this failure firsthand. It
has taken a few centuries for philoso-phers to work through some of the
implications of Enlightenment episte-
mology (and theyre not done yet), but
modernisms epistemological quest
was a fools errand. Postmodernism
isnt so much new as it is the conclu-
sion of a long chain of human think-
ing. It took a long time to get here, but
this result was latently tucked back in
the Enlightenment premises from day
one.
Before getting upset with post-
moderns for suggesting that all truths
are relative, perhaps we should get up-
set with moderns for suggesting there
is absolute truth and they can figure it
out for themselves. This latter claim is
frankly more arrogant, and it is just as
philosophically absurd when cashed
out. So I cant help but think that post-
WestContinued on page 18
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Issue 188 June 2012 Page 9
Frequently throughout his writ-
ings on the doctrine of Scripture, B.B.
Warfield emphasizes that we believe
in the inspiration of Scripture sim-
ply because Jesus and his appointed
apostles taught it. This for Warfield is
the real issue and deciding factor in
the questionwe hold this doctrine on
Jesus own authority. And, of course,
the noted Theologian of Inspiration
spends much time in the Scriptures
demonstrating this obvious point.
In his The Divine Origin of the
Bible (1882), however, Warfield
surveys the corroborating evidence. If
the Bible is indeed from God, then we
should expect to see evidence of that
fact in both its contents and its effects.
And so he demonstrates that this is
indeed the case.
Warfield begins by pointing out
that the Bible is unique among all
other books in the place it maintains
among civilized people. Its influenceon legislation, social habits, culture,
and governmental forms is unparal-
leled. It has left its mark in the shap-
ing and even transformation of every
quarter of every society to which it
has gone. Religious rituals of sacrifice
forever embedded in the conscious-
ness of men and societies suddenly
fell into neglect when brought into
contact with the Bible. Religion and
morals, in their practice and in theirvery theory, have been revolutionized
by this unique book. Moreover, its
influence has always been beneficent.
This is not to deny the many abuses
of professing Christians, but it is an
unchallenged fact that where the Bible
has gone, society has improved, and
love has replaced hate and horror. Fol-
lowing its first arrival, by all accounts
attested to by miraculous signs, the
Bible has deluged the world, crossing
all boundaries and barriers. So perva-
sive has been its influence wherever
it has gone that it would be difficult
to overstate the case. And all this has
been accomplished without the com-
mendation of royalty, against the most
determined and violent opposition,
and by means of the efforts of a dozen
unlearned men bringing a message
considered foolish by all who heard it.
Yet all who are encountered by it are
left with the deep-rooted conviction
that this book is from God. If this isfanaticism, it is a remarkable fanati-
cism that has continued and grown in
a way that is without precedent.
And so Warfield inquires, what
might account for all this if not the
Bibles own claim that it is of divine
origin?
Warfield proceeds by observing
that it does not appear that the Bible,
if of human origin only, could have
been produced with the consciousintent of influencing the world as it
has. The Bible is in fact not one but
sixty-six books of virtually every
genre, written by at least thirty dif-
ferent writers from all walks of life,
education, and temperament, and scat-
tered over a period of 1,500 years. Yet
the Bible is not, as would be expected,
a conglomerate of unrelated literary
debris finally thrust together by some
whirlpool of time. Rather, the Bibledisplays a remarkable unity in theme,
in moral and religious ideal, in subject
matter, and in its leading figure, Jesus
Christ. Predictions and prophecy in
the first half of the book are fulfilled
so numerously and so exactly in the
second half that the two are manifestly
designed for the each other (implied:
by a single mind). The former half
manifestly anticipates and is com-
pleted by the latter, and the latter rests
entirely upon the former. Each part
contributes to the whole, and each
book adds something of orderly and
constantly progressive explanation,
definition, or completion to the others.
All of its parts very naturally dovetail
together into a single well-connected
and consistent whole. All of its partsseem clearly to be meant for the
others, intentionally framed for its pe-
culiar place. Although its production
far outlasts the life span of any single
man, the Bible seems by all accounts
to be a book designed from the begin-
ning to be what it is in its final form.
All its varied parts fit together so well
and so naturally that it appears to
have been produced by a single mind.
And yet what human mind could have
guided this process over so manyauthors and so many centuries?
Moreover, the Bible displays not
only a remarkable unity in its teach-
ing, but the teaching itself is marked
by a unique and otherwise unexplain-
able grandeur. The writers betray an
advanced knowledge beyond their his-
torical setting, an understanding of the
universe that is in perfect accord with
all that later advanced learning has
discovered. Their elevated conceptionof God, unprecedented in any other
religious teaching before or since, and
their correspondingly elevated con-
ception of the nobility of man created
in Gods image likewise cry for ex-
planation. Still further, the great truths
they present are not suited for their
own time and culture only but are
universal truths that are instinctively
recognized by all to be true, divinely
insightful, personally and universally
relevant, and of eternal bearing.
And so again Warfield inquires,
what can account for this? The
evidence simply does not allow an ac-
counting for the Bible apart from God
And if this book cannot be accounted
for apart from God, we seem shut up
to account for it as from him. m
Warfield on the
Divine Origin of the Bible
Fred G. Zaspel
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7/30/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 188, June 2012
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Page 12 June 2012 Issue 188WhiteContinued from page 1
so that you do not see them; in fact,
you are not supposed to see where the
light is coming from; what you are
meant to see is just the building on
which the floodlights are trained. The
intended effect is to make it visible
when otherwise it would not be seenfor the darkness, and to maximize its
dignity by throwing all its details into
relief so that you can see it properly.
This perfectly illustrated the Spirits
new covenant role. He is, so to speak,
the hidden floodlight shining on the
Savior. Or think of it this way. It is as
if the Spirit stands behind us, throw-
ing light over our shoulder on to Jesus
who stands facing us. The Spirits
message to us is never, Look at me;
listen to me; come to me; get to knowme, but always, Look at him, and
see his glory; listen to him and hear
his word; go to him and have life; get
to know him and taste his gift of joy
and peace. The Spirit, we might say,
is the matchmaker, the celestial mar-
riage broker, whose role it is to bring
us and Christ together and ensure that
we stay together.1 His main ministry
is to lift up Jesus and point us to him.
In John 16:14, Jesus says, He willglorify me (NIV).
I want to unpack the Spirits
empowerment of cruciform love from
1 Thessalonians 4:8-9. Those verses
read, Therefore, anyone who re-
jects this instruction does not reject a
human being but God, the very God
who gives you his Holy Spirit. Now
about your love for one another we
do not need to write to you, for you
yourselves have been taught by Godto love each other.I want to unpack
a couple of Pauls descriptive state-
ments. Pauls main point in theses
verses and the surrounding context is
the call to holiness. What is fascinat-
ing, though, is what Paul writes sort
of in passing. He describes God as the
one who gives his Holy Spirit to us.
1 J.I. Packer,Keep in Step with the Spirit
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 57-58.
He also describes the believers as be-
ing taught by God.
Promise
Recall the story. God had created
his people Israel and called them to
obey the law. Sadly, they were disobe-
dient right from the start, and it neverreally got any better. The history of
Israel is a history of idolatry and un-
faithfulness. God wasnt finished with
them, though. Through the prophets,
God promised to remake them. He
was going to intervene and do some-
thing new. One of the major prom-
ises is of a new covenant. Jeremiah
31:31-34 says,
The days are coming, declares
the LORD, when I will make a new
covenant with the people of Israel and
with the people of Judah. 32 It will not
be like the covenant I made with their
ancestors when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of Egypt, be-
cause they broke my covenant, though
I was a husband to them, declares
the LORD. 33 This is the covenant
I will make with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the LORD.
I will put my law in their minds and
write it on their hearts. I will be their
God, and they will be my people.34
Nolonger will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, Know the
LORD, because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,
declares the LORD. For I will forgive
their wickedness and will remember
their sins no more.
Ezekiel also promises this new
work of God. In 11:19, we read, I
will give them an undivided heart and
put a new spirit in them; I will remove
from them their heart of stone andgive them a heart offlesh. Similarly,
in Ezekiel 36:25-27, we hear, I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you
will be clean; I will cleanse you from
all your impurities and from all your
idols. I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit in you; I will remove
from you your heart of stone and give
you a heart offlesh. And I will put my
Spirit in you and move you to follow
my decrees and be careful to keep my
laws. Ezekiel was probably written
about 30 years after Jeremiah, and he
is commenting here on Jeremiah 31.
He says that the interiorized law will
be the Spirit of God who transforms
believers and impels them to free
obedience.2
Fulfillment
For Paul, as well as for all learned
first century Jews, Ezekiel 36 and
Jeremiah 31 were very important pas-
sages.3 They are two key new cov-
enant passages, and Paul sees these as
having been fulfilled in the death and
resurrection of Christ and the pouring
out of the Spirit at Pentecost. Notice
that the tense of the verbgive is future
in Ezekiel 36. When Paul quotes it in
1 Thessalonians, Paul uses a present
participle. I want to point out the simi-
larities between the promises given
in Ezekiel and what Paul writes here.
Note that didonta anddsare from
the same verb didmi:4
1 Thess. 4:8 - God who gives
(didonta) his Holy Spirit (to pneuma
autou) to us (eis hymas)
Ezek. 11:19 - I will give (ds)
them an undivided heart and give
(ds) a new spirit (pneuma) in them
(en autois); I will remove from them
their heart of stone and give them a
heart offlesh.
Ezek. 36:26 - I will give (ds) you
a new heart and a new spirit (pneuma)
in you (en hymin)
Ezek. 36:27 - And I will give my
Spirit in you (to pneuma mou ds en
hymin) and move you to follow my de-
crees and be careful to keep my laws.Ezek. 37:6 - I will attach tendons
to you and makeflesh come upon you
and cover you with skin; I will give my
2 T.J. Deidun,New Covenant Morality
in Paul(Rome: Biblical Institute Press,
1981), 37.
3 Ibid., 20, 53.
4 Where these translations differ from
the NIV, they are my own.
WhiteContinued on page 14
7/30/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 188, June 2012
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Issue 188 June 2012 Page 13
Sound of Grace Ministries started
in 1966 under the name Sword
&Trowel. The primary goal was
teaching the Doctrines of Grace in
language that the man in the pew
could understand. Ourfive tape series
on the five points of Calvinism and
the six tape series on the Sovereigntyof God have literally gone around
the entire world. Many churches use
them as indoctrination tools and many
individual believers have used them
for Bible Studies. The one constant
comment we get about our ministry
is this: John Reisinger speaks in a
manner that makes theology easy to
understand.
Organizations are supposed to have
a Mission Statement that clearlyspells out their reason for existing.
This statement defines the contribu-
tion the organization hopes to make.
I read again recently the Book of
Nehemiah and while reading chapter
8, I thought, What a great Mission
Statement this would make forSound
of Grace. The goal ofSound of
Grace is to see Nehemiah chapter 8
duplicated in our day. Look with me
again at that wonderful passage of
Scripture.
1And all the people gathered
themselves together as one man into
the street that was before the water
gate; and they spake unto Ezra the
scribe to bring the book of the law of
Moses, which the LORD had com-
manded to Israel.
2And Ezra the priest brought the
law before the congregation both of
men and women, and all that could
hear with understanding, upon thefirst
day of the seventh month.
3And he read therein before the
street that was before the water gate
from the morning until midday, before
the men and the women, and those
that could understand; and the ears of
all the people were attentive unto the
book of the law.
5And Ezra opened the book inOur PurposeContinued o n page 16
the sight of all the people; (for he was
above all the people;) and when he
opened it, all the people stood up:
6And Ezra blessed the LORD,
the great God. And all the people
answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting
up their hands: and they bowed their
heads, and worshipped the LORD with
their faces to the ground.
7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and
Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai,
Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah,
Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the
Levites, caused the people to under-
stand the law: and the people stood intheir place.
8 So they read in the book in the
law of God distinctly, and gave the
sense, and caused them to understand
the reading.
9And Nehemiah, which is the Tir-
shatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe,
and the Levites that taught the people,
said unto all the people, This day is
holy unto the LORD your God; mourn
not, nor weep. For all the people wept,
when they heard the words of the law.
10 Then he said unto them, Go
your way, eat the fat, and drink the
sweet, and send portions unto them for
whom nothing is prepared: for this day
is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye
sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your
strength.
11 So the Levites stilled all the
people, saying, Hold your peace, for
the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.
12And all the people went theirway to eat, and to drink, and to send
portions, and to make great mirth,
because they had understood the
words that were declared unto them.
13And on the second day were
gathered together the chief of thefathers of all the people, the priests,
and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe,
even to understand the words of the
law. Nehemiah 8:1-13.
Zerubbable led a group of people
out of captivity to return to Jerusalem.
The city was in ruins. The temple,
walls and gates were destroyed.
Eighty years later Ezra returned with
another group of people and laid the
foundation for the temple. Fourteen
years after that Nehemiah led a group
back to Jerusalem and under hisleadership the walls and gates were re-
stored. Nehemiah 8 records the revival
that took place when the Word of God
was preached and understood at the
dedication service.
First, we should notice what Ne-
hemiah did and what he did not do.
Nehemiah was not a priest, a prophet,
or a Scribe. He was what is called a
layman (not a good word.) He was
a gifted organizer and administratorbut he was not a preacher or teacher.
Nehemiah took charge of rebuilding
the walls but when the restoration was
finished and it came time to open the
Scriptures and dedicate the work that
had been done, Nehemiah called for
Ezra the Scribe. Blessed is the congre-
gation where godly business men and
women, as well as pastors and teach-
ers, know their respective roles. Great
preachers may be poor organizers and
some laypeople who cannot teach orpreach may be great organizers and
administrators. Some of the greatest
Bible expositors I have known were
some of the poorest administrators and
some of the most gifted administrators
were theologically illiterate. Being a
successful businessman does not in
itself qualify you to be a church leader
any more than being a Bible scholar
makes you a capable church leader.
We need both Ezras and Nehemiahsand they must both submit to each
other in their respective functions. Let
the Nehemiahs effectively take care
of the secular aspects of the minis-
try of the Church but let them yield
to the pastors and teachers when it
comes times to hear the Word of God
expounded. Let the Ezras expound
the Scriptures but dont allow them to
Our Purpose
John G. Reisinger
7/30/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 188, June 2012
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Page 14 June 2012 Issue 188
WhiteContinued from page 12
Spirit to you (ds pneuma mou eis
hymas), and you will come to life.
Ezek. 37:14 - I will give my Spirit
to you (ds to pneuma mou eis hy-
mas) and you will live.5
Now notice the similarities be-
tween 1 Thessalonians 4:9 and Jeremi-
ah 31 and Isaiah 54:
1 Thess. 4:9 Because you have
been taught by God (theodidaktoi)
Isa. 54:13 -All your children willbe taught by the LORD (didaktous
theou), and great will be their peace.
Jer. 31:34 - No longer will they
teach their neighbor, or say to one
another, Know the LORD, because
they will all know me, from the least of
them to the greatest. (38:34 LXX) (kaiou m diaxsin hekastos ton politn
autou. hoti pantes eidsousin me)6
Notice that what Jeremiah and Isa-
5 Ibid., 19, 33, 53, 228; Gordon Fee,
Gods Empowering Presence (Pea-
body, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 52.
6 David Peterson,Possessed by God,
NSBT(Downers Grove, IL: IVP,
1995), 84.
iah saw as a future has become a pres-
ent reality for the Thessalonians. They
have been taught by God.7 Taught
by God probably refers to both the
teaching of Jesus and the inner work-
ing of the Spirit.8 It is communication
from God and a relationship with him.
Cruciform Love
Now we have the Spirit of God,
who moves us to follow his decrees
and keep his laws. Our old stony heart
has been replaced by a fleshly one.
We have been taught by God. Notice
what Paul says we are taught by God
to do: mutually love. This has been an
emphasis in 1 Thessalonians (just like
it is in every New Testament letter).
Consider a sampling:
3:6 - But Timothy has just now
come to us from you and has brought
good news about your faith and love.
3:12 - May the Lord make your
love increase and overflow for each
other and for everyone else, just as
ours does for you.
7 Ibid., 33.
8 F.F. Bruce, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, WBC
(Word, 1982), 90.
5:7-8 - For those who sleep, sleep
at night, and those who get drunk, get
drunk at night. But since we belong
to the day, let us be sober, putting on
faith and love as a breastplate, and the
hope of salvation as a helmet.
5:11 - Therefore encourage one
another and build each other up, justas in fact you are doing.
5:15 - Make sure that nobody
pays back wrong for wrong, but
always strive to do what is good for
each other and for everyone else.
Love is at the heart of the new cov-
enant call to holiness. It is the Spirits
principal work. It is no wonder that
the first fruit of the Spirit listed is love
(Gal. 5:22f). Love does not come from
us. The gospel is the power that trans-
forms us, and the Spirit works in and
through us. It is Gods activity within
the hearts of Christians that impels us
to action.9 God is the one who gives
us his Holy Spirit. Gives you is a pres-
ent participle stressing the ongoing
work of the Spirit in our lives.10 m
9 Deidun,New Covenant Morality, 58.
10 Fee, Gods Empowering Presence, 52.
VISIT THE NEW SOUND OF GRACE WEBSITE
www.soundofgrace.org
For art icles, features, audio and video presentations, handouts from the
2012 John Bunyan Conference, and announcements.
Back issues ofSound of Grace and chapters from
John G. Reisinger's
and
A. Blake White's
books are available as well.
Visit frequently as new and updated material is being added.
April 2012
Hi my Brothers,
I want to say thank you for such a fine journal. May our Lord connue to bless your work.
Pastor John A
7/30/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 188, June 2012
15/20
7/30/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 188, June 2012
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Page 16 June 2012 Issue 188
to be released fully andfinally in the
Messiahs kingdom after the Day
of the Lord (The MacArthur Study
Bible, p. 1268).
I will leave it to the reader to de-
cide whether the words this is that
really means Pentecost is the fulfill-ment of Joels kingdom prophecy or
if those words are only apreview
andsample of that kingdom. Do
we take Joel literally, and be consis-
tent with the literal hermeneutic
of Dispensationalism and symbolize
Peters interpretation of Joel, or do we
symbolize Joel and take Peters this
is that literally? It seems strange to
me that militant defenders of a literal
interpretation of Joels Old Testa-
ment kingdom prophecy are forced to
spiritualize a New Testament writers
interpretation of that same Old Testa-
ment prophecy.
I doubt my article will persuade
any Dispensationalist to change their
view. I do hope some people who act
like Dispensationalists are the only
people who really believe in verbal
(in their minds meaning literal) in-
spiration will realize that is not true.
Non-Dispensationalists, including
A-mils, are just as deeply committed
to the full verbal inspiration of the
Scriptures as the Pre-mils. Likewise,
I hope others will see that our Dis-
pensational brethren are just as com-
mitted heart and soul to Scripture as
their sole rule of life and theology as
we non-Dispensationalists are. Re-
gardless, it seems obvious to me that
Peters words, this is that, reallymeans this is that. Peter is declar-
ing the kingdom promised in Joel has
been fulfilled. The New Testament is
clearly spiritualizing an Old Testament
kingdom promise. The promised new
covenant has been established.
One last word. I want to empha-
size again my deep conviction that
the New Testament Scriptures must
interpret the Old Testament Scriptures.
We must use Hebrews and I Corinthi-ans to interpret the book of Joel. We
do not form a literal interpretation
of Joel 2:28-32, and other kingdom
passages in the Old Testament, and
force that understanding into the New
Testament. We must make Joel fit into
Hebrews; we do not fit Hebrews into
Joel. We must let the New Testament
interpret the Old Testament. When we
use this new covenant principle of in-
terpretation we will discover that this
is that means the writer is clearlyspiritualizing an Old Testament king-
dom prophecy. m
ReisingerContinued from page 6
Our PurposeContinued on page 18
tell Nehemiah how to build a wall or
a gate.
Second: The Ezras must teach
the Word of God in such a way that
people understand. Verse 8 is clear
as to the goal of biblical preaching.
The goal must notbe to impress each
other in either their knowledge or
their ability. True preachers must aim
at making sure the people understand
what Gods Word means. The congre-
gation must not leave a church service
saying, My, what a great sermon,
they must leave saying, My, what a
great gospel! They must not leave
saying, Isnt he a great preacher?
They should leave saying, Dont we
have a great Savior! the Levites, caused the people
to understand the law: So they
read in the book in the law of Goddistinctly, and gave the sense, and
caused them to understand the
reading.Nehemiah 7, 8:8.
John Wesley is said to have written
out his sermons before preaching them
and giving them to a scrubwoman to
read. If there were words or thoughts
in the sermon that she did not under-
stand, Wesley would re-work it until
she could understand it. Some folks
Our PurposeContinued fr om page 13
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VaningerContinued from page 15
Matthew drives home this point
in his account of the Transfiguration
later on in his gospel. In the pres-
ence of Moses and Elijah, the voice
of God from heaven declares, This
is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased; listen to him (Matthew17:5). A great changed has occurred.
Jesus is now the Rabbi. Jesus is now
the Teacher who speaks with abso-
lute andfinal authority. Jesus is the
Wisdom of God. We cannot do any
better than to listen to him. When we
do so, we are like a man who builds
his house on the rock. m
for an excellent discussion of how Je-
sus teaching in Matthew 5-7 set aside
the Law of Moses but did not speak ofthe law as useless or as no longer be-
ing Scripture or as being in error, but
rather always displayed the greatest
respect for OT law. Like Paul, Jesus
saw the law of Moses as good when
seen in its proper place in redemp-
tion history. But Jesus and Paul, along
with the other NT writers, saw the law
(and the OT as a whole) as prelimi-
nary and preparatory. The coming of
the Messiah and the fulfillment of the
new covenant brought about the next
and better phase of the larger plan ofredemption that God has provided.
criticized him for cheapening the
Kings English. Wesley responded,
My concern is not with the Kings
English but with being sure that
people understand the truth. I believe
some preachers stay up all night trying
to figure out how to talk for 30 min-utes without actually saying anything.
It amazes me how godly men and
women will put up with mish-mash
sermons. They will complain they are
not being fed spiritually but continue
to support, with their presence and
finances, a spiritually dead church.
I remember when I was in full time
evangelism I was often told by a visi-
tor, We dont hear preaching like this
in our church. I would reply, Thenwhy dont you attend this church?
They hear this kind of preaching every
Sunday. If you ate at a restaurant and
never had a decent meal, would you
keep going back paying good money
for poor food or would you look for
a different place to eat? The goal of
Sound of Grace is not just to preach
the Scriptures, but to preach them in
such a way that the people who hear
us will understand the truth.
Third: Notice two things that hap-
pened when the people understood the
Word of God being preached. One,
all the people wept, when they heard
the words of the law (v.9). Two, and
all the people went their way to eat,
and to drink, and to send portions,
and to make great mirth, because they
had understood the words that were
declared unto them (v.12).
The peoplefi
rst wept and then theyexperienced great joy and both the
weeping and the joy were produced by
their understanding of the Scriptures.
Their weeping was turned to joy.They
first wept in conviction of sin because
they saw how much they had neglect-
ed and disobeyed the Word of God.
One thing they immediately corrected
was the observing of the feast of
Tabernacles (see vss. 14-17). A correct
understanding of Scripture will always
all branches), Christians who were
philosophers, and indeed, Christians
who were working in every field
and every discipline. Did all of
these godly men and women have
their heads in the sand? Did all of
them have enough critical thinkingskills to earn Doctorates and receive
academic accolades from their peers,
but not enough discernment to prevent
being brainwashed by their religious
convictions?
I remember reading a small
booklet titledIs Science Irreligious?
The authors goal was to refute the
idea that true science was opposed to
orthodox Christianity. As evidence,
the author cited many obituarieslisted in scientific journals. Each
obituary included the name of the
deceased scientist, family members,
writings, special accomplishments,
and lastly, where applicable, church
affiliation. The majority of many of
these scientists obituaries said, He,
or she, was a faithful member of
such-and-such church. The author
then linked this evidence to his claim,
stating, It would seem very unlikely
that a scientific organization would
openly publish in its journal that
some of its members were guilty of
the academic sins of superstition and
anti-scientific thinking. Apparently
those scientific organizations did not
believe that being a Christian was
totally inconsistent with being a true
scientist.
If you chose to reject the box
of Scripture and put your faith
in yourself or some other humanauthority, go right ahead, but do not
claim you are thinking outside the
box. All that you have done is to
change boxes. You have traded Gods
box for a do-it-yourself box that you
have pasted together using your own
material. m
WestContinued fr om page 8
modernis
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