This Simpsons In Church????

Something not quite right with this. Doh!!

Dispensationalism: The God That Failed

Dispensationalism, in some form or another, is one of the most popular "Christian" teachings today. This is evident from the popularity of books such as 'Left Behind" and "The Late Great Planet Earth." Yet, for all of its popularity, dispensational theology robs us Christians of much of our Gospel comforts. In this post I am not so much looking at why dispensationalism is wrong, but why it matters that it is wrong.

In the first place, Dispensationalism presents a God that failed. According to their theology, Jesus first plan was to come to Earth and establish the “millennial kingdom.” Obviously, Jesus did not establish this earthly kingdom. Since Jesus FAILED to establish this Kingdom, God has gone into Plan B as it were, the church age. (Dispensationalists of course do not call this plan B, they call it the “parenthesis in God's plan” or something similar. But it amounts to God changing his plan at the last minute because Jesus FAILED to establish the kingdom) I have put the word 'failed' in caps and Red, because this word after the word 'Jesus' should literally stick out like a sore thumb. Could God have failed? There is no place in the Bible that even hints at this possibility. Yes, God's creation can fail, and we have many times, but God Himself is Perfect, Holy, and Faithful. God is infallible! If God cannot fail, then Jesus could not have failed. If Jesus indeed did not fail then his purpose on Earth was not to Establish an Earthly kingdom..

If Jesus failed, it would mean that he was most certainly not God. If he was not God, then he had no authority or power to forgive sins, to forgive MY sins. Dispensationalism leads me to question my very Salvation! I have no choice but to question God himself and the Bible, for he says that in Jesus lived the fullness of the Godhead (Col 2:9). If this is untrue, is anything else in the Bible untrue? If Jesus failed to set up the "millennial kingdom" the first time, what confidence can be had in his second attempt?

Of course, Jesus did not come to Earth to set up an Earthly kingdom, millennial or otherwise. If Jesus really wanted to establish an Earthly kingdom he could have. The people he fed in John 6 would have been all too happy to make Jesus their king. If he simply would have continued to provide people with Earthly blessings, he could have been made king of the world. Did he do so? No, he fled from these people. When Jesus was before Pilate and was asked if he was a king, how did he respond? “Well, there's been a bit of a cock-up, so I'm going to let you kill me, rise from the grave, ascend to heaven and then take a couple thousand years off. After that I'm going to come back and give it another go.” Or did he say “I know things don't look good now, but I've still got time to convince the Jews to accept me.” Of course not, he simply said “My Kingdom Is Not Of This World.” That is simply all there is to it, Jesus is not, and he never will be, and Earthly king. He is not of this world, nor is his kingdom, and neither are his subjects (Col 2:20)
If we indeed are to think of the church age as a Parenthesis, or plan B, what Scriptures can still apply to us in the Church age? Does the sermon on the mount apply to us in the Church age, or only those in the millennial kingdom. I would assume that Jesus was preaching this sermon to prepare those listening for the kingdom, after all, if he was planning on establishing it right away, he would be trying to prepare people for it. So, does the phrase “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” apply to us in the church, and our prayer life? Or does it apply only those in the millennial kingdom? Was Jesus warning those in the millennial kingdom to beware of false prophets, or was he warning those of us in the church? Does every parable that begins with “The Kingdom of God is like....” refer only to this millennial kingdom?

Of course, to this too we must say that anything discussing the Kingdom of God pertains to us. The Kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom, people will not say “Here it is” or “there it is” (Luk 17:21). In fact, it is not even coming with signs we can observe, such as the restoration of a nation called Israel (Luk 17:20). But even in Jesus time, it was in the very midst of the pharisees. Jesus tells us in Matt 28:18 that He holds all authority in both Heaven and Earth. He already has this authority, yet he wants to return to earth and start an Earthly kingdom. Jesus is our King now, sitting at the Right Hand of God. As our King he is already providing for us and protecting us. We do not have to wait for a millennial kingdom to experience this, we have it all now. Dispensational theology in effect robs us of the comfort of knowing that Jesus really is our king.

Ezekiel 43 speaks of the return of Old Testament sacrifices. Dispensational theology of course looks for these sacrifices to literally be performed again in the new temple. These sacrifices are very clearly described as sin offerings. Yet, in the letter to the Hebrews, we are very clearly told that Christ was our ultimate sacrifice, once and for all. He forgave all sins, and only because of this forgiveness, the sin offerings of the Old Testament are no longer required (Heb 10). Then why is sin offering required again? Isn't Jesus sacrifice good once and for all? The only reason for God to re-establish the sin offerings would be if Jesus FAILED to forgive all sins. Of course, it has already been established that dispensational theology allows for the failure of Jesus in one respect, it is no surprise that his failure in another respect could be implied. Of course, that again leads me to the question: “How do I know my sins were forgiven?”

Of course, the Bible tells us that Jesus did not fail, but he died for the sins of the entire World. He did not fail, but his sacrifice was accepted by God as complete, it was confirmed as such on Easter. This is the message of the entire Bible, and yet misinterpreting one part of a chapter in Ezekiel casts doubt on it.

Is national Israel "God's Chosen People?" In the Old Testament, the relationship between God and Israel was frequently compared to that between a husband and wife. The Israelites worshiping other gods was frequently referred to as adultery. Yet in the New Testament, the church is referred to as the "Bride of Christ". Is God polygamous? Does he have two brides? If so, wouldn't God be guilty of adultery himself? Yet, even in the Old testament, non-Jews could be saved. The only way to rectify the situation is to realize that God's chosen people always has been the church. Whether it was all believers before Christ, or all believers after Christ, these are God's chosen people. To make only national Israel God's chosen people, God's true bride makes the church something of a mistress, an adulteress. The church, under grace, becomes Hagar and the Jews, under the law, become Sarah. Yet, Hagar was cast out, are we, as Plan B, to suffer the same fate? Once the Jews, God's true chosen people, are restored, what interest will God have in the “parenthesis”?

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul makes it clear that Hagar was the one under the law, and was thus cast out. It is those of us under grace that are truly the Chose People of God, regardless of whether or not we are Jew or Gentile. Paul constantly comforts New Testament Christians, telling them that God chose them before the foundation of the World. Does this sound like Plan B to you? Yet, dispensational theology robs us of the comfort we have in our election. It says that we cannot have been chosen by God before the foundation of the world. It again casts doubt on scripture, the very word of God.

When the ideas of dispensationalism are taken to their logical conclusions, what are we left with? A God that failed, an uncertain forgiveness of sins, A God that doesn't even keep his own rules, and a mock election. We are left with nothing but doubt. Doubt in our God and his Word. This is not the God I believe in. The God I believe in is all powerful and has never failed. I know my sins are forgiven because all the worlds sins were forgiven. I know that I have the benefit of this forgiveness, I received in my Baptism. I know I will be taken to Heaven by a Faithful God who has never failed me, and never will.

The Power of Satan

When reading Luther, it seems that one thing (of many) he held very strongly that Christians today, even many Lutherans, certainly seem to be lacking the view of Satan as a truly threatening opponent. Luther saw Satan as a very strong and very active adversary to God, man, and to the Gospel in particular. This is evident in many of his hymns, and particularly evident in his commentary on Galatians. A few quotes from Luther's commentary on Galatians 1:6:

“We have to watch out for the devil lest he sow tares among the wheat while we sleep. No sooner had Paul turned his back on the churches of Galatia, than the false apostles went to work. Therefore, let us watch over ourselves and over the whole church.”

“When the devil sees that he cannot hurt the cause of the Gospel by destructive methods, he does it under the guise of correcting and advancing the cause of the Gospel. He would like best of all to persecute us with fire and sword, but this method has availed him little because through the blood of martyrs the church has been watered. Unable to prevail by force, he engages wicked and ungodly teachers who at first make common cause with us, then claim that they are particularly called to teach the hidden mysteries of the Scriptures to superimpose upon the first principles of Christian doctrine that we teach. This sort of thing brings the Gospel into trouble. May we all cling to the Word of Christ against the wiles of the devil, "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

“Note the resourcefulness of the devil. Heretics do not advertise their errors. Murderers, adulterers, thieves disguise themselves. So the devil masquerades all his devices and activities. He puts on white to make himself look like an angel of light. He is astoundingly clever to sell his patent poison for the Gospel of Christ. Knowing Satan's guile, Paul sardonically calls the doctrine of the false apostles "another gospel," as if he would say, "You Galatians have now another gospel, while my Gospel is no longer esteemed by you."

To the ears of most modern Christians, and yes even many modern Lutherans, these quotes sound rather archaic and almost superstitious. Does the devil really work this actively in the world today? In the church today? I would venture to guess that not many people truly believe he does. For instance, if every pastor honestly believed that Satan was actively attacking the church, they would certainly not be bothering to teach the typical “Christian Lifestyle” sermons many evangelicals are so accustomed to hearing. If every pastor took Satan seriously, they would be unable to preach anything but Christ Crucified every day of their lives. If every pastor took Satan seriously, Christ Crucified would not be reserved for unbelievers. Pastors would realize that Satan and his minions spend more time attacking us believers than they do trying to prevent unbelievers from being converted.

If the average Christian layman shared Luther's somewhat frightening view of Satan, they would not be satisfied with anything less than Christ Crucified, they would quite simply demand it. Yet, most evangelicals are more concerned with living a 'Christian Lifestyle” than they are with being attacked by Satan. Calvinists have little reason to worry about Satan as he does not threaten predestination or God's sovereignty. Us Lutherans typically don't spend much time thinking about Satan and his attacks on the church either, as we tend to focus most of our talk of evil and sin on our own sinful nature.

Regardless of how much or how little we think of him, Satan is out there, prowling like a lion looking for someone to devour (1 Pe 5:8). Satan is in our churches, planting false doctrines (Matt 13:39, 1 Tim 4:1). Satan is in our churches, trying to cast doubt on the Gospel and take away from us the Word of Christ (Luk 8:12). If we ignore him, he has us right where he wants us. We don't have to ignore him, we can follow example of Luther, and be constantly aware of the danger all around us.

This could not ever be a popular teaching, not in the church today. The fact that Satan is out there and poses a real danger to us is not something that we want to here. It is not a “seeker sensitive” teaching, the law never is. There is no comfort in a powerful Satan who is capable of great spiritual destruction. When we realize the great power of Satan, we cannot help but realize how utterly weak we are. We have no choice but to look to Christ who is our Mighty Fortress. Christ is infinitely powerful and he has promised to be our refuge against Satan and the World and Our Sinful Nature. Through him, we have been freed from our sin, we have been freed from our residence in the world and been given a new Heavenly home, we have been freed from our bondage to Satan and we are now Slaves of Christ. He is our Provider and our Protector. He has give us His Word and the Sacraments through which we can put on the Full Armor of God which defends us from the attacks of Satan. Through Christ, we are truly blessed with all of these things. Through Christ, and through Christ alone, we are free from Satan and all his attacks. Through Christ alone, we are give Grace and Peace.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Luther Quotes From Galatians Comentary

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I have been reading a lot, but cannot seem to get a decent post together. However, here are some great posts from Luther's commentary on the third chapter of Galatians.

“All the prophets of old said that Christ should be the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, blasphemer that ever was or ever could be on earth. When He took the sins of the whole world upon Himself, Christ was no longer an innocent person. He was a sinner burdened with the sins of a Paul who was a blasphemer; burdened with the sins of a Peter who denied Christ; burdened with the sins of a David who committed adultery and murder, and gave the heathen occasion to laugh at the Lord. In short, Christ was charged with the sins of all men, that He should pay for them with His own blood. The curse struck Him. The Law found Him among sinners. He was not only in the company of sinners. He had gone so far as to invest Himself with the flesh and blood of sinners. So the Law judged and hanged Him for a sinner.”

“I am told that it is preposterous and wicked to call the Son of God a cursed sinner. I answer: If you deny that He is a condemned sinner, you are forced to deny that Christ died. It is not less preposterous to say, the Son of God died, than to say, the Son of God was a sinner.”

“Our merciful Father in heaven saw how the Law oppressed us and how impossible it was for us to get out from under the curse of the Law. He therefore sent His only Son into the world and said to Him: "You are now Peter, the liar; Paul, the persecutor; David, the adulterer; Adam, the disobedient; the thief on the cross. You, My Son, must pay the world's iniquity." The Law growls: "All right. If Your Son is taking the sin of the world, I see no sins anywhere else but in Him. He shall die on the Cross." And the Law kills Christ. But we go free.”

Apologies

I have pulled a very recent post from this blog, at least for the time being. I apparently did not write it out very well, as it seemed to at least two people that I was saying sin was a mark of faithfulness. This is in reality the exact opposite of what I wanted to say. I certainly do not believe that sin could ever be a mark of faithfulness, nor is there ever a time when sin should be let off of the hook. If you read the post and feel that this is the message that came across, I am deeply sorry, it was not my intention. I may revamp it and re-post later, I may not.
Thank you to those who pointed out how the post could be misunderstood.

Be Strong In The Lord

This post was originally posted at my other, now defunct, blog Sacred Meditations

St. Paul wrote his letter to the church at Ephesus without any particular error to refute, as he did is most of his other letters. He wrote it from Prison in order to send the Ephesians a word of encouragement, a very potent reminder of our being saved by Grace alone, and a deeper understanding of our strength in Christ.

It is this last part, our strength in Christ, that I wish to look at today. This is how Paul chose to close his letter, with a picture of Christ's strength as our armor. We are to take up the "whole armor of God" in order that we will be able to stand firm in the day of Evil. We are told to gird our waists with truth, to wear the breastplate of righteousness, and shod our feet with the Gospel of peace. Finally, we are told to carry the shield of faith, wear the helmet of salvation, and carry the sword of the spirit.

All of this sounds very good, however the instructions to do so seem to be kind of vague. How does one put on the armor of God? For the answer, we must look previously in the chapter. The same instructions are actually given to us, without the symbolism of Armor, in verse 10.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
[Eph 6:10 NKJV]

Of course, this is rather vague as well, how does one "be strong in the Lord". It would be more clear if we look at the original language. The word used here for "be strong" is "ενδυναμουσθε" (transliterated as endunamoō). Although this word can be translated as it is, a better translation is "to receive strength" or "to be strengthened" (see footnote). This gives us a better understanding. Instead of placing on us the responsibility to remain strong, we are told instead to be strengthened by the Lord.

Being strengthened by the Lord is much simpler than being strong. We all know how to be strengthened by the Lord, we are strengthened through the Means of Grace, the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. Whenever we hear the Word, we are being strengthened and putting on the whole armor of God. When we were baptized, and as our sinful nature is drowned daily, we are being strengthened and putting on the whole armor of God. When we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are being strengthened and putting on the whole armor of God.

Now that we know how to put on the armor of God, we must too understand what it means to put this armor on. In the 59th chapter of Isaiah, the prophet speaks of Christ himself wearing "righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head." (Isa_59:17) From this we see that this armor of God is not simply how we are protected from evil, but is in fact another way of saying that when we were baptized into Christ, we were clothed with Christ. (Gal_3:27). Putting on the armor of God is the same as being clothed with Christ. It is not something that we do after being saved, it is part of being saved. Not only are we clothed with Christ's purity, but we are surrounded and protected by his strength as well. When we become adopted sons of God we are clothed with the Christ's righteousness and protected by Christ's Strength.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

footnote:
There are some translations which do translate Ephesians 6:10 more appropriately. I probably prefer the Holman Christian Standard Bible's translation over the others.

Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength.
[Eph 6:10 HCSB]

Although I am not a big fan of it, the Amplified Bible also has a decent translation of the passage.

In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
[Eph 6:10 AB]

Finally, the Contemporary English Version has a good translation of the passage.

Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong.
[Eph 6:10 CEV]