Is Healing in the Atonement?
Posted: December 7, 2013 Filed under: Theology | Tags: eschatology, healing, the atonement Leave a commentThis is a question that has been asked quite a few times over the last couple of weeks within my earshot. My default reaction has been to say a clear and firm “no.” However, it’s not quite as clear cut as that. Perhaps a better answer would be “yes, but not in the way you probably mean.” I came across this quote by D. A. Carson and thought it clearly summarised what is my point of view on the issue.
It is also argued that because “there is healing in the atonement,” as the slogan puts it, every believer has the right to avail himself or herself of the healing benefit secured by the cross. Sadly, noncharismatics have sometimes responded to this by denying that there is healing in the atonement – a position that can be defended only by the most strained exegesis.
Of course there is healing in the atonement. In exactly the same sense, the resurrection body is also in the atonement – even though neither charismatic nor noncharismatic argues that any Christian has the right to demand a resurrection body right now. The issue is not “what is in the atonement,” for surely all Christians would want to say that every blessing that comes to us, now and in the hereafter, ultimately flows from the redemptive work of Christ.
The issue, rather, is what blessings we have a right to expect as universally given endowments right now, what blessings we may expect only hereafter, and what blessings we may partially or occasionally enjoy now and in fullness only in the hereafter.
As Packer puts it,
“That total healing of the body, with total sinless perfection, are ‘in the atonement,’ in the sense that entire personal renewal in Christ’s image flows from the cross (see Romans 8:23; Philippians 3:20, 21), is true, but it is a potentially disastrous mistake to expect on earth what will only be given in heaven.”
In other words, this is another form of the overrealized eschatology so rampant in the church in Corinth.
– D. A. Carson, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14 (1987), 175-176 [line breaks added for clearer web reading].
Glory to Man in the Highest
Posted: November 4, 2013 Filed under: Quotes | Tags: glimpses of the inner life of our Lord, glory to god in the highest, w.g. blaikie Leave a comment“One needs to pause and think how terrible and how perilous is this man-exalting spirit, which works with such subtlety in much of our literature. Under the guise of a profound and thorough sympathy with man, it causes him to change places with God. God becomes the servant of man, not man the servant of God.
The song of the angels is transposed, and the purpose of the gospel comes to be, ‘Glory to man in the highest; on earth, peace; goodwill to God.'”
W. G. Blaikie, “Glimpses of the Inner Life of Our Lord,” (1876), page 130
(can be viewed for free or downloaded as a PDF here: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7299772W/Glimpses_of_the_inner_life_of_our_Lord)
Jesus Doesn’t Have the Answer
Posted: October 31, 2013 Filed under: Thoughts and Meditations | Tags: Jesus, Jesus is the answer Leave a commentIf you go around in any type of Christian circle, you’ve probably heard the following phrase: Jesus has the answer. It almost goes without saying, after all, surely everybody knows that?
I’d like to take a minute to explain the nature of this ideology and what people these days usually mean by it. They mean that Jesus has the answer to all of their problems: health, finances, mental health problems etc. “Jesus has the answer” nowadays usually means to advertise Jesus as a magic genie who will grant you an unlimited amount of wishes, under the backing of a biblical text such as “ask and you shall receive”. This Jesus will take away anything that you don’t like or makes you uncomfortable. It even seems that this Jesus’ whole meaning and purpose is to make your life better.
There’s just one small problem with this Jesus, he is nowhere to be found in the Bible. We have completely misunderstood who Jesus is and what His mission is.
Jesus doesn’t have the answer, he is the answer!
There doesn’t seem to be much difference, just one little word. The difference is perhaps subtle, but massive. We don’t go to Jesus looking for an answer to all of our problems, we go to Jesus for Jesus. Don’t misunderstand me, the biblical mandate for “in everything… present your requests to God” from Philippians 4:6-7 is clear. I am not suggesting a life where we do not pray for help, nor a life where we hope everything goes wrong. If your child is ill, it is right to pray to God for your child to get better. If your Grandma has cancer, it is right to pray that she gets better.
But that’s not why we ultimately go to Jesus. Our main reason for approaching Jesus should be that He is Jesus. Jesus is the answer to everyone, not for our problems and disasters (not to discount the fact that he is able to miraculously fix things should He wish to), but He is the answer to our fundamental problem – that of being in a state of rebellion against God, and apart from Christ we would be destined to an eternity of torment in a real, literal hell, and misery on earth for the rest of our lives. He is the answer to the question of why we are here. He is the answer to our greatest need: Himself, who is our complete and full satisfaction outside of any material provision or lack.
Jesus is worthy of our admiration and worship whether he heals our diseases, balances our bank accounts, deals with our emotional baggage, or he doesn’t. The point I’m labouring to make is that if we have Jesus, we have no need of anything else. So if we have Jesus and sickness, then we are good because we have Jesus. If we have Jesus and financial hardship, then we are good because we have Jesus. Jesus really is enough, all the other stuff is just fluff.
When we focus our attention, our worship and our preaching on what Jesus can do for us in terms of temporal, material blessings on earth, we ultimately show to ourselves and the world that Christ alone is not enough to satisfy us and that we want more than just Him. A heart that prefers something else to Jesus is the very definition of sin, it’s why Christ died on the cross for us, and we must fight against desires that come out of this heart with all of our might.
For those who would argue that the atonement of Jesus Christ paid for our good fortune, whether that be physical or otherwise, I would argue that you cannot hold to the authority of the Bible and that claim at the same time. It says we’ll have trouble, hardship, insults, persecutions and more (1 Peter 4:12-14, John 16:33, Philippians 1:29 & 3:10, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 2 Timothy 2:3 to name a few). The only guarantee I see of miraculous physical wholeness for every believer without exception is after the Second Coming, when we will be given new resurrected bodies (Philippians 3:20-21).
For some, letting go of the Bible as the full and final authority in all matters of faith, conduct, life and death will not be such a sad loss. If that’s you, I apologise, but I cannot go there with you, and I would urge you not to let go of the very means by which all men are saved.
And so I implore you, whether Christian or not, to seek after Jesus Christ for His sake, because He is worthy, and He is all that you need. If Jesus is offered to you as a means to an end, and not the end in itself, then it’s not really Jesus that’s being offered to you. Jesus is not a detour on the way to where you really want to be – your wealth, popularity, or good health. But He is the Final Destination in who we must all put our hope and trust.
Joni Eareckson Tada on Suffering
Posted: October 29, 2013 Filed under: Quotes | Tags: healing, suffering Leave a comment“When you see yourself today, do you see yourself waiting at the side of the pool of Bethesda? Are you wondering why God hasn’t removed the disappointment and given healing when you’ve asked for it. God may remove your suffering, but if not, he will use it to destroy sin. This is the deepest healing, and you do not need to break your neck to receive it.”
Joni Eareckson Tada, speaking at the Strange Fire Conference, October 2013. Source: http://www.challies.com/liveblogging/strange-fire-conference-joni-eareckson-tada
What Is the Point of Studying the Old Testament?
Posted: October 25, 2013 Filed under: Theology | Tags: Jesus, OT study, theology Leave a commentThe Old Testament is full of all sorts of strange and wonderful narratives, poetry, genealogies and wisdom. It is also, to a lot of Christians, boring, lifeless and pointless. We struggle to read it because it requires of us to ask the tough questions. When we hear of God destroying entire cities, even wiping out the entire world bar a small family, it makes us ask if it’s possible for both God to be good and for the Bible to be inerrant (that is, without error). The answer is a resounding yes, if you’re wondering, but I’ll tackle the giant of biblical inerrancy another day!
So why study the Old Testament? There are many reasons, but for me this is the main one:
You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.
John 5:39-40 (HCSB)
In these two verses Jesus is talking to the religious people of his day, who would have known the Scriptures (the Hebrew Bible, which is the Christian Old Testament) inside out. Jesus looks at these intelligent, well-versed, religious guys, and says to them that they think their knowledge of Scripture will save them, yet the Scripture testifies about Himself. Not only that, but they are not willing to come to Jesus so that He can give them life – their hearts are hardened towards Jesus, they want nothing to do with Him.
What can we learn from this? Studying the Old Testament Scriptures in such a way that it does not lead us to more of knowing Jesus Christ is pointless. The Old Testament speaks of and points us to Jesus Christ.
Theology that doesn’t lead to a greater understanding and love for Jesus Christ is dead theology and pointless religion.
What’s the point of studying the Old Testament? To know, love and serve Jesus Christ more.
Quotes from The Journal of John Wesley
Posted: October 22, 2013 Filed under: Quotes | Tags: john wesley, john wesley's journal Leave a commentI’ve been reading John Wesley’s Journal for the past few weeks and quite a few bits have stood out to me. Here are a few quotes that have really got me thinking or stirred me up:
“It is now two years and almost four months since I left my native country in order to teach the Georgian Indians the nature of Christianity. But what have I learned myself in the meantime? Why (what I the least of all suspected), that I who went to America to convert others was never myself converted to God. [Footnote from the book: ‘I am not sure of this.’]”
Page 44
“In the afternoon I was desired to preach at St. John the Evangelist’s. I did so on those strong words, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” [2 Cor. 5:17]. I was afterward informed many of the best in the parish were so offended that I was not to preach there any more.”
Page 45
“I preached at St. Andrew’s, Holborn on “Though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” [1 Cor. 13:3]. Oh, hard sayings! Who can hear them? Here, too, it seems, I am to preach no more.”
Page 47
“I visited many of my old friends, as well as most of my relations. I find the time is not yet come when I am to be “hated of all men.” Oh, may I be prepared for that day!”
Page 46
You can get the Journal of John Wesley for free from CCEL: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/journal.html.
I’m reading the PDF version on my Nook, but you could do the same with a Kindle, laptop, or any other kind of electronic reading device.
The Authority of the Word of God in Preaching
Posted: October 19, 2013 Filed under: Quotes | Tags: bible doctrine, preach the word, wayne grudem Leave a comment“Throughout the history of the church the greatest preachers have been those who have recognized that they have no authority in themselves, and have seen their task as being to explain the words of Scripture and apply them clearly to the lives of their hearers. Their preaching has drawn its power not from the proclamation of their own Christian experiences or the experiences of others, nor from their own opinions, creatives ideas, or rhetorical skills, but from God’s powerful words.
Essentially, they stood in the pulpit, pointed to the biblical text, and said in effect to the congregation, ‘This is what this verse means. Do you see that meaning here as well? Then you must believe it and obey it with all your heart, for God himself, your Creator and your Lord, is saying this to you today!’
Only the written words of Scripture can give this kind of authority to preaching.”
Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine: Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith, edited by Jeff Purswell (1999), page 40.
Why Study Theology?
Posted: September 27, 2013 Filed under: Theology | Tags: theology, why study theology? Leave a commentNote: Theology means “the study of God”, and Christian Theology is all about understanding the God of the Bible. I mention the term “study theology” a lot in this post. By this term I do not mean going to Bible college or studying for a degree, I simply mean any kind of study that will help you learn more about God – reading books, researching online etc. I am not proposing that all Christians must attend a Bible college in order to understand their faith, but that all Christians should undertake their own lifelong, personal study of God and His word to understand him more.
Sometimes people wonder why anyone would want to study theology. They ask what is the value of spending time in books and study when Jesus is a living person who we can know personally. They argue that this knowing Jesus personally is all you need, that you can know Jesus apart from knowledge or understanding, and that the study of theology merely gets in the way of truly knowing Jesus. I’ve heard it said, “all that really matters is that I love Jesus, that I know Jesus!” This is very true, knowing Jesus and loving Jesus are fundamental to the Christian faith. The question is, which Jesus do you know?
There are many portrayals of Jesus out there proclaimed by the church and the world. But there is only one real, biblical, Jesus Christ. If you only know Jesus in the sense that you have a feeling in your heart, but no understanding about who Jesus is, then it’s possible that the Jesus you know and worship is not the real Jesus, but an image that you have made up in your own mind. This is why it’s so important to understand who the Jesus of the Bible truly is. Many people who profess to be Christians, upon finding the things Jesus said in the Bible, would outright reject him and his claims to be the Messiah because they would so strongly disagree with his doctrine.
But let’s say that we do worship the real Jesus, and we are not in danger of worshipping an idol we have created in the form of something more agreeable to us. Why then should we study theology? Quite simply, Jesus tells us to, and for good reason too.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
Mark 12:30 (HCSB)
Jesus commands us to love Him with all our minds, as well as our hearts. In order to do this, we must understand who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and the relationship that exists (or not as the case may be) between us and Jesus. As with all of the commands of Jesus, there is a point to it: we cannot love what we cannot understand. As our understanding increases, so does our belief in Jesus, and consequently so does our love for Him. Studying theology enables us to increasingly love Jesus more and more as we grow in our understanding.
Studying theology is not something that should be reserved for the academics alone, but for every Bible-believing Christian. There are many books and online resources that can help you do this from the comfort of your armchair! Here’s a few to get you started…
http://theresurgence.com/ – this site is full of articles on theology and how it affects our everyday living in practical ways.
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-gospel/ – this entire site is great but this particular article is a good starting point.
If you’re a Christian, I’d like to encourage you to learn more about the God who has saved you from death, so that you can love him more. If you’re not a Christian, I would sincerely urge you to investigate the claims of Jesus, because without him we are nothing.
My Room
Posted: September 24, 2013 Filed under: Bible College | Tags: room pictures Leave a commentNot a very exciting post, but here are some pictures of my room.
First Day
Posted: September 23, 2013 Filed under: Bible College | Tags: bible college, first day at uni Leave a commentToday was my first day at Bible college. It was very strange and it took me most of the day to get my head around it. I’ve talked to so many new people that my head might explode, and I think that while it was good it was also a bit intense.
The best thing about today was that the chef really went out of her way to make something that wouldn’t cause my insides to disintegrate – gluten and dairy free 🙂 My tutor group consists of everyone else who is on the 1st year of the Church Leadership track, there’s 11 of us and it’s looking like we’re going to be a pretty close-knit group of people in time. I haven’t got any lectures til next week but there’s plenty of orientation stuff to keep me busy (including a Cabaret on Wednesday evening).
Again, I’m cream crackered, so I can’t think of anything else to write. Sorry this appears to be quite boring (“Today I woke up, and I had a shower, and then I had some food, and then I met some people” etc) I promise I’ll be more exciting at some point in the future.
Might post some pictures of my room and the gorgeous view out of my window if I get chance tomorrow. Please keep me in your prayers as I really need and appreciate them.
David Bowley 
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