This is one of the most important words in the human vocabulary. The church Reformer Martin Luther said that in it are contained all the other doctrines of the Christian faith. Luther also said that this is the doctrine on which the church rises and falls. Think of that. According to Luther, if a church failed to truly understand and proclaim this one word, then it would no longer truly be church.
The word is “justification.” Justification is legal word. It is the idea that when we truly believe in Jesus for salvation, God the father legally pardons us for our sins and imputes to us the righteousness of Jesus. Picture a courtroom setting with yourself on trial and you know that you are guilty. But, Jesus approaches the court and says that you have truly believed in Him, that he has paid the penalty for your sin, and therefore the gavel of the Heavenly Father comes down declaring that you are no longer guilty of sin.
Not only does justification mean that the Father no longer holds the believer’s sin against him or her. But, God also imputes Jesus’s righteousness to the believer, or thinks of the righteousness of Christ as belonging to believers.
Paul says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” If you are a hurting person dreaming there is an answer, there is. And, the answer is found through truly believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Concisely stated, the problem of evil is the question of how it can be simultaneously true that (1) God is all-powerful, (2) God is good, (3) Evil exists.
Here John Frame responds to preliminary questions in an interview with Andy Naselli.
“‘Person’ is the word in our vocabulary that applies to beings who speak, act intentionally, and so on. . . Only in biblical religions is there an absolute principle that is personal. Other religions have personal gods, but those gods are not absolute. Other religions and philosophies (Hinduism, Aristotle, Spinoza, Hegel) have absolute principles, but those principles are impersonal. Islam believes in an unknowable God who can (inconsistently) be described in personal terms; the extent to which Allah is personal is due to Mohammed’s original respect for “the book” (the Jewish/Christian Scriptures) and to the Arab polytheism described in Hadith. Other sects also hold to some level of personality in God, because of the influence of the Bible upon their founders. But groups like the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, like the Muslims, are inconsistent in their confession of God’s absolute personality.” John Frame.[1]
[1] John M. Frame, The Doctrine of God (Phillipsburg, PA: P&R Publishing, 2002), 26-27.
“Our message to the world must emphasize that God is real, and that he will not be trifled with. He is the almighty, majestic Lord of heaven and earth, and he demands our most passionate love and obedience.” John Frame, The Doctrine of God, pages 2-3.
Mark Driscoll recently asked Wayne Grudem what he would encourage young leaders to devote themselves to studying. Grudem responded:
1. Scripture — He said that every issue ultimately hinges on one’s view of the inerrancy, authority, and truthfulness of Scripture in every way. He encourages all young Christian leaders to make sure that deep within them is a love for and trust in every word of Scripture as God’s perfect revelation to us.
2. Authority — He said that he sees authority as a pervasive problem in our culture. As we talked, it became clear that what he meant is that people profess to be Christians yet refuse to submit to God’s authority, including Scripture, and people God has ordained to be in loving authority, such as godly parents and pastors.
In the first place, I can’t get the Amazon connections to link correctly . . .That said . . .
One of my summer reading projects has been John M. Frame’s magisterial, The Doctrine of the Christian Life.
Frame writes from a Reformed perspective and focuses on ethics including a voluminous section on the Ten Commandments. He deals with many ethical issues including divorce, to gambling, to birth control.
So, I was thinking, I really should blog something about this book since it has been such a blessing to me. But, then I started thinking. Most of my readers don’t spend a lot of time reading large theological books. Someone might unsuspectingly order the book only to have it show up and discover that it is literally over 1000 pages. Further, they might discover that it is a bit academic for their tastes.
Let me stop right here: you know I don’t discourage anyone from reading theology and I don’t think “academic” is bad - - not at all. But, I don’t want to surprise anyone with a book that makes War and Peace look like a dime novel.
Which led me in turn to consider what book on doctrine I would recommend as a first book. And, not surprising to the people in our church, that brings me to the abridged version of Grudem’s book which we are studying in our church doctrinal class. If you don’t have a basic book in doctrine, then this is a good place to begin.
On Between Two Worlds, Dr. David Reimer has posted a list of biblical metaphors that teach about our relationship with God. Click here. Pick one this Lord’s Day, read the associated Scripture, and meditate on it.
The current atonement debate has implications far beyond the doctrine of salvation. We are beginning to see how a departure from the Reformation understanding of the atonement will trickle down into areas of practical theology such as forgiveness.
It is also true that people are reading therapeutic approaches in the area of forgiveness back into doctrine. . .
“. . . Chris Brauns has done a magnificent job in helping us understand the true nature of biblical forgiveness. Every Christian will profit from reading and applying this book.” Jerry Bridges.
“ . . . Unpacking Forgiveness is an engaging, convicting but emphatically encouraging treatment of this hugely important (and sometimes mindbogglingly challenging) part of life. Dr. Brauns writes from the standpoint of a faithful, wise, experienced and caring pastor . . .” Ligon Duncan, First Pres, Jackson, MS
