July 31, 2006 Down time ahead...
Listening Matter
Music is an important landscape
for me. When asked this week what I listen to, I drew a blank. I listen
to so many varied things. I wll post some here so I can consciously
grapple with it...I still have a cassette in my car and a CD player
I can play through it as well...recent things I filed back in their
allotted places...
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Bruce Cockburn-Speechless Viewing Matter No Direction Home- Bob Dylan |
I am blogging sooner rather than later since vacation time is coming...
For the Benefit of my Online Friends, here is my take on tony Hoekema's Created in God's Image...
Restoration of the Imago Dei
My view of the renewal of the image of God involves a broad comprehensive
vision of the Christian view of man; it involves the redirection of
all of life. This vision is all-encompassing, and in my estimation,
entirely Biblical.
Whereas much evangelical teaching sees the present state of the Christian
as having two natures at war within one man (Jekyll-Hyde), I take the
view of Hoekema which departs a bit from the traditional Reformed view
and along with John Murray affirms an integrated new creation. He points
to the Biblical view of old man, new man (not nature, as the NIV has
it). A Christian is truly a new person, a new creation with a new nature,
but has a lot to do to grow in accordance with God.
It is at this point of redirection that the leader is tasked to become
an agent of redemption in guiding believers into a Biblical mind-renewal
process. This is a pursuit that allows us to reckon and parse what is
of the world, and what is of the Spirit. Christian education becomes
a process of reckoning the true, rejecting the false, and rendering
the new man as an instrument of righteousness unto God.
A truly Spirit led examined life will result in a person with the qualities
God requires especially in leaders, namely, to do justice, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly before the Lord our God.
Cultural Leadership
One of the things that flowed out of Reformed thought and the sovereignty
of God over and in all things is the stewardship of the culture God
has placed us in. We as Christians have so many places where our heritage
has been repudiated, but our God majors in redeeming lost causes.
A battlefield mentality is required for the task ahead, but I think
we as Christians also have the responsibility in strategically reclaiming
areas of life to develop a sort of "Marshall Plan" for rebuilding
and restoring the areas of life God will redeem and deliver to us along
the way. I like the term "agent of redemption" that a former
prof of mine, Jerram Barrs, uses regularly.
I think that this type of intentional redemptive activity is required
in the micro-levels of daily intercourse with the world and at the macro
level as well as the Kingdom is extended. Part of the task of leadership
is this kind of strategizing.
John Piper has said '"Let the sovereignty of God make you hopeful
that change is possible, not passive as if no change were necessary."
We are called to lead Christians who have created their own corner culture
and are quite comfortable within it. So many only read Christian books,
only listen to Christian radio, only go on Christian cruises (sure),
and so forth. As you can tell I am disturbed by this on many levels,
not the least of which being the fact that I discern I have been party
to this myself...others?
Common Grace
I've been rereading Anthony Hoekema's Created in God's Image.A salient
feature of the second half of Hoekema is the doctrine of Common Grace.
Hoekema rightly alerts us to the common misunderstanding(s) of this
doctrine by repeatedly qualifying his statements with "when rightly
understood."
Hoekema navigates the potential sandbars by basing his ideas solidly
on the scriptures. He builds a case for the contention that God restrains
the sinful activity of those who are not believers and that cultures
and societies benefit from this rain that falls on all people at God’s
discretion. Hoekema does a good job of not compromising the role of
believers into a watered down ecumenism nor an accommodation to the
fallen zeitgeist.
This has particular ramifications for leaders who are operating in the
places God has placed them in the world as well as for leaders within
vocational church ministry. It follows that if all truth is God’s
Truth, we are tasked with discerning what is gold and what is dross
in the truth claims of non-Christian sources. He provides no guidance
on how this is to be accomplished.
In general terms, we are to zealously pursue the redemption of lost
territories as the Kingdom advances. We must take every thought captive
to the obedience of Christ. While this echoes Niebuhr’s Christ
as Transformer of Culture view of the relationship of Christ and Culture,
it’s application in Hoekema’s schema is far more Biblically
based.
Romans 1 and common grace
I submit that on the basis of letting his argument flow from Romans
1:18-25, Hoekema starts at the correct Biblical nexus for speaking of
common grace . Men are without excuse because God made Himself plain
in what was made, which includes their very being, in that remnant of
the imago Dei. The NAS has it "within them".
I know many would limit this revelation to general revelation in nature,
but the context contains extensive "image" language. The glory
of God was exchanged for images made in the image of corruptable man.
I would respectfully submit that Hoekema is not ignoring the imago Dei
in chapter 10, he is building on the argument he made earlier on page
84 from the same passage of scripture.
Dead in Sin
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Time and space limitations will not allow for a thorough discussion of this issue here- whether we are born spiritually dead. I would disagree with the notion that we spiritually die when we sin our first time and point to a treatment of the issue and the scriptural texts involved, (especially Eph 2:5 and 1 John) on my blog at http://anthonyfoster.com/blog/03_13_06.html. I do not presume that we will all be of one accord on this issue- this was part of an ongoing semester long discussion we had in Systematic Theology 3 the semester I took it. However, I would say it impinges upon leadership in a big way, since one's view of this would seem to determine whether and/or to what degree and manner the lost are "teachable". |
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I am not sure that in a moral universe
there are any real "indifferent things" in the light of Romans
14:23. And I submit that God also restrains sin in the world in the
wages of sin- which I think of as an aspect of common grace as well-
even God's judgment works in accordance with His Grace; the limitation
of death gives the unregenerate a limited time in which to practice
sin.
Spiritual death (in lieu of immediate physical death) allowed for the
mitigation of the curse in Genesis 3 and Adam could now trust in the
seed of the woman, the second Adam for an alien righteousness he could
never have achieved even if he had an ongoing innocency.
Mysterious sin
When all is said and done, sin remains a mystery. But isn't it great
that we can explore mysteries? I am so grateful that God has not left
us alone in figuring out so much, but gave us His more sure Word.
Argument one: I base my understanding of this issue not on Reformed
theology per se, but on Paul's argument in Romans 1-8, especially Romans
5, wherein he says in verse 15, for if by the transgression of one the
many died...v. 16... the judgment arose from one transgression resulting
in condemnation..17... by the transgression of the one death reigned
through the one...18... so then as one transgression there resulted
condemnation to all men..19... through the one man's disobedience the
many were made sinners.
Over and against this, the only solution is to be placed in Christ.
Argument 2: If "all have sinned" that would seem to include
"all ": even newborns. Typically David's hope expressed in
Psalm 51 gives us insight into what happens to babies who die. there
is simply not enough there to form a dogmatic doctrine from.
Argument 3: Acts 14:23, if everything not done in faith is sin, and
faith only comes by the word of God, it would seem that logically this
also implies we are born sinners, and we sin because we are sinners,
and not just that we are sinners because we sin. I see this practically
acted out in Cain as well, where sin seems to have come from internally
where Adam and Eve had external temptation.
Argument 4: Since the wages of sin is death, is it not in accordance
with this truth that those who die are in fact bearing the penalty of
sin? So when newborns tragically die or babies die in the womb before
they have a chance to actively sin, how do we account for such a death?
It would seem they must either be bearing a penalty they do not deserve
and God is unjust, or, as the scriptures suggest, death comes to sinners.
Sin as alienation
I would suggest that the doctrine of original sin by itself is inadequate.
I'll keep this short and move on. Ultimately sin is alienation from
God, and I think this informs how we read the text of Romans 5. Alienation
from God is a matter of human solidarity. Spiritual death is ultimately
separation from God. It is also a matter of individual responsibility
and indeed we are responsible for our volitional sin.
At the point of balance, most analogies break down if you push them
too far. Jesus himself did not attest to balance- he said there are
the many and the few. Judgment is for all and the free gift is for those
who receive it. It is sufficient for all and efficient for those who
believe and receive.
As for the wages being ONLY spiritual death, then Christ would not have
had to have to shed real blood from a real body and physically die and
experience a bodily resurrection from the dead? Obviously not.