The Incarnation of the Son of God

"Q. 22: How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin." (Westminster Shorter Catechism) 

Christ is the eternal Son of God, of one substance with the Father. At a particular time, for our salvation, he became man. He did this without giving up his divine nature, but united the two natures in one person. This is one of the great wonders of the Christian faith. It is such a wondrous thing that from time to time some heretics have felt the need to tone it down. But our catechism explains what God has revealed in his word concerning Jesus, that because we “share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things” and was made to be “like his brothers in every respect” so that he might be our high priest and die on our behalf (Heb. 2:14-18). As a man, he “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

The Human Nature of Christ

What kind of body did Jesus take to himself?
He took to himself a true body. Some heresies have denied this, such as Docetism and Marcionism. Even in the days of the apostles, John warned of deceivers who “do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh” (2 John 1:7). Jesus took to himself a true human body with flesh and bones (Luke 24:39-42). He took to himself a mortal body, with its common infirmities, in weakness. His body was a true body, subject to the limitations of a human body.

Did Jesus have a human soul as well as a human body?
Yes, he took to himself a human soul. Contrary to the heresy of Apollinarianism, he took to himself a “reasonable soul” (that is, a rational soul, a soul that could reason). This too was part of being "made like his brothers in every respect" (Heb. 2:17). He took on a human mind, will, and affections - all willingly subject to his divine will. He fully shared in our human experience, both in the outer life and in the inner life. When he suffered for us, he suffered in both body and soul. When he was in Gethsemane, he told his disciples, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me” (Matt. 26:38). He is able to sympathize with our weakness (Heb. 4:15). While he remained without sin, and thus did not experience any temptation arising from evil desires, yet he did experience things like hunger, thirst, sorrow, and weakness, as well as the temptations of the world and the evil one.

Jesus did not come as superman, a man of steel, but a man in your humble and mortal condition, capable of suffering. He hungered (Matt. 4:2). He got tired (John 4:6). As a youth he studied and grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52). As he prepared to offer himself as a sacrifice for sin, he was in agony, praying with loud cries and tears, with sweat that became like great drops of blood (Heb. 5:7, Luke 22:44). He experienced fear and yet pressed on for the joy that was set before him, entrusting his spirit into his Father’s hands. It was not enough to merely take on a visible appearance to talk with humans, as angels have done, but it was essential to become one of us, in order to die our death and raise us to new life and immortality.

What use should we make of the doctrine of Christ’s true humanity?
(1) Gratitude to Christ. (2) Confidence in his mercy and compassion, seeking his help. (3) Confidence in his sacrifice and redemption, receive and resting upon him. (4) Imitation of his love and humility. (5) Imitation of his perfect humanity. (6) To not despise human nature, body or soul, but to give thanks for Christ’s redemption of our whole nature.

The Virgin Birth

Was Jesus begotten by an earthly father? 

No, he was conceived apart from any earthly father in the womb of a virgin. 

Of whom was Jesus conceived? Out of what was his flesh made?
The flesh of Christ came from the virgin Mary, although miraculously conceived. Jesus was conceived “of her substance” (WLC 37, WCF 8.2). Even before his birth, Jesus was called by Elizabeth the fruit of Mary’s womb (Luke 1:42). Mary also nourished him in her womb and gave birth to him. As regards his divine nature, the Son is begotten of the Father before all ages, but as regards his manhood, he was conceived of Mary, of her substance. Jesus is the promised offspring of the woman (Gen. 3:15), of Israelite and Davidic descent according to the flesh (Rom. 1:3, 9:5).

By whose power was Jesus conceived in Mary’s womb and of her substance?
The Holy Spirit was the one who did this work. This is the angel’s answer to Mary’s question, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” How? By the Holy Spirit. Nothing will be impossible with God. The same explanation was given to Joseph: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for what which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (1:20). The Holy Spirit does not act the part of a father, but as the worker of a miracle. The virgin conceived without intercourse, and this happened by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit wrought this miraculous conception, and did so in such a way that the personal union of Christ’s two natures existed from the moment of conception and what was conceived was holy, without original sin.

What implication might this doctrine have for the debate as to when personhood begins? 
Note that the Son of God was an unborn baby. The incarnation began at conception. Beginning at conception, a person was in Mary’s womb, conceived of her substance, but no longer her body. She was the “mother of my Lord” while pregnant (Luke 1:43).

How did this miraculous conception fulfill prophecy?
Christ was conceived in this way in accord with the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 (cp. Is. 9:9-7 and Matt. 1:22-23). "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Is. 7:14). 

Besides fulfilling prophecy, why is it important that Jesus was conceived of a virgin by the Spirit?
That Jesus might be the second Adam, a new beginning for the old humanity.

The covenant of works was made with Adam and all his natural posterity, all those descended from him by ordinary generation. Adam’s corruption was conveyed and his guilt imputed to his natural descendants. But Jesus took on Adam’s human nature without being his descendant by ordinary generation. The point is not that original sin comes from the man rather than the woman, but that original sin is passed on by the course of nature and that Christ was not conceived through the course of nature.

Jesus is the head of a renewed humanity, a new beginning for the old humanity, having the same human nature as Adam but without his headship and corruption. Jesus was descended from Adam, but not in a natural way. He was conceived of Mary’s substance by a supernatural work. He is the last Adam (Rom. 5:12-21), the one who would renew the lost children of the first Adam. Thus his miraculous conception is like our own spiritual rebirth in him: not by nature, but by the Spirit of God.

Books on the New England Puritans

Pilgrims Going To Church by George H. Boughton

The New England Puritans make for a fascinating study. I think what they attempted was noble, that they succeeded more than many realize, and that their decline was both due to weaknesses in their system (e.g. being Congregationalist rather than Presbyterian) and to the free choices made by some of their descendants to depart from the path. Here is an annotated bibliography of the best books I have read about them over the years, beginning with books primarily covering 17th century history and ending with books covering 18th century history.

A Reforming People: Puritanism and the Transformation of Public Life in New England by David D. Hall

I really enjoyed reading this book by David D. Hall, professor of New England church history at Harvard Divinity School (three of his books are listed here). It contains a careful look at how the New England Puritans transformed public life by implementing the biblical teachings, reforms, and ethic they had developed in their preaching and teaching. It was a good book on a historical level, giving a better understanding of our American roots and the development of our society, as well as on an applied theology level, giving an example of a society that took seriously the imperative to submit itself to Christ the King and his revelation, the Bible. Rather than moving toward a cruel and authoritative oligarchy (as some would portray it), Puritan society in New England fostered community participation and checks on any potentially “arbitrary” government power. The details of their reforms and practices as they were hammered out in the new world is quite interesting and inspiring.

Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England by David D. Hall

This book is not as memorable as A Reforming People, but it was another good book by the same author, with a focus on the religion practiced by the people in early New England, how the theology taught in their books was practiced. As Edmund Morgan says in his review of this book, “[Hall] shows us, as never before, how the sophisticated doctrines of the Puritan clergy meshed, clashed, and merged with the inherited attitudes and assumptions of ordinary people in their day-to-day grappling with the mysteries of their world.” 

The Faithful Shepherd: A History of the New England Ministry in the Seventeenth Century, With a New Introduction by David D. Hall

One takeaway from this book is that New England churches were most radically Congregationalist in the 1630s and that from that time there was tension between those who defended that system and those who sought to modify it toward Presbyterianism. I find that the history of the New England Puritans shows that their heirs are not only found in modern Congregationalist churches, but also in Baptist and Presbyterian churches (the directions these two wings of Congregationalism tended toward).

I have admiration for the New England Puritans, but a consistent takeaway I draw from studying them is an appreciation for Presbyterianism. As Charles Hodge noted in the 19th century, “Had New England, with her compact and homogenous population, and all her other advantages, enjoyed the benefit of a regular Presbyterian government in the church, it would, in all human probability, have been the noblest ecclesiastical community in the world.”

The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop by Edmund S. Morgan

An excellent little book that not only tells the story of John Winthrop, but in telling it, lays out the Puritan mission and dilemma, to seek purity without retreating from society. I seem to remember a few brief passages where the author might have misrepresented or overly simplified the theology of the Puritans, but taking those comments with a grain of salt, the book is worth reading. Morgan was a professor of history at Yale, and three of his books are listed here.

The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth-Century New England by Edmund S. Morgan

The Puritans took quite seriously the idea that the household is basic to human society. This book is an interesting look into the family life and household structure of the New England Puritans, including the relationships of husbands and wives, parents and children, and masters and servants. (Another book I have but which I have not read cover to cover is a similar book covering family life in Plymouth Colony in particular, A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony by John Demos.)

New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians 1620-1675 by Alden T. Vaughan

An excellent book on the New England Pilgrims and Puritans and their interactions with the native peoples by Alden T. Vaughn, a professor of history at Colombia University (I have the third edition, published in 1995). I came across this book while researching missionary efforts to the native tribes of New England, since it spends three chapters on that subject. It traces the relationships of the colonies to the tribes in other respects as well, from the founding of Plymouth in 1620 to King Philip’s War in 1675. (Two other books I found helpful on Puritan missions were The Theology of Puritan Missions by Rooy and The Puritan Hope by Iain Murray.) 

Anne Bradstreet: A Guided Tour of the Life And Thought of a Puritan Poet by Heidi L. Nichols

My wife and I read this book while we were expecting our daughter Anne. Later I found out that I am descended from Anne Bradstreet. This book gives a helpful overview of Anne’s life and context as well as her writings, many of which are included in the book (both of her poetry and her proverbs). This is probably the best single book to get on Anne Bradstreet, but another biography with greater focus on her life and character is Beyond Stateliest Marble by Douglas Wilson (also published as Anne Bradstreet: Passionate Femininity), and a good biography for younger readers is Anne Bradstreet by Simonetta Carr.

William Brewster of the Mayflower: Portrait of a Pilgrim by Dorothy Brewster

A helpful and informative biography of a man who lived an eventful life - a Cambridge education, service abroad under Queen Elizabeth, Postmaster and Bailiff of Scrooby Manor, outlaw printer in Holland, and elder of the Pilgrims’ church. This book mostly tells of Brewster's life leading up to the Mayflower. I also have another biography of Brewster which I have not yet read but have heard recommended, Pilgrim: A Biography of William Brewster by Mary B. Sherwood.

Pilgrim Colony: A History of New Plymouth 1620-1691 by George D. Langdon

A helpful history of Plymouth colony from its founding in 1620 to its annexation to Massachusetts in 1691. While many accounts of Plymouth’s history focus only on its beginning, it was nice to see the full history of the colony laid out. Another less academic history of Plymouth which I have partly read is Samuel Eliot Morrison’s, The Story of the “Old Colony” of New Plymouth. Of course, William Bradford’s history of the colony up to 1646, Of Plymouth Plantation, is an important classic. I have the edition edited by Samuel Eliot Morrison. For more on the founding of that colony, you can get Mourt's Relation, an account first printed in 1622, from Applewoods Books. 

Puritans at Play: Leisure and Recreation in Colonial New England by Bruce C. Daniels

An interesting look into how the Puritans viewed and practiced leisure and recreation. While they placed limits on play, they still had fun within those limits. And even as those limits expanded later in the colonial period, they continued to be influenced by the original principles of practicality and moral restraint.

Jonathan Edwards: New Biography by Iain H. Murray

I have read many of Iain Murray’s books and I have appreciated each one. This biography of Jonathan Edwards was no exception. And in the life of Jonathan Edwards, we learn more about what happened to New England Puritanism in the 18th century.

The Gentle Puritan: A Life of Ezra Stiles, 1727-1795 by Edmund S. Morgan

An interesting book for its insight into 18th century New England from the perspective of the history of Ezra Stiles, a Congregationalist minister and president of Yale College. This book continues the story of New England from the Great Awakening through the American Revolution to 1795. As the author says in his preface concerning Ezra Stiles, “his intellectual curiosity was omnivorous, and precisely because his mind was more receptive than creative, this book is as much a study of the times as it is of the man.” The book also provides another perspective on Edwards, and especially his successors, since Stiles was usually on the other side. I would like to read a book on Stiles' successor at Yale, Timothy Dwight IV, but I have not done so yet. 

Connecticut’s War Governor: Jonathan Trumbull by David M. Roth

I did not know much about Governor Trumbull until we visited his hometown, Lebanon, CT, which is where I got this book. He was a vital figure during the American War for Independence and a man firmly rooted in New England's Puritan heritage. 

“Day after day, through personal tragedy, and through news of military defeat, financial chaos, and political confusion at Philadelphia, Jonathan Trumbull sat at his desk in the 'War Office' and turned out the directives, and occasionally pleas, that kept the Connecticut war effort functioning until ultimate victory was achieved. The old man came to be something of a comic figure to the sophisticated visitors, especially the French, who passed through Lebanon during the war. Remarks were made about the short, unimposing governor whose conversation was saturated with biblical exhortations. Yet, the smiles never lingered very long, for this Old Testament patriarch never appeared very anachronistic when the time came for performance. His quotas were always filled on time. He was the man to whom Washington turned when the shaky Continental Army was on the point of dissolution.” (p. 65)

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough

One important aspect of studying the New England Puritans is that their legacy is not only to be found in New England, but also in other parts of the USA, especially the Midwest. My own New England ancestors moved west over the generations to Wisconsin. This book tells the story of the settlers who came from New England to settle the Northwest Territory, and in particular, the town of Marietta, Ohio.

Our Errand in the Wilderness

The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall

It was April 5th, 1621. The winter was over and a new year had begun (in those days, the year began on March 25th). A few weeks earlier, on March 16th, the Pilgrims had made contact with the Wampanoag and over the next week or two they had established a treaty with them, making friends with Samoset, Squanto, and Massasoit. The deadly illness that had plagued them for months was beginning to lift. Nevertheless, they had reached a point of decision. The Mayflower, their ship, was about to depart. The Mayflower had stayed extra long because of their difficulties and insecurity. But now it was time for the ship to return. Half of their people had died. They were not guaranteed a better winter the next time around. Would they stay or would they return on the Mayflower?

None of the passengers returned on the Mayflower. This small group of 52 people remained - without a ship - in their little village on the coast of New England. Why were they there? Why did they stay? Why had they ventured everything on this settlement?

This was the same question asked 50 years later by Samuel Danforth, the pastor in Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1670 he preached a memorable election day sermon entitled, “A Brief Recognition of New-England’s Errand into the Wilderness” (available online here). What was their errand in the new world? What was the purpose of their settlement? Why did the founders of New England, Pilgrims and Puritans, go out into the wilderness and remain there? He took his text from Matthew 11:7-10 where Jesus spoke of John the Baptist. 

And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

This was Danforth's main point:

Such as have sometime left their pleasant Cities and Habitations to enjoy the pure Worship of God in a Wilderness, are apt in time to abate and cool in their affection thereunto: but then the Lord calls upon them seriously and throughly to examine themselves, what it was that drew them into the Wilderness, and to consider that it was not the expectation of ludicrous levity, nor of Courtly pomp and delicacy, but of the free and clear dispensation of the Gospel and Kingdome of God.

Having explained this doctrine, he began to apply it, with its first use being: 

Use 1: Of solemn and serious Enquiry to us all in this general Assembly, Whether we have not in a great measure forgotten our Errand into the Wilderness. You have solemnly professed before God, Angels and Men, that the Cause of your leaving your Country, Kindred and Fathers houses, and transporting your selves with your Wives, Little Ones and Substance over the vast Ocean into this waste and howling Wilderness, was your Liberty to walk in the Faith of the Gospel with all good Conscience according to the Order of the Gospel, and your enjoyment of the pure Worship of God according to his Institution, without humane Mixtures and Impositions.

It is incumbent us, their heirs, to make a similar enquiry. Have we forgotten our errand in the wilderness? Have we been true to our godly heritage?

What Danforth said of New England generally was indeed true of the Pilgrims in particular. William Bradford listed several reasons they decided to leave Holland, including the coming war with Spain and economic hardship, but the first reason went beyond these to the bigger picture: 

And first, they saw and found by experience the hardness of the place and country to be such as few in comparison would come to them, and fewer that would bide it out and continue with them … For many, though they desired to enjoy the ordinances of God in their purity and the liberty of the gospel with them, yet (alas) they admitted of bondage with danger of conscience, rather than to endure these hardships … But it was thought that if a better and easier place of living could be had, it would draw many and take away these discouragements. (Of Plymouth Plantation)

Thus, the difficulties of life in Holland were not just a hinderance to their comfort, but a hinderance to their mission of building a community that enjoyed the ordinances of God in their purity and the liberty of the gospel. They were not persecuted in Holland, but due to economic, political, and cultural pressures, they were in danger of shrinking and scattering. These difficulties also kept other English Puritans from joining them. But in the new world, as an English colony in the wilderness, they had the opportunity to build a place where others might come from England and join them, practicing freely the principles of God’s word.

Many Puritans desired a further reformation of church and society, but were held back from it in England. If the Pilgrims established this reformation in New England, in a land where they could make a good living, be secure from foreign conflicts, and create an English society reformed by God’s word, then these Puritans could come and join them. The settlement of a new land would certainly be more difficult in the short term, but the opportunities were much greater and the long term prospects much brighter than in Holland.

Indeed, this is what happened! The Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth in 1620. In 1630, John Winthrop and his fleet arrived in Boston harbor, bringing 1,000 Puritans. By 1640, about 20,000 Puritans had come to New England. Their background differed from the Pilgrims, but their basic intention was the same: to complete the reformation and enjoy the purity of God’s ordinances and the liberty of the gospel. In 1643, Plymouth and the other Puritan colonies joined a federation and declared, “we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the Liberties of the Gospel in purity with peace.”

Therefore, William Bradford said concerning the arrival of the Puritans in 1630, 

Thus out of small beginning greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise. (Of Plymouth Plantation)

In fact, when Bradford was writing, “our whole nation” of England (at least, as represented by its parliament) had embraced Puritanism, corrected the tyranny of the king, and had called the Westminster Assembly to reform the church. This brought great joy to the Pilgrims. Bradford wrote in 1646: 

Do you not now see the fruit of your labors, O all ye servants of the Lord? that have suffered for His truth, and have been faithful witnesses of the same, and ye little handful amongst the rest, the least amongst the thousands of Israel? … But thou wilt ask, ‘What is the matter? What is done?’ … The tyrannous Bishops are ejected, their courts dissolved, their canons forceless, their service cashiered, their ceremonies useless and despised, their plots for popery prevented, and all their superstitions discarded and returned to Rome from whence they came, and the monuments of idolatry rooted out of the land … Hallelujah! (Of Plymouth Plantation)

Unfortunately, that full national embrace of Puritanism was short lived in England. But what Bradford celebrated would endure in New England, as well as in Scotland. And the influence of New England Puritans and Scots-Irish Presbyterians would spread throughout what would become the United States of America.

In application, let us first consider whether we have we forgotten our errand? Have you, and has our nation forgotten? Have we neglected our privileges, blessings, and heritage? Have we forgotten the importance of "our Liberty to walk in the Faith of the Gospel according to the Order of the Gospel, and our enjoyment of the pure Worship of God according to his Institution"?

Secondly, let us attend and prosecute our Errand into the Wilderness! We did not come to see a reed shaking in the wind. Therefore do not be such a reed - light, empty, and limp - but be “solid, serious and sober Christians, constant and stedfast in the Profession and Practice of the Truth, Trees of Righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified, holding fast the profession of our Faith without wavering” (Danforth). Nor did we come for courtly pomp and soft clothing. Therefore do not be soft, immodest, or vain, but rather humble, respectable, with self-controlled. 

Instead, we came into the wilderness, as the people did in the days of John the Baptist, for the ministry of God’s word. As Danforth said, we came for “the pure and faithful Dispensation of the Gospel and Kingdom of God.” This is a worthy thing to seek. Jesus said, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). This kingdom is established and administered by Christ’s ordinances, used with faith and obedience (Matt. 20:18-20, see also WLC 45, 191). Let us arise and build, and seek the Lord’s blessing.

The Puritans spoke much of the ordinances of God and of keeping them pure and observing them diligently. These ordinances included prayer, singing psalms, the reading and preaching of Scripture, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, catechizing, biblical church government, collection for the poor, and the observance of the Christian sabbath. God works by these means, and by them Christ builds and administers his kingdom. They are to be kept unmixed with human innovations and used with faith, a faith which embraces the promises and obeys the commands. 

Thirdly, let us also give thanks to God for this good heritage. Be grateful for these forefathers and their sacrifices. Throughout our country’s history, the purposefulness of these forefathers has been an inspiration and a corrective. You and I have benefitted from their work. Our whole country has been blessed by their perseverance. Praise God for giving them such a zeal for his kingdom. May he give us a similar zeal and may he call back our countrymen to the faith of our fathers.

19th Century Presbyterians and Abortion

When the Orthodox Presbyterian Church affirmed in 1972 "that voluntary abortion, except possibly to save the physical life of the mother, is in violation of the Sixth Commandment," they were not breaking new ground.

The 1869 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America unanimously adopted the following committee report:

"That it is with great pain we are constrained to admit the increasing prevalence, in many parts of our country, of unscriptural views of the marriage relation, in consequence of which the obligations of that relation are disregarded by many, and separations of husbands and wives, and divorces for slight and unwarranted reasons are becoming more frequent every year. Nor can we shut our eyes to the fact that the horrible crime of infanticide, especially in the form of the destruction, by parents, of their own offspring, before birth, also prevails to an alarming extent. The evils which these errors and crimes have already brought upon our country, and the worse evils which they threaten in the near future, make it imperative, as we believe, that the whole power of the ministry and Church of Jesus Christ should be put forth in maintenance of the truth, and of virtue in regard to these things. Many causes have operated to produce a corruption of the public morals so deplorable, prominent among which may be mentioned the facility with which divorces may be obtained in some of the States, constant promulgation of false ideas of marriage and its duties, by means of books, lectures, &c., and the distribution, through the mails, of impure publications. But an influence no less powerful than any of these, is the growing devotion to fashion and luxury of this age, and the idea which practically obtains to so great an extent, that pleasure, instead of the glory of God and the enjoyment of his favor, is the great object of life. It is therefore the duty of the Church of Christ to oppose, in every practical way, these and all other corrupting agencies and tendencies, and we especially urge upon all ministers of the gospel the duty of giving instruction to the people of their respective charges, as to the scriptural doctrine concerning the marriage relation. We warn them against joining in wedlock any who may have been divorced upon other than scriptural grounds. We also enjoin upon church sessions the exercise of due discipline in the cases of those members who may be guilty of violating the law of Christ in this particular.

"This Assembly regards the destruction by parents of their own offspring before birth with abhorrence, as a crime against God, and against nature, and as the frequency of such murders can no longer be concealed, we hereby warn those that are guilty of this crime, that except they repent, they cannot inherit eternal life. We also exhort those who have been called to preach the gospel, and all who love purity and truth, and who would avert the just judgment of Almighty God from the nation, that they be no longer silent or tolerant of these things, but that they endeavor by all proper means, to stay the flood of impurity and cruelty. We call upon all to remember that marriage is honorable, not only in itself, but in its ends. Therefore, those who seek to avoid the responsibility and cares connected with the bringing up of children, not only deprive themselves of one of the greatest blessings of life, and fly in the face of God's decrees, but do violence to their own natures, and will be found out of their sins even in this world."

This statement is quoted in a book by Hugh Lenox Hodge, the brother of theologian Charles Hodge. Hugh Hodge was a committed Presbyterian and the Professor of Obstetrics and the Diseases of Women at the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote a book, Foeticide, or Criminal Abortion in 1869, to join with the efforts of his profession to "illuminate the public mind on the nature of this crime, and to urge our legislative and executive officers to greater stringency in the formation and execution of legal enactments" (p. 4). He argued that human existence and the union of our body and soul begins at conception, and that from that point the child “is truly a perfect human being, and that its criminal destruction is murder” (p. 27). The book can be found online here: Foeticide, or Criminal Abortion.

Reformation Day

On October 31, 1517, the people of Wittenberg were preparing to attend church, since it was All Saints Eve. They were doubtless excited about the next day, All Saints Day. Their ruler, Frederick the Elector of Saxony, was authorized to grant indulgences on All Saints Day to all who came to the Castle Church, paid some money, and venerated the relics he displayed there on that day. 

Frederick had collected over 17,000 relics, including objects like fragments of the cross, the burning bush, and bones of the saints. These indulgences were desired because it was thought that the veneration of them would release people from penalties they would have to pay either in this life or in purgatory. Frederick was not the only one offering them. In the next province over, John Tetzel was selling indulgences, simply for the payment of money, which could be acquired either for yourself or for your loved ones in purgatory. The pope had authorized these indulgences, believing that it was in his power to distribute the treasury of merit laid up by Christ and the surplus merits of the saints.

Already in the previous year, Martin Luther had begun to warn his congregation against the use of indulgences. He had preached about it on All Saints Eve in 1516. Now on All Saints Eve in 1517, Luther published 95 theses against the sale of indulgences, posting it on the church door of the Castle Church. 

Luther argued that the pope had no power to release souls from purgatory - he only had power to release people from penalties imposed by the church in this life, what we might call church discipline. He argued that the pope had no treasury of merit at his disposal, for Christ’s merits are freely available to all true Christians without indulgence letters, and the saints have no extra merit to share with others: at most, they have only done their duty. He also argued that indulgences misled people, replacing repentance, faith, and true good deeds with human traditions.

Once Luther’s arguments were translated and made known, indulgences lost their credibility in Wittenberg. Elector Frederick himself ceased his annual display of his relics in 1523. On the other hand, Luther's arguments were not received well by the bishop of Rome. The ensuring controversy grew into a wide-ranging reform of the church according to Scripture called the Protestant Reformation. 

Lutherans continued to observe All Saints Day in a reformed way, without praying to the saints, trusting in their merits, or worshipping their relics. In the 1600s they would also begin celebrating Reformation Day on October 31st, gratefully remembering the event that had sparked the Reformation. 

Remembering the Saints of Old

Having looked at the errors of praying to dead saints and praying for the faithful dead, let us turn to how to properly honor and remember the saints who have died. While the error of the Roman church is to misuse the saints, to treat them almost as gods, the error you find among some Protestants today is to neglect the saints of old. This was not true of the Reformers, but it is true of all too many Protestants today.

The Bible teaches the doctrine of the communion of saints. This doctrine teaches that all the saints are united in Christ their head as one body, are blessed to be a blessing to the rest of the body, and are therefore bound by their profession to maintain fellowship with one another in worship, in mutual edification, and in outward assistance. All Christians, living or dead, are saints, "holy ones" (1 Cor. 1:2, Eph. 1:1). You are united in Christ not only to the saints on earth presently, but also to the saints in heaven, forming one communion, one household (1 Cor. 3:21-23; 12:7, 12; Heb. 12:22-24).

The letter to the Hebrews tells us to remember the saints who have proceeded us. Hebrews 13:7 speaks in particular of exemplary ministers who taught the word of God and confirmed it by their lives: "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith." Hebrews 11 also lists exemplary believers from the Old Testament from all walks of life, a great "cloud of witnesses" (Heb. 12:1). Some of the saints are particularly exemplary, and some you are particularly connected to or indebted to, although all Christians are all saints and brethren. 

1. Remember the saints of old. 

“Remember your leaders...” (Heb. 13:7). We should study the history of the church. We should learn the stories of the saints of old. This is an honor to them and a beneficial thing to us. A study of their lives is also a study of what God has done in and through them by his grace, stirring us to glorify God. 

2. Heed the biblical teachings of the saints of old.

“...who spoke to you the word of God...” (Heb. 13:7). We should remember those who taught the word of God. Remember them gratefully. They have kept the faith, defended the faith, and passed it on from generation to generation, from land to land, until it got to you. While Scripture alone is the divinely given rule of faith and life, its message has been contended for, proclaimed, and explained by faithful saints of old. May we learn from the teachers Christ has given to his church throughout the generations, even as we also learn from our own living pastors today, heeding their biblical teachings.

3. Find encouragement from the saints of old.

“...consider the outcome of their way of life...” (Heb. 13:7). We can find encouragement from Peter’s fall and restoration and subsequent faithfulness. We can find encouragement from the endurance of the martyrs, seeing how they ran the race to the end. The church does not need the merit of the saints. Their examples and martyrdoms provide a different benefit for the church. As Calvin said, “the church in general receives benefit great enough, when by their triumphs it is kindled with a zeal to fight.” Consider the saints in heaven as a “cloud of witnesses” whose examples testify to Christ and call upon you to imitate them.

4. Imitate the virtues and endurance of the saints of old.

“...and imitate their faith” (13:7). This is a major theme in Hebrews 11, as the faith of the Old Testament saints, and the fruits of their faith, are put on display for our encouragement. The same can be said of the saints of the New Testament. In Philippians 3:17, Paul wrote, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” This work of imitation brings us unity - as Paul says, we “join in” imitating good Christian examples, sharing this common way of life. While not everything the saints have done is exemplary, we should imitate what is good. The fruit of the Spirit has been vividly displayed in their lives. Moreover, if we don't imitate good examples, we will likely imitate bad examples. As the Second Helvetic Confession (1562) puts it, while the bodies of the dead are to be honorably buried (not worshipped), the most noble relics of the saints of old are their virtues, their doctrine, and their faith, which are to be praised and imitated. 

5. Give thanks to God for the saints of old.

What they had was by his grace, unto his glory. Even as we ought to let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:16), so we ought to give glory to the Father for the light shone by the saints of old. Give thanks to God for the good accomplished through them in their generations, for the benefit we receive from their instruction and examples, and for the display in their lives of his mercy, which endures to all generations. 

6. Worship God with the saints of old.

While we should not pray to or for believers who have died, we do worship God with them. We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, "to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" (Heb. 12:22-24). With the saints in heaven, we the saints on earth worship the living God through Jesus Christ, fellow heirs and members of the same household. Rejoice in a common inheritance (Col. 1:12) and look forward to reunion in that inheritance. "Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them, that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance" (Psalm 106:4–5). 

Let me conclude then with summary statements concerning the saints of old from two Protestant confessions from the 1500s, the first from the Reformed churches and the second from the Lutheran churches: 

“Hence we love them as brothers, and also honor them; yet not with any kind of worship but by an honorable opinion of them and just praises of them. We also imitate them. For with ardent longings and supplications we earnestly desire to be imitators of their faith and virtues, to share eternal salvation with them, to dwell eternally with them in the presence of God, and to rejoice with them in Christ.” (Second Helvetic Confession, 1562)

"Our Confession approves honors to the saints. For here a threefold honor is to be approved. The first is thanksgiving. For we ought to give thanks to God because He has shown examples of mercy; because He has shown that He wishes to save men; because He has given teachers or other gifts to the Church. And these gifts, as they are the greatest, should be amplified, and the saints themselves should be praised, who have faithfully used these gifts, just as Christ praises faithful business-men, Matt. 25:21, 23. The second service is the strengthening of our faith; when we see the denial forgiven Peter, we also are encouraged to believe the more that grace truly superabounds over sin, Rom. 5:20. The third honor is the imitation, first, of faith, then of the other virtues, which every one should imitate according to his calling." (Defense of the Augsburg Confession, 1531)

Prayer for the Dead?

We should not pray for the dead. As the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it, "Prayer is to be made for things lawful; and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter: but not for the dead..." (WCF 21.4).

Prayers for the dead in the teaching of the Roman church are offered for those deceased Christians who are imperfectly purified and therefore in purgatory, that they might be purified by making satisfaction for their sins and be forgiven the temporal penalties of their sins, achieving the holiness necessary to enter heaven. It commends prayer, Eucharistic sacrifice, almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1031-1032, 1414). 

The Roman church appeals to 2 Maccabees 12:39-46 for the support of this practice. First, we Protestants deny that this is inspired and canonical Scripture, not being among those oracles of God that was delivered to the Jews before Christ's coming (Rom. 3:2), nor part of the apostolic New Testament. It, along with the rest of the "Apocrypha," was not received by the Jews as canonical during the time of Christ, and was of disputed authority in the early church. The apocryphal writings were only dogmatically received as canonical by the Roman church at the Council of Trent in 1546, in response to the Reformation. Second, the author of 2 Maccabees probably misunderstands the intention of the prayers and sacrifice that he records being offered. The prayers and sacrifice that were made on that occasion were probably offered for the pardon of the living, not the dead. Third, the author of 2 Maccabees does not even hint at the idea of purgatory, but claims that Judas Maccabees sought forgiveness for the dead so that they would share in the resurrection on the last day. Judas' belief in the resurrection is what the author especially commends.

But prayers for the dead naturally developed along with the belief in purgatory, prompting various traditions and practices. Throughout medieval Europe, there were priests who were paid to say mass for people who had died so that they would reach heaven. One tradition of Allhallowtide in Ireland and Scotland was to go door to door to collect “soul cakes” - each house would give you cakes so that you would pray for the souls of their loved ones.

Both purgatory and prayers for the dead are without biblical warrant. The Bible never teaches us to pray for the dead, nor does its doctrine support or imply such a practice. The practice is an invention of man, an expression of man-made religion.

The idea of further suffering for sin after death contradicts the doctrine of justification. When we are forgiven, both guilt and punishment is removed. We are not liable for a debt that has been canceled (Col. 2:14). We no longer need to make satisfaction for sin. Christ has satisfied divine justice by his single sacrifice, offered once for all, and he is the propitiation for our sins (Rom. 3:24-25, Heb. 9:14, 25-28, 10:10-14). While we demonstrate and follow through on our repentance by our good deeds, these are not satisfactions to God's justice. While we are sanctified through the trials of this life, this suffering is not a satisfaction for sin, but a fatherly discipline that belongs to this life, that we might run its race to the end. Those who die in the Lord are blessed and rest from their labors (Rev. 14:13). As Jesus told the believing criminal on the cross, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). When believers die, their souls are made perfect in holiness and immediately pass into glory, being blessed in Christ for his sake. There they await the resurrection from the dead on the last day.

Not only is prayer for the dead a superstitious practice, without biblical basis, but it also leads people astray from a firm confidence in Jesus Christ for their salvation, obscures the hope of glory we have through faith in him, and it leads us from the right use of prayer. Believers who have died do not need the prayers, for they have entered into glory. The wicked cannot be helped by your prayers. We, the living, are the ones in the arena. The living and the generations yet to come are in need of your prayers.

Prayers to the Dead?

We should not pray to dead saints. As the Westminster Larger Catechism puts it, 

Q. 179 Are we to pray unto God only?
A: God only being able to search the hearts, hear the requests, pardon the sins, and fulfill the desires of all; and only to be believed in, and worshiped with religious worship; prayer, which is a special part thereof, is to be made by all to him alone, and to none other.

You might think that with the biblical prohibitions against necromancy (Deut. 18:10–12), prayers to the saints in heaven would not even be considered by those who profess Christ. We should not seek help from the dead, including the saints in heaven. But the Roman church teaches that "we can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world" (Catechism of the Catholic Church). They might argue that it does not count as necromancy since the saints are not telling us anything, although many who pray to the saints will also claim that on rare occasions the saints have appeared to people and told them things.

While I do think that seeking help from the dead saints in heaven at leasts contradicts the principle of the command against necromancy, another argument against prayer to the saints is that it is without biblical warrant. Holy Scripture does not teach us to pray to the saints in heaven. Prayers ought to be offered with faith, but there is no grounds for faith in prayers to the saints. As Philip Melanchthon said, “And since prayer ought to be made from faith, how do we know that God approves this invocation? Whence do we know without the testimony of Scripture that the saints perceive the prayers of each one?”

Those who pray to the dead argue that the Bible teaches that the saints in heaven pray to God. I am willing to grant that (Rev. 6:9-10), but that still does not mean that we can or should pray to them.

They also argue that it is no different than asking your friend to pray for you. It is true that Scripture does teach us that we can and should ask other members of the church militant on earth to pray for us, even as we pray for them (Eph. 6:18-20), struggling and persevering together, as the apostle Paul asked the living saints to pray for him, while he also prayed for them. But this is not the same as asking dead saints, members of the church triumphant, to pray for us, praying for their intercession. There are differences. For example, your friend is alive and with you. Prayers to the dead treat the saints as omniscient, able to hear the words and thoughts of people throughout the earth. But the saints in heaven remain human, finite, and limited. If I began praying to my living friend, while I was alone in my room without technology connecting us, we would think that odd behavior. There is some equivocation on the word "prayer" in this argument.

In fact, prayer is a part of religious worship. In Scripture, prayer is directed to God alone. It is wrong to "spread out our hands to a foreign god" (Ps. 44:20). God is the one who hears prayer (Ps. 65:2). God describes to us the worship in which he delights by saying, "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" (Ps. 50:14–15).

Additionally, this practice of praying to dead saints detracts from the office of Christ, the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). The Son of God became man so that he might be a merciful and compassionate high priest. He deals gently with the humble and intercedes for sinners. Jesus "is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25). Resting upon our merciful high priest, we are taught to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16). 

So do not pray to the saints in heaven. Neither trust in their merits or rest on their achievements, but trust in our merciful Savior, Jesus Christ. Prayer to the dead is a superstitious practice that leads people astray from the way of true piety, defined in God's word. God would have us to call upon him, to come to him with confidence, relying on the meditation of Jesus our only priest and mediator. 

John Chrysostom on Reading Scripture at Home

John Chrysostom (347-407) was a noted preacher of the early church, first in Syrian Antioch and then in Constantinople. In his preaching he exposited Scripture, verse by verse, with lively and bold application. He also exhorted the people to discuss and read Scripture at home. Below is one example, taken from a sermon he gave in Antioch (the full sermon can be found here). The sermon is the third in a series of four sermons on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, but the first part of this sermon is taken up with an exhortation to study Scripture. 

"This, also, I am ever urging, and shall not cease to urge, that you give attention, not only to the words spoken, but that also, when at home in your house, you exercise yourselves constantly in reading the Divine Scriptures. This, also, I have never ceased to press upon those who come to me privately. Let not any one say to me that these exhortations are vain and irrelevant, for 'I am constantly busy in the courts,' (suppose him to say;) 'I am discharging public duties; I am engaged in some art or handiwork; I have a wife; I am bringing up my children; I have to manage a household; I am full of worldly business; it is not for me to read the Scriptures, but for those who have bid adieu to the world, for those who dwell on the summit of the hills; those who constantly lead a secluded life.' What dost thou say, O man? Is it not for thee to attend to the Scriptures, because thou art involved in numerous cares? It is thy duty even more than theirs, for they do not so much need the aid to be derived from the Holy Scriptures as they do who are engaged in much business. ... They rest far from the strife, and, therefore, escape many wounds; but you stand perpetually in the array of battle, and constantly are liable to be wounded: on this account, you have more need of the healing remedies. For, suppose, a wife provokes, a son causes grief, a slave excites to anger, an enemy plots against us, a friend is envious, a neighbour is insolent, a fellow-soldier causes us to stumble----or often, perhaps, a judge threatens us, poverty pains us, or loss of property causes us trouble, or prosperity puffs us up, or misfortune overthrows us;----there are surrounding us on all sides many causes and occasions of anger, many of anxiety, many of dejection or grief, many of vanity or pride; from all quarters, weapons are pointed at us. Therefore it is that there is need continually of the whole armour of the Scriptures. ...

“Many other such things there are that beset our soul; and we have need of the divine remedies that we may heal wounds inflicted, and ward off those which, though not inflicted, would else be received in time to come----thus quenching afar off the darts of Satan, and shielding ourselves by the constant reading of the Divine Scriptures. …

“‘But what,’ say they, ‘if we do not understand the things we read?’ Even if you do not understand the contents, your sanctification in a high degree results from it. However, it is impossible that all these things should alike be misunderstood; for it was for this reason that the grace of the Holy Spirit ordained that tax-gatherers, and fishermen, and tent-makers, and shepherds, and goatherds, and uninstructed and illiterate men, should compose these books, that no untaught man should be able to make this pretext; in order that the things delivered should be easily comprehended by all----in order that the handicraftsman, the domestic, the widow, yea, the most unlearned of all men, should profit and be benefited by the reading. For it is not for vain-glory, as men of the world, but for the salvation of the hearers, that they composed these writings, who, from the beginning, were endued with the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Pentecost (Part 3): Abiding Effects

This is the final part of a three-part series on the day of Pentecost. The previous installments can be found here: part 1 and part 2. In this post, I would like to speak to the abiding effects of Pentecost. While what took place on that day was unique, it was the beginning of a new era that continues today. The Spirit came to stay. He continues to be poured out. 

In this new covenant era, the baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at conversion. All believers have been baptized in the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul tells the church, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” In Titus 3:5-6, he says we are saved by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, “whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ.” 

This baptism with the Spirit occurs once and it is our initiation into salvation under the new covenant. The baptism of John looked to this as a future reality, but Christian baptism symbolizes this as present reality for Christians. The water is a sign and seal of the pouring out of the Spirit, of the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Spirit. This is why it administered once, and to every member of the visible church, at the beginning of their Christian life, and is of use to you for the rest of your life.

It helps to distinguish between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Spirit. Every baptism of the Spirit is a filling with the Spirit, but not every filling with the Spirit is a new baptism. 

To be filled with the Spirit can refer to that initial baptism (Acts 2:4), as well as the continuing work of the Spirit in the believer (Eph. 5:18). A person who has been filled with the Spirit is filled with the Spirit and can be further filled with the Spirit as the Spirit works within him. For example, the Christians who pray in Acts 4 were already filled with the Spirit, but in response to their prayer it is said that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” with the result that they continued to speak the word of God with boldness, just as they had asked. The Spirit works through the means of grace, like prayer, to further strengthen the saints.

It is helpful to remember that “filling” is a metaphor. The Spirit is not literally a fluid to be poured. This is a metaphor for the activity of the Spirit in a person’s heart, a metaphor for his empowering, comforting, enlivening, and sanctifying influence. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul commands the saints to be filled with the Spirit. As Richard Gaffin puts it,  “As an imperative reality in the lives of believers, being filled with the Spirit is to be (1) controlling, (2) continual, and (3) comprehensive.” It is controlling. Note the contrast and comparison between being filled with the Spirit and being being drunk with wine, both in Ephesians 5:18 and in Acts 2: “filled with new wine” or “filled with the Spirit.” The Spirit is a different kind of controlling influence (one that produces virtues like self-control). It is also continual. The tense of the verb describes something continual or repeated, not merely a one time event. And it is comprehensive. It is manifested in worship, in all of life, and in social relations (Eph. 5:5:19-21).

A similar term, used twice in the New Testament, is that of being “led by the Spirit.” This phrase is often misused by Christians today. When you look at the context of this phrase in Scripture, you will see that being “led by the Spirit” does not refer to following your instincts and impulses. That is how many use the phrase today. But it refers, in context, to practicing Christian virtue and putting to death sinful ways and desires by the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:13-14, Gal. 5:16-26). Hopefully these virtues become more and more instinctual, but your instincts can also be foolish and sinful. You can “feel led” by many things, and not all of them good! Your impulses are not infallible. To be led by the Spirit is to be sanctified by the Spirit, to be effectually led into the ways of holiness. He works in the saints, both to will and work for God’s good pleasure. And this is not a passive thing, as both Romans and Galatians indicate. By the Spirit, you must put to death the deeds of the flesh and walk by the Spirit in the fruit of the Spirit.

The Spirit is also described as the "guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it" (Eph. 1:14), the first fruits of glory. By the Spirit, we receive a sense of God's love, peace of conscience, joy, and the hope of glory (Rom. 5:1-5, Gal. 4:6).

The Spirit equips the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7). The Spirit empowered the apostles as witnesses to Christ, as is seen on the day of Pentecost in the preaching of Peter. The Spirit does not give the same gifts to every individual, but works in each one for the good of the body. Nor does he give all the same gifts to people today as he gave during the days of the apostles - some gifts were particularly for that foundational age. But the principle remains the same, that you all have one and the same Spirit in common. You are bound in the unity of the Spirit, which you are told to maintain in the bond of peace. You are given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good of the body. You have been blessed to be a blessing to the rest of the body.

Conclusion

The Spirit has been poured out by Christ and is given to all flesh. Therefore, receive Christ, that you might be blessed in the Spirit. Call upon the name of the Lord. All who do so shall be saved. 

If you are in Christ, then be filled with the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit, walking by the Spirit. Attend to the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Sing and pray to God in the Spirit and for the Spirit. Put to death sinful ways and desires, and walk by the Spirit in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Be a good member of the body. Keep yourselves holy, as members of the temple of God. Do not defile or destroy the temple.

Go forth boldly and confidently in service to your Lord by the power of the Spirit, as a light to the nations. Jesus Christ has ascended on high and has poured out the Spirit as he promised. Give thanks to him. Unto him be the glory, with the Father and the Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Pentecost (Part 2): Tongues

In the first part on this series on Pentecost, I looked at how the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was a unique transitional event that inaugurated a new era. In this second part, I would like to take a closer look at the signs that accompanied the outpouring of the Spirit, especially the gift of tongues. 

Pentecost was accompanied by several unique signs. There was a sound like a mighty rushing wind. It came from heaven. It came suddenly. It filled the house where they were meeting. There were also divided tongues as of fire. These tongues of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Here are ten observations on speaking in tongues. 

1. The gift of tongues was the ability to speak foreign languages previously unknown to the speaker. The word “tongues” can refer to the body part or to languages spoken by it. 
2. This gift is described in Acts and 1 Corinthians. In Acts, it is mentioned with the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and as this outpouring came upon the Gentiles (Acts 10) and the disciples of John (Acts 19). 
3. The content of what was said in tongues was the praise of God inspired by the Spirit (2:4, 11). They spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance. The words were given by God and they told of God's mighty works. The gift of tongues was the gift of prophecy in another language. 
4. This gift was given to the whole church on Pentecost, but after the initial outpouring, it was given as a gift to some members for the benefit of the church and a sign to unbelievers (1 Cor. 12, 14).
5. The languages were foreign languages, not the “free vocalization” passed off as tongues speaking today. Early Pentecostals believed that they were speaking foreign languages, until it became evident that they weren’t. Then they claimed they were speaking the tongues of angels. But the only biblical reference to the tongues of angels is where Paul is speaking in an exaggerated and hypothetical way (1 Cor. 13:1). It is clear from Acts that the "tongues" were the native languages of these people who had traveled from many nations. The situation was different in Corinth, which was not an international gathering like Pentecost. In a local church, what was said in tongues had to be interpreted to be understood. The interpretation of a language not previously known was also given by the Spirit to some (1 Cor. 12:10). 
6. This miracle was a sign of the Spirit like the sound and fire (Acts 2:2-4). Its importance did not lie in its practical usefulness, but in its function as a sign. It was a sign that demonstrated that the Spirit was being poured out, and was being poured out for all the nations. 
7. The significance of speaking in many languages was that the new covenant church would include all nations. This was a joy to believing Jews, but it was a judgment against those who rejected the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul explains the significance of the tongues by quoting Isaiah 28:11-12, “In the Law it is written, ‘By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.’ Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers…” 
8. There is no more gift of tongues today. Why? Since it marked that period of transition and what it symbolized has been fulfilled. The church was established by the apostles among the nations, so that the church does speak the languages of the nations. This is how Augustine put it in the early 5th century: “Isn’t the Holy Spirit being given nowadays, then, brothers and sisters? … It certainly is given nowadays. So why is nobody speaking with the tongues of all nations, as people spoke who were filled with the Holy Spirit at that time? Why? Because what that signified has been fulfilled.”
9. At Babel, the languages of the nations were divided to disperse them. But right after that, we read of the promise to Abraham for the blessing of the nations. At Pentecost, what God did at Babel is not exactly reversed - the diversity of the nations remains, with the existence of different languages. But now God is praised in all the languages. Rather than coming together in rebellion against God, they come together in Christ to praise him (Rev. 7:9-10). They worship God in one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
10. Another reason the gift of tongues has ceased is that the revelation of the gospel given through the apostles and prophets has been delivered to the church and is recorded in Scripture (Eph. 2:19-21, 3:5, Heb. 1:1-2, 2:1-4). Their work was accomplished, and so no additional revelation is given. Since revelation is complete, and speaking in tongues was a form of revelation from God, therefore speaking in tongues has ceased. 

Pentecost (Part 1): A New Era

This summer I have been preaching through the Acts of the Apostles. One of these sermons (here) was on Acts 2:1-21 and the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. I plan to adapt the sermon for this blog, posting it in three parts: (1) a new era, (2) tongues, (3) abiding effects. 

The outpouring of the Spirit was an event that had been prophesied in Joel 2:28-32, which Peter quoted on that day. It was the last days - the prophesied outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh had come. This was indicated by the sound of wind, the appearance of fire, and the church prophesying in tongues at this event. The signs in heaven had taken place at Christ’s death. The signs on earth took place at Pentecost. The last verse of the quotation points to the application: "And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."  

Other prophets had spoken of this too. Isaiah had prophesied that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon the messianic Servant of the Lord (11:1-2, 41:1, 61:1), and that the Spirit would be poured out upon his people to revive them and make them like a fruitful field (32:15, 44:3). Ezekiel had foretold how God would sprinkle clean water to cleanse his people and put his Spirit within his people to write his laws on their hearts, restoring his people and building a new temple.

John the Baptist and Jesus had also foretold it. This event was the baptism with the Spirit that they spoke of (Luke 3, Acts 1:4-5, 8). As God told John the Baptist, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). Jesus was anointed by the Spirit for his messianic task, and when he did his work and sat down at the Father’s right hand, he poured out that same Spirit as a blessing upon his the church. The Spirit was poured out by Christ from heaven, as a consequence of his exaltation and ascension, as Peter goes on to explain in his sermon.

This outpouring of the Spirit inaugurated a new era. The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost was a pivotal event in redemptive history, like Christ’s resurrection and ascension. It was an unrepeatable event resulting in a new state of affairs. The covenant of grace was now administered in a new and more powerful way by the risen Christ. The Spirit had been poured out upon the church, and he had come to stay.

1. Pentecost established the new covenant administration.

This event was like the making of the old covenant at Sinai. As the old covenant was made with God’s people at Sinai, so the new covenant was made with God’s people at Pentecost. Both were foundational events. These covenants have the same substance, the same moral law, the same way of salvation. The new covenant is a new administration, with new ordinances and new organization befitting the greater clarity of the gospel and the greater outpouring of the Spirit. By comparison, the new covenant is a ministry of the Spirit (1 Cor. 3).

Jesus had already been setting up the new covenant during his earthly ministry. The gospel, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper were all set in place before Christ ascended into heaven. So how does the outpouring of the Spirit fit into this? Think of it like the filling of the tabernacle in Exodus 40. First Moses delivered the covenant to Israel and the tabernacle was set up. Then God manifested his presence among his people in accordance with his covenant by filling the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”

Likewise, Christ had proclaimed the new covenant and had instituted its ordinances, but now he sent the Spirit in accordance with it, making it effectual. Having chosen his apostles, he now gave them power to be his witnesses. Having organized his church, he now filled it with the Spirit as the new temple of God. The church is the tabernacle, the temple of the living God.

2. At Pentecost, the Spirit was given to the church in a new way.

The Spirit had already been active among the saints in the Old Testament (Ps. 51, 143, Is. 63). The Spirit had already been active among the disciples (Matt. 16). But at Pentecost, the Spirit was with greater fullness and to all flesh.

The Spirit was "poured out." This indicates a greater abundance, a greater fullness, a more powerful operation of the Spirit. Previously, the church received a trickle, a foretaste, but now the Spirit would be poured out like a mighty river from heaven by the risen Christ.

And this greater fullness was given to "all flesh." This new blessing was not something extra for only some of the people, but it was for those high and low, male and female, rich and poor, young and old. The whole church received it on that day, and going forward, this baptism of the Spirit would be received by all believers (1 Cor. 12:13).

"All flesh" also refers to both Jews and Gentiles. While the Spirit had previously worked among mostly Israelites, and a remnant of them at that, now the Spirit would be given to all nations. The list of nationalities represented on that occasion receives attention in the text (2:9-11). In the old covenant, the Spirit worked to save a remnant of Israelites, that the seed would be preserved, culminating in the promised Christ. At Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out so that this seed would sprout, grow, and bear fruit to the end of the earth. While the Spirit worked to save and sanctify and empower in both eras, now he was given with a new goal, a new focus, a new project. Being poured out by the Christ who had purchased redemption and obtained a kingdom, the Spirit would establish Christ’s kingdom throughout the earth. This work of the Spirit is both more extensive in the earth and also more pervasive and powerful, as Christ gathers and sanctifies his bride, the church.

In the New Testament, the Spirit is given to the church as the downpayment of its inheritance (Eph. 1:14). That is, the church has come of age and has entered into its inheritance. The church existed in the Old Testament, but it was like a child under age, managed by guardians, that is, the ceremonies of the old covenant (Gal. 3-4). But when the Son of God came in the fullness of time, he purchased redemption and sent the Spirit, giving his people the freedom and inheritance of sons. It is no longer under the guardianship of the ceremonial law. It has greater maturity and is under simpler ordinances. It can go about its Father’s business, the mission of bringing salvation to the world.

3. Pentecost was thus a unique, transitional event.

At Pentecost, the disciples entered into the full blessings of the new covenant. It is true that they were already believers, but this does not mean that believers today should expect the baptism of the Spirit as a “second blessing” at a later point after their conversion. These disciples were unique in that they straddled the change from old and new covenant administrations. Now that the Spirit has come, believers enter directly into the new covenant, receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit at conversion.

There are a few subsequent extensions of Pentecost recorded by Acts. These are cases of the same new covenant experience being extended to Samaritans (Acts 8), the uncircumcised Gentiles (Acts 10), and the disciples of John (19). The gift of tongues is mentioned with the last two. While both Jews and proselytes were present at Pentecost, proselytes differed from God-fearers like Cornelius. Proselytes had been circumcised and partook of the feasts. But in Cornelius’ house, this same blessing would come upon the uncircumcised. 

Thus, these subsequent events in Acts were part of this unique transition as it rippled out from Jerusalem to Samaria and to the Gentiles (and to the disciples of John who had not yet made the transition to the new era), matching the outline of Acts 1:8. In this way, these groups were incorporated into the new covenant and the one body of Christ. In each case, Pentecost comes through the apostles to a new category of people. This was part of their foundational work, establishing the church of Jesus Christ. Together, these events remain one foundational event, the beginning of a new administration. 

How Did God Create Man?

The tenth question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, "How did God create man?"
 It answers, "God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures."

The doctrine of man is a major area of conflict in our day. Contrary to popular belief, you do not get to create yourself and choose all your obligations. You are created by God, and while you have some chosen obligations in life, you have other obligations by virtue of how God made you. You are created and designed by God as either male or female and as one made after his own image, to reflect his knowledge, righteousness, holiness, and dominion. 

"So God created man in his own image,

 in the image of God he created him;

 male and female he created them."

 (Genesis 1:27)

How did God make man male and female? 

He formed the man's body from the dust of the ground and formed the woman's body from the man's rib. Notice, God did not at first create an androgynous person without a sex, and then divide that person into a man and a woman. No, he created first the man, and then from him the woman. Sex identity as male or female was there from the beginning and is good.

Are there more sexes than two? 

No, there are but two sexes, male and female. Rare physical anomalies may occasionally make it complicated to identify, but they do not create a third sex or nullify the link God has made between biological sex and a person's identity as male and female. A woman is an adult human female, and female denotes the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs. That is what old and new dictionaries say and is the biblical usage too. When Adam named the woman, he did not ask her about her psychological experience and whether she felt like a woman. He named her "woman" because her body was formed from the man’s, corresponding to it.

What implications might this have for you? 

You should affirm the goodness of this distinction. Affirm it in the way you dress and act (Deut. 22:5). Treat men as men, women as women. Fulfill your particular responsibilities as men or women, using your particular gifts well (e.g. 1 Peter 3:1-7). Men marry women, and women marry men. Sin seeks to blur the distinctions God has appointed, and the more it holds sway, the more it distorts human desires, destroying natural orientations (Rom. 1:26-27) and natural affections (Rom. 1:30-31). In our day, this sinful distortion is an ideology being promoted in our society. The creation order (natural law) is contrary to androgyny, egalitarianism, queerness, homosexuality, transgenderism, effeminacy, irresponsibility, and the hatred of either sex. Both men and women should be valued and honored as such.

What was made after God’s own image? 

God created man in his own image. "Man" here refers to mankind, male and female. And it refers to man, not merely some part of him

What does an image do? 

An image resembles something and it represents that thing. As the image of God, man represents God and resembles God. Genesis 5:1-3 connects the ideas of image and son. The son resembles his father and represents his father. Especially in an ancient household, the son would represent his father and would bear his authority under him. Likewise, Adam was created as a son of God (Luke 3:38), to resemble God and to rule God’s earthly household on his behalf (cp. Acts 17:28). The doctrine of the image of God shows us what we are and what we are called to do. If you learn that a rock is a statue, you know what it is and what it is supposed to do. It is a statue that represents someone and it is suppose to resemble that person.

How does man represent God? 

Man is God’s representative on earth, his vice-regent. Just as a king might set up statues and flags and images on coins to assert his reign - the violation of which is taken personally - so God has set up man as a symbol of his royal authority on earth. To mistreat man is to attack God (Gen. 9:6, Prov. 14:31). Man’s basic value does not come from his abilities, his usefulness, his race, his independence, or his mental capacity, but on his or her identity as a human, made in the image of God. From conception, each child is made in the image of God. 

How does man resemble God? 

Particularly, we resemble him in knowledge, righteousness, holiness, and dominion. This resemblance is connected to the first point - we resemble him to display his glory on earth.

Does man’s body resemble God? 

The divine nature is spiritual and invisible (1 Tim. 1:17, John 4:24), so no, the resemblance is not physical. Nevertheless, man was made to physically manifest God's invisible attributes. Our bodies are intended to be instruments of righteousness and dominion. Our bodies do not physically resemble God, but our resemblance to God does express itself through the body. The whole man is the image of God.

How does man resemble God in his dominion? 

Man was made as a productive being who at least originally exercised true and good dominion (Gen. 1:26-28, 2:15). God had worked to create the world with power, wisdom, and goodness, forming and filling the earth. He also created mankind to have dominion over his creation and work the earth, to exercise power, wisdom, and goodness. We are sub-creators who reflect God in our work, working on his behalf.

How does man resemble God in his knowledge? 

Man was made as a rational being with true knowledge (Col. 3:10). Think also of how knowledge and wisdom is discussed in Proverbs 8, as active in God’s work of creation and as something which man is to take hold of and exercise. Man was created with the knowledge of God and was taught right away about God’s covenant and creation. Man is able to know God and communicate with him. He can communicate with one another, and reason about and investigate this world.

How does man resemble God in his righteousness? 

Man was made as a moral being with true righteousness (Eph. 4:24). True righteousness is conformity to the moral perfection of God. Unlike the pagan gods who expressed human vices on a supernatural scale, the true God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. He is faithful and just. His children ought to be as well. His moral law is not an arbitrary expression of his whims, but a definition of what it looks like for man to reflect his righteous character.

How does man resemble God in his holiness? 

Man was made as a religious being with true holiness (Eph. 4:24). True holiness is total consecration to God and separation from the defilement of sin. You shall be holy, for the Lord your God is holy (Lev. 19, 1 Peter 1). God is set apart, undefiled, and pure - completely good. He is “inclined to all moral purity and recoils from all impurity of sin.” Mankind reflects God’s holiness by being totally consecrated to God, conforming its will to love and reject what he loves and rejects, demonstrating its devotion to him in worship and service.

What has sin done to God’s image? 

Sin distorts and defaces the image of God. If you learn that a rock is a statue, you know what it is and what it is supposed to do. If it gets defaced, it is still a statue, but it does not fulfill its purpose well, and it is in need of restoration. Humanity should still be respected as God’s image, but man has marred the image and acts contrary to it. He remains a rational, moral, religious, and productive being, capable by God's common grace of some earthly good, but his thinking is blind to God and ultimately futile, his righteousness is as filthy rags before God, his religion is idolatrous, and his dominion is ultimately vain and often cruel.

How might God’s image be renewed and restored? 

Only by God's grace. Thanks be to God that he has sent Jesus Christ to redeem his people, to break the power of sin over them, and to write God's law on their hearts by his Spirit. When we come to Christ, we "put off the old self and its practices" and "put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Col. 3:10). The resemblance to God is being restored in believers, who are transformed by the renewing of their minds, enabled and taught to put to death their former sinful practices and to put on the ways of Christ.

“For as when a figure painted on wood has been soiled by dirt from outside, it is necessary for him whose figure it is to come again, so that the image can be renewed on the same material - because of his portrait even the material on which it is painted is not cast aside, but the portrait is reinscribed on it.” 

- Athanasius, On the Incarnation

Magic vs. True Religion

Magic has long been a rival to true religion. While deception could play a role in magic, I am not talking about mere sleight of hand “magic tricks.” And while some people today use magic to refer to anything supernatural or mysterious or amazing, magic in the Bible refers to something more precise, also called sorcery. It can be described as the work of using or trying to use supernatural power apart from the true God, or the attempt to control spiritual powers by formulas and rituals rather than honoring God’s word and seeking his help by prayer. The BDAG Greek lexicon defines the word mageia as “a rite or rites ordinarily using incantations designed to influence/control transcendent powers, magic.”

Whatever power the demons might give it, magic is still weak in comparison with the power of God. 

• Joseph succeeded through the true God where the magicians of Egypt had failed (Genesis 41). 
• Moses rivaled and overcame the magicians of Egypt - they were able to do some things at first, but in the end, the magicians recognized they were outmatched and told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 7-8). 
• Israel was prohibited from practicing sorcery, divination, or necromancy in the same chapter it was commanded to listen to the prophets (Deuteronomy 18). 
• Isaiah rebuked those who turned to mediums and necromancers rather than to God, saying, “to the teaching and to the testimony!” (Isaiah 8). 
• Daniel succeeded through the Most High where the magicians of Babylon had failed (Daniel 2, 4). 
• Three times in the book of Acts, Jesus and the gospel triumphed over those who practiced magic (Simon Magus in Acts 8, Elymas the magician in Acts 13, and the converted practicers of magic who burned their magic books in Acts 19). 

People have long sought supernatural power through the evil practice of magic and sorcery rather than through submission to the true and living God, but those who trust in the Lord have not been put to shame. Salvation and security is not found through magical arts, but is a gift given, received through faith in Jesus Christ. God is not a force to be manipulated, but a personal being to be listened to, believed, supplicated, and gratefully revered.

"Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
(Psalm 50:14–15)

Attributes of God

The fourth question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, "What is God?" It answers, "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." 

God has revealed himself to man, so that we are not in the dark about his existence or nature. Our knowledge of him, when based upon his revelation of himself, is limited but true. He has revealed himself in his creation (Rom. 1:19-20) and in the Holy Scriptures.

What does it mean that God is a Spirit?
God reveals that he is a Spirit (John 4:24). This means that the divine nature is not physical. God as God has no body. As our confession of faith says, he is "a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions." When Jesus rose from the dead, he contrasted spirit with body: "Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39). Jesus only had a body because he took on human nature. 

What about references to God’s hand, God’s arm, God’s eyes, God’s face?
These are figures of speech that use human body parts to refer to God’s invisible attributes (e.g. his power, knowledge, favor, etc.). He sees, he hears, he acts, he speaks, but without physical eyes, ears, hands, or mouth. He does not need the organs for these activities.

What does it mean for God to be infinite?
He is without limit. He is not bound or measured. He is everywhere, filling heaven and earth, and even they cannot contain him (Jer. 23:24, 1 Kings 8:27).

What does it mean for God to be eternal?
He is not limited by time, but is beyond time. He existed before time began. He has no beginning and no end. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, 'Return, O children of man!' For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night" (Psalm 90:2–4).

What does it mean for God to be unchangeable?
He is perfect and therefore cannot grow better or get worse. He is infinite and eternal, not a creature of time. He does not vary or change (James 1:17). “They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you” (Psalm 102:26-28).

How is God’s being different from our being?
It is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and these attributes apply to his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. That is, his being is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. His wisdom is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. His power is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. And so forth.

What is God’s wisdom?
It is his perfect knowledge of himself and all things by which he orders and connects all things with purpose and design and ultimately for his glory. His wisdom is displayed in the design and order of the creation and his providence (Psalm 104), in his law (Deut. 4:6), and in his work of salvation through Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1-2).

What is God’s power?
It is his ability to do whatever he pleases (Ps. 135:6-7). He has supreme authority over all things and he has infinite power. He works all things according to the counsel of his will (Eph. 1:10; note the union of wisdom and power). His power is displayed in creating all things out of nothing by his word (Rev. 4:11), by sustaining all things by his word (Heb. 1), by working all things to fulfill his purposes (Dan. 4:35), and by overcoming sin and Satan through the miraculous incarnation and work of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:24).

What is God’s holiness?
Holiness has to do with separation, consecration, and purity. Thomas Vincent describes it this way: “The holiness of God is his essential property, whereby he is infinitely pure; loves and delights in his own purity, and in all the resemblances of it which any of his creatures have; and is perfectly free from all impurity, and hates it where he sees it.” Consider Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8, and 1 Peter 1:15-16.

What is God’s justice?
God is perfectly just and right in himself and in his dealing with others, rendering to everyone his due. He is just in the laws he gives, in his actions toward his creatures, and in his judgments as the Judge of the earth. As Abraham said, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen. 18:25). He will by no means clear the guilty (Ex. 34:7). As Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” He displays his justice in the sacrifice of Christ to satisfy divine justice, in his temporal judgments in history, and in the final judgment on the last day. His justice is a good thing, for which creation longs (Ps. 96, 98), and to which we appeal as those in Christ (1 John 1:9, Gen. 18:25, Luke 18:1-8).

What is God’s goodness?
It is that whereby he is goodness himself, is generous and kind, and is the author of all good. Consider how man was made. Before man did anything, God supplied him with a world of good things, full of beauty, usefulness, and delight, and gave him dominion over it. Even now, God is generous to all and patient toward the rebellious. “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). His kindness is meant to lead men to repentance. His goodness is especially shown in his work of love and grace in the salvation of sinners through Christ. By grace, he brings us back to an enjoyment of himself, the true good, and the right use of all his good gifts. To the redeemed, the creation is their Father’s world. Truly, as Psalm 145:8–9 says, “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”

What is God’s truth?
God is faithful and true and speaks the truth, not falsehood. “…in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began…” (Titus 1:2).  The devil is a liar and the father of lies who deceived Eve. But God cannot be mistaken and he cannot be unfaithful. He is faithful, so that what he says is true and what he has said he will do he will perform - he is true to his word. He abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex. 34:6).

God is not limited by time or space. Neither is God foolish, weak, common, unjust, miserly, or fickle. Our experience can at times provoke us to feel that God is weak, unjust, miserly, etc. But we must hold fast to his word and believe that God is who he says he is in the midst of trials. Remember what he has done for you. Remember what you have received from him. Remember what he has done for his people in the past. Remember what he has done in your life, taking pity on you when you were doomed to death.