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Propitiation

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How did the cross of Christ achieve its purpose?  In what ways did his death and resurrection usher in ‘the day of salvation’ (2 Cor 6:2)?

Just as several pictures, or metaphors, are needed to fill out the meaning of ‘church’ (bride, temple, household, and so on), so several are required to illustrate the salvation that Christ achieved.  Chief among these are the terms ‘propitiation’, ‘redemption’, ‘justification’, and ‘reconciliation’.  It is important to realise that these images are complementary to one another, for underlying them all is ‘the truth that God in Christ has borne our sin and died our death to set us free from sin’. …

Sir Marcus Loane, 14th October 1911 – 14th April 2009

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Sir Marcus Loane died a few days ago at the age of 97.

He was vice-principal and then principal of Moore Theological College.  In 1966 he became Australia’s first native-born Archbishop and in 1978 became Primate of Australia.

I have a high regard for Marcus Loane’s writings, particularly the sets of short biographies that were first published up to 60 years ago.  He was writing winningly about the English Reformers, Puritans and evangelical leaders at a time when few others seemed aware of their importance and value.…

Preachers and their preaching – D.M. Lloyd-Jones

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Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was one of the most influential British preachers of the 20th century.  His impact on the revival of reformed evangelicalism was incalculable.  He stood firmly within the Puritan tradition: he modelled in his preaching both their painstaking analytical expository method and also shared their commitment to what might be called ‘experientialism’ – a passionate desire that through preaching men and women might be brought into vital contact with the living God.

The centrality of preaching

At the beginning of Preachers and Preaching Lloyd-Jones stated his conviction that preaching was the greatest need both of the church and the world:

‘To me the work of preaching is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.

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Creationism in Britain

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We tend to associate Creationism (that is to say, Young Earth Creationism) with American fundamentalism.  However, it is alive and kicking in Britain too.  According to a recent survey carried out on behalf of Theos think-tank, 17% of Britons take the Young Earth position (compared with 11% for Intelligent Design, 28% for Theistic Evolution, and 37% for Atheistic Evolution).

Not long ago, The BBC website carried this article about British creationists.  It discusses, among other things, the Genesis Expo museum, set up in Plymouth by the Creation Science Movement.…

The Emerging Church in its own words 4

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Chapter 5 of Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures (Gibbs and Bolger) is entitled ‘Living as Community’.

On one occasion, after spending hours with her at the Living Room, the church’s cafe, a guest asked Karen Ward, When is your church service?”

“You just had it,” replied Ward.

Challenging Individualism

Looking back to the outset of modernity…humans were on their own, and they needed to protect what was theirs.  Personal property rights ensued and created the modern individual. 

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Quotes on resurrection

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A lawyer’s testimony: ‘As a lawyer I have made a prolonged study of the evidences for the events of the first Easter Day.  To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling…I accept [the Gospel evidence for the resurrection] unreservedly as the testimony of truthful men to facts they were able to substantiate.’  (Sir Edward Clarke KC)

A theologian’s testimony: ‘Taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. …

On spiritualising

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To ‘spiritualise’ is to assign a unwarranted spiritual meaning to a biblical text.

Graeme Goldsworthy gives, as one example, the following anecdote, in which a Christian teacher was attempting to expound 1 Samuel 17:40-51 (the story of David and Goliath):-

‘The fellow dressed up as Goliath had progressively revealed a list of childhood sins by peeling card-board strips off his breastplate one by one, as the speaker explained the kind of ‘Goliaths’ we all have to meet. 

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The self-substitution of God

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How can we, who are so deeply unholy and unrighteous, be reconciled with God, who is gloriously holy and righteous?  How can God express simultaneously his holiness in judgment and his love in pardon?

The astonishing, yet scriptural, answer, is, in the words of Cranfield, that

‘God, because in his mercy he willed to forgive sinful men, and, being truly merciful, willed to forgive them righteously, that is, without in any way condoning their sin, purposed to direct against his own very self in the person of his Son the full weight of that righteous wrath which they deserved.’

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Christianity and Politics DO Mix

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John Stott has some wise words about Christian political influence:-

Although it is hardly the responsibility of a church or denomination as such to engage in direct political action, yet Christian individuals and Christian groups should be doing so, and should be encouraged from the pulpit to do so.  For Christian should aovid the two opposite mistakes of laissez faire (making no Christian contribution to the nation’s political well-being) and imposition (trying to force a minority view on an unwilling majority, as with the American liquor laws during the period of Prohibition). 

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Satisfaction for sin

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The notions of ‘satisfaction’ and ‘substitution’ in relation to atonement are often seen as crude and primitive.  Indeed, the idea that God would need to be appeased by the cruel sacrifice of his Son is frequently thought to be inconsistent with the character and teaching of Jesus himself.

But, in fact, such ideas, carefully stated, lie at the heart of the church’s worship and witness.  Cranmer, for example, at the beginning of his Prayer of Consecration in 1549 described Jesus as having made on the cross, by his ‘one oblation of himself once offered’, ‘a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world’.…