Category Archives: Jesus Christ

Christ has dealt with the guilt, power, and presence of sin

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1. The guilt of sin. This is justification, ‘the very hinge and pillar of Christianity’, (Thomas Watson).

John Stott has said, ‘Nobody understands Christianity who does not understand…the word “justified”.’

Spurgeon tells the story of a man who was so constantly in debt and continually being arrested by the police, that once, when going by a fence, having caught his sleeve on one of the rails, he turned around and said, “I don’t owe you anything sir.”…

The example of Christ

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I have been struck by the way in which some some of the classic Bible passages about Christ’s atonement are linked to his example.

To be sure, we cannot follow our Saviour in atoning for our sins or for anyone else’s.

But we can follow him,

  1. in generous forgiveness.  Eph 4:32 – ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’
  2. in putting others’ needs above our own.
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When will Jesus return?

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Does the New Testament teach that Jesus’ return was expected imminently (i.e. within the lifetime of that first generation of believers)?

Jesus taught that his disciples should be ready for his return given that he himself did not know the day or hour that it would happen (Mt 24:36).

Other New Testament passages imply that his return could happen very soon (1 Cor 1:7; Phil 4:5; Tit 2:13; James 5:8f).

But other passages teach that certain things would occur before his return, including the destruction of the Temple (Mt 24:2; see also Mt 24:30; Lk 21:11).…

The joy of Jesus Christ

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Jesus Christ’s joy originates in God

From his intimate relationship with his Father and the Spirit Lk 10:21 pp Mt 11:25-26 See also Isa 11:2-3; Mt 3:16-17 pp Mk 1:10-11 pp Lk 3:22; Mt 12:18; Isa 42:1; Ac 2:28; Ps 16:11

From his awareness of God’s purposes Heb 12:2 See also Jn 8:29

Jesus Christ’s coming brings great joy

His birth Lk 2:10-11 See also Mt 2:10; Lk 1:44; 2:20,28-32

His resurrection and ascension Jn 16:20-22 See also Mt 28:8-9; Lk 24:40-41,50-53; Jn 20:20

Jesus Christ gives joy to his people

He brings joy to his disciples Jn 17:13 See also Isa 61:1-3; Jn 15:11; Ro 12:12; Php 1:26

Being in his presence is likened to the joy of a wedding Mt 22:1-10 See also Mt 9:14-15 pp Mk 2:18-19 pp Lk 5:33-34; Mt 25:1-10; Jn 3:29; Rev 19:7,9

To know Jesus Christ brings great joy to others Lk 15:7 See also Mt 8:11; Lk 15:10,22-24,31-32; Jn 8:56

(Dictionary of Bible Themes, Martin Manser)…

Mary and Jesus: mother and son

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Murray Harris (Navigating Tough Texts, p75f) points out that Jesus speaks directly to Mary, his mother, on just three recorded occasions:

Lk 2:48f – ‘His mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” 2:49 But he replied [to them], “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”’

Jn 2:3f – ‘When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”…

Preach like Jesus

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I have returned, from time to time, to the question of what the preacher can learn from the greatest teacher of them all.

Mark Stibbe explores this in his chapter ‘Learning from Jesus’ in Preach the Word! (ed Greg Haslam, 2006, pp87-97).

Stibbe identifies ten characteristics of Jesus’ preaching.  Here’s a summary.

1. Revelatory in content

Notwithstanding some formal similarities with rabbinic teaching, in content Jesus’ message was completely original.  It came from the Father.

Jn 12:49f – “I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. 

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Matthew 8:22/Luke 9:60 – ‘Let the dead bury their dead’?

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Mt 8:21 ‘[One] of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”’

Lk 9:59 ‘Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 9:60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”’…

Eternal submission of the Son – key texts

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Key texts include:

John 6:38 “I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

John 14:28 “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.”

John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”

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Aimee Byrd: confused, or what?

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Perusing the 2nd edition of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology (Zondervan Academic, 2020), I was struck by his complaint that his (and Bruce Ware’s) position on the Eternal Submission of the Son has been ‘seriously misrepresented’ by Aimee Byrd (in her book, Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, published earlier in 2020 by Zondervan).

Byrd, writes Grudem,

‘falsely claims that Bruce Ware and I, in advocating the doctrine of “eternal relations of authority and submission,” are making a serious doctrinal error because “this doctrine teaches that the Son, the second person of the Trinity, is subordinate to the Father, not only in the economy of salvation but in his essence,” and we are therefore “unorthodox teachers that are not in line with Nicene Trinitarian doctrine.”’

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Eternal submission of the Son – bibliography

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The literature (especially online literature dating from 2016 onwards) is huge.

Here, however, is a selection.

Books

Bird, Michael F. and Harrower, Scott (eds).  Trinity Without Hierarchy.  Kregel, 2020.

Byrd, Aimee.  Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.  Zondervan, 2020. (Not primarily about ESS, but of some relevance, given Byrd’s involvement in the debate)

Butner, D. Glenn, Jnr: The Son Who Learned Obedience: A Theological Case Against the Eternal Submission of the Son.  Pickwick, 2018.…