So You Want to Be a Calvinist? John Calvin on the Relation between Old and New Covenants

Law and Gospel, separate or continuity? (Pic from: http://project246.com/)

Martin Luther argued for a sharp distinction between “law” and “gospel.” While conceding that the Old Testament contained “gospel” and the New Testament “law,” Luther’s general line of argument is that the Old Testament belongs to a different category than the New. In contrast, John Calvin insists on the continuity between the Old and New Testaments. They are identical in terms of their substance; their difference relates to their administration. Calvin sets out three such points of difference.

“Now from what has been said above (previous notes of the Institutes), we can see clearly that all people who have been adopted by God into the company of his people since the beginning of the world were covenanted to him by the same law and by the bond of the same doctrine as remains in force among us… The covenant made with all the patriarchs is so similar to ours, both in substance and in fact, that the two are really one and the same; what differences there are relate to their administration…

First, we hold that it was not material prosperity and happiness which was the goal set before the Jews, and to which they were to aspire, but the hope of immortality. Faith in this adoption was made certain to them by oracles, by the law, and by the prophets. Second, the covenant by which they were bound to the Lord did not rest upon their own merits, but solely upon the mercy of the God who called them. Thirdly, they both possessed and knew Christ as Mediator, through whom they were joined to God and were to benefit from his promises.”

So you want to be a Calvinist? Please reread what John Calvin himself wrote.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) Institutes, II.x.1, 2; in Joannis Calvini: Opera Selecta, ed. P. Barth and W. Niesel, vol.4 (Munich: Kaiser, 1931), 403.5-404.22.

2) The Christian Theology Reader edited by Alister E. McGrath (Oxford: Blackwell), pg. 58

So You Want to Be a Calvinist? John Calvin on the Nature of Faith

In this important analysis of the nature of faith, provided in the 1559 edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin establishes a direct relation between faith and the merciful promises of God. Note the emphasis placed upon the role of the Holy Spirit in revealing and sealing this knowledge. Calvin also deals with the question of whether the certainty of faith necessarily implies that doubt is excluded from the Christian life. For Calvin, doubt is a normal part of the Christian life, and is not inconsistent with his emphasis upon the trustworthiness of God’s promises. Calvin wrote:

“Now we shall have a right definition of faith if we say that it is a steady and certain knowledge of the divine benevolence towards us, which is founded upon the truth of the gracious promise of God in Christ, and is both revealed to our minds and sealed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit…

When we stress that faith ought to be certain and secure, we do not have in mind a certainty without doubt, or a security without any anxiety. Rather, we affirm that believers have a perpetual struggle with their own lack of faith, and are far from possessing a peaceful conscience, never interrupted by any disturbance. On the other hand, we want to deny that they may fall out of, or depart from, their confidence in the divine mercy, no matter how much they may be troubled.”

So you want to be a Calvinist? Please reread what John Calvin himself wrote.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) Institutes, III.ii, in Joannis Calvini: Opera Selecta, ed. P. Barth and W. Niesel, vol.4 (Munich: Kaiser, 1931), 16.31-35; 27:25-36.

2) The Christian Theology Reader edited by Alister E. McGrath (Oxford: Blackwell), pg. 15

The evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection #6: The change in the Apostle Paul

Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus (from the movie, The Bible) 

One of the most telling examples of a person who saw Christ and whose life was transformed was the apostle Paul. He had been educated with the finest Jewish education, and he had a reputation as a well-trained and respected religious leader. Because of his position and his initial belief that Jesus and his disciples’ claims were false, he hated the new sect of Christian believers. In fact, he was present at the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen (see Acts 6 and 7). Before his conversion, Paul was called Saul.

After a personal encounter with the Resurrected Christ who spoke to him (Acts 9), Paul realized that he had been fighting against the very One who had validated his universal authority through the Resurrection. The day that he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul’s focus in life changed 180 degrees from the persecution of the budding Christian faith to becoming its foremost proponent and evangelist to the corners of the Roman Empire. Now Paul was fully convinced that the Resurrection was a true fact of history.

Paul’s reputation as a persecutor of the Church was so widespread that initially the Christians were afraid to accept him into their group. Eventually, Paul was imprisoned in Rome and martyred because he would not back down from proclaiming the message of the Crucified and Resurrected Christ. Paul was so convinced that the Resurrection of Jesus from the death unto life that he claimed the entire Christian faith rested on this one central truth of the Resurrection and its implications for all believers:

“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead… And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep [died] in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits [the first to be raised to life forever] of those who have fallen asleep [died]” (1 Corinthians 15:14-15, 17-20).

The Church rapidly grew from a small band of disciples to a worldwide movement. Thousands of early believers – even Paul himself – were martyred for their faith in the first few centuries of Christianity. (Even today, Christians are persecuted for their faith). Know that they were not killing people because of their faith but being killed for their faith in Christ. The Resurrection of Jesus is truly one of the most attested events in history.

The evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection #6:
The change in the Apostle Paul

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection #5: Eyewitness Accounts

Jesus ascended to heaven as depicted by the A.D. The Bible movie 

“[Jesus] appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me”
(Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8, ESV).

Obviously, the disciples were eyewitnesses that Jesus had raised from the dead. He appeared to them on numerous occasions over a period of time. Acts 1:3 records: “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God.” From these accounts we can clearly see that Jesus himself wanted to convince them that he was truly alive. But they were not the only ones to see Jesus. The Bible records that on one occasion, “more than five hundred” people saw him at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6).

Here are some (only some) of the other people who were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ return:

Eyewitnesses	Scripture reference
Mary Magdalene	John 20:10-18
The other women at the tomb	Matthew 28:8-10
Simon Peter in Jerusalem	Luke 24:34
The two travelers on the road	Mark 16:12-13
Ten disciples behind closed doors	John 20:19-25
All the disciples, with Thomas (excluding Judas Iscariot)	John 20:26-31
Seven disciples while fishing	John 21:1-14
Eleven disciples on the mountain	Matthew 28:16-20
Jesus’ brother James, the apostles and Paul	1 Corinthians 15:7-8
Those who watched Jesus ascend into heaven	Acts 1:3-8

During these appearances, Jesus let people touch him. He ate with them. He traveled with his friends and explained the Scriptures to them, especially how the Old Testament predicted his death and Resurrection. And he continued teaching with his emphasis on “the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Some of his followers even saw him ascend into heaven when his work on earth was completed. In all cases, the ones who witnessed his appearances were convinced beyond doubt that he was the same person who died on the cross just a few days earlier. Having eyewitnesses would be critical in their testimony as Jewish Law requires the testimony of at least two or three witnesses in a court of law. So if Jesus is alive then, he is alive today! He has risen!

Evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection #5:

Eyewitness accounts

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus calls Us to Be like Light Shining in the Darkness (Spread the Truth)

Is this the kind of lamp Jesus talking about? Somewhat?

“Then Jesus asked them [his disciples], ‘Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.’ Then he added, ‘Pay close attention to what you her. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given – and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them’” (Mark 4:21-25, NLT).

Jesus probably was speaking to the disciples with the crowd gathered around them. Here in the Gospel of Mark, the discussion of “a lamp”, “a basket”, and “understanding” appear immediately after Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the farmer, seeds, and soils (Matthew 13:3-12. Some accounts in Matthew are parallel with Mark at several places). 

A “lamp” was a lighted wick in a clay bowl full of oil. The lamp would never be lit and then put “under a basket or under a bed.” It would be put on its stand in order to illuminate the room. In the same way, the purpose of the parables (in fact, all the parables that Jesus told) was not to conceal the truth for those who “listen and understand” but to reveal it. For those who are “not listening”, however, the parables become a stumbling blocks for them and thus “what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”

Jesus was telling the disciples that the benefits of knowing him were to be passed on, like light shining in darkness. They should “pay close attention” so they would know the truth and be able to share it with others. Jesus added that those who “listen and understand” would continue to grow because they let God’s Word make a difference in their lives; but those who listen casually would miss the point entirely. What can you do and ask from God to “pay close attention” to Jesus and his teachings?

No Secret Please!
What Jesus told his disciples privately, we must share with others. God’s truth requires a clear and helpful explanation to the world. As light fills a room, God’s Word drives out spiritual darkness. Disciples must participate in revealing God’s truth to the world through witness in word (such as preaching and singing) and deed (helping the hungry people). We dare not hide something as important as God’s truth in a closet. How vocal and active is your witness? Maybe it’s time to bring it out of hide.
From: Life Application Bible Commentary: Mark, p.112

Think about this: Christ’s Message about God’s Kingdom is intended for everyone. At times, believers seem to hide their faith from the watching world, as if putting their light under a basket. But Jesus calls us to spread the truth about the Kingdom, scattering seeds (Matthew 13:3-12) and shining light. We can only share what we know, so we should be diligent about listening and learning from the Master. In due time, God will lead us to those whom we can help with what we know. Regardless of your level of spiritual maturity, “let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16).

Ask God to help you as you focus you attention on him (In prayer and reading of the Word).

Ask for the Holy Spirit to quicken your understanding and interest. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection #4: "Blood and Water” Flowed Out of Jesus’ Side

The Passion movie. Jesus was flogged with Roman flagrum

One of the most prevalent skepticism about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection was that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross but fainted or swooned and was revived in the coolness of the tomb (as most Muslim apologetic speakers try to explained. And they also speculate that Jesus was taken into heaven just before he was about to be crucified and Allah replaced another man who “looked like Jesus” to die on his behalf). In other words, Jesus wasn’t resurrected because he didn’t really die. Modern medical science has now refuted the claim, that Jesus could have survived the cross and preceding beatings resulting in massive blood loss.

What is so significant about this account? Alexander Metherell, MD, PhD, University of California at Irvine, is a medical doctor proficient in medical diagnoses. He asserts that the flogging Jesus received with a Roman flagrum was a significant factor in his death. The Roman flagrum, an instrument of torture, was a whip that had pieces of metal or bone attached to the ends of the lashes. In some cases, a flogging with a flagrum alone was enough to cause death. The metal-studded whip dug into the skin and muscles of the victim and pulled out pieces of flesh until they were shredded and quivering. The flogging induced heavy blood loss. As was seen depicted in the Crucifixion story, Jesus was already suffering heavily as he walked to Golgotha. On the way to Calvary, he was unable to carry his cross, so the Roman guards forced a bystander to carry it for him. At this time, says, Dr. Metherell, Jesus was already in serious to critical condition medically.

One symptom of the massive loss of blood from flogging was that the victim became very thirsty, a condition of hypovolemic shock. John 19:28 tells of how Jesus cried out from the cross that he was thirsty, and the soldiers lifted up a sponge soaked in wine vinegar to his lips.

Victims of Crucifixion normally died of asphyxiation. As they were hanging, arms extended, wrists nailed, from the crossbeam, they had to strenuously push themselves up by their feel nailed to a crossbeam in order to exhale. In time, they became too fatigued to push themselves up and could no longer breathe.

Since the Sabbath began at sundown and the Jewish leaders didn’t want to leave the bodies on the cross during the Sabbath, the soldiers broke the legs of the Crucified thieves on either side of Jesus to cause them to asphyxiate quickly. But when they came to Jesus, he was already dead. The only disciple brave enough to watch the execution of Jesus was the apostle John. He gives an eyewitness account of what happened to Jesus on the cross: “One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out. This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account; it is presented so that you also can believe” (John 19:34-35, NLT).

This outflow of blood and water was most likely because Jesus died of congestive heart failure secondary to asphyxia, according to Dr, Metherell: “When the spear penetrated Jesus’ side, it probably went through the lung and into the heart. When the spear was pulled out, blood flowed out and then the clear fluid that had gathered around the heart, which would have looked like water. What John wrote in the Bible is consistent with medical fact.”

Evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection #4:
“Blood and Water” flowed out of Jesus’ side.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Reference: Gary R. Habermas, The Case for Christ’s Resurrection, DVD, David W. Balsiger, senior producer, Grizzly Adams Productions, Inc., 2007.

Evidence of Jesus' Resurrection #3: The Historical Record

“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.
And when he is killed, after three days he will rise” (Mark 9:31, ESV).

The main written record of the Resurrection is contained in the four Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). Most accounts are found in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20-21. In Acts 2, the apostle Peter preaches a sermon to gathered crowd of thousands in which he attests to the Resurrection of Jesus.

Later, the apostle Paul, who began as one of the religious leaders (ex-Pharisees) who persecuted Christians before his conversion (became an apostle), gave his testimony to the truth of the Resurrection. He writes: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, NIV).

But what about secular sources? Can we find any proof of the Resurrection of Jesus in sources other than the Bible? Beyond the Bible, there are more than 20 non-Christian sources written between 30 and 130 AD that refer to Jesus of Nazareth as a historical figure. Twelve mention his death and provide details on how he died. Ten of these refer to his Resurrection.

Thallus, a Samaritan historian, who wrote around 25 AD, explained the darkness that occurred during the Cruxification as a solar eclipse. According to modern astronomy, there was no eclipse at that time, but Scripture tells us “from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, darkness came over all the land” (Matthew 27:45). Thallus’s account was referenced by Julius Africanus.

The Jewish historian Josephus, who lived in the second half of the first century, wrote that the disciples believed that Jesus had risen from the dead: “And there was about this time Jesus a wise man if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was the achiever of extraordinary deeds and was a teacher of those who accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When he was indicted by the principal men among us and Pilate condemned him to be Crucified, those who had come to love him originally did not cease to do so; for he appeared to them on the third day restored to life, as the prophets of the Deity had foretold these and countless other marvellous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, has not disappeared to this day” (Antiquities 18:63-64).

Another historian during that time period was Cornelius Tacitus, (55 AD – 117 AD), a Roman historian. He writes, “Christus, from whom the name [Christians] had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition… broke out not only in Judea, the first source of evil, but even in Rome…” The “mischievous superstition” most likely referred to the spread of the news of the Resurrection. The spread of the Resurrection account throughout the known world spawned the growing movement of the new sect: “Christians.”  Their willingness to risk persecution and join the unpopular movement of Believers demonstrated that the Early Christians believed the first-hand reports of eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus still living at that time.

To consider the skeptics that say the Resurrection was a legend, Dr. William Lane Craig, Christian philosopher and theologian, says “the short time span between Christ’s Crucifixion and the composition of this early Christian creed [of the death and Resurrection of Christ] precludes the possibility of legendary corruption.” Taken together, the historical sources (such as from Samaritan historian, Jewish historian and Roman historian above) that mention Jesus and the Resurrection provide substantive evidence that the event was real. This amount of written testimony for any event in history in those early days is almost impossible to find. Yet, the Resurrection of Jesus has multiple sources of documentation. Cumulatively, these accounts add authenticity that the Resurrection is a factual historical event rather than a legend fabricated and passed down over time.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) Ralph O. Muncaster, What Is the Proof for the Resurrection? (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2000), p.16.

2) Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, The Case of the Resurrection of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2004), p.44-45.

3) Dr. William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith, 285, as cited by Hank Hanegraff, Resurrection (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, 2000), p.39.