What's So Great About Christmas Anyway?

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:8–11).


What is so great about Christmas? Is it the gathering of family and friends? The opening of gifts? The great meals? The combination of all? The answer should be "no." None of those things, while they have become an important part of Christmas tradition, in themselves but separated from acknowledging the birth, death and resurrection of Christ, make Christmas great.

The greatness of Christmas comes from the incarnation. When God clothed Himself with flesh and blood in order to bring glory to His own name through the salvation of His people. That grandiose time in history when Christ the King became Christ the servant at His birth. When the sinless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, entered His creation to be led to the slaughter as the salvation of His people was upon His shoulders. When that innocent little infant grew up perfect, righteous, doing only that which is pleasing and acceptable to the Father in perfection, knowing no evil in His person yet being 'crushed' by the Father. Having no sin, Christ was placed upon that cross by the Father as the sins of His people were transferred to His account. The testimony of the Bible states it in this manner:

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities "(Is 53:10–11).

That is the essence of Christmas. To make it primarily about family or gift exchanges is to miss the real joy of this holiday. To neglect the incarnation and it's component parts ( purpose, results or His life death and resurrection ) is to take the "merry" out of Christmas. Even to only speak of the birth of Jesus apart from His life, death and resurrection is to do injustice to Christmas.

That event was so momentous that the message of it came with the glory of the Lord and caused fear among the shepherds. But notice the message that was delivered by the angel of the Lord states that "the goodnews of great joy" (v. 10) is followed by the announcement of Christ the Savior (v. 11). That is because there is great joy to be had in the birth of the promised Messiah. The Deliverer and salvation of God's people has arrived. He will deliver His people from their sins. He would bear their curse upon His own head. He accomplished all that He came to do. He uttered "it is finished" as He bore the wrath of the Father in place of sinners and rose victoriously from the grave on the third day. What joy for all those in Christ! Reconciliation and being adopted as a child of God. Having a place at His table and in His presence is cause for great joy and to be shared with those still His enemies.

It most certainly is good news. That is why the announcement of the Christ's birth was announced as good news of great joy. There is no real joy apart from Christ. Christmas is about the glory of God in the salvation of His people in the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Son of God. Everything else is artificial. Merry Christmas and Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,
Fernando

What Is Wrong With Contemporary Christian Music? (A Clarification)

It has been noted that when one becomes Reformed, most of your Christian music gets thrown out. The reason is not due to some anger wrought within the Calvinist. Rather, it is due to a number of flaws within the CCM scene. So, what exactly is wrong with CCM? In my last post, I gave a prime example of what is wrong with CCM. I was accused of generalizing, and being vague. Therefore, I wish to state in detail, what I believe are some obvious flaws in the CCM scene.

Note: I understand that not all CCM makes the following mistakes.

1) The Contemporary Christian Music Scene is full of self. Our culture is adamant about promoting self. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded with the idea that one, beyond all things, should love one self. We are told that the self is good, if we can just bring about those attributes. Christianity on the other hand teaches that the self is sinful. That the self, or who we are by nature, is diametrically opposed to all that is godly. Ergo, opposed to the one and true living God. Christianity teaches that we should reject self, and love God. The world teaches that we should love "God", but that god is whoever you want him to be. Unfortunately, so called "churches" are now promoting the same message that the world promotes- this is evident in the CCM scene. The songs that are written are full of lyrics about the way we feel, about what we want to do, and about our problems. This leads to a Christianity that is based on emotional experiences, rather, than the truth of scripture. Depending on how loud the guitar is strummed, that'll dictate how loud I sing, and whether I cry or not. And If they aren't based on our failures, they are drowned in lyrics about what we want to do for God. Doing things for God is good. But even better are the things that God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Those are the things that we ought to be singing about! If we compare the area of focus of the scriptures vs the CCM scene, we can see that one is focused upon God's work, and the other on man's. Psalm 147 captures this completely:

Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
The LORD lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

(Psalm 147:1-11 ESV)

2) The Contemporary Christian Music scene is void of any theological richness. "Jesus loves me", "God is great", etc, etc. These propositions are true (though how Jesus loves or If He loves the unbeliever is an issue Calvinists differentiate in).  As true as these propositions may be, they are void of any theological meat. It is true that God loves me, but, the ultimate question is in what way hath God demonstrated His love? O' God IS great, but in what ways is He great? The simplicity is outstanding. The hymns of old, spoke in detail about God's goodness towards His people. There could have been no confusion as to what God they were worshipping, because they hugged the cross in their lyrics. They sang about the attributes of God, His providence, election, His work in creation, His Tri-Unity (when was the last time you sang a contemporary song about the Triunity of God? Beside here).

3) The Contemporary Christian scene gets the Gospel wrong. " God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" is what I like to call "The Osteen Gospel". And this gospel pretty much sums up the gospel of the CCM scene. Nothing about the ultimate manifestation of God's love- where Christ became man, taking man's place on that cross, bearing the full weight of God's wrath in order that sinners may be reconciled. Rather, the content is filled with a lonely god who desperately wishes that sinners may come to him, because he has a wonderful plan for their lives. Lets face it, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is missing in most of this music. This is the ultimate flaw. If we are not united by that message, then our worship is in vain. Artists who do not make the cross their ultimate focus in their music, are surely bowing the knee at another alter.

-awretchsaved

The Gospel According To Rob Bell

Caution: Watching this video may cause you to pull your hair out.

"The gospel is the good news that God hasn’t given up on the world, that the tomb is empty and that a giant resurrection rescue is underway and that you and I can be a part of it. And so yes, this has a deeply personal dimension to it. Jesus is saving me. He’s saving me from my sins, from my mistakes, from my pride, from my indifference to the suffering of the world around me, from my cynicism and despair. The brokenness I see in the world around me is true of my own soul, and so he’s rescuing me, moment by moment, day by day, because God wants to put it all back together—you, me, the whole world. And so he starts deep inside each of us with our awareness that we need help, that we need saving, that we need rescuing. And then he begins to show us step by step what it looks like to put flesh and blood on this gospel. Because we all fall short, and that’s the beautiful part. Broken, flawed, vulnerable people like you and me are invited to be the hands and feet of a Jesus who loves us exactly as we are and yet loves us way too much to let us stay that way."


Rob Bell says that the gospel is that "God hasn't given up on the world". For Mr. Bell, God is this sort of social activist, one who has a wonderful plan for this world, and he's attempting to make this world better, if he could just get some support in the grassroots (from you and me)- then maybe we can get this resurrection thing on the way. What the resurrection means for Rob Bell, is not Christ's victory over death, not at all, it's about the "giant resurrection rescue underway" where God will (insert kind earthly gesture here), through you and me. What Rob Bell is espousing, is nothing different than what we've heard before. It is the social gospel. The idea that the gospel is lived out, when you and I- by our efforts- usher in the kingdom of God. In this concept, salvation is not a matter of Christ dying as substitute under the wrath of God for our sins, no, it's about Christ being sent to be an example of social love. Personal salvation isn't important. What is important is the well being of all mankind, through our social efforts of helping the poor, giving to charity, etc.

As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!- Galatians 1:9

-awretchsaved

Gospel Confusion?

Momentarily I will be bowing out of the baptism discussion. It seems that things have blown up beyond healthy discussion. Dr. John MacArthur threw the recent first blow by calling paedobaptism "demonic" and a radio show comprised of pastors responding with comments like, "So in like manner, there are truly elect and saved people, including Baptists, in the world, people miserably torn, scattered, and deceived by false teaching and sectarianism and idolatry."

We must all realize that when foolish things are said from both sides of the argument it becomes real easy to let the sin which remains in us to get the best of us and react out of anger and frustration. It follows that when speaking in this state of emotion, insults tend to pop up whether they are direct or subtle. I refuse to insult my paedobaptist brethren whom I truly respect and love. This is why I do not, at the moment, desire to pursue the discussion of baptism. I will gather myself and reflect on the Gospel of Jesus Christ our justification. 

I do want to point out one thing, though. It seems there is Gospel confusion going on. To tie in the subjects of baptism with the Gospel itself in a roundabout way, it seems to me, is to cause or be the result of Gospel confusion. To indicate the only way we can make a sound judgement of who is or is not a co-laborer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is on the basis of local church membership and then make paedobaptism a pre-requisite for local church membership is to say that Baptists are out side of the visible church and to question their part in the body of Christ. That is to smuggle in paedobaptism as an essential. That is what you deny at the front door is let in through the back door. Or as Dr. James White says "to major on the minors and minor on the majors." 

That is why it is difficult for some paedobaptists to affirm that Baptists are "saved people" in simple words. What we get are statements like, ""So in like manner, there are truly elect and saved people, including Baptists, in the world, people miserably torn, scattered, and deceived by false teaching and sectarianism and idolatry." This coming after a comparison of Calvin's view of some elect people in the false church of Rome, "The requisite extent, depth, and maturity of the knowledge which is a necessary component of true faith, is mysterious, and should not be oversimplified. For this reason, for example, Calvin can say about people in what he calls the decidedly false Roman Catholic churches of his day “In one word, I call [Roman Catholic parishes] churches, inasmuch as the Lord there wondrously preserves some remains of his people, though miserably torn and scattered. . .” (Institutes 4.2.12)."

My theology is not limited to that of the sixteenth century. Christianity did not begin nor end there. I have no need to be esoteric in my judgment of the body of Christ.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...(1 Co 15:1–4).

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose (Ga 2:15–21). 

It is my judgment that if one believes the above- be it paedobaptist or credobaptist they indeed will be found in a local church body that is founded and remains on the Gospel of Jesus Christ- they are my brother or sister in Christ. It is not really that difficult.
Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,
Fernando

What Is The Gospel?

Greg Gilbert answers this question in his book What Is The Gospel? The following are some quotes from this much needed piece of literature:

"Let me suggest that, for now, we approach the task of defining the main contours of the Christian gospel not by doing a word study, but by looking at what the earliest Christians said about Jesus and the significance of his life, death, and resurrection. If we look at the apostles’ writings and sermons in the Bible, we’ll find them explaining, sometimes very briefly and sometimes at greater length, what they learned from Jesus himself about the good news. Perhaps we’ll also be able to discern some common set of questions, some shared framework of truths around which the apostles and early Christians structured their presentation of the good news of Jesus" ( P. 26-27 Kindle Edition).


"By the middle of chapter 3, Paul has indicted every single person in the world with rebellion against God. “We have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin” (v. 9). And his sobering conclusion is that when we stand before God the Judge, every mouth will be silenced. No one will mount a defense. Not one excuse will be offered. The whole world—Jew, Gentile, every last one of us—will be held fully accountable to God (v. 19). Now, strictly speaking, these first two points are not really good news at all. In fact, they’re pretty bad news. That I have rebelled against the holy and judging God who made me is not a happy thought. But it is an important one, because it paves the way for the good news. That makes sense if you think about it. To have someone say to you, “I’m coming to save you!” is really not good news at all unless you believe you actually need to be saved" (p. 29 Kindle Edition).


"Third, Paul says that God’s solution to humanity’s sin is the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Having laid out the bad news of the predicament we face as sinners before our righteous God, Paul turns now to the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. “But now,” Paul says, in spite of our sin, “now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” (v. 21). In other words, there is a way for human beings to be counted righteous before God instead of unrighteous, to be declared innocent instead of guilty, to be justified instead of condemned. And it has nothing to do with acting better or living a more righteous life. It comes “apart from the law.” So how does it happen? Paul puts it plainly in Romans 3:24. Despite our rebellion against God, and in the face of a hopeless situation, we can be “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Through Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection—because of his blood and his life—sinners may be saved from the condemnation our sins deserve" (p. 29-30 Kindle Edition).

"Finally, Paul tells his readers how they themselves can be included in this salvation. That’s what he writes about through the end of chapter 3 and on into chapter 4. The salvation God has provided comes “through faith in Jesus Christ,” and it is “for all who believe” (3:22). So how does this salvation become good news for me and not just for someone else? How do I come to be included in it? By believing in Jesus Christ. By trusting him and no other to save me. “To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly,” Paul explains, “his faith is counted as righteousness" (4:5)" (p.30 Kindle Edition).

"Faith and repentance. This is what marks out those who are Christ’s people, or “Christians.” In other words, a Christian is one who turns away from his sin and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ—and nothing else—to save him from sin and the coming judgment" (p. 73 Kindle Edition).

"An emaciated gospel leads to emaciated worship. It lowers our eyes from God to self and cheapens what God has accomplished for us in Christ. The biblical gospel, by contrast, is like fuel in the furnace of worship. The more you understand about it, believe it, and rely on it, the more you adore God both for who he is and for what he has done for us in Christ 

" (p. 20 Kindle Edition).

What a great book! So what are you waiting for? Go out and get it for yourself or your unbelieving friends.

"how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ac 20:20–21). Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,

Fernando