Matt Capps Books, Christianity, Faith, Religion

Thoughts on the Holiness of God and Evangelism

In my opinion there seems to be little attention to God’s chief moral attribute – holiness – in evangelism training and studies.

I might go as far as saying that some Christians have never given much thought to how God’s holiness specifically impacts our evangelism. But, the Gospel (the good news that is proclaimed or witnessed to) is primarily a message about God, not man. One of the foundational theological realities for exposing our need for the Gospel is that God is holy and man is sinful.

There seems to be very little material on the topic of God’s holiness in current readings on evangelism, at least the ones I have read. It’s there, but its brief. There is always material on the doctrine of human sinfulness (in some sense or another), but I would see sinfulness as understood in light of God’s holiness. When considering the body of material that I am familiar with, which is very limited, Lewis Drummond provided the most thorough treatment of the theological issues pertaining to evangelism in his work The Word of the Cross. Yet Drummond only treated God’s holiness briefly. Drummond makes the concise but important observation that God’s “holiness makes Him the absolute standard of Himself.” This standard not only justifies God’s wrath in that He abhors sin and evil, it also makes us aware of our need of the Gospel. Drummond states that “wrath grows out of the self-consistent nature of God.” In light of God’s holiness “forgiveness of sin becomes the basic need of all people.”

Personally I agree with Drummond’s statement that God’s holiness makes Him the absolute standard of Himself, but I wish he would have clearly shown how this makes claim on individuals in evangelism. Communicating God’s holiness is essentially communicating that He is qualitatively and radically different from his creation. Out of God’s holiness Drummond mentions four qualities that surface, God is righteous, God is just, God is wrathful, and God is good. Each of these qualities acts in perfect unity. God is consistent. God is one. It is helpful to clarify when different attributes of God are emphasized, but it must be stressed that God is not divided. In other words, we can guarantee that in everything God does He exhibits each these qualities in perfect unity as a reflection of His perfect holiness.

How does the holiness of God reveal a need for the Gospel? I think it is important to show that man is completely inconsistent in terms of morality. For example, how is it that man (in a universal sense) can in one moment exhibit qualities of goodness towards others, and in another perform completely unjust acts of cruelty? At one point we can desire vengeance and execute our anger in an unjust way, but when we witness injustice in the world we desire things to be made right. I think Will Metzger makes this point well in his book on evangelism Tell the Truth, he argues that “when people are able to see a reason for the human paradox, they may begin to admit sin is in their nature and a radical solution is therefore needed.” The reality of such inconsistency at the very least reveals an underlying problem in humanity, if not an inner desire to see this tension eradicated by good. Theologically a correct understanding of the human condition is directly tied to the holiness of God. “Our evangelism needs to stress a God of holiness.” But, how is it that man held accountable to this holy God?

J.I. Packer devotes little space to developing this thought in his classic work Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, but what he says is helpful. His observation is that “the Gospel starts by teaching us that we, as creatures, are absolutely dependent on God, and that He, as Creator, has an absolute claim on us.” Our accountability to God was established in creation. God as our creator wrote His law on our hearts. In this way God lovingly established the right way to live, and it is necessary that we measure ourselves by those requirements. In creation, God established a moral order that reflected his own perfect moral nature. Essentially, the law is a reflection of God’s holiness by which He moves against evil. In other words, the law is the revelation of God’s holiness. The moral order that is applied to humanity holds us accountable to this holy God. If we do not sufficiently emphasize God’s holiness in our evangelism, God’s grace loses its intended impact.

Again, Metzger seemed the most helpful when it came to taking a theological truth and making specific application to evangelism practice. He writes, “to admit I am sinful in my nature (not just that I make mistakes or am imperfect), and by simply not loving God (vertical relationship), I have offended his holiness, making me liable for punishment.” The law is a tutor, revealing God’s holiness and our need for the Gospel. While the law is powerless to convert, it is essential to convict.

How else can we show God’s holiness as essential to and in our evangelism?

Matt Capps Books, Christianity, Faith, Religion

Church History Teasers (Part 6): Bernard of Clairvaux ‘On Loving God’

Brief Outline of ‘On Loving God’ by Bernard of Clairvaux

Dedication: To Lord Haimeric
Chapter 1: On why God is to be loved, and how much
Chapter 2: On God deserving such love
Chapter 3: On the manner of charity to those who love God
Chapter 4: On those who take comfort in the thought of God
Chapter 5: On the Christian’s debt and duty to love God
Chapter 6: On the reward of those who love God
Chapter 7: On the first degree of love
Chapter 8: On the second degree and third degree of love
Chapter 9: On the fourth degree of love
Chapter 10: On the perfection of love in the age to come
Chapter 11: On the letter written to the holy Carthusian brethren
Chapter 12: On the law of mercenary love from self-interest
Chapter 13: On the law of love from children
Chapter 14: On the four degrees of love

Key Quotes

“You want me to tell you why God is to be loved and how much. I answer, the reason for loving God is God Himself; and the measure of love due to Him is immeasurable love.”

“Whosoever praises God for His essential goodness, and not merely because of the benefits He has bestowed, does really love God for God’s sake, and not selfishly.”

“Nevertheless, since we are carnal and are born of the lust of the flesh, it must be that our desire and our love shall have its beginning in the flesh. But rightly guided by the grace of God through these degrees… At first, man loves himself for his own sake… Next, he perceives that he cannot exist by himself, and so begins by faith to seek after God, and to love Him as something necessary to his own welfare… [Then] advances to the third degree, when he loves God, not merely as his benefactor but as God… [Until he] make further progress in this life to that fourth degree and perfect condition wherein man loves himself solely for God’s sake.”

“When he has learned to worship God and to seek Him aright, meditating on God, reading God’s Word, praying and obeying His commandments, he comes gradually to know what God is, and finds Him altogether lovely.”

‘On Loving God’

Bernard’s ‘On Loving God’ is good support to the idea that our ideas on prayer must be grounded in our doctrine of God. From the outset Bernard writes with a humble posture, “take from my poverty what I can give you,” understanding his right place when speaking of God. When one understands who God is, one rightly views the self and understands that “the reason for loving God is God Himself; and the measure of love due to Him is immeasurable love.”

Bernard assumes that all men have knowledge of God through self, “what infidel does not know that he has received light, air, food–all things necessary for his own body’s life–from Him alone who gives food to all flesh?” Beyond this common knowledge one begins to understand, and love God more “because they know themselves to be loved so exceedingly.” This is the ultimate grounds for thanksgiving in prayer, that “He gave Himself for us unworthy wretches.” God’s mercy is made abundantly clear in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for He “died for our sins and rose again for our justification, and ascended into heaven that He might protect us from on high, and sent the Holy Spirit for our comfort. Hereafter He will come again for the consummation of our bliss.” For these reasons, we as Christians should “take comfort in the thought of God.”

It is the Christian, “the believing soul longs and faints for God…rests sweetly in the contemplation of Him.” In seeking God one begins to understand that He is ‘not merely the bounteous bestower of life, the generous provider for all needs, the pitiful consoler of all sorrows, the wise Guide of course: but that He is far more than all that. He saves with an abundant deliverance: He is the eternal preserver, the portion of our inheritance.’ Rightly understanding who God is leads one to adoration. One who adores and “loves God truly asks no other recompense than God Himself.” It is this realization that “He is all that I need, all that I long for”…Understanding that one “cannot love” Him as He deserves to be loved, limited by ones own feebleness.

Theologically speaking, “no one can seek the Lord who has not already found Him.” “So then in the beginning man loves God, not for God’s sake, but for his own.” But soon realizes that this love for God is a gift, “it is in God’s power to give it to whom He wills.” “One may therefore say with truth that love is at once God and the gift of God, essential love imparting the quality of love.” Therefore when one falls in love with God, they may look back and realize that they were “rightly guided by the grace of God” to that point of love.

Bernard argues that it is God’s will ‘to be found that He may be sought, to be sought that He may the more truly be found.’ When one has “learned to worship God and to seek Him aright, meditating on God, reading God’s Word, praying and obeying His commandments, he comes gradually to know what God is, and finds Him altogether lovely.”

One could conclude that Bernard, though Haimeric came seeking prayers, illustrated the importance of a proper doctrine of God as the foundation for prayer. For Bernard dealing with loving God is the sweetest of all topics to discuss, “for it can be handled most safely, and will be most profitable” to any discussion pertaining to the Christian life. Prayer is a gift, an implication of the ultimate gift, namely God, and “there is no glory in having a gift without knowing it.” “His goodness once realized draws us to love Him unselfishly, yet more than our own needs impel us to love Him selfishly.” Again, the doctrine of God leads one to understand His character, and the actions of His Son who dies so that “He might protect us from on high, and send the Holy Spirit for our comfort.” Does this not bear weight on how we should pray?

Part 1: Tertullian’s Apology

Part 2: Athanasius ‘On the Incarnation’

Part 3: Saint Benedict ‘The Rule’

Part 4: Gregory’s ‘Pastoral Rule’

Part 5: Anselm’s ‘Proslogion’

Matt Capps Books, Christianity, Culture, Faith, Religion

Evangelism in the Early Church

Michael Green’s Evangelism in the Early Church is the classic study on evangelism in early church life. In reading this book I asked myself, what can we learn from the early church when it comes to spreading the gospel?

He writes that “Evangelism is never proclamation in a vacuum; but always to people, and the message must be given in terms that make sense to them.”  While there are differences in their situation and ours, I see one major aspect of their proclamation where we can learn from them, their love. Green argues that “they made the grace of God credible by a society of love and mutual care which astonished the pagans and was recognized as something entirely new. It lent persuasiveness to their claim…”

Take for example the hypothetical ordinary man and ask, what would attract him to Christianity? The answer for the early church was clear according to Green. He writes, “undoubtedly the love of Christians had a lot to do with it, so did the moral qualities they displayed, the warmth of their fellowship, their manifest enthusiasm, the universal applicability of their message. Reconciliation with God had a lot to do with it.”

Not only was every individual important in their evangelism methods, but the community as a whole was involved. Green argues that “the great mission of Christianity was in reality accomplished by means of informal missionaries.”  Green clearly argues that Christianity was from its inception was a lay movement. Green shows that there was no distinction in the early church between full time ministers and laymen in this responsibility to spread the gospel by every means possible. He argues that “every Christian was called to be a witness to Christ, not only by life but lip.”  The life and lip analogy is important. This is where I felt Green worded it beautifully, “Christianity is enshrined in the life: but it is proclaimed by the lips. If there is a failure in either respect of the gospel cannot be communicated.”

Lastly, Green does offer some strong rebukes against today’s church. He states that the early church knew nothing of set addresses following certain homiletical patterns or preoccupations with large church buildings. Essentially he argues that this informal approach allowed for more variety when it came to the evangelism methods. Of course, he would argue that the gospel has clearly defined content , but there was no prevalent method for sharing that message. Green states that “It would be a gross mistake to suppose that the apostles sat down and worked out a plan of campaign: the spread of Christianity was, as we have seen, largely accomplished by informal missionaries, and must have been to a large extent haphazard and spontaneous.”  This observation is well taken. Here is a good description:

“This must often have been not formal preaching, but informal chattering to friends and chance acquaintances, in homes and wine shops, on walks, and around market stalls. They went everywhere gossiping the gospel; they did it naturally, enthusiastically, and with the conviction of those who are not paid to say that sort of thing. Consequently, they were taken seriously, and the movement spread, notably among the lower classes.”

Matt Capps Books, Christianity, Faith, Religion

The Proper Use of a Study Bible

I was recently given the The ESV Study Bible as a gift for graduating seminary. Finding solid resources for Bible study is one of the things that you inherently learn as a seminarian. You learn which scholars are well learned on certain aspects and books within the cannon of Scripture, thus you turn to those men for wisdom when it comes to their area of expertise. This is where the ESV study Bible surpasses other resources similar to it.

The 2750 pages represented are a massive resource for personal Bible study. Under the direction of Theologian Wayne Grudem, the scholars who contributed to this study Bible have blended practical application with deep theological reflection in a way that is helpful to the layperson, learned Bible teacher, and even Bible scholar.

Even with all my excitement for such a wonderful resource, I think Dr. Al Mohler provides us with a healthy reminder in his article titled “How should a study Bible be used?”

Mohler writes;

“1. Read the text of the Bible first. Meditate upon the text and read it with care. Apply your own knowledge of the Bible in order to understand the particular text within its context and place in the biblical story-line. Consider and note other texts that come to your mind as directly related to this text. Read the text with full attention and conviction.

2. Look carefully at the cross-references that the study Bible links to the text you are reading. Do not look only to the citations, but read the actual passages. This assistance is still the main contribution of a study Bible — making related and parallel passages more accessible. A first principle of interpreting the Bible is to interpret the Bible by the Bible. In other words, to allow the Bible to interpret itself text by text.

3. As a third step, take full advantage of the notes, articles, and other helps printed alongside the text. In some cases, short articles will help in understanding contested issues or matters that might otherwise require a Bible dictionary or encyclopedia. Where appropriate, maps can be very useful, along with tables of measurement and similar points of reference. The very best of the study Bibles will also offer some level of commentary within the notes.

Of course, it is the Bible itself that is inspired, inerrant, and infallible — not the study materials included in study Bibles. Therefore, judge the notes by the biblical text, and never the other way around. Where possible, use more than one study Bible in order to maximize this learning process.”

To read the whole thing, click here.