Justification by Faith Alone

Today we celebrate Reformation Day. October 31, 1517 stands forever in the hearts and minds of a Protestant. Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses served not as the beginning of the Reformation, for there were many that preceded him in laying the groundwork, but as the signal that this man, and many others who he had no clue were with him, would never turn back to the apostasy of the church as it existed in 1517. The great hallmark of the Reformation is the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which Luther stated was the doctrine on which the church stands or falls.

If this be the case (and I certainly believe it to be true), then the church today in some places is crumbling. Luther's understanding from Scripture was that justification by faith alone ("The just shall live by faith") consisted of a double imputation grounded in Christ's work of atonement on the cross: (1) Christ's righteousness was imputed those who by faith receive Him and (2) the sins of those who trust in His saving work on their behalf were put on Him. Both aspects of this double imputation are found in Paul's words to the Corinthians, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21 ). Luther also taught that man's works had nothing to do with justification. Man's salvation is based solely on the merits of Christ and His finished work on behalf of the elect. In other words, it is by His works that we are saved.

The simplicity of this doctrine is under attack today by those who adhere to the New Perspective on Paul. They contest a number of things that we will unpack as we work our way through the next few blogs. At the heart of their contention is that all that I wrote above concerning justification by faith alone, double imputation, and faith not works as the basis for salvation are products of Reformation teaching and not the Scripture. They claim that the Reformers formulated the doctrine of justification by faith alone and then pigeonholed Paul's teachings on the doctrine to suit their interpretation. They contend that Paul's views on works, Judaism, and justification are at fault.

How much at fault? More later.

Justification, the Reformation, and New Perspective on Paul

We are approaching the day that the world celebrates as Halloween and the church celebrates as Reformation Day. The celebrations could not be further apart in their allegiances. Those that celebrate Halloween do so with witches, ghosts, bats and goblins, with things from the dark side. Some would say it is the devil's holiday. On the other hand, those that celebrate Reformation Day remember October 31, 1517, that infamous day when Martin Luther challenged the establishment in nailing Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg which led to a theological and biblical preciseness concerning justification: it is according to Scripture alone by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone.

Some will read the opening paragraph and disagree with my assessment of Halloween, saying I have gone overboard in relegating to the underworld. While they might agree to its secularness, they will say to lighten up and let the children have their fun. After all, candy won't hurt them.

But it is not the danger associated with Halloween that concerns me today. It is more the reinterpretation of those great teachings that flowed out of the Reformation on justification. It is my hope to address some of these things over the next few days, particularly as it relates to Paul and his writings concerning justification now muddied by the teachings of New Perspective. If allowed to sink its tentacles any deeper into the foundation laid by the Apostles, this teaching could be far more damaging to the church than any Halloween celebration.

Stay tuned.

Building Bridges Conference

I want to remind everyone that it is not too late to participate in the upcoming conference, Building Bridges: Southern Baptists and Calvinism, Nov. 26-28 at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center. The conference is hosted by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lifeway, and Founders Ministries.

For more information and/or to register, go to LifeWay's website.

See you at Ridgecrest!

Tailgating & Baptism

YEEHAH!!! It's official - baptism is now a cultural celebration on the level of a Clemson University football game. Bring your grill, RV, pop-up tent, big screen TV and party before baptism. That is precisely what NewSpring Baptist Church in Anderson, S.C. promotes.

"We invited people to come tailgate before the baptisms like they would before a football game," said Tony Morgan, chief strategic officer (?) at NewSpring in Anderson, S.C. "People brought their RVs and set up tents. There were televisions going with people watching football games before the baptism service started," Morgan told Baptist Press. "People brought grills and they were making food for themselves and sharing with others. It was pretty fun." The church, which is about 20 minutes from the Clemson University campus, set up three above-ground pools in the parking lot, and two pastors in each pool took about 90 minutes to baptize the 562 people, Morgan said. Morgan believes it's entirely appropriate to party before a baptism because the ordinance is a celebration. [see entire article]

While I agree that baptism is a celebration of one coming to faith in Christ, it is much more than that. It is a ceremony that demonstrates one's union with Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection. While I am sure it has happened before, I don't think most church members would be comfortable tailgating prior to a wedding ceremony.

Further, the solemnity which should surround the ceremony is lost in this atmosphere. It is not unlike one church a few years ago that actually baptized children in a fire truck, complete with sirens, bells, and fireworks.

At stake in the casualness that surrounds a "celebration" such as this (along with the Lord's Table, I might add - see 1 Corinthians 11:17-34) is the twofold purpose of baptism is lost. Mark Dever wrote the following in A Theology for the Church, recently published by Broadman & Holman:

Baptism functions as both a confession of sin and a profession of faith for the believer. Faith is professed in Christ and the objective realities of Christ's death, the gift of the Spirit, and the final resurrection, all of which are depicted in baptism. Furthermore, it testifies to the subjective experiences of confession and forgiveness, spiritual regeneration, and the newly discovered resurrection hope. Baptism portrays the Christian's union with Christ, and therefore with other Christians and the church (see Rom. 6:1-14) [p. 787, emphasis mine].

While baptism serves as a visible demonstration of one's faith in Christ (which is celebratory), it also serves as an outward confession of sin. This is where a "celebration" in the form of a tailgate party falls miserably short. May we all have a passion to baptize. I pray that all of those baptized that day have truly come to faith in Christ. But does this type of display identify more with Christ or the world? Would the "celebration" not have been as joyous inside the church? Do sinners see their need for a Savior while sitting around preparing their hearts for kickoff? May we heed the warning of Paul concerning the Lord's Table and apply it to the ordinance of baptism as well.

Understanding the Flock

Greg Thornbury asks the following question in the context of ministering to the postmodern, "How does a pastor minister to people whose lives pivot on the trivial and the profound - all within the space of a minute?" [A Theology for the Church, (B&H Publishing Group: Nashville, TN, 2007) 66]. The question itself is profound and not trivial (I guess I am in a good minute!). His question defines our culture, our congregations, our households, our vocation, our education, etc. In other words, our entire worldview today teeters back and forth between that which is trivial and that which is profound.

In biblical language, this might be translated as pivoting on the things of this earth and the things above, teetering between the temporal and the spiritual, walking by sight and not by faith. On any given Sunday we have people from all walks of life enter into the doors searching for something. Some are certain, some assume, some presume, and some are not at all sure what it is they are seeking. But all of them, from the sure to the unsure, from the illumined to the desperate, are at church because it is the one place on earth that should be spiritual, that should be profound and not trivial in worship toward God.

Thronbury then makes the following assessment, "The current question before church leaders revolves around how to best preach the truth of the gospel to a generation that seems simultaneously confused by, and yet oddly drawn to, spiritual things" [66]. In our postmodern age, this certainly does define the pastor's task. The pastor must not only prepare sermons that speak to different ages, both physical and spiritual, but also that address those that are puzzled yet curious about the Christian faith. This is a tall order in and of itself. This is the profundity of the pastorate in 2007.

But I would like to take Thornbury's assessment to the next level. The task of church leaders today also revolves around how to best preach the truth of the gospel to a church generation that seems confused by, and yet oddly drawn to, earthly things. While individuals are responsible for their own actions, the church today is partially to blame here because the power of the gospel and the truth of God's Word have been so trivialized on Sunday. Worship as defined by God in His Word has been replaced by entertainment and called worship. Worship for Him and about Him has been replaced by worship for me and about me. Yes, culture has influenced our worship as well. And this speaks only to Sunday. The pastor must recognize that for the other six days of the week (and half of the seventh day) congregants are bombarded with the things of this world. Our challenge is to help our people recognize that they cannot live daily in the profundity of God if they only give themselves to be saturated in the truth on Sunday. They cannot walk with the Lord while being shaped and molded by the trivial six days and hope to be conformed to the image of His Son on one only. How is it that our churches today are strangely drawn to earthly things?