Guest Post: What is the Nature of True Repentance?

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am teaching overseas. This is by Jeff Chavez. His blog be found here.

What is the Nature of True Repentance? 

In the Second London Baptist Confession, Paragraphs 1 & 2 address the repentance of sinners in conversion and of the believers from serious sins.  

The 3rd paragraph talks about the nature of repentance. It states, “This saving repentance is an evangelical grace, whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, does, by faith in Christ, humble himself for it with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrancy, praying for pardon and strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavor, by supplies of the Spirit, to walk before God unto all well-pleasing in all things.” (1689 LBCF Chapter 15- Par. 3)  

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Guest Post: Man’s Free Will in the State of Sin (Chapter 9 – Par. 3)

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am teaching overseas. This is by Jeff Chavez. His blog be found here.

Man’s Free Will in the State of Sin (Chapter 9 – Par. 3)

From the London Baptist Confession Chapter Nine paragraph 3:

Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.

Introduction: What is the result of the fall? People today either do not understand or reject the grave effects of the fall in man. How does this relate to the doctrine of Free Will as affirmed by our confession? Today, we’ll see the nature of man’s free will in the state of sin. Seeing this helps us understand better our urgent need of Christ.

Jim Renihan argued that chapters 7-20 is arranged according to the concept of covenant since the Puritans believed that the only means by which God spoke to individuals was via covenant. To develop this thought the problemm of humanity must be dealt with in various states. This chapter reflects the Scottish Puritan Thomas Boston’s Human Nature in its Fourfold states which correspond to the four states of man in relation to sin enumerated by Augustine of Hippo: (a) able to sin, able not to sin (posse peccare, posse non peccare); (b) not able not to sin (non posse non peccare); (c) able not to sin (posse non peccare); and (d) unable to sin (non posse peccare).

Paragraph 1 is a general statement about Man’s Will (man’s will defined), 2 is about Free will in the State of innocency, 3 is the state of sin, 4 state of grace, and 5 is state of glory.

Paragraph 3 talks about man’s free will in the state of sin which establishes the need for the Covenant of Grace.

Here is the doctrine of total inability* – the result of total depravity

This is not the same as total depravity (chapter 6: The Fall of Mankind, and Sin and Its Punishment). Para. 2 ‘all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties & parts of soul & body’ (Rom. 6:16, 20; John 8:31-34; Eph. 2:1; 2 Cor. 3:14; 4:3-4; John 3:3). But the result of it as stated in Para. 4: ‘whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, & made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil’ (Rom. 7:18; 8:7; 1 Cor. 2:14; Matt. 7:17-18; 12:33-37; Luke 6:43-45; John 6:44; Jer. 13:23; John 3:3, 5)

Teaching: Since the moment that man fell into sin, he is unable not to sin until God saves him by His grace in Christ.

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Free E-Book: Redeeming our Thinking About History by Vern Poythress

There’s so many good free Christian E-books online these days.  This is one of them!

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Free E-Book: Truth, Theology, and Perspective: An Approach to Understanding Biblical Doctrine by Vern Poythress

There’s so many good free Christian E-books online these days.  This is one of them!

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Guest Post: Rejoice and Depend on Your Creator

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am teaching overseas. This is by Jeff Chavez. His blog be found here.

Rejoice and Depend on Your Creator

 

Passage: Psalm 104:27-35

 

 

“Bless the LORD, O my soul!” This psalm begins and ends with these words like Psalm 103. As we meditate upon this passage, may we ask ourselves, “Do we bless the LORD?” “Have I blessed the Blessed One?”

 

Truth: “Since all the creatures depend on God for His glory, we must rejoice in Him as long as we live.”

 

How do creatures reveal God’s glory?

– All Creatures by Necessity Utterly Depend on God’s Provision

– All of God’s People Joyfully Live for God’s Glory

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Guest Post: Trinitarian Redemption

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am teaching overseas. This is by Jeff Chavez. His blog be found here.

1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith: 2.3c

but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on him.

1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith: 11:4

God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect,11 and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins, and rise again for their justification; nevertheless, they are not justified personally, until the Holy Spirit in time does actually apply Christ to them.

From the 1689 London Baptist Confession and the Scriptures we know that the Triune God works together to accomplish the redemption of His people. Redemption fulfills the Father’s eternal plan. The redemption of God’s people is based on the Son’s perfect life and glorious work on the cross by shedding His blood. The Spirit powerfully applies Christ’s work of redemption.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:7-12 ESV)

The Trinitarian theology in the New Testament is a Christ–centered Trinitarianism.

Teaching: Christ’s redemptive work is the ground and center of the triune God’s perfect redemption. Christ saves His people chosen by the Father, through the regenerating work of the Spirit.

Let’s see today the Particularity, Power, Perfection, and Purpose of Redemption.

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Daniel 9 Messianic Prophecy

Purpose: We will consider four points from Daniel 9:24-26 to see how it predicts Jesus as the Messiah so that we would submit to Him as Lord and worship Him today.

• Determining what is a ‘week”
• Prophecy 1: Rebuilding of Jerusalem
• Prophecy 2: Messiah cut-off
• Prophecy 3: Fulfilled before Temple Destruction

Passage: “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”” (Daniel 9:24-27)

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Fascinating: Messianic Prophecy and Trinity in Isaiah 48:12-16

I found this passage in Isaiah 48:12-16.

Here’s what the passage says:

“Listen to Me, Jacob, Israel whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
¹³ Assuredly My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
¹⁴ Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure against Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
¹⁵ I, yes I, have spoken; indeed I have called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
¹⁶ Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

I think in the near future I’ll have to study this passage more in-depth as its nearly 3 AM here and its late to start looking at the Hebrew.  But some quick observations.

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How the Trinity Impacts Everything: Interview with Vern Poythress

Eli Ayala of Revealed Apologetics ministry recently interviewed Dr. Vern Poythress of Westminster Theological Seminary on the topic of how the Trinity impacts and relates to everything else In the Christian life.

Dr. Poythress is one of those amazing scholars who are inter-disciplinary.  He has a Bachelor degree in mathematics from California Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University (1970), a Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary, a Th.M in apologetics also from Westminster in 1974.  He’s also have a M.Litt. in New Testament from University of Cambridge (1977) and a Th.D. in New Testament from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Here’s the discussion below:

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Trinity and the Christian Life: 4 Audio Messages

Does the Trinity have practical impact on the Christian life?  It sure does!

How?  This series of four audio sessions is worth downloading and listening.

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Argument against the Trinity? Did Jesus himself said he wasn’t God?

A recent troll said to me:

Jesus himself said he wasn’t God! Mark 10:18 & Luke 18:19

Both Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19 parallel each other.

This is what Mark 10:18 states:

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

This is what Luke 18:19 states:

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

This is how she would argue it:

Jesus denies he’s good: “no one is”

Only God is good

Ergo Jesus isn’t God

Does this show Jesus is not God?  I don’t think so.  Let me explain.

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Church Unity and the Trinity

This is for a retreat this weekend where I’ll be teaching on the topic of the Trinity and Christian life!

Purpose: In this lesson we will explore John 17:20-23 and see how the Trinity helps with Christian unity so that we would be united as a church spiritually.

• Point 1: The result of Christian Unity
• Point 2: Mirroring the Trinity for our Unity
• Point 3: Means of Unity

Passage: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” (John 17:20-23)

• The context here is Jesus’ prayer to God the Father the night He is going to die.
• Here Jesus’ prayer is for the believers of all time and not just His immediate disciples on that night.

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Our Series: Argument against the Trinity?

 

The Trinity is an important doctrine.

Here’s a series I did responding to certain objections against the Trinity that I never got around to compiling in one post as a table of contents until now.

For more on the Trinity check out ” Seventeen Sessions on the Trinity! Audios and Notes.”

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The Trinity in Jewish and Christian Scriptures Series by Anthony Rogers

Note: I was working on a book review late last night but one of my daughter was really sick so I couldn’t finish the review.  I thought I share these helpful videos by Christian apologist Anthony Rogers.

The Doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to Christian thought.  Christian Anthony Rogers begins his series on the Trinity in Jewish and Christian Scripture with an introduction, then discusses the Trinitarian implication of Genesis 1:26, followed by a response to two objections.  These two objections are: (1) The text is using the “plural of majesty”; and (2) the text is including angels as co-creators with God.  After that Roger discusses the Trinitarian implications of Genesis 19:24 which teaches there are Two Divine Persons.  Finally there’s a discussion of the divine “Angel” of the Lord in the book of Genesis.  All of this is just from the book of Genesis!  This is a well done series.

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Dr. Poythress Interview on Missions, Language Presuppositional Apologetics and Theology

Dr. Vern Poythress is one of those incredible intellectual gift to the Church.  He’s a Christian professor, a Reformed theologian, New Testament scholar, expert on hermeneutics, linguist, a Presuppositional apologist and philosopher who was a prodigy that went to Cal Tech before he was 18 and have several doctorates including a PhD in Mathematics from Harvard University.

He’s recently was interviewed for a podcast on the Missions Podcast from ABWE International.  It’s a wonderful discussion on multiple things I’m excited about:  Missions, Language Presuppositional Apologetics and Theology!

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