From Jim McGuiggan... A fragment on sacrifice

A fragment on sacrifice

The cross is not a new way for God to relate to his creation. The cross is the historical revelation that God cannot relate to sinners in any other way. This is why Peter says Christ was ordained before the world began (1 Peter 1:19) and why John said he was the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

This is less a matter of the philosophy of sacrifice than it is the recognition of how the Bible develops the subject for us. If God is a holy lover of his creation (including the human family) then the cross was inevitable. It wasn’t some “deep structure” necessity that was imposed on God. It is an eternally free choice by God; but it is an eternally free choice that is inevitable because of his nature and character.

(I say a free choice because God lives rather than merely exists. He doesn’t just “happen” to be a holy lover, his holiness and love is his will. A block of ice doesn’t “will” to be cold. God eternally wills to be holy and loving.)

In the Old Testament God provided the sacrifices (Leviticus 17:11). They were provided to maintain the relationship God had chosen to have with sinful Israel. God established the sacrificial system—not Israel. In doing this and in providing the means of at-one-ment God was saying, “I cannot live among you except I pay the price.” It isn’t that he pays the price “to” someone. The phrase is metaphorical and makes the point that it costs the Holy Father to live with his wayward children. It stresses not his irritation at, or his reluctance to be the Father of, children that sin. The sacrificial system stresses the reality of their sin and the fact that God takes it seriously. He takes it seriously not because he is sulking with wounded pride. Philippians 2:5-7 makes it clear that along with the truth that he has no identity crisis (he loves whom and what he is)—he has no identity crisis but he has no vanity. So little does he care about his reputation (in that non-vain sense) that he gladly and freely went to the cross and as the KJV would have it, he "made himself of no reputation."

The sacrificial system did not rise from humans who were trying to placate a God who threatened to destroy them every time they sinned. The sacrifices were not ways in which the sinners bought mercy and grace from the Holy Father. The whole enterprise was an exercise of God’s holy grace that enabled the people to live with him in peace and he with them. It “covered” their sins.

The Hebrew writer had a specific thrust in mind. He wanted to compare favourably Christ’s sacrifice with the Mosaic sacrifices. In the course of it he showed that due to the work of Christ animal sacrifices were no longer relevant to divine-human relations (so Gunton). But he did make it clear that Christ’s sacrifice is an eternal one, that is, its inevitability and effects are eternal even while, historically, it is a once-for-all offering. By one offering he has perfected forever those he makes holy (see Hebrews 9:12 and Hebrews 10:10,12,14). In addition, as Paul insists in Romans 6:3-4 that death can still be accessed by faith. We don’t normally think of accessing an historical act (how is such a thing possible?) but Christ’s sacrificial death can be savingly accessed to this day by accessing its meaning.

Justification or cleansing by faith in the blood of Christ is not justification as a result of the mere act of his physically dying. Christ’s mere biological dying has no saving effect but then he didn’t merely die. He died “for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The power of his death is in whom he is and what he meant to do in the dying. And while all that he was and meant to do comes to focus in his historical life-consummating death, we continue to relate to God on the basis of what that dying means. It’s a past event but we experience life with God even now and in an ongoing relationship based on that event (1 John 1:7).

But the cross of Christ was an eternal act, an act that revealed not only how we relate to God since the cross, but also how God has always related to us from the beginning (compare Hebrews 9:15). The cross tells us not only what God did in Christ but in Christ the cross tells us what God is like, and what he is eternally like. All that being true we are to understand that for sinners like us, unbroken life with God is possible only on the basis of sacrifice. However we work that out, that is, however we understand the Bible’s rationale for that teaching it is nevertheless the teaching of scripture. Why is it the case that we can only live with God on the basis of sacrifice? Because when the Holy Father wishes to dwell with unholy people it costs him. [Can we now see a pale illustration of that in the lives of saintly parents who live in love with a thoroughly wicked child?]

So the sacrificial system and especially the sacrifice of Christ is less about how our problem with God is "fixed", it’s less about how the gulf is spanned than it is about God’s will to fix the problem and span the gulf while he maintains his commitment to us to bring us to fullness of life with himself.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

From Apologetics press.org... The Fallacy of Preaching Pascal

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=922

The Fallacy of Preaching Pascal

by	A.P. Staff

Preachers and authors in the religious community sometimes commit inadvertent fallacies in what they teach and write. These can stem from a lack of understanding of vital fields, such as biblical languages, church and secular history, psychology, and philosophy. While some of these fallacies are harmless, others can do more damage to a person’s soul through their inaccuracies than if nothing had been said at all. One such fallacy is that of mistakenly “preaching Pascal.”
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French scientist, mathematician, and philosopher. He was a brilliant young man whose father educated him, and who published his first work, an essay on geometry, at the tender age of sixteen. He continued to publish works in the fields of science and mathematics, but he died before publishing his most important philosophical works: Pensées and De l’Esprit Géométrique. Theologically, Pascal was a Jansenist—i.e., a member of a group within the Catholic Church that followed the views of Cornelius Jansen—and spent much of his time refuting the Jesuits. Pensées [Thoughts] is the title posthumously given to a series of notes that Pascal originally intended to publish under the title Apologie de la religion chrétienne [Apology for the Christian Religion] (Popkin, 1967, 6:51-52). It was in these notes that Pascal’s now-famous “wager” was constructed. The wager, simply put, goes something like this:

• If it is impossible for a person to believe with certainty that God exists, then that person should believe in God anyway—“just in case” He does exist.
• If it turns out that God does exist, the believer “wins” the wager by receiving an eternal reward.
• If it turns out that God does not exist, the person who believes has lost nothing (except perhaps some temporal pleasures, the loss of which is outweighed by freedom from the angst of unbelief).
• If God does not exist, and a person does not believe, then he may gain some temporal pleasures.
• If God exists, and a person does not believe, then that person is punished eternally for his unbelief.

Who never “loses” the wager? The believer. Why so? If God does exist, the believer “wins” by going to heaven. If God does not exist—the believer lives and dies, end of story—again, he has lost nothing (except a few finite pleasures). In both cases, the believer wins because he chose the “safe” thing to do.
But who loses 50% of the time? The unbeliever. If God exists, he “loses” by not believing, and therefore goes to hell. If God does not exist—the unbeliever lives and dies, end of story—he (like the believer) has lost nothing.
One of the two “gamblers” never loses; one loses half the time. Thus, Pascal concluded, it is safer to believe in God that not to believe. [Pascal continued in his reasoning by suggesting that if someone does not know how to believe, then he should follow the customs and rites of those who do believe—as if he himself were a believer. Eventually, then, according to Pascal, the person will become a believer (Pascal, 1995, pp. 121-125).]

PASCAL’S WAGER

	One believes	One does not believe
God exists	Eternal reward	Eternal punishment
God does not exist	Freedom from angst	Temporal pleasures

Some ministers of the Gospel preach Pascal’s Wager in an effort to convert people, suggesting that belief in God makes more sense than non-belief because of the 50% risk that is involved if God does exist.
What does this show, and why is it wrong to use Pascal’s line of reasoning in the conversion of non-believers? First, preaching this seems to show a lack of faith on the part of the minister himself. If a preacher’s argument for the existence of God is based on a gamble—even if it is not his only argument for God—then he should re-examine his own beliefs and see if he has truly built his faith on the solid rock of the moral, cosmological, and teleological proofs for God, or if he has built his faith upon the sands of guesswork (Matthew 7:24-27). This is damaging to the congregation for which such a man preaches, because a solid congregation needs a solid man to preach solid truths, and believing in God just because it is “prudent” to do so, shows a lack of solidarity.
Moreover, what of the man who believes in God because of preaching Pascal’s Wager? Since “faith is the substance of things hoped for” and “the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), a pseudo-belief in God based on statistical risk and/or wager produce a pseudo-Christian. Faith is based on knowledge and certainty, not on probabilities, and someone who believes based on a wager is someone who cannot possess true faith in God and His existence. Paul said that we will be “above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard” (Colossians 1:22b-23a). Pascal’s Wager does not produce a faith “grounded and steadfast,” because it does not build faith. However, faith in God is easy to build through other means, “because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20).
As Christians who are called to handle the Bible correctly (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17), let us not give in to philosophies that are not in keeping with God’s Word (Colossians 2:8). In our preaching, let us be honest with people and teach them to “hold fast” to faith and truth (1 Corinthians 15:1-2), and not let them be led into believing in God just because it makes the “best sense in a gamble.”

REFERENCES

Pascal, Blaise (1995), Pensées, trans. A.J. Krailsheimer (New York: Penguin).
Popkin, Richard H. (1967), “Pascal, Blaise,” The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Paul Edwards (New York: MacMillan).

From Mark Copeland... Saul The Persecutor (Acts 8:1-3)

                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                     Saul The Persecutor (8:1-3)

INTRODUCTION

1. Following Stephen's death, a great persecution arose against the
   church...
   a. Disciples in Jerusalem were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria
      - Ac 8:1
   b. The apostles, however, remained in Jerusalem - ibid.

2. Leading the persecution against the church was a young man...
   a. Whose name was Saul - Ac 8:3
   b. Who later became known as Paul, the apostle - cf. Ac 13:9

(We will consider Saul's conversion later.  But to appreciate the
significance of his conversion, we should know his background and what
motivated him as a persecutor, beginning with Saul's...]

I. EARLY LIFE AND TRAINING

   A. HIS ANCESTRY AND YOUTH...
      1. Born in Tarsus of Cilicia - Ac 21:39; 22:3; 23:34
         a. Cilicia was a Roman province in SE Asia Minor (modern
            Turkey)
         b. Tarsus was the capital ("no mean city"), known for its
            culture and learning said to exceed even those of Athens and
            Alexandria - Strabo, Geography 14.5
      2. Born of Jewish ancestry
         a. A Hebrew, or Israelite, of the seed of Abraham - 2Co 11:22
         b. Of the tribe of Benjamin - Ro 11:1
         c. A Hebrew of the Hebrews (both parents Hebrews?) - Php 3:5
      3. Born a Roman citizen - Ac 22:25-29
         a. Some think because Tarsus was a free city, but such a
            designation did not automatically impart citizenship
         b. One of Paul's ancestors either purchased or was rewarded
            citizenship for services rendered to Rome - W. M. Ramsay
         c. We do not know the date of his birth, some place it around
            the time of Jesus' birth

   B. HIS EDUCATION...
      1. Taught in Jerusalem by Gamaliel, a Pharisee and respected
         teacher of the Law - Ac 22:3; cf. Ac 5:34-40
      2. A son of a Pharisee, he became a strict Pharisee - Ac 23:6;
         26:4-5; Php 3:5
      3. He excelled above his contemporaries in Judaism - Ga 1:13-14
      4. Was also trained as tent-maker - Ac 18:1-3

   C. HIS CHARACTER...
      1. He was zealous in persecuting the church, concerning the Law
         blameless - Php 3:6
      2. He served God with a pure conscience - 2Ti 1:3; Ac 23:1
      3. Thus he was ignorant of his blasphemy and persecution - 1Ti 1:12-13

[With his early life and training, Saul of Tarsus was on the "fast track"
when it came to his religious faith.  It was sincere zeal in defending
his faith that led to his brief but fervent career as...]

II. PERSECUTOR OF THE CHURCH

   A. AT THE DEATH OF STEPHEN...
      1. Saul was present at the death of the first Christian martyr 
         - Ac 7:57-58
      2. He consented to the death of Stephen - Ac 8:1; 22:20

   B. MAKING HAVOC OF THE CHURCH...
      1. Entering homes, dragging men and women to prison - Ac 8:3; 22:4
      2. Entering synagogues, imprisoning and beating those who believed
         in Jesus - Ac 22:19
      3. He believed it necessary to do things contrary to the name of
         Jesus - Ac 26:9-11
         a. Imprisoning believers by the authority of the chief priests
         b. Casting his vote against them as they were put to death
         c. Compelling them to blaspheme
         d. Pursuing them to foreign cities (such as Damascus) - cf. Ac 9:1-2

   C. HIS LATER CONFESSION...
      1. Admits he persecuted the church "beyond measure" in an attempt
         to destroy it - Ga 1:13
      2. It was due to his great zeal - Php 3:6
      3. Though ignorant, he was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent
         man - 1Ti 1:13
      4. For such reasons, he considered himself the least of the
         apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle - 1Co 15:9

CONCLUSION

1. From being the worst foe of the church, Paul would later become one
   of its best friends...
   a. Saul the persecutor would soon become Paul the preacher - Ga 1:22-24
   b. Paul attributed it to the grace and mercy of God - 1Co 15:9-10;
      1Ti 1:12-14

2. Every aspect of Saul's life prior to his conversion prepared him for
   the task the Lord gave him...
   a. His Jewish heritage and Roman citizenship suited him for preaching
      to both Jews and Gentiles
   b. His training by Gamaliel would serve him well in his writings on
      the Law in Romans, Galatians
   c. His skill as a tent-maker would assist him in his travels
   d. Even his history as persecutor would strengthen his testimony as an
      eyewitness of Christ

But most of all, his conversion despite his persecution of the church
serves as a wonderful example of God's mercy:

   "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that 
   Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
   chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me 
   first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern
   to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."
                                                   - 1Ti 1:15-16

Have you obtained the mercy offered in Jesus Christ (Tit 3:4-7)?  No
matter how you have lived in the past, you can be justified by His
grace...! - Ac 22:16 

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2012

From Gary.... Someday

Nice idea, poor execution. Obvious to even the casual observer, but then again, its easy to find fault with what others do, isn't it?  I wonder, what about your plan- I mean your plan for LIFE? Sure, you may have an IRA or some such vehicle for your money, but is money all there is to life? Isn't there more to life than possessions???  Jesus says...

Luke, Chapter 12 (NASB)

Luk 12:15  Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."
Luk 12:16  And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive.
Luk 12:17  "And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?'
Luk 12:18  "Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
Luk 12:19  'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'
Luk 12:20  "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'
Luk 12:21  "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Luk 12:22  And He said to His disciples, "For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.
Luk 12:23  "For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Luk 12:24  "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!
Luk 12:25  "And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span?
Luk 12:26  "If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?
Luk 12:27  "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
Luk 12:28  "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!
Luk 12:29  "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.
Luk 12:30  "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.
Luk 12:31  "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

We plan for our future, why not for our eternal future? I am here to tell you that no matter how much money you have, it will never be enough!!!  On this lazy Sunday afternoon, take a few moments to think about your heavenly retirement plan; if you haven't got one, get one. And don't forget to include Jesus- you will be glad you did-- someday!!!