Chime In: Conviction vs. Condemnation

I had another early morning Bible study with some men from church today. We went over chapter 12 of CJ Mahaney’s excellent little book Living the Cross Centered Life, a chapter entitled “Unloading Condemnation.” The friend leading the study (we take turns) started a profitable discussion on the difference between conviction and condemnation—a difference which he learned as a result of reading the chapter. What a crucial lesson to learn! Pastor friends (and teachers and parents!), we must teach the people to whom we minister how to distinguish between the two, lest they be overwhelmed by guilt which they wrongly assume is from above! Don’t assume that this is common knowledge. It’s not.

So what are the differences between conviction and condemnation? I’ll post some thoughts later, but first I’d like to get those who read MTC to think about it and chime in—preferably with biblical data to support your assertions. Fire away!

New Hymn: Praise Our Savior, Jesus Christ

I recently collaborated with Dr. Paul S. Jones (church bio/company site) on a new hymn entitled “Praise Our Savior, Jesus Christ.” I prepared (and repaired and re-prepared) the text over a number of months, then at the recommendation of Scott Aniol I ran it by Dr. Jones. He agreed to look at it, then agreed to work on it, then said that it somehow kept creeping to the top of his pile of projects and calling for his attention. The result is a new hymn which we both hope is useful in helping believers meditate on our incomparable Savior.

Thanks to a number of friends who helped with the text and to Dr. Jones for taking on the project. As usual, the song is available as a free download for local church use.

May the Lord be magnified!

Praise Our Savior, Jesus Christ (Text by Chris Anderson; Tune by Paul S. Jones)

Full Page Music / Half Page Music / Modulation / Doctrinal Notes / MP3 Sample

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Update: Sorry for the delay. All the files are now final, posted, and downloadable. Thanks for your patience!

“Forsaken…Finished…Father”

I recently made a post on Christ’s final cries from the cross and the theological realities which they represent. I was (and continue to be) especially intrigued by the difference in tone between Christ’s fourth cry (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” ) and His seventh and last cry (“Father, into Your hands I commit my Spirit.” ) As part of my meditations on those cries, I published a conclusion which wasn’t sufficiently thought out and which had an impossible and unorthodox doctrinal implication. I apologize for that. Sincerely. The last thing I want to do is publish ideas that will cloud readers’ understanding of Christ’s work. I did state that I was looking to have my own understanding sharpened—sort of “thinking out loud”—and I asked for input, but I also made a careless mistake. I’m therefore replacing that post with this one, which focuses briefly on the fourth, fifth, and seventh cries from the cross.

1. As I understand the fourth cry, Jesus was literally forsaken by the Father—”God estranged from God,” as the text of His Robes for Mine puts it. The eternal fellowship of the Trinity was disrupted during at least part (though not all) of Christ’s crucifixion. During that time, our sins separated Jesus from God as surely as they separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2). In drinking the dregs of God’s wrath on sin, Christ bore the worst of sin’s wages: utter abandonment by God. Perhaps coinciding with the time of Christ’s great moral darkness, there was a great physical darkness, as well. The sun disappeared in what Mahaney calls “an atmospheric confirmation of the judgment of God” (Living the Cross Centered Life, 91). Jesus responded to this abandonment with His fourth cry from the cross, a cry of absolute anguish: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34)

2. Nearing the point of death, Jesus uttered two victorious cries: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) and “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit!” (Luke 23:46) It is tempting to see these cries as declarations that propitiation had been entirely accomplished. Indeed, we often speak of the “finished” cry as proof that Christ’s sacrifice for sin was entirely satisfactory to God and cannot and need not be repeated or amended. However (and this was the point of my error), to conclude that God’s just wrath had already been satisfied at these specific times would be to suggest (or at least allow) that Christ’s actual death was not necessary—a ridiculous notion, to be sure. Could He have suffered, uttered these cries, then descended from the cross. Obviously not. Even Christian children know that Jesus had to die to pay sin’s wages.

So what was Christ saying when He spoke of a “finished” atonement and of entrusting Himself to His Father? It seems best to take the cries as anticipations of His impending death which would complete the payment of sin’s wages, and not as claims of having already paid them at those precise moments. So while we may reverently speak of Christ’s “It is finished” proclamation as a statement of propitiation, we must do so with the understanding that what finished the atonement was not Christ’s suffering or even His proclamations, but His impending death.

3. For what it’s worth, it still intrigues me to consider Christ’s prayers to God near the outset and end of the crucifixion (“Father, forgive them” and “Father, into Your hands,” respectively) with His cry of forsakenness. It seems to me that He enjoyed communion with the Father at times during the crucifixion but was bereft of the Father’s fellowship during another part of the crucifixion. It’s certainly worth considering.

By God’s grace, I’m growing in my understanding of the Gospel, albeit imperfectly. I want to know it better and deeper yet, and this has been a profitable process of meditation for me. Some good friends will still take exception to my understanding of Christ’s forsakenness, and it may be that my thoughts need to be sharpened further. I don’t doubt it a bit. To that end, please feel free to chime in with your thoughts. Also, learn from my example that even reverent and well-intended interpretations cast long theological shadows. Be careful. Finally, spend some mental and spiritual energy meditating on Christ’s suffering beneath our sins and His Father’s wrath on the cross.

Amazing.

Normal Christianity: Blurring the Lines and Raising the Bar

A young man in our ministry has been a particular delight to my soul during the last decade. Dave came to know Christ during the first few years of Tri-County Bible Church’s existence, when he was a senior in high school. He immediately began to grow like a weed (or, as Joe Tyrpak insists, “like a tree planted by rivers of water”). He grew in his understanding of the Scriptures, his love of the gospel, his desire for holy living, and his burden for souls. By God’s grace, he was instrumental in seeing his uncle and his (seventy-plus year-old Italian Catholic!) grandmother come to Christ.

Dave is now a deacon in our church, as is his uncle Joe. He’s also a godly husband and a soon-to-be father. His knowledge of Scripture and theology continues to amaze me. The zeal and skill with which he preaches the Word is a testimony of God’s grace. He’s leading in our church through his ministry to our teens, his ministry as a deacon, and his example. What a joy!

Here’s the thing: Dave is a biologist. Following his conversion, I pushed him toward BJU. He visited the campus and loved it, but he decided to stay in Ohio, where he graduated from Kent State University—not exactly a bastion of Christianity or even secular conservatism. Besides pushing him toward a Christian college, I also pushed him toward the ministry. It seemed like a no-brainer: certainly a young man with his love for the Word of God and the souls of men should devote his life to full-time ministry, right? I mean, “Duh.”

New (and Improved) Hymn: His Robes for Mine

I’m thrilled to be able to provide this new resource to you in hopes that it will assist in your understanding and appreciation of Christ’s great work of justification. His Robes for Mine is a hymn which we have used at TCBC for the last 16 months, and it’s been a great meditation for us. We initially sang it to Abide with Me, which seemed to fit the text well. However, a number of friends suggested that I ask my good friend Greg Habegger to produce an original tune for this hymn, especially because he did such a great job with Holy, Mighty, Worthy and My Jesus Fair. Though I was initially hesitant about seeking a new tune, and though the process was filled with some “misses” before we were both happy, I’m very excited about the finished product. Greg has done a masterful job expressing the pathos of the text. The tune is accessible, expressive, and simply beautiful. Thank you, Greg! You are a great, great blessing! Here are the files:

His Robes for Mine (Text by Chris Anderson; Tune by Greg Habegger)

Full Page Music / Half Page Music / Modulation / Doctrinal Notes / MP3 Sample

While we were in the process of reinventing the hymn, I decided to clean up the text a bit. It initially “sprawled” a bit over 6 verses and included some lines that I hoped to smooth out. Hopefully the reworked text is more focused theologically and more pleasing aesthetically.

The 4 verses focus on 4 major themes included in the doctrine of justification. Verse 1 addresses the hymn’s overriding theme of “The Great Exchange.” Jesus Christ was made sin for us in order that we might be declared righteous in Him. The great doctrine of imputed righteousness and unrighteousness grows out of a number of wondrous texts (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:19-4:8; Philippians 3:9) and is often pictured in Scripture by the exchange of garments (Isaiah 61:10; Zechariah 3; Matthew 22:1-14; Revelation 7:9-14). Hence, the theme of the song.

Verse 2 focuses on Christ’s active obedience—the fact that He mastered God’s Law in the place of sinners who could not, thus earning righteousness on our behalf. It was added essentially at the recommendation of my teacher and friend Michael Barrett, who has done a great deal to assist me in my understanding of justification. (Aside: he preaches powerfully on the doctrine of justification here and here.) The key lesson here is that the righteousness imputed to me was Christ’s earned righteousness which He acquired by perfect obedience to God’s Law (as discussed here), not the inherent righteousness which He has eternally possessed by virtue of His deity. The great truth of Christ’s perfect obedience to the Father’s will and the imputation of that righteousness to repentant sinners is taught in Matthew 3:25; John 8:29; 1 John 2:1; Romans 1:17; 2:13; 3:22; 4:4-6, 11b and 5:17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:30 and elsewhere.

Verse 3 focuses on the grand doctrine of propitiation, the fact that God’s wrath was not merely deflected from us by Christ, but was rather absorbed by Him in our place.

The Audio Gospel Project

We at TCBC are thrilled to have completed the Gospel CD which we’ve been working on for the last few weeks. Our desire is to provide our church body with an “audio tract,” a CD which will give their friends, coworkers, neighbors and family members a straightforward, God-focused presentation of the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Regarding the specific content of the message, we tried to provide a gospel presentation that is understandable without being reductionistic and which presents the good news of the gospel as peace with God, not just an escape from hell.

In order to be thorough and avoid a “drive-by shooting” sort of presentation, we took 30 minutes. We are discussing eternity, after all, so we hope the length isn’t a hindrance. We’re enthusiastic about the resource because we believe that the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:15) and that there is a unique power in the gospel message when it is proclaimed and explained (1 Corinthians 1:18 and 21).

In addition to the CD’s, we’re hopeful that having the resource available online will allow our people to send a link of the message to friends and family members via email. We would be thrilled if others would use it, as well. Feel free to link to it from your website, blog, facebook account, email signature, etc. Although it briefly mentions information about our church, I don’t think that you’ll find that to be a distraction. On the other hand, I’d encourage you to take the idea and improve on it in your own local church!

Here’s a link to the message:

Our SermonAudio Site (a low quality, 16 kbps, 4 MB recording)

Thanks to those from TCBC who came up with the idea and made suggestions to improve upon it. Thanks especially to Joe Tyrpak, our assistant pastor, for his help with the content and for his excellent work editing the recording! Finally, thanks to The WILDS for giving us permission to use a selection from Matthew Burtner’s recording Hear My Prayer for the interludes.

Please pray with us that the Lord will use His Word to draw many to salvation, and thereby bring glory to His Own Name!