Why October 31, 1517 Matters

Halloween has also been called "reformation day" by many protestants, and rightly so. On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted what has come to be called the 95 theses on the Castle Church in Wittenburg. It addressed the issue of the sale of indulgences by the Roman church. It was a call to scholarly debate about the issue and nature of how God's grace is received. This was not the catalyst for the Protestant referomation and recovery of the Biblical truth of justification by faith alone, but it was an important and monumental moment.

Let's celebrate the fact that God's grace is freely given and not bought by gold or silver. 

If you don't know what indulgences are or are not familiar with the story, check out Dr. Michael Haykin's short video about it below.



Michael Haykin on the 95 Theses from credomag.com on Vimeo.

A Case for Cessationism

Tim Challies recently blogged the Strange Fire Conference that happened at John MacArthur's church. You can read his synopsis of each session by visiting his blog www.challies.com and searching "Strange Fire."

One session, by Tom Pennington, laid out the case for cessationism. Perhaps you wondering what that word means. It deals with the topic of spiritual gifts. Cessationism means the Spirit no longer gives believers miraculous spiritual gifts (tongues, healing, etc.) as a normative Christian experience as it was for the apostles. Continuationism by contrast is the view that all the miraculous gifts are still given by the Spirit.  Note that neither position argues that God has ceased doing the miraculous. The question is do these miraculous gifts still exist within the church.

Pennington gives 7 biblical arguments for cessationism (rather than continuationism).

1. The unique role of miracles in the Bible
2. The end of the gift of apostleship
3. The foundational nature of the NT apostles and prophets
4. The nature of the miraculous gifts in the NT doesn't seem to match current "manifestations" of them
5. The testimony of church history is that the these gifts ceased
6. The sufficiency of Scripture argues against the subjective and ongoing messages people claim to receive from God today.
7. The NT governed the use of miraculous gifts but the modern exercise often ignores NT regulations on the exercise of such gifts. 

Obviously there is much more substance to each of these points. I encourage you to read Challies helpful (and more detailed) outline.

"It's Not Just a Guy Thing"

Here is a helpful article by Tim Challies about "the second look." Here is what he means when it comes to men:

When you see an attractive woman, you are morally responsible for the second glance, not the first. Because you cannot help seeing what is there in front of you, the second glance is the one where you will display sin or virtue. It is here that you make the moral choice—the choice to lust or the choice to direct your eyes and your thoughts to something that honors God. 

He goes on to explain why this issue is also faced by women (even if in a slightly different way). He then goes on to explain why it is also true that we can be morally responsible for the first glance.

I could summarize it, but it is short enough for you to read the whole thing.

Does God Tell You Things?

It is common to hear or use the phrase "God told me..." in Christian circles. Sometimes it comes up in relationships: "God told me we should be together." Or maybe a poor guy has been rejected by not only the young lady but also by the Holy Spirit (ie. "the Holy Spirit is telling me we shouldn't be together."). 

Here is a good article by Nancy Guthrie entitled "Why Do we Say, 'God Told Me?'". Her argument (which I agree with) is that we hear from God through his written Word (ie. the Bible) and not in some private  or mystical special revelation.

One part that I found insightful is when she thinks about why it is that we often talk about God telling us to do something even when the Bible gives us no such expectation:

So why do we speak about hearing God in this way? We grew up being told that we must have a "personal relationship with God," and what is more personal than hearing him speak to us about our individual issues and needs? Sometimes if we dig deep we realize we speak this way because we want to impresses others with our close connection to God and make sure they know we've consulted with him on the matter at hand. Another reason may be that to say, "God told me . . ." can prove useful to us. If you've asked me to teach children's Sunday school this fall, it sounds far more spiritual and makes it far more difficult for you to challenge me if I say that God told me I need to sit in adult Sunday school with my husband than if I simply say that I don't want to or have decided not to teach.

But I think there is something more at work here than simply our desire to sound spiritual or to make it difficult for someone to challenge our preferences or decisions. We genuinely long for God to guide us. We genuinely long for a personal word from God, a supernatural experience with God. Yet we fail to grasp that as we read and study and hear the Word of God taught and preached, it is a personal word from God. Because the Scriptures are "living and active," God's speaking to us through them is a personal, supernatural experience.

God has spoken and is, in fact, still speaking to us through the Scriptures. We don't need any more special revelation. What we need is illumination, and this is exactly what Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit will give to us as his word abides in us.

She concludes by asking if this issue is really a big deal.

Does it really make a difference when we expect God to speak to us through the Scriptures rather than waiting to hear a divine voice in our heads? I think it does.

When we know that God speaks personally and powerfully through his Word, we don't have to feel that our relationship to Christ is sub-par, or that we are experiencing a less-than Christian life if we don't sense God giving us extra-biblical words of instruction or promise. When we know God speaks through his Word we are not obligated to accept—indeed, we can be appropriately skeptical toward—claims by any book, teacher, preacher, or even friend when they write or say, "God told me . .  ." We don't have to wait until we hear God give us the go-ahead before we say "yes" or "no" to a request or make a decision. We can consult the Scriptures and rest in the wisdom and insight the Holy Spirit is developing in us and feel free to make a decision.

The whole thing is worth reading. She provides good biblical reasoning for what she is saying. I hope that these excerpts (highlighting the more practical side of things) encourages you and spurs you on to think about this issue.