Book Review: Scandalous
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul makes it abundantly clear that the entire Christian faith stands or falls upon the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is something that one must believe in order to be saved and it is something in which all genuine believers glory. The book Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus by D.A. Carson is a wonderful little work treats the subject of Jesus’ resurrection in a clear and God-honoring fashion. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School outside of Chicago. He is a preeminent New Testament scholar and one my favorite contemporary theologians. His style of writing is always clear and easy to follow even when dealing with the most difficult of subjects. When I preached through the Gospel of John I found his commentary on John’s Gospel to be indispensable.
Scandalous is comprised of five chapters that first saw the light of day as addresses at a Resurgence conference at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. In these five chapters Carson deals with the resurrection of Jesus Christ in a thoroughly Biblical fashion in order to show his readers that the resurrection is not some secondary issue of dry and dull theology, but central to the gospel of the New Testament. Each chapter is an exposition of some passage of Scripture that deals with the cross and resurrection of Jesus.
Chapter one is an exposition of Matthew 27.27-51 and deals with four ironies of the cross. These ironies are:
- The man who is mocked as King is the King.
- The man who is utterly powerless is powerful.
- The man who can’t save Himself saves others.
- The man who cries out in despair trusts God.
Chapter two is an exposition of Romans 3.21-26. In this chapter, Carson shows his readers that the work of Christ on the cross is the central message of the Bible.
Chapter three explains Revelation 12 and shows that Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain, is the one who has triumphed over Satan. [Note: as a premillennialist I do not agree with Carson's exegesis of Revelation 12 at every point. For instance, he identifies the woman in Revelation with the church rather than national or ethnic Israel. Nevertheless, the application that he sets forth in this chapter is outstanding and on target.]
Chapter four is an exposition of John 11.1-53 where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
The fifth and final chapter is an exposition of John 20.24-31 where the risen Lord deals with the skepticism of Thomas.
The message of each chapter is concerned with the reality and the importance of the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Carson is able to show us why the cross and resurrection were necessary and to help us to see the implications of those Biblical truths in our lives today.
This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. Carson is one of my favorite authors and this book does nothing to change my assessment.
Rating: [Rating:5/5]
A Prayer for Boldness
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak [Ephesians 6.18-20].
Paul wrote these words while in prison. He did not write these words as a free man, but as one who was ‘an ambassador in chains’. What Paul wrote and requested of the believers in Ephesus is simply incredible. After giving them an exhortation on the matter of prayer in general, he asks them to pray for him and to pray for him in a particular fashion. He did not ask them to pray for his release from prison. He did not ask them to pray that God would give him an easy and carefree life. He did not ask them to pray for his physical health or material wealth. He asked them to pray for him that God would give him utterance and open his mouth to proclaim the gospel with boldness. I cannot read these words without being absolutely overwhelmed with a deep sense of both amazement and conviction. If anyone was ever a faithful and bold witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was Paul. If anyone was ever obedient in the opening of his mouth to declare the gospel of Christ, it was Paul. Yet here he is asking the Ephesian Christians to pray for him and to pray that God would open his mouth and that he would be bold to proclaim the gospel. If Paul felt it necessary to ask for others to pray for him in that way, how much more necessary is it that we ask others to pray in a similar fashion for us and that we pray for others in this way? I would say that we stand in infinitely greater need of boldness in witnessing than did Paul. If that is the case, and I most certainly do believe that it is the case, do we pray this way for ourselves? Do we ask others to pray for us in this way? Do we pray this for other believers? Do these words of Paul express the desire of our hearts?
The state of the world is no different today than it was 2,000 years ago when Paul was alive. Believers are surrounded on every side by fallen men and women in a fallen world. Though the names and faces have changed, the spiritual condition has not. Nor has the answer. What was it that unsaved people in the first century needed to hear and believe? What was the message that Paul faithfully and tirelessly brought to those unbelievers whom he encountered? The message from Paul was always the same; it was the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s message to unbelievers in the first century was "Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." If you read any of Paul’s epistles you will find this to be true. Lost people today need to hear the same thing that Paul proclaimed two millennia ago: the good news that salvation is found in Jesus Christ. What believers need is the open mouths and boldness that Paul writes of in Ephesians 6. We do not need to pray for cleverness or creativity or ingenuity; we need to pray that God will open our mouths and give us the boldness to proclaim the gospel.
Again, I find these words to be very convicting, because it is not often that I pray that God will open my mouth and give me the boldness to share the gospel with unbelievers. I strongly suspect that this the case with many other believers as well. We know that we are surrounded by unbelievers; we know that the only hope for unbelievers is that they repent and believe in Christ; we know the only way they are going to realize this is if someone comes along the preach the gospel to them; we know that we have been called to be the ones by whom the gospel is preached to those unbelievers. In spite of knowing all of this, there is a tendency on the part of most Christians to be hesitant, resistant, or downright obstinate when it comes to sharing the gospel. We try to cover our sin of disobedience with all manner of flimsy excuses: we do not have the necessary training; we do not know any unbelievers; evangelism is best left to the trained professionals; I am just too shy to talk to other people about Jesus, and so forth. These excuses are shameful and sinful. The fact of the matter is that if we are not involved in evangelism, we are in sin. Hence, there is a great need for each of us to pray that utterance may be given to us in the opening of our mouths to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.
I urge you to pray that for yourself. I urge you to ask others to pray that on your behalf. I urge you to pray that for others. What a difference an army of open mouthed bold witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ would make in this lost, dark, and hell-bound world!
Al Mohler on Homosexual Behavior in the Animal World
Al Mohler [President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary] has an insightful article on the research being done to explore/discover/explain homosexual behavior in the animal world. As might be suspected, some are pursuing this study in an attempt to justify such reprehensible behavior on the part of human beings. Mohler’s article engages an article on the subject that recently appeared in the New York Times Magazine. Mohler’s perspective is thoroughly Biblical and even-handed. Here are the last few paragraphs of what he wrote:
The political implications of the issue are clear — those pushing for the normalization of homosexuality want to be able to point to research that would prove the normality of homosexuality in nature. This is where Christians need to think very carefully. Some believers will be tempted just to dismiss the research as bogus or irrelevant. This would be a mistake.
The world we know is a world that shows all the effects of human sin and the curse of God’s judgment on that sin. Though the glory of God shines through even its fallen state, nature now imperfectly displays the glory of God. Because of the curse, the world around us now reveals and contains innumerable elements that are “natural,” but not normative. Illnesses and earthquakes are natural, but not normative.
Evidence of homosexual behaviors among animals is just another reminder that we live in a fallen world — one in which every dimension of creation bears evidence of the Fall. This new research points all the way back to Genesis 3.
Efforts to claim a genetic basis for homosexuality are rooted in the assumption that our genes tell us what God’s intention for us is. In a fallen world, that is a faulty assumption. Only the Word of God can tell us what God’s intention is. We cannot derive our sexual morality from a laboratory — much less from observations of an albatross colony.
“What animals do — what’s perceived to be ‘natural’ — seems to carry a strange moral potency,” suggests Jon Mooallem. That is understandable, given the highly contested battles over sexuality that mark our times. Indeed, the Apostle Paul warns us that homosexual behavior is indeed “against nature.” [Romans 1:26-27] But we did not gain that insight by observing albatrosses. We have that knowledge because God spoke it to us in his Word.
You can read the article in its entirety at Dr. Mohler’s website.
Phil Johnson on John Piper and Rick Warren
Earlier in the week I posted a link to an article by Tim Challies on John Piper inviting Rick Warren to speak at this year’s Desiring God National Conference. Today I came across this article written by Phil Johnson on the same topic. Phil’s article is a must read.
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith – Of the Last Judgment
Chapter 32 – Of the Last Judgment
32.1 God hath appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness, by Jesus Christ;1 to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father; in which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged,2 but likewise all persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.3
[1] Acts 17:31; John 5:22, 27.
[2] 1 Corinthians 6:3; Jude 6.
[3] 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 12:36; Romans 14:10,12; Matthew 25:32-46.
32.2 The end of God’s appointing this day, is for the manifestation of the glory of His mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of His justice, in the eternal damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient:4 for then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and glory with everlasting rewards, in the presence of the Lord; but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast aside into everlasting torments,5 and punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.6
[4] Romans 9:22-23.
[5] Matthew 25:21,34; 2 Timothy 4:8.
[6] Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:48; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10.
32.3 As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin,7 and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity,8 so will He have the day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come,9 and may ever be prepared to say, "Come Lord Jesus; come quickly".10 Amen.
[7] 2 Corinthians 5:10-11.
[8] 2 Thessalonians 1:5-7.
[9] Mark 13:35-37; Luke 12:35-40.
[10] Revelation 22:20.
Tim Challies Weighs in on John Piper and Rick Warren
The announcement that John Piper invited Rick Warren to be one of the speakers at this year’s Desiring God National Conference has generated a great deal of buzz on the blogsphere with some criticizing Piper and others applauding him for the decision to have Warren who is the Pastor of Saddleback Church speak at the DG conference. Tim Challies has written a very thoughtful post on this matter on his blog. Challies is of the opinion that Piper made a mistake in extending this invitation to Warren. I fully agree with Challies’ assessment, however, I am not in the least bit surprised that Piper would bring in Warren. Over the past several years, he has also brought in Mark Driscoll [Mars Hill Church] and Doug Wilson. Driscoll’s proclivity for profanity in the pulpit is well known and Wilson’s theology is anything but sound as it pertains to his view of the church and eschatology. While I do commend John Piper for reaching out to other men with a national or global influence, I feel that he ought to do so with more discernment.
You can read Tim Challies’ post here.
Welcome to my blog. I am Mark Fuss and I serve as Pastor-Teacher of Sovereign Grace Bible Chapel in Englewood, FL. I have been married to my wonderful wife, Kristy, since 1986 and we have three beautiful daughters and one precious granddaughter.
