In each of the four gospels John the Baptist describes the coming Christ as the one who would baptize, not in water, but in the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself, at His ascension (c.f. Acts 1:5), remarks that in the same way John baptized people in water, so all of those gathered with Jesus at the time would likewise be baptized in the Holy Spirit -and this, "not many days from now" (ie. at Pentecost).

I should note for some that the word baptize simply means to immerse one thing entirely into another thing. A body was "baptized" in a tomb, a cucumber into brine, etc.. In some contexts it is obviouse what is being baptized into what, but in other contexts these details are supplied.

Believers began to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (by Christ) on the day of Pentecost. This baptism was a new covenant promise (see Ezekiel 36:26-27) and was described by our Lord as a change in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who formerly was with believers, but would, when the He came (ie. at Pentecost), dwell in belevers. (c.f. John 14:17).

In Galatians 3:27, Paul speaks of believers as being baptized into Christ. In Romans 8:9, Paul writes that anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. In other words every genuine believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. When do we receive the Holy Spirit? We receive Him when we believe.

In Romans 6, Paul tells us that our union with Christ is a product of this same baptism. We who have believed have been baptized in Christ, and through this baptism we are united with Him in His death, burial and resurrection.

This union did two things. It joined Christ to our guilt, and joined us to His righteousness.

It is a mind-blowing thing, but Jesus didn't take our disembodies sins with Him to Calvary tucked away in some sort of separate, spiritual back-pack; The scriptures tell us that Jesus became (our) sin for us. Said another way, He became a partaker of our guilt (condemnation). How did he become a partaker of our guilt? Through our union with Him.

It is just as mind-blowing to think that God did not idly forgive us, as though He saw His own Son destroyed and was so sad He was willing to forgive anything. No, we became partakers of Christ's life - His righteousness. When Christ lay in the tomb, there we were with Him through this same union. In order to raise up Christ from the dead, God had to find us as acceptable as Christ who Himself knew no sin. Christ found favor for us with God (ie. made propitation) through His own life which we became partakers of through this same union.

One might look at the ordinance of the Lord's table - where his blood represents the spilling out of his life that expiates our sin, and his body represents the life he lived that made propitiation on our behalf - all this we take into ourself - picturing our union with Christ, through which the atoning work of Christ has its perfect work.

Labels: Christ, effectual calling, election, Jesus, justification

Labels: Christ, Jesus, judgment, sin, suffering

We know from Hebrews that "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son" (Heb. 1:1-2). The simplest definition of a prophet is found in that very verse: a prophet is someone through whom God speaks. Jesus, then, is not only a prophet but the greatest prophet who ever lived. When Jesus speaks and acts, he is telling us about God.

It is very easy to come to the table with the understanding that a prophet is someone who predicts the future. After all, the prophets did this very thing, and so did Jesus himself. However, they did not do this to be mere fortune tellers, but they did this to tell us something about God. If God told them of impending judgment, it was to teach the people about God's holiness and power. If He told them of good tidings to come, it was to teach the people about His mercy and grace. Prophecy reveals who God is.

If this is true, then who did Jesus say that God is? I have dedicated my life to attempt to teach people all that Jesus teaches us about God, so it is regrettably impossible for me to do that here. I will, instead, pick from one little incident in the life of Jesus that has blown my mind from the first day I read it. In Luke 17:11-19, we learn about ten lepers who were made clean by Jesus. We also learn that only one of them came back to thank Jesus.

What does this teach us about God? It teaches us about His kindness. He healed ten men, knowing that nine of them would never thank Him for it. These nine simply asked to be well, and Jesus said, "Sure, go show yourself to the priest and be well." God does this sort of thing all the time for people who show no gratitude. He feeds the ingrates; He gives them families; He gives them breath. They never say thanks to Him; they only complain. In His mercy, God simply continues to care for them.

Hopefully, that doesn't describe you and me. Instead, we ought to identify with the Samaritan ex-leper who got a clean bill of health from God through the prophet Jesus. It's Jesus' last prophetic words to the thankful man are, "Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well." I hope we both understand that the Samaritan's faith in Christ healed him of more than leprosy. We will spend an eternity giving gratitude for that, as well we should. But look at that first command, "Rise and go your way."

Wouldn't you have expected Jesus to say, "Come and follow me." Or, "Now that you believe, come join my crew." He does not say that. He says, "Go your way." This guy who Jesus saved from leprosy and sin; he didn't have to become an apostle. He didn't have to sell his house if he had one. He didn't have to join Jesus' roving band of friends. He got to "go his way." To be sure, the Samaritan took his testimony with him, and God only knows the good things this healed man did because of his faith in the Christ. But he got to go his own way, back to his little village, and back to the quiet life of normalcy. I love that so much.

My beloved, cleaned-up, child of God and fellow companion, isn't it marvelous that Jesus has made us well simply for us to be thankful? And that a life of gratitude, lived in the way God has made us to go, is sufficient to please His prophetic majesty? What does that teach you about God, I wonder?

Labels: Christ, Jesus, Priest, Prophet, sin

In his book Vintage Jesus, Mark Driscoll ¹ lays out the roles prophet, priest, and king against the backdrop of our modern society in a way that helps me get my arms around what is being said.

Driscoll makes an effective argument that to magnify some of these roles to the neglect of others throws the mission of Jesus out of balance. He uses three examples:

• Prophet + King - Priest = Jesus of Shallow Fundamentalism

The strength of fundamentalism is its keen awareness of Jesus’ prophetic role as bold truth-teller and commander of repentance, along with his role as king who rules and reigns in all authority. However, they are also prone not to appreciate fully the priestly role of Jesus. As a result, God seems primarily cold, distant, stern, harsh, and even cruel.

• Prophet + Priest - King = Jesus of Fluffy Evangelicalism

In this form of religion, people know that Jesus speaks the truth as their prophet and loves them as their priest. So when they sin, they know that Jesus will forgive them and still love them. But they still rule over their own life. When they need help, they read the Bible or ask Jesus to serve them. Practically, they don’t see Jesus ruling over them, but rather coming alongside them to help them to achieve their objectives.

• Priest + King - Prophet = Jesus of Social Liberalism

Prone to understand Jesus as our priest, who is filled with grace, love, mercy, and tolerant patience, as well as our king, who rules over all peoples and seeks to extend to them grace, love, and mercy. However, the weakness of typical liberal Christianity is that it fails to fully appreciate the hard-edged role of Jesus as prophet. The sad result is that Jesus is seen as someone who would never offend us, raise his voice, hurt our feelings, speak harshly, or command individuals to repent with a sense of urgency because he is only infinitely patient, tolerant, and understanding.

I think Driscoll’s modern examples hammer home the point that the Catechism wants us to see: it isn’t just about believing in a Jesus, it is about believing in the Jesus—the one from the Bible; the one who takes care of all the things that are needed by us for life and godliness; the one who can save to the uttermost.

Labels: Christ, Jesus, King, Messiah, Priest, Prophet

Labels: Christ, Jesus, mediator, Potent prooftexts

We should keep in mind that the name “Christ” refers to 3 offices – because under the law the prophets, priests and kings were all anointed with holy oil.  To be a “Messiah” is to be an “Anointed One”, so this title was give to the promised Mediator.  And I admit (and talk about in other places) that being a “Messiah” was primarily a kingly calling for Jesus, there is a proper place for seeing these other anointed offices as rightly-anointed offices which are pointed to by this title.

We should not overlook them.

The title “Prophet” is explicitly mentioned by Isaiah when he says this: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," (Is 6:1-2)  We see that the Spirit anoints him to be the one who comes and calls out to people and give them a personal, genuine account of his Father’s grace – and not in the usual way.  He is different than others who have been made prophets.  He was anointed not just for the sake of his own teaching, but for the sake of his whole Body, the Church, so that the Spirit might work through all of it at all times in order that the Gospel might be preached with divine effectiveness.

But this is also certain: Jesus did this so completely, so perfectly, that an end was put to all prophecies – and those who are not contented with the Gospel are therefore tacking on something unnecessary for it, and run down the real Gospel’s authority, when they do so.

Remember that the Voice which shook Heaven when it said, "This is my beloved Son, hear him" gave him a special privilege above all other teachers.  But then this special privilege is passed down fom the head to all its members, as Joel foretold: "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions" (Joel 2:28).  Paul said, he was "made unto us wisdom," (1 Cor. 1:30) and again, that in him "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," (Col. 2:3) meaning that there is nothing not worth knowing about him or from him, and that when you have faith in him, you may know his true character and all the blessing which that brings to us.  That’s why Paul says, "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified," (1 Cor. 2:2).

And most importantly: it is a violation of God’s order to go beyond the simplicity of the Gospel. The purpose of dignity in the title “prophet” in Christ is to teach us that in the doctrine which he delivered is a wisdom which, in substance, is perfect in all its parts.

Labels: Christ, Jesus, King, mediator, Priest, Prophet

I love how the Catechism gives this question a simple, exact answer with a single, exact Scripture reference. It is written so economically, it's easy to miss how much is packed into it.

Of course, there's a who: Jesus (He). He what? Saves. Saves whom? His people. From what?

And here, I want to stop for just a moment. Just so you (and I) grasp onto the truth. Jesus saves His people from their sins. If you are one of His people, He saves you from your sins. Your sins. Not somebody else's sins, but your sins. Not your wife's, not your husband's, not your boss's, not your dad's, not your mom's, not your kid's, and not your dog's.

Feel free to deal with Him on that level for a day or two until you look at why our Mediator is called Christ.

Labels: Jesus, mediator, salvation, save, savior, sin

One of the most wretched experiences that God can grant a man is to ordain that he should go through seminary single. I tell you the truth, there is hardly a more miserable man on the earth than a single seminary student. By the grace of God, they are as blissfully unaware of their miserable condition, but every sane person around them know, and can smell it a mile away. I'm afraid young seminarians reek of desperation and boredom like boys reek of cologne at the eighth grade dance. The only thing that smells worse is an internet troll.

I know a lot of guys, and I have some friends in seminary right now who are single -- so I know of what I speak. This is not meant to be a total slam against seminary guys and girls who are studying to serve in the ministry. I love these people. I pray for them. I was one of them, and the only reason I know of the trial they are in is because, by God's grace, I survived it, was given a wife, a pastorate, and two children by an all-loving God who should have killed me in seminary.

The poor, young, seminary student is often under the erroneous impression, like the internet troll, that what he really needs is more knowledge and a position from which to dispense it. Mixed up in this longing to tell people all the mysteries of God is the longing, wishing, and hoping that God will finally grant him a wife. On a seminary campus, the ration of guys to girls seems to be about 42:1. This means that any hapless, single, relatively attractive young lady on that campus is being circled by (self-ignorant) predatory seminarians from the time she leaves one class until the time she sits through another. Some of the guys are oblivious to the fact that they are doing this. Some are embarrassed by the awareness that they are but feel they have little choice. Some call their pastors and tell them that they believe God wants them to be single forever because the humiliation of becoming one of those circling sharks is too great to bear.


This is why these guys wind up excommunicating one another over where one lands on the question of whether Jesus was able not to sin or not able to sin. As if that answer is going to revolutionize the evangelical church and explains why evangelicals are in such a state of disrepair. They have too much knowledge, too much testosterone, and no outlet for any of it. God bless their hearts.

All of this is by design. God will let his man burn for awhile with the passions of his flesh. He will let his man cry out in despair, become despondent, and wonder whether or not anybody cares, if God will ever grant him a wife, and whether or not he will ever be called to a church. These questions will drive him to near madness, like some kind of crazed bull who gets a whiff of a herd of cows but finds himself on the other side of a 8 foot fence.

For what reason does God do these things, and a million more, to his own servants? The reason is simple: until a man feels the wicked, unruly fire in his own flesh he can never have sympathy for another man caught in the throes of his own. Young men, full of potential, talent, and love for God are put through the fire that they might learn to be gentle with God's precious flock. God isn't seeking zealous men who love to fuss and beat others about the head and shoulders for their nincompoopery. We have plenty of those guys already. He is looking for a shepherd who is patient with the flock, who is able to bear their sorrows, and who knows that deliverance is at hand for all the trouble that a bleating sheep will encounter.  I truly hope that you serve with a church full of men and women that know exactly what I am talking about.

But above all, God is looking to make leaders who understand why He named His beloved son Jesus. God named Him Jesus "because he saveth his people from their sins." Pastors need to know that. Missionaries need to know that. Pastor's wives need to know that.

You need to know that.

Labels: incarnation, Jesus, mediator, savior

When we speak of the Christ as being eternally the Son of God we are not saying God created the Son or that the Son was born in some way; what we are saying is that God who ordains commands God who obeys through the power of God who performs. To convey that notion to creation, God has described God who ordains as "God the Father", and God who obeys as "God the Son" and God who performs as "God the Holy Spirit". Though the language is imperfect, I think we have enough to understand that Christ was eternally God "the Son", equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, having no beginning, and no end.

The scriptures tell us, in perhaps the greatest recorded understatement ever written, that the Son of God emptied Himself, allowing Himself to be "made" in the likeness of man (cf. Philippians 2). Don't get confused by the language there either, the "likeness of man" does not imply that He looked like a man but wasn't - it means He was made, in every way, a man. In the moment that Mary conceived, the Son of God entered into creation as a living man with a living soul.

The Son of God had become the incarnate Christ. In doing so He did not stop being the Son of God. He became the second Adam: a man born into this sinful world who was free from Adam's curse. It follows therefore that all that was true of Adam before the fall would have been true of Christ in the incarnation, and this not because of the Christ's divinity, but because of His humanity; for God originally created man to be in fellowship with Him. So the Christ grew up in the presence of God, and aware of God, not because He was God the Son, but because He was a man who was not under Adam's curse.

But Jesus was not only a man, He was also God the Son. He had possessed as God (in eternity) an unquenchable life - and it was this same unquenchable life that those who were joined to Christ were baptized into when they were born again (i.e. from above). This creation was cursed and will be destroyed, but God is going to make a new heavens and a new earth after these are no more. To get from one to the other we need a boat capable of sailing between the two creations - an ark if you will; an ark made of materials that transcend this creation, lest it be undone, along with those in it, when this creation is likewise undone.

Christ, being the eternal Son of God, possessed the only life that capable of transcending the destruction of this present creation. His death satisfied God's wrath for our sin, but without His life - a life that transcends this creation, He could bring no one into the new creation. It was therefore necessary for the Christ to be both the Son of God and a man, for only in this way could He "mediate" our salvation.

Labels: born this way, Christ, God and Man, incarnation, Jesus, mediator

Editor's note: today, after many threats of violence and exposure to grief, beloved internet troublemaker Tom Chantry joins the rolls of Gadfly contributors.  His wife and I are proud of him; he, on the other hand, is certain nothing good will come of it.

The doctrine of incarnation has seemed to some less than vital, but to suggest this is to misunderstand the interconnections of theology. Questions 38 through 40 of the WLC indicate that this misunderstanding is nothing new: “Why was it requisite…?” “Requisite” is a more precise word than “necessary”; its necessity relates to the accomplishment of a particular end. The Deity and Humanity of our Lord are requisite to the end of redemption; without them, we would not be saved.

To understand this, we need look no further than the doctrine of the atonement.

“Jesus is only one person; how could one person’s death pay the penalty for the sins of many?” That is a question I have been asked both by well-educated adults and by kids on their first pass through the "Catechism for Young Children." A number of other questions lurk behind this first and most obvious inquiry: Jesus was only dead for a few days; how is that a fair exchange for the sinner’s eternal death? Jesus' death was terrible, but then He knew that He was going to rise again; how is that a fair substitution for any “normal” death?


Indeed, the doctrine of the atonement is one which indirectly points to Christ's deity, insofar as the substitution of one for many requires the One to be extraordinary. The teaching of Scripture is that when Jesus had suffered for a few hours on the cross and expired, the Father’s wrath was propitiated - wrath which otherwise would have sent untold thousands of His people into eternal fire. Further, the atonement was sufficient for all the sins of the human race, from Adam forward.

This is so because His Deity “gave worth and efficacy to His suffering.” Were He not very God of very God, there is no way in which He could have redeemed the elect, unless the Father had been willing to accept a token sacrifice. The whole Old Testament points to the inefficacy of token sacrifices, though. Christ’s death was no token; His infinite worth lent efficacy to His terrible death.

Yet can God suffer and die for man? Is this even possible, let alone just?

Indeed, it was requisite, if the wrath of God against men was to be assuaged, that the sacrifice be a man. Thus God the Son became man that He might “suffer and make intercession for us in our nature.” So our advocate is a Man, but one possessed of the infinite worth and power of God.

The stated goal of redemption was the rescue of sinners from the wrath of a holy God. Certain conditions were necessarily met before that end could be accomplished without any rupture in the perfect justice of the Almighty Judge: namely that the Mediator be God, and that He be Man.

Labels: atonement, Jesus, mediator, salvation

Labels: God, Jesus, Man, mediator, savior

So tell me, Christian, how exactly did the eternal Son of God become a man? No, really. How did the infinite God of the Universe stoop to become a real man? He did an all-knowing, all-powerful God wind up as a real baby who needed his diaper changed? How did it come to pass that he needed to learn obedience? Or to speak Aramaic? Did Joseph have to smack toddler Jesus on the hand to keep him from grabbing the razor sharp planer? Or did you think that Jesus instinctively knew not to touch dangerously sharp objects because he was and is God?

The Eternal God became man, really? The Greeks believed that Zeus was a god, and that he turned into a bull to chase women around the Parthenon, right? Isn't that ridiculous? Do you really think the Son of God came down from Heaven and became a cooing, diaper-wetting baby named Jesus? How is it that Christianity's wild claims about the God-man are any different that Zeus' ill-begotten offspring like Hercules?


I'm not trying to disturb you, brother or sister. I'm trying to rock you and me out of the doldrums of an unthinking and less-than-spectacular faith. You believe in a God-man. You believe in a God who is three persons and one being. You believe that your God made worlds and stars out of nothing. His speech flung stars into flight and made the "space" for them to stay in. You believe a Jewish man, born in a little hamlet in the Middle East with a population 300 or so, grew up to conquer death for you.

I can imagine someone asking me, "Brad, how did your wife come to love you?" I suppose if I were so inclined, I might talk to you about how the brain works, and how certain neurons fired, and I might pontificate about certain chemical reactions that took place at our first meetings and conversations. We might even look at real-time brain scans of people falling in love and say, "Behold the science of love!" But seriously, is that all there is? And would that answer the question of why it was me she loved and not her previous boyfriend? (God forbid!) See, I like that it was magic from God that made my wife desire me. I like to think that it was something other than a mere chemical reaction that made her want to kiss me. If the naturalist wants to say that's all it was, he can go hang for all I care. I know better.

There are lots of things that I don't know that I do not really feel all that compelled to explain. I don't know what it means for there to be nothing before there was something. I don't know how God can be three persons and one being. I don't know how it is that all of God became Jesus. I don't know how it is that toddler Jesus (if we may say this reverently) was potty trained. I don't understand how after the glory got out on the Mount of Transfiguration that Jesus managed to pull it all back in.

Labels: Christ, christology, Jesus

When God created human beings, we had a single representative in Adam. Scripture records his failure, and the result for us all. As time goes by, God deals with other individuals, in various means and in various ways. Then, when the time is right, God does something extraordinary: He appoints Himself as our representative.

Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians. After giving his wonderful Gospel summary in 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, Paul goes on to expand his theme of the resurrection of the dead, and compares the “first Adam” who brought death upon humanity to the “second Adam” who brings life to all who believe (1 Cor. 15:21–23).
Just as Adam’s death sealed our physical fate, Christ’s resurrection is the bloom of the promised redeemer and the hope of the future reconciliation. In Paul’s words, just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will bear the image of the man of heaven. And all of this is made possible through God’s representative—the one and only mediator—the man Christ Jesus.

Labels: Catechism Buzz, God and Man, Jesus, mediator

Jesus lays down three titles, as if he had said that he is the beginning, and the middle, and the end; and it follows that we ought to begin with him, to continue in him, and to end in him. We certainly ought not to look for higher wisdom than that which leads us to eternal life, and he testifies that this eternal life  -- "the life" -- is to be found in him. Now the method of obtaining life is to become new creatures. He declares that we ought not to seek it anywhere else, and, at the same time, reminds us, that he is the way, by which alone we can arrive at it. For example, in order that he may not fail us in any respect, he stretches out a hand to those who are going astray, and stoops so low as to guide even babies. Presenting himself as a leader, he does not leave his people in the middle of the course, but makes them participants in the truth. And as they partake, he makes them enjoy the fruit of it, which is the most brilliant and wonderful thing that can be imagined.

As Christ is "the way", the weak and ignorant have no reason to complain that they are left out by him; and as he is "the truth" and "the life", he has in himself also what is fitted to satisfy perfectly. In short, Christ now affirms, concerning happiness, what I have also said concerning the object of faith: all believe and acknowledge that the happiness of man lies in God alone, but they afterwards go wrong in the same way. Seeking God somewhere other than in Christ, they take away his true and solid Dignity.

Regarding “The truth,” some believe it means the revelation from Heaven of salvation; others say it is the substance of all spiritual blessings as opposed to shadowy figures since John said, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, (John 1:17.) My opinion is that the truth here means the perfection of faith as “the way” means its beginning and first elements. The whole may be summed up thus: “If any man walks away from Christ, he will do nothing but be lost because he is off the way; if any man does not rest on him, he will toil forever as if vainly blown around by the wind because he is without the truth; and if any man is not satisfied with him alone, and wishes to go farther, he will find death instead of life.”

Labels: Calvin as Gadfly, Jesus, mediator, salvation

Let us consider what a mediator is and why it is important to see that Jesus has two natures. A mediator is someone who gets between two parties in order to bring about reconciliation. The Lord Jesus Christ, as both God and man, is able to understand and represent men because he is himself a man. He is able to understand God because he himself is God. This is why Paul writes in Colossians, "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" (Col. 1:19-20).

Jesus, as the God-man, is and can be the only mediator. The Father gave to Adam's race a simple and just command: Do Not Eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or You Will Surely Die! Adam broke that command and all his progeny with him, and we have been clamoring for forbidden fruit ever since. We love sin so much that we have come to think that erring is human. It isn't. Sin is not an essential part of what it means to be human; sin is an aberration. It is a subtraction from humanity, and it makes us all less than we should be.

Far from being a mediator who overlooks and downplays our sins, Jesus is a mediator who has "in every respect been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). Jesus was tempted, as a man like me, and he said, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve" (Matt. 4:10). Jesus, the son of man, never bowed to sin. He never rose to the bait; no matter how sorely his flesh vexed him, he remained sinless. His humanity does not excuse our sin in the least; it makes our sin appear utterly sinful. Jesus can say, "Your humanity, your frailty, is no excuse. I, too, am a man." Jesus will not abide any excuse for sin; he is not that kind of mediator.

Jesus as mediator wasn't working on a compromise at Calvary whereby wretched men would give up a bit of their wretchedness in exchange for the favor of a justly angry God. He came to mediate in an earth destroying, family splitting, heart rending manner. He came to deliver a final ultimatum: repent or perish. He doesn't have to say that as God only; he can say it as a man who has no need of repentance.

The terms, then, are simple and very gracious. Jesus, as the representative of Adam's sinful race, has sacrificed himself to the just wrath of God for the justification and sanctification of wicked men. God has declared that anyone who will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, repent from their sin, and love his darling Son will be justly and immediately reconciled to himself. To refuse him means facing the righteous indignation of both the Mediator and the God who sent him. In the end, whether one is a saint or reprobate, all will be reconciled to the fact that Jesus is Lord of All.

Labels: Catechism Buzz, Christ, freedom, Jesus, mediator

Labels: Calvin as Gadfly, creation, Jesus