It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

Is sue 2 0 9 Ju l yAu g u s t 2 014

Enduring to the EndMatthew 10:22

John G. Reisinger

In This Issue
Enduring to the End
Matthew 10:22

John G. Reisinger

I remember when I was first converted we would meet in different homes

Trials and the Kingdom of Christ
1
after the evening service and discuss Scripture into the early hours of the mornA. Blake White
ing. One of the subjects most often discussed would involve what was called
Apologetics and Reformed
3
eternal security. At that point in our experience the doctrines of grace were
Theology: Approach #1
not an issue simply because we had never heard of them. No one that we knew
Steve West
believed in election or ever heard of limited atonement. This was a period that
Heaven on Earth or Paradise
5
occurred before the revival of sovereign grace that started in the fifties. We
Lost? Part 2 of 2
would often discuss Hebrews 6 and 10. These texts seem to teach that a true
Dr. J. David Gilliland
Christian could be saved and then be lost. One verse that really perplexed us
was Matthew 10:22, he that endureth to the end shall be saved. We could never come to a satisfactory understanding
of that verse. The reason we could not understand that verse was our ignorance of the doctrine of the perseverance of the
saints.
We had heard the labels Arminianism and Calvinism, and we knew that the Calvinists were the good guys. We
thought the main difference between these two theologies was the doctrine of what

ReisingerContinued on page 2

Trials and the Kingdom of Christ

A. Blake White

Philippians 1:12-19 reads,

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the advance of the
gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole
imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment
is in the cause of Christ. Most of the brothers in the Lord
have gained confidence from my imprisonment and dare
even more to speak the message fearlessly. To be sure, some
preach Christ out of envy and strife, but others out of good
will. These do so out of love, knowing that I am appointed
for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out
of rivalry, not sincerely, seeking to cause me anxiety in my
imprisonment. What does it matter? Just that in every way,
whether out of false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed.
And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice because I know
this will lead to my deliverance through your prayers and
help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Notice four things we can learn and apply from this

passage. First, God uses trials to spread the gospel. Paul

says that his imprisonment has actually resulted in the
advance of the gospel (Phil. 1:12-13). Trials are to be expected for Christians. Contrary to what many TV preachers teach, trials do not mean that you lack faith or are not
in Gods will. Quite the contrary. Acts 14:22 says that the
Apostles strengthened the disciples by encouraging them
to continue in the faith and by telling them, It is necessary
to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God. Jesus said, You will have suffering in this
world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world (John
16:33). Being in Christ doesnt necessarily keep one from
being in chains.1
Here we have a traveling Apostle who can no longer
travel! This is like a chef with no taste buds or a concert
1 Stephen E. Fowl, Philippians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
WhiteContinued on page
2005), 39.

10

Page 2
ReisingerContinued from page 1

was called eternal security. We

thought the Arminians believed you
could be saved and then lose your salvation and perish, and the Calvinists
believed that a true Christian could
not possibly lose his salvation. We
called this once saved always saved
or eternal security and equated
Calvinism with that one doctrine. We
would have called ourselves Calvinists simply because we believed in
eternal security. Little did we realize
that although Arminius did believe
you could be saved and then lost, and
Calvin believed that was impossible,
that was not at all the main difference
between the Arminians and Calvinists at the time of the Reformation. We
would have denied, without realizing
it, four of the five points of Calvinism
and totally misunderstood the fifth
point not understanding what it really
taught. Here is a short review on Arminianism and Calvinism.
Arminianism named after Jacobus Arminius (aka Jacob Arminius,
James Arminius, and his Dutch name
Jacob Harmenszoon) was a Dutch
theologian, best known as the founder
of the anti-Calvinistic school in Reformed Protestant theology, thereby
lending his name to a movement
which resisted some of the tenets of
Calvinism - Arminianism. The early
Dutch followers of Arminius teaching were also called the Remonstrants,
after they issued a document containing five points of disagreement with
classic Calvinism, entitled Remonstrantice (1610).1
Calvinism (also called the Reformed tradition or the Reformed
faith) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of
John Calvin and other Reformationera theologians. Calvinists broke
with the Roman Catholic Church
1 Jacob Arminius, Christian Classics
Etheral Library, m.ccel.org/browse/
authorInfo?id=arminius, (accessed
August 30,2104).

JulyAugust 2014

but differed with Lutherans on the

real presence of Christ in the Lords
Supper, theories of worship, and the
use of Gods law for believers, among
other things. 2

The vital difference between the

Arminians and the Calvinists at the
time of the Reformation was the
free will of man not eternal security.
Both groups were consistent in their
position. The important point was not
whether a believer could be saved and
lost but why that was either possible or
impossible. The Arminians did not reject the truth that man was a depraved
sinner. It was a question of how far
reaching his depravity was. They did
not believe the sinners depravity extended to his will. He still had a free
will and the power to choose with his
free will to either accept or reject the
Gospel. Mans ultimate salvation did
not rest on Gods sovereign election
but on mans free will. Man was the
master of his fate and the captain of
his soul. He could either accept or reject the Gospel with his free will. On
the other hand, the Calvinist insisted
that mans will was just as depraved
as his heart and the rest as his being,
hence the Calvinist added the word
total to depravity. The Calvinists
insisted that man was totally depraved. The word total meant that sin
had corrupted every aspect of mans
being including his will. The sinners
will was just as much in bondage to
sin as was his mind and heart. It did
not mean that man was as sinful as it
was possible to be. It meant his mind,
his heart and his will had all been corrupted by sin. Total meant every part
of mans being.
Why did the Arminian insist that
a person could be saved and then be
lost, and why did the Calvinist believe
just as firmly that such a thing was
impossible? The answer is simple and
logical. The Arminian believed that
2 Calvinism, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Calvinism, (accessed August
30,2014).
ReisingerContinued on page 4

Issue 209
Sound of Grace is a publication of Sovereign
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Issue 209

JulyAugust 2014

Page 3

Apologetics and Reformed Theology: Approach #1

Steve West
Reformed theology has been
searching for an apologetic that is
consistent with its doctrinal distinctives, and the quest has never been
more complex than it is today. The
mid-20th century saw the birth and
growth of a new approach to apologetics called presuppositionalism, which
continues to dominate the Westminster Seminary circles of Reformed
thought. The last two decades of the
20th century also saw the rise of a new
perspective on apologetics referred
to as Reformed epistemology. Both
approaches emerged, in part, as correctives to the standard apologetic
approach that had been traditionally
practiced in the church. The traditional approachbecause of its historical
pedigreeis usually referred to as
classical apologetics.
Although many Reformed thinkers accepted presuppositionalism
or Reformed epistemology, the new
approaches have not cleared the
field of all vestiges of the classical
method, even in Reformed circles. In
fact, the classical approach has been
popularized in certain circles by the
advocacy of people like R. C. Sproul.
It is alsosimply because the classical method is so widely distributed
in evangelicalismaccepted by
many Reformed believers who have
never thought about issues of consistency between their theology and
their favored apologetic strategy. For
example, it is entirely possible that
a Reformed believer has picked up
their apologetic from Ravi Zacharias,
Lee Strobel, and C. S. Lewis, none of
whom are Reformed. This by itself
does not mean that their apologetic
method is inconsistent with Reformed
thinking, but it certainly raises the
question: Would we expect that
identical approaches to apologetics

would be found in non-Reformed and

Reformed circles?
Unlike presuppositionalism and
Reformed epistemology, the classical method was not generated from
Reformed soil. It is actually slightly
more Roman Catholic than Protestant
(depending on how anachronistic we
want to be with our labels). Many of
the classical arguments are not even
Christian arguments. For example, the
original cosmological argument was
Aristotles Unmoved Mover. The
kalam cosmological argument, which
forms the center of William Lane
Craigs theistic proofs, was originally
developed by a Muslim scholar to
prove the existence of Allah. The teleological argument (colloquially called
the argument from design) has been
used by Muslims, Christians, Deists, Jehovahs Witnesses, and others
to argue for theism. Even academic
philosophers use these arguments to
demonstrate that there is a supernatural deity or supreme being, or perhaps
just a disembodied cosmic mind.
Clearly these arguments do not aim to
prove anything about the supreme being that is particular to Christianity.
Despite some historical missteps
in this regard (e.g., Thomas Aquinas
continually adding conclusions like
and of course everyone understands
this to be God at the end of his
arguments that, at best, might show
there was a first cause, or a necessary
being, etc.), contemporary apologists
who favor the classical methodology are well aware that their theistic
arguments yield very generic conclusions. A first cause argument really
is as compatible with Islam or Deism
as it is with Christianity. So classical apologists argue that in order to
defend Christianity, there needs to be
a movement from philosophical argu-

ments that establish the existence of

a generic theistic being, to arguments
and evidence that the theistic being is
really the God revealed in the Bible.
This sequential methodology is
sometimes called a two-step apologetic. The first step is to demonstrate
that theism is true; the second step is
to show that there is strong evidence
that it is specifically Christianity that
is true. This second step normally appeals to historical data and evidence.
The basic drift of the case is that since
there is a theistic being that created
the universe, it is entirely reasonable
to think that this being has acted in
the universe and revealed himself. (At
this point, a careful classical thinker
should really not use masculine pronouns of the deity, in that there is no
reason whatsoever after the first step
to think that the theistic being would
be a he.) What kind of evidence do
we find that a theistic being has, in
fact, revealed himself by acting in the
world?
The most common response is
that history records the presence of
occurrences that cannot be accounted
for on the basis of natural law and
scientific regularity. These anomalies
are miraculous signs that can only be
explained by supernatural activity and
intervention. Scientific principles are
not violated, but they are transcended.
For example, when Elisha is out with
a company of prophets who are chopping wood, one mans axe breaks and
the iron axe head flies into the nearby
water and sinks. God miraculously
raises it to the surface so that it can be
retrieved. Now, it goes without saying
that iron axe heads do not float spontaneously. This is a miracle: but it is a
violation of the laws of nature?
There is really no reason to think
WestContinued on page 15

Page 4
ReisingerContinued from page 2

JulyAugust 2014
his belief. He assured me that he was
firmly convinced of the doctrine of
eternal security. In mock surprise I
said, How can you possible believe
in both eternal security and free
will? He said, What do you mean?
What is the problem? I see no inconsistency in believing both free will
and eternal security. I said, You tell
me a sinner has the power of free will
to either accept or reject the Gospel,
but a saint has not the power to reject
the Gospel and be lost. You are telling
me that a sinner has more will power
than a saint. In your system a person
loses half of his power of will when
he is converted. Before he is converted he has the power to either accept
or reject Christ, but after he is saved,
he can no longer reject the Gospel.
He looked dumbfounded and never
answered.

what free will started, free will could

stop. If you had the power to will your
way into grace by believing the Gospel, you must also have the power to
will your way out of grace. The Calvinist insisted that Gods free grace
had the power to finish what it started.
Gods sovereign election began and
finished mans salvation. Those who
had been chosen to be sheep would
not only hear the Saviors voice and
be saved, but they would continue to
believe unto the end. The whole sheep
motif in John 10 is only one of many
texts proving this. Both the Calvinist
and the Arminian believed that a sinner must indeed choose to be saved,
and he must also endure to the end.
However, the Calvinist insisted he will
do both because of God choosing him
to be a sheep. The elect chooses God
only because
The Arminian believes that
God first
he
must
hang on to the end with
chooses the
his
free
will
and some Christians
sinner.

I assured
the man that
biblical Calvinism bewill not be able to do so. The Calvinlieved just as
As I just
ist believes that Christ hangs on to
strongly as he
mentioned,
all the sheep his father gave him in
did that perboth the
eternity. Our Lord, the great Shepherd
severance in
Arminian and
of the sheep, assured us that he will
faith and good
the Calvinist
lose none of the sheep that the Father
works unto
were logical
gave him and for whom he died. The
the end are esand consistent
difference is not whether hanging
sential to true
with their
on is essential, but who furnishes the
conversion.
basic presuppower to hang on.
The differpositions. One
ence
between
of the implicaa biblical Calvinist and a consistent
tions of the Arminians position was,
Arminian is not whether perseverwithout his realizing it, to give a sinners will more power than the will of ance to the end is essential; Biblical
Calvinists believe that just as strongly
the saint. According to this position,
as Arminians. They both believe that
a person lost half of the power of his
only those who endure to the end will
will when he trusted Christ.
be saved. The difference is whether
A dear brother who rejected the
all Christians will be able to so perseCalvinist position was adamant that
vere. The Arminian believes that he
man had a free will and wanted to
must hang on to the end with his free
argue with me. I knew that he was a
will and some Christians will not be
strong believer in the absolute seable to do so. The Calvinist believes
curity of a believer. I told him that
that Christ hangs on to all the sheep
I would not discuss mans free will
his father gave him in eternity. Our
with someone who did not believe in
Lord, the great Shepherd of the sheep,
eternal security. He was quite adaassured us that he will lose none of
mant in insisting that I misunderstood

Issue 209
the sheep that the Father gave him
and for whom he died. The difference
is not whether hanging on is essential, but who furnishes the power to
hang on. Does the Holy Spirit give all
believers saving grace and power to
persevere to the end, or does mans so
called free will furnish that power?
The Plymouth Brethren often say,
I dont believe in the perseverance of
the saints, I believe in the perseverance of the Savior. This confuses the
issue. I also believe in the perseverance of the Savior. However, our Lord
perseveres in prayer that saints will
be enabled to persevere in faith. Jesus
told Peter, I have prayed for you that
your faith fail not (Luke 22:32). It
is the Holy Spirit who empowers us
to keep on keeping on. I believe in
both the perseverance of the saints
and the perseverance of the Savior.
However, we persevere only because
the Savior perseveres for us at the
Fathers throne.
Others say, I dont believe in the
perseverance of the saints, I believe in
the preservation of the saints. Every
time I hear that I think of a pickle in
a jar. When God saves us he does not
put us in a jar of grace and insulate us
from all trials and temptations. The
Christian life is a life of warfare, and
we must fight and win the war. Calvinism insists that Gods grace will
empower every true Christian to fight
and win. He may lose some individual
battles with sin and temptation, but he
will not lose the war nor will he leave
the battlefield.
One of the greatest books ever
written on the subject of perseverance is John Bunyans immortal book
The Pilgrims Progress. Bunyan was
my brother Ernests patron saint. He
used to say, I led my brother John
to Christ, and he led me into the
doctrines of grace, and I was more
gracious leading him to Christ than he
was in leading me to understand the
doctrines of grace. We never debated
ReisingerContinued on page 6

Issue 209

JulyAugust 2014

Heaven on Earth or Paradise Lost? Part 2 of 2

Dr. J. David Gilliland

This article was first presented some years

ago by Providence Theological Seminary.
We consider it worthy of reprinting. Ed.

Principle #1: Remember Who

Your God Is.
For many of the Israelites and
many in the church today, God was
spelled with a little g. But our God,
says the psalmist Turns the heart of
the king, like rivers of water, where
ever he wishes. Again he says, Our
God is in the heavens. He hath done
whatsoever He pleases. Nothing
happens in the universe but by the decree of God and for his glory. Regardless of the physical and spiritual chaos
around us at times, you will find calm
and assurance in the character of a
sovereign God. He is like the eye of
the storm, for he is both its ultimate
cause as well as the source of complete calm.

Asked whether he regards the

Bible as the literal and inerrant Word
of God, he said, From Scripture you
can gain a lot of strength and solace
and learn lifes lessons. Thats what
I believe, and I dont necessarily
believe every single word is literally true. He learned a lesson from
an earlier campaign when he created
controversy by telling a reporter that
only those who have accepted Christ
as their savior can enter the kingdom
of heaven. Thats a little insight into
what he really believes, said a friend.
He quickly learned to shut up so it
will never be discussed.

But note well the admonition to

the early church in the book of Revelation. To the church at Pergamum he
writes ,

And to the angel of the church

in Pergamum write: The One who
has the sharp
Above all else,
two-edged sword
Above all else, God is
says this: I know
God is jealous for
jealous
for
his
name.
It
is
the
where you dwell,
his name. It is the
where Satans
worship
of
his
name
that
he
worship of his name
throne is; and
requires,
as
well
as
obedience
that he requires, as
you hold fast My
to
his
precepts.
well as obedience to
name, and did
his precepts. He told
not deny My faith
Isaiah, The LORD is
even in the days of
Antipas, My witness, My faithful one,
my name and I will not give my
who was killed among you, where
glory to another. The issue is not just
Satan dwells (Rev. 2:12-13).
moral values or family values but

whose moral values. Furthermore,

God is not only spelled with a capital
G, but a capital J, for he has taken
a new name since the days of Isaiah:
And they shall call his name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from
their sins. Jesus said, if you have
seen me you have seen the Father,
and no one comes to the Father but
through me. This flies in the face of
the modern notion that you can some
how talk about God and the Bible, and
keep the name Jesus out of the discussion. For example, here is a quotation
from a newspaper article about the
faith of one of our politicians:

To the church at Philadelphia he

writes,
And to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write: He who is holy,
who is true, who has the key of David,
who opens and no one will shut, and
who shuts and no one opens, says
this: 8I know your deeds Behold, I
have put before you an open door
which no one can shut, because you
have a little power, and have kept
My word, and have not denied My
name(Rev. 3:7-8).

This should remind us of Jesus

words:
For whoever is ashamed of Me
and My words, the Son of Man will

Page 5

be ashamed of him when He comes in

His glory, and the glory of the Father
and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26).

Principle #2: Remember To Keep

a View of the Ultimate Glory.
A dim view of heaven and the
glories to come will always lead us to
an unbiblical reliance on mans power
and influence. It is only with a clear
view of heaven that we have the courage to persevere in difficult circumstances. Jesus put it this way when
writing to the Church at Philadelphia:

I am coming quickly; hold fast

what you have, so that no one will
take your crown. He who overcomes, I
will make him a pillar in the temple of
My God, and he will not go out from it
anymore; and I will write on him the
name of My God, and the name of the
city of My God, the new Jerusalem,
which comes down out of heaven from
My God, and My new name (Rev.
3:11-12).

In his letter to the church at Colossae the Apostle Paul writes,

Therefore if you have been raised
up with Christ, keep seeking the
things above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. Set your
mind on the things above, not on the
things that are on earth. 3For you
have died and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ, who is
our life, is revealed, then you also will
be revealed with Him in glory (Col.
3:1-4).

Not only does this attitude keep

our eyes focused on the realities of the
heavenly realm, but the resultant lifestyle protects us from the judgment of
God. The apostle Paul continues,

Therefore consider the members

of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
For it is because of these things that
the wrath of God will come upon the
sons of disobedience (Col. 3:5-6).

Principle #3: Remember the

Weapons of our Warfare are SpiriGillilandContinued on page 6

Page 6
ReisingerContinued from page 4

that subject. I remember an incident

before he became a Calvinist. He gave
me a copy of The Pilgrims Progress
and said, This is a great book, but it
has one weakness. The author does
not believe in eternal security. At
that point in my brothers theological
pilgrimage he insisted that eternal
security and the perseverance of the
saints were basically the same thing
with two different names. He radically changed his mind when he became
a Calvinist and really understood
Bunyans position on perseverance.

JulyAugust 2014
could see the whole course of the
bottles trip. When it veered north,
you would be tempted to say, It will
never reach the Gulf, but a little later
you will see it turn back on course.
From ground level, it looked like
Pilgrim was going to perish. From
Gods perspective, he was as secure in
Christ as it was possible to be.

I have heard preachers say, Davids sin of adultery and murder

proves the doctrine of eternal security.
I strongly object to that statement. Davids sin does not at all prove eternal
security.
His sin of
An Arminian
Listen to Peter openly deny
adultery
reading Bunyan
his faith, and you will be ready to
and murwill indeed get
pronounce him a hypocrite who is
der do not
the impression
without grace. However, that is not
prove his
that you can be
the last chapter. Peters tears of repensecurity.
saved and then
tance prove the root of the matter was
All that
be lost. Pilgrim
in him. He ultimately persevered and
his sin
was certainly
wound up in glory. Dont ever try to
proves
defeated in some
judge anyone on one instance of their
is that
instances, but he
he was
failure.
always, in every
a sinner
case, rose up from
like you and
that defeat and fought again. He ultime. Read Psalm 51, and you will see
mately conquered and finally made it
the truth of the perseverance of the
to the heavenly city. He was bruised
saints. You will see God dealing with
and bloody when he took some very
a saint who has grievously sinned.
wrong roads but he never quit fighting You will see the Father dealing with
and ultimately was victorious. He was an erring child. Listen to Peter openly
trapped in Doubting Castle, but God
deny his faith, and you will be ready
revived his faith and he escaped and
to pronounce him a hypocrite who is
lived to fight another day.
without grace. However, that is not
the last chapter. Peters tears of repenThe Pilgrim progressed at differtance prove the root of the matter was
ent speeds. His pilgrimage was like a
river. The Mississippi River sometime in him. He ultimately persevered and
wound up in glory. Dont ever try to
flows south, sometimes flows east and
judge anyone on one instance of their
other times flows west. It even curls
failure.
around and flows north. However, reOne of the major problems in disgardless of what direction it is flowing
cussing
whether a true Christian can
at a given point, it will always come
fall away and be lost is the fact that
back to moving south. If you would
you must make two wrong judgments
put a bottle with a cork in it into that
if you believe such a thing is possible.
river at its head, that bottle would,
You must first judge and declare that
without fail, wind up in the Gulf of
the person is a true Christian, and
Mexico. At times it would look like
then you must judge again and say
it could not possibly reach the Gulf,
they have lost their salvation. Both
but every bottle would reach the Gulf
of these are judgments that you have
without fail. If you could view the
no authority to make. Unless you can
bottles course from an airplane, you
see into a persons heart you have no

Issue 209
basis to say, so and so is saved. The
most you can say of any person is so
and so professes to be saved and they
give every evidence that their profession is legitimate. If they renounce
their confession of faith and live in
open rebellion to Gods truth, you can
only say, their professed conversion
seems very much in doubt. If you say
that you know for sure they are lost
you are again making a judgment you
have no right to make. You may have
been more than ready to pronounce
Davids profession of faith to be false
and the evidence would have appeared to prove your statement, but
you would have been wrong. When
you heard Peter openly deny the Lord
Jesus, you would have labeled him
an apostate, and the evidence would
have supported your concern. Again,
you would have been wrong. A true
Christian can backslide very badly.
Likewise he can be overcome with
temptation and sin. A child of God
can sin in a worse way, in a given
instance, than a lost man, and a lost
man can live a very moral life. A true
Christian cannot become an apostate,
but he can sin badly.
There is a strong desire to label
people as either saved or lost. This has
made the subject of both assurance of
salvation and the security of believers
so difficult. The advent of the carnal
Christian doctrine really confused
the issue. Both the Arminians and the
Calvinists at the time of the Reformation would have denounced the
carnal Christian doctrine imbedded in
modern evangelism as totally contrary
to Scripture. As mentioned earlier,
both the Arminians and the Calvinists
agreed that perseverance was essential to Biblical assurance and ultimate
salvation. Their disagreement was not
over whether perseverance was essential but whether it was certain and
whether all Christian would be able
to persevere to the end. The modern
day carnal Christian doctrine teaches
that perseverance is not essential to
either assurance or ultimate salvation.
This doctrine was literally invented to
ReisingerContinued on page 12

Issue 209
GillilandContinued from page 5

tual.

When Petertrying to protect

Jesuscut off the ear of the high
priest, Jesus told him to put his sword
away. Likewise, He told Pilate, My
kingdom is not of this world. If my
kingdom were of this world I would
be fighting. He did not mean that we
should avoid the battle for Gods truth,
or that his kingdom does not involve
this world in any sense. He meant that
victory will not come by the sword or
armed conflict, and that the struggle
transcends mere individuals or nations. Note the words of the apostle
Paul:
For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the
world forces of this darkness, against
the spiritual forces of wickedness in
the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).

One of those weapons is prayer,

and we have seen how effective that
can be (Rev 8:3-5). Another is the
preached Wordour spiritual sword,
but it is important that we keep it
sharp. Our message needs to be clear
and biblically accurate.
But unfortunately, the message
from the Christian community has not
been clear. In fact, from some quarters it has been frankly heretical. For
example, in response to the devastation of hurricane Katrina one popular
evangelical writer wrote:
Perhaps we would do well to
listen to the likes of Rabbi Kushner,
who contends that God is not really
as powerful as we have claimed.
Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures
does it say that God is omnipotent.
Kushner points out that omnipotence
is a Greek philosophical concept,
but it is not in his Bible Instead of
looking for God in the earthquake or
the tsunami, in the roaring forest fires
blazing in the western states, or in the
mighty winds of Katrina, it would be
best to seek out a quiet place and heed
the promptings of Gods still small
voice.

JulyAugust 2014
Page 7
Brethren, this will not do! This
anything to maintain our lifestyle atjust smacks of a twenty-first century
titude. That is true for us as individuGnosticism. This is not the voice
als as well as some of our high budget
of God, but the voice of the false
churches. That is not to say that we
prophet; the one whose purpose ,accant enjoy the blessings of God when
cording to the book of Revelation,is
they come. But all too often we are
to give aid and comfort to the beast or willing to compromise to avoid any
the City of man. Even some soltype of hardship. Nowhere is this
idly orthodox preachers seem all too
more clearly seen than in our preacheager to place the responsibility for
ingand especially when the subject
such events into a category of mere
of divine judgment is raised.
natural causesdivorced from any
Rejoice in the times of blessing,
association with sin and judgment.
but remember that a stand for Christ
This theological hopscotch only leads
often leads to some type of sufferto confusion and even greater error.
ingwhether it be emotional, finanIt almost seems like we are trying to
cial, or even physical. Also remember
protect God, a noble thought perhaps
that it is out of suffering that blessing
but foolish in the end. What we need
usually comes. The apostle Paul could
to be concerned about is God protectsee it being as much of a gift as his
ing us! As we have discussed, all evil
faith:
and judgment is ultimately traceable
For to you it has
to Adams sin and
been
granted for
the fall. The real
Christs
sake, not only
As
we
have
discussed,
questionlike
to believe in Him, but
all
evil
and
judgment
is
Jesus response
also to suffer for His
ultimately traceable to
to the tragedy
sake (Phil 1:29).
Adams sin and the fall. The
of the Tower of
real questionlike Jesus
Like the martyrs
Siloamis not
response
to
the
tragedy
of
of Revelation 6, we
why the tsunami
the
Tower
of
Siloamis
not
need to develop the
devastated Indonewhy
the
tsunami
devastated
discipline of patient
sia, But why only
Indonesia,
But
why
only
endurance it is
Indonesia?
Indonesia?
more powerful than
Principle #4:
you can ever imagRemember We
ine. The greatest weapHave to be Willing to Suffer.
on that this world has is the threat
of death. The greatest weapon the
Yes, Jesus was victorious, but it
came by way of a cross. We too, if we Christian has is faith in the promises
of Godin spite of death. The exerare his disciples, will suffer for his
sake. That is part of what Jesus meant cise of that faith is ultimately what it
means to overcome. Remember the
when he said, Take up your cross
and follow Me. The servant shouldnt words of the apostle John:
expect better than his master. If the
For whatever is born of God
world hated him, we can expect some
overcomes the world; and this is the
victory that has overcome the world
of the same treatmentespecially
our faith. Who is the one who overif we too are faithful to warn of the
comes the world, but he who believes
judgment and wrath to come.
I once saw an ad for a bicycle company that showed a rider at the point
of total exhaustion with a caption
that read, Either you know how to
suffer or you lose. That is certainly
not an attitude you would associate
with the church in America. One of
the problems with the church today, at
least in Western countries, is the do

that Jesus is the Son of God? (I John

5:4-5).

Principle #5: Remember the

Priority of the Gospel
Why did God reveal his acts of
judgment in the past? Should that be
part of our message today? When
we look throughout the Scriptures, it
GillilandContinued on page 7

Page 8
GillilandContinued from page 7

was part of the message of Noah, the

Prophets, Paul and the New Testament writers, and of course was an
important part of the public preaching
of the Lord Jesus. Ultimately, it has
several purposes: protection of Gods
people (Noah, etc), but ultimately a
testimony to the true nature of sin and
the cursesomething so powerful,
pervasive, and devastating that it can
only have one solutionGod himself
in the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is the backdrop and
reality of sin and judgment that puts
the gospel into its biblical perspective. For it truly is only the power of
the gospel that can and will save us,
not only from ourselves but also from
the judgment that is coming. It was
knowledge of this reality that allowed
the apostle Paul to write,

JulyAugust 2014
cally reflected in the mercy seat of
the Hebrew tabernacle is irrelevant
nonsense apart from the righteous
indignation of a holy God. For a god
who will not judge, is a god who
cannot save. Without the reality of
sin and justice, the cross becomes a
mockery, foolishness, and a stumbling block. The commandment
to love your neighbor whether it
involves non-believers or believers
means not only a willingness to help
during times of difficulty and crisis,
but should also carry with it a burden
for the gospel. We are commanded to
speak the truth in love, but there is
no love without truth. The Scriptures
are clear; if grace is realand it is
then so must be the realities that it
delivers us from.

There is also a final warning for

the Church of our day. All the wellI am not ashamed
meaning practiof the gospel, for it is
cal efforts to
the power of God for
reverse the efThe doctrine of propitiasalvation to everyone
fects of Gods
tiontypologically reflected
who believes, to the
judgment in
in the mercy seat of the
Jew first and also to
creation and
Hebrew tabernacle is irrelthe Greek. For in it
the righteousness of
society
evant nonsense apart from
God is revealed from
what has been
the righteous indignation of a
faith for faith, as it is
referred to
holy God. For a god who will
written, The righteous
in the past as
not judge, is a god who canshall live by faith
the social
not save.
(Rom 1:16-17).
gospel, and
Even through the
is sometimes
arrogance, cant you see
included in tothe fear and desperation in the words
days broadly used term missional,
of the modern media? We preach
do not substitute for the message
the principles associated with Gods
of the cross and the necessity and
judgment because the only possible
priority of the salvation of the soul.
solution is the gospel. The solution for Nor does a desire to serve our neighGods hatred of sin can only be found
bors in the communities where we
in his love for the redemption and rec- live and work supplant the biblical
onciliation of sinners. In spite of the
emphasis of the called out people
unspeakable horror of the tsunamis,
of God that finds its expression in
earthquakes, wars, and rumors of war, the local church. As important as our
Gods hatred and punishment of sin
local communities are, it is the church
is seen most clearly in the crucifixion
and the faithful teaching and preachof the Lord Jesus. But that too is the
ing of the Word of God, the love that
where his love, redemption, and recbelievers have for Christ and his gosonciliation is most clearly displayed pel, and the love that we have for one
where justice and mercy have kissed
another that points to the realities of
each other. John Calvin once wrote,
the next age. All the efforts to proThe most important truth about God duce heaven on earth will never
is that he can be propitiated. The
substitute for the ultimate desire of
doctrine of propitiationtypologithe human soullife with God and

heaven at last.

Issue 209

Then I saw a new heaven and a

new earth, for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away, and the
sea was no more. And I saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the
throne saying, Behold, the dwelling
place of God is with man. He will
dwell with them, and they will be his
people, and God himself will be with
them as their God. He will wipe away
every tear from their eyes, and death
shall be no more, neither shall there
be mourning, nor crying, nor pain
anymore, for the former things have
passed away (Rev. 21:1-4 ESV).

Issue 209

JulyAugust 2014

Page 9

Rethinking the Law by Eric Lane

Is the Law of Moses (the Sinai code beginning with the Ten Commandments) the rule of life for
the Christian, as it was for the Israelite in Old Testament times?
This question concerns many Christians, as it did the author of this book, and in fact it was
the main motive for writing it. This question cannot be answered without a thorough examination of the whole subject of the Law in both testaments.
The author is convinced that he has made this examination and in so doing has answered the
question about the Christians rule of life. He offers his findings to other Christians in the hope
that this will deepen their understanding of the whole subject and of Scripture generally.
Eric Lane was born and raised in London. He served in the Royal Air Force and is a graduate of Cambridge
University with degrees in English and Theology. Eric served for nine years in the Anglican ministry in Carlisle and
London, UK. After that he ministered in independent evangelical churches in various parts of the UK. He is now
retired and living in Yateley, Hampshire.
226 pages, paperback with scripture index, $15.99 order from newcovenantmedia.com or as shown on pages 13 and
14

Council on Biblical Theology

Tuesday Evening July 22 to Friday Noon July25, 2014

Grace Church at Franklin
4052 Arno Rd., Franklin, TN 37065
Theme: Gods Eternal Kingdom Purpose:
NCTTime for a More Accurate Way
Tony Costa. Christian Apologist & Adjunct Professor, Providence Theological Seminary (PTS). The Sabbath and Its Relation to
Christ and the Church in the New Covenant.
Peter Gentry. Professor of OT Interpretation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. (Two Messages) Ephesians 3:4-6: What
the OT Says about the Inclusion of the Gentiles & Gods Dealings with Abraham: Conditional or Unconditional? One or Two
Covenants?
Gary George. Evangelist & Pastor, Sovereign Grace Chapel, Southbridge, MA; Board Member PTS. The Regenerative Power of
the Holy Spirit in the OT and the NT
Frank Gumerlock. Professor of Church History and Systematic Theology, PTS. Hebrews 11:8-19: Gods Land Promise to Abraham and the New Covenant
Zach S. Maxcey. Graduate of PTS and Blog Administrator for PTS. Daniel 9:24-27: The Messiah and the New Covenant
W. W. Sasser. Pastor, Grace Church at Franklin and Board Member PTS. Grace and Law: Whats the Big Deal?
Greg Van Court. Pastor, Dayspring Fellowship Church, Austin, TX & Adjunct Professor PTS. 2 Timothy 3:16-17: The Profitability of All Scripture
Kirk Wellum. Principal, Toronto Baptist Seminary, Toronto, Canada. The Ecclesiological Implications of the New Covenant
Stephen Wellum. Professor of Christian Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. (Two Messages) What Is New about
the NC? and The Nature of Typology Revisited: Do We All Agree?
Blake White. Pastor, Spicewood Baptist Church, Spicewood, TX. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23: Not Under Law But Not Without Gods
Law.
For more information please visit http://ptsco.org then click on Council on Biblical Theology

Page 10 JulyAugust 2014

Do not fear what they fear or be
WhiteContinued from page 1
disturbed, but honor the Messiah as
pianist having her hands tied behind
2
Lord in your hearts. Always be ready
her back. He can no longer be on
to give a defense to anyone who asks
mission, but God can and does. The
you for a reason for the hope that is in
gospel spreads. Wouldnt you think
you (1 Peter 3:14-15). The blood and
that imprisonment would hinder the
spread of the message of Jesus? Not in pain of the saints is the fertilizer for
the multiplication of Abrahams seed.
Gods economy. God works through
the most unlikely circumstances. I
Like the indigenous missionary
mean, he established his kingdom
who walked barefoot from village to
through the execution of the King!
village preaching the gospel in India.
Who does that except the sovereign
One day after a very long trip and
of the universe whose wisdom is
much discouragement, he entered a
expressed in a Roman instrument of
village but was spurned and rejected.
torture and execution?
God has chosen to use trials to
spread the gospel. Remember the Philippian jailer? He saw Paul, Silas, and
Timothy stripped naked and beaten
with rods and then save him from suicide when they were free. God used
their persecution to save this guard.
Are you facing trials right now? If
not, you will be soon enough. Dont
be discouraged. Paul views his situation with Christ-centered lenses. He
knows that God is in control and that
God is good. This is why when he
was arrested, he sang hymns rather
than complained (Acts 16). When you
know deep down in your bones that
God is sovereign and that he is good,
it gives you a steel backbone. Come
what may, this is Gods world and he
knows what He is doing. He has good
purposes for his children. Romans
8:28 never gets old: We know that
all things work together for the good
of those who love God: those who
are called according to His purpose.
Dont be discouraged.
Historically, God has used persecution to grow the church. In AD 197
Tertullian said that The blood of the
martyrs is the seed of the church.
When non-Christians observe how
Christians suffer, they are compelled
to know more about the God we serve.
They will ask about our hope, as Peter
puts it: But even if you should suffer
for righteousness, you are blessed.
2 N.T. Wright, The Prison Epistles
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox,
2002), 89.

Exhausted he went to the edge of the

village and lay down under a tree to
get some rest. When he awoke the
whole town was gathered around to
hear him. They had come to check
him out, and when they saw his
blistered feet they concluded that he
must be a holy man. They felt bad for
rejecting him and wanted to hear his
message.3

Or Natasha, whose story is told in

the autobiography of Sergei Kourdakov. Kourdakov was commissioned
by the Russian secret police to raid
Christian prayer gatherings and persecute believers with extraordinary
brutality and violence. The afflictions
of one believer changed his life:
I saw Victor Matveyev reach
and grab for a young girl [Natasha
Zhdanova] who was trying to escape
to another room. She was a beautiful young girl. What a waste to be a
Believer. Victor caught her, picked her
above his head, and held her high in
the air for a second. She was pleading, Dont, please dont. Dear God,
help us! Victor threw her so hard
she hit the wall at the same height
she was thrown, then dropped to the
floor, semiconscious, moaning. Victor
turned and laughed and exclaimed,
Ill bet the idea of God went flying
out of her head.
On a later raid, Sergei was
3 Recounted in John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad! (Grand Rapids: Baker
Books, 1993), 94-95.

Issue 209

shocked to see Natasha again.

I quickly surveyed the room and

saw a sight I couldnt believe. There
she was, the same girl! It couldnt be.
But it was. Only three nights before,
she had been at the other meeting and had been viciously thrown
across the room. It was the first time
I really got a good look at her. She
was more beautiful than I had first
remembereda very beautiful girl
with long, flowing blond hair, large
blue eyes, and smooth skin, one of
the most naturally beautiful girls I
have ever seen I picked her up and
flung her on a table facedown. Two
of us stripped her clothes off. One of
my men held her down and I began to
beat her again and again. My hands
began to sting under the blows. Her
skin started to blister. I continued to
beat her, until pieces of bloody flesh
came off on my hand. She moaned but
fought desperately not to cry. To suppress her cries, she bit her lower lip
until it was bitten through and blood
ran down her chin.
At last she gave in and began
sobbing. When I was so exhausted I
couldnt raise my arm for even one
more blow, and her backside was a
mass of raw flesh, I pushed her off
the table, and she collapsed on the
floor. To Sergeis shock, he later
encountered her at yet another prayer
meeting, but this time something was
different:
There she was againNatasha
Zhdanova! Several of the guys saw
her too. Alex Gulyaev moved toward
Natasha, hatred filling his face, his
club raised above his head. Then
something I never expected to see
suddenly happened. Without warning,
Victor jumped between Natasha and
Alex, facing Alex head-on. Get out
of my way, Alex shouted angrily.
Victors feet didnt move. He
raised his club and said menacingly,
Alex, Im telling you, dont touch
her! I listened in amazement. Incredibly, one of my most brutal men was

Issue 209

protecting one of the Believers! Get

back! he shouted to Alex. Get back
or Ill let you have it. He shielded Natasha, who was cowering on the floor.
Angered, Alex shouted, You want
her for yourself, dont you?
No, Victor shouted back. She
has something we dont have! Nobody
touches her! Nobody! For one of
the first times in my life, I was deeply
movedNatasha did have something!
She had been beaten horribly. She had
been warned and threatened. She had
gone through unbelievable suffering,
but here she was again. Even Victor
had been moved and recognized it.
She had something we didnt have.
I wanted to run after her and ask,
What is it? I wanted to talk to her,
but she was gone. This heroic Christian girl who had suffered so much
at our hands somehow touched and
troubled me very much.
The Lord later opened Sergeis
heart to the glorious good news of
Jesus Christ. As he later reflected on
Natasha, whom he never saw again,
he wrote: And, finally, to Natasha,
whom I beat terribly and who was
willing to be beaten a third time for
her faith, I want to say, Natasha,
largely because of you, my life is now
changed and I am a fellow Believer in
Christ with you. I have a new life before me. God has forgiven me; I hope
you can also. Thank you, Natasha,
wherever you are. I will never, never
forget you.4

God has seen fit to use trial to

spread the gospel.
When we suffer well, it provokes
questions. When we lose our job, we
dont panic. When a loved one dies,
we grieve, but we grieve as those with
hope. When we get sick, we dont despair but entrust ourselves to the One
who care for us. When wronged, we
do not revile in return. When persecuted, we do not curse but bless.
4 Quoted in John Piper, Desiring God
(Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah, 2003),
275-78.

JulyAugust 2014
The second application from this
passage is that our faithfulness in
the midst of trials emboldens others
to represent Christ. Philippians 1:14
reads, Most of the brothers in the
Lord have gained confidence from my
imprisonment and dare even more to
speak the message fearlessly. Notice
that Paul assumes that speaking the
message can be a fearful thing. His
example should make us bolder to
speak it fearlessly, which presupposes
the presence of fear. This encourages
me because often I am fearful of the
opinion of others in evangelism. Isnt
that the main reason most of us do not
witness to non-Christians? Natasha
makes us all look like a bunch of
faithless cowards, which is why we
need to be reminded of such stories.
How do we get over this fear?
Here are six ways to overcome
this fear in speaking the message.
First, fear God. Second Corinthians
5:11 states, Therefore, because we
know the fear of the Lord, we seek to
persuade people. When you see God
for who he is, and grasp the reality of
sin, grace, and judgment, the opinions
of people become small. Second, work
to grasp the gospel. For Christs love
compels us, since we have reached
this conclusion: If One died for all,
then all died (2 Cor. 5:14). Third,
love people. The most loving thing we
can do for people is to tell them about
Jesus. Eternity is at stake. Fourth, put
your confidence in the message. The
gospel is the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16). A few verses later in
Philippians 1:27 the Apostle speaks of
the faith that comes from the gospel. Colossians 1:6 says the gospel
came to you and is bearing fruit
and growing all over the world. God
saves through his gospel. The gospel
works. Fifth, do it. Speak the message. Paul uses two different verbs for
evangelism here: preaching (kruss)
and proclaiming (katangell). He also
uses the word for speak (lal). Paul
is not referring to standing on a box
preaching but telling people about
Jesus. Do it and you will find that
though you may be dreadfully slouching on the way to do evangelism, you

Page 11
will be skipping on the return. Finally,
surround yourself with faithful and
mature Christian friends. Their faithfulness will embolden you. You can
also have your witness strengthened
by reading Christian biographies and
specifically missionary biographies.
The third thing to notice about
these verses is that some preach
Christ with wrong motives: To be
sure, some preach Christ out of envy
and strife, but others out of good will.
These do so out of love, knowing that
I am appointed for the defense of the
gospel; the others proclaim Christ
out of rivalry, not sincerely, seeking
to cause me anxiety in my imprisonment (Phil. 1:15-17). They really care
about themselves. They are envious,
contentious, and insincere. They
proclaim Jesus out of rivalry, the very
thing God commands us to avoid in
the next chapter: Do nothing out of
rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than
yourselves (Phil. 2:3; cf. 2:21).
Fourth, the message is what matters. Philippians 1:18-19 reads, What
does it matter? Just that in every way,
whether out of false motives or true,
Christ is proclaimed. And in this I
rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice because
I know this will lead to my deliverance through your prayers and help
from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Note
the emphasis on gospel, Christ,
Lord, and message in this small
section. Clearly, the gospel message is
what matters.
It is important to realize, though,
that Paul is not here affirming a false
message about Jesus. He rejoices
when Christ is truly proclaimed. He
puts the gloves on when people
distort the message of Christ. One
only needs to keep reading Philippians to see this. In Philippians 3:2
he warns of the dogs, the evil workers, and the pagans who seek to
manipulate their god by mutilating
their flesh. These are harsh words,
but Paul knows well that to add to the
gospel is actually to distort it. In 2
WhiteContinued on page 12

Page 12 JulyAugust 2014

WhiteContinued from page 12

Corinthians 11:3-4, Paul chastises the

Corinthians, saying, But I fear that,
as the serpent deceived Eve by his
cunning, your minds may be seduced
from a complete and pure devotion
to Christ. For if a person comes and
preaches another Jesus, whom we did
not preach, or you receive a different
spirit, which you had not received, or
a different gospel, which you had not
accepted, you put up with it splendidly! Similarly, in Galatians he
warns that if the Apostles return with
a different gospel, or an angel from
heaven comes with another gospel
which really is no gospel then damn
the Apostles and the angel to hell (Gal
1:8-9)! Not quite rejoicing. Later in
Galatians he says that if they insist
on adding circumcision to the gospel
of Jesus they might as well go ahead
and lop the whole thing off (Gal 5:12)!
Paul certainly does not rejoice when
another Christ is preached.
If the message is pure and not
diluted, Paul doesnt care about his
own reputation. He cares about the
advancement of the gospel. I know
this will lead to my deliverance is
straight from Job 13:16, showing that
Paul sees himself as a righteous sufferer who trusts God.
The king is being announced
celebrate!5 Christ is preached. Rejoice! The petty opinions fall to the
wayside in light of what is central:
the proclamation of the gospel. Black
carpet, blue carpet, or green carped?
Christ is proclaimed; rejoice! Pews
or movie seats? Christ is proclaimed;
Methodist, Presbyterian, or Baptist: if
Christ is preached, rejoice! Contemporary music or traditional music?
Christ is proclaimed; rejoice! What
used to be contemporary but is now
traditional? Christ is proclaimed;
rejoice! Friends, let us keep the main
thing the main thing.

5 N.T. Wright, The Prison Epistles

(Louisville: Westminster John Knox,
2002), 90.

ReisingerContinued from page 6

protect the fruits of another modern

invention, the altar call.
Charles Finney first introduced the
altar call. It was part of a whole new
approach to evangelism. A Gospel
based solely on the so-called free will
of man was preached at mass meetings. Faith was reduced to believing the Gospel facts were true. You
believed in Christ the same way you
believed that Lincoln was shot. The
sermons preached at these mass rallies stressed making a decision for
Christ. The biblical truth that salvation involved more than intellectual
consent was lost. No longer did salvation involve receiving a living person
by submitting your life to Christ as
both your Lord and your Savior. Salvation only involved believing some
facts of history were true. Trusting
Christ meant accepting the facts of
the cross as historical facts. You gave
evidence of your faith, or your mental
decision, by coming forward to the altar. This act proved that you had made
a decision for Christ. A personal
worker accompanied you to a separate
room and gave you assurance that
you were saved. In most cases, the
personal worker also assured you that
you were now perfectly secure and
you could never be lost regardless of
how you felt or how you lived.
Sometimes I am pressed to label
myself theologically. I try to avoid
doing so. It is not that I am in anyway ashamed of what I believe; it is
because labels like Calvinism and

Issue 209
Arminianism are mostly worthless
since their meanings have lost much
of their original intent. I usually wind
up saying I am mild Calvinist in a
hyper-Arminian generation. That
sounds like I am joking but that is really an accurate statement.
One last thing should be noted.
When we emphasize the necessity of
persevering in faith and good works
unto the end, it does not mean that salvation is the reward we earn by persevering. Hebrews 3:14 sets forth this
truth: For we are made partakers of
Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast unto the end.
We do not persevere to the end and
finally partake of Christ. We partake
of Christ the moment we believe the
Gospel. Our holding our confidence
steadfast unto the end in perseverance
is the proof that we really did partake
of Christ in true repentance and faith.
Hebrews is not saying we will ultimately partake of Christ as a reward
for our perseverance, but rather true
saving faith will always persevere
because of the very nature of saving
faith. The doctrine is not if you hold
fast you will ultimately be saved.
That would make faith and perseverance a work that earned salvation.3 We
will say more about this in a future
article on Hebrews.
3 Additional information on the Synod
of Dordt may be found by visiting
http://www.theopedia.com/Synod_of _
Dordt.

Visit www.sogncm.com or
www. soundofgrace.org for
Audio and Video sermons by John G. Reisinger and
A. Blake White
Back issues of Sound of Grace
Announcements
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Articles and more.

Issue 209

TITLE

JulyAugust 2014

Abide in Him: A Theological Interpretation of John's First Letter White

Abrahams Four SeedsReisinger
The Abrahamic Promises in GalatiansWhite
The Believers SabbathReisinger
Biblical Law and Ethics: Absolute and CovenantalLong
But I Say Unto YouReisinger
Chosen in EternityReisinger
Christ, Lord and Lawgiver Over the ChurchReisinger
The Christian and the SabbathWells
Continuity and DiscontinuityReisinger
Definite Atonement Long
The Doctrine of BaptismSasser
Full Bellies and Empty HeartsAutio
Galatians: A Theological InterpretationWhite
GraceReisinger
The Grace of Our Sovereign GodReisinger
Hermeneutical Flaws of DispensationalismGeorge
The Imitation of JesusWhite
In Defense of Jesus, the New LawgiverReisinger
Is John G. Reisinger an Antinomian?Wells
John Bunyan on the SabbathReisinger
Jonathan Edwards on Biblical Hermeneutics and the Covenant of GraceGilliland
La Soberana de Dios en la ProvidenciaJohn G. Reisinger
The Law of Christ: A Theological ProposalWhite
Limited AtonementReisinger
Ministry of Grace Essays in Honor of John G. ReisingerSteve West, Editor
Missional EcclesiologyWhite
The New Birth Reisinger
The New Covenant and New Covenant TheologyZaspel
The New Covenant ChurchEkklesiaof Christ Reisinger
New Covenant TheologyWells & Zaspel
New Covenant Theology & ProphecyReisinger
The Newness of the New CovenantWhite
The New Perspective on Justification West
The Obedience of ChristVan Court
Our Sovereign God Reisinger
Perseverance of the Saints Reisinger
The Priority of Jesus ChristWells
A Prisoners ChristianityWoodrow
Qu es la Teologa del Nuevo Pacto? Una Introduccin White
Rethinking the LawLane
Saving the Saving GospelWest
Sinners, Jesus Will ReceivePayne
The Sovereignty of God and PrayerReisinger
The Sovereignty of God in Providence Reisinger
Studies in EcclesiastesReisinger
Studies in GalatiansReisinger
Tablets of StoneReisinger
Theological Foundations for New Covenant EthicsWhite
Total Depravity Reisinger
Union with Christ: Last Adam and Seed of AbrahamWhite
What is the Christian Faith? Reisinger
What is New Covenant Theology? An IntroductionWhite
When Should a Christian Leave a Church?Reisinger

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Issue 209
WestContinued from page 3

so. Imagine that the water was two

feet deep and Elisha had seen where
the axe head fell. Suppose he waded
out into the water, bent down, grabbed
the iron, and picked it up out of the
water. Would anyone think that this
constituted a violation of the laws
of nature? Of course not. Now what
would have happened if God used his
powerhis celestial hand if you
willto exert the force required to
raise the iron to the surface of the water? Yes, this would be a supernatural
act, and it would transcend the nexus
of natural cause and effect relations,
but it would in no way be a violation
of natural principles.
Acts of power are one way a
theistic being could reveal his presence, but he could communicate in
other ways as well. For example, he
could speak. God could reveal himself in voices, visions, writing, or any
number of ways. In fact, there is no
reason why a theistic being couldnt
teach the human race deep truths.
If such teaching was combined with
miraculous acts, they would lend
each other mutual support. Some
witnesses might be impressed by the
power, while others may be cut to the
heart by the exposition of truthbut
when combined, the power in act and
authority in word would form strong
evidence for the divine. The signs
would authenticate the speech, and the
speech would validate the signs.
In the case of a person who
maximally exemplified power and
authority in both word and deed, all
their claims would be validated. If the
miracle-worker and profound spiritual
teacher claimed to be God, this assertion would likewise be validated. Or
would it? Perhaps such a tight conclusion really runs ahead of the persuasive force of the argument. But what if
a miracle-worker who was also a great
moral and religious prophetic teacher
was reduced to passivity and made
the object of the most impressive
miracle in the history of the world?

JulyAugust 2014
What if, as the Gospels report, a man
claimed to be the Son of God, that he
had the full essential nature of deity,
that he was the King and the Messiah, the fulfillment of all Gods plans
and promises, etc., and then he died a
sacrificial, substitutionary death, only
to be resurrected from the dead? If
we do not find this revelatory package
satisfactory, what more could be done
to convince us that God existed and
that Jesus was his Son?

Page 15
This sequence is not universally
accepted, even by those who endorse
the type of apologetic that utilizes
traditional theistic arguments and
putative Christian evidences. Some
apologists believe that the historical
case for the resurrection is so strong
that it eliminates the need for the
first step in the classical paradigm.
In other words, history demonstrates
that Jesus rose from the dead, and the
only real explanation for that event is
the direct, miraculous intervention of
The heart of this second step, of
God. Rather than first proving theism
course, is to actually argue for the
in order to make miracles a live intelhistorical reality of the life, death, and
lectual option, it is the historical miraresurrection of Jesus. This is done
cle of the resurrection that proves thein a variety of ways. Some attempt
ism. Certainly in this latter scheme,
to establish that the New Testament
the case is made even stronger if good
is generally historically reliable, and
philosophical
then give the resurarguments for
rection accounts
What if, as the Gospels
theism exist,
the benefit of the
report, a man claimed to be the
but they are
doubt. Others try
Son of God, that he had the full
not absolutely
to mount a hisessential nature of deity, that he
necessary.
torical case using
was the King and the Messiah,
neutral principles
Operatthe fulfillment of all Gods plans
of historical invesing under
and promises, etc., and then he
tigation, usually
roughly the
died a sacrificial, substitutionary
with the aim of
same umbrella
death, only to be resurrected from
proving that Jesus
when it comes
the dead?
died, was buried in
to philosophy
a known tomb, that
and historithree days later the tomb was empty,
cal evidence, a third group believes
and that many people were sincerely
that there is no one particular best
convinced that Jesus appeared to them sequence for laying out the case for
in a resurrected state. Of course, there Christianity. This approach, someis a lot of supporting argumentation
times called the cumulative case
that goes into this case, but such detail approach, envisions the apologists
is beyond the scope of our purposes
task like a lawyer preparing and
here.
presenting a brief to the court. All the
evidence and arguments should be
In the analysis of a classical
interlocking and mutually reinforcing,
apologist, philosophy demonstrates
but there is no mandatory order in
the existence of a theistic being, and
which the exhibits need to be prehistory reveals his revelatory activity
sented and the points laid out. In the
which climaxes in the resurrection of
end, it is the case as a whole which is
Jesus Christ. So the first step shows
assessed. Normally this approach is
that a being exists who is compatible
joined with a belief that the actual eviwith the Christian God, and history
dence and arguments for Christianity
shows that he actually is the Christian
are less coercive than many classical
God: the movement is from theism
apologists maintain, but that is an
is true; some god exists to theism is
issue of perceived probability rather
true, and the theistic being is the God
of the Bible.
WestContinued on page 18

Page 16 JulyAugust 2014

Issue 209

Laurelville Family Conference August 7-10, 2014

For more than 30 years members and friends of Covenant Baptist Church of Uniontown, PA, and Grace Chapel of
Kingwood, WV, have met together in beautiful Laurelville, PA, for a time of teaching of Gods Word and fellowship.
The Conference will be held in the Solarhouse. This facility has 32 rooms sleeping 2-4 each, with private baths. It has
both a large and small meeting room and includes an atrium.
Check in time is 5:00 p.m. on the 7th. Evening sessions will begin at 7:00 p.m. and morning sessions will be held at
10:30 a.m.
If you would like further information or would like to register for the 2014 Laurelville Family Conference, please contact
before 7/20/14: Ron and Pam Kelly 313 Irish Meadows Lane Bruceton Mills, WV 26525 304-379-1029 Pkelly1197@aol.com
2014 Registration Fees: Solarhouse: 2 adults per room: $89.10/day ($10 more per child over 11)
Camping: Full Hook-up (Water, Elec., Sewage) $23/day Hook-up (Water, Elec.) $19/day Hook-up (Water) $16/day
Breakfast and Lunch will be provided daily. There are several nice, reasonably priced places to have your evening
meal just a short distance away. Arrangements may be able to be made to eat all meals at the Laurelville kitchen at an
additional cost. (Ask when registering.)
Laurelville Mennonite Church Center is located about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, at the foot of the Laurel Mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania.
You may log onto www.laurelville.org for more information concerning the variety of activities available while at Laurelville such as: hiking trails, swimming, miniature golf, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and ropes course.
2014 Conference Speakers

Pastor Dennis Gunderson

Dennis has served as Senior Pastor for 26 years in three Tulsa churches since 1984, and is currently President of
Grace & Truth Books. He is the author of Your Child's Profession of Faith and Courtship or Dating: So Whats the
Difference? and is also an Adjunct Professor at Tlapaneco Bible Institute, Guerrero, Mexico. Dennis and his wife
Naomi have been married since 1976, and have four sons. He is an avid mountain climber, cyclist, and photographer.

Pastor Jason McClanahan

Jason was born and raised just outside of Charleston, WV. He graduated from West Virginia State University (B.S.
Social Work - May 1997), Virginia Beach Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity May 2001), and The Master's Seminary (Doctor of Ministry - May 2008) in Los Angeles. After planting and pastoring Providence Baptist
Church in Westerville, OH for 7 years, he moved back to Charleston to pastor Randolph Street Baptist Church in
2007. Jason married his wife, Ginger, in 1995 and they have 3 children: Ty (16), Olivia (14) and Julia (11).

Issue 209

JulyAugust 2014

Page 17

2014 John Bunyan Conference

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Loving Your Wife as Christ Loves the Church, #1

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Underpinning and Understanding Biblical Theology

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Understanding the CovenantsCentral to Theology

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Gentry, Wellum, White

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Loving Your Wife as Christ Loves the Church, #2

JB14-A11

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Page 18 JulyAugust 2014

are calibrated to their environment. It
WestContinued from page 15
has to be assumed that the world is a
than methodology.
cosmos rather than chaos. Yet clearly
It should be obvious that there is
these two assumptions are dependent
nothing specifically Reformed about
on each other. When it comes to huan approach to apologetics that trades man cognition and our ability to know
in these types of philosophical arguanything whatsoever, the only way
ments and historical evidences. This
we can trust our minds and senses is
approach to apologetics is just as
if they are embedded in a consistent,
much at home in the Roman Cathoregular, ordered world: but we can
lic church as it is in R. C. Sprouls
only know that the world is consistent,
study. There are many more nonregular, and ordered if we can trust
Reformed adherents to it than there
our minds when they tell us it is!
are Reformed adherents. This by itself
Even more troubling is the fact
does not mean that Reformed thinkthat
this apologetic method assumes
ers should reject the approach: after
that
the human mind, using nothall, there are far more non-Reformed
ing
but
its own powers of rationality,
people taking communion on a given
Sunday in America than there are Re- can build up logical arguments that
formed people taking communion, but prove that the God of the Bible exists.
Starting with the world around us
that is hardly a reason to think communion is inconsistent with Reformed and our intellectual powers of logical
analysiseven without ever reading
theology!
the Bible or hearing about ChristianNevertheless, this entire approach
itywe could simply reason our way
to apologetics is based on massive
to the existence of God. Now, the end
assumptions. It has to be assumed that result of our reasoning process may be
the human mind and human senses

Issue 209
more generic than the biblical Godhead, but it would still be a deity. (Or
would it? What does it mean to prove
the existence of a supernatural being
that is less than God?)
These observations are not even
approaching a real criticism of this
apologetic method. The goal in this
article is not to critique and assess the
classical stream of apologetics; rather,
the goal is merely to sketch its methodological features. Although there
are people in the Reformed community who practice classical apologetics, many others have come to regard
it as inadequate (at a minimum) and
dangerous (at worst). In fact, both
presuppositionalism and Reformed
epistemology are, in some ways,
schools of thought that are partially
based on a rejection of the classical/
evidential method. Before examining
these reasons, however, both alternatives need to be sketched themselves,
and that task will be undertaken in the
next two articles.

Sam Storms
We say we want revivalbut on our terms. Sadly, we pray:
1. Come Holy Spirit
but only if You promise in advance to do things the way we have always done them in our church.
2. Come Holy Spirit
but only if I have some sort of prior guarantee that when You show up you wont embarrass me.
3. Come Holy Spirit
but only if Your work of revival is one that I can still control, one that preserves intact the traditions with which I am comfortable.
4. Come Holy Spirit
but only if Your work of revival is neat and tidy and dignified and understandable and above all else socially acceptable.
5. Come Holy Spirit
but only if You plan to change others; only if You make them to be like me; only if You convict their hearts so they will live
and dress and talk like I do.
6. Come Holy Spirit
but only if You let us preserve our distinctives and retain our differences from others whom we find offensive.

Issue 209

JulyAugust 2014

Page 19

June 1, 2014
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Moseley,
Thank you for continuing to send Sound of Grace in spite, I believe, of my forgetting to renew. I notice there
is no warning time on the back cover. So make this subscription retroactive to cover the issues unpaid.
I still keep all issues for my grandchildren. I want them to have a history of the New Covenant movement.
In Christ,
Jackie S
Dear Jackie,
We are currently unable to show the expiration issue on the back of the paper because we are now using a
mailing software that is provided by the USPS. This software is free but not as friendly or full-featured as
the software we were using. However, expiration notices are still being sent to all subscribers.
It is so very encouraging to know that you are keeping these journals for your grandchildren. We hope they
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His and yours,
Jacob
June 9, 2014
Dear Brother Jacob,
Enclosed is my check for $10.00 for my Sound of Grace subscription. I appreciate all you folks that work to
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Rendall G
Dear Rendall,
Thank you for your encouragement; it means a lot to us.
His and yours,
Jacob
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Thomas WatsonChoice Quotes on Scripture

The lines of Scripture are more valuable than mines of
gold!
God's Word is the star which directs us to Heaven!
Scripture is the field where "the Pearl of great price" is
hidden.
The Scriptures are the richest jewels that Christ has
left.
The Word is so full of goodness, justice, and sanctity,
that it could be breathed from none but God. It bears
His very image. It has no errata in it.
It is a beam of the Sun of Righteousness.
It is a crystal stream, flowing from the Fountain of Life.
It commends to us whatever is "just, lovely, and noble."
This "sword of the Spirit" cuts down vice!
Out of this tower of Scriptureis thrown down a millstone upon the head of sin!
The Scripture is the Royal Law, which commands not
only the actionsbut the affections.
Where is such holiness to be foundas is dug from
this Sacred Mine? Who could be its authorbut God

Himself?
God's Word is the judge of controversiesand the rock
of infallibility!
All truth must be brought to the touchstone of Scripture.
This blessed Book will fill the head with knowledge
and the heart with grace!
The Scripture is a rock of diamondsa chain of pearls
adorning the Christian, and glorifying God.
The Scriptures are profitable for all things. Is the believer cast down? Here are "comforts to delight the soul!" Is
he assaulted by Satan? Here is "the sword of the Spirit"
to resist him.
The Scripture is the chart, by which the believer sails to
eternity!
The Scripture is the Christian's Sundial, by which he
sets his life!
The Scripture is the Christian's Balance, in which he
weighs his actions!
The Scripture is the Christian's Map, by which he daily
walks!