Click on the link for regularly updated videos from the speakers who will be at this coming years Desiring God conference, "STAND: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints". The ones that are up already are really good--very tantalizing. I'm definitely looking forward to September 28th-30th.
http://www.desiringgod.org/Events/NationalConferences/Archives/2007/Podcast/
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Four Views on the Warning Passages in Hebrews
Here is the link to a new "Four Views" book on the warning passages in Hebrews. I know nothing about it, so I have no idea what views are presented (or left out) or of what quality the book is. Still, looks very worth reading.
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Views-Warning-Passages-Hebrews/dp/0825421322/ref=cm_lmf_tit_7_rsrsrs0/103-0130675-7819048
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Views-Warning-Passages-Hebrews/dp/0825421322/ref=cm_lmf_tit_7_rsrsrs0/103-0130675-7819048
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P.S. I just scrolled down to the bottom of the amazon.com page and there is a lengthy review of the book's contents. Tests of Genuineness, two Arminian/Loss of Salvation, and Loss of Rewards...but NO Means of Salvation defender! How can this be? Absolutely inexcusable, in light of the fact that The Race Set Before Us was published six years prior to this book!
Does Hebrews 12:17 Teach That Esau Could Not Repent?
We've touched briefly on this passage and alluded to it a few times in class, particularly its relationship to the statement earlier in Hebrews 6:4-8 about how it is impossible to restore Christians who apostatize back to repentance again. The question then becomes, does this entail that there are situations in which people have a genuine desire to repent, but are not allowed to (either by God or by the people of God)? This would be a scary situation, obviously, as many believers would become terrified that in spite of their desires to repent, that God will not accept it. This could easily lead to unhealthy spiritual paralyzation . Is this what Hebrews 12:17 is saying was the case with Esau?
I don't think so. Look at the context again: "See that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance (literally, "no place") to repent, though he sought it with tears." This last phrase is the crucial one. I have often (unconsciously) interpreted it in the past as saying that Esau could not repent, though he sought repentance with tears. I think many read it this way. However, notice that all the text says is that Esau sought "it" with tears (this is faithful to the Greek, which is likewise ambiguous). So understanding this text centers around identifying what "it" was that Esau sought in vain. The word "it" in Greek is feminine singular, and there are two feminine singular nouns earlier in the verse which "it" could be referring to. The first is, indeed, "repentance." However, the other possibility is "the blessing." This is a reference to his birthright (in v. 16) which Esau had previously sold. Notice that plugging this in for "it" would change radically the thrust of the last phrase: "For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought to gain back his birthright with tears."
This makes much more sense to me of the passage, for several reasons. First, the phrase "he found no place for repentance" doesn't sound like a description of something that was impossible for Esau to do, but rather describing that in spite of his pursuit to gain back his birthright in tears, he nonetheless did not do so in repentance; his heart was hardened and he was not repentant in spirit--that is, he found "no place" for repentance in his pursuit to reacquire what he really wanted. That is, there was no God-centered sorrow over sin and over having transgressed against the Lord, but merely a despising of the consequences of his action. Second, this lines up very well with Paul's distinction in 2 Corinthians 7:10-13 between a "godly sorrow" that leads to salvation with regret, and a "wordly sorrow" that only produces death and loss. So Paul has categories for tears that do not include repentance. And lastly, we know of so many other people in Scripture (Peter! David!) who committed similar acts of disobedience and sin, but who did repent afterwards.
Therefore, this warning in Hebrews 12:12-17 refers not to the impossibility of repenting after sin or to the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit mentioned in the gospels, but rather that turning away from God will lead to destruction if there is not repentance, as Esau himself demonstrates.
I don't think so. Look at the context again: "See that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance (literally, "no place") to repent, though he sought it with tears." This last phrase is the crucial one. I have often (unconsciously) interpreted it in the past as saying that Esau could not repent, though he sought repentance with tears. I think many read it this way. However, notice that all the text says is that Esau sought "it" with tears (this is faithful to the Greek, which is likewise ambiguous). So understanding this text centers around identifying what "it" was that Esau sought in vain. The word "it" in Greek is feminine singular, and there are two feminine singular nouns earlier in the verse which "it" could be referring to. The first is, indeed, "repentance." However, the other possibility is "the blessing." This is a reference to his birthright (in v. 16) which Esau had previously sold. Notice that plugging this in for "it" would change radically the thrust of the last phrase: "For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought to gain back his birthright with tears."
This makes much more sense to me of the passage, for several reasons. First, the phrase "he found no place for repentance" doesn't sound like a description of something that was impossible for Esau to do, but rather describing that in spite of his pursuit to gain back his birthright in tears, he nonetheless did not do so in repentance; his heart was hardened and he was not repentant in spirit--that is, he found "no place" for repentance in his pursuit to reacquire what he really wanted. That is, there was no God-centered sorrow over sin and over having transgressed against the Lord, but merely a despising of the consequences of his action. Second, this lines up very well with Paul's distinction in 2 Corinthians 7:10-13 between a "godly sorrow" that leads to salvation with regret, and a "wordly sorrow" that only produces death and loss. So Paul has categories for tears that do not include repentance. And lastly, we know of so many other people in Scripture (Peter! David!) who committed similar acts of disobedience and sin, but who did repent afterwards.
Therefore, this warning in Hebrews 12:12-17 refers not to the impossibility of repenting after sin or to the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit mentioned in the gospels, but rather that turning away from God will lead to destruction if there is not repentance, as Esau himself demonstrates.
Kept By The Power Of God...Through Faith
We talked in class this past week of how the NT writers do not see an either/or relationship between the necessity of believers persevering by faith, and of God's sovereignly presevering them by His grace, but rather a both/and relationship in which our endurance is the very manifestation of God's upholding and sustaining us by His power. I Peter 1:3-9 is perhaps the classic example of this:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Nonetheless, this passage is by no means the only text that speaks of this dynamic (check out the quotes I mentioned earlier, below, by Berkouwer and others which highlight this theme, too; see TRSBU, p. 205, footnote 119)). Once you see it, it becomes impossible not to see it everywhere. For instance, notice how the letter of Jude ends with this dual perspective. In Jude 20-21 we are commanded: "But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life." Yet a mere few verses later, in Jude 24-25, Jude extols the power and grace of God to bring about this very thing in our lives: "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." So who keeps who? Do we keep ourselves in the path of faith, or does God. For Jude, it is self-evidently both. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, FOR it is God who is working in us to work and to will for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13; compare I Corinthians 15:10 and Colossians 1:28-29)
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Nonetheless, this passage is by no means the only text that speaks of this dynamic (check out the quotes I mentioned earlier, below, by Berkouwer and others which highlight this theme, too; see TRSBU, p. 205, footnote 119)). Once you see it, it becomes impossible not to see it everywhere. For instance, notice how the letter of Jude ends with this dual perspective. In Jude 20-21 we are commanded: "But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life." Yet a mere few verses later, in Jude 24-25, Jude extols the power and grace of God to bring about this very thing in our lives: "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." So who keeps who? Do we keep ourselves in the path of faith, or does God. For Jude, it is self-evidently both. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, FOR it is God who is working in us to work and to will for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13; compare I Corinthians 15:10 and Colossians 1:28-29)
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Who Is Being Warned In Hebrews?
A huge difference between the "Tests of Genuineness" (TOG) and "Means of Salvation" (MOS) views is how the identity of the people described and addressed in Hebrews 6:4-8 and Hebrews 10:26-31 is understood. For the "TOG" view--ably defended by Wayne Grudem and many others--the people described in these two passages are merely professing Christians who are not actually saved--that is, they are self-deceived hypocrites who do not have true saving faith. For the "MOS" view, as espoused by Schreiner and Caneday, these people are true, genuine Christians who are in a saving relationship with God through Christ and whose sins have been definitively forgiven and who are regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit and who are justified by the blood of Jesus. This is, to be sure, no small difference. It is also practical, as it colors how we hear and receive these warnings.
I plan on discussing this specific matter, and these two passages, soon in class (Lord willing). But for now, what do you see in these two passages (LISTED BELOW) that would argue for either view? What would lead us to think these are not authentic, born again Christians described here, but rather frauds and fakes who were never saved to begin with? What evidence, on the other hand, can be put forth that would argue that these people are actual, genuine believers who have experienced true salvation? If we are honest, decent arguments can be given for both sides. There is a reason that there has always been such fierce debate over these two passages throughout history. However, when all the evidence is seen cumulatively together, does one view or the other seem to have more validty, being demonstrated to be much more likely? How would the original audience have heard these warnings? Start writing down your thoughts.
Hebrews 6:4-8: "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned."
Hebrews 10:26-31: "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
(of course, these passages should be consulted in their entire overall contexts to be understood as accurately as possible)
I plan on discussing this specific matter, and these two passages, soon in class (Lord willing). But for now, what do you see in these two passages (LISTED BELOW) that would argue for either view? What would lead us to think these are not authentic, born again Christians described here, but rather frauds and fakes who were never saved to begin with? What evidence, on the other hand, can be put forth that would argue that these people are actual, genuine believers who have experienced true salvation? If we are honest, decent arguments can be given for both sides. There is a reason that there has always been such fierce debate over these two passages throughout history. However, when all the evidence is seen cumulatively together, does one view or the other seem to have more validty, being demonstrated to be much more likely? How would the original audience have heard these warnings? Start writing down your thoughts.
Hebrews 6:4-8: "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned."
Hebrews 10:26-31: "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
(of course, these passages should be consulted in their entire overall contexts to be understood as accurately as possible)
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