Samuel Rutherford on the Wonder and Joy of Israel's Future Conversion

"O to see the sight, next to Christ's Coming in the clouds, the most joyful! our elder brethren the Jews and Christ fall upon one another's necks and kiss each other! They have been long asunder; they will be kind to one another when they meet. O day! O longed-for and lovely day-dawn! O sweet Jesus, let me see that sight which will be as life from the dead, Thee and Thy ancient people in mutual embraces."

--Samuel Rutherford (Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Banner of Truth, Letter 50, p. 122-3)

Book Review: "The Latent Power of the Soul" by Watchman Nee

Having heard about this book from some people, and having my curiosity piqued by it's interesting title, I picked up this short work and read it, only to later put it down in stupefaction. Beware!

Nee's so-called Biblical basis for believing in the latent power of the soul was shockingly speculative and lacking substantial warrant. He claims that Adam must have had supernatural powers, for how else could he have been able to tend to the Garden? On the basis of this reasoning Nee constructs the rest of his book, warning Christians about the latent power of the soul - supernatural powers - that still exists within all humans. Nee attributes the supernatural behavior of Hindus and Buddhists to this latent power of the soul, and states that while God created this power, we no longer have the warrant to utilize it, but Satan wants us to use it to further his ends. Needless to say, with a premise like this, the remainder of the book is chaotic.

Nee is typical of many "deeper life" writers in his day who quote Scriptures to make certain points, points which are out of context and actually alien to the entirety of Scripture. For some reason these writers were incapable of seeing what they were doing, and wrote with an air of authority which they thought stemmed from God's Word but did not.

Nee actually states that it is possible to pray toward people instead of God, and by simply concentrating on the desire for good or bad things to happen, they will in fact happen. He doesn't encourage us to do this, but states that it works. However, Jesus said, "Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature?" (Matt. 6:27)

Nee has written some good books which shouldn't be discarded because of this one, but I would never recommend this book of his. It only serves to promote superstition.

Is Baptism Essential for Salvation?

The following is a response to someone who argued that while it is the blood of Christ that washes away our sins, it is baptism that puts us into contact with the blood of Christ, and that therefore baptism is essential to salvation.

I completely object to the idea that we get into contact with the blood of Jesus Christ through baptism. That is a magical, rather than a moral, view of salvation. We are talking about forgiveness. God is forgiving in His character. He is forgiving toward sinners, and sinners are reconciled to Him the moment they put their trust in His grace revealed in the cross of Christ. We realize we are in need of reconciliation, and we find all the obstacles in the way of reconciliation removed in the sacrifice of the cross and there alone. God does not require water to forgive. He forgives those who hope in His mercy on the basis of the cross.

It is evident that baptism does not connect us with forgiveness because Abraham was not baptized, nor any of the forgiven saints of the Old Testament, nor the thief on the cross, nor the paralytic on the mat who was lowered through the roof, nor Zaccheus, nor the woman caught in adultery... Cornelius' household was reconciled to God before they were baptized, and the Philippian jailer was expressly told that in order to be saved he only needed to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism was practiced and baptism is important, but it is not what connects us with the blood of Christ and the forgiving heart of God; if we think so, we are missing the point and are making Christianity into an unreal, impersonal and magical religion.

I do not believe Romans 6:3-5 is talking about water baptism. In his discussion of justification throughout chapters 1-5, Paul never once mentions water baptism but speaks only of faith in Christ, and these verses in 6:3-5 are summarizing all that He has been saying. The baptism he is referring to is our spiritual union with Christ (see verse 6ff: "crucified with Christ", "dead with Christ; obviously referring to our spiritual union with Him), which is of course pictured by water baptism.

If baptism were essential, then Paul would never have said: "For Christ sent me not to baptize" (1 Cor. 1:17). Paul understood that salvation was all about God's forgiving heart toward mankind revealed in the death of Christ for our sins, and about people putting their hope and trust in God. No one who is trusting in Christ will ever be ashamed simply because they were not water baptized. Christianity is a moral religion, not a magic one.

Go and Sin No More

"Dear Eli,  I wondered if I could ask a question about John 8:11 "Go and sin no more." I have heard several messages and comments lately about how Christians needs to stop sinning based on John 8:11. It is often suggested that we can do this with "God's power." I'm confused as to why Jesus would say this to a crushed woman in need of the gospel rather than the lawyer of Luke 10. Of course sin is awful and a believer should daily become more aware of this, but the phrase presents a literal impossibility! Do you have any suggestions about why Jesus says the phrase, "Go and sin no more"?"

Dear J----,

Your question is a really good one that highlights the way Christians often draw out of a verse more than is warranted. The context of the story and the greater context of the Bible could never warrant the interpretation that Jesus strictly and literally meant: "From this point on, do not sin at all anymore." Not only is that Scripturally and experimentally impossible, but it would be patently absurd for Jesus to say such a thing to this woman at such a time. Even if one argued that he was trying to teach her the true standard of the law to show her her sinfulness (as He did with the rich young ruler), it would be bad timing and totally out of place. This woman was already conscious of her sin, and after such a terrifying experience it was not the time for Jesus to say: "Go and try to be perfect and you'll see that you can't be!"

I understand this saying of Jesus to be, not a general command about all sin, but a specific prescription suited to her exact case: "You have just been wonderfully saved from a horrible situation. Your accusers, whom you thought were going to kill you, are gone and I don't condemn you either. Now go your way, but don't go back to your adultery. That is not right and good for you, and it is only fitting in view of the deliverance God has given you that you don't do that anymore." Thus I don't see Christ commanding her to stop all her sins from then on, but to not go back to the sin in question: adultery. Nor do I take it as a threat: "Go and sin no more or else I will condemn you." It is a command that is simply reasonable in light of the circumstances and which is for her own good. The matter of condemnation was behind her. "I do not condemn you." This is unqualified and does not depend upon her performance. The command to not go back to adultery is simply appropriate given the circumstances, and is for her good.

Her experience parallels the Christian one. We, too, deserved death and only through Jesus Christ were we wonderfully saved and delivered from all punishment. Christ says to us, "Neither do I condemn you." We are freed from all condemnation, and this is unqualified and freely bestowed independent of our moral performance. We, too, then hear from God and His messengers, "Go and sin no more", not as a threat, as if condemnation still hung over our heads depending on what we do, but as the prescription of what is our appropriate response to God's salvation, as well as for our own good. We are not saved because we sin no more, but we are to go and sin no more because we are saved. In fact, it is because the order is not "Go and sin no more and I will not condemn you" but rather "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more" that there even exists the wondrous inspiration to go and sin no more. The opposite order does not have the inspiring power. Of course, I'm right now applying this command to all of our sins in general, which we obviously shouldn't do any longer, yet as mentioned before, I believe the original command in John 8:11 is specifically addressing the woman's adultery. So I am drawing a universal principle from a particular incident. Due to the fact that we walk by faith and are dull of understanding and slow at remembering, we will continue to sin in this life because we will continue to forget God's wondrous love and grace. However, I would bet that for that woman, she never forgot that wondrous day and never went back her adultery.

So no, we don't need to stop sinning as if our salvation depended on it. We would greatly err if we took Jesus' command in that way. But in the light of God's salvation not sinning is the fitting response for us. This doesn't mean that we will stop sinning before we reach heaven, but we ought to acknowledge that it is the fitting response, and also that it is for our own good.

God bless you, J----.
-Eli

Annihilating the Canaanites: Was that Right?

Hello M----, thanks for the question.

The destruction of Jericho and all of its citizens (as well as the other cities of Canaan and their citizens), is repeatedly stated to be a judgment from God against them because of their iniquity. See, for a clear example, Deuteronomy 9:4-5. In this passage God says that it is not because Israel is good that she is going in to possess the land, but because the inhabitants of the land are very wicked and God is punishing those nations through Israel. God is also fulfilling His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by giving Israel the land promised to them, so God is accomplishing two things by this: punishing the evil and fulfilling His promise to Israel. Earlier in Genesis God told Abraham that He would bring his descendants into the land when the iniquity of the Amorites was full (Gen. 15:16). Therefore God waited for the right time to judge the people of Canaan when their sins had ripened for judgment.

It is common in the Bible for God to use one people to punish another people. Israel was punished by God through the Philistines, Assyrians, and most notably the Babylonians and the Romans. In the case of the Canaanites, God was using Israel to punish their sin. However, it is important to note that God uses a sinful people to punish a sinful people: there is no case of good guys versus bad guys, and God also judges the instruments He uses. The Bible is simply showing one of the ways God works in history with the nations. But whoever God uses, God wants it to be perfectly clear that it is really He who is doing the judging. In Deuteronomy 9:3, He says: "Understand therefore this day, that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before your face: so shall you drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said unto you."

The question as to whether the Canaanites deserved such a punishment ultimately traces back to our understanding of the seriousness of sin. People wonder how God could have ordered such a thing if He is good. But the truth is, God ordered such a thing precisely because He is good, and takes ethics much more seriously than we do. God takes sin more seriously than we do, and therefore severe judgments are justified in His sight. If we have a low view of sin, almost every punishment will seem extreme and wrong except the most mild. Moreover, a low view of sin is related to a low view of God and a low view of humanity. The Bible teaches that human beings are made in the image of God and therefore have a profound responsibility to live ethically, and that they are held accountable for what they do. To shrink from the idea of punishment is to minimize the ethical accountability of human beings, to treat them like mere animals, and not to treat them as serious moral actors. It has also been said: "There is no little sin, because there is no little God to sin against." The smaller God is in your eyes the smaller sin will be in your eyes, and the smaller punishment will need to be in your eyes. But the Bible is a book about big punishment, big sin, and a big God. It is because all sin is against God, and because God takes the actions of human beings so seriously, that such severe punishments fit the crime. We must listen and learn and not only base our beliefs upon what at first makes sense to our flawed sensibilities. If it is hard for us to see, it is, again, only because we are not seeing sin as it really is.

Look at the cross. As we "survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died" we will see the seriousness of sin. I would encourage you to spend some time reading Romans chapter 1, 2 and 3. These will help you reflect on sin and what God thinks of it, as they are devoted to the subject of sin in order to show us our need for Christ and the beauty of salvation by grace.

Blessings to you, J----- and D----!
Sincerely, your friend,
-Eli