The Uniqueness Of Christ in History

In this lecture, Dr. Zacharias addresses the teachings and person of Christ against the curtain of history. Quoting historians and such artists as George Frederick Handel and William Cowper, he examines four distinctives of Christ's teachings which are unique in the span of history. This message was part of a forum on the uniqueness of Christ held in several major cities in the Republic of South Africa.

Jesus Christ, God and Man: How Can a Man Be God?

Reformed theology has consistently affirmed both the full humanity and full divinity of Jesus. Traditionally, this has been called the doctrine of the hypostatic union, a doctrine that expresses the perfect union between Jesus' divine and human natures in his one person In this union, the second person of the Trinity (see theological article "The Trinity: One God or Three?"), namely, God the Son, became fully human (see theological article "The Full Humanity of Jesus: What Kind of Man Was Jesus?t") without losing any of his divine attributes.

That the Jewish followers of Jesus believed that Jesus was both God and man is amazing. Jesus' apostles and most of the New Testament writers were Jews who strongly believed that there is only one God and that no human is divine. Nevertheless, they all taught that Jesus the Messiah should be worshiped and trusted as God. This idea is especially observable in the writings of John, Paul, Peter and the author of Hebrews.

John reveals Jesus as the eternal divine Word, agent of creation and source of all life and light (John 1:1-5,9), who, in becoming "flesh," was revealed as the Son of God, the source of grace and truth-and, indeed, as "God the One and Only" (John 1:14,18). John's Gospel is punctuated with Jesus' "I am" statements-these are especially significant because "I am" (see notes on John 8:24,28,58) was used to render God's name in the Greek translation (Septuagint) of Exodus 3:14. Examples also appear in the seven declarations of Jesus' grace as (1) the bread of life, giving spiritual food (John 6:35, 48, 51); (2) the light of the world, banishing darkness (John 8:12; 9:5); (3) the gate for the sheep, giving access to God (John 10:7,9); (4) the good shepherd, protecting from peril (John 10:11,14); (5) the resurrection and life, overcoming our death (John 11:25); (6) the way, truth and life, guiding to fellowship with the Father (John 14:6); and (7) the true vine, nurturing for fruitfulness (John 15:1,5). Climactically, Thomas worships Jesus, saying, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). Jesus then pronounces a blessing on all who share Thomas' faith, and John urges his readers to join their number (John 20:29-31).

Paul quotes from an apparent hymn that declares Jesus' personal deity (Phil. 2:6-11). He states that "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Col. 2:9; cf. Col. 1:19). He hails Jesus as the Son as the Father's image and as his agent in creating and upholding everything (Col. 1:15-17). He declares him to be "Lord" (a title with divine overtones), to whom one must pray for salvation according to the exhortation to call on God in Joel 2:32 (Rom. 10:9-13). He calls him "God over all" (Rom. 9:5) and "God and Savior" (Tit. 2:13), and he prays to him personally (2 Cor. 12:8-9), looking to him as a source of divine grace (2 Cor. 13:14). The testimony is explicit: Faith in Jesus' deity is central to Paul's theology.

In explaining Christ's perfect high priesthood, the author of Hebrews declares the full deity and resulting unique dignity of the Son of God (Heb. 1:3,6,8-12), whose full humanity he then celebrates in chapter 2. The perfection, and indeed the very possibility, of the high priesthood he ascribes to Christ depends on an endless, unfailing divine life in combination with a full human experience of temptation, pressure and pain (Heb. 2:14-18; 4:14-5:2; 7:13-28; 12:2-3).

No less significant is Peter's use of Isaiah 8:12-13 (1 Pet. 3:14). He cites the Greek (Septuagint) version, urging the churches not to fear what others fear, but to set apart the Lord as holy. But where the Septuagint text of Isaiah says "Set apart the Lord himself," Peter writes, "Set apart Christ as Lord" (1 Pet. 3:15). Peter offered the adoring fear due to the Almighty to Jesus of Nazareth, his Master and Lord.

A crucial time for the church's affirmation of the hypostatic union came at the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451). At that time, the church countered two errors: (1) the Nestorian idea that Jesus had two "persons" (divine and human), as well as two natures, as if he were two people bound together in one body; and (2) the Eutychian idea that Jesus had only one nature, his divinity having absorbed his humanity. Rejecting both, the Council affirmed that Jesus is one divine-human person with two natures (i.e., two sets of capacities for experience, expression, reaction and action) and that the two natures are united in his personal being without mixture, confusion, separation or division, such that each nature retains its own attributes.

The New Testament reveals the great mystery that Jesus is both fully God and fully human. All that God made us to be, as well as all that is in God himself, was, is and forever will be really and distinguishably present in the one person of Jesus. The New Testament commands the worship of Jesus and focuses consistently on the divine-human Savior and Lord as the proper object of faith, hope and love.

Reference:

Richard Pratt, General Editor. Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2003.

Soure: http://reformedanswers.org

Jesus Christ: The Interpretive Key to the Scripture

Jesus Christ: The Interpretive Key to the Scripture
With Four Examples of Doctrinal Errors that Arise When this Key is not Used.

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." (John 5:39, 40)

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" - (1 Tim 2:5)

"The Scriptures should be read with the aim of finding Christ in them. Whoever turns aside from this object, even though he wears himself out all his life in learning, he will never reach the knowledge of the truth." - John Calvin

I have recently had the privilege of reading a phenomenal book that I highly recommend to all teachers of the Word. That book was Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics by Graeme Goldsworthy. Its thesis is simple: the Gospel (or, Jesus Christ) is the Key to all Christian Hermeneutics. During the course of reading, his focus got me to thinking about its antithesis which would be that almost all errors and inconsistencies in our understanding of Bible texts occur when our interpretation is less than Christ-centered. This is foundational. Unless our study, however diligent, leads us to see that all Scripture points to Jesus Christ, our study is in vain. The importance of the Bible (OT & NT) is that it testifies about Jesus Christ (John 1:43-45, Acts 3:18, Acts 17:2-3, 2 Tim 3:14-15,1 Pet 1:10-12, Rom 1:1-3, 16:25-27, Luke 24:25-27 & 44-46).

Jesus never condemned a Pharisee for taking Moses too seriously. They take him far less seriously than they should. For Jesus says, "If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for He write of Me. But if you don't believe His writings, how will you believe My words. Your accuser is Moses." (John 5:46). So to understand Moses is to come to know Christ when He is revealed. Likewise, Abraham saw Jesus’ day and was glad, the Bible testifies. And "...foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU." (Gal)

But now, let's shift gears by getting specific about doctrinal errors that fail to take into account the above biblical principles ... These are produced by an interpretitive grid or presupposition that arises from Christless or less-than-Christocentric views of Scripture. In the following, I wish to give 3-4 examples of current popular, but erroneous, interpretations, that err simply because they fail to see the centrality of Jesus Christ in their understanding:

1) The False Assertion that Salvation can be Lost

The claim by some that a Christian can actually lose his or her salvation is a prime example of reading Christ out of the text, because the focus becomes your own moral ability rather than Christ. Some erroneously believe that a Christian, after being saved by Christ, can make certain choices that will lead to the loss of their adoption and justification, and thus, their salvation in Christ. In other words, they must, by their own effort, or with the Spirit's help, maintain their just standing before God. With such a view, Christ is not sufficient to save completely. Such a doctrine should immediately make us think of Paul's warning in Galatians: "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal 3:3) But why is Paul so stern as to call them foolish? Because they have forgotten that Christ and Christ alone has saved them. To think that we can add to Christ's perfect work is to utterly misapprehend the Gospel at its core. For, we ask, is it Jesus or something else which is sufficient to carry you to the end? Any addition to Jesus Christ is to believe that justification is found in something else has forgotten about the centrality of Christ.

So we ask in relation to this doctrine, is it Christ who saves us, or does He merely assist us so we may save ourselves? The warning passages in Hebrews actually warn against this very error. They start by pointing out that Jesus is superior to the angels, to Moses and to the Sacrificial System. The warnings of falling away are actually warnings about going back to something inferior to Christ, like the sacrificial system which only pointed to Christ. To read that a particular sin can make us lose our salvation, is thus, to utterly forget what the context of the Text in Hebrews itself is. So the assertion that a Christian can lose salvation is the first error that we have spotted that arises because Christ was seen as the ultimate interpretive presupposition, and thus, left out of the interpretation. Some other ultimate presupposition guided our exposition.

2) Synergism

Synergism is the error that affirms that the natural man can cooperate with God in the regeneration process (the new birth) ...that an unregenerate person has the moral capacity to embrace the Gospel apart from the work of the Spirit changing the heart.

Again, remember what our interpretive Key to the Bible is? Jesus Christ. So, in relation to regeneration and conversion, when the gospel is preached, what makes people to differ in their response to it? Does Jesus Christ make us differ or does something else? This “something else” may take various forms; it may be something native to the human constitution (i.e. Pelagianism) or something alien yet universal (i.e. Arminianism)? In either case, the point is that it is not Christ that makes the difference. Anyone who claims that the difference arises from one of these something-else’s has failed to see first our hopelessness as fallen creatures apart from Christ and second the exclusive sufficiency of Christ’s saving work. If I am different than my neighbor because of something other than Jesus Christ, then Christ, whatever role he may play, cannot be central to my understanding of salvation. He is only partly responsible for it. It is the grace we have in Christ that saves, and nothing in addition to it.

3) Four-Point Calvinism

Four-point Calvinism fails the test of Christ-centered interpretation because this view tends to see the TULIP as an abstraction. But the TULIP only works when we see Christ at its center. Consider the TULIP as a chiasm with the "L" at the top of the pyramid. It is Jesus Christ which makes sense of all the doctrines of grace. Four-point Calvinists who reject Limited Atonement but embrace irresistible grace must consider this: Irresistible grace is not some abstract doctrine but must be seen in relation to Jesus Christ, specially in relation to the grace purchased by Christ upon the cross. The Spirit of Christ illuminates, regenerates and effectually brings to faith his elect. And this enabling, effectual grace is, from first to last, Christ-centered. It does not come out of a void, nor from some hidden source of grace in God the Father. Therefore Christ must have died for the elect so as to purchase that grace in a way – a redemptive way – that he did not die for the non-elect. That is why we often call it particular redemption. Irresistible grace is one of the redemptive benefits purchased by Jesus Christ ... and it was never granted to the non-elect nor intended for them. I believe that until Jesus Christ is seen as central to the TULIP then four-pointers will continue to reject what is plain.

4) Purgatory

Roman Catholics believe in Purgatory, which again accents their belief that Christ is not sufficient to save completely. Rather then, we must work off our sins after death for 1000's of years until it is paid. Where is Christ in all this? Was His work insufficient to cover their sins completely and once for all?

Each of these errors occurs when the our hermeneutic - our ultimate presupposition - is not Jesus Christ.

J.W. Hendryx

Munus Triplex - The Triple Cure - Christ as Prophet, Priest and King

In the Old Testament, a person could be a prophet, a priest or a King, but it was impossible to be all three. Yet Scripture attributes all three of these offices to Christ. To discover what He does for us as He fulfills these three differing roles is a wonderfully enriching biblical study.

Christ holds these offices eternally. As the ultimate revelation of the Prophet, He speaks the word of God to us; as Priest, He represents us fully to the Father and brings the supreme atoning sacrifice (of Himself) that placates the Father's holy and just wrath against us for our sin; and as the conquering and reigning King, He is forever worthy of our worship and adoration. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Christ's threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King is a central teaching in Reformed Theology, but it is a much neglected theme in much of the modern day Church. The Latin theological term for this is Munus Triplex, also known as "the Triple Cure," referring to these offices of Christ providing the remedy for us in our fallen condition.

As far as we can tell, it was Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History (1.3.8) who first described the concept of these three fold offices of Christ. He said that Jesus is “the only high priest of all, and the only king of every creature, and the Father’s only supreme prophet of prophets." Yet as with most things, it was John Calvin who made the concept widely known by his teaching in the Institutes:

"Therefore, in order that faith may find a firm basis for salvation in Christ, and thus rest in him, this principle must be laid down: the office enjoined upon Christ by the Father consists of three parts. For he was given to be prophet, king and priest." - Institutes II. xv. 1

This concept was then taken up by others in the Reformation, including Herman Bavinck, as seen in this quote:

"…Christ, both as the Son and as the image of God, for Himself and also as our Mediator and Saviour, had to bear all three offices. He had to be a prophet to know and to disclose the truth of God; a priest, to devote Himself to God and, in our place, to offer Himself up to God; a king, to govern and protect us according to God’s will. To teach, to reconcile, and to lead; to instruct, to acquire and to apply salvation; wisdom, righteousness, and redemption; truth, love, and power – all three are essential to the completeness of our salvation. In Christ’s God-to-humanity relation, He is a prophet; in His humanity-to-God relation He is a priest; in His headship over all humanity He is a king. Rationalism acknowledges only His prophetic office; mysticism only His priestly office; millennialism only His royal office. But Scripture, consistently and simultaneously attributing all three offices to Him, describes Him as our chief prophet, our only [High] priest, and our eternal king. Though a king, He rules not by the sword but by His Word and Spirit. He is a prophet, but His word is power and really happens. He is a priest but lives by dying, conquers by suffering, and is all-powerful by His love. He is always all these things in conjunction, never the one without the other: mighty in speech and action as a king and full of grace and truth in His royal rule."

The Westminster Shorter Catechism: refers to it in questions 23-26:

Q. 23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?

A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet (Deut 18:18, Heb 1:1-2), of a priest (Heb 4:14-15, Heb 5:5-6),and of a king (Is 9:6-7, Lk 1:32-33, John 18:37, 1 Cor 15:25), both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

Q. 24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?

A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word (Heb 2:3) and Spirit (1 Peter 1:11), the will of God for our salvation.

Q. 25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?

A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice (Acts 8:32-35), and reconcile us to God (Col 1:21-22), and in making continual intercession for us (Heb 9:24).

Q. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?

A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us (Col 1:13), and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies (Col 2:15).

Here is Dr. Kim Riddlebarger teaching on the three fold offices of Christ: Prophet, Priest and King:

Christ Predicted the Papacy as the Antichrist

Christ predicts the dynasty of the Antichrist and the False Prophet. Note carefully His language. He warns in Matthew chapter twenty-four against the deception of antichrist but never uses the singular in His references. - Dr. Ian R. K. Paisley

We have already shown that Antichrist cannot be one potentate but a dynasty of potentates. David’s prophecy which holds within it the key to its right interpretation, shows us that. Now this is dearly confirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Daniel tells the story in parables, in the pictures of the beasts and the horns. The little horn of Daniel chapter seven is the Antichrist, the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition. Throughout the prophecies of Daniel, a horn as indeed the beast from which it grows denotes not a single man, an individual king but a kingdom, a sovereignty, a dynasty. That is the plain teaching of scripture and to it all must submit.

Christ confirms this not only about Daniel's little horn but about the two beasts of Revelation chapter thirteen, the Beast and the False Prophet. These beasts are not two individual men but a dynasty - the Beast the dynasty of the Popes and the False Prophet the dynasty of the priests of Rome pursuing the objective of obtaining the worship and submission of the whole world for the Pope.

There is not one word in all Christ's prophecy concerning the end of time and of His Second Coming about a one man antichrist or a one man false prophet. Read and see for yourself.

Christ predicts the dynasty of the Antichrist and the False Prophet. Note carefully His language. He warns in Matthew chapter twenty-four against the deception of antichrist but never uses the singular in His references.

He speaks of the dynasty, of 'many' not 'one.' ‘For many shall come in My Name,’ Matt. 24:5. This does away with the Atheistical antichrist, the Communist antichrist, the Jewish antichrist, the purely political antichrist. The dynasty of antichrists will come in the name of our Lord, the true Christ of God. How this points its finger at the Pope and the Papacy. The Pope is the only person who fits the prediction

'Saying I am Christ,' Matt. 24:5. Notice how Christ changes from the plural 'many' to the singular 'I.' This is the personal claim of each individual Pope. Listen to their own words.

'I alone despite my unworthiness, am the successor of the Apostles, the Vicar of Jesus Christ: I alone have the mission to guide and direct the barque of Peter; I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.' - Pope Pius IX.

‘Shall deceive many.’ What a statement! How many have been and are being deceived by the Pope and the Papacy. Why even the Lambeth Conference of the whole of the Anglican Church (the Church of Ireland included) meeting in July 1989 has agreed that the Pope must be the Head of the Church when the other ecumenical episcopal Churches unite with Rome.

'Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.

Behold I have told you before.

Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.' Matt. 24:33-36.

Here our Lord predicts the dynasty not only of Antichrist but of the False Prophet. See Revelation chapter thirteen. After the Lord mentions in the plural the 'false prophets,' he predicts the great 'signs and wonders' which these will do. Compare this carefully with Revelation 13:13,14. Note how our Lord's prediction about the deceptions of the false prophet dovetails perfectly into the prophecy of John. Christ states, 'Insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.' John states, 'And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do.'

The narratives of Mark and Luke confirm these statements of our Lord in Matthew's Gospel.

‘And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.’ Mark 13:5-7.

‘And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:

For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.’ Mark 13:21-23.

‘And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.’ Luke 21:8-9.

‘And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.’ Luke 17:23.

Christ has told us that many false Christs will appear after His ascension to glory and before His return. When we open the Pages of history we see how our Lord's words have been so literally fulfilled. Many Christs who professed to come in His Holy Name have appeared exactly as He predicted - at least 265 of them - all phoney christs, self styled christs, false christs and all harboured by the Church of Rome. Of them all Christ said, ‘BELIEVE THEM NOT.’

How clearly Christ predicted the Papacy. How plainly Christ interpreted for us the prophecies of Daniel and John. We bow to His authority and rejoice that the Antichrist has not deceived us and we have not gone after him as the world has.

The Popes of Rome for centuries have, under the title of Vicar of Christ, been masquerading as christs.

Ever since the Bishop of Rome got a taste for power, early in the Christian era, he yelled, ‘I AM CHRIST,’ and right down to Pope John Paul II they have been yelling it, shouting it, trumpeting it and parroting it. The halls of Christendom have not been without this din for sixteen centuries. Reverberations and amplifications from the original cries and their echoes and re-echoes plus added new yells multiplied a million tunes by the Roman acoustics of the halls, plague us daily. I am Christ! I AM Christ! I AM CHRIST! THIS IS THE CONFESSION OF THE ANTICHRIST. THANK GOD WE RECOGNISE HIM.

If any man shall say unto you, lo here is Christ, or lo He is there, believe Him not.'

Source: http://www.ianpaisley.org