Tomb of Darius II, Persian king of Achamenid period, about 2500 years ago.
Below the tomb is a stone relief of another Persian ancient era, Sassanid Kingdom, depicts the king (Bahram II) battling a mounted Roman soldier.The site is located in Naqsh-e Rostam of Fars province, Iran.
Tomb of Darius II, Persian king of Achamenid period, about 2500 years ago.
Below the tomb is a stone relief of another Persian ancient era, Sassanid Kingdom, depicts the king (Bahram II) battling a mounted Roman soldier.The site is located in Naqsh-e Rostam of Fars province, Iran.
This is an invitation to all, to direct friends and family to my new Persian(Farsi) blogsite, http://farsibible.wordpress.com. I appreciate my English speaking friends will not be able to read it. This blogsite can be read by those who speak Persian, also known as Farsi. Therefore, it is for people originating from Iran and Afghanistan. It is still quite new, but I shall be adding various articles which will explain the Gospel (the one on the site presently is titled, Peace with God).
Translated instalments of Dr Alan Cairns’ evangelistic booklet, “A New Beginning” will be published on this blog, before it is published in a booklet format in future, DV.
It is also designed to inform the Iranians of the Farsi Bible translation project, as it is my ongoing work with the Trinitarian Bible Society. So as the translations are done, they will be published on the site. Also various articles are in the pipeline which will give a history of the Bible and its Persian translations.
I am adding various Puritan quotes and short translations, and various articles which is very much needed for the shallow Christianity which is dominating Iranians. Please pray that the Lord will guide needy sinners to come and savingly receive the Lord Jesus Christ, as He is freely offered to them in the Gospel.
All this shall be published Lord willing, as He gives the strength and wisdom. Please pray for this project and those who visit it. Thanks for directing others to this small voice in the wilderness of confused world of blogs.
J. Gresham Machen, one of the founders of the old Westminster Theological Seminary (which sadly has changed in some respects from the original principles and views of its founders) wrote and preached very insightfully. Here is a word for our day, and to all those evanGELLYcal preachers, who speak of uniting with “like-minded” churches and brethren. When I think about it, I don’t know what “like-minded” means anymore!
“That disaster is a figure of what will come of optimism in the churches of today. Superficially our ecclesiastical life seems to be progressing as it always did: the cabins are full of comfortable passengers; the orchestra is playing a lively air; the rows of lighted windows shine cheerfully out into the night. But all the time death is lurking beneath. In this time of deadly peril there are leaders who say that all is well; there are leaders who decry controversy and urge peace, declaring that the church is all perfectly loyal and true. God forgive them, brethren! I say it with all my heart: may God forgive them for the evil that they are doing to Christ’s little ones: may the Holy Spirit open their eyes while yet there is time! Meanwhile, in the case of many of the churches, the great ship rushes onward to the risk, at least, of doom.”
Spurgeon’s Warning Concerning: the Intimate Association Between Doctrinal Compromise & Worldliness
"Restoration of Truth and Revival," Sword and the Trowel,
December 1887:
"Brethren in Christ, in every church let us purge out the things which weaken and pollute. It is clear to every one who is willing to see it, that laxity of doctrine is either the parent of worldliness, or is in some other way very near akin to it. The men who give up the old faith are the same persons who plead for latitude as to general conduct. Liberal divines do not always command the respect of the public, but they gain a certain popularity by pandering to prevailing tastes. The ungodly world is so far on their side that it commends them for their liberality, and rails at the orthodox as bigots and kill-joys. … Believers must also sweep the house of the leaven of worldliness, and the frivolities of a giddy generation. The evil which is now current eats as doth a canker, and there is no hope for healthy godliness until it is cut out of the body of the church by her again repenting, and doing her first works."
I have been a Christian since 1999. There are many questions that I have had to answer to many of my friends and family. Some thought that I had rejected my whole upbringing, culture, and history. Some thought that I wanted to integrate into the Western culture and mind-set. Others thought that I must have been brainwashed, and so I now bear all the ridicule and the shame from my countrymen, relatives, etc.
Why did I become a Christian? Why did I leave my old, rich, and ancient religion of the Persians? Why did I leave Zoroastrianism? Having been brought up in Iran, under the Islamic teaching, why did I not become a Muslim or something else? Why a Christian?!
I shall be writing on this subject in short sections, giving reasons for my faith in Jesus Christ. I hope that it will help others who desire to know more about the essential truths of the Bible and the Good News that God has brought for the human race through Jesus Christ.
These articles might not be in any specific order, so please bear with me.
Death of Christ
One of the major reasons for my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is because of the nature of His death. That is the major difference between Biblical Christianity and all other sects, religions and beliefs.
First of all the death of Christ was Penal in nature.
Penal
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” (1 Pet 3:18)
Some say that the sufferings of Christ were only to confirm His teaching, and to set us an example. They say that He was a good religious teacher, and suffered and died to leave us an example, like Mahatma Gandhi: but if we take that line of thought, then, why did Jesus have to suffer in that way? Why did He have to be tormented and crucified? Why did God the Father turn His face from His Son Jesus Christ. Surely that could have been equally achieved by the sufferings of His Apostles and other disciples and followers.
But His sufferings were penal, that means: they were the punishment of sin, and the wrath of God due to sin, was the bitterest ingredient in His sufferings. You see, we had merited the curse and condemnation of the Law of God: and Jesus, to deliver us from that curse, “being made a curse for us.”(Gal. 3:10, 13) He suffered “for sins”, and though His punishment on our behalf was not precisely the same, both in quality or duration (He suffered the eternal wrath of God in those hours of darkness on the Cross, which we would suffer for eternity in Hell!), as ours would have been, yet it was equivalent to it, and it satisfied the justice of an offended God. This is what I mean by Christ’s sufferings, being penal.
Sin is something that we have to be punished for, because God is a holy God. And in His holiness, He cannot receive us to heaven who have been unholy in this life. If He did, He would not be a holy God. He would be like a corrupt judge, who would pardon the guilty and let them go free.
So when I thought of this in my heart, knowing that I am a sinner, I knew that God in His justice had so punish me for my sins against Him. So I knew that I must suffer for sins – unless someone else had already suffered. And praise God, Jesus Christ had suffered for sins of those who believe in Him. Christ’s Death was a Penal death, which makes it unique from all other systems of religion. It actually saves from the just punishment due to sin.
This is why I believe in Jesus Christ. None other can lead to heaven.
The following is from Charles Spurgeon’s battle against "the downgrade" of doctrine in his day. It is excerpted from "Restoration of Truth and Revival," Sword and the Trowel, December 1887.
"The Lord our God, is holy, and he cannot compromise his own glorious name by working with persons whose grovelling tastes lead them to go to Egypt–we had almost said to Sodom–for their recreations. Is this walking with God? Is this the manner in which Enochs are produced? It is a heart-sorrow to have to mention such things, but the work of the Lord must be done faithfully, and this evil must be laid bare. There can be no doubt that all sorts of entertainments, as nearly as possible approximating to stage-play, have been carried on in connection with places of worship, and are, at this present time, in high favour. Can these things promote holiness, or help in communion with God?"
[One would almost think that Spurgeon had visited many churches and Bible Festivals in England and the world. In the day that many preachers like to quote Spurgeon, I wonder if anyone from FIEC or some of the Grace Baptist Churches of our day will quote him on this.]
by Dr Joel R. Beeke
[Note: This is a great pastoral concern of not only Dr. Beeke, but all true pastors for their flock. This issue is not only an issue over TV, but all means of entertainment, be it Radio, Internet, Newspapers, Magazines, etc. However, I personally would keep my TV, have it disconnected, and use it solely for edifying, God-honouring documentaries, family programs, and films that I am happy to watch with my 2 year old son! Please read this article prayerfully and with honesty. Dr. Beeke reaches the heart of the matter, turning every stone in his path. PM]
We are living in a sin-sick, morally degenerate, and pleasure-mad world. Our society continually demands entertainment, amusements, and pastimes at an ever-increasing level.
What is the goal of this “continual-entertainment” spirit? To keep modern man happily busy.
In a certain sense, entertainment does succeed in its goal. It keeps thousands and millions busy.
The very words themselves reveal this fact. The word amusement comes originally from the French and literally means “to stare at fixedly so as to prevent musing or thinking.” The word pastime speaks for itself. It means to kill or use up time as a thing of little value; to pass time away. The root of the word entertainment means to divert. Thus it implies something which takes us away or diverts us from the normal, real world of everyday life.
In other words, entertainment, amusements, pastimes are things which keep us busy – busy avoiding the realities of life and truth as they are set down in God’s Holy Word. They keep us busy avoiding thinking about eternity, hell, heaven, sin, God, Christ, salvation, our own selves, and especially our need for a new heart.
But if entertainment succeeds in its first goal of making man busy it fails miserably in its second: happily busy. Never has there been so much restlessness, dissatisfaction, and yes, unhappiness – in spite of the millions who immerse themselves in modern-day entertainment. Despite our freedom from poverty, our multiplication of opportunities in nearly every walk and aspect of life, plus our continual drinking in of entertainment – no age has been as unhappy as modern man.
Entertainment can never give enough – it always leaves an empty feeling behind. The more it is practiced and relied on, the emptier it becomes.
It has turned our society into an object of pity, for we are victims of our own system. Society goes full cycle, from being pleasure-hungry to pleasure-mania to pleasure-boredom.
But do you know what is even worse? Not only the world, but also the church has begun sliding down the slippery slope of entertainment which can only end in sin, and disastrous results.
Satan does not stop with liberal churches only. He comes also among us. We who believe that the truth is still preached among us – who know so well that the Word of God says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil,” who read continually, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” – are also beginning to fall victim to the idolatrous god of entertainment.
Step-by-step some are beginning to look for new things (in the church and outside of the church) with which we entertain and keep ourselves busy. Step-by-step the old-fashioned, plain gospel message with its emphasis on the necessity of conversion, is being increasingly de-emphasised. Less and less time is being spent praying together as a family, reading religious books together with children, talking together in family circles about spiritual matters.
Are we not all guilty? Do we not all fall short in experiencing the reality of the seriousness of life, death, the judgment day, and eternity? Today we have a carefree, laughing society, but you never read in the Bible that Jesus took life lightly. Rather, especially referring to our day, He said: “Watch, and pray, and again I say unto you watch!”
But by nature we don’t watch. By nature our question is, “How far can I go and still not sin?” instead of, “How far can I flee from sin and avoid the very appearance of evil?”
At the very heart and center of our modern entertainment spirit stands TELEVISION. This is an obvious fact. Television sets are in the homes of 97% of Americans today and 91% of all television time is dedicated solely to the purpose of entertainment. Entertainment-addiction and television-addiction cannot be separated from each other.
Our society has become TELE-HOLIC. On a night when wives do not leave home, 95 out of 100 will spend it watching TV and 85% of their husbands will do likewise. Among teenagers, 80% will follow their parents’ example, and 75% of children will also spend their evening drinking in the sin shown on TV.
There are people, however, who do not believe that television becomes an object of slavery in the home, and for that reason we have to consider the power of it in the homes where it is allowed. I shall seek to show you from plain facts that a television owner usually becomes addicted to TV with respect to (A) TIME, (B) SIN, and (C) CONTROL.
(A) TIME. The average TV viewer spends 5½ hours per day watching TV. By the time an average American youth becomes sixty-five years old, he will have spent fourteen years of his life watching TV (compared to one year spent in church, Sunday School, and catechism if he comes faithfully to all). In the U.S.A. children three to five years old spend fifty-four hours every week watching TV, which is 64% of their time awake. When the average graduate from high school receives his diploma at seventeen years of age, he will have spent 11,000 hours of his life in school, but 22,000 hours watching TV. Every time an adult sits down to watch TV, he/she averages 3½ hours of watching time before turning the TV off. Children are glued to TV for an average of 2½ hours per sitting. With the exception of sleeping, the average American will spend more time in his life watching TV than anything else – yes even more than working. Do we not have a tele-holic society with respect to our precious, God-given time?
(B) SIN. TV is a flood of sin. It numbs its watchers against all ten commandments.
First commandment: Anything we put above God becomes an idol. Modern man has become addicted to putting TV before God.
Second commandment: If not in reality, in practice TV has become a graven image in the hearts of most of its watchers.
Third commandment: TV causes its hearers to become addicted to hearing the name of the Lord used in vain. Profanity is used so often that it becomes an inoffensive thing. Few TV watchers realize that every time they willingly watch and hear such things, all those sins are reckoned to them on account of their willing participation.
Fourth commandment: Even the Sabbath Day is not holy enough for TV watchers to keep it turned off, or, if a small percentage may still do so for conscience’s sake, desire and craving for it usually remains even on the Lord’s Day.
Fifth commandment: TV does anything but honor father and mother. It continually degrades fatherhood and motherhood, and even frequently glorifies the disobedience of children. Family life, respect for authority, and obedience to government are repeatedly violated on program after program.
Sixth commandment: Instead of “thou shalt not kill,” one study reached the conclusion that by the time a child is fourteen at least 18,000 violent assaults and murders take place before his eyes. Another study confirmed that the average child between five and thirteen years of age soaks in 1,300 murders each year, so that violence, assaults, and murders no longer speak the message of sin or its consequences. Murders, hatred, violent actions and words assume the role of normal behavior. The average child’s program contains thirty-eight acts of violence per hour (adult program: twenty). A New York City judge who spent his life in courts judging juvenile delinquents and teenage criminals has plainly said that those who investigated the situation know that TV is a prime cause of crime. Another judge said: “Parents, one hour of TV can teach your children more crime, rebellion, smart-aleck freshness, and sex than you can counteract in months if you work at it.”
The trouble with violence on TV is that it does not show the real consequences of violence. The guilt that is left behind in the soul of the murderer, the bereaved family, the orphaned children, the filled hospitals, and the solemn graveyards are not shown. Especially in children’s programs violence is often totally unreal. Their heroes are often crushed or blown into pieces and moments later reappear unscathed. TV is artificial violence glorified instead of showing real violence in all of its ugly and terrible long-term consequences. Is it a wonder then that there have been thousands of examples of tragedies nationwide when children have “played TV together”?
Seventh commandment: How can the TV viewer remain pure with respect to the seventh commandment when seven out of eight references to sexual acts on TV take place between those who are not married? How can he remain pure when the TV viewer sees on an average of three times every hour sexual misconduct between unmarried adults? How can he remain moral when countless circumstances, conversations, immodest dress, actions, and behavior all point to the excitement and acceptability of sinning against the seventh commandment in a false and unrealistic way?
Eighth commandment: Can an hour be found that goes by when TV actors do not unashamedly steal before their audience? It is not wonder that thousands of thefts in real life have been patterned after TV plots and heroes.
Ninth commandment: Lying against a neighbor becomes a normal, acceptable, and even expected form of behavior on television shows.
Tenth commandment: Covet is a desirable word for TV viewers. Constantly they are reminded through advertisements of a stream of unending luxuries which they are told they shall never be happy without. There is always something they must have which they don’t have. The programs themselves are not an exception. For one man to covet another man’s wife (or vice versa) is the main theme of entire shows.
From beginning to end TV glorifies sin. On TV the only thing that is “sin” is morality. TV applauds sin, approves of sin, and forces its watchers to minimise sin through tens of thousands of countless repetitions. Over and over again the traditional family life is despised as old-fashioned: fatherhood is replaced with heroism via pathways of sin; motherhood is rejected as demeaning; obedience from children is laughed at as being too boring to be entertaining.
TV has become a catalogue of sin, and all studies reveal it is getting worse. It has become the devil’s classroom. The devil is smart enough to throw in a little religion too, and occasionally even a little morality, to pacify consciences enough not to throw it out. Does not TV make a tele-holic society with respect to sin when it feeds lust, perverts morals, presents impurity as love, pictures murder as thrilling, exalts nakedness and indecency as beauty, and seeks to legitimize all kinds of sin against every command of God?
(C) CONTROL Here the addiction becomes even more serious. Thousands of family fights take place regularly because no agreement can be reached on which show to indulge in. In American homes 35% of mealtimes are spent in front of the TV set. Nightly thousands of parents realize the programs that will come on are demoralizing and harmful for their children but yet are so hungry themselves to drink in the sin which they contain that they often let their children watch it too, having no power to control it.
People who say they can control TV are usually speaking idealistically, not realistically:
(1) Our natural hearts love sin, our ears listen for sin, our eyes look for sin. That is just the problem with TV. It is not the box itself that is the problem, but it is our hearts. TV shows what the heart of man wants to see. We have enough “TVs” already in our hearts without buying one for our home. It is our “TV hearts” that are inclined to TV sets. We do not stand above a TV watcher – just the opposite. We desire to come so low that we confess we would not trust our own heart with such an instrument.
(2) Who is able to keep sin from flashing before them on the screen at any moment, whether it be through the program being watched or through advertisement?
(3) Is a person who has owned a TV set for some time, and consequently become hardened to many sins, really qualified to know what is necessary to “control”?
Man does not control TV. TV controls him. Only one study of many will prove this point. Approximately four years ago in St. Catharines, Ontario, the newspaper headlines read one day: $500 paid for disposing of TV. The article went on to say that a study was done in Detroit in which the goal was to find out to what degree people are controlled by TV. Two hundred fifty families were scientifically selected from various races and classes to be offered $500 if they would live without their TV set for one month. After thirty days they could take it back in, and receive $500 free. Out of 250, only fifty families agreed to do it. How many families “made it” through this trial of thirty days? Eight! The other forty-two forfeited their $500 sometime during the month – one family took their TV back in on the 29th day. The eight who made it through were interviewed extensively. All said it brought their family closer together without TV. Six fathers said they first learned to know their children. One father said: “The day that I disposed of our TV was the first day in twenty-five years that no one was killed in our living room, no sirens screamed, no shots rang out, no artificial merriment told us when to laugh, and no one slashed anyone else.” And what was the final result of these eight families of whom seven said their family life was considerably more rewarding without TV? The last line of the article tells us: “All eight families took TV back in.”
Tele-holism. Knowing it does more harm than good, and still keeping it – that is slavery.
Dear friend, I urge you to dispose of TV today on the following grounds:
(1) It is against the word of God. In Psalm 119 the Lord commands us to turn our eyes from vanity. The entire Bible speaks against television because of its unending list of evils.
(2) The sinfulness of television damages your own soul. Every secular and/or religious study has revealed TV’s over-all effects. Since you know that we are fallen children of Adam and Eve, corrupt, and prone to backsliding, why do you unnecessarily feed your own corrupt nature with still more corruption through this instrument of sin?
(3) Studies on television reveal that TV also hinders the God-given treasure of family life and communion. This alone should be reason enough to dispose of TV immediately.
(4) By keeping television you are stepping on and fighting against your own conscience.
(5) You are wasting precious God-given time for which you will have to give an account one day. Would it not be far better that you take the time spent watching TV to read Scripture or good books, or listen to sermon tapes?
Do yourself a favor: for the Word of God’s sake, the church’s sake, your own soul’s sake, your family’s sake, your conscience’s sake, dispose of your television today. Do it permanently before you become its lifelong slave.
Finally, may it become the prayer of all of us with David: “I will set no evil thing before my eyes. Turn Thou my eyes from beholding vanity.”
(Pilgrim’s Gate; Condensed)
(This article from Fair Dinkum, Free Autralian Magazine, issue 52. All statistics are taken from studies conducted between 1979 and 1999.)
The relationship between the sacrifice of Christ, and His intercession, and the impact this has upon the subject of Particular Redemption.
(An Overview of John Owen’s discussions in The Death of Death in the Death of Christ)
The Mediatorial work of Christ revolves around His office as our High Priest. This was typified under the Old Covenant in the shadows of the Levitical priesthood. The Scriptures defines the task of the priest as being twofold:
1. Firstly, He was to make atonement for the people
2. Secondly, He was to intercede for them.
The intercession of the priest was based upon the acceptance of the oblation made. There is an interrelation between the atonement and the intercession, both having one aim, that is, “in bringing many sons unto glory”. This principle is carried to the office of Christ as our High Priest, but in its brightness and glory. Will Christ open His side for His people and not open His mouth for them?
In Christ’s offering of Himself, we see His willingness in that He came to die: emptying Himself of His glory, His humiliation in being born of a woman; His obedience to His Father throughout His earthly life, which ended with the cross.
As well as the acceptance of His oblation, Owen includes both Christ’s resurrection and ascension, as the basis of His intercession. Each one of these acts forms the basis upon which Christ intercedes.
Owen in his ‘Death of Death’ argues strongly that both the oblation and the intercession of Christ are linked directly to the doctrine of Particular Redemption. In relation to the death of Christ he argues that, Christ’s “blood-shedding” had an end in view. It was not as it were, reverently speaking, shooting in the dark. The arrows of God which shot Him in the heart as our sin-bearer also shot down the condemnation of God upon the heads of all those for whom He died. Christ did not die for the sake of dying, but it had an end in view. As the puritan, William Jenkyn describes the origin of the Church of Christ, “The Church comes out of Christ’s side in the sleep of His death.”
The intercession of Christ is an act which is filled with success, for He said, “And I knew that thou hearest me always:” (John 11:41) With this in mind, we can say that, therefore, all for whom He died must receive all the benefits of salvation purchased for them by His blood: disproving the notion of universal redemption. “Those for whom Christ died are those for whom He rose again and His heavenly saving activity is of equal extent with His once-for-all redemptive accomplishments.” (John Murray)
The same end of the oblation and the intercession of Christ is vindicated by assailable scriptural proofs by John Owen. His arguments are summarised thus:
1. Scriptures makes both of one purpose
Isa. 53:11, “by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” Here in Isaiah’s prophecy, the substitutionary death of the Servant of Jehovah is very clear. Representing the oblation of Christ by bearing our iniquities. But the prophecy goes on to say in v.12, “…and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
Again, in Rom. 4:25 we are told, “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” For whose offences He died, for them He arose. “Christ rose again, but our sins did not: they are buried for ever in his grave.” (John Brown) If He died for all, then all are justified, which is disproved by the fact that not all are justified. Then later in Rom. 8:33,34, “33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” How could He have died for all, but only intercede for some? This is disproved by these verses, showing the unity between the two priestly work of Christ.
To summarise:
- Those whose sins Chris carries, He also justifies – “by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Isa 53:11”
- Those whose sins Christ carries, He intercedes for – “he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isa 53:12”
- Resurrection of Christ was to justify those for whom He died – “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Rom 4:25”
- Those for whom Christ prays for, are those for elected to His death – “33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Rom 8:33-34”
Are all men justified? No. From the above passages, therefore, it is clear that only those elected unto salvation, are the party which were given to Christ to redeem – if this was not the case, then all men would be justified. The elect are the only ones who have any interest in Christ’s death, and are attached to Him by the eternal Covenant. They belong to Christ individually. All the saved elect people would unanimously say with Rutherford, “Since He looked upon me my heart is not my own, He hath run away to heaven with it.”
Both the oblation and the intercession of Christ dovetail together to the same end; that, for those for whom Christ gave His heart’s blood, for them He offers up intercession by His lips.
2. That He is a Complete and Faithful Priest
As Christ is the antitype of the high priests of the Old dispensation, He surpasses them all. He does not fail in His office as His people’s High Priest. If He fails in either, the sacrifice or the intercession, He cannot be a faithful priest. He remains faithful for ever, since He is shown to be satisfactorily both our propitiation and our advocate, as in 1 John 2:1-2, “1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” His oblation and intercession are accepted in the following Scriptures: Heb 9:11-14, and Heb 7:25. In these duties, He remains perfect.
“Before the throne of God above,
I have a strong, a perfect plea,
A great High Priest, whose name is love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.”
(Charitie Lees de Chenez)
3. The Nature of the Intercession inseparably conjoined with the Oblation
The nature of Christ’s intercession in the words of Owen, “for as it is now perfected in heaven, it is not a humble dejection of himself, with cries, tears, and supplications; nay, it cannot be conceived to be vocal, by the way of entreaty, but merely real, by the presentation of himself, sprinkled with the blood of the covenant, before the throne of grace in our behalf.” This intercession of Christ includes His appearance before God in His Human body which He suffered for His people. Like the old High Priest, Christ also appears not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own – this is His intercession, which really continues on from His work of oblation. Both acts are of equal extent – of eternal and high value. If we extend the intent of one from the other we have to reduce its value, as B. B. Warfield describes, “The things we have to choose between are an atonement of high value, or an atonement of wide extension. The two cannot go together.” (Benjamin B. Warfield)
4. The Instrumentality of Intercession in the Application of the Atonement
It is argued that, since the oblation of Christ is applied, and all the benefits conferred to the elect by the instrumentality of Christ’s intercession – then it must be that both aim to the same final end. It must be remembered that in the agreement of the Covenant of Grace, between the Father and the Son, Christ was promised to obtain all those for whom He would die, by His interceding for them. The intercession of Christ rests upon the promise of God to Him, as in Ps. 2:8, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” He intercedes for those who He purchased by His blood, and His intercession is granted upon such promises. They both of these arrows are, if it could be said reverently, fired toward the same target, and He hits the target in both instances – thus achieving His end.
5. Oblation and Intercession are Inseparably Joined
We can distinguish and analyse the two acts of our High Priest, but they must not be separated from one another. Christ unites the two in His words of John 17, “for there and then he did both offer and intercede.” Both Christ’s humiliation and exaltation is necessary – His death and entrance into heaven as our High Priest – so there is a merging of the two.
To conclude, we can say, that our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, was completely qualified to Mediate for those given to Him by His Father. This is the consolation of the believer – that not only Christ has died for us, but that He continues for ever to make intercession for us. This brings with it certain applications:
1. That if Christ appears for us in heaven, so must we appear for Him on earth. That if He is not ashamed to bring our sinful names before His Father, then how much more, we must bring His blessed name before sinners.
2. That if He lays out all His interest for us in heaven, so must we spend all our talents for Him.
3. That in times when we fall, we receive comfort that the work of our High Priest is a work of grace. That even though we did not and do not deserve the least of His mercies, He continues to apply the benefits of redemption for us in heaven. He does not look at our worthiness, but He looks at our need. From this daily the believer receives comfort.
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, John Owen, Vol. 10, p.184 (The Banner of Truth Trust)
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Romans 7:7
Q. Why did the apostle select the Tenth Commandment in Rom. 7:7 specifically?
In general we can say that all of the moral commands of God are linked, and when one is transgressed then the rest are also by proxy, or it leads to the transgression of other commands in practice. Yet the question arises in Rom. 7:7: why did the apostle select the final Commandment of the Decalogue to explain his point?
In the other commandments an outward religious appearance can persuade others at least of our obedience to the Law of God. However, the Tenth Commandment concerning coveting searches much deeper into the heart of the sinning party. Coveting is left hidden, or as we have here even the thought of it in the heart makes a man guilty, let alone the willingness of that person to continue in it. Paul is showing that “God in this last command, requires so much integrity from us that no vicious lust to move us to evil, even when no consent succeeds.”(Calvin) As Hodge brings out the meaning of the Tenth Commandment used here, “The point of the apostle’s argument is, that his knowledge of sin is due to the law, because without the law he would not have known that mere desire is evil, and because these evil desires revealed the hidden source of sin in his nature.”
If the Lord in this way is to be obeyed (in the inner recesses of our hearts), how much more in our outward affections toward performing of His Law. Any desire, bias, gravitation away from God’s will is sin, whether carried into act or not. This was the issue which tested the heart of the “rich young ruler”.
Its universal acknowledgement and practice from Eden to Sinai
Pooyan Mehrshahi
In the beginning the Lord God created Adam, the federal head of mankind, in His own image, Gen. 1:27. Adam in His pristine condition was wholly inclined toward God, and His law was the way of his life. The Scripture goes on to teach that the moral law of God was to continue from the Garden of Eden to the giving of it to Moses orally and inscribed on the tablets of stone, Exodus 20.
To prove that the moral law of God was in use and was known by mankind, we must see if there is any evidence for it, either in precept, practice, or by inference before the giving of the Moral Law in Exodus 20.
The apostle Paul argues for the perpetuity and immutability of the moral law in the letter to the Romans (chapters 2, 3, etc). There he brings in the issue of the Gentiles and argues that even the Gentiles who were without the Law, were without the Law as a matter of information, and not accountability. That because they are the image-bearers of God, they still have the Law written on their hearts. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”(Rom. 3:19) Note, “every mouth” and “all the world”, which proves the scope of the Moral Law as being universal. The verdict is passed upon all men. From the book of Genesis we find that all mankind from Adam was familiar with the demands of the Law.
The Law was given in Eden
God’s command was to Adam and Eve, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”(Gen. 2:17) This command would not make sense unless it is based on the Moral Law. It includes in it, the single love toward God, more than ones self, wife, sensual pleasure; it included that Adam was not to have any other gods before him. The creation ordinance of Sabbath is instituted, Gen. 2:2,3.
Concerning the Worship of One true God (The First Commandment)
Gen. 31:19 – the images of Laban, showing that not only he worshiped not god, but he had many images, i.e. he was polytheistic.
Concerning Idolatry (The Second Commandment)
Gen. 35:2-4 – men were aware of the sin of Idolatry.
Concerning taking the name of the Lord in vain (The Third Commandment)
Job 2:9 – Job being older than Moses; Job’s wife, when she exhorted him to curse God and die. There was an awareness of this law.
Concerning the Sabbath (The Forth Commandment)
Gen. 2:2,3 – given to Adam, as federal head of humanity.
Gen. 7:4 – God’s pronouncement of the flood after seven days.
Gen. 8:10, 12 – Noah waiting for seven days before sending the dove from the ark.
Exodus 16:5, 22 – this was for the preparation before the Sabbath day.
Exodus 16:27, 28 – on profaning the Sabbath by some of the people.
Exodus 16:28-30 – God’s command given which was before the giving of the Moral Law at Sinai.
Concerning Parental Headship (The Fifth Commandment)
Gen. 9:24-27 – in relation to Noah and his curse upon Canaan his son
Gen. 18:19 – in relation to Abraham and his children
Gen. 27:4, 12, 27-29 – the parental blessing for obedience of the child
Gen. 37:10 – Jacob’s rebuke of Joseph for his dream of the bowing sheaves.
Exod. 10:2; 12:27; 13:8, 14 – parents are to instruct their children and the children are to honour them in obeying
Concerning Murder (The Sixth Commandment)
Gen. 4:8 – instance of murder by Cain of his brother Abel, and God’s punishment for it.
Gen. 4:23, 24 – Lamech’s confession of murder, feeling of guilt
Gen. 9:4-6 – Known by Noah; here the Law of Capital Punishment is rehearsed.
Gen. 34:25-31 – Simeon and Levi concerning Shechem, Hamor, and their people
Job 24:14 – the knowledge of the sin of murder
Concerning Adultery (The Seventh Commandment)
Gen. 12:17, 18f – In case of Pharaoh and Sara
Gen. 20:3,9 – In case of Sarah and Abimelech
Gen. 34 – the sin of adultery known by the godly line and the ungodly
Gen. 38 – In case of Judah and Tamar
Concerning Theft (The Eighth Commandment)
Gen. 31:19, 30, 34, 35 – Rachel stealing the household gods; Laban’s statement concerning the sin of stealing, v.30; Rachel knew of her guilt so she hid them and sat on the basket, and further lied about them.
Gen 44:8 – the acknowledgement of the sin by Joseph’s brothers, even though when it was done in ignorance.
Concerning Deceit and Falsehood (The Ninth Commandment)
Job 15:35 – the knowledge of and practice of this sin
Job 27:4 – the knowledge of this sin
Job 31:5 – the knowledge of this sin
Gen. 12:13; 20:2 – Abraham committing it, in stating that Sarah was his sister; but was found out to his humiliation.
Gen. 26:7 – Isaac committing it
Gen. 27:12 – Jacob’s admittance of his deceitful act
Concerning Covetousness (The Tenth Commandment)
Gen. 6:2 – the son’s of God desiring and taking of the daughters of men.
Gen. 13:10, 11 – Lot coveting the plains of Jordan for himself, seeing that it was prosperous
Judgement Upon the Nations
1. Canaanites – Lev. 18:24-30
The Canaanites inhabiting the land of promise did abominable works against the Law which was written on their hearts, Rom. 2:14,15. Therefore, the land spewed them out in judgement. Judgement always comes upon man, when he violates the Law of God. Examples of their abominable practices were:
- The sacrifice of their infants to false deities. (Sixth Commandment)
- Worshiping of false deities. (First Commandment)
- Making of images. (Second Commandment)
2. Sodom and Gomorrah – Gen. 19
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah did profane all the commandments of God, and so were judged accordingly.
The Resemblances of the Civil and the Ceremonial laws
The distinguishing of the clean and the unclean animals, given to Noah, Gen. 8:20.
The law of circumcision revealed to Abraham, Gen. 17:11-14.
The laws of OT sacrifices given to Moses, and yet practiced before Sinai, in various ways, the building of altars by Able, Abraham, Noah, etc. Moreover, God Himself, provided coverings of skin for Adam and Eve after the fall, which shows that blood had to be shed.
Conclusion
As we have seen in the above discussions and various examples, that the Moral Law summarised and set down in writing on Sinai was known, obeyed or disobeyed by the generations after Adam. People did have knowledge of sin, and the Scriptures testify of it, and uses the expression of what sin was, e.g. deceit, lies, image worship, etc. Therefore, from this we again assert that the Moral Law having been given and written on Adam’s heart, continued perpetually in the hearts of his sons. As long as man stays the image bearer of God, the Moral Law, even though it is disobeyed, is written on man’s conscience.
I read this book over the last summer.
A review of it and some discussions will appear shortly.
