Back in the early 1980s my wife and I were privileged to be associated with John Wimber and the emerging Vineyard movement, with their emphasis on the release of a new style of intimate worship, and the release of the healing power of the Holy Spirit as normal in the Christian life.
In order for us to move freely into those kinds of experiences, we needed to make some adjustments in the way we perceived reality. We needed to have a way of seeing that made room for the incursion of the miraculous into what we called “normal” life. In short, we needed a paradigm shift, a way of re-defining normalcy that included opportunities for the power of God to invade our usual experience.
The wonderful thing was that as we developed this new perspective according to Biblical patterns, we began to experience that power more regularly and some of our experiences began to resemble the dynamic of the New Testament accounts. Through subsequent years, more and more believers began to experience new dimensions of God’s miraculous presence in their everyday lives.
I believe we need a paradigm shift once again among God’s people with regard to prayer. In the activity-addicted, performance-oriented entity that is the Church, we have largely lost sight of the experiential intimacy with Jesus to which we have been called, and we need a restoration of that understanding. The new perspective makes room for believers to define their lives before God not on the basis of what they do for Him, but on the basis of the declarations of His ravished heart as the Heavenly Bridegroom.
We need a shift in the way we read the Scriptures, with a resultant shift in our theological thinking and ultimately a shift in the way we relate to Jesus, to ourselves, and to what we do in His Name. Our experience of the Christian life needs to be deepened and changed. The path the Holy Spirit is opening into this deeper experience is the way of intimacy with Jesus as our Bridegroom. My goal in these articles is to begin building a foundation of biblical understanding that will enable believers to see with new eyes, to begin to experience the presence of the Lord in new and sweeter ways.
I readily acknowledge at the outset that this “bridal paradigm” is not a new thing. It has been a central part of biblical theology all through history, and has been preserved through the life of the Church in marvelous ways in the experiences of mystics and contemplatives, most of whom have lived within the Catholic and Orthodox expressions of Christianity. There have been, however, only a precious few saints within the Protestant ethos who have gone deep into the understanding of Jesus’ love for His Bride, and whose personal experiences of these depths have enabled them to write in helpful ways.
Like Martha of Bethany, Protestant Evangelicals have been concerned with many necessary things, to the point that we have excluded the needful thing Mary chose—sitting at the feet of the Bridegroom to hear His heart and voice. But God is changing that, and my prayer is that this little contribution to the process will be of assistance to those who read it.
Over the next weeks we will look at this theme of bridal relationship as it is presented through the Scriptures, beginning with the Old Testament record, that we might know and believe what is in His heart.
Blessings,
Gary Wiens
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Partners in Intercession
And so the Man Christ Jesus still stands in the place of intercession, ever before the Father, ever living to intercede. Assisted by the Holy Spirit, the constant posture of Jesus now is to agree with the Father concerning the position of the Bride before God. He is our Advocate, pleading our case before the Father, our just Judge. By the power of the Spirit, we are constantly being transformed into His image, becoming one with Him as a man and woman become partners in the context of intimacy in a marriage relationship.
Now and throughout eternity, we have the privilege as His bridal partners to intercede in the same way Jesus does, standing in the gap on behalf of the rest of mankind and agreeing with God’s desires. We come boldly and confidently before His presence, the throne of grace, because the way has been opened for us by the true Man, Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom. We receive His mercies afresh every day and we are empowered by His presence to walk out the new life He has given us by the blood of Christ. In that place of safety and intimacy, we take our place as His Bride and bring before Him the needs of the people around us, declaring over them the will of God by agreeing with His agenda as revealed in the Word of God.
In this process, we come to an ever-increasing awareness of His goodness and the truth of His ways. We begin to understand that the heart of God is for us and not against us, and that His purposes for the human race are more wonderful than we ever imagined. We come into glad-hearted agreement with the Son of God concerning Who He is, Who the Father is and who we are.
We are the objects of His delight, the focus of His affections, and because He speaks this to our hearts in such a personal and convincing way, we begin to comprehend that He can feel the same way about every person without leaving any individual unattended. We start to share His perspective of our cities and nations and of the situations in which our families and friends find themselves. When we experience His love poured out upon us, we become convinced of His power to set right every situation for every person. When His powerful affections touch our hearts, we realize that the true reward of prayer is not changed circumstances, but the reality of intimate experiential friendship with Jesus Christ, the Lover of our souls. In that place of intimacy, we are free to affect the world around us with the knowledge of His love.
As we come to know His heart, there is a point at which He invites us to walk the streets of the cities with Him, personally touching those who need Him—the “dimly burning candles” and “bruised reeds” of this world—until their lights burn brightly and their countenances are lifted up. The power is His. The new identity is ours. The methodology is intercession.
And so, we pray.
Now and throughout eternity, we have the privilege as His bridal partners to intercede in the same way Jesus does, standing in the gap on behalf of the rest of mankind and agreeing with God’s desires. We come boldly and confidently before His presence, the throne of grace, because the way has been opened for us by the true Man, Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom. We receive His mercies afresh every day and we are empowered by His presence to walk out the new life He has given us by the blood of Christ. In that place of safety and intimacy, we take our place as His Bride and bring before Him the needs of the people around us, declaring over them the will of God by agreeing with His agenda as revealed in the Word of God.
In this process, we come to an ever-increasing awareness of His goodness and the truth of His ways. We begin to understand that the heart of God is for us and not against us, and that His purposes for the human race are more wonderful than we ever imagined. We come into glad-hearted agreement with the Son of God concerning Who He is, Who the Father is and who we are.
We are the objects of His delight, the focus of His affections, and because He speaks this to our hearts in such a personal and convincing way, we begin to comprehend that He can feel the same way about every person without leaving any individual unattended. We start to share His perspective of our cities and nations and of the situations in which our families and friends find themselves. When we experience His love poured out upon us, we become convinced of His power to set right every situation for every person. When His powerful affections touch our hearts, we realize that the true reward of prayer is not changed circumstances, but the reality of intimate experiential friendship with Jesus Christ, the Lover of our souls. In that place of intimacy, we are free to affect the world around us with the knowledge of His love.
As we come to know His heart, there is a point at which He invites us to walk the streets of the cities with Him, personally touching those who need Him—the “dimly burning candles” and “bruised reeds” of this world—until their lights burn brightly and their countenances are lifted up. The power is His. The new identity is ours. The methodology is intercession.
And so, we pray.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Jesus: The Original Intercessor
Jesus, The Original Intercessor
The most significant intercession in history is the work Jesus accomplished on the cross of Calvary. The only adequate ransom to purchase the Bride back from sin’s captivation was a perfectly obedient Man—since in God’s economy only a flawless Intercessor could “stand in the gap” on behalf of the guilty.
Because of God’s great goodness, His own Son became a human being, forever joining humanity with the true divine nature. Jesus walked out a life of perfect human obedience to the will of God and took His place on the cross, that the judgments of God might be poured out where they belonged—on the ultimate Intercessor. God provided Himself as the required sacrifice, the Lamb. In doing so, through Jesus He restored to the human race the position of righteousness that a relationship with God requires, and with it, all the promises and intentions that were in His heart from the beginning. The intercession was complete.
The stunning thing about this historical occurrence is that God had made provision for it before He ever began the process of creating. Before creation was established, God the Father and God the Son instituted an eternal agreement that God Himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, would become the one true Man who would stand as Intercessor between the Father and the human race.
Revelation 13:8 informs us that the Lamb was “slain from the foundation of the world,” establishing our redemption before the first sin was ever committed! From eternity past He stood in our place, the true Adam, perfectly agreeing with the Father’s will where the earthly Adam did not, and taking upon Himself the just and right judgment of death for the sin of all humans. From eternity, long before the incarnation, He was pouring Himself out that we might live through His life—the ultimate picture of intercession.
Jesus’ Continuing Intercession
In His bodily resurrection, Jesus, the eternal Bridegroom, released to us the power to become the children of God, and now lives in the presence of the Father to sustain us in that relationship by His constant intercession. Through the power of Christ’s resurrection, we stand even now in that place of intimate authority, anticipating the full realization of our identity as the Bride, which is the corporate identity of all who accept His invitation to the ultimate wedding feast at the end of the ages.
Even as the wrath of God was poured out upon the perfect Intercessor, so the pleasure of God is now poured out on the Bridegroom, and righteousness is imputed to His yet imperfect Bride. He is gathering to Himself all who will respond, so that when the time comes, a holy and blameless Bride might be called forward to reign with Him. The need of this hour in history is for the people of God, those called to become His Bride, to take their place as Jesus' partners in intercession, to bring about His purposes on the earth.
You will be blessed as you align yourself with His purpose.
Gary Wiens
The most significant intercession in history is the work Jesus accomplished on the cross of Calvary. The only adequate ransom to purchase the Bride back from sin’s captivation was a perfectly obedient Man—since in God’s economy only a flawless Intercessor could “stand in the gap” on behalf of the guilty.
Because of God’s great goodness, His own Son became a human being, forever joining humanity with the true divine nature. Jesus walked out a life of perfect human obedience to the will of God and took His place on the cross, that the judgments of God might be poured out where they belonged—on the ultimate Intercessor. God provided Himself as the required sacrifice, the Lamb. In doing so, through Jesus He restored to the human race the position of righteousness that a relationship with God requires, and with it, all the promises and intentions that were in His heart from the beginning. The intercession was complete.
The stunning thing about this historical occurrence is that God had made provision for it before He ever began the process of creating. Before creation was established, God the Father and God the Son instituted an eternal agreement that God Himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, would become the one true Man who would stand as Intercessor between the Father and the human race.
Revelation 13:8 informs us that the Lamb was “slain from the foundation of the world,” establishing our redemption before the first sin was ever committed! From eternity past He stood in our place, the true Adam, perfectly agreeing with the Father’s will where the earthly Adam did not, and taking upon Himself the just and right judgment of death for the sin of all humans. From eternity, long before the incarnation, He was pouring Himself out that we might live through His life—the ultimate picture of intercession.
Jesus’ Continuing Intercession
In His bodily resurrection, Jesus, the eternal Bridegroom, released to us the power to become the children of God, and now lives in the presence of the Father to sustain us in that relationship by His constant intercession. Through the power of Christ’s resurrection, we stand even now in that place of intimate authority, anticipating the full realization of our identity as the Bride, which is the corporate identity of all who accept His invitation to the ultimate wedding feast at the end of the ages.
Even as the wrath of God was poured out upon the perfect Intercessor, so the pleasure of God is now poured out on the Bridegroom, and righteousness is imputed to His yet imperfect Bride. He is gathering to Himself all who will respond, so that when the time comes, a holy and blameless Bride might be called forward to reign with Him. The need of this hour in history is for the people of God, those called to become His Bride, to take their place as Jesus' partners in intercession, to bring about His purposes on the earth.
You will be blessed as you align yourself with His purpose.
Gary Wiens
Monday, October 3, 2011
Prayer: The Great Romance
PRAYER: THE GREAT ROMANCE
Since the focus of God’s heart from the beginning of time has been preparing a Bride for His Son, He has always desired an intimate relationship with His people. And so He has spoken to us in various ways, with the consistent goal of engaging us in a dialogue about life in relationship with Him. This dialogue is called prayer, and its primary purpose is that we might come to know the heart of the One Who loves us and understands who we are and what we will become.
He alone knows my true identity, and His words empower me to live in that identity. What could be more helpful, more healing than listening to Him? What could be more beneficial than speaking with Him in loving dialogue? Out of His heart of love, He draws us to the place of prayer, that He might communicate His intentions.
As we listen, the Spirit of God works within our hearts and convinces us that God loves us and that we are indeed His children, called according to His purposes. He speaks to us about His plans for us, just as He spoke to Jeremiah in the Old Testament:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
He knows the plans He has for us and He’s in the mood to talk about them! God is a communicator. He has romance on His mind, He is preparing us for an eternal relationship of joy and gladness with His Son Jesus Christ and He longs to speak with us about it.
As He speaks and we listen, we come to agree with His agenda for ourselves and for the rest of the human race. Because God is a lover, His strategy is not simply to invade the earth with overwhelming power and authority, but to woo and win a Bride through gentle persuasion. He wants voluntary lovers who become convinced of His honorable intentions. From that place of confidence, we become partners in accomplishing His purposes, first in personal matters, then in the redemption of all mankind and the restoration of the created order, and finally in a place of shared rulership for eternity over His ever-increasing Kingdom .
This partnership is realized through intercessory prayer. We begin to say back to God that we agree with His agenda and His strategies, not only for ourselves and the things that concern us, but for every situation outside ourselves for which He gives us the strength to pray. In doing so, we stand alongside the Man Christ Jesus before God as heirs of His Kingdom. As we begin to agree with Him, He begins to release more and more of His influence, until at the end of the age all things are conformed to His pleasure and will. Those who have come into agreement with His assessment of reality will stand together with His Son Jesus Christ, the Lord of all that is, as His royal Bride and ruling partner.
Since the focus of God’s heart from the beginning of time has been preparing a Bride for His Son, He has always desired an intimate relationship with His people. And so He has spoken to us in various ways, with the consistent goal of engaging us in a dialogue about life in relationship with Him. This dialogue is called prayer, and its primary purpose is that we might come to know the heart of the One Who loves us and understands who we are and what we will become.
He alone knows my true identity, and His words empower me to live in that identity. What could be more helpful, more healing than listening to Him? What could be more beneficial than speaking with Him in loving dialogue? Out of His heart of love, He draws us to the place of prayer, that He might communicate His intentions.
As we listen, the Spirit of God works within our hearts and convinces us that God loves us and that we are indeed His children, called according to His purposes. He speaks to us about His plans for us, just as He spoke to Jeremiah in the Old Testament:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
He knows the plans He has for us and He’s in the mood to talk about them! God is a communicator. He has romance on His mind, He is preparing us for an eternal relationship of joy and gladness with His Son Jesus Christ and He longs to speak with us about it.
As He speaks and we listen, we come to agree with His agenda for ourselves and for the rest of the human race. Because God is a lover, His strategy is not simply to invade the earth with overwhelming power and authority, but to woo and win a Bride through gentle persuasion. He wants voluntary lovers who become convinced of His honorable intentions. From that place of confidence, we become partners in accomplishing His purposes, first in personal matters, then in the redemption of all mankind and the restoration of the created order, and finally in a place of shared rulership for eternity over His ever-increasing Kingdom .
This partnership is realized through intercessory prayer. We begin to say back to God that we agree with His agenda and His strategies, not only for ourselves and the things that concern us, but for every situation outside ourselves for which He gives us the strength to pray. In doing so, we stand alongside the Man Christ Jesus before God as heirs of His Kingdom. As we begin to agree with Him, He begins to release more and more of His influence, until at the end of the age all things are conformed to His pleasure and will. Those who have come into agreement with His assessment of reality will stand together with His Son Jesus Christ, the Lord of all that is, as His royal Bride and ruling partner.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Why We Pray
WHY WE PRAY
If you walk into the International House of Prayer Northwest in Federal Way, Washington, you enter into an emerging intercessory ministry associated with the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, since September 19, 1999, the fires of intercession have been burning in the Kansas City base, and this fire is spreading rapidly to the cities of our nation. You will find teams of young adults in their teens and 20s, as well as older folks like me, ministering to the Lord in the prayer room, singing well-known worship songs, creating spontaneous songs directly from the Scriptures, and weaving short, spoken prayers with the phrases of the songs. Ministering from a perspective of intimacy, they give expression to the longing in their souls to know God and be known by Him.
These young people are part of an emerging community of intercessory missionaries who are giving their lives to the work of prayer. They are declaring the purposes of God over the cities and nations of the earth and seeking to understand and agree with His intentions for the remaining years of human history. During the course of this day, in the same way it happens every day, hundreds of people will come through the prayer rooms of America’s cities and participate in this adventure in intercession. Many will be on the staff of the Houses of Prayer, individuals and families who have raised their own financial support to give themselves to a life of intercessory worship. Others will come from the surrounding metropolitan areas to participate in this new expression of the leading of the Holy Spirit in the American church.
This form of prayer is called the Harp and Bowl model of intercessory worship, and it is but one expression of the emerging prayer movement that is exploding all over the earth. In a way unprecedented in human history, the Spirit of God is stirring the hearts of Christians everywhere to seek Him in prayer. As the Director of the International House of Prayer Northwest and one who has been privileged to travel around this country and around the world to call believers to a life of intimate prayer, I am becoming increasingly aware of the scope of God’s search for true worshippers who will seek His face and His will for the earth.
With the chaos and foment that is stirring all over the earth as I write this – political riots in the middle East, drug-related warfare in Central America, political wars in our own nation – there has never been a time in which focused intercession along with night-and-day worship has been more necessary. God is stirring the prayer movement even as He is stirring the nations in preparation for the return of Jesus to planet Earth. Long ago the Prophet Isaiah spoke that God would raise up intercessors that would give Him no rest until Jerusalem was the shining city of bright righteousness that He created it to be. The day of the fulfillment of that promise draws ever nearer, and believers in His Word must take their place in this assignment.
I urge you to find a place of prayer near you, and become a regular part of that ministry. If it’s in your local congregation, great! If there is a House of Prayer near you, go join yourself to it, and make it a priority in your schedule. The Day of the Lord is drawing near, and we are called to pray.
Blessings, GW
If you walk into the International House of Prayer Northwest in Federal Way, Washington, you enter into an emerging intercessory ministry associated with the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, since September 19, 1999, the fires of intercession have been burning in the Kansas City base, and this fire is spreading rapidly to the cities of our nation. You will find teams of young adults in their teens and 20s, as well as older folks like me, ministering to the Lord in the prayer room, singing well-known worship songs, creating spontaneous songs directly from the Scriptures, and weaving short, spoken prayers with the phrases of the songs. Ministering from a perspective of intimacy, they give expression to the longing in their souls to know God and be known by Him.
These young people are part of an emerging community of intercessory missionaries who are giving their lives to the work of prayer. They are declaring the purposes of God over the cities and nations of the earth and seeking to understand and agree with His intentions for the remaining years of human history. During the course of this day, in the same way it happens every day, hundreds of people will come through the prayer rooms of America’s cities and participate in this adventure in intercession. Many will be on the staff of the Houses of Prayer, individuals and families who have raised their own financial support to give themselves to a life of intercessory worship. Others will come from the surrounding metropolitan areas to participate in this new expression of the leading of the Holy Spirit in the American church.
This form of prayer is called the Harp and Bowl model of intercessory worship, and it is but one expression of the emerging prayer movement that is exploding all over the earth. In a way unprecedented in human history, the Spirit of God is stirring the hearts of Christians everywhere to seek Him in prayer. As the Director of the International House of Prayer Northwest and one who has been privileged to travel around this country and around the world to call believers to a life of intimate prayer, I am becoming increasingly aware of the scope of God’s search for true worshippers who will seek His face and His will for the earth.
With the chaos and foment that is stirring all over the earth as I write this – political riots in the middle East, drug-related warfare in Central America, political wars in our own nation – there has never been a time in which focused intercession along with night-and-day worship has been more necessary. God is stirring the prayer movement even as He is stirring the nations in preparation for the return of Jesus to planet Earth. Long ago the Prophet Isaiah spoke that God would raise up intercessors that would give Him no rest until Jerusalem was the shining city of bright righteousness that He created it to be. The day of the fulfillment of that promise draws ever nearer, and believers in His Word must take their place in this assignment.
I urge you to find a place of prayer near you, and become a regular part of that ministry. If it’s in your local congregation, great! If there is a House of Prayer near you, go join yourself to it, and make it a priority in your schedule. The Day of the Lord is drawing near, and we are called to pray.
Blessings, GW
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Response to Trinitarian Issue Responders
Wow! I'm amazed at how many apparently intelligent people have suddenly become interested in my blog!
It's important, first of all, to understand my statements in my previous posting. The boundary lines that are clearly drawn in history are that those who do not accept Trinitarian theology are outside the framework of historic Christianity. That is simply objectively true. If you disagree with that statement, you simply are ignorant of the history of orthodoxy. There have always been dissenters, but they've never been considered part of the mainstream of orthodoxy.
Secondly, I made the statement that those who do not acknowledge that the Jesus of the Bible is their Lord are in grave danger. Paul's statement in Galatians 1:8-9 is very clear and pointed. He was clear that Jesus is and was fully God, and that to be outside that, and to proclaim another gospel, is to be accursed. Strong language, and dissenters must face it and deal with it.
Jesus said it best: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. . . ."All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:1,8-9)
Third, the councils that gave rise to the great creeds, primarily the Nicene creed, were ecumenical councils, and did not give rise to the unique (and erroneous) parts of Catholic theology. Thomas Oden, in his wonderful work "The Word Of Life," (HarperSanFrancisco, 1989) clearly lines out the record of the historic councils on the matter of Christology. You'll find it very helpful.
In the fourth place, this quote from Ivankum's last post points out in a glaring and obvious way the central falsehood in this matter:
It is Trinitarians that are not satisfied with the biblical explanation of who Jesus is. Demanding that I explicitly call Jesus God when the Bible does not is not yours or anyone else’s place to do and this is why after 25 years as a Trinitarian; the scales have been removed from my eyes.
I would simply call to your remembrance that Jesus calls Himself "the Alpha and the Omega" in Rev. 22:13. He received worship, which would have been blasphemous, He claimed God as His Father, which in the Pharisees' clear understanding made Him equal with God (John 5:16-20; John 10:25-33). Jesus did not refute these statements; rather, He accepted these words as an accurate assessment. There is so much New Testament evidence of Jesus' identity as God as to overwhelm the space required to state it all.
I have posted on our website at the International House of Prayer Northwest an excerpt from Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology on the Trinity and its necessity. You can access it by clicking here. Please read it, and may the Holy Spirit truly remove the scales from your eyes. Those who are blind and yet think they see are the most blind of all.
Gary Wiens
It's important, first of all, to understand my statements in my previous posting. The boundary lines that are clearly drawn in history are that those who do not accept Trinitarian theology are outside the framework of historic Christianity. That is simply objectively true. If you disagree with that statement, you simply are ignorant of the history of orthodoxy. There have always been dissenters, but they've never been considered part of the mainstream of orthodoxy.
Secondly, I made the statement that those who do not acknowledge that the Jesus of the Bible is their Lord are in grave danger. Paul's statement in Galatians 1:8-9 is very clear and pointed. He was clear that Jesus is and was fully God, and that to be outside that, and to proclaim another gospel, is to be accursed. Strong language, and dissenters must face it and deal with it.
Jesus said it best: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. . . ."All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:1,8-9)
Third, the councils that gave rise to the great creeds, primarily the Nicene creed, were ecumenical councils, and did not give rise to the unique (and erroneous) parts of Catholic theology. Thomas Oden, in his wonderful work "The Word Of Life," (HarperSanFrancisco, 1989) clearly lines out the record of the historic councils on the matter of Christology. You'll find it very helpful.
In the fourth place, this quote from Ivankum's last post points out in a glaring and obvious way the central falsehood in this matter:
It is Trinitarians that are not satisfied with the biblical explanation of who Jesus is. Demanding that I explicitly call Jesus God when the Bible does not is not yours or anyone else’s place to do and this is why after 25 years as a Trinitarian; the scales have been removed from my eyes.
I would simply call to your remembrance that Jesus calls Himself "the Alpha and the Omega" in Rev. 22:13. He received worship, which would have been blasphemous, He claimed God as His Father, which in the Pharisees' clear understanding made Him equal with God (John 5:16-20; John 10:25-33). Jesus did not refute these statements; rather, He accepted these words as an accurate assessment. There is so much New Testament evidence of Jesus' identity as God as to overwhelm the space required to state it all.
I have posted on our website at the International House of Prayer Northwest an excerpt from Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology on the Trinity and its necessity. You can access it by clicking here. Please read it, and may the Holy Spirit truly remove the scales from your eyes. Those who are blind and yet think they see are the most blind of all.
Gary Wiens
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Standing On Firm Foundations
Standing Firm On The Foundation Of Christ: Why It Matters What We Believe
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who raised an interesting question. It was this: “What are your ‘brick wall’ doctrines, and what are your ‘picket fence’ doctrines?” He and I were in an interesting dialogue about the chronology of events surrounding the return of Jesus to the earth to establish His Kingdom, and though we came to different conclusions about this particular topic, it was clear that this was a ‘picket fence’ discussion.
There are, however, certain things that are not ‘picket fences,’ but are indeed the ‘brick walls,’ the foundational truths upon which the Christian faith is established. These foundation stones are eternal and essential, and must be maintained in each generation if we are in fact going to call ourselves Christian. These are the bedrock belief systems that, if you change them, you can no longer honestly call yourself part of that company that makes up historic Christianity.
One of these ‘brick wall’ realities is the nature of God as a Triune Being, one God in three Persons, with each Person – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – being eternal, fully God, yet each with His own personality and role within the Godhead. Within this Trinitarian formula falls the nature of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son, the second Person of the Trinity, who existed with the Father as the Word (Logos), and who took on humanity when He was born of the Virgin Mary. He always has been fully God, before He was human, while He was on the earth in His first visit to the planet (the Incarnation), and now as the Heavenly Man in the Father’s presence as He awaits the timing of His return to earth.
This Jesus was the agent of creation, the unique Son of God, the One who holds all things together, in Whom is life itself. He is the one Mediator between God and man, and if you attempt to change His identity you are in grave danger. The New Testament tells us that in these last days many different “Christs” will be presented, but there is only one who is true, and who is worthy of our trust and confidence. Faith in another Jesus – one not presented in the Bible – will not be sufficient for relationship with God and hope for eternal life, no matter how sincerely that faith is held.
Jesus Himself raised the issue to His disciples when He asked the question, “Who do men say that I am?” Several answers were given, and then Jesus made it personal: “Who do you say that I am?” When Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Jesus declared that Peter was blessed by the Father with supernatural revelation that could not come by reasoning process or by the instruction of men. Only the Spirit of God can show us who Jesus is by revealing Him in agreement with the Scriptures. If the revelation you have received does not square with the Jesus of the apostles and the Scriptures, you need to scrap that revelation and turn to the truth as quickly as possible. In 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 we are warned that through a deception similar to what happened in the Garden of Eden, our minds may be corrupted to believe in another Jesus, one that is different from the one presented by Paul and the other writers of Scripture.
I hear many who are excited in our time because people like Glenn Beck are calling us to return to God and to Jesus for the restoration of our nation. That’s a good idea, but don’t go to Beck’s Jesus, for as a Mormon, he is talking about a different Jesus than the one the Bible speaks of. There are those who find it difficult to comprehend the Trinitarian teaching of the Scripture, so they change the nature of Jesus to make it more understandable. This is not acceptable! You end up with another Jesus, a different gospel, and leave yourself open to other levels of deception.
There are certain things to be passionate about, and this is one of them. I’m not talking about mindless acceptance – believe me, there is so much room for inquiry into the vast realms of the knowledge of the Son of God – but it must be inquiry within the boundaries, the ‘brick wall’ of the nature of Christ as revealed in the Bible. Though He is beyond comprehension, He will fascinate you and thrill you with the revelation of who He is as our Champion, our Prophet, Priest, and King.
Gary Wiens
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who raised an interesting question. It was this: “What are your ‘brick wall’ doctrines, and what are your ‘picket fence’ doctrines?” He and I were in an interesting dialogue about the chronology of events surrounding the return of Jesus to the earth to establish His Kingdom, and though we came to different conclusions about this particular topic, it was clear that this was a ‘picket fence’ discussion.
There are, however, certain things that are not ‘picket fences,’ but are indeed the ‘brick walls,’ the foundational truths upon which the Christian faith is established. These foundation stones are eternal and essential, and must be maintained in each generation if we are in fact going to call ourselves Christian. These are the bedrock belief systems that, if you change them, you can no longer honestly call yourself part of that company that makes up historic Christianity.
One of these ‘brick wall’ realities is the nature of God as a Triune Being, one God in three Persons, with each Person – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – being eternal, fully God, yet each with His own personality and role within the Godhead. Within this Trinitarian formula falls the nature of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son, the second Person of the Trinity, who existed with the Father as the Word (Logos), and who took on humanity when He was born of the Virgin Mary. He always has been fully God, before He was human, while He was on the earth in His first visit to the planet (the Incarnation), and now as the Heavenly Man in the Father’s presence as He awaits the timing of His return to earth.
This Jesus was the agent of creation, the unique Son of God, the One who holds all things together, in Whom is life itself. He is the one Mediator between God and man, and if you attempt to change His identity you are in grave danger. The New Testament tells us that in these last days many different “Christs” will be presented, but there is only one who is true, and who is worthy of our trust and confidence. Faith in another Jesus – one not presented in the Bible – will not be sufficient for relationship with God and hope for eternal life, no matter how sincerely that faith is held.
Jesus Himself raised the issue to His disciples when He asked the question, “Who do men say that I am?” Several answers were given, and then Jesus made it personal: “Who do you say that I am?” When Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Jesus declared that Peter was blessed by the Father with supernatural revelation that could not come by reasoning process or by the instruction of men. Only the Spirit of God can show us who Jesus is by revealing Him in agreement with the Scriptures. If the revelation you have received does not square with the Jesus of the apostles and the Scriptures, you need to scrap that revelation and turn to the truth as quickly as possible. In 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 we are warned that through a deception similar to what happened in the Garden of Eden, our minds may be corrupted to believe in another Jesus, one that is different from the one presented by Paul and the other writers of Scripture.
I hear many who are excited in our time because people like Glenn Beck are calling us to return to God and to Jesus for the restoration of our nation. That’s a good idea, but don’t go to Beck’s Jesus, for as a Mormon, he is talking about a different Jesus than the one the Bible speaks of. There are those who find it difficult to comprehend the Trinitarian teaching of the Scripture, so they change the nature of Jesus to make it more understandable. This is not acceptable! You end up with another Jesus, a different gospel, and leave yourself open to other levels of deception.
There are certain things to be passionate about, and this is one of them. I’m not talking about mindless acceptance – believe me, there is so much room for inquiry into the vast realms of the knowledge of the Son of God – but it must be inquiry within the boundaries, the ‘brick wall’ of the nature of Christ as revealed in the Bible. Though He is beyond comprehension, He will fascinate you and thrill you with the revelation of who He is as our Champion, our Prophet, Priest, and King.
Gary Wiens
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