Faith for Faith

We hear it incessantly. “Truth is relative.” “There is no one way to God.” “All will be redeemed if their good deeds outweigh their evil ones.” On and on we receive commentary from mortal men that is based upon their humble estimations about who an immortal God is and how he acts. And even among those who claim to seek their understanding about God from an outside source such as the Book of Mormon or the Quran, we start to see some striking similarities among them all.

This similarity is this, namely that there is good and there is evil, and men, in order live eternally, must do more good deeds than evil deeds. It is the burden of men, not to know God chiefly, but to appease him with works. It is pervasive among all religions, whether they be personally conjured or based upon antiquity, and they all share the exact same principle though expressed in different terminology and played with different sorts of rules. Well, that is all religions save one.

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | No Comments »

Being that in our course of questions we have to the question, “Why then the Law?” it is fitting that we remain with the one who drove us most quickly to the point—the apostle Paul. He answers this question, writing:

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe (Gal. 3:19-22).

To answer our present question, “Why then the Law?” the most obvious course is to unpack the answer that the apostle gives. However, before we begin to answer that question, it is good to reiterate what has brought us to this point.

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | No Comments »

When we speak about the Law in Christianity, it is an extremely touchy subject. It is such because there are so many varying understandings and applications of it that one can scarcely make any comment on the subject whatsoever without offending someone. And because the responses to critiques are such, few venture to comment on it not wishing to dirty their hands in the process. Therefore, we have little in way of healthy discussion upon the Law and its implications on Christian life, and we see bits and pieces taken from the Law applied here and there in church settings without much explanation as to why some laws are valid and why others are considered annulled.

However, when we turn to the New Testament and especially in the writings of Paul, we find that the authors are not hesitant in the least to address the matter. Paul’s letter to the Galatian church, for example, is almost in full an explanation of the Law and a critique of the Galatian church’s view and practice of it. Since the New Testament writers (i.e. those who lived and wrote after the coming of Christ) are not silent on the Law, why have we become so? And even if we have not been silent, why is there a seeming disparity between our own interpretations and applications?

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | 2 Comments »

Fire is the most ravenous force in nature. Its very existence is contingent upon that which is feeds, and it feeds upon its prey until it is brought to nothing. And when its prey is exhausted, the fire, as powerful as it might have been at one point, is exhausted as well and disappears into nonexistence.

When it is controlled, fire is to men a useful tool to eliminate that which is waste so as to free up space for that which is not. When it is not controlled, it is a decimating force that feeds and feeds until all of its resources are spent and all that is left in its wake is in utter ruin. It is a force to be harnessed, and it is a force to be feared when it is untamed.

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | No Comments »

From observation and experience, I believe it is safe to presume that ingrained in every human being is a desire to do something great with our lives–to make our short stint in this world count for something. Perhaps greater than the fear of death is this fear that we would have finished our lives unnoticed by the world and that our very existence would be forgotten by most soon after we die. For while we all know that we are mortal and that we shall all die (be it ten years or sixty years from now), many, if not all, of us feel that if we can be remembered for something after we die, we will achieve some sort of immortality in this world.

And while we who are Christians profess our immortality to be vested Elsewhere, we are certainly not exempt from this desire to be remembered in this age. And while our ambitions might be sanctified to some degree when compared to those of the world, the underlying desire is the same—to be remembered on this earth after we have passed from it.

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | 1 Comment »

When the offices of the church are spoken of, there is hardly more debate surrounding their discussion than there is about the phrase of the apostle Paul in 1Timothy, namely, “He must be the husband of one wife” (cf. 1Tim. 3:2, 12). Many have interpreted the apostle’s meaning to be that an elder or deacon must be married in order to serve the church in those offices hence fulfilling their interpretation of the “husband of one wife” requirement.” Others yet have taken the phrase to mean that an elder or deacon cannot have been divorced and remarried, for that person would in some way be the husband of two wives (though he be technically married to one). Others have combined the two to disallow divorced men from serving as an elder or deacon altogether, for they say that a man must be married (hence fulfilling the first interpretation) and since a divorced single man is not married, he cannot fulfill that requirement, and, furthermore, a divorced remarried man cannot fulfill that requirement, because he is the husband of multiple wives (from the second interpretation).

These interpretations, coupled with a fundamentalist conception that divorce is at all times unacceptable irrespective of circumstance, have essentially disqualified all divorced men from having leadership and service roles in the church, even those whose divorces took place before they believed in Christ. And though divorce should certainly be taken into consideration when reviewing the qualifications of leader or servant of the church (as should a plethora of other factors), I think that a different interpretation in light of the apostle’s context will show that the apostle did not have the subject of divorce in mind when he penned his letter two millennia ago.

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | 2 Comments »

It is difficult to pinpoint its source, but there is something about Sundays that causes to me to be discontent with the state of the church in our country. And its effects upon me are such that I have to almost force myself to go to the building that we call, “the church,” on Sunday mornings though I scarcely doubt that God’s saints do indeed gather there. And if this discontentment with Sundays were coupled with a disdain for fellowship with the saints, I would necessarily conclude that my own heart was to blame for it. Yet, I find that despite my discontentment with “church” on Sunday mornings I do in fact enjoy and indeed yearn for fellowship with God’s people. Therefore the question that rests heavy upon my heart is, “If I am indeed in Christ and if I truly long for the company of the saints, why is then that I have such reluctance toward “church” on Sunday mornings?”

Assuming that I am not wholly wicked (which is sometimes a shaky assumption), what is it about "church” on Sunday mornings that causes my heart at times to shy away from it rather than be drawn to it? What merit (if any) is there for this disposition of my heart?

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | 1 Comment »

With the ferocity for which it is argued, it is not difficult to surmise that the matter of Christian Giving is not a light one. And more often than not, when the subject is brought up in Christian circles, Christian Giving is synonymous with the tithe, i.e. ten percent of one’s pre-taxed income given to one’s local church. It is a principle that has been with many churches for a long time, and as such it has been one that has become foundational and nearly irrefutable. Many churches have been so enamored with the tithe that it has become to them as unquestionable as the deity of Christ, his virgin birth, the Trinity, etc. Therefore, when questions are raised which offer the slightest hint of opposition to the antiquated ordinance, the church arms itself as it would against heresy and casts the labels of rebellious and liberal upon those who would seek to understand Christian Giving in a different manner.

And as such, it matters very little that opposition against the principle of the tithe is brought with the desire for biblical fidelity, for it is to them foundational and irrefutable. Therefore, for those who seek to establish a biblical pattern of Christian Giving with their own lives that is not necessarily opposed to tithing (that is, not opposed to tithing for the sake of being opposed to tithing without Scriptural warrant) but is desirous to live lives that accord with God’s Word in all matters of life including giving, the battle is for them an uphill one. For it is not (in many cases) a matter of “Let us search the Scriptures for understanding,” but it is rather a matter of “Why do you break the traditions of the elders?” And as such, one might quote and discern Scripture till he blue is in the face, and yet he will gain little ground in the battle for common understanding.

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | 2 Comments »

It is hard fact with which to come to grips, but it is such a fact nonetheless. Having grown up in the South where there is without a doubt a Christian religiosity that pervades the culture, one is hard-pressed to see where Christianity begins and where the culture ends. And though it is clear that it is not the entire culture that consists of this Christian influence, there is a strong subculture that calls itself Christian, speaks words that are Christian, and believes that it is Christian, though its Christianity is oftentimes in conflict with what seems to be the Christianity of the Bible.

And discerning this is terribly difficult task, especially when you have been brought up in such a culture. And to make things all the more difficult, there is not a black and white line that distinguishes the two, for there are within this Christian subculture many who are indeed in Christ and who serve him as best they know how in the mindset in which they have been raised. They, including myself, have been brought up hearing the name of Jesus Christ, the stories of his life, the teachings from his mouth, etc., and they follow these things according to the manner which their predecessors followed them, and their predecessors before them, and their predecessors before them.

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | 4 Comments »

Repost: A brother asked this question of me, and I think it is an excellent question: “What did Christ mean when he cried out upon his death, ‘My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?’ (Mt. 27:46).” It is an excellent question biblically, and it is also an excellent question because of modern interpretations of it–some of them helpful and true, and others just plain strange. And the question boils down to two interpretive questions: Was Christ making some sort of commentary upon his crucifixion by crying out those words, or was he crying out a reality that was true of the time when he was crying it out, namely that God the Father had in reality forsaken him?

Before we seek to interpret what Christ was meaning when he spoke his famous last line before his death, it is important that we understand the words themselves and how a witness to the crucifixion (either at time of Christ’s crucifixion or through the lens of Scripture) who knew his Bible well would understand the cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Continue Reading »

Posted by D. Matthew Brown under Theology | No Comments »