New Wine or Old?

A Traditional Vintage of Trinitarian Wine

Christians have been drinking a traditional vintage of trinitarian wine for quite a while now and many of us feel the time has finally come for something new. Maybe what we are thirsting for is really something so ancient that it just seems new to us. Something refreshing. Old dogmas and traditions don’t truly satisfy and we thirst for something better. Still, no one denies that there is something comforting and familiar about old wine. Maybe that’s why traditional dogma still maintains its “market share” in spite of its failure to touch the heart or enlighten the mind. This was made clear by Jesus when He said, “No one having drunk old wine desires new because he says the old is better”.

Old Wine is on the Shelf Everywhere

One thing that can be said for the old wine of trinitarian dogma is that it is on the shelf everywhere and is easy to find. Because there is so much of it the price is pretty good too! All you have to do is attend a church that espouses the dogma of the trinity and you’ll probably feel that you’re in pretty good shape spiritually. That’s not a high cost at all and it’s no wonder that this kind of old wine is so popular and well known. The liquor stores (churches) that still sell the trinity carry on as if everything is just fine but in the words of Bob Dylan, “The times they are a changing.”

Something is Changing Indeed!

When you consider the long arc of history it starts to become apparent that something is changing indeed! Trinitarian theologians bemoan the fact that we are living in a “post-Chalcedonian age”. That’s just a polite way of saying that Christians aren’t as impressed (intimidated perhaps?) by church councils, creeds and the doctrine of the trinity as they were in earlier times. This development is regarded as catastrophic in some circles but we think it’s a good thing. Many Christians in our time have re-discovered a very ancient wine that knows nothing of three divine “persons” or the heady intellectualism of platonic philosophy. Instead, we proclaim a gloriously simple gospel that insists on One God and His only begotten (and human) son, Jesus Christ our Messiah.

Although the ancient wine we offer at wonderfultheology.com may not be widely available in mainline churches it is readily available on the pages of your Bible. Take a look with fresh eyes and take a drink with your old thirst and see for yourself.

Here’s New Wine Worth Drinking

There is but one God. He is the God of Israel and He is the God of Jesus. His only begotten Son, the man Christ Jesus was born of a virgin and tempted in all points like we are. He was one of us! He was filled with the Spirit of God without measure and went about doing good. The rulers of Israel hated Him because He defied their man-made traditions and so they crucified Him but God raised Him from the dead and now He sits at the right hand of God. The glorious offer He makes to us is the promise and blessing of immortality. This understanding of God and Christ is new wine worth drinking and these are things worth thinking about. Why not take a sip and see for yourself?

Mary Annoys Martha

There’s an interesting account in the New Testament of a time when Jesus was teaching his disciples and Mary annoyed Martha. Martha’s complaint was that Mary was just sitting around listening to Jesus and wasn’t helping out with dinner! Mary annoyed Martha so much that Martha went to Jesus and complained about her. Jesus acknowledged Martha’s complaint but said “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken away from her.” Now there’s no doubt that dinner is important and sharing the labor is important too. The problem was that Martha was tuned into making dinner and Mary was tuned into hearing from Jesus. That was the cause of friction between the two sisters.

This is really a story about the age old conflict between earthly things and spiritual. It’s a conflict that is still going on today and we see it all around us. These days there is no shortage of disputes that can pull us away from Christ and into the storms and passions of the world. Some Christians are passionate about elections and vaccines. Others have strong opinions about immigration and elected officials. Christians who are passionate about these earthly issues are seriously annoyed with other believers who disagree.

There are culture wars being fought and political lines have been drawn. Christian brothers are being set against each other. In the past year I have been shunned by a few Christian friends over earthly and cultural issues and another Christian brother even sent me a threatening text message. Current events just illustrate the conflict between earthly and spiritual things. People who try to follow Jesus need to be careful. Careful not to get so wrapped up in disputes about earthly things that they begin to despise their brothers and sisters in Christ. Careful to repent of darkened hearts and attitudes.

People are prone to giving their loyalty to leaders who claim to have the answers to all our problems but Christians should know better. The only leader who has any solutions to our dilemmas is Jesus Christ and when His administration takes office the world will be a far better place. In the meantime we should beware of individuals or groups that want to enlist us in their conflicts and earthly causes at the expense of Christian unity. Our banner is not red or blue. God has called us to be peacemakers.

Let’s Argue!

Christians love to argue! If you have any doubt about it just get a few believers together and bring up any doctrine you can think of. You’ll see in a hurry that we are a contentious bunch to be sure. Lord have mercy! We’ll argue over just about anything. We’ll argue about the second coming of Christ, the purpose and meaning of communion, spiritual gifts too and the list goes on and on. The debate about Christology has gone on for nearly two thousand years and shows no sign of slowing down. We all know there is no shortage of debatable points to argue about. Name any topic you like and you’ll see our motto seems to be “Let’s argue”.

Let’s Argue About Baptism

Baptism is an especially notable flash point. Many of Jesus’ disciples have been put to death by other Christians for their beliefs about baptism! There are lots of arguable points concerning baptism and believers love to debate all of them. Is baptism really necessary? If so, should we baptize infants or adults? Should we baptize by immersion or by sprinkling and by the way, who gets to do the baptizing? Do we baptize in the name of Jesus Christ or invoke the phrase “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”? The list of nuanced beliefs and disputes about baptism seems endless.

The First Argument About Baptism

Interestingly enough, the first argument about baptism occurred on the very day Jesus himself wanted to get baptized. Christ had come to John the Baptist to be baptized but John objected to the whole idea! The Baptist was silenced when Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so now to fulfill all righteousness.” At that point John quit arguing about baptism and simply did what Jesus asked. We think that was a good idea then… and we think it’s still a good idea today.

If Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, wanted to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness where does that leave us? Jesus was baptized Himself and instituted baptism for His disciples, so we are baptized. He was baptized in the Jordan River by immersion so likewise, we preach baptism by immersion. (In fact our word baptism comes from baptizo which means to dip or submerge). Somehow baptism fulfilled righteousness in Jesus’ life and somehow it fulfills righteousness in our lives too. This isn’t complicated!

If you still feel inclined to argue about baptism please consider John the Baptist and his response to Jesus. John had an opinion about baptizing Jesus but quickly abandoned his personal beliefs in favor of Christ’s. Maybe you should abandon your personal opinions too. Instead of arguing about baptism why not simply do what Jesus commanded? Someday you’ll be glad you did.

Saved by Faith… Plus Nothing?

The rallying cry of contemporary Christianity seems to be “saved by faith plus nothing!” As expressed by its most ardent proponents, faith plus nothing lends itself to what some call “easy believism”. This popular belief is decried by many as a dilution of what Jesus taught and a radical distortion of His teachings. Think of all those silly martyrs! Consider all the misguided believers who wandered through life bereft of comforts and security. And what about those faithful ones who struggled mightily against principalities and powers? The Apostle Paul could have saved himself a lot of trouble had he contented himself with faith plus nothing.

Faith Without Works is Dead

Martin Luther was mightily upset with the book of James and claimed it did not even belong in the Bible! “St. James’ Epistle is really an epistle of straw…We should throw (it) out of this school, for it doesn’t amount to much.” The problem was that the Book of James refuted Luther’s personal views so rather than change his views he attacked scripture. Where did James ever get the idea that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26)? Perhaps he got this wild idea from his half brother Jesus Christ Himself. James had known Jesus for his entire life and grown up with Him in the same household so perhaps he was onto something. I only wish we had a record of Martin Luther and the Apostle James talking this over. Now that would be an interesting dialogue!

It’s Possible to Please God!

Do we believe then that we are saved by faith? Of course we do! This is the essential transaction between the believer and his God. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6) but faith greatly pleases God. But does our faith give us permission to disregard and disobey the teachings of Jesus Christ? Of course not. Jesus told us His position plainly and in no uncertain terms! The essential point was: Don’t call me Lord unless you intend to do what I tell you. (Matthew 7:21-23 and Luke 6:46)

Where is “Plus Nothing” ?

We are wholeheartedly committed to the message of salvation by grace through faith. What we fail to see anywhere in scripture is that little addition…plus nothing. If Sola Scriptura means anything it means we don’t get to add our own thoughts and opinions to what is written in the Bible. (even if those thoughts seem plausible and can be shouted nicely from a pulpit)

This is Better Than Nothing!

Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Galatians 3:6) and then Abraham confirmed the authenticity of his faith by obedience. Abraham acted on his faith and sealed his covenant with God. Obedience was even required of our Savior who was made perfect through His obedience. Faith then is the beginning and ground of our walk with God but without obedience it means nothing. Our message begins with saved by grace through faith and concludes with loving God enough to obey Him. This is better than nothing… a lot better.

PS: Let’s not be foolishly blown about by every wind of doctrine that comes our way. Let’s be of full age and recognize that salvation is the gift of God and that mercy and justice are met in Jesus Christ! In our hearts we know that God expects more from us than just a polite nod in His direction. After all, He insists that we love Him with all of our hearts and minds and “this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (I John 5:3)

Biblical Agency… What’s That?

“It is the glory of a king to search out a matter.” This surely applies to students of the Bible! There is definitely no shortage of “matters” to search out in scripture! We look for insights and principles to guide us whenever we can. A principle that I have recently begun to appreciate more fully is the notion of Biblical Agency. Here’s an interesting article on it offered by a fellow believer and student of scripture named Carlos Xavier. This may not answer every question about God and Christ but it is certainly a step in that direction. Here is Carlos’ recent (and slightly edited) article that was printed in the “Focus on the Kingdom” newsletter of March 2022.

New Testament Christology (by Carlos Xavier)

“Of the greatest importance to NT Christology.” This quote is from one of the top biblical scholars of the 20th century, G.B. Caird from his book The Language and Imagery of the Bible, 1988, p. 181. “So completely is the ideal Davidic king identified with the purposes of God that he can be dignified with the titles of God himself [e.g., Ps 45:6]. This practice of treating the agent as though he were the principal is of the greatest importance for New Testament Christology.”

Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion

Regarding the word “agent” (Hebrew, Shaliach). “The main point of the Jewish law of agency is expressed in the dictum, a person’s agent is regarded as the person himself (Ned. 72B; Kidd, 41b). Therefore any act committed by a duly appointed agent is regarded as having been committed by the principal.” We find agency between people, ie. agents for other humans and also between divinity and humanity. Here are a few examples.

Gen. 43-44: The steward or servant of Joseph is treated by his brothers as Joseph himself.
Luke 7:6-10 The friends of the centurion speak as the centurion and are addressed by Jesus as the centurion himself. “The centurion sent friends to say to him saying “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him.”
John 3.22 says “Jesus was baptizing” but in the next chapter the same writer says “Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were” (John 4.2)!
Deuteronomy 29 contains an example of agency between divinity and humanity. Moses speaks as God in the first person. (but clearly Moses never claimed to be God) “Moses summoned all Israel and said to them…. I have led you forty years in the wilderness. “You have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God…You are standing today, all of you, before the LORD your God.” The Pulpit Commentary on v. 5: “Moses introduces Jehovah Himself as speaking to them.” Cambridge Bible for Schools & Colleges: “here the speaker’s personality is merged in that of the Deity.” It is clear that Moses and other Old Testament prophets were viewed as God’s agents.

Other Examples of Biblical Agency

Deuteronomy 31:3, “YHWH your God is the one who will pass before you….Joshua is the one who will pass before you.” (Joshua is treated as YHWH Himself) Joshua 24.1: “Joshua assembled all the tribes [and] they presented themselves before God.”
Ezekiel 37:24, “My servant David will be king over them. (King David identified with YHWH) And they will all have one shepherd.” Zechariah 14:9, “YHWH shall be king over the entire earth. And on that day He will be one and His name will be one.” Hosea 3:5, “Afterwards, the Israelites will return and seek Yehovah their God and David their king.”

New Testament Christology

In the New Testament, so completely is Jesus identified with His God and Father that the writers can use a so-called YHVH text from the OT and apply it to the Son without confusion. There are many of these well known usages of language that are not referring to some mysterious plurality of persons within the one God of Israel. For example Paul quotes Joel 2.32 in Rom. 10.13.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary New Testament, John 5:30.

“Jesus is thus a faithful shaliach, or agent; Jewish law taught that the man’s agent was as a man himself (backed by his full authority), to the extent that the agent faithfully represented him. Moses and the Old Testament prophets were viewed as God’s agents and often spoke for Him in the first person.” Note also that 4 of the 10 plagues performed by Aaron were said to have been performed by God.

Summary

Again, “much of the equivalence between Father and Son [in John] is phrased in language that stems from the Jewish concept that the one who is sent (shaliach) is completely the representative of the one who sends him. Because Jesus is an agent who is God’s own Son, John deepens the legal relationship of agent and sender to a relationship of likeness of nature, still not in philosophical terms, however.” And that’s according to the noted Catholic scholar Raymond Brown, The Gospel According to John, p. 632.

Lastly, Peder Borgen another scholar who Brown quotes as the expert on this topic adds: The saying in John 12:44 “He who believes in me, believes not in me but in Him who sent me” is a very close parallel to the saying by the king in a quotation from the Siphre (an ancient rabbinic text) The same idea, that dealing with the agent is the same as dealing with the sender himself, is found in all four gospels. [See Matt. 10:40; Matt. 18 : 5; Mark 9 : 37; Luke 9 : 48 and John 13:20] The essential message is that, “he who receives any one whom I send receives me; he who receives me receives Him who sent me.”

Carlos Xavier

PS: Many students of scripture understand this principle on an intuitive level. This essay by Carlos Xavier helps us see clearly on an intellectual level something we knew in our hearts to be true all along.