More on theology and music

In a post last march, I mentioned the insights of theologian -musician Jeremie Begbie, who explores the interplay of theology and music.

In a new video, Begbie discusses the interplay of theology and the arts - music in particular. Begbie understands that the creativity expressed in composing and playing music, is a way in which we share in the free yet ordered (perichoretic) communion of the Father-Son-Spirit.

God shares this communion with us in and through the Son of God incarnate, Jesus Christ, who in his own person is the union of our humanity with God's divinity. This permanent union opens to us, through the indwelling Spirit, the opportunity for our participation in what Jesus, the God-man, is doing in the Spirit within our world.

Music is one of his masterful, creative tools. It is our joy to join with him, and in so doing to learn more about the harmonies of his union with all the cosmos. Play on!

New booklet on trinitarian theology

Grace Communion International (sponsor of this blog) recently published a booklet titled "A Brief Introduction to Trinitarian Theology" Click here to read it online (and the online version tells you how to order a printed copy).

This booklet presents key precepts of Christ-centered, trinitarian (sometimes called "incarnational") theology; summarizes the history of the development of this theology; and answers typical questions and objections.

Theology speaks to all of life

Mention the word theology and some people yawn while others run for the door. For many, theology is "ivory tower" stuff with little relevance to "real life."

How sad, for true theology (God knowledge) speaks directly to the ultimate "real life," which is the triune communion of the Father-Son-Spirit that they are sharing with all humanity in and through their union with all people (indeed the whole cosmos) in the person of the God-man, Jesus Christ.

Trinitarian, incarnational theology addresses this abiding union of grace, which is the "truth of all truths." It is the "logic" - the "reality" by which we rightly address all other issues/truths including the nature of humanity (anthropology), the nature of the church (ecclesiology) and the nature of Christian mission (missiology):

1. Anthropology. We understand that humankind is united to the triune God through the incarnation of the Son of God in the person of the man Jesus. Understanding who God is, leads to a right understanding of humanity as the accepted, forgiven and dearly loved children of God.

2. Ecclesiology. We understand that the church is the assembly of all who, through the ministry of the Spirit, have come to understand and embrace their identity as God's children, and have committed to following Jesus as one of his disciples.

3. Missiology. We understand that God the Father has a mission, that he sends Jesus, in the Spirit, to fulfill within our world. Jesus then sends the Spirit to call and gift his church to participate with him as his "Ambassadors" in fulfilling the Father's mission. In that sense, the church does not have a mission, rather, the Father's mission has a church. Our calling to mission is not to a mission "for" Jesus, but "with" Jesus. We join him in what he is already doing in our world - which is multiplying his disciples (followers). Indeed, God (like a good father) disciplines ("disciples") those he loves, and God's discipling is fully relational. He disciples by sharing his life and love with others. Thus our call to share in the Father's mission with Jesus is a call to be "place-sharers" with Jesus, in the Spirit. This is the ongoing, incarnational loving and living (ministry) of Jesus.

For more on mission as "place-sharing" I highly recommend the book Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry by Andrew Root. As the title suggests, it focuses on youth ministry, but its principles are applicable to all types of Christian ministry.

Mourning the loss of Ray Anderson

We are saddened to learn that Professor Ray Anderson died on Father's Day (June 21). As a trinitarian-incarnational minister, theologian and professor, Anderson made many important contributions to our understanding of the life and love of our triune God into which we are adopted in Jesus.

To read an obituary on the Faith and Theology blog, click here. To view a tribute video, click here.

To listen to two "You're Included" interviews with Anderson click here for interview #1 and here for interview #2.

Can you be "included," in Christ, yet not "have the Spirit"?

In Rom. 8:9, Paul writes: "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." How does this statement square with many biblical statements that testify to the present inclusion of ALL humanity in God's love and life through the representative - substitutionary (vicarious) humanity of Jesus? Also, what does Paul mean by "have" the Spirit? And, can a person be included in Jesus, yet not "have the Spirit"?

The reality presented in Scripture (and I am indebted here to helpful comments from Dr. Joseph Tkach and Dr. Gary Deddo), is that the Spirit is always working with everyone (believers and non-believers alike). However, it is believers who are both aware of and receptive to the Spirit's work. While all people have been reconciled to the Father through Jesus' vicarious humanity, not all believe - and thus not all actively participate in God's new creation of humanity in Jesus.

Thus there is a difference between believers (those who embrace their inclusion in Jesus) and those who have yet to do embrace what they have already been given. So when Paul says, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ,” we understand him to mean that though all are included (loved, forgiven and accepted by the Father), not all believe this, and thus not all actively participate in the life that is theirs with God, in Christ.

Paul tells us in Rom. 5:10 that we were reconciled to God "when we were God's enemies" - not when we "turned to God" in belief. Reconciliation on God's part toward us occurred prior to any personal response. In Adam, all humans were God’s enemies, but now through Jesus' life, death, resurrection, ascension and his pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh, all humans are included in Jesus (the last Adam) and are thus no longer God’s enemies; no longer condemned; but reconciled; forgiven; accepted; and unconditionally loved as God's dear children. That is the gospel (the good news).

In Rom. 9, Paul exhorts believers (those who embrace God's reconciling work, in Jesus, on their behalf) to actively, through the Spirit, participate in their reconciliation (inclusion) in Christ. This is what Paul means when he writes of "walking in the Spirit." All are included, but not all walk in the Spirit. In that sense, not all “have” the Spirit - it is not the defining, dominant reality of their lives. Indeed, to "belong to Christ" is to believe, receive, and through the Spirit, actively participate in Christ's continuing human life.

But note: we can't share what we don’t already have. Our belief (faith and repentance) does not create our reconciliation (our inclusion; also referred to by Paul as our "adoption") - it does not create our true identity as God’s children. Rather, we believe because we are already included/adopted. Through belief, we come alive to what is already true. Like the prodigal son, we turn our hearts to the home we already have with the father who already loves and accepts us.

Note also that no one is able to declare that Jesus is Lord, except by the Spirit that draws them to the Son. Thus personal belief is, itself, a sign of the Spirit's presence with, and work in, that person prior to their belief. Then as a believer responds to the Spirit's work, there are deeper "fillings" of the Spirit in their life of growth in Christ. This filling is not some sort of mechanical, automatic, cause-and-effect process - indeed it is part of a dynamic, ongoing relationship with God, made possible for us by Jesus as, in the Spirit, he shares with us his transformed humanity. Jesus opened the door for all of us to be indwelt by his very Spirit.

Irenaeus on the Trinity

In about A.D. 180, Irenaeus (pictured at left) wrote the following important statement concerning the triune God (quoted from "The Christian Theology Reader" by Alister McGrath, p. 93).

We find here the basic elements of the doctrine of the trinity. Note, in particular, the distinct role of each member of the Godhead and its relationship to all of humanity.

This is the rule of our faith, the foundation of the building, and what gives support to our behavior.

God the Father uncreated, who is uncontained, invisible, one God, creator of the universe; this is the first article of our faith.

And the second is: The Word of God, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who appeared to the prophets according to their way of prophesying and according to the dispensation of the Father. Through him all things were created. Furthermore, in the fullness of time, in order to gather all things to himself, he became a human being amongst human beings, capable of being seen and touched, to destroy death, bring life, and restore fellowship between God and humanity.

And the third article is: The Holy Spirit, through whom the prophets prophesied, and our forebears learned of God and the righteous were led in the paths of justice, and who, in the fullness of time, was poured out in a new way on our human nature in order to renew humanity throughout the entire world in the sight of God.

Are Jesus and his Father of one mind?

Sadly, some theologies present a Godhead that is divided in mind and heart. On the one hand, Jesus is presented as the "friend of sinners." But on the other, God the Father is presented as angry with sinners - so "holy" in fact, that he refuses to be in their presence.

But trinitarian, Christ-centered theology declares the gospel to be the truly good news that it is for both believers and non-believers. This good news is grounded in the truth that the Father, Son and Spirit are of one mind and heart in their unconditional love for all humanity. 

I think it was TF Torrance who wrote, "There is no other God behind the back of Jesus."  The point is that there is not another God who is unlike Jesus. God the Father, just like Jesus, loves and embraces all humanity, having acted in love (in and through Jesus' incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension), to include us all in his life.

Sadly, many people (non-Christians and Christians) think that the Bible teaches a gospel that is more bad news than it is good. Their common misconception of the gospel (and of God) is spoofed in a YouTube cartoon (click here to view) - it's pretty funny (if a bit profane). I laughed - but then I cried - wishing that the non-believing central character (pictured above) would come to understand the actual gospel of Jesus that the triune God really does love, want and accept him. I'd be interested in what you think of the cartoon.

A trinitarian perspective on Christian discipleship

In "The Call to Discipleship," trinitarian theologian Karl Barth (pictured at left) discusses Christian discipleship. In doing so, he interacts with Scripture (particularly Jesus' Sermon on the Mount) and related views set forth by his friend and colleague Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Bonhoeffer's classic book, "The Cost of Discipleship" (published originally as "Discipleship"). 

Following are selected quotes from Barth's short, but helpful book (Fortress Press edition, 2003).

'Follow me' is [Jesus' call] to discipleship... Easily the best that has been written on this subject is to be found in 'Discipleship,' by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (pp. 1-2).

Following [Jesus] as [his first disciples] practiced it... had both an inward and an outward limit... They [accompanied] him wholeheartedly and constantly, sharing his life and destiny at the expense of all other engagements and commitments, attaching themselves to him, placing themselves in his service, and thus showing that they are qualified to be his disciples; not as though the messianic salvation is ascribed only to them, or even to them in particular, but as those who particularly attest and proclaim it. Their qualification as disciples, and therefore discipleship...is a gift, a 'being fit' for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62), a capacity with which they are endowed (p. 5).

The call to discipleship is the particular form of the summons by which Jesus discloses and reveals himself to individuals in order to claim and sanctify them as his own, and as his witness in the world. It has the form of a command of Jesus directed to them. It means the coming of grace, for what is disclosed and revealed in Jesus is the reconciliation of the world with God... and therefore the fullness of salvation. But as it encounters them in this summons, grace has the form of command... The grace that comes to them requires that they could do something, i.e., follow Jesus. It is thus a grace that commands. Jesus is seeking people to serve him. He has already found them to the extent that he has elected them as ordained to this end. They are already his people even as he claims them. He thus establishes his particular relationship to them by commanding them. He does this in his authority as the Son of Man who is their Lord...  Jesus is already the Lord of those whom he calls to follow (pp. 7-8).

The call to discipleship binds a person to the One who calls him. He is not called by an idea of Christ, or a Christology, or a christocentric system of thought... We must be careful that we do not conceal the living Jesus behind such schemata... Discipleship is not a recognition and adoption of a program, ideal or law, or the attempt to fulfil it.... If the word 'discipleship' is in any way used to denote something general and not a concrete and therefore a concretely filled-out event between Jesus and this particular person, the command 'Follow me' can only be described as quite meaningless. For the only possible content of this command is that this or that specific person to whom it is given should come to, and follow, and be with, the one who gives it...That a person should come to him is the one complete work that one is called to do. We may say, therefore, that in practice the command to follow Jesus is identical with the command to believe in him (p. 13).

His summons is... that they should give to him... a true and serious and total faith: not a mere acceptance of the fact that he is their Lord nor an idle confidence that they are helped by him; but... acceptance and confidence as faith that is lived out and practiced by them; a faith that is proved to be a true and serious faith by the fact that it includes at once their obedience - what Paul called the "obedience of faith" in Rom. 1:5 and 16:26, and "obey Christ" in 2Cor. 10:5... Faith is not obedience, but as obedience is not obedience without faith, faith is not faith without obedience. They belong together... (pp.16-17).

[Obedience of faith] always involves the decision of a new day; the seizing of a new opportunity that was not present yesterday but is now given in and with the call of Jesus. Inevitably, people who are called by Jesus renounce and turn away from themselves as they were yesterday. To use the important New Testament expression, they 'deny themselves' (p. 20).

Self-denial in the context of following Jesus involves a step into the open, into the freedom of a definite decision and act in which it is with a real commitment that [that] person takes leave of himself or herself, of the person of yesterday, of the person she or he was; in which one gives up the previous form of one's existence, hazarding and totally compromising oneself without looking back or considering what is to become of herself or himself, because what matters is not now oneself but that one should do at all costs that which is proposed or demanded, having no option but to decide and act in accordance with it - cost what it may... It is a matter of doing that which is proposed to us by Jesus... What Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls 'simple obedience.' Obedience is simple when we do just what we are told - nothing more, nothing less, and nothing different... This alone is the brave act of faith in Jesus (pp. 24-26).

...What does it mean to follow [Jesus]? What is commanded is obviously that we should come to Jesus; that we should believe in him as God; that [we] should believe in God by believing in him; that we should trust him wholly and utterly; that we should be willing and ready, therefore, for every hazard or venture or sacrifice that in a given situation might prove to be necessary to confirm this trust... Obedience [to Jesus] means an inward liberation from everything in which we might otherwise put our trust... We are free... to do that which is explicitly commanded. But do we have to do it? No, for that would be a legalistic interpretation of the command. [Rather, we are called to] the obedience of faith... grateful appropriation of the salvation which comes with Jesus' call to discipleship (pp. 28-29).

If we will not bear the yoke of Jesus, we have to bear the yoke we ourselves have chosen, and it is a hundred times more heavy (p. 33).

We lose our souls, and hazard our eternal salvation, if we will not accept the public responsibility which we assume when we become disciples of Jesus (p. 42).

The commanding of Jesus' [original disciples] does not establish... an action that is normative for all his disciples in every age and situation.... There is only the new commanding of Jesus in its relationship to this particular person elected by him and in this particular time and situation... This new commanding of his is the concrete form in which he calls these people, here and now, to discipleship, and therefore sanctifies them (pp. 46-47).

[A wrong interpretation of the Gospels] led to the mistaken attempt to create out of these directions a new law... a general mode of Christian action in opposition to that of worldly action. This truth is, however, that what the Gospel sayings about the following of his disciples really preserve [for us] are certain prominent lines along which the concrete [and personal] commanding of Jesus, with its demands for concrete obedience, always moved in relation to individuals... And the lines recorded in the Gospel[s] all agree that person is always called to make a particular penetration of the front of the general action and abstention of others; to cut loose from a practical recognition of the legalism determined by the dominion of worldly authorities (pp. 48-49).

We have to hear [Jesus'] voice as he speaks to us, calling us in the particular situation of obedience determined by his Word. It is not enough... merely to copy in our activity the outlines of that in which [the early disciples] had to obey his demands... it might well be disobedience to be content to imitate them, for if we are to render [to Jesus] simple obedience it must be to the One who... calls us today... What we find along these lines [of Jesus' will and way] can never be a mere advice of the gospel. It is always a binding mandate of the gospel that demands the response of a corresponding decision and action" (p. 71).

He is ascended!

Though often minimized, the doctrine of Jesus' bodily ascension is of great importance. It proclaims that the ascended Jesus remains fully God and fully human (now glorified human). When Jesus ascended, he did not shed his humanity, but ascended bodily into heaven (where he remains until he returns bodily at the end of the age). 

In his ongoing humanity, Jesus continues to be our representative and substitute (the One for the many; the many in the One). Thus Paul can declare that when Jesus ascended, all humanity ascended with and in him: "It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus..." (Eph. 2:5b-6). 

You may be asking, Where does Scripture say that Jesus remains human? Note the following verses:

• "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1Tim. 2:5, emphasis added).
  
• "For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:31, emphasis added).
  

You may also be asking, What difference does it make that Jesus remains forever human?  The answer is multifaceted and I urge reading "Jesus Ascended" by Gerrit Dawson, for a complete and inspiring answer.  But let me mention now that Jesus' ascension speaks to Jesus' role as our mediator.  His mediation (uniting God and humanity) occurs through the continuing (permanent) union of God and humankind in his own person. Thus, Jesus' mediation is not merely what Jesus DOES; it is what Jesus IS. 

In Jesus the God-man, we have a "merciful and faithful high priest" (Heb. 2:17) who forever shares our humanity (v. 14). Jesus not only MAKES the covenant between God and humanity, he IS the covenant (see Heb. 9:15ff).  And because this is so, we may approach God through and in Jesus with confidence (10:35), "running" our "race" in union with Jesus, sharing in his hope-filled perseverance (12:1).

Trinitarian family relations

The topic of family relations is vital in life (including Christian ministry). Our calling in the Spirit is to think and act out of the truth of the gospel, which is that all humanity is united to God (and one another) in the person of the incarnate, crucified, risen and ascended God-man Jesus. 

To inform our thinking along these lines, I recommend the following biblically-based resources: 

• Gary Deddo on trinitarian family relations (click here)
  
• Gary Deddo on why we're gendered beings (click here)
  
• Gary Deddo on sexual identity (click here)
  
• Tom Smail on "Perichoretic Parenting" (click here)
  
• Andrew Root on "Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry" (click here)