The Book "What is Faith?"

"What is Faith? or what is "biblical faith" juxtaposed with the fanciful "faith" of the unbeliever and misguided believers alike is the issue that J. Gresham Machen discusses in his book "What is Faith?" I loved this book. I would recommend this book as an apology to any Christian or non-Christian alike who is interested in the issues regarding the principles and foundations of saving faith. In this book, Dr. Machen addresses the misunderstandings and erroneous philosophies of modernity, including the anti-intellectualism and make-shift mysticism that pervades modern Christendom. Interestingly, many of the issues that are addressed have progressed into our day and are still entrenched in the spirituality/skepticism that is often termed "faith." Dr. Machen presents himself as a tremendous theologian/philosopher and wields his words as an apologist, anticipating and answering the arguments that arise. In essence, faith must be born out of a tremendous need and must be answered by the specific work of Christ alone, as He is faithfully presented in the Gospel. Therefore, it must have knowledge as its supreme foundation, it must assent to the truth, and it must trust in the revealed truth, as it sees God as only and effectually trustworthy. Machen asserts that faith is well-grounded, rational, real, passive, as well as active. It is founded upon objective facts, not human observations. He addresses fallacious positions on church dogma, including the doctrines of justification, sanctification, and the law of God, bringing light upon the historic reformed positions, as they are so beautifully revealed and made known in the Scriptures.

I would also recommend this book as an excellent manual for evangelism and church pedagogy. Machen has a well-grasped understanding of the fallen mind as well as the fallen opinions of men and answers many of their objections to Christian faith.

Machen is no dry theologian, an old bag of useless or overdone platitudes. He is a man of tremendous faith and love for Christ, His church, and fallen humanity as a whole. I thank the Lord that he has called such tremendous shepherds to correct and encourage his flock, bringing them back to the pastures of purity and truth. It's true: liberty of conscience is found only in the revealed and effectual Word, not in the gross and sordid opinions of men.

I'll close with a choice quote from the last chapter titled "Faith And Hope":

"It is a poor religion that can abandon to science the whole realm of objective truth, in order to reserve for itself merely a realm of ideals. Such a religion, at any rate, whatever estimate may be given of it, is certainly not Christianity: for Christianity is founded squarely, not merely upon ideals, but upon facts. But if Christianity is founded upon facts, then it is not entirely independent of science; for all facts must be brought into some sort of relation. When any new fact enters the human mind it must proceed to make itself at home; it must proceed to introduce itself to the previous denizens of the house. That process of introduction of new facts is called thinking. And, contrary to what seems to be quite generally supposed, thinking cannot be avoided by the Christian man. The Christian religion is not an innocent but useless epiphenomenon, without interrelation with other spheres of knowledge, but must seek to justify its place, despite all the intellectual labour that that costs, in the realm of facts."

I realize that this is a short overview, but hopefully it will encourage you to go and pick up this great book that I believe has and will continue to stand the test of time until our blessed Christ returns. Soli deo Gloria!

The Lesson of the Law

J. Gresham Machen exhorts the church to have a faith that is born of an inherent and intrinsic need that one is made fully and often painfully aware of by the Spirit of God. As he analyzes and denounces the modern educational programs of moral reform, he explains how the modern view of moral pedigree in the school system is authoritative only insofar as experience is found. Because evil is not clearly presented as objective and contrary to a corporeal law that reaches far beyond American "values," the educators "will only serve, yet further, we fear, to undermine in the hearts of the people a sense of the majesty of the law of God." This ignorance of the law of God is made manifest all over the Gospels as well as in our midst today, not to mention Machen's. This is extremely pervasive in the unbiblical view of idealship, whereas Christ is made the ideal Christian which we are all to follow by example as prime model. Sadly, this is seen in much of BBC's ideology and professorship. Ignoring the claims of Christ that assert his holiness and Messiahship, the claims that are to bring the sinner to his knees in penitence, we look at Him as an ideal and a social worker. He is made a Friend, not a Savior. More than that, this improper view of law has become more than evident in the covenant nomism of the NPP and FV, though in different measure than idealship.

J. Gresham Machen says it well, "No man can call Jesus friend who does not also call Him Lord; and no man can call Him Lord who could not say first: "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." At the root of all true companionship with Jesus, therefore, is the consciousness of sin and with it the reliance upon His mercy; to have fellowship with Him it is necessary to learn the terrible lesson of God's law."...."A new and more powerful proclamation of that law is perhaps the most pressing need of he hour; men would have little difficulty with the gospel if they had only learned the lesson of the law. As it is, they are turning aside from the Christian pathway; they are turning to the village of Morality, and to the house of Mr. Legality, who is reported to be very skillful in relieving men of their burdens. Mr. Legality has indeed in our day disguised himself somewhat, but he is the same deceiver as the one of whom Bunyan wrote. "Making Christ Master" in the life, putting into practice "the principles of Christ" by one's own efforts-these are merely new ways of earning salvation by one's own obedience to God's commands. And they are undertaken because of a lax view of what those commands are. So it always is: a low view of law always brings legalism in religion; a high view of law makes a man a seeker after grace. Pray God that the high view may again prevail; that Mount Sinai may again overhang the path and shoot forth flames, in order that then the men of our time may, like Christian in the allegory, meet some true Evangelist, who shall point them out the old, old way, through the little wicketgate, to the place somewhat ascending where they shall really see the Cross and the figure of Him that did hang thereon, that at that sight the burden of the guilt of sin, which no human hand could remove, may fall from their back into a sepulchre beside the way, and that then, with wondrous lightness and freedom and joy, they may walk the Christian path, through the Valley of Humiliation and the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and up over the Delectable Mountains, until at last they pass triumphant across the river into the City of God."

Sola Gratia!

Heidelberg Catechism Q.45

Q. 45: What doth the resurrection of Christ profit us?

A.: First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, that He might make us partakers of that righteousness which He had purchased for us by His death; secondly, we are also by His power raised up to a new life; and lastly, the resurrection of Christ is a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.

1 Cor. 15:16
Rom. 6:4; Col. 3:1
1 Cor. 15; Rom. 8:11


Speaking of new life, my brother Josh's wife gave birth to a new child on Good Friday. Her name is Selah Joy Huff. You can read about it and see a bunch of pics of Selah at Josh's blog.

Machen and the Beauty of Condescending Deity

I realize I haven't blogged in quite some time, and I figured that good Friday would be as proper a day to start as any. Since graduating from school for now, I've had the chance to delve into such rich books that have profoundly fed my mind and spirit. Currently, I'm going through the Princeton theologians of old, men who embodied and defined the Reformational mandates and principles almost as greatly as the Westminster divines. I finished up Hodge's The Way of Life(which I would highly recommend as a profound presuppositional summary of the grounds and substance of the reformed faith) and I'm going through Machen's What is Faith? at this time. Today, as good Friday, I was finishing up his chapter titled "Faith in Christ." In this chapter, he discusses, among other things, the great difference between the historical and biblical "gospel about Jesus" and the modern "gospel of Jesus." Concluding the chapter, he states this:

"Reflections on the nothingness of human life, it must be admitted, are often rather dull; they clothe themselves readily in cant. But if a thing is true, it cannot become false by being hackneyed. And as a matter of fact, it cannot be denied that man is imprisoned on one of the smaller of the planets, that he is enveloped by infinity on all sides, and that he lives but for a day in what seemes to be a pitiless procession. The things in which he is interested, the whole of his world, form but an imperceptible oasis in the desert of immensity. Strange it is that he can be absorbed in things which from the vantage ground of infinity must seem smaller than the smallest playthings.
It cannot be denied: man is a finite creature; he is a denizen of the earth. From one point of view he is very much like the beats that perish; like them he lives in a world of phenomena; he is subject to a succession of experiences, and he does not understand any one of them. Science can observe; it cannot explain: if it tries to explain, it ceases to be science and sometimes become almost laughable. Man is certainly finite.
But that is not the whole truth. Man is not only finite: for he knows that he is finite, and that knowledge brings him into connection with infinity. He lives in a finite world, but he knows, at least, that it is not the totality of things. He lives in a procession of phenomena, but to save his life he cannot help searching for a first cause. In the midst of his trivial life, there rises in his mind one strange and overpowering thought-the thought of God. It may come by reflection, but subtle argument from effect to cause, form the design to the designer. Or it may come by a "sunset touch." Back of the red, mysterious, terrible, silent depths, beyond the silent meeting place of sea and sky, there is an inscrutable power. In the presence of it man is helpless as a stick or stone. He is as helpless, but more unhappy-unappy because of fear. With what assurance can we meet the infinite power? Its works in nature, despite all nature's beauty, are horrible in the infliction of suffering. And what if physical suffering should not be all; what of the sense of guilt; what if the condemnation of sonscience whould be but the foretaste of judgment; what if contact with the infinite should be contact with a dreadful infinity of holiness; what if the inscrutable cause of all things should turn out to be, after all, a righteous God?
The great beyond of mystery-can Jesus help us there? Make Him as great as you will, and still He may seem to be insufficient. Extend the domains of His power far beyond our ken, and still there may seem to be a shelving brink with the infinite beyond. And still we are subject to fear. The mysterious power that explains the world still, we say, will sweep in and overwhelm us and our Saviour alike. We are of all men most miserable; we had trusted in Christ; He carried us a little on our way, and then left us, helpless as before, on the brink of eternity. There is for us no hope; we stand defenseless at length in the presence of unfathomed mystery, unless-a wild- fantastic thought-unless our Saviour, this Jesus in whom we had trusted, were Himself in mysterious union with the eternal God. Then comes the full, rich consolation of God's Word-the mysterious sentence in Philippians: "who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God"; the strange cosmology of Colossians: "who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist"; the majestic prologue of the Fourth Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"; the mysterious consciousness of Jesus: "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."
These things have been despised as idle speculation, but in reality they are the very breath of our Christian lives. They are, indeed, the battle ground of theologians; the Church hurled anathemas at those who held that Christ, though great, was less than God. But those anathemas were beneficent and right. That difference of opinion was no trifle; there is no such things as "almost God." The though is blasphemy; the next thing less than the infinite is infinitely less. If Christ be the greatest of finite creatures, then still our hearts are restless, still we are mere seekers after God. But now is Christ, our Saviour, the One who says, "Thy sins are forgiven thee," revealed as very God. And we believe. It is the supreme venture of faith; faith can go no higher. Such a faith is a mystery to us who possess it; it is ridiculed by those who have it not. But if possessed it overcomes the world. In Christ all things are ours. There is now for us no awful Beyond of mystery and fear. We cannot, indeed, explain the world, but we rejoice now, that we cannot explain it. To us it is all unknown, but it contains no mysteries for our Saviour; He is one the throne; He is at the centre; He is ground and explanation of all things; He pervades the remotest bounds; by Him all things consist. The world is full of dread, mysterious powers; they touch us already in a thousand woes. But from all of them we are safe. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

-J. Gresham Machen What is Faith?

Rev. John Fleetwood and the Contemplations of the Lord's Supper

This is a very profound excerpt taken from Reverend John Fleetwood's book The Life of Christ, published in the early 1800s. Notice the reverent doxology intertwined with the beautiful theology.

"When we actually join in communion, we should be careful that our affections be properly directed and warmly engaged. To have our hearts fixed upon the vanities, the profits, and the cares of this world, is a direct violation of the ordinance; and therefore we should be extremely careful to maintain a right temper and behavior at that time. We should study to abstract our thoughts as much as possible from every foreign, every terrestrial consideration, and to have our passions fervently employed in the solemn service.

"Retire, O my soul (each of us should say) from this inferior scene of things; from all its pleasures and all its pursuits, and hold communion with the Almighty, and his Son, the immaculate Jesus. Meditate upon that infinite grace of Omnipotence, which formed the amazing plan that displayed pardon, peace, and endless happiness, to so undeserving a creature as thou art. Recollect that surprising condescension and tenderness of thy compassionate Redeemer, which induced him to bring down from heaven salvation to the sons of men. Call to mind the admirable instructions he offered, the charming pattern he exhibited, the hard labors and suffering he endured, in the course of his ministry: especially, call to mind the ignominy, the reproaches, the agonies he endured when he hung upon the cross, and purchased for thee eternal mercy. Think upon these affecting subjects, till thine heart is filled with sorrow for thine iniquities; till thy faith becomes lively, active, and fruitful; till thy gratitude and love are elevated to the highest pitch; till thy obedience is rendered uniform, steady, and complete.

Hast thou, O my God, the parent of universal nature!-hast thou so illustriously manifested thy compassion for sinners, as not to spare thine own Son: hast thou sent the Saviour into the lower world, in order to raise the children of men to immortality, perfection, and glory: and am I now in thy presence on purpose to celebrate this institution, which requireth me to commemorate the death of the great Messiah; to declare my public acceptance of his excellent revelation, and my regard to my Christian brethren?

May then the remembrance of his beneficence dwell upon my mind, and upon my tongue, for ever and ever! May I consider and comply with the intention of his Gospel; and may the sentiments of kindness and charity towards all my fellow mortals, and fellow disciples, reign in my breast, with increasing purity, with increasing zeal."

Let's Hear It For Kim Riddlebarger!!

Many of you may recall the controversy surrounding John Macarthur's message at his 2007 Shepherd's Conference entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is a Premillenialist." Also, you may remember the many uninformed, extremely controversial, and just plain nonsensical statements he made about amillennarians, all non-dispensationalists, calvinists, and John Calvin particularly.

Praise the Lord for our brother Kim Riddlebarger, who has finished and posted his response to Dr. Macarthur's statements. Dr. Riddlebarger has written extensively on the issue of eschatology, with his books A Case for Amillennialism and The Man of Sin. I also enjoy listening to his insights weekly on the White Horse Inn radio program, a round-table discussion hosted by Michael Horton.

If you are at all interested in the Dispensationalism vs. Reformed Theology debate, then I would recommend this article. He outlines very well the crucial nature of a Gospel-centered hermeneutic. It's very clear, very well-written, and just plain sweet.

Here's the link to Kim Riddlebarger's blog, the Riddleblog. He gives a small part of it right there on his blog. Then you have to click on his link at the bottom to read the whole thing, which I would encourage you to do. It'll melt your face.

Let me know what you guys think of it.

Graham Proclaims Edwards

A very interesting page that the Jonathan Edwards Center is doing on Billy Graham caught my eye. Countless times in many of my circles, Graham has been pronounced as almost a borderline heretic for being the champion of American Revivalism in the 20th Century, almost being cast as the 20th century Charles Finney. I would disagree with this. Charles Finney's heterodox means and message were no where close to Graham, for Finney's "gospel" was not Christian. Although I do not agree with Graham on many things, Graham was a man who sought to be faithful to presenting the Gospel to the people of His day, and he did not compromise in the areas that Finney did. He presented that all men are inherently sinful and that they needed a Redeemer.
Mark Driscoll states in his book The Radical Reformission...

"Rather than critiquing the methods of men like Dr. Graham, I am simply saying that we should follow their example and be faithful in our own day. Since the gospel must be contextualized in a way that is accessible to the culture and faithful to the Scriptures, God's people must continually review their presentation of the gospel to ensure that the form in which they present it is the most effective one."

For all of the criticism that Graham's gets, I was very encouraged to see that he preached America's most famous sermon during his Los Angeles Canvas Cathedral Crusade in 1949, the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards. This is a sermon that Finney would never have preached, for it appealed to the original sin of men and their need of a Mediator. It's interesting that Graham felt that the men and women of His day needed a timeless message such as this. Is the message of "Sinners" framed in such a way that it would affect the men and women of our day? I think so.

At the Jonathan Edwards Center At Yale University website, they are providing audio clips of Graham preaching this sermon. Although, I must say, I do not agree how Graham exchanged the notable Edwards phrase "pleasure" of God for "mercy" of God. They explain on the site that Edwards did not emphasize God's mercy in his sermon, but God's arbitrary pleasure. Graham sought to correct this. However, Edwards did not at all believe that the pleasure of God was arbitrary. Edwards was much in tune with the Reformers and Westminster divines who believed that the pleasure of God was providential, well-designed and correlated in such a way that His electing will demanded. I think "pleasure" is much more in tune with Edwards' meaning than "mercy."

Other than that, it's some pretty sweet stuff. Here's the Link. Enjoy....and be encouraged.