Standing on the Rock
by James Montgomery Boice
Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 1984
James Montgomery Boice is one of my favourite writers. His biblical expository sermons are always great reading and his book Foundations of the Christian Faith is one of the best treatments of Christian doctrine for the general reader.
Standing on the Rock is Dr Boice's treatment of the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. Obviously this is a key doctrine for all evangelicals, because if the basis for our faith - the revelation of God through the Scriptures - is not sound, then there are problems for all the other doctrines we believe and confess on the basis of Scripture. Biblical inerrancy is certainly a doctrine Dr Boice was well qualified to write about: he was president of the International Council for Biblical Inerrancy and was one of those involved in the production of the The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978) and The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982) - both of which are included as appendices in this book.
Far from being a technical or difficult read, Standing on the Rock, is written at a popular but serious level and would be ideal for anyone being introduced to what evangelicals believe about Scripture and looking for something just meaty enough to get their teeth into without biting off too much technically. It is full of useful illustrations and a few anecdotes that could also make it profitable for preachers preparing sermons on the subject of the authority of Scripture.
In turn Dr Boice treats the key subjects of inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy and hermeneutic principles for correct interpretation. The book also contains a chapter on alleged problems with biblical inerrancy, and a fine exposition of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 including the practical aspects of giving training in righteousness and correcting faults in our behaviour.
Here is a flavour of Boice's book as he here describes a key principle in Reformed hermeneutics, the analogy of faith:
"In simplest form, this means that if a passage of Scripture can be interpreted in two ways, one of which is in harmony with other passages of Scripture and one of which is not, we should choose the interpretation which is in harmony with other texts. This is not dishonest, as some would claim. It is only reasonable, the kind of thing we would readily do even with another human author, not to mention God." (p.75)
Far from being a dry and purely intellectual treatment, Dr Boice also takes the opportunity to challenge his readers as he expounds the principles of hermeneutics. For example, one of the principles he states is obeying God's Word.
"The Bible has been given by God to provoke a personal response in us. So, if we do not respond to it, we inevitably misuse the Bible (even in studying it) and misinterpret it...In its simplest form, this means that we must obey the Bible if we are to understand it in the fullest sense." (pp.82-83)
There are certainly other introductory level books that are just as good as this one (The Word of Truth by Robert Sheehan being an obvious choice) yet Standing on the Rock is well worth reading as an additional choice for the serious reader because it is rather more focused on the key doctrine of inerracy than more general works. Readers can then proceed with confidence to classic, more advanced treatements of the doctrine of Scripture by the likes of Pache, Gaussen, Warfield, and the relevant chapters in the standard systematic theologies.
Tuesday, 13 December 2005
Thursday, 1 December 2005
Christ is for Life, Not Just for Christmas
This is my editorial from our parish magazine for December
I thought it would be a real challenge to write something for the magazine that comes out in December without using the "C" word. After all (I told myself) this magazine takes us right through to the end of February. Who wants it all to be about you know what once we get into the new year? But then I realised what a foolish train of thought that is. If I took that approach I realised I would be guilty of following the mindset that produces the rampant commercialism we see at this time of year: pile them high, sell them dear, get it by and forget about it as quickly as possible. No sooner will the great day arrive than they'll start trying to sell us more stuff in the sales and then there will be the holiday offers, and then the DIY stuff, and then gardening equipment, and then...you know how it is...on and on until they start again in September for next December 25th!
But why should we, who know what it's really about, want to get it over with and then move on? I want to savour every bit of it and rejoice, taking in all it means.
So I changed my mind and decided to write about Christmas after all, because the truth is this: Christmas is for life, not just for Christmas. Doesn't matter if we think about it in February, or July, or October. Of course I don't mean the false, worldly, pagan Christmas. That really has no meaning. I mean the real Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ. Its meaning is for all year round because Christ is for life, not just for Christmas!
As the angels sang, His birth really is "good tidings of great joy" (Luke 2:10). The fact that God came down to earth in the Lord Jesus Christ changed everything forever. That's why Jesus is also known as "Immanuel," because He is "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). It shows that rather than being a distant maker who now has little or nothing to do with ordinary people like us and cares nothing for all the ups and downs of our lives, our God is right there with us through it all. He identifies with His people so completely that even though He is eternally "Spirit" (John 4:24), He was willing to be "manifested in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16) and "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14) so that He can "sympathise with our weaknesses" (Hebrews 4:15) in the person of His Son.
But even great news though that is, it doesn't even begin to exhaust the riches of God's grace to us in sending Jesus to be born in Bethlehem that first Christmas. The wonderful "glad tidings" -- the Christian gospel -- is that Jesus came not just to sympathise with us but to save us.
He came to save us from all our selfishness, all our pride, all our pettiness, all our prejudices and hatreds, all our failures, and all our wickedness. The only to adequately explain why it took God Himself to come to earth to rescue us is first to acknowledge that we were in need of being rescued! And then to recognise we needed to be rescued by God Himself because our situation was so bad that no one else could do it.
The reason for stressing the seriousness of sin is not to drive us to despair or depression, but to drive us into the saving arms of God! The Bible goes on about sin so you can see the dangerous spiritual position you are in if you are not in Christ; it stresses the sinner's helplessness so that you will abandon any attempt to rescue yourself. We just can't do it: "There is none righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:10). "No one is justified by the law in the sight of God" (Galatians 3:11). In other words, we can never please God by trying to be "good enough" or "do enough good".
But the glad tidings of Christmas is that salvation is by God's grace, not by our works. We are saved by what Jesus has done for us. Trying to do enough good to earn our way to heaven is impossible, but the hope of Christmas is that by instead trusting only in the Lord Jesus we shall be saved (Acts 16:31). Through His work -- in His coming as God and Man, living a perfect life, obeying all God's laws, bearing the punishment for our sins on the cross, and showing His victory over death by His resurrection -- Christ has done it all for us. Even his very name tells us this. Before He was born the angel said to Joseph: "You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)
So what do you have to do? Actually you don't have to do anything. You just need to rely on God and His promises. You just need to believe Christ can and will save you. Trust in Him and acknowledge that He is Lord: the master and guide of your life. That's all. For it is through faith, through reliance and trust, in Him that Christ's saving work of taking our sins away and giving us His perfect righteousness will change from just being true in the pages of Scripture, or being true for someone else, to being true for you.
Paul wrote: "I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." (Philippians 3:8-9).
This Christmas God is calling those of us who already know His saving love and grace in Christ to celebrate and give thanks for all the blessings He has lavished on us. But God is also calling everyone who has not yet turned away from their sins and embraced Christ as their Lord and Saviour to do so now. God Himself is calling you: "Look unto Me, and be saved," He says (Isaiah 45:22). What better invitation could there be than the call of Almighty God Himself? What better promise could there be than that made by God to all who respond: "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13).
No wonder the writer of Hebrews asks: "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Heb 2:3).
Will you, from this Christmas on, know the real joy of Christmas for the rest of your days, or will you let another year pass by, knowing only the outward show?
I'm praying that if haven't already done so, this Christmas you will make the right choice, because "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18).
I thought it would be a real challenge to write something for the magazine that comes out in December without using the "C" word. After all (I told myself) this magazine takes us right through to the end of February. Who wants it all to be about you know what once we get into the new year? But then I realised what a foolish train of thought that is. If I took that approach I realised I would be guilty of following the mindset that produces the rampant commercialism we see at this time of year: pile them high, sell them dear, get it by and forget about it as quickly as possible. No sooner will the great day arrive than they'll start trying to sell us more stuff in the sales and then there will be the holiday offers, and then the DIY stuff, and then gardening equipment, and then...you know how it is...on and on until they start again in September for next December 25th!
But why should we, who know what it's really about, want to get it over with and then move on? I want to savour every bit of it and rejoice, taking in all it means.
So I changed my mind and decided to write about Christmas after all, because the truth is this: Christmas is for life, not just for Christmas. Doesn't matter if we think about it in February, or July, or October. Of course I don't mean the false, worldly, pagan Christmas. That really has no meaning. I mean the real Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ. Its meaning is for all year round because Christ is for life, not just for Christmas!
As the angels sang, His birth really is "good tidings of great joy" (Luke 2:10). The fact that God came down to earth in the Lord Jesus Christ changed everything forever. That's why Jesus is also known as "Immanuel," because He is "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). It shows that rather than being a distant maker who now has little or nothing to do with ordinary people like us and cares nothing for all the ups and downs of our lives, our God is right there with us through it all. He identifies with His people so completely that even though He is eternally "Spirit" (John 4:24), He was willing to be "manifested in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16) and "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14) so that He can "sympathise with our weaknesses" (Hebrews 4:15) in the person of His Son.
But even great news though that is, it doesn't even begin to exhaust the riches of God's grace to us in sending Jesus to be born in Bethlehem that first Christmas. The wonderful "glad tidings" -- the Christian gospel -- is that Jesus came not just to sympathise with us but to save us.
He came to save us from all our selfishness, all our pride, all our pettiness, all our prejudices and hatreds, all our failures, and all our wickedness. The only to adequately explain why it took God Himself to come to earth to rescue us is first to acknowledge that we were in need of being rescued! And then to recognise we needed to be rescued by God Himself because our situation was so bad that no one else could do it.
The reason for stressing the seriousness of sin is not to drive us to despair or depression, but to drive us into the saving arms of God! The Bible goes on about sin so you can see the dangerous spiritual position you are in if you are not in Christ; it stresses the sinner's helplessness so that you will abandon any attempt to rescue yourself. We just can't do it: "There is none righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:10). "No one is justified by the law in the sight of God" (Galatians 3:11). In other words, we can never please God by trying to be "good enough" or "do enough good".
But the glad tidings of Christmas is that salvation is by God's grace, not by our works. We are saved by what Jesus has done for us. Trying to do enough good to earn our way to heaven is impossible, but the hope of Christmas is that by instead trusting only in the Lord Jesus we shall be saved (Acts 16:31). Through His work -- in His coming as God and Man, living a perfect life, obeying all God's laws, bearing the punishment for our sins on the cross, and showing His victory over death by His resurrection -- Christ has done it all for us. Even his very name tells us this. Before He was born the angel said to Joseph: "You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)
So what do you have to do? Actually you don't have to do anything. You just need to rely on God and His promises. You just need to believe Christ can and will save you. Trust in Him and acknowledge that He is Lord: the master and guide of your life. That's all. For it is through faith, through reliance and trust, in Him that Christ's saving work of taking our sins away and giving us His perfect righteousness will change from just being true in the pages of Scripture, or being true for someone else, to being true for you.
Paul wrote: "I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." (Philippians 3:8-9).
This Christmas God is calling those of us who already know His saving love and grace in Christ to celebrate and give thanks for all the blessings He has lavished on us. But God is also calling everyone who has not yet turned away from their sins and embraced Christ as their Lord and Saviour to do so now. God Himself is calling you: "Look unto Me, and be saved," He says (Isaiah 45:22). What better invitation could there be than the call of Almighty God Himself? What better promise could there be than that made by God to all who respond: "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13).
No wonder the writer of Hebrews asks: "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Heb 2:3).
Will you, from this Christmas on, know the real joy of Christmas for the rest of your days, or will you let another year pass by, knowing only the outward show?
I'm praying that if haven't already done so, this Christmas you will make the right choice, because "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18).
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