Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful that God is love. Out of his love, God saves sacrificially, giving up his own Son, and his sacrificial giving is done, not for those who are in some way giving back to him, or even neutral toward him, but for those who are rejecting him. God’s love is the kind of love that rescues the unlovely and unworthy at great cost. That’s mind-boggling love, infinite love, immeasurable love, love that is “great to the heavens,” and I’m so thankful for it. If God weren’t a loving God, I’d be in deep doo-doo.

That God loves me is my security; I can rest in his love. 

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

If God did not spare the Son he loved because of his love for us, we know that his love is the sort of love we can count on to give us everything else that we need. God’s love for me has already cost him his own Son; he will not give up on me now. There is nothing—no person or power or circumstance—that can take God’s love from me. And that’s something to be thankful for.

I’m also thankful for God’s providential care, which also comes from his love. Here are a few of his providential gifts to me this week:

• a chance meeting with someone who had sad new about an old friend that I needed to know and needed to know now.
• garden vegies filling the crispers in the fridge. Along with those mentioned in previously, this week there are also raspberries, peas, and brocolli.
• a few days of perfect summer weather. I feel like I can advance to fall with my summer weather needs satisfied.
• visits from the babies. You may tire of reading about the babies every week, but I never tire of thanking God for them.

Round the Sphere Again: Complementarianism

The complementarian/egalitarian debate is not my favorite subject. If I had my way, I’d completely avoid reading/talking/posting about it. But it’s an important issue and people keep bringing it up, so I’ve collected some worthwhile links for you.

For Listening
Last week I listened to this two-part interview with Dr. Jim Hamilton, a complementarian, in which he responds to the egalitarian arguments of Dr. Philip Payne (Theopologetics):

• He Made Woman for Man
• He Rules the Roost

Each podcast is about an hour long, so it’s a big time commitment, but I promise you won’t be bored.

For Reading
Don Carson defends the use of the term complementarian (The Gospel Coalition Blog). I think I agree with him: We should leave the term patriarchy in the dust heap. 

Also at The Gospel Coalition Blog, Kathleen Nielson gives a few reasons we can’t ignore the complementarian/egalitarian debate.

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Tell me what you think.

1. Do you ever use the term patriarchy to describe the Biblical ideal for the church and the home? Do you think complementarianism is better? Why or why not?
2. What priority do you put on the complementarian/egalitarian issue? How important is it to you? 
3. Do you keep up with the debate? Do you know the arguments made on each side?

Theological Term of the Week

monotheism
The belief that there is only one God. (Christianity, Judaism and Islam are all monotheistic religions.)

• From scripture:

“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,

“and my servant whom I have chosen,

that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me. (Isaiah 43:10 ESV)

• From the Belgic Confession:

Article 1: The Only God

We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God — eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good.

• From The Christian Faith by Michael Horton:

Faith in the One God—Yahweh—arose not out of Greek speculation but out of God’s self-revelation to Israel. The same God who forbade idolatry was addressed by Jesus as “Father.” In fact, Jesus answered Satan’s temptation by reasserting Israel’s creed, the Shema: “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Mt 4:10, paraphrasing Dt 6:13). Jesus’ acts of healing are pointers to this God and to no other: “And they glorified the God of Israel’ (Mt 15:31)… . Turning Gentiles ‘from idols to serve the living and true God’ was as essential a part of the paostles’ message as it had been for the prophets (1Th 1:9; cf. 1Pe 4:3). Appearing before the Roman governor Felix, Paul entreated, “This I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our father, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hop in God” (Ac 24:14—15). Included in that confession is “one God” (Eph 4:6).

• From What Is a Monotheistic Religion? at Blue Letter Bible:

The fact that a religion is monotheistic is not enough. Belief must not only be in one God, belief must be in the right God! James wrote.

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that ‑ and shudder (James 2:19).

Learn more:

1. Theopedia: Monotheism
2. Blue Letter Bible: What is a monotheistic religion?
3. R. C. Sproul: Monotheism (mp3)

Related terms:

• deism
• idolatry
• panentheism
• polytheism
• atheism
• Trinity

Filed under Isms

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.