This Week in Housekeeping

Recently updated Theological Term of the Week posts:

 libertarian free will

• Yes, I’ve already updated this week’s term. I tweeked the definition a little and also added a link to Ronald W. Di Giacomo’s Free Will - Confusion Abounds, which explains why libertarian free will is incompatible with God’s foresight.

exclusivism

• Added a link to Kevin DeYoung’s Clarifying Exclusivism. This piece is helpful because it explains some things that exclusivists (usually) are not saying when they affirm these two points:
  

  1) The saving work of Jesus is the only way to be saved. 2) Putting faith in Jesus is the only way to appropriate that saving work.

imputation

• Updated a couple of dead links.
• Changed the formatting to make it match the more recent theological terms.
• Added a link to Bob Burridge’s The Meaning of Imputation.
• Added related terms federal head, original sin, double imputation, justification, penal substitution.

Called According to Paul: Galatians 1

This is another repost of an old post in the Called According to Paul series. I’m reposting them all, one per week (sort of), so I can link to them in the sidebar under Favorite Posts. An explanation of this series can be found here, and the already reposted pieces are here.

The word called is used twice in Galatians 1, first in verse 6:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel… (NET)

The phrase the one who called you refers to God the Father. The unified purpose but distinctive roles of the Father and Son are seen throughout the previous verses, and in this verse, Paul refers to the role of the Father, who calls people by the grace of Christ.

As we saw in 1 Corinthians 1, this call to the true gospel is a call that changes how the message of the gospel is perceived. The Galatians, then, having been called by the Father, have known the true gospel and have understood the power, wisdom and redemption in it; yet now they are turning away from it to “another gospel” that is not really the gospel at all.

It would be a mistake to think of their turning away as merely a turning from a proper understanding of the gospel. It is more than that: Turning away from the gospel is also leaving behind “the one who called.” God’s call is personal. It is not just a general and unspecific call, but a call from a personal God to individual people, so that following a different gospel is a personal betrayal of the one who called them.

To sum up what we can glean about the call of God from this verse:

• It originates with the Father
• It is a call based in grace, which means it is underserved.
• It is grounded in Christ’s work, for it is “the grace of Christ.”
• It is personal, coming from a personal God to individual persons.

Moving on  to verses 15 and 16 of this chapter, where the word called is used again:

But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being… (NET)

In context, I’d think this call is Paul’s call to apostleship. It was a call that was founded upon a choice (or a setting apart) by God before Paul was born. It resulted in God’s work within Paul’s life to accomplish the purpose for which he had set Paul apart. The point stressed is God’s sovereignty in the the whole thing: choosing Paul, calling him, saving him, and equipping him for service. This was a call to an office, apostleship, that was planned and accomplished by God.

What more can you glean from these two texts in Galatians 1 about Paul’s use of the word called as it refers to the call of God?

Round the Sphere Again: Books, Book, Books, The Sequel

Three with More to Come
There’s a new series of children’s books written by Sinclair Ferguson (Andrew Naselli). Heroes of the Faith is about people from the past who have shown moral fibre, overcome difficulties and opposition, and been tested and stood firm. Ferguson writes, “This series aims to cover the centuries-long story of the church and to introduce children to heroes of the faith in every period of history.”

Four….No, Five
Hurrah for book giveaways!

• How to Choose a Translation for All It’s Worth by Gordon Fee and Mark Strauss (Koinonia). You’ll have to hurry to enter this one before it’s over.
• The Organized Heart by Staci Eastin (Multitude of Mercies). Draw is on Saturday, April 2.
• Two people who are giving away copies of Carolyn Custis James’ new book, Half the Church: Leslie Wiggens and Kim Shay.
• Finally, don’t miss my own giveaway of The Atonement: It’s Meaning and Significance by Leon Morris.