Theological Term of the Week

vocation, doctrine of
The teaching that all labor is a divine calling and a means by which God works his providential care for creation, so that all work has meaning as service to Christ; the teaching that all of life submitted to God is sacred and all honest work is holy.

• From scripture: 

  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

  27 So God created man in his own image,
  in the image of God he created him;
  male and female he created them.

  28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” … 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:26-28, 31 ESV).

• From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke:1 

  Reformed teachings regarding work can be summarized in the following points: 
  
  

  1. God works, and we are called to bear His image.
  2. God derives satisfaction from His work.
  3. God provides for us through our work. 
  4. God has commanded man to work, and to work within the framework of His commands.
  5. God holds us accountable for our work and expects to be acknowledged through it. 
  6. God provides particular gifts designed to meet particular needs in the advancement of His kingdom.
  7. The fall radically affected our work. Work becomes toil; thorns and thistles frustrate our efforts; fallen man seeks to glorify himself rather than his Creator through work.
  8. Work is an individual as well as a social activity.
  9. God takes pleasure in beauty, and the Scriptures do not focus simply on the functional and utilitarian aspects of work.
  10. Christ worked as part of His active obedience, and the believer’s work through Christ is part of obedience.

Learn more:

1. Gene Edward Veith: The Doctrine of Vocation
2. Gene Edward Veith: Our Calling and God’s Glory
3. Aaron Armstrong: Your Work Is Your Calling
4. Tim Keller: Vocation: Discerning Your Calling
5. Stan Reeves: The Spirituality of Work
6. Jerram Barrs: Work: A Holy Calling 
7. J. I. Packer: 3 Short Videos on Vocation
8. Dr. Robert S. Rayburn: Theology of Work Sermons (transcripts and mp3s)

Related terms:

• image of God
• providence

Filed under Anthropology.

1The chapter from which this is taken is written by Ray Pennings.

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.

Theological Term of the Week

noetic effects of sin
The negative effect of sin on the minds and thinking of humankind, causing the reasoning ability of fallen humanity to be corrupted, especially degrading the understanding of spiritual things; also called the noetic effects of the fall.

• From scripture: 

  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Romans 1:21 ESV).

• From the Canons of Dordt: 

  The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine

  Article 1

  The Effect of the Fall on Human Nature
  Man was originally created in the image of God and was furnished in his mind with a true and salutary knowledge of his Creator and things spiritual, in his will and heart with righteousness, and in all his emotions with purity; indeed, the whole man was holy. However, rebelling against God at the devil’s instigation and by his own free will, he deprived himself of these outstanding gifts. Rather, in their place he brought upon himself blindness, terrible darkness, futility, and distortion of judgment in his mind; perversity, defiance, and hardness in his heart and will; and finally impurity in all his emotions.

  Article 2

  The Spread of Corruption
  Man brought forth children of the same nature as himself after the fall. That is to say, being corrupt he brought forth corrupt children. The corruption spread, by God’s just judgment, from Adam to all his descendants - except for Christ alone - not by way of imitation (as in former times the Pelagians would have it) but by way of the propagation of his perverted nature.

  Article 4

  The Inadequacy of the Light of Nature
  There is, to be sure, a certain light of nature remaining in man after the fall, by virtue of which he retains some notions about God, natural things, and the difference between what is moral and immoral, and demonstrates a certain eagerness for virtue and for good outward behavior. But this light of nature is far from enabling man to come to a saving knowledge of God and conversion to him - so far, in fact, that man does not use it rightly even in matters of nature and society. Instead, in various ways he completely distorts this light, whatever its precise character, and suppresses it in unrighteousness. In doing so he renders himself without excuse before God.

• From Always Ready by Greg Bahnsen: 

  [W]e must recognize the noetic effects of sin. The fall of man had drastic results in the world of thought; even the use of man’s reasoning ability becomes depraved and frustrating. The whole creation was made subject to vanity (Rom. 8:20), thus bringing confusion, inefficiency, and skeptical despair into the epistemic realm. Even more, moral corruption overcame man’s thoughts (Gen. 6:5), so that the evil use of man’s mind became exhaustive, continual, and inescapable. Man unrighteously suppresses the truth in order to embrace the lie (Rom. 1:18, 25). In it’s pseudo-wisdom the world refuses to know God (1 Cor. 1:21), for Satan has blinded the minds of men (2 Cor. 4:4). Man uses his reason, not to glorify God and advance His kingdom, but to rise up in arrogant opposition to the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5).

  …In his Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin very pointedly remarked the philosophers need to see that man is corrupt in every aspect of his being—that the fall pertains to man’s mental operations as much as to his volition and emotions.

Learn more:

1. Credo House Ministries: Noetic Effects of Sin
2. Ligonier Ministries: The Noetic Effects of Sin
3. GotQuestions.org: How did the Fall humanity?
4. Paul Mizzi: After-effects of the fall
5. Exegesis and Theology: Van Til on the noetic effects of the fall

Related terms:

• fall (of man)
• original sin
• total depravity

Filed under Anthropology.

This week’s term was suggested by Violet Nesdoly. 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.

Theological Term of the Week

non-lordship salvation
The doctrinal position that what is necessary for salvation is faith (defined primarily as being convinced of the facts of the gospel) and an appeal to Jesus for salvation at some point of time in one’s life, and that repentance (defined as turning from sin) is not necessary for salvation; also called easy-believism or free grace theology.

• Scripture used by proponents of non-lordship salvation as evidence for their position: 

  Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31 ESV).

  And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…. (Romans 4:5 ESV)

• I can’t find a statement of non-lorship salvation in any historic church document, but here’s an argument for it found in Easy-Believism Defended by Pastor Steven L. Anderson:

  In order for verses like John 3:16, John 5:24, Acts 16:31, Romans 4:5, Romans 10:13-14, and others which declare that anyone who believes on Jesus Christ (i.e. puts their faith in him for salvation) shall be saved to be true, God must save a person who is unwilling to turn from sin but believes on Jesus Christ.  If not then God is a liar.

• From A 15-Year Perspective on the Lordship Controversy by John MacArthur: 

  The doctrine of grace … is profoundly affected by no-lordship teaching. Defenders of the no-lordship gospel often refer to their unique teachings as “Grace Theology” and their movement as “the Grace Movement.” They are convinced that only their system preserves the gospel’s message of grace. That is precisely why they insist every opposing opinion is a kind of works-salvation.

  But they are working with an unbiblical notion of “grace.” Grace is not a liberal clemency or a passive indulgence that simply tolerates and coexists with sin. Divine grace doesn’t guarantee heaven in the afterlife while merely overlooking the evils of this life. Authentic grace is the undeserved favor of God toward sinners, delivering them from the power as well as the penalty of sin (Romans 6:14). Grace is dynamic, “teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:1)

Learn more:

1. Monergism.com: What Is Easy Believism?
2. Sam Waldron: Easy Believism
3. GotQuestions.org: What is easy believism?
4. Theologue.org: Lordship Salvation Controversy (Recommended especially for the comparison chart at the end.)
5. John MacArthur: A 15-Year Perspective on the Lordship Controversy

Related terms:

• faith alone
• lordship salvation
• repentance
• Sandemanianism
• saving faith

Filed under Defective Theology.

Do you have a theological 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.