I've Been Amusing Myself

by participating in a discussion on the Baptist Board*. This one’s called atonement/justice and forgiveness, and the atonement theory put forward seems to be exactly the same one I posted about in the olden days when I first started blogging. So, of course, I couldn’t pass the discussion by. (I go by russell55 on that board. At the time I signed up there, my first choices for name were taken, so that’s my maiden name plus my birth year.)

 

In addition to being centered around an atonement theory I’ve already studied up on, this discussion is a rich source of the same kind of statements discussed in the series I posted recently called Thinking About Faith Alone and Christ Alone. (You can access all those posts from that link.) Here are some I could have added to the collection discussed there:

Man’s sin is paid for in advance but, the condition [for salvation] isn’t only having our sins paid for. You see that condition has been paid but, if there is no repentance and confession. The rest of the entire condition [for salvation] has not been met.

Can you see how this statement is a denial of Solus Christus, which affirms that what Christ did is sufficient for our salvation?

 

How about this?

Yet there is ONE sin that is UNPARDONABLE - Rejection of the Son - UNBELIEF

Yep, another denial of Solus Christus by the denial of the sufficiency of Christ’s work. Christ’s work was not sufficient grounds upon which the sin of unbelief could be pardoned.

 

Want more? The brackets in this one are original.

The atonement was done for all time for all in Christ Jesus. … But since we did not sacrifice ourselves, thereby personally asking forgiveness, forgiveness became a different thing — a personal thing. If not, then John would have never needed to say that if we confess our sins [then] He is faithful to forgive them. That is indeed an if/then proposition and not an accomplished fact on the Cross.

Christ’s atonement, if this statement is true, is not sufficient grounds for forgiveness. We must add our confession to his work, thereby providing some of the grounds by which we are pardoned.

 

I could go on, but I won’t. I have a life. At least I think I do.

 

Sunday's Hymn: Romans 8:31-39

One last hymn in the series of hymns that paraphrase or allude to Romans 8:31-39.

 The Savior Died, But Rose Again

The Savior died, but rose again
Triumphant from the grave;
And pleads our cause at God’s right hand,
Omnipotent to save.

Who, then, can e’er divide us more
From Jesus and His love;
Or break the sacred chain that binds
The earth to Heav’n above?

Let troubles rise, and terrors frown,
And days of darkness fall;
Through Him all dangers we’ll defy,
And more than conquer all.

Nor death, nor life, nor earth nor hell,
Nor time’s destroying sway,
Can e’er efface us from His heart,
Or make His love decay.

—-Scottish Paraphrases

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• In Christ Alone at Seasonings of the Heart
• I Know Thee Who Thou Art at IMD 2.0.
• Holy Three in One, and more, at Thirsty Theologian
• Jesus, Lover of My Soul at Magic Statistics
• Holy, Holy, Holy, twice, at John Dekker’s Journal
• There is a Fountain at Jam and Books
• How Deep the Father’s Love for Us at Hiraeth

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Saturday's Old Photo

When oldest son was in grade 8, he flew with his dad to Togiak, Alaska, a fly-in village in southwest Alaska, to see his dad’s best friend from his school days back in Crosby, Minnesota. Steve, the friend, lived near Togiak with his family for a few years, teaching in a couple of schools around that area.

 

Togiak has excellent fishing, and here they are with a couple of salmon. When it came to catching halibut, dad was the king, but that’s a story for another day. You can see who caught the biggest salmon!

 

Oldest son was in the process of growing his hair long. He grew it until it reached the middle of his back and wore it that way for a few years. At this stage, however, it was just long enough to curl up underneath his cap, and it was, as you can see, quite blond.

 

On the flight to Togiak, oldest son and his dad were the only passengers on the plane. On the way there, the plane made it’s regular supply stop in a tiny village. Every time the plane came, it was customary for most of the people in the village to come out to meet it. It was, I’m told, the big event of the week. Not only was it exciting to get the stuff the plane dropped off, but the pilot had a light complexion, and the villagers, being used to darker people, found him particularly interesting. But this time, instead of just a little giggling, they were laughing out loud and pointing at the plane. All of them. The pilot turned around and looked at oldest son. “Buddy,” he said, “they’ve never seen anything like you!”

 

Sort of related church history note: The church Steve and his family attended in Togiak was Moravian. The Moravians, who were descendents of Jon Hus, a pre-reformation reformer and martyr, were early missionaries in these remote regions of Alaska. In many of the villages of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska, the only church is a Moravian one.