15. Truth Unchanged, Unchanging

15. Truth Unchanged Unchanging. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. 1951/1993. Crossway. 128 pages. [Source: Bought] [4 stars, apologetics, lectures, christian nonfiction, 1947]

First sentence: What is man? Any true consideration of man and his problems in the modern world must answer that question. If the basic idea of what man is is a mistaken one, so of necessity will be the view of his troubles and what can be done for him. 

Truth Unchanged Unchanging began its life as a series of lectures given by Martyn Lloyd-Jones in 1947. It was first published in book form in 1951. Crossway republished it in 1993. The lectures have an apologetic vibe. The lectures address basic questions that "universal man" is asking and seeking answers to. It is very much written with a twentieth-century view, and perhaps slightly older than mid-century philosophy. That is not at all to say--not even a little bit--that the answers are any less relevant or any less true. Just that the specific questions and the arguments against Christian answers will have shifted and changed. Particularly the arguments against. The suppositions/presuppositions will have perhaps changed as well. Again, Lloyd-Jones' arguments FOR Christianity are ever-relevant, ever-true. At the end of almost every chapter, his writing becomes more emphatic, more persuasive. He always ends his arguments strongly. 

Chapter titles include:

• What is Man?
• What is Wrong with Man?
• Sincerity versus Truth
• The Simple Gospel
• Is the Gospel Still Relevant?

Quotes:

Man cannot rehabilitate his true self. He cannot find God. Man can lose his own soul, but he can never find it again. He can kill and destroy it, but he cannot create it anew. And were it not for one thing he would go inevitably to the eternal fire of Hell. But, thank God, there is that one thing. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10). Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, came down to earth and lived and died and rose again in order to save. He has borne the punishment that we deserve on account of sin and for spoiling and marring the image of God upon us. But more, He restores our soul to us. He gives us a new nature and fills us with power that will enable us to express this new and true self even as He expressed it Himself. (35)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Basic Christianity

Basic Christianity. John Stott. 1958. 179 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: 'In the beginning God,' the first four words of the Bible are more than an introduction to the creation story or to the book of Genesis. They supply the key which opens our understanding to the Bible as a whole. They tell us that the religion of the Bible is a religion of the initiative of God.

Premise/plot: Basic Christianity by John Stott is a Christian classic for a reason: it is GOOD. It addresses the basics of the Christian faith: what sets Christianity apart from every other religion. The book is divided into four sections that flow together really well. In the first part, Stott examines "Christ's Person." Who was Jesus? Who did Jesus say he was? who did he claim to be? Why should anyone--living in the first century or this century--believe Jesus to be the son of God? In the second part, Stott ventures forth into unpopular territory: "Man's Need." In other words, SIN is real, and it's your problem and mine. In the third section, Stott returns to the subject of Christ, "Christ's Work." This section deals with the death of Christ and the salvation Christ brings to believers. In the fourth and final section, Stott addresses, "Man's Response." Stott, for better or worse, was NOT reformed. And in this section, he argues that Christ is patiently waiting outside the door of your heart knocking, hoping that you'll take him up on his offer of eternal life. (Stott seems to have forgotten the whole SIN condition from previous chapters.) But it isn't just about positively responding to the altar call. No, Stott touches briefly on how to live the Christian life, what happens after 'you ask Jesus into your heart.'

My thoughts: I thought this was a GREAT book for the most part. I didn't love all of it; I would rewrite the last few chapters perhaps. BUT. Stott gives readers much to think about. And he writes in a way that doesn't compromise the truth of the Bible; he writes for agnostics and skeptics and seekers.

I also appreciate the fact that this one is SHORT.

Quotes:

• You can never take God by surprise. You can never anticipate him. He always makes the first move. He is always there 'in the beginning.' Before man existed, God acted. Before man stirs himself to seek God, God has sought man. In the Bible we do not see man groping after God; we see God reaching after man. John Stott
• The Gospel is not primarily an invitation to man to do anything; it is supremely a declaration of what God has done in Christ for human beings like ourselves. John Stott
• Christianity is a religion of salvation, and there is nothing in the non-Christian religions to compare with this message of a God who loved, and came after, and died for, a world of lost sinners. God has spoken. God has acted. The record and interpretation of these divine words and deeds is to be found in the Bible. And there for many people they remain. As far as they are concerned, what God has said and done belong to past history; it has not yet come out of history into experience, out of the Bible into life. God has spoken; but have we listened to his word? God has acted; but have we benefited from what he has done? John Stott
• Christ is the center of Christianity; all else is circumference. John Stott
• The most striking feature of the teaching of Jesus is that he was constantly talking about himself. It is true that he spoke much about the fatherhood of God and the kingdom of God. But then he added that he was the Father's Son and that he had come to inaugurate the kingdom. Entry into the kingdom depended on men's response to him. He even did not hesitate to call the kingdom of God my kingdom. This self-centeredness of the teaching of Jesus immediately sets him apart from the other great religious teachers of the world. John Stott
• So close was his identification with God that it was natural for him to equate a man's attitude to himself with his attitude to God. Thus to know him was to know God; to see him was to see God; to believe in him was to believe in God; to receive him was to receive him was to receive God; to hate him was to hate God; to honor him was to honor God. John Stott
• There is no self-interest in love. The essence of love is self-sacrifice. Jesus was sinless because he was selfless. Such selflessness is love. And God is love. John Stott
• In order to appreciate the work which Jesus accomplished, we must understand who we are as well as who he was. John Stott
• Whenever our behavior is inconsistent with our belief, or our practice contradicts our preaching, we take God's name in vain. To take God's name in vain is to talk one way and act another. John Stott
• Man's highest destiny is to know God. John Stott
• God's order is that we put him first, others next, self last. Sin is the reversal of the order. It is to put ourselves first, our neighbor next, and God somewhere in the background. John Stott
• It is more natural to us to talk than to listen, to argue than to submit. John Stott
• All that was achieved through the death of Jesus on the cross had its origin in the mind and heart of the eternal God. No explanation of Christ's death or man's salvation which fails to do justice to this fact is loyal to the teaching of the Bible. John Stott
• He died to atone for our sins for the simple reason that we cannot atone for them ourselves. John Stott
• Every Christian can echo these words. There is healing through his wounds, life through his death, pardon through his pain, salvation through his suffering. John Stott
• Repentance and faith belong together. We cannot follow Christ without forsaking sin. Repentance is a definite turn from every thought, word, deed and habit which is known to be wrong. It is not sufficient to feel pangs of remorse or to make some kind of apology to God. Fundamentally, repentance is a matter neither of emotion nor of speech. It is an inward change of mind and attitude towards sin which leads to a change of behavior. John Stott
• Every day the Christian is to die. Every day he renounces the sovereignty of his own will. Every day he renews his unconditional surrender to Jesus Christ. John Stott
• He asks no more than he gave. He asks a cross for a cross. Only a sight of the cross will make us willing to deny ourselves and follow Christ. Our little crosses are eclipsed by his. John Stott

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Jews Don't Need Jesus

Jews Don't Need Jesus…and Other Misconceptions: Reflections of a Jewish Believer. Avi Snyder. 2017. Moody. 176 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: IF WE’RE GOING TO consider whether the gospel message is relevant to the Jewish people, then we ought to start with an understanding of the message itself. The word “gospel” means good news, but in reality, the message is both good and bad.

Premise/plot: In this one, Avi Snyder argues that Jews DO need Jesus, DO need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, DO need to experience the rebirth. He argues presumably with believers who for various reasons choose to believe that Jews are saved another way--through another covenant, by keeping the law. Snyder insists that being a descendant of Abraham wasn't good enough to save you when Jesus walked this earth, and, it's not good enough to save you here and now. He also resists the notion that Jews will come to faith only when they see Jesus face to face the day of his return. He points out that on that day--the day of the Lord--it will be too late for Jew or Gentile to come to faith.

The book isn't written solely for Christian believers but for a broader audience.

My thoughts: This one was well written. I agreed with Snyder's arguments. I thought he did a good job defending his point of view and advocating biblical truth. I loved how Snyder's go-to source was the Word of God. He used Scripture to counter each claim or excuse. And that is how the book is presented. He tackles the problem one excuse, one argument at a time.

Quotes:

If Jesus is an imposter, then belief in Him threatens our survival as a distinct people, chosen by God. But what if He is the prophet like Moses whom God promised to raise up? What if He is the One whom God commanded the Jewish people to heed? And what if we Jews will be held accountable by God if we fail to listen to what He’s said, just as Deuteronomy 18:18–19 warns? Then to withhold the message of the gospel from the Jewish people specifically because we’re Jews is not an act of love. It’s probably the most anti-Jewish act that a Christian can commit. This is not an easy matter to consider, but we can’t push it aside. Either He’s a blessing for Jews, or He’s a blight. There’s really no middle ground, just as there was no middle ground between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Also, if Jesus is not the Messiah of Israel, then He’s not the Christ of the nations. That means that Christians who worship Him are guilty of idolatry, and they’ll be judged by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for worshiping a man who claimed to be God (John 10:33). Ultimately, it comes down to this: either Jesus is Lord of all, or Jesus is not Lord at all. Either He must be worshiped, adored, and obeyed by Jews and non-Jews alike, or He must be rejected by all as a false savior. Either everyone must hear the message, or no one needs to know His name.

Chosen to bear witness and proclaim. What a privilege! But there’s a problem. We Jews cannot proclaim the gospel until we believe the gospel. We cannot carry His light to the nations until we carry His light in our hearts.

No one is saved by virtue of birth, but by virtue of rebirth. That’s foundational to the gospel; we must be born again.

The problem doesn’t lie with a God who refuses to shed His light. The problem lies with our unbelieving hearts that refuse to receive His light. And the problem lies with believers who refuse to bear His light to those who are looking for a way out of the dark.

If the greatest commandment is to love the Lord wholeheartedly, how can we love Him if we don’t know who He is? How can we love a Lord whose name is a mystery, and whose deeds on our behalf have never been explained?

The purpose of repentance is not to increase the believer’s burden of guilt over generational sins. Rather, it’s to free the believer from the penalty and the shackles of those sins. Wonderfully, the chain to a family’s sins is broken by Yeshua’s cross.

Receiving God’s forgiveness must be followed by proclaiming God’s forgiveness. We’re commanded to make His deeds known. From repentance, to pardon, to proclamation for the sake of those who haven’t yet believed.

True love cannot be silent, if silence allows the beloved to die. True love cares more about the outcome facing the beloved than about the consequences facing the one who speaks. True love compels us to speak. Silence is the enemy of the salvation of any people. All too often, our silence takes two tragic forms. We choose silence before people, and so we fail to speak. Or we choose silence before God, and we fail to pray.

WHY IS IT INTOLERANT if we speak the truth? Why is it unloving if we speak that truth in love? Why is it arrogant if we implore a person to embrace the same life-saving truth that rescued our own lives from imminent danger? And why is it an act of aggression if we tell Jewish people that the Hope of Israel has come?

The gospel is offensive, and this is why we must proclaim the gospel in love. But no matter how lovingly we endeavor to present the good news, the naked reality of the bad news—that we’re sinners who have offended God—will always bring about either the pain of righteous conviction or the pain of self-righteous indignation. The key does not lie in seeking to eliminate the offense of the cross. The key lies in making certain that if offense is taken, it is taken because of the clarity of the message and not because of the callousness of the messenger.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible