The Surprising God

A newly posted You're Included  video program from GCI features an interview with Jeff McSwain of Reality Ministries . View it by clicking here . Jeff addresses Trinitarian theology and how it forms the basis for gospel-centered ministry with teens.

In this post I quote from Capon's book, The Mystery of Christ...And Why We Don't Get It, where Capon says his reason for writing is...  ...to protest against...a [theological] model I choose to call transactionalism , and to witness to a better model based on the Mystery of Christ" p. 23). For Capon, this "mystery" is the real presence of God in his reconciling grace throughout every particle of the cosmos (including every human life) made evident now in Jesus Christ. This Jesus - the fullness of Grace and Truth - is the Eternal Son of God: the Word, Creator, Sustainer, Judge and Savior of all the cosmos - now manifested to us and for us through his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension and parousia. It is this mystery - the real and redeeming presence of God, in Christ in all the cosmos - that forms the basis for Capon's view of the Gospel (and thus his theology) as being not about transactions that are causitive of God's grace, b...

If all people are already reconciled to God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:18), then why a final judgment when Jesus returns? And why, as a result of that judgment, will God cast out some if all are already included ? We note Scripture's use of "casting into outer darkness," "separating sheep from goats" and similar phrases to speak of circumstances related to the final judgment. We acknowledge that such phrases are symbolic. But symbolic of what? In answering this and related questions, I've found help from Episcopal priest-theologian Robert Farrar Capon in  Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus . In this book, Capon analyzes Jesus' parables, which speak frequently of judgment and hell. Following are illustrative quotes. I recommend a careful reading of the whole book for the details, including Capon's careful scriptural argumentation. For a related article from theologian Baxter Kruger,  click here ...

In his presentation at the 2008 WCG -USA Regional Conferences, Dan Rogers addresses an important question: How and when does one realize that he/she is united with Christ? This is a vital question related to a Christ-centered/ Trinitarian theology. Indeed, all humanity is united with ("in") Christ through his incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension. All people experience this union, but not all know of it. How and when do they come to know? And what difference does this knowledge make? Dan notes that the answer to this how and when question is this: They come to know by the Holy Spirit according to his sovereign working. Through faith, Jesus Christ (through the Holy Spirit), lays claim to our lives. The objective union which we have with Christ through the incarnational assumption of our humanity into himself is subjectively actualized (realized) in us through his indwelling Spirit. Indeed, the ministry of the Spirit in our world today is to work in human mi...

Karl Barth writes concerning the Descent and Ascension of Jesus: The earth rejoices at the Son of God having descended from heaven, but heaven is glad no less at the Son of Man having ascended from the earth. "He sits," it says, "at the right hand of the Father." This was necessary, beloved, in order that the flesh of man, which, when sin was in authority, had been captivated for a long time, might receive the freedom of living there whither sin could not penetrate ( Church Dogmatics IV, ii, 143). Gerrit Dawson, continues in the stream of Barth's thought: As he [Jesus] ascends, creation is healed. The gulf between heaven and earth caused by human sin is bridged; the rift of our ancient wound is closed. The 'flesh of man' is able to go where it was always intended but had ever been prevented since the Fall - into the courts of heaven and the immediate presence of God. This is the foretaste of 'the glorious freedom of the children of God' in...

C. S. Lewis wrote concerning the ascension of Jesus: We...tend to slur over the risen manhood of Jesus, to conceive Him, after death, simply returning into Deity, so that the Resurrection would be no more than the reversal or undoing of the Incarnation" ( Miracles , p. 151, quoted on p. 5 in Jesus Ascended by Gerrit Scott Dawson, T&T Clark, 2004). Following on Lewis' thought, Gerrit Scott Dawson warns of... ...enormous theological problems raised by disembodying Christ's ascension. For instance, if Jesus slipped out of his human body, who is sitting at God's right hand? Is it Jesus, whose voice the disciples heard, whose touch they felt...or is it the eternal Son of God, who once knew what it was like to be a man but is no longer bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh? If the latter, what effect would a bodiless Christ have on the future work affirmed in the [Nicene] Creed, his coming again and his judgement of the living and dead? To put it bluntly, i...

In  Jesus Ascended, the Meaning of Christ's Continuing Incarnation  (T&T Clark, 2004)  Gerrit Scott Dawson (pictured at left) shows how vital it is to understand Jesus' ascension as God still in human (though now glorified) flesh.  As the ascended God-man, Jesus is our High Priest. He now resides bodily and intercedes continuously for us from heaven. And through his Spirit he lives in us and with us here on earth. In these ways he shares with us the eternal life that is his in communion with the Father and the Spirit. The ascended Jesus is our life - our "place" - with God (see John 14:2). Dawson quotes Andrew Murray: As Son, Christ alone was heir of all that God had. All the life of the Father was in Him. God could have no union or fellowship with any creature but through His beloved Son, or as far as the life and spirit and image of the Son was seen in it. If our salvation was not to be a merely legal one - external and, I may say, artificial - but an entranc...

John 17:3 (New International Version) Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. This is SO profound! The primary hallmark of eternal life, the thing that the Spirit-inspired writer tells us, is that the concept of "eternal life" can only be understood in RELATIONAL terms (THIS is eternal life: that they may KNOW You!). Yes - by knowing God the Father and the Son He sent, anointed by the Spirit. Eternal life is ALL about knowing God the Father and His Son, in the Spirit, in Truth! Comprehending the heart of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in their pure, from-all-time, beautiful, other-centered love relationship (they are ONE!) is posited by John as THE DEFINITION of eternal life! Any notion of eternal life we may have that is APART from seeing THIS God is a poor, distorted caricature at best. How do we "know" God? Understanding that God is Trinity and understanding the AWESOME implications of THAT ...

In the spirit of Holy Week, I offer words of inspiration from pastor and theologian Gerrit Scott Dawson (pictured at right). Dawson's writings wonderfully "flesh-out" a Trinitarian theology. The quote below is from his excellent book, "I am with You Always." Because the cross of Christ's agony is a gift to us, we may go there with our sorrows and pain. We bring our situations to the cross and let them feel the touch of God in the cross. When we find a connection point between the terrible, suspending pain of our trials and the cross of Christ, we see there God's touch. He takes our pain unto himself and tends it. He can redeem the situations of our lives so that, beyond hope, something good can come even in the worst situation.... Jesus the man of sorrows lived and died in the affliction of humanity. He is intimately acquainted with all our pains. But hear the news:...He still attends to the grief of this mortal life. This Christ still lives in us th...

Holy Week is near - our annual remembrance and celebration of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. This is not only Jesus' story - it's the story of all humanity. For by grace, and in love, Jesus united himself (and remains united) to all humanity as our representative and substitute. This is the gospel truth. The one who died on the cross on Good Friday, was buried dead in the tomb on Holy Saturday, and then emerged alive from the tomb on Easter Sunday morning was (and is) fully human and fully divine. Jesus' resurrection (glorification) did not mean that he ceased to be human. Indeed, he remains "flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39) - fully human (though now a glorified human). And Jesus continues to be fully God. As the unique God-man (God-in-the-flesh), he continues to be our representative and our substitute. Thus the story of Holy Week is Jesus' story and ours. Notice what Paul says about this in Romans 6:3-14. ...Do you not know that all of...

I have been reading the blog and have learned so much about Christ centered theology from the comments made by my fellow pastors and have also been reading the books recommended on the blog. I do have a question in regards to Romans 8:9 where Paul says that "if you don't have the Holy Spirit you don't belong to Christ. Romans 8:9 (NRSV): "But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." How can a person be "in Christ" apart from the Holy Spirits living in them? My answer would be that the Holy Spirit does live in a person but the person has not yet acknowledged it therefore does not follow Christ or "belong to Him" yet in their mind? Terry Lambert Pastor Abilene, TX

The more I learn about the Triune God, the more I am finding that this "rediscovery" of the Trinity is being experienced all over the Christian world. The Worldwide Church of God is not alone in coming to greater understanding of Trinitarian theology. And it's not just Baxter Kruger or the Torrance brothers. It's kind of like when you buy a new car; you start seeing that model everywhere. I've noticed many in the Christian world are reexamining our faith from the viewpoint of the Trinity, and it excites me! I just found an interview with Larry Crabb on Christianity Today's website that is wonderful. Regarding his vision for the formation of caring congregations, Mr. Crabb was asked whether his idea can be taught. He replied: "It starts with a recognition of impoverished theology. Eugene Peterson was scheduled to appear at a conference on spiritual formation. I phoned him to ask what he would speak on. 'Our Trinitarian theology in the evangelical...

There are many ways to summarize the good news of our inclusion in God's life through our union with Jesus. Here is one from Paul: "Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right " (Romans 5:18-19, The Message , Eugene H. Peterson). The good news is that all humanity has been "put right" with God. Though once condemned because of the disobedience of Adam (Romans 5:18a) "all men" now have "justification that brings life" (5:18b, NIV) through the obedience of the second Adam, Jesus. And now the call goes out to all to repent (change their thinking about God and themselves), embrace Jesus (join their faith to the faith of Jesus) and live the life that is t...

As we discuss Christ-centered (trinitaian) theology, a key issue is how we live out individually and together our inclusion with Jesus in God's triune life and love. This inclusion is not a concept - it's real life shared with a real person - Jesus! Unfortunately, Christian living and ministry is often reduced to mere programs and strategies. And while these have their place, they are of value only as they assist and enhance Spirit-led participation with Jesus in his living and loving in our world. Ministry as relational participation places the emphasis where I think it rightfully belongs: relationships that embrace and reflect the life of the Trinity. Consider our participation with Jesus in family relationships (an appropriate ministry concern). This topic is helpfully addressed in the book “Ecstasy and Intimacy” by Edith M. Humphrey. On page 157 she makes what I think is an essential point: through human fellowship (marriage, family and friendship), we experience “echoe...

God's holiness is often expressed as "moral perfection" (i.e. separation from "worldliness" and sin). But this moral view of holiness fails to apprehend the ultimate ground of holiness which is God's triune relationship of love as Father, Son and Spirit. This trinitarian - relational basis of God's holiness (we might speak of his "wholeness") is from all eternity, precedes creation, and thus precedes the presence of sin and evil. L.T. Jeyachandran expounds a trinitarian view of holiness in one of the chapters in Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend, edited by Ravi Zacharias (Thomas Nelson, 2007). Here's an excerpt (and thanks to Jerome Ellard for telling me about this book): If I were awakened suddenly in the middle of the night and asked this question, “What is holiness?” my instinctive answer would be “Absence of sin!” Although that may be enough of an answer for our understanding of holiness because of our fallenness a...

Jeff McSwain The Jan./Feb. 2008 issue of The Journal of Student Ministries includes the article "Reconsidering the 'Non-Negotiables'" by Christian Smith (Notre Dame) and Douglas Campbell (Duke Divinity School). The article is written in defense of Jeff McSwain and other staffers recently fired from Young Life (YL) for advocating a Trinitarian view of the gospel - one grounded fully in God's triune nature and Jesus' incarnation. Though Smith and Campbell acknowledge that Young Life has a valuable ministry and that their teachings are, in balance, fully orthodox, they believe that YLs position on how the gospel should be presented to teens is "defective" in that it espouses a "conditional and sequential understanding of salvation" that is dependent upon our own "human repentance and faith." They note that "the theological commitment entailed in [YL's] position is a belief that God saves us because we repent - that ...

Jeff McSwain As disciples of Jesus it is our calling and privilege to share the gospel with believers and non-believers, as we "go" (Matthew 28:19). How we understand and present the gospel necessarily flows from our understanding of who God is (call this our "working theology"). Jeff McSwain of Reality Ministries wrestles with his working theology in the context of sharing the gospel with teens. He argues against a gospel that flows from a theology that sees a separation between God and mankind (viewing God as separate from sinners until they repent); and thus a separation within the Godhead (seeing a Jesus that lovingly touches sinners, but a Father who remains separate until sinners repent). McSwain notes that God the Father is not separate (alienated) from sinners. He is the loving father in Jesus' parable who is unrestrained in reaching out to love his prodigal son even in the depths of the son's depravity. God (Father, Son and Spirit) is fully ...

Understanding Barth’s view of Scripture is particularly relevant to the time in which we live, especially since “higher criticism” has caused many to question the validity of the bible. The beauty and importance of Barth’s theology is that it is Christocentric, rather than Bibliocentric. The bible tells us in John that “the Word was made flesh,” and Barth says: “absolutely, that’s the point.” In appealing to the Jesus as the Word, Barth advocates not attempting to read Scripture in isolation, but rather that it is the only ancient book that you can read with the author present as you read. God’s presence, as we study the bible is enlivened and made true as it can be only through the indwelling of God’s Spirit. It cannot be emphasized enough that Jesus is the only perfect revelation of God – his express image to quote the author of Hebrews. The bible is most certainly an inspired collection of books, but it is not equal to Jesus as if God can be reduced to writing on pages. The authori...

Critics of Trinitarian (Christ-centered) Theology often charge that it comes with a "low" view of Scripture. This has frequently been leveled at Karl Barth (pictured on right) - a chief proponent of Trinitarian Theology in the 20th century. In response to this charge, I offer the following thoughts (my thanks to Joseph Tkach for sharing with me the content of point #2): 1. Trinitarian Theology does not rise or fall with Karl Barth. He was a prominent teacher of this theological vision, but certainly not the only one. The historic roots of Trinitarian Theology are found in Scripture itself, and in the teachings of the early church fathers (including Athanasius) who sought a theological vision true to the Jesus revealed in Scripture. Many teachers and theologians have articulated a Trinitarian Theology down the centuries, including in our 21st century (see the J anuary 16, 2008 post listing contemporary theologians who advocate Trinitarian Theology). 2. I do not think it ...

Trinitarian Theology is transforming my mind and my life in so many ways. I am seeing my wife, my boys, my family, my friends, my church, people I do like and even people I don't like in a much different way. It has also changed the way I see myself. No more condemnation. No more shame. No more guilt. In one word FREEDOM! Freedom to be all that I've always been in Christ. I came to believe various aspects of Trinitarian Theology before I knew it was called that and before I heard of theologians such as Baxter Kruger or Karl Barth. It wasn't just another band wagon I decided to jump on. I simply began to see scriptures I had never seen before. My paradigm shift wasn't easy. The shift continues even now. It has taken years, not weeks or months. It has in fact been painful as growth often is. This is what happens when our darkness is exposed to the Light that is Jesus. Our pride takes a direct hit when we realize that what we've learned, believed and ev...

What is the role of Scripture in Christ-centered (trinitarian) preaching? Consider the following from Eugene Peterson (quoted from “Living into God’s Story” - click here to read the full paper): Scripture…does not so much present us with a moral code and tell us, "Live up to this," nor does it set out a system of doctrine and say, "Think like this." The biblical way is to tell a story and invite us, "Live into this - this is what it looks like to be human in this God-made and God-ruled world; this is what is involved in becoming and maturing as a human being." We don't have to fit into prefabricated moral and mental or religious boxes before we are admitted into the company of God. We are taken seriously just as we are and given place in his story - for it is, after all, God's story. None of us is the leading character in the story of our lives. God is the larger context and plot in which all our stories find themselves. How can we most ...

Transformative preaching and worship is trinitarian and God-centered, facilitating joy-filled communion with the Father, Son and Spirit through our union with Jesus. Sadly, preaching and worship is often unitarian and person-centered. This is the concern of Michael J. Quicke in "Beware Tuneless Preaching." Following is an excerpt. Too much contemporary preaching and worship misses out the Trinity. In a provocative analysis, James B. Torrance [in Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace ]   sharply contrasts what he terms unitarian and trinitarian practices of worship. Of course, orthodox preachers rigorously reject any association with the formal teaching of Unitarianism, that God is one person only, with unacceptable denial of the divinity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. However, Torrance demonstrates that ironically such preachers may actually practice forms of worship that are Unitarian, because they are closed to Christ’s continuing work and the Holy Spirit. ...

Referencing “The Adopted Life”, Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp. 7-8, Jonathan Stepp says that the context for reading the Bible is the Word of God, meaning the Son of God who became flesh. The Bible is where we should have received our concept of who Jesus is and what He has done. If this is where we received this concept then why would we, as he put it, have to conform the Bible to this picture of Jesus? The bible represents our revelation from God, and it contains the original objective information describing the Son who became flesh and lived among mankind. The biblical description and teachings of Jesus and the teachings from his apostles should already be conformed to each other without our having to make adjustments to harmonize them. His picture of Jesus tells him that the apostle John cannot mean that one is condemned because he does not believe in the Son of God. He says that not believing will only mean that one will go on believing his own lie that he is condemned. He only feels lost a...

The following post from Rick Shallenberger addresses the meaning of Acts 2:38 and the issue of baptism.  Many look at Acts 2:38 as a formula of how to do right by God. Here Peter says: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So the verse seems to give us a step-by-step process that leads to salvation: 1) Be baptized, 2) Be forgiven, 3) Receive the Holy Spirit. It seems clear on it’s own. But if this is true, then isn’t baptism a work we “must do” in order to be saved? And if that is the case, we have a problem because that contradicts the gospel. Let’s put Acts 2:38 into context. The day is Pentecost and the many Jews have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Holy Day. While the disciples were all together, a sound like a strong wind came and the Holy Spirit filled the room. The disciples started speaking in foreign languages. (We know these were l...

1 The Triune God created all people to participate through the vicarious humanity of Jesus Christ in the love relationship enjoyed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 2 The Son became human, the man Jesus Christ, to reconcile all humanity to God through his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. 3 The crucified, resurrected and glorified Jesus is the representative and the substitute for humanity at the right hand of God, and he draws all people to himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. 4 In Christ, humanity is loved and accepted by the Father. 5 Jesus Christ paid for all our sins – past, present and future – and there is no longer any debt to pay. 6 The Father has in Christ forgiven all our sins, and he eagerly desires that we turn to him. 7 We can enjoy his love only when we believe that he loves us. We can enjoy his forgiveness only when we believe he has forgiven us. 8 When we respond to the Spirit by turning to God, believing the good news and pic...