"Christ Our Mediator" by CJ Mahaney

He was born to die as our mediator. 


If you cannot explain the basic truths of the gospel in simple language that the average believer can understand, then you do not understand the gospel. At times theologians and pastors, including myself, spend countless hours diving deep into the pools of soteriology and the meaning of the atonement and fail to understand that deep theology must be applied to our lives and communicated to average believers and to nonbelievers. In his book Christ Our Mediator: Finding Passion at the Cross, CJ Mahaney explains the simple, yet powerful truth that, as the title suggests, Christ is our substitute and our mediator. We have reason to worship!

The context of the book regards the theatrical release of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ. In his introduction, Mahaney describes his own experience viewing the movie and the reaction of the audience. The limitation of film, of course, is that interpretation is left to the viewer. In the case of the Passion movie, interpretation determines our eternal (and present) lives and so leaving the meaning of the cross in the air isn't enough. Mahaney, then, sets out to explain the basic meaning of the cross.

In the book, Mahaney argues that the central verse of the Bible is found in 1 Timothy 2:5, For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. The penal substitutionary theme of mediation in which Christ serves as central to the meaning of the cross. To understand this doctrine, we have to understand who God is and who we are in light of Him. In short, and Mahaney is brief throughout the book, we are rebels, sinners, and deserving the full wrath of Almighty God.

It is at this point that the author walks us through the passion narrative found in the Gospels itself. He emphasizes both the Garden of Gethsamane and the cry of forsakenness from the cross. The agony of the Garden shows us in real terms how much Jesus would suffer under the judgment ("cup") of God's Divine wrath. In the Garden our Mediator agrees to suffer. At the cross our Mediator takes upon Himself our sin. The cry from the cross (My God, My God why have you forsaken me?) is prophetic of course, but it is a powerful truth, according to Mahaney, about the gospel. Christ tasted forsakeness and abandonment so that we, in Christ, will not have to. Christ suffers on our behalf so that we can be freed.

Admittedly I am not so sure that Jesus' cry to His Father can be explained so easily, but Mahaney offers some real insights here. He carries with every stroke of the pen the wonderful truth of penal substitution and I do believe there is some level of truth to his argument here. Christ did, in a mysterious real sense, feel abandoned by His Father. How we understand this in light of the doctrine of the Trinity and other truths is perhaps beyond our ability to fathom, but let us, as Mahaney does here, take the text as is. Christ was forsaken. Gloriously, however, not even death will seperate us from the love of God.

Overall, this is a helpful short book. I read it in one setting and found it to be a helpful resource for young believers and those new to the subject of penal substitution. Mahaney avoids virtually every ongoing debate and controversy regarding the atonement, hermenteutics, and systematic theology. That is not to say that Mahaney is careless with the biblical text or with orthodox theology. Quite the contrary. However, Mahaney, in this book, is not interested in contributing to debates, but in explaining to the reader, in an easy to understand way, what the cross and He who hangs from it means.

Christ is our mediator. Amen to that!


This book was provided for the purpose of this review.


For more:
"Blood Work" by Anthony Carter: A Review"The Cross of Christ" by John Stott: A Review
"In My Place, Condemned He Stood"
"It is Well"
"Precious Blood": A Review 
"Death by Love" by Mark Driscoll 
Its Not Just a Theory: Stott on Penal Substitution
John Stott on the The Human Enigma
Theology Thursday | Does McLaren Reject Penal Substitution: A Review of the Evidence
Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Social Gospel
God as Butcher: McLaren on Penal Substitution  
The Postmodern Social Gospel:  Brian McLaren Proves My Point  
Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Social Gospel
Does McLaren Reject Penal Substitution:  A Look at the Evidence
Allison: A History of the Doctrine of the Atonement
"Salvation Brings Imitation": Piper on Christus Exemplar
Where Theology and Life Intersect: A Theological Case for Christus Exemplar and Why It is Necessary - Part 1 - Introduction
Where Theology and Life Intersect: A Theological Case for Christus Exemplar and Why It is Necessary - Part 2 - Christus Exemplar and the doctrine of sin and depravity
Where Theology and Life Intersect: A Theological Case for Christus Exemplar and Why It is Necessary - Part 3 - The History of Christus Exemplar
Where Theology and Life Intersect: A Theological Case for Christus Exemplar and Why It is Necessary - Part 4 - Christus Exemplar and Humility
Sanctification Demands It: The Necessity of the Atonement

"Gods at War" by Kyle Idleman

Idoaltry isn't just one of many sins; rather it's the one great sin that all others come from. So if you start scratching at whatever struggle you're dealing with, eventually you'll find that underneath it is a false god. Until that god is dethroned, and the Lord God takes his rightful place, you will not have victory.

Idolatry isn't an issue; it is the issue. All roads lead to the dusty, overlooked concept of false gods. Deal with lie on the glossy outer layers, and you might never see it; scratch a little beneath the surface, and you begin to see that it's always there, under some other coat of paint. There are a hundred million different symptoms, but the issue is always idolatry. (22)

That adequately sums up Kyle Idleman's helpful book Gods at War: Defeating the Idols That battle For Your Heart (Zondervan, 2013). As a pastor I have seen the argument of this book every day. As the above quote suggests, the author argues that every issue, sin, challenge, and problem we face is rooted in a false god that we worship.

The book is pretty straight forward. In part one, Idleman defends his thesis arguing that God, out of love, is a jealous God. He pulls examples out of Scripture with special emphasis on the first two commandments. From there, the author breaks down common idols into three categories: Pleasure (the gods of food, sex, and entertainment), Power (the gods of success, money, and achievement), and Love (the gods of romance, family, and me).

In essence, there is very little new in this book. What the author does here is summarize much of Scripture's teaching. The Bible is a book of war over the hearts of men. God, the only true deity, crushes all false idols in the end, but in the meantime, man is naturally inclined to worship the self oftentimes through the means of these lesser so-called deities.

One part of the book that sticks out to me regards the god of food. The reason I find this chapter noteworthy is that it is the first idol the author notes. I am not sure I have read a book, especially a Christian book like this, in which food is identified as an idol. I would have naturally have thought that he would begin with sex and entertainment and include food as a last example of the "temple of pleasure" but instead the author puts it first and rightfully so.

Overall, this book is worth the investment for both the pastor and the average believer. Once we identify our idols we can be free from their lordship and truly worship our Savior. This is the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastors need to preach this message. Instead of flirting with the surface, let us dive into the heart. Let us crucify our idols and live for Christ. Idleman shows us how.

"Reasons to Believe" by Norman Geisler and Patty Tunnicliffe

There is no doubt that Christianity and the sacred text that defines it is under a daily assault. To the average Christian it may feel as if the questions are too difficult, the answers are too obscure, and the evidence for the faith are lacking. In their book Reasons for Belief: Easy-to-Understand Answers to 10 Essential Questions, authors Norman Geisler and Patty Tunnicliffe set out to serve the average believer in giving them answers and the logic and evidence to support them.

This book seeks to be both ammunition for the believer and a dagger for the skeptic. The ten questions include the existence of God (does He exist?), the reliability of Scripture, the historicity of the resurrection, the exclusive claims of Jesus, the deity of Jesus, miracles, and other common objections to Christianity.

As the subtitle of the book suggests, its main audience is not academics. Geisler, well known for some of his academic writings in various fields, and his co-author offer to provide basic answers and evidence to the average Christian. This means that at times the book is oversimplistic to those who already know these basic answers. For example, the authors argue that archeology supports the Old Testament. That much, for the most part is true. To support this claim they suggest, among other things, that the discovery of Jericho verifies the Joshua account. However, to the academic and scholar such an answer is not good enough. The early claim that the walls of Jericho appear to have fallen from the inside out, instead of outside in, is questionable.

This is not a criticism, but an important point for the reader to understand before diving into its many helpful pages. Understanding the books audience also explains why the authors spend more time on some things and overlook other answers. For example, the authors dedicate two chapters to the question of God's existence and rightfully so. If it can be established that God does not exist or that Deism is valid, then Christianity falls. As a result, the authors walk the reader through various evidences and arguments for the existence of God. They highlight the Cosmological, the Teleological, and the Moral arguments. Absent is, among other arguments, the Ontological argument. But then again, have you ever tried to explain the Ontological Argument for the existence of God to someone for the first time?

Overall, this is a helpful book. The authors offer more than just a book with simple answers but go out of their way to guide the reader and to provide the reader with easy-to-understand charts, graphs, illustrations, and examples to make the concepts easier to grasp. This is a helpful resource for those who do not possess these basic answers to some of the most often-used challenges to the Christian faith. As a pastor I would recommend it to most in my congregation.

Christianity is a historic faith built on events of history. Therefore we need credible answers for our many critics. Geisler and Tunnicliffe provide them.


I received this book free of charge from Bethany House for the purpose of this review.


For more from Bethany House:
"Understanding Theology in 15 Minutes a Day" by Dr. Daryl Aaron: A Review

"Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day" by Garry R. Norman: A Review 

"Taking God Seriously" by J. I. Packer

As the years go by, I am increasingly burdened by the sense that the more conservative church people in the West, Protestant and Roman Catholic alike, are, if not starving, at least grievously undernourished for lack of a particular pastoral ministry that was a staple item of the church life of the first christian centuries and also of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation era in Western Europe, but has largely fallen out of use in recent days. That ministry is called catechesis. It consists of intentional, orderly instruction in the truths that Christians are called to live by, linked with equally intentional and orderly instruction on how they are to do this. (10)

That is from the introduction of theologian J. I. Packer's wonderful book Taking God Seriously: Vital Things We Need to Know (Crossway 2013). The above quote is a basic introduction to yet another masterful book from Packer. We are not taking God seriously as a church and as Christians. We are not taking the doctrines of the faith seriously. We are not taking the gospel seriously. As a result, the church is sick. Christians are sick. 

Packer identifies this sickness with apathy, ignorance, complacency, and, to use the book's title, not taking God seriously. Somehow we have bifurcated faith from life. A common theme that runs through the book is the church's moral weakness when it comes to confronting the cultural shift in favor of homosexual behavior and marriage. Packer writes as if that is the last straw. His primary audience is the Anglican community he is a part of and frequently writes as an Anglican and to Anglicans (he frequently quotes from Anglican confessions of faiths). However, he repeatedly points out that this is not an Anglican problem alone. In this sense, Packer is sounding an alarm. We need to make serious changes, and take God and the gospel seriously, before it is too late.

This book is based on a series of lectures Dr. Packer gave and at times it reads that way.* But overall, each chapter provides excellent insight into the "vital things we need to know." Consider the table of contents:

1. Taking Faith Seriously
2. Taking Doctrine Seriously
3. Taking Christian Unity Seriously
4. Taking Repentance Seriously
5. Taking the Church Seriously
6. Taking the Holy Spirit Seriously
7. Taking Baptism Seriously
8. Taking the Lord's Supper Seriously

This is not a new approach to systematic theology. Though packer does deal with Theology Proper, Sin, Sovereignty, the atonement, Ecclesiology, etc., this book ought not to be read that way. Instead, Packer offers, not a basic introduction to the topic at hand, but real insight into why this matter matters. He critiques and confronts where we have gone wrong (liberalism, etc.) and what we must recover in order to right the ship. In his chapter on faith, Packer identifies two movements that have seriously affected our faith in general and our faith in the Bible in particular. The nineteenth centruy introduced us to biblical criticism, evolutionary dogma, socialist utopianism, and scientific pragmatism (30) which question basic tenets of the faith established in Scripture. This then led to another assault in the 20th century which has recast biblical narratives to which thyey have denied factual status (miracles stories, . . . in the first instance) as symnolizing aspects of the inner experience of the churhc and the Christian (30-31). This has led to catestrophic results. Packer writes:

The effect, as anyone can see, is to turn Christianity into a historically continuous church-based mysticism of transcendental God-feelings and attitudes of benevolence, none of which depends on any space-time events, and all of which, it seems, might cheerfully continue into the future even if it could be shown that Jesus Christ had never lived and that the gospel of salvation from sin is a mere mirage. (31)

He's right. And this is the spirit of the book. The solution to the challenges we face, he argues is a return to the orthodox, historical faith. We must take it more seriously or else we will lose it.

Overall, this is a great book well worth the read. Whatever JI Packer has to say, it should be heard around the evangelical community. There are some theological points here worth griping about (he defends infant baptism for example), but one must remember that this is a book adapted from a series of lectures that emphasizes the Anglican church. I know he is an Anglican. I am not, therefore, surprised to find Anglicanism throughout its pages. I give this book five stars. The church is sick and Packer's message is needed now more than ever.


*Typical of books based on sermons, speeches, or lectures, there is no conclusion. It just ends with the final address. In this case, Packer concludes the book on taking the Lord's Supper seriously.

"Sacred Sex" by Tony Evans: A Review

Sex is hot topic today and many Christians seems pulled between the culture which has turned it into a god and religion which has turned it into a necessary evil. The gospel, on the other, presents sex in a much different, and better, light. Sex is a gift meant to be enjoyed between a married man and woman. Such an understanding of sex, though commonly derided by the lustful culture, is best for the individual, couples, families, and society. In his short book Sacred Sex pastor Tony Evans lays out a defense of what Scripture says about sex and why it is best.

The book is broken into three chapters. The first chapters plays on main verb that describes the first moment of sexual intimacy in scripture. There in Genesis 3, Scripture says that Adam knew his wife Eve. That word (yada in the Hebrew). Sex is more than physical, it is emotion, mental, and spiritual. Evans writes, [S]exual intimacy involves far more than merely two bodies experiencing contact and exchanging fluids. If it were all hat was required for intimacy to occur, then prostitutes would be the most intimate people in the world (9). There is another way of putting this. If sex is just physical and nothing else, then please explain the lifelong heart ache of the rape victim or the young child molested. Our culture, then, has cheapened sex and cheapened those who engage in it.

From there he moves to discuss sexual purity. One section in particular is worth highlighting. Here he discusses the desire among many, especially men, to simply get rid of their strong sexual desire. Evans writes:

Sex is a legitimate and lawful passion given to us by God. So if you are struggling sexually, you don't pray that God will take away your sexual passion. You are then asking not to be human. What you pray is that you not be mastered by your legitimate and lawful sexual passion so that the expression of it becomes your obsession no matter what God's rules say. Sex is part of your God-given DNA, but it was never designed to be your master. (35)

Exactly.

The third and final chapter is, I believe, the best. A big part of the chapter plays on Paul's language in 1 Corinthians 7 that the woman's body is the man's and the man's body is the woman's. Thus it is the duty of each to serve the other. Evans gets very practical here and begins with the husbands. He essentially calls for men to serve their wives by meeting their needs first. He rightly says that sex begins, not at night before going to bed, but in the morning, during breakfast, during the day, while your out, etc. That is to say that men are to always be pursuing their wives, not simply waiting to engage in sexual intimacy. Sex, again, is more than an act. Thus men ought to continue to date their wives, love their wives, meet her emotional needs, and then reap the rewards. This always means for women to serve their husbands. Love goes both ways.

Overall, this is a helpful book in many ways, but not the best book on the subject. I was a little disappointed, not with its brevity but with how little of the gospel there is. Though he explains how the sexual sinner can reclaim their purity again (a great section at the end of the book), there is little gospel here. Sex is the climax of marriage which is a picture of the gospel. Sex is more than pleasure, procreation, and knowledge. It is also oneness, comfort, and a reminder of the gospel. The gospel puts sex on a level the culture has tore it down from. The culture worships sex all the while robs it of its true beauty.

So though the book is helpful in  many ways, it certainly is not the best book on the subject. Evans doesn't answer some of the common questions we must answer now. What about homosexuality? What about boundaries within marriage? How ought the church address these issues publicly or from the pulpit? What about contraception? Simple books that offer a basic introduction on biblical sexuality aren't good enough anymore. We are quickly becoming Sodom, Gomorrah and Corinth.


This book was provided by Moody Press free of charge for the purpose of this review.


For more:
"How Should Christians Vote?" by Tony Evans: A Review
A Must Read: Searching For God & Settling For Sex
"Surfing For God" by Michael John Cusick: A Review
"Vote Like Your Lady Parts Depend on It": The Duhumanization of Women
An Exaggerated Feminine Type: Uncle Screwtape on Beauty
A Must Read: What If It Were Your Daughter?
The Great Recession or the Recession That Made Us Great?: Pornography and the Frugality of Lust
Pornography for the Blind: Our Continuing Fantasy With What Is Not Real
It Takes One to Know One: Large Families and Smug Fecundity
"Real Marriage" by Mark & Grace Driscoll 

"The Good Life" by Trip Lee: A Review

Trip Lee is one of my favorite rappers. His most recent album, "The Good Life" is great in terms of music, lyrics, themes, and features. The artists featured on the disc are top notch and the theme of living what Trip Lee calls "the good life" is very much needed today.  The good life to Trip Lee can be summed up in the line, "The good life is the life that's been laid down."

Since the release of his top selling album, the early twenties rapper has since released a book with the same title tackling some of the same issues. The book is simple, but the message is profound and beautifully shows why the gospel is, well, so beautiful. Trip Lee's basic argument in both the album and the book is that we are all chasing after the good life, but we are looking for it in the wrong places. Scripture refers to these objects and people as idols: money, pleasure, power, influence, a family, a spouse, upper mobility, pride, a resume, early retirement, etc. Trip argues that these things, all temporary of course, will not give us the good life. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can. He writes:

As you know, hip-hop is always good for a heavy dose of hedonism. The images slowly seduce us and draw us in. I know this is the picture I was chasing after: Coke bottle figures and seven-figure checks. But what happens when you get there? Even the most beautiful women are imperfect an let us down from time to time. and surly, shiny machines rolling on wheels can't be what we were made to live for. They break down, they get dented in accidents, and they eventually go to the same junkyard as Hyundais. Surely we can do better. This is not a good life. (39-40)

That is the message of the book and he doesn't veer from it. The writing is very simple and it is clear that Trip Lee is not a professional writer or an academic. He is a young Christian armed with the gospel and an audience that will listen to him. He comes from a unique perspective, especially in the world of books, of being a rapper who understands the culture, the language, and the universal desire to seek the good life in our selves and our own abilities.

But the simplicity of the book is not necessarily a weakness. However, if you are looking for a more thorough and deep discussion on idolatry, etc. perhaps this isn't the right book for you. But that is not its primary goal. Trip shows that simplicity can be, at times, more powerful than depth and sophistication. His chapter on the church is particularly helpful. There is nothing profound or necessarily new here, but Trips matter-of-fact way of showing how the church contributes to the good life is powerful. He writes:

Imagine for a second a young boy, living as an orphan, who was adopted by a loving family. They bring him home, fee him, and give him his own room. He loves his new parents, and he's learning how to spell his new last name! But when his new parents introduce him to his new brothers and sisters, he wants nothing to do with them. He's glad to be a part of the family, yet he rejects his brothers and sisters?

All believers have been adopted by God and are now His children. But we often forget that we were adopted into a family of adopted children. We can't take on our Father's name and ignore the rest of the family. (79)

There is a solid treatment of the Christian doctrine of adoption applied directly to the doctrine of the church in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand way. In the same chapter, he briefly deals with the popular assertion that one can be spiritual but not religious. To that, he briefly notes They figure they can love God without loving His people (81). Exactly! He later adds that talk that Christianity is communal is scarey because all that "spiritual, but not religious" talk is really just an excuse to hide. Again, exactly!

Beyond this chapter on the church, Trip deals with a variety of issues in this sort of manner. He notes the emptiness (vanity is the word Solomon would use) of materialism. Have you not noticed, he asks, that the riches people in the world spend their time trying to get richer? It all seems so vain. So empty.

Overall, for the right person, this is an excellent read. I would not recommend this to a seminary professor or one of his students. But for the pastor who ministers to new believers, those on the fence, and young students, Trips influence as a popular rapper and artist and his ability to write in such a simple, yet direct manner takes this gospel message far.


This book was donated to me for the purpose of this review.








For more:
GBC - Trip Lee - "War"
"A Satisfied Mind" by Johnny Cash
"Be Present" by Propaganda 
Listen to & Download Propoganda's Album "Excellent"
"Lofty" by Propaganda, Beautiful Euology & Joel
A Beautiful Eulogy 
Listen To & Download Lecrae's "Church Clothes" For Free
The Gospel Illustrated 
Some of Their Best: DC Talk
GBC - Flame- The Great Deception
GBC - FLAME - Power [with Rap-Along lyrics]
GBC -  Shai Linne: Triune Praise 

"The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism" by Carl FH Henry: A Review

Today is the 100th birthday of the late Carl FH Henry, an important voice of 20th Century Evangelicalism. His book, The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism is a classic and I repost this review of it in light of his birthday.

You know your reading a classic when after decades of a book's original publication, it is still relevant and it reads as if it is hot off the press.  Carl F.H. Henry's classic The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism is one of those books. There is a context. Fundamentalism by the mid 20th Century, the word "fundamentalism" had a meaning that was actually helpful.  Today we may call such fundamentalists "evangelicals," or "conservative." A fundamentalist, at this time, was someone who actually took Scripture and the gospel seriously. They believed that the Bible was inerrant, the Virgin Birth is historical, Jesus was fully man and God, Jesus death was propitiatory, and the resurrection is not only historical but necessary for genuine faith. In other words, the fundamentalists believed, articulated, preached, and defended the fundamentals of the faith.

Fundamentalism is in contrast to modern liberalism which denies everything (and more) mentioned above. Liberalism is a flirtation with the age. Guys like Henry, Warfield, Machen, and others dealt with modern liberalism which reflected modernity more than it did the historical faith.  Liberalism has since transitioned from modernism to postmodernism. They still reject the same doctrines, but only the culture has changed.

But what makes this book so interesting is that Henry is not primarily critiquing liberalism, but fundamentalism. The book certainly includes many words of condemnation of modern liberalism. Henry repeatedly equates, or at least struggles to define the difference between, humanism (perhaps what we would call today "secularism") and Christian liberalism.

The book is a wakeup call for orthodox believers to do more than just defend orthodox doctrine, but to apply the truths of the gospel in wake of the world in which they live. Henry's basic argument is that right doctrine leads to transforming a society. Liberalism and humanism/secularism seeks "social justice," or at least fight for some just causes but because of their bad theology they fail miserably.

This is one of the things I loved most about this book.  Henry shows why theology is necessary to bring real transformation and regeneration. Liberals and secularists foolishly and wrongly adopt a false anthropology and a wrong soteriology. They believe that man is inherently good even though the two world wars, and remember that Henry is writing in 1947, ought to proven that man is not good, but inherently wicked.  Likewise, liberals and humanists try to establish a Utopia here through social change instead of reforming the heart.

This is where orthodoxy comes in. What we need is regeneration. Only the pure gospel regenerates the heart and changes society because it deals with the root problem: sin. Thus fundamentalists must be active in apply their faith to the society around them. This is a wake up call: get off your pew and out into the world with the gospel that you proclaim and believe. The faith ought to be active.

This does not mean that Jesus is just a political figure who came to set up a perfect government.  Not at all.  Jesus came to bring redemption, but that fundamental message has social implications.  Henry writes:

Of course, Jesus does not declare that all effort must be bent for world peace; He shares the Biblical conviction that neither peace nor war is as deterministic of human felicity as redemption.  Of course He does not declare that there must be a communistic distribution of world goods; He shares the Biblical conviction that redemption is the essential ingredient in the solution of economic problems.  Of course He does not declare in formula how a western democracy and a Soviet communist state are to carry on international relations; he shares the Biblical conviction that there is a more relevant need in political science that the intercourse of secularized nations.

But he is not on that account disinterested in the nations and in the global man.  One of the blind modern prejudices is our feeding that unless another mind attacks a problem in the way the contemporary mood does, he is not interested in it.  The methodology of Jesus is a redemptive methodology, and the modern formulas have been so different simply because of their presupposition that redemption is an alien concept for the contemporary world.  But there is not a problem for global consequence but that, from the viewpoint of Jesus, redemption is a relevant formula. it is offered as the only adequate rest for world wariness, whether political economic, academic, recreational.  it stands in judgment upon all non-Christian solutions. (35-36)

Redemption is the message of Christianity because it is the message of Christ.  Redemption is what we need and this orthodox doctrine has immense social implications.  Thus for Christians to sit on their hands while people suffer is to not fully understand the faith they are defending.

This then leads to the topic of the Kingdom of God. Henry should be credited, in some part, for the recovery of preaching both a present, yet future Kingdom. Henry is certainly not the first nor the most influential in this regard. An inaugurated eschatology was lost for many years primarily because of a wrong understanding of the Kingdom from liberalism.  Liberals, like Walter Rauschenbusch and Albrecht Ritschl, emphasized the presence of the Kingdom and that it is our job as Christians to establish this Kingdom through humanitarian aide and the "teachings of Jesus."

As a result, fundamentalists failed to preach the Kingdom because they did not want their theology and preaching to be equated with liberalism. But Henry calls us back to a proper theology that is from the lips of Jesus and does have implications.  On the Kingdom, Henry writes:

The writer was cautioned . . . to 'stay away from the kingdom.' There is growing reluctance to explicaate the kingdom idea in Fundamentalist preaching, beacuse a kingodm now message is too easily confused with the liberal social gospel, and because a kingdom then message will identify Chrsitainity further to the modern mind in terms of an escape mechanism.

Yet no subject was more frequently on the lips of Jesus Christ than the kingdom.  He proclaimed kingdom truth with a constant, exuberant joy.  It appears as the central theme of His preaching.  To delete His kingdom references, parabolic and nonparabolic, would be to excise most of His words.  The concept 'kingdom of God' or 'kingdom of heaven' is heard repeatedly from His lips, and it colors all of His works. (46-47)

The two points he raises here are important.  Preaching the Kingdom was absent, and in many places still is, because believe that the Kingdom is here and now is associated with theological liberalism while preaching that the Kingdom is not yet is associated with while end-times theories that becomes a mechanism to do nothing and just wait for Jesus to return - i.e. escapism.

But Henry goes on to show that inaugurated eschatology, as proclaimed by Christ and the apostles, is the means by which orthodox believers ought to seek real change in the culture and in society.

Thankfully a recovery of inaugurated eschatology is alive in conservative circles today.  I am currently preaching through the Gospel of Matthew and it is impossible to ignore the message of the Kingdom and it is imperative that Christians live in both worlds. The Kingdom is here, yes, and we must work in this Kingdom, but we are not the one's that makes it grow.  God is. Yet at the same time, the Kingdom will come. Now let's get to work!

There is much to like about this book. It is imperative that every conservative Christian consider Henry's argument.  This is a classic in its own right and has called generations of believers to apply their faith to the world around them. We will not save society, but it is inexcusable to sit on our hands and let the liberals and government to do our job for us. The gospel has societal implications and we dare not miss that. Henry does not advocate a certain economic theory or tax policy, but instead demands that we proclaim redemption and watch what God does in society with it.

I conclude with Henry:

Modern evangelicalism need not substitute as its primary aim the building of 'relatively higher civilizations.' To do that is to fall into the error of yesterday's liberalism.  Its supreme aim is the proclamation of redeeming grace to sinful humanity; there is no need for Fundamentalism to embrace liberalism's defunct social gospel.  The divine order involves a supernatural principle, a creative force that enters society from outside its natural sources of uplift, and regenerates humanity.  In that divine reversal of the self-defeating sinfulness of man is the only real answer to our problems - of whatever political, economic, or sociological nature.  Is there political unrest? Seek first, not a Republican victory,k or a labor victory, but the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  Then there will be added -- not necessarily a Republican or labor victory, but -- political rest.  Is there economic unrest? Seek first, not an increase of labor wages coupled with shorter hours, with its probable dog-eat-dog, resultant of increased commodity cost, but the divine righteousness; this latter norm will involve fairness for both labor and management. But there will be added not only the solution of the problems of the economic man, but also those of the spiritual man.  There is no satisfying rest for modern civilization if it is found in a context of spiritual unrest.  This is but another way of declaring that he Gospel redemption is the most pertinent message for our modern weariness, and that many of our other so-called solutions are quite impertinent, to say the least. (84-85)

Originally posted on February 16, 2012.

For more:
Where Are They Now?: Moore on God's Providence & the Next Billy Graham
The Reservoir & Conduit of Divine Truth: Carl FH Henry on Revelation 
Is Social Justice an Essential Part of the Mission of the Church?: The Wallis-Mohler Debate
Accommodationism Breeds Irrelevancy: Why Liberalism Fails and the Transcendent Gospel Triumphs
Repost Friday | How To Change the World: The Advantage and Power of the Gospel and the Limits of the Social Gospel
"The Kingdom is Always But Coming"
"Theology Is Not Superior To the Gospel": Rauschenbusch, Liberalism, and the Old Old Story
What Would Jesus Vote?:  Jesus, Health Care, and the Gospel
Have We Forgotten the Gospel?  Glenn Beck, Social Justice, and the Gospel
Who Isn't One?:  Brian McLaren and Social Christians
Repost | What Did the Cross Accomplish?: External Hope or Internal Reformation
Have We Forgotten the Gospel?:  Glenn Beck, Social Justice, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Crossing the Wall of Separation: The Danger of the State Wooing the Church
Weekly Recommendation - "Generous Justice" by Timothy Keller
Repent for Health Care is At Hand: Did Obama Just Legislate the Gospel?
The Postmodern Social Gospel: Brian McLaren Proves My Point 
The Bible and Poverty: The Gospel as the Remedy 
What Does It Mean to be  Christian?
"Jesus Wants to Save Christians" 
"UnChristian"
"The Justice Project" 
"The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns
"The Gospel According to Jesus" by Chris Seay  
"Outlive Your Life" by Max Lucado 
"When Helping Hurts" 
"Everything Must Change" 
"The Great Awakening" Part 1
"The Great Awakening" Part 2
Glenn Beck and Social Justice
The Power of the Gospel in Bringing Social Change:  Perhaps We Need to Reconsider Our Efforts
Is Wallis a Marxist?  A New Video Surfaces