Transcript HOLY SPIRIT - Erskine College
The Doctrine of Revelation 2
REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ as The Word of God
• He is the embodiment of the Word of God – – Heb. 1:1,2, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son . . .” 39 Articles #2; Irish Articles , 29; Confession of 1967 , ( Book of Confessions ) 9.27
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REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ as The Word of God
• He is the fulfillment of OT revelation – John 5:39, “these are the Scriptures that testify about me” – I Peter 1:11, “trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow” – Rev. 19:10, “the testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy” 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 3
REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ as The Word of God
• • He is the completion of the Covenant principle – Matt. 26:28, “this is my blood of the covenant” (cf. 1:23, “they will call him Immanuel- which means ‘God with us’”) Jesus Christ-the true image of the father – (Heb. 1:3) “he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature” – John 14:9- “anyone who has seen me has seen the father.” 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 4
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REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ as The Word of God
He is the perfect fulfillment of the law, of righteousness – Matt. 3:15, “Jesus said, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” – Matt. 5:17,18, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 5
REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ as The Word of God
• “Thus the whole revelation of the Old Testament converges upon Christ, not upon a new law or doctrine or institution, but upon the person of Christ. A person is the completed revelation of God God.” Herman Bavinck, ; the son of man is the one and only begotten Son of Our Reasonable Faith , 94.
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REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ and The Word of God
• He testifies to the truthfulness of the O.T. revelation – He calls the Old Testament “Scriptures” John 5:39 – – “It is written” John 6:45. “It admits no other interpretation than that, according to the judgment of Jesus, this word derived its Divine authority from the fact that it is written.” Kuyper, Principles of Sacred Theology , 435 Jesus speaks of Scripture as the product of divine utterance, “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,” Matt. 4:4 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 7
REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ and The Word of God
• He speaks of the necessity of Old Testament revelation – “Today has this Scripture been fulfilled” Luke 4:21 – – “That the Scripture might be fulfilled” John 13:18 “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets He explained to them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.” Luke 24:27 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 8
REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ and The Word of God
• He affirms the integrity of the Old Testament revelation – – – The integrity of a single word : Matt. 22:32, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” Matt. 22:43, “”How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’”?
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REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ and The Word of God
– The integrity of a 5:18) single letter : Luke 16:17, “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law” (cf. Matt. – The integrity of the whole : • John 10:35, “the Scripture cannot be broken” • Matt. 24:35, “my words shall not pass away” (his words=father’s words) 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 10
REVELATI0N: Jesus Christ and The Word of God
• • He affirms the Integrity of the New Testament revelation – “Teaching all things I have commanded you,” Matt. 28:20; – – John 17:14, “I have given them your word” and John 17:17, “your word is truth” He promises the Holy Spirit to superintend the memories of the apostles, John 14:26, “will remind you of everything I have said.” The ministry of Jesus was confirmed by miracles, John 10:25 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 11
REVELATION: Apostolic Witness
• • •
II Timothy 3:16
– verse 15, ‘ iera grammata , “sacred writings,” “Holy Scripture” – It is a technical term for Old Testament ta is sometimes inserted in mss.; if not original, it is an attestation to an ancient interpretation of ‘ iera grammata Arndt and Gingrich, Lexicon , 164, say it means “of the O.T. generally.” 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 12
REVELATION: Apostolic Witness
• • • “Every” or “all”: What does pasa grafh , vs. 16, mean?
– There is no theological issue at stake – “Every” is the distributive use; “all” is the collective use Each involves the other! A.T. Robertson, Vincent, Grammar , 722 and Word Studies say “every” , IV, 317, both 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 13
REVELATION: Apostolic Witness
• • • • The adjectives: are they used coordinately or subordinately?
– Coordinate: all Scripture is inspired
and
profitable – Subordinate: all inspired Scripture is profitable Modern theology is not concerned with what Scripture is, but what Scripture does, and so prefers the subordinate usage However, a definite corpus has already been cited, thus the coordinate usage is preferable Scripture is inspired and does profit us.
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REVELATION: Apostolic Witness
Theopneustos : – – Words ending in toj and compounded with qeos “generally passive in meaning,” Young, Truth , 20 are Thy Word is For example, qeodidaktoj , means taught by God – – – Scripture is described as “breathed out.” The focus is on the product, not the author It is contrary to the dynamic view, which sees inspiration as terminating upon the writers; not so here Inspiration terminates on that which is produced.
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REVELATION: Apostolic Witness
• •
II Peter 1:21
– The reliability of the apostolic message • Peter says he is not speaking of fables, vs. 16 • He says they (the apostles) were eyewitnesses, vss. 17,18 Scripture is a “more sure word” (more dependable, reliable) – Bebaioteron , a “superlative,” Arndt and Gingrich, Lexicon , 137 – More certain does not refer to idea that the apostles’ senses had been deceived; rather the word is certain because God spoke it (Deut. 18:22).
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REVELATION: Apostolic Witness
• • The meaning of the phrase “private interpretation” – – This is not a reference to the analogia fidei Rather, no Scripture comes , its origin in a human investigation into human matters. Cf. Luke 1:3 ginetai , or has It may be confirmed by evidence, but in its origin, it is not a product of human endeavor. 5/1/2020 Doctrine of Revelation 2 17
REVELATION: Apostolic Witness
• • The passivity of the author and the activity of the Holy Spirit – Feromenoi , is elsewhere used of complete passivity, Acts 27:15,17 – – This passage shows what is entailed in inspiration: the Spirit is the sole author Men speak the message of the Holy Spirit • It is the message of the Holy Spirit; • It does not become the message in a Barthian sense The Barthian view has the Spirit speak as borne along by the words of man.
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REVELATION: Apostolic Witness
• The emphasis of Scripture is not on the Divine/Human nature of Scripture; the emphasis is that God has spoken: We have the Word of God, II Peter 1:19.
Vox Dei, Deus Dixit
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