Jeffrey Johnson: Is God Angry With Me?

6 Reasons Why You Should Join A Church

There are many reasons Christians join a church yet some of them mostly deal with preference. Other reasons might to do with the relationships within the church. Whatever the reasons are, the question comes to mind is are any of them biblical?

Jeffrey Johnson gives 6 biblical reasons why Christians should join a church:

1. Church Membership Is Assumed in the New Testament

2. Church Membership Is Evidence of the New Birth

3. Church Membership Is Essential for Sanctification

4. Church Membership Is Essential to Loving Christ

5. Church Membership Is Essential to Obedience

6. Church Membership Is God’s Means of Accountability

Read the entire post here. 

Jeffrey Johnson on the Cost of Discipleship

Making Biblicism Great Again

I have never heard the term "biblicism" until recently. At first, I had no what it meant. There are a couple of definitions for it. The first is the Bible is the only source of truth for the Christian. The Christian is not allowed to have books, commentaries, or even further teaching. Some have described biblicism as going under the tree with your Bible and sitting there. Others have used this definition to describe Solo Scriptura rather than Sola Scriptura meaning the Bible is our only authority.

The other definition of biblicism is where the Bible is our final authority for faith and practice. It is not the only authority, but it is our final authority. For example, as we sit under a pastor preaching the Word on any giving Sunday, he is exercising spiritual authority over us yet, as the Bereans did with Paul in Acts 17, we check the scriptures to see whether or not he is preaching truth or stepping out of bounds with his authority. These Biblicists practice Sola Scriptura and use commentaries and books in their study of the Bible. 

Obviously, I fall under the second definition of biblicism because I do believe the Bible is our final authority for faith and practice. I also do believe the use of commentaries, books, and even sermons in studying the Bible are beneficial. As I mentioned, the Bible is not the final authority in our walk with Jesus. If I want to learn how to change the toilet fill value in the bathroom of my house, I am going to seek advice or consult the "all-knowing" YouTube (Please note I do not believe YouTube is all-knowing).

The reason why biblicism is getting a bad rap is because many think Biblicists are the only ones who can interpret the Bible or saying we should not be using terms not necessarily found in the Bible such as Trinity, which is a word not in the Bible, but it helps us describe the triunity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Others have said it will lead to heresy or will lead us to the Roman Catholic Church because there is only one opinion for Biblicist, their own, which for those in the first category that is true, however for those under the second category, that is not true.

True Biblicists seek to make the Bible the standard for which Christians live by. I am not advocating in not using commentaries, books, study Bibles, or even Bible software. I mean I have dozens of book quotes on social media and do book reviews so I cannot be under the first definition of Biblicism. Do I believe we should look at what others have said regarding the passage you are studying? Yes, but the Bible has the final say. What the theologian you are reading may not line up with the Bible so Scripture trumps what you are reading. The same can be said for the Bible you are listening to whether it is your local church pastor or one you are hearing online. By the way, it is okay to use creeds and confessions because they are expressions of our faith. If the creed does not align with Scripture, to paraphrase Charles Spurgeon, do away with it.

As I mentioned earlier, there are some who believe Biblicists will not use terms such as Trinity and omnipresent. These terms help us in our theology to understand what God has revealed about Himself in the Bible. I actually have known people that refuse to use the word "Trinity" because it is not in the Bible. Some understand the concept, but they won't use the word. What's ironic is some of these guys will say "Rapture" yet that word is not in the Bible. When studying the attributes of God, we use words that are not necessarily in the Bible, but we use them for our benefit. 

So now comes the questions, how do we make biblicism great again? Jeffrey Johnson, in his book, The Revealed God, answers that:

If biblicism is the refusal to use non-biblical words to define concepts, then we need to stay clear of biblicism. But, if biblicism is the refusal to incorporate extra-biblical and contra-biblical concepts and ideas into Christianity, then let’s make biblicism great again.

Let us also make biblicism great again by letting the Bible be our final authority. Johnson continues:

The world’s wisdom may seem scholarly and impressive, but in the end, it’s merely a complicated way to suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness. It leads its disciples into an endless maze of ever-changing beliefs from one fallible philosopher to the next. 

Those who become mesmerized by its lure are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. It is one thing for pagan philosophers to craft their conceptions of reality in their rejection of God. Still, it is another thing for the church to be deceived into thinking worldly philosophies are reliable handmaidens to theology. 

If rationalism, empiricism, and existentialism are of no value to unbelievers, why would they be of any value to believers? Oh, that the church would learn not to look to man but to God alone. May the church not seek to build its worldview on the faulty foundations of rationalism, empiricism, or existentialism, but upon foundational truths of divine revelation — alone!

Jeffrey Johnson Preaching on Covenant Theology

The Gospel Is Not About Moralizing The Culture

The culture as a whole is externally benefited by the inward and personal transformation that takes place within the individual followers of Christ. The more a society consists of those who have been born again, the more that society is impacted for good. No doubt, many temporal benefits follow the spread and reception of the gospel. We are indeed the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13). If nothing else, if it weren’t for the redeemed, there would be nothing preventing God from destroying the world. 

The gospel changes societies at the individual level. The gospel is not designed for political revolution but for reaching the lost with the hope of eternal life. Unless sinners submit to the gospel of the kingdom, they have no lasting hope. God is not interested in moralizing the wicked. God has not promised to sanctify the culture or to redeem earthly governments, nor is He concerned with Christianizing the wicked with the false hope of external morality.

Adapted from The Five Points of Amillennialism by Jeffrey Johnson

Jeff Johnson: Law and Gospel in Sanctification

Christ Is Our All

Christ brings us not only satisfaction but glory, happiness, purpose, freedom, companionship, truth, peace, and holiness because He brings us to the source of all these things—God. We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). Because of Christ, we not only live but we have reason to live (Phil. 1:21). In Christ we have been set free from the bondage of sin. With Christ we have been given true companionship, “a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24). We have been given a friend who not only laid down His life for us but who has risen to the highest seat of power to personally intercede for us before God. Truth, peace, and holiness have been delivered to us in Christ Jesus. He is God. He is our Savior. He is our Lord. He is our hope. He is our righteousness. He is our peace. He is our glory. He is the center of the universe and the center of our lives. He is our life. He is our all in all.

Adapted from The Pursuit of Glory: Finding Satisfaction in Christ Alone by Jeffrey D. Johnson

Christ Is Our Life

Finding life means that we need reconciliation with God. But the only way to be reconciled to God is through faith in Christ Jesus. Christ says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). As Christ says elsewhere, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). This is why it is crucial for us to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to have life and a relationship with God: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). As the Bible says in another place: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11–12). Moreover, it is an abundant life that Christ gives (John 10:10). By bringing us into a loving relationship with the Father, we not only receive eternal life, we receive a life of joy, peace, and purpose. It is an abundant life because it is the life of Christ that is lived within us who believe (Gal. 2:20). And the life of Christ within us is like an everlasting river that quenches all our thirsts (John 4:14).

Adapted from The Pursuit of Glory: Finding Satisfaction in Christ Alone by Jeffrey D. Johnson

Christ Is Our Joy

By receiving the life of Christ, we receive the joy of Christ. That is, the joy of the Lord becomes our joy (John 15:11). What kind of joy is this? It is a “joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). It is a joy that made Christ the happiest person who has ever lived (Heb. 1:9). In fact, Christ never lost His joy. Though He was “a Man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3), He was able to rejoice in the midst of His suffering.

Though Christ was called to face and carry out some difficult things, He always found pleasure in obeying God in those things (John 4:34). Even the most difficult task of all—dying on the cross—was motivated by “the joy that was set before Him” (Heb. 12:2). He was full of joy because He delighted in His Father at all times. Christ understood that in the presence of God there “is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). With His heart steadfastly fixed on God, He was anointed with the oil of joy above anyone else (Ps. 45:7). Oh, what a blessing to be able to rejoice in every situation (Phil. 4:4; 1 Thess. 5:16)! Yet what causes us to cease from rejoicing is not trials and tribulations, but sin. Sin, by its very nature, makes us miserable. It makes us distrust God. It makes us thirsty and brings discontentment into our souls because it separates us from God. Though sin continues to promise us happiness, it only intensifies our dissatisfaction with life.

The problem with sin is that it not only enlarges the insatiable appetites of our flesh but it pulls our hearts away from the Lord, the only real source of life and happiness. Thus, sin always leads to misery and death. What must we do to enter into the joy of the Lord? We must run back into the presence of Christ. We must turn our eyes away from the things of this world and gaze on the altogether lovely One. Only when we are satisfied with Christ will we be satisfied at all.

Adapted from The Pursuit of Glory: Finding Satisfaction in Christ Alone by Jeffrey D. Johnson

No Racial Partiality with God

Paul began his letter to the Romans by declaring the racial impartiality of God (2:11). It is important to remember that the racial separation in the Old Testament helped preserve the genealogical line of Christ. This wall of division between Jews and Gentiles was very important, for salvation (Christ) would be of the Jews. Yet now that the promise of the Abrahamic covenant has been fulfilled in Christ, the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles has been broken down (Eph. 2:14).

The Jews no longer have exclusive rights to the gospel. According to Paul, the gospel is impartial and has gone into all the world, and is powerful enough to save both Jews and Gentiles: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).

Not only is the gospel impartial, but the law is also impartial: “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality” (Rom. 2:9-11).

The law and the gospel do not show any racial favoritism. Gentiles can be saved by the gospel, just as Jews can be condemned by the law: “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law” (Rom. 2:12).

Adapted from The Kingdom of God: A Baptist Expression of Covenant Theology by Jeffrey Johnson

The Mosaic Covenant Was Conditional

We find undeniable proof that the Mosaic Covenant was a covenant of works in Exodus 19:5-6, when the Mosaic Covenant was established with the nation of Israel. At the inauguration of the Mosaic Covenant, God clearly based His relationship with the Israelites upon a condition. He told them in the clearest terms, “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” According to this passage, the promise was conditional (quid pro quo).

The Israelites would be God’s people and God would be their God, if they would obey and keep the conditions of the covenant. According to Moses, the condition was, ‘If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my people.’ In Deuteronomy, when Moses goes back over the law, he re-explains the conditional nature of the old covenant. “Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant, and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers” (Deut. 7:11-12).

Several years later, Jeremiah echoes Moses by teaching on the true nature of the old covenant. Jeremiah speaks on behalf of God, when he says, “This thing commanded I them, saying, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you’” (Jer. 7:23). Again he says, “Hear ye the words of this covenant and do them” (Jer. 11:6). Nevertheless, after the children of Abraham heard the terms of the covenant at the base of Mt. Sinai, they all replied back to God in one accord by saying, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do” (Ex. 19:8). Thus, Meredith Kline is right when he claims that the Sinaitic Covenant “made inheritance to be by law, not by promise—not by faith, but by works.’

Adapted from The Fatal Flaw: The Fatal Flaw of the Theology Behind Infant Baptism by Jeffrey Johnson

The Old Covenant Was One Of Works

Paedobaptist covenant theology is deeply rooted in the idea that the old and new covenants are essentially the same; that both covenants are manifestations of the covenant of grace. This, however, is simply not the case. The covenant established at Mt. Sinai was founded upon the law. It was founded upon God’s commandments, upon the phrase, “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them” (Lev. 18:5). The old covenant was not a covenant of grace, because it was not rooted in grace nor did it promise or dispense grace to it participants. Rather, it was a conditional covenant based on works—that eventually led to the condemnation of its participants. To put it plainly, the Mosaic Covenant was not a part of the covenant of grace, but the covenant of works.

Adapted from The Fatal Flaw: The Fatal Flaw of the Theology Behind Infant Baptism by Jeffrey Johnson