Cain Offered His Own Labor-Work out of Order

It wasn’t what Cain brought that caused God to reject his offering, but rather the order in which he brought it. Cain’s offering should have been brought after Abel’s offering, i.e. after atonement was made for both Cain and Abel. By bringing his offering first, Cain was saying he did not need atonement. He was saying that he should be accepted as if he were not the fallen son of Adam. He was saying that he was not subject to the curse of sin and death as his father. It was the sin of pride. Possibly because Eve told him he was the seed that was to crush the head of the serpent and he would do it by his own hand. Product of Cain’s labor had to be offered in Christ. Only after atonement, i.e. out of true worship, could Cain’s offering of the fruit of his own labor-work be accepted.

In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:3‭, ‬5‭-‬7 ESV

Blessings in Christ,

Terry W. West

Christ Our Passover – Pascha Nostrum

1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Romans 6:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

Alleluia. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; * therefore let us keep the feast,

Not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, * but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia.

Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; * death hath no more dominion over him.

For in that he died, he died unto sin once; * but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, * but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia.

Christ is risen from the dead, * and become the first fruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, * by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, * even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia.

Musing on Liturgy and Its Relationship to Theology

To participate in liturgy is to participate in theology. It is to think God’s thoughts after Him. It is to hear His call and to respond in community with His gathered body. It is to participate in Kingdom life.

Worth Quoting – Thoughts on the Lord’s Day

The Lord’s Day is a Christian mystery or, if one prefers, an expression of the one Christian Paschal Mystery. In the full observance of the First Day of the week, we are not only taught the doctrines of creation, redemption, and sanctification, we not only remember them, but we enter into them, or reenter them. We ourselves experience admission to a renewed creation, as a resurrected people in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the communion of saints, in the foretaste of heaven, as citizens of that blessed country where the river of life flows forever and God wipes away the tears from every eye. – From the Preface of “The Day of Light: The Biblical and Liturgical Meaning of Sunday”

Childlike Faith – For to Such Belongs the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 19:13-14, “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people,but Jesus said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Trinity, my little five year old, came to me today and said, “Daddy, I want to live forever and ever. I don’t want to die.” I told her that when you belong to Jesus you will live forever and ever. I told her that’s what God promises her in her baptism. She said, “But Daddy, when I get one hundred years old I will die.” I told her yes, but you will go to be with Jesus, and when he returns he will bring you with him and you will get your body back and will live with him forever and ever. Her eyes got real big and she smiled ever so big and went running through the house saying, “Yea! I get to live forever and ever because Jesus has promised me that I will!”

Why the majority of the Reformed world will not let such a little child as my Trinity come to the communion table and eat the bread and drink the wine where this very promise is renewed each Lord’s Day is beyond me. I marvel at such childlike faith.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

Continuing My Thoughts on the Visible/Invisible Church

1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

Notice that in this verse John is describing a corporate group of people. A corporate entity he clearly expects his readers to recognize and ro consider themselves members. I argue that this group of people, therefore, would be visible and known to all. Also notice that the ones spoken of as having left this visible known group of people were hidden for a time, or invisible as it were until it became clear who they were after being seperated from the group. Again this seems to me to flip the visible/invisible distinction over on its head from the way its commonly conceived.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

A Thought On The Visible/Invisible Church

Mathew 13:24&25, “He put another parable before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” (ESV)

Notice that in the text that the good seed is planted first and the weeds are planted later. It would seem to me that the good seed must take preeminence over the weed. This I believe is obvious from the text. So my question is this. What if the visible/invisible distinction has been expressed exactly backwards? Could we not argue from this text that the good seed is the true visible body of Christ and the the weeds are the invisible false members hidden among the good seed. This is why Christ commands that the weeds not be uprooted to hastily least the good seed be uprooted instead. For it is far more likely that a good plant will uprooted by mistake because the good plant is the prominent visible plant, but the weed is the hidden invisible plant that is difficult to spot. Just a thought.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

Pelegian in practice?

I want to throw out a question. I have been following the debate concerning the sacraments for sometime now. The impression I get from time to time is that when it comes to the administration of the sacraments we become almost pelegian in practice? What I mean is this, it seems that we tend to think of the participation in the sacraments as a mere human act of the will that may or may not have any real benefit, but the secret work of the Spirit in the heart is seen as that which is truly sovereign. Its as if we have without meaning to compartmentalized the two experiences in the church. But what if we really begin to view even the external things in the church as just as much sovereign acts of God as we do the internal regeneration that the Spirit works in the heart of those who have true faith? How would this impact our thinking and our theological development? Just thinking out loud.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

My speculation on what is meant by “corporate justification”.

Earlier today I attempted to comment on Andy Gilman’s question for Pastor Doug Wilson concerning his statement defining “corporate justification”

Here is Pastor Wilson’s statement:

“…corporate justification is God’s forensic declaration that the human race has been legally and covenantally reconstituted in Christ, the last Adam. The Church, as the bride of Christ, is the instantiation of that blessing in the world, for the world.”

Here is Andy Gilman’s question:

” …corporate justification is God’s forensic declaration that the human race has been legally and covenantally reconstituted in Christ, the last Adam. The Church, as the bride of Christ, is the instantiation of that blessing in the world, for the world.”

I don’t understand how these two sentences fit together. In the first sentence, the human race is “legally and covenantally reconstituted in Christ,” and in the second sentence, the Church is said to be an instance or example of “that blessing in the world, for the world.”

The first sentence indicates that the “human race” is “legally and covenantally reconstituted in Christ.” Is “legal and covenantal reconstitution in Christ” the same blessing the second sentence is talking about, when it ascribes it to the Church? If so, then why is it said to be given to the “human race” in the first sentence? In Doug’s view, is corporate justification a blessing enjoyed by the whole human race, or is it limited to the church? And what does it mean to be “legally and covenantally reconstituted in Christ?”

I generally think of myself as possessing reasonably good reading comprehension, but I don’t get this.”

I will now add the comment I attempted to submit at Green Baggins. I am posting this here on my blog because WordPress wouldn’t let me post it at Green Baggins for some reason.
My comments:

Andy,

This is the first time that I have seen this formulation by Pastor Wilson concerning “corporate” justification, but I think I may understand what he is trying to get at. Pastor Wilson, I’m sure, will correct me if I’m wrong.

Andy, you said: “I don’t understand how these two sentences fit together. In the first sentence, the human race is “legally and covenantally reconstituted in Christ,” and in the second sentence, the Church is said to be an instance or example of “that blessing in the world, for the world.”

In the first sentence we may possibly have what Vermigli would call “incarnational union”. Or we could also call “incarnational” representation. Christ, the God-man, represents the entire human race (this means every individual member thereof, not just as some abstract “class”) in at least 3 ways:

1. Christ took the human nature that is common to all in Adam (sin excepted).

2. Christ obeyed the law of God perfectly, the law that every member of the human race is duty bound to obey. Through his obedience he grew in favor with God and thus maintained that paternal/covenantal relationship with the Father that Adam and all his posterity forfeited.

3. Christ willing suffered the death (i.e. penalty) that every member of the human race deserves. He suffered the wrath of God as a member of the human race in the place of the human race. Christ bore “our” sins in his body on the tree, thus becoming the penal substitute for the human race.

John Calvin said this: “Luke goes still farther, showing that the salvation brought by Christ is common to the whole human race, inasmuch as Christ, the author of salvation, is descended from Adam, the common father of us all.” (Institutes Book 2, Chapter 13, paragraph 3)

Through this “incarnational” representation, all the legal obstacles have been removed so that upon the condition of faith any member of the human race may be forgiven and delivered from the penalty of the law. Christ is the Justified One and all who are in Christ have the promise of justification upon the condition of faith.

W.G.T. Shedd said this: “Christ’s death as related to the claims of the law upon all mankind, cancels those claims wholly. It is an infinite “propitiation for the sins of the whole world,” 1 John 2:2….This one offering expiated “the sins of the whole world,” and justice is completely satisfied in reference to them. The death of the God-man naturally and necessarily canceled all legal claims. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, 2:437, 438.

Now, in Pastor Wilson’s second sentence we have the normal means through which the benefits secured for the human race are administered. i.e. the Church who are the covenant people of God. Every baptized member of the Church of Christ bears a covenantal union with Him. They have signed and sealed to them in baptism the promise of God that upon the condition of faith they have all the benefits that Christ secured for them as members of the human race.

Now, I know that many will not be satisfied if I just stop here, so I will state the special union that the elect (i.e. decretaly elect) have with Christ. God sovereignly grants to the elect alone the regeneration and faith by which they infallibly possess all the benefits given to them in Christ.

Well that’s my shot at it.

Again, this just my attempt to express what may be contained within the idea of “corporate justification”, and therefore I may be way off the mark of what Pastor Wilson and other FV advocates are trying to say.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

Worth Quoting – Ignatius’ Exhortation to Steadfastness and Unity

Stand fast, brethren, in the faith of Jesus Christ, and in His love, in His passion, and in His resurrection. Do ye all come together in common, and individually, through grace, in one faith of God the Father, and of Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son, and “the first-born of every creature,” but of the seed of David according to the flesh, being under the guidance of the Comforter, in obedience to the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote which prevents us from dying, but a cleansing remedy driving away evil, [which causes] that we should live in God through Jesus Christ.

Ignatius (A.D. 35-107) Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 20