Nondenominations of abomination: the split, in under 90 words

by Dan Phillips

Don't word-count this part.  Over at Cripplegate, the Rt. Hon. Rev. Prof N. Busenitz offered a rationale for parting denomination from abomination (i.e. Christian group from cult), in under 200 words. I offer two responses:

First: I agree. His point's well-made. This is not a disagreement. It's a valuable, useful post.

Second: I think it could even be further focused, though Nate's fuller development (and still-fuller developments than his) are also necessary.

So what follows is my attempt to shave the difference to one point of less than ninety words. (If I moved the Scriptures to footnotes, it would be under sixty-five words.)

Ahem.

This part counts, starting...next word!

False teachers have a deficient view of Christ. They deny that He is God incarnate (Jn. 1:1, 14), the Father's eternal and distinct Son (Jn. 1:1-2), giver of the Spirit (Acts 2:33), who saves by grace alone through faith alone by merit of His penal,

substitutionary sacrifice alone (Matt. 1:21; 20:28; Eph. 2:8-9), witnessed by His bodily resurrection (Jn 20—21), and who kept His promise to bring revelation to completion through the Spirit's work in His apostles (Jn. 14—16; 1 Jn. 1:1-3).

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Franklin Graham's people play the "call" card: a cautionary tale

by Dan Phillips

In The Pastoral Call, and How There Isn't One, we accomplished two things:

1. We drove a Bibley stake through the heart of a cherished and unsupportable tradition.
2. We warned against its inherently disastrous dangers.

And now, as if ordered from a catalog, Franklin Graham and Co. come along to illustrate precisely what I'm talking about.

I'm not happy about it. For starters, long ago I wanted to be supportive of the universally-beloved icon Billy Graham... but then I read this, and watched videos like this, and heard him preaching to inmates in a prison that God had given them "the most precious gift of all" which, it turned out, was not Jesus Christ, but "free will," and the ability to "decide to become a better person" — and it became pretty tough to do.

But Franklin Graham has made statements and taken stands over the years that gave me hope that this apple fell a healthy distance from the tree.

Until this.

We read in this story that Franklin Graham was "shocked" (shocked!) to find that the organization's web site had a page labeling Mormonism as a "cult." They took the page down, and it's down for good. Why?

Graham explained, “[W]e’re calling people names. If I want to win people to Christ, how can I call them names?” Then BG media rep A. Larry Ross followed up with “Mr. Graham’s calling [N.B.] is not to pass judgment, but to proclaim the Biblical truth that Jesus is the only way to heaven, allowing every individual and group to fall along that plumb line.”

Other BG reps said “We removed the information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign,” and “If [Billy Graham] would do something that would alienate an audience, he wouldn’t be able to reach them.”

Well, so much could be said about that, couldn't it? I'm going to pick only one aspect, which I just developed at some length in connection with expounding and applying Titus 1:9. Larry Ross tells us, "Mr. Graham's calling is not to pass judgment."

Let's say I'd like to dispute that. (Readers: "I'd like to dispute that." Yes, thanks, you're all very helpful.)

This is pretty important, right? Ross is claiming that Graham has a note from God, against all Scripture, excusing him from calling damning heresy "damning heresy." It is a "call" that actually cancels Scripture. Or it surely seems to.

So yes, I dispute that.

But this "calling" must be a very powerful and persuasive thing, mustn't it, to compel a man in such a public and influential position to take such a stand? It must be compelling, thunderous, huge.

So, I'd like to see it. Is that too much to ask? So where can I go to examine Franklin Graham's "calling"? Perhaps Graham misread it. If so, I'd like to help. Or if God has cancelled out what He previously said (such as in, oh, Eph. 5:11b, Titus 1:9 [et passim], and Jude 3), I really need to know it. All pastors really need to know it.

Or did God just issue an exemption for Franklin Graham? Again, if Christians are expected to support him (even to the tune of $00.01) as an evangelist, we need to know when, where and how God issued this "calling" that cancelled His holy, inerrant, unchanging and abiding word. After all, how can an "evangelist" call people to repent if he can't explain what they need to repent of and why they need to do it. Otherwise, one is reminded of the joke.

QUESTION: What do you get when you cross a Jehovah's Witness and a Unitarian?
ANSWER: Someone who goes knocking door to door for no apparent reason.

But I would bet that Ross' adept playing of the "C" card (Calling!) didn't raise a dozen eyebrows among readers. Which is a tragedy, a tragedy to be billed to Charismatics and sloppy mystical non's alike.

But that's the desired effect, of course. "Oh, that's his calling? Okay, all right, I guess we're done here."

Underneath this lies perhaps a more fundamental question is: what is Franklin Graham? Is he a pastor? Of what church? Is he an evangelist? Under the authority of what church? If this latter, do the elders of his church know enough Bible to call him aside, rebuke and correct him, call him to (wait for it) repentance?

Because I don't know any other authoritative call of God, and any other binding template for all Christian leadership, than that which we find in the Word of God. This is a calling that is out-there, that is open to examination and analysis, and that is morally binding.

An example of this is Titus 1:9, which I translate thus: "holding fast to the faithful word according to the teaching, in order that he might be able both to exhort by healthy doctrine, and to reprove those who contradict." See there a twofold exercise of the leader's powerful ability in Scripture: "both to exhort by healthy doctrine, and to reprove those who contradict." Not either/or; but both/and. It's God-given, it's non-negotiable, and it's out there for all to see.

So while we might like to prance forth, preaching (select parts of) Jesus, love, joy, puppies and wonderfulness, and just forget about sin, error, shipwreck, apostasy and damning deception, we just do not have that option.

It isn't our calling.

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Phillips' axioms

by Dan Phillips

When you get old, experienced and opinionated, you build up a stock of axioms. Here are some of mine, for whatever use, ponderance, reflection, passing whimsy, and/or outright theft, you might make of them. They range from the theological to the practical to the political. What use will you make of them? None, maybe. But I've used various of them variously in sermons, conversation, evangelism, counseling, teaching, and writing.

Unlike Biblical Proverbs, they're uninspired. Like Biblical proverbs, the aim is memorable, thought-provoking, stick-in-your-mind brevity.

Strictly, some of these are proverbs or apothegms... but that would make too long a title!

If this list has no interest to you, I'd just ask you graciously to remember what you paid for it.

1. If you ever weren't God, you never will be.
2. When you sin, or say or do something really foolish, you have two choices: repent, forsake, and rectify; or start an endless cycle of doubling-down degradation. Most people do the latter.
3. Don't be the last to know you're wrong.
4. Trolls are thoughtful people. Nail them for what they are, and they immediately prove you right.
5. Pastors who don't pastor aren't pastors, they're lecturers.
6. Anyone who claims to be an apostle today is 'way, 'way too young.
7. Any woman who seeks to lead men in church is eo ipso disqualified—if open rebellion against the Lordship of Christ is still a disqualifier.
8. Folks who are full of themselves don't leave much room for anyone else.
9. Every vote is a vote for the lesser of two evils.
10. Men shouldn't let our eyes rest anywhere our hands shouldn't.
11. Looking may just be looking, but doing starts with a look.
12. Only way to be certain not to forget something is to do it now.
13. Preach like God's watching, like you'll never get another chance, and like every second of your hearers' time is precious.
14. Don't let truth lose by default through your laziness, indifference, cowardice or ignorance.
15. If nobody else has ever seen what you're seeing in the Bible, that's probably because it isn't there.
16. The world is far better at being the world than the church ever could be, so don't even try.
17. Don't be shocked when unbelievers act like unbelievers.
18. Do be shocked when believers act like unbelievers. Especially when it's you.
19. Counsel the person who's there. 
20. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
21. Excelling at anything is a matter of wisely investing odd moments.
22. Better to know a little truth, and believe it deeply, Than to know a lot, and not.
23. Anyone can be taught — except the dead and the proud.
24. Everyone does what he does because he thinks it will make him happy. (Added 12/5/12)
25. Unhappy complainers are always louder and more insistent than happy people with praises. This works both horizontally and vertically, and is equally a reproach to both categories of people. (Added 1/3/2013)
26. When a man opposing God's truth is destroying his own argument with every word, sometimes it's best to stay out of the way and let him get on with it. (Added 1/18/2013)
27. Kid, life's not a game. Hasty decisions cast long shadows. (Added 4/8/2013)
28. When someone wants to misunderstand, no power on Earth and no amount of explanation can make him understand. (Added 9/26/2013)
29. Everyone in the embrace of a sin dismisses Biblical rebuke by claiming to be misunderstood. (Added 9/27/2013)
30. The problem with the person who thinks he's too strong to be able to join himself in fellowship with imperfect Christians in a local church is that he is actually too weak to sustain it. (Added 9/27/2013)
31. Being married is like being a Christian, only more so. (Added 9/27/2013)
32. Sin is always the problem, never the solution. (Added 9/27/2013)
33. Every time someone tries to be a "'progressive' Christian," (s)he ends up being a whole lot of the one, and not much of the other. (Added 2/24/2014)
34. With stubborn, unrepentant sin, lack of information is rarely the real problem; so pouring in information is rarely the solution. (Added 2/24/2014)
35. God didn't give kids sense. Instead, He gave them parents, told the parents to teach the kids His Word, and told the kids to honor their parents. (Added 4/26/14)
36. If anyone makes you feel better about thumbing your nose at God, that person does not love you. (Added 5/6/14)
37. Arguing X does not necessarily mean that there is a real argument worth making for X. (Added 7/8/14)
38. The hands do what the hands do because the heart is what the heart is. (Added 8/22/14)
39. "Love" should not be defined as the compulsion to force others to subsidize the idle, the immoral, and the illegal. (Added 2/20/15)
40. When one loves God, no reason is a large enough obstacle to prevent us from serving Him. When one does not love God, no excuse is too puny, paltry, or pathetic to keep us from serving Him. (Added 5/11/15)
41. The moral obligation of leading by example is absolute; its efficacy, however, is often grossly, grossly overstated (2 Chron. 27:2). (Added 8/26/15)
42. Racism is not the cure for racism. Only the Cross of Christ is. (Added 2/12/16)
43. Atheists tend to blurt bombastic clichés rather than read, reflect, and respond. (Added 11-7-2017)
44. Big names are often small people. (Added 1-9-2018)
45. Youth, dirt-ignorance and hubris are a deadly combination. (Added 1-9-2018)
46. The mark of a truly big person is how he treats "little people." (Added 1-9-2018)
47. No human authority has the right to command what God forbids, or forbid what God commands. (Added 4-11-18)
48. Obedience isn't a technique. You don't "try" it, to see if it "works." (Added 5-14-2018)
49. {Instant acclaim + massive soapbox} minus {coherent, thought-out, well-grounded, long-demonstrated convictional, Biblical worldview} = disaster. Generally not a matter of if, but when, and how bad. (Cf. 1 Timothy 5:22). (Added 5-14-2018)
50. Sin snowballs. That's its propensity. No sin likes to remain alone. (Added 7-23-2018)
51. You can't make someone see what he doesn't want to see. (Added 5-12-2020)
52. The existential distance between "humiliated" and "humbled" is so much vaster than the lexical distance. Many who are the former, are not the latter — to their destruction. (Added 4-5-2021)
53. Once Pride makes an investment, it will defend it to the death...of everything. (Added 8-2-2021)
54. You can lead a "continuationist" to Scripture, but you can't make him think. (Added 12-15-2022)
55. God is good, but He plays the long game. (Added 2-22-2024)
56. Anyone who will cheat with you will cheat on you. (Added 4-10-2026)

There y'go.

[By the way, there is a companion-post: 25 Things I've Learned. You're welcome!]

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Colossians studies 10: Greetings 2 (1:1-2)

by Dan Phillips

(Continued from heah.)

Last time we saw who primarily wrote Colossians: "Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God" (Colossians 1:1). We saw that the letter to the Colossians is not like this post. This is being written by a student of revelation; Colossians was written by a conduit of revelation. As an apostle, Paul spoke for Christ. For he is, as he says, an "apostle of Christ Jesus."

In whose name did Paul write? Perhaps I can assume that most of our readers value those words properly; I daresay many churchgoers don't. Many think that Jesus is the Lord's first name, and Christ His last. If so, this order must mess them up: Christ Jesus. So let's be sure we know what they mean.

CHRIST is yet another non-translation. It is instead a transliteration of the Greek word Χριστός (Christos), which simply means "anointed" (note: only two "n's"). It is from the verb χρίω (chriō), meaning to pour oil on something, to anoint it. A christos, then, is someone who has had oil poured on him.

So you see right off that it isn't a last name; in fact, it isn't a name at all. It's an adjective, used as a noun, a title.

Now here, perhaps some New Ager has stumbled by from a Religious Science or Christian Science site, and his eyes light up. "That's right!" he says. "It's the Christ, the principle of Sonship that is in us all!" You may recall that the Lord saved me out of the cult of Religious Science, founded by Ernest Holmes. The cult's textbook is called The Science of Mind, and it includes a glossary, which defines "Christ" thus:

The total manifestation of God, from the plant to an angel; from a peanut to the entire Universe of expression. Christ in Man means the idea of Sonship, the Perfect Man as He must be held in the Mind of God.

Uh, yeah; except no.

Words, like people, have histories and genealogies. You don't meet someone and instantly pop off with, "Okay, I'm going to say you're a circus clown, from an ancient family of circus clowns who entertained the crown princes of Europe, and...." The person is what he is, and you need to learn who he is and what he is and where he's been and what he's done.

So it is with words such as "Christ." They already have histories, when we meet them. We don't get to make them up. This word's history reaches back into the Old Testament, where the Hebrew equivalent is mâšîach — which means exactly the same thing ("anointed"), and is transliterated "Messiah." So "Christ" and "Messiah" mean exactly the same thing; and both transliterate Greek and Hebrew words (respectively) meaning anointed one.

In the OT, anointing was a sort of inauguration ceremony that identified special individuals. Which sorts? Three:

1. Prophets (1 Kings 19:16; Psalm 105:15)
2. Priests (Exodus 30:30; Leviticus 4:5)
3. Kings (1 Samuel 9:16; 24:6 [Hebrew 7])

The Old Testament prophesies the Messiah, the anointed one (Daniel 9:25-26), who unites in Himself all three offices:

1. Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)
2. Priest (Psalm 110:4)
3. King (Psalm 2:6, 9; Isaiah 9:6-7)

JESUS also transliterates the Greek name passably. It is indeed our Lord's personal name, a name given and interpreted by the angel in Matthew 1:21 — "she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins" (NAS). "Jesus" is the Greek version of the Hebrew name "Joshua," which means salvation, or Yahweh is salvation, in Hebrew.

Here again, Holmes just makes it up in how he defines "Jesus":

The name of a man. Distinguished from the Christ. The man Jesus became the embodiment of the Christ as the human gave way to the Divine Idea of Sonship.

In contrast, the apostle John (who actually knew Jesus Christ) said

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22)

So you see, New Agers can't just come along and pump any meaning they care to into words like "Christ." Paul did not make up the word. He took a word with a long, rich, distinct history, and he plopped it right down on...

...not a concept
...not an ideal
...but a particular historical Person.

Now, briefly: where was Paul? He was in prison (4:3, 18); to be exact, he was in prison in Rome (Acts 28:17-31). To be even more precise, he was in prison for preaching the Gospel to people just like the Colossians; for preaching to them that they could be accepted as righteous by God for Christ's sake, without having to become Jews in any sense. So he had a personal investment, and some very convinced cred, in opposing the false teacher.

Next: who was the secondary writer? "Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy the brother...."

Timothy was a child of mixed parentage (Acts 16:1). I often envied Timothy, raised in a home where his parents spoke Greek and Hebrew! No need for Machen and Weingreen!

Timothy was also a Christian believer who was nurtured up on Scripture (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15). He became Paul's beloved and trusted apprentice (Acts 16:1-3; Philippians 2:19-23).

What role Timothy had in the composition of the letter, we don't know. Perhaps he was Paul's secretary. But Paul presents his apprentice as joining with him in the letter's composition.


Next, I plan to go on to look at the recipients, and see the significance in how Paul greets them.

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