Wyatt Graham | Page 3 of 40 | Faith | Books

3 Unexpected Motivations to Obey God from Jeremiah 7

January 20, 2019 by wagraham Leave a Comment

When we think of the Old Testament, we sometimes think of God as a consuming fire who threatens to devour any who disobey him. And you know what. God is and does do that. And yet: God never takes pleasure in harming anyone—even wicked people.

Do not take my word for it. Here is what God says, “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?” (Ezek 33:11).

So granting that God does not take pleasure in inflicting death upon wicked people, we should not be surprised that God gives all sorts of motivations for obedience. This might surprise us, but it should not. God is good, and he wants to share his goodness, his life with everyone. Here are three ways God motivates us to obey him in Jeremiah 7.

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How Do People Know God by Nature?

January 19, 2019 by wagraham Leave a Comment

In Romans, Paul explains that people “knew God,” yet “they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him” (Rom 1:21). What does it mean for people to know God by nature without honouring or thanking him? And how can they know God when apart from the Gospel, no one can be saved?

Here is my answer: Anyone can know the signs of deity but only grace brings us to the reality to which the signs point. Hence, Paul claims that anyone can discern God’s invisible attributes but they neither give thanks to him nor honour him.

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3 Thoughts on Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

January 18, 2019 by wagraham Leave a Comment

In her massively popular book, Girl, Wash Your Face, Rachel Hollis exposes common lies that we believe which prevent us from becoming happy. She explains, “This book is about a bunch of hurtful lies and one important truth.” (xi).

What is the truth? Hollis explains, “You, and only you, are ultimately responsible for who you become and how happy you are. That’s the takeaway” (xi). Buck up. Get to work. And grab happiness by the horns.

To do so, Hollis argues that we need to destroy every lie we believe (xii). She explains, “Recognizing the lies we’ve come to accept about ourselves is the key to growing into a better version of ourselves” (xiii). Elsewhere she writes, “More than anything, I hope you’ll rest in the knowledge that you can become whomever and whatever you want to be, my sweet friend” (xvii).

Given the popularity of Hollis and her book, I’d like to offer three thoughts on Girl, Wash Your Face to help you to evaluate the book.

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If the Father Was not Angry with the Son at the Cross, with Whom Or with What Was He Angry?

January 8, 2019 by wagraham 3 Comments

John Calvin rightly affirmed that God was never “inimical or angry toward” Christ at the cross (Inst. 2.16.11). Instead, Francis Turretin explains that Jesus experienced the “want of the sense of the divine love” (Inst. 2:354). John Flavel also specifies that God withdrew his “sensible love” from Christ at the cross (Works, 1:410).

In short, Christ always had God’s love even at the cross. Christ willingly died for the joy set before him. Yet at the cross, he did not sense God’s love (though he always had it) because “the sense of the divine wrath and vengeance resting upon him” intercepted Christ’s sense of love (Turretin, Inst. 2:354).*

If not the Son, then with whom or with what was the Father angry? Here’s my answer. God was angry at sin and sinners, yet out of his great love for us he himself bore our sin and died as our substitute. As Michael Horton writes, the cross “was not a cathartic release of anger but a just satisfaction of God’s cosmic and covenantal righteousness” (Justification: 2:226). [Read more…] about If the Father Was not Angry with the Son at the Cross, with Whom Or with What Was He Angry?

How One Remonstrant Historian Remembered the Calvinist Theologian Franciscus Junius (1545–1602): “You have contended falsehood by truth, hatred by love.”

January 3, 2019 by wagraham Leave a Comment

How do you want your enemies to remember you? A strong-willed battler? A powerful opponent? Or someone who used “reason’s gentle power?”

This was how one Remonstrant (Arminian) historian described Franciscus Junius (1545–1602). Junius contributed significantly to Reformed theology after John Calvin.

Calvin on the Beatific Vision

January 2, 2019 by wagraham Leave a Comment

While John Calvin rightly preferred the biblical idiom of union with Christ to the words “deification” or “beatific vision,” Calvin’s theology still has overlaps with earlier Christian theology (and the later Puritan emphasis on the beatific vision). To my mind, Calvin matches the Bible’s presentation of these matters by speaking of communion with Christ.

Here are three passages where Calvin speaks about the beatific vision (the vision of God, deification, etc.). It is key to note two things: first, Calvin never sees any sort of essential transformation between God and people. We participate qualitatively, not by essence. Second, Calvin sees the vision of God as the end of salvation, but he is reticent to say much more because it goes beyond our ability to grasp. [Read more…] about Calvin on the Beatific Vision