"Created things can be aesthetically beautiful (God said so when he declared them “very good”). God’s beauty, however, is more than a description; it is inherent to His eternal being. The loveliness of His character means that His beauty transcends our feeble attempts to put an aesthetic label on it. As Jonathan Edwards wrote, For as God is infinitely the greatest Being, so he is allowed to be infinitely the most beautiful and excellent: and all the beauty to be found throughout the whole creation is but the reflection of the diffused beams of that Being who hath an infinite fullness of brightness and glory; God . . . is the foundation and fountain of all being and all beauty.5 This is what the heavens shout. This is what every good and desirable beauty in the universe declares. God is Himself beautiful and is the sum of all that is desirable. The more admirable and beautiful something is, the more blasphemous it is not to desire and delight in it. God is the object of our beauty cravings. As the beauty beyond and behind all created beauty, He is the measure of what is truly beautiful. A yardstick provides us with a simple illustration. A yardstick measures a yard and is itself a yard. God’s beauty is like that. He is beauty, and He is the measure of all beauty. But God is far more than just the measure of beauty. He’s the source and the standard of beauty. In one sense, He is like the sun. When you pick paint colors for your home, you’re often advised to look at the paint sample in the sun. Why? If you want to see the true color, you have to place the sample or chip in sunlight. The sun is the source of light, and its rays reveal the true beauty in everything else. God’s beauty is like that. He is what He measures. His beauty is essence and source, attribute and adjective. He is what all the beauties we experience flow from and reflect."

DeWitt, Steve (2012-03-01). Eyes Wide Open (pp. 17-18). Credo House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"Our final difficulty is that God’s beauty defies our ability to comprehend. A helpful word in grappling with divine beauty is ineffable. This word is one of the few that apply because it means “beyond comprehension.” God transcends all aesthetic definition. Human language cannot produce a word that adequately describes something infinitely desirable. A popular phrase captures the ineffability of God’s beauty: It blows our minds. We cannot see God’s beauty (God is spirit); we cannot evaluate it (God transcends humanity’s ability for critique); and we cannot comprehend it (God is infinite, and we are not). So why even attempt to wrap our minds around the beauty of God? For the same reason we enjoy other things that appear infinite and beyond our ability to understand completely. Why do people enjoy gazing out at the ocean or looking up at the sky? We can never take in the entirety of the ocean or the sky. They are visually ineffable. Still, people flock by the millions to the world’s beaches. And who hasn’t found himself lost in the magnitude of the night sky? We seek out these expressions of beauty because what we can see and comprehend draws us to wonders too awesome not to enjoy. Their ineffability is entwined with their desirability. What I cannot see is mysteriously interesting to me and compels me to look all the more. The same is true of God’s beauty and attributes. He is more than we can know and beyond our capacity to absorb. Our finitude limits our comprehension, but what we can see and understand draws us to wonder—which is the prelude to worship."

DeWitt, Steve (2012-03-01). Eyes Wide Open (pp. 16-17). Credo House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to Return Monday

Joh 13:18, 19  "I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.  I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he."

What would it be like? Having God say; "I Am not talking to all of you." Though not popular, it is what Scripture says, God is sovereign in His choice." Jesus is Yahweh.


Exo 33:17 - 19 "And the LORD said to Moses, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.  Moses said, "Please show me your glory. And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."

The very Glory of God is His sovereign choice to be merciful and gracious, forgiving thousands, yet no one can force His hand or win His favor, He gives it freely. 

The things that God does, even allowing evil to come in is in His purpose and by His plan. It is fulfillment. All a means for the chosen to believe in Him. 

Even now receiving the Word through those God has chosen to be images of His Glory and reflections of His grace, means receiving Jesus Christ. 

Jesus said; "This is the truth I know one of you here will betray Me." 

Joh 13:20 - 22 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke."

Of course the followers of Jesus didn't understand what He was talking about. They were very curious some of Simon the natural leader asked the most trusted and closest of them to Jesus; "Whisper to The Lord- Who is it He is talking about."
Jesus said; "I will serve the bread." Then Jesus gave a morsel of bread to Judas. This was an act of giving permission for Satan to put evil into the heart of Judas.
Jesus told Judas; "What you plan, do it right now."

Joh 13:23 - 27 "One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, "Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly."

They all heard Jesus talk like this to Judas, but hey thought Jesus was sending Judas out to buy food for the next days feast or maybe to get something to give to the poor. Judas was the treasurer of the group He took care of the money.
It was night and Judas left immediately.

Joh 13:28 - 30 "Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night."

Jesus now could say what He wanted to all the followers, the chosen of God in the room. "This is going to be the time when I Am glorified as 'The Son of Man' spoken of in Daniel." Jesus said; "I will be glorified and Father God will be Glorified in Me."

Joh 13:31, 32  "When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once."

Jesus spoke very lovingly and tenderly; "My little children, I Am only with you a little while longer." " You will want to follow Me to where I go, but you cannot come there yet. "

Joh 13:33  "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, 'Where I am going you cannot come."

He went on; " This is what I want you to do when I leave; love one another in the same way I have loved you." "This is a new commandment." "Living in Absolute Love is the sign to others that you belong to Me."
"I Am Absolute Love." 

Joh 13:34, 35  "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Joh 13:1  "Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." 

Jesus was the Passover Lamb, the sacrifice for the people of God. The Passover feast was approaching, those who accepted the sacrifice of The Lamb and were obedient to The Father, would be passed over when the judgment of eternal death was issued. God the three in One is Absolute Love, Jesus of Nazareth is Yahweh, the everlasting One. He loves those in the World who are His own-they belong to Him-He loses none of them-He loves them to completion-they are united into Him- with the Father-by the Spirit.

He was sharing the Seder meal with His closest followers.

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1998/jewish/The-Seder-Plate.htm

God had already allowed Satan to put betrayal and deception into the heart of Judas. 

The Seder was filled with gladness and bitterness. Redemption and judgment. 

Jesus knew The Father had left everything in His hands. He would accomplish the will of God and return to the Fathers' side triumphant. 
He rose up took the posture of a servant. Washing the feet of those who relied upon Him for their every breath. He wiped away all the dirt and cleansed them from the dusty filth they had accumulated during their life journey. 

Joh 13:2 - 5  "During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him." 

Peter's human pride held Him back from fully receiving the gifts Jesus offered. It is difficult for us to admit need and humbly receive. Peter said; "You shall never wash my feet!"
Jesus said; "You cannot be a part of My kingdom unless you allow Me to cleanse you."

Joh 13:6 - 8  "He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.  Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." 

Peter still didn't get it. He said; "Then I want you to wash me all over my body." It was spiritual cleansing that Jesus referenced. 
Jesus said; "The people who I have bathed with My Spirit, only needs to keep clean from the dirt gathered from walking in this world, inside that person is completely washed and clean." "You are clean but not everyone."

Joh 13:9, 10  "Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head! Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." 

Jesus knew who belonged to Him and who didn't. So He knew Judas was going to betray Him. It wasn't a surprise, it was part of the plan. God uses even the evil of hearts turned to Satan's devices to accomplish His purposes. 

Joh 13:11  "For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean." 

He finished His point demonstrated in washing the feet of His followers. He wanted to be clear."I want you to imitate My actions and My attitudes, I Am a servant and I want you to serve and have the heart of a servant." "You follow Me by serving one another;" Jesus told them. 

Joh 13:12 - 15 "When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." 

Jesus went on; "This is something I don't want you to miss." "You need to follow by doing the same things I do, and having My heart for others around you." "You will find happiness in giving up yourself for others." 

Joh 13:16, 17  "Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." 

Jesus knew who were the chosen followers, they were the ones His message was for.
He wanted them to know everything that would happen, even though they wouldn't understand what it meant until it took place. He wanted them to see how all that He did and would do completed scriptural prophecies. He wanted them to have a complete understanding to build their faith upon. He wanted them to be sure that He was Yahweh, that He was completing the works of God. 

Joh 13:18, 19  "I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.  I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he." 

Joh 12:27, 28  "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.  Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 

The validation of Jesus as the essence of the glory of God in obedience and absolute love is clearly seen in His life. Much more will it be displayed now in His humble obedience, sacrificial substitution and cleansing victory over sin and death. He is Absolute Love. 
In Jesus life, death, burial, resurrection and eternal reign sin is conquered, death is overcome, Satan is vanquished and those in Christ Jesus are redeemed, forgiven and eternally given life by the power of God.


2Co 3:17, 18  "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 


Joh 12:29, 33  "The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.  He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die." 

The crowd was even more perplexed by Jesus' declaration. (They would soon understand what He was saying.) 

They were saying; "We know you are the Messiah" "We know your kingdom is eternal." "What is this about being lifted up and who is the Son of Man" 

Joh 12:34  "So the crowd answered him, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" 

Jesus tried to assure them; " I Am the light and the life, I will stay with you for a while longer." "Hold onto the light of what I have given to you and walk in the light of My Word." "If you believe in Me and the light I have given you, believe in Me and you will become children of the true light." "Children of the living God." 

Jesus left to be by Himself, so that the crowds couldn't find Him. 

Joh 12:35,36  "So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them." 

Jesus had done so many things to shed light on who He was and the character of God. They just couldn't believe that He was their Messiah. They couldn't believe He was sent of God. They couldn't believe He was Yahweh.

This was not a surprise, it was foretold by Isaiah. Even the unbelief was part of God's overall plan of redemption. 

Joh 12:37 - 41 "Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them." 

The reason Isaiah said these things is because Jesus was revealed to Him hundreds of years beforehand. Isaiah saw the glory of God in Jesus the Christ, Yeshua Messiah, Isa Al Masih. 

It was Jesus of Nazareth that Isaiah spoke of in His prophecies. 

"Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him." 

Even though the crowds found it impossible to believe, even some of the people in charge believed in Jesus, who He claimed to be. Nevertheless their fear of reprisal from the religious elite and there need to belong kept them from following Jesus. They loved the approval of other people more than the surpassing glory of being known and accepted into the family of God. 

Joh 12:42, 43  "Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God." 

Jesus exclaimed in a commanding shout; "It is not belief in Me that you forfeit, it is in God the Father who sent Me." "I dispense the light of God so you can see clearly who God is and His character of absolute love and pure justice." You are not rejecting Me, you are rejecting the almighty living God of the universe." " I Am not here to judge, you set yourselves up for judgment in the end." "I have the authority to judge but it is not only mine, it was given to Me by the Eternal Father." "I know that His command is final and what He commands gives life everlasting, so I do and say what is provided by My Father, for it is grace for life and truth for eternity." 

Joh 12:44- 50  "And Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.  For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment--what to say and what to speak.  And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me." 

Joh 12:9 -11  "When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus." 

When a large crowd of religious followers heard Jesus was there they came to see Jesus and Lazarus. They had heard of His miraculous signs and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The religious leaders were threatened by Jesus' authority and were afraid all the people would follow after Him. They decided to murder Jesus and Lazarus as well.

Jesus began the trek into Jerusalem. He knew He would be killed there, it was part of His plan. Jesus death was part of the plan of God from the beginning. 


1Pe 1:20, 21  "He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." 

He was met as a conquering king. People shouted; "Happy is the ONE coming in the Name of The LORD!" "He is the King of Israel." 

He rode in on a donkey to fulfill the prophecy of His coming. 

The disciples didn't understand that this was a fulfillment of God's Word until Jesus had risen from the dead.

Joh 12:12 - 16 "The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.  So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt! His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him." 

The people who had been following Jesus and had witnessed Him raise Lazarus from the dead continued to spread the word about Jesus; who He was and what He had done. 

Joh 12:17  "The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness." 

A huge crowd crowd was following Jesus and more and more people were joining in to become His followers. Even some from outside of Israel and Gentiles who had heard of Jesus had come to the Passover festival. They had heard of Jesus and wanted o see Him. 

Now the most strict of religious followers complained; "Now you will see that the whole world is following after Him." "You are gaining nothing by waiting to pu Him to death." 

Joh 12:18 - 22 "The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.  Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus." 

Jesus knew it was time for Him to complete His mission of coming to earth as a human, He said; The Son of Man must now be glorified." You cannot multiply the seed unless it is buried in the ground." "You can't learn to live to fullest extent of God's will unless you die to your own independent will."  "If you want to serve Me, you have to follow My commands. " "If you want to serve Me you will stay right with Me and in serving Me you will find God My Father will honor you."

Joh 12:23 - 26 "And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." 

"Jesus told His followers,; "I Am so deeply torn, I don't want to have to endure My Father's wrath, but this is why I came here to earth in the form of a man."

Joh 12:27  "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour." 

Jesus said out loud; "My Father God, glorify your name in the obedience of your Son." A loud thundering noise came out of nowhere and from everywhere; "I have glorified My name and it will be glorified now again in you." 

"Some said'Did you hear the sound of that thunder?" Others remarked; "It was a messenger of God talking to Him!"

Joh 12:28 - 29 "Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 

" Jesus said; "Your not imagining this, nor was it thunder." This was God's voice, My Father spoke." "He spoke for your sake, that you might believe."

Joh 12:30  "Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine." 

Joh 11:53 - 55  "So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves."

The religious leaders were more interested in keeping their status and reflecting challenges to their authority than they were in the authority of God and humble submission to God's Law. Killing became acceptable if it furthered their needs. 

Contrast the Passover celebration, commemoration for leaving God to do the avenging and saving. In preparation there were outward ceremonies of cleansing. There were sacrifices offered for cleansing. However God passes over and searches the purity of heart, mind and soul. "Passover was the time for the Lamb to take the place for the sin of the people. 


[Joh 1:28, 29  "These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!] 

Rev 5:8 -10 "And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." 

The chief priests and religious elite were looking to sacrifice Jesus. They wanted Him dead and out of the way. 

Joh 11:56, 57  "They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?  Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him."

Jesus came to Bethany, a place where many of His closest and devoted followers lived. Lazarus who He had raised up from the dead, Mary and Martha, were there. Martha known as a servant and Mary the devoted worshiper served Jesus- Mary again anointed Jesus washing His feet with expensive ointment and wiping His feet as a sign of submission and honor. 

Joh 12:1 - 3 "Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."

Judas was annoyed by this display of worship and honor. He said it was his concern for the poor, but he was 
wanted to be in charge of the money because he was helping Himself to the money that was given to Jesus by Jesus' followers. 

Jesus quieted Judas; "Leave her alone she is preparing Me for My burial." "You will always have the poor to help after I leave." 

Joh 12:4 - 8  "But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."

Large crowds had heard Jesus was there in Bethany and they wanted to see Him and Lazarus. The word had spread throughout Israel that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead.

Joh 12:9  "When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead."

It always happens when you plan to sin and commit sin, you cannot stop with your original intent. Sin always drives you to commit more sin and drives you to continue sinning. Sin is a trap that convicts and judges you. 
So the religious leaders not only planned to murder Jesus, they planned the murder of Lazarus also, to put an end to the people believing in Jesus. 

Sin drives the self-righteous to absurdity, the self-righteous only fool themselves. 

Joh 12:10, 11  "So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,  because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus."

"As we have already seen, the Trinitarian account of salvation is able to deliver that expansiveness and inclusiveness. That makes Trinitarianism the natural home for the doctrine of assurance. Some of the benefits of locating assurance within this explicitly Trinitarian context include the following. First, it ensures a greater objectivity than any other option. Back behind the economic sending of the Son and the Spirit, though in line with them, is the eternal immanent Trinity. The way this soteriology directs our attention to God’s absolute aseity, independence, and blessedness is unprecedented. And it does so without some of the distorting consequences of appealing first to God’s inscrutable sovereignty in election. It gets behind even that eternal counsel to the only thing behind the eternal counsel, the very bedrock of the being of God: his being as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Second, it takes the encounter between the believer and Jesus and puts it in the broader context of the Father, Son, and Spirit acting concertedly for each other’s glory, and then as a subordinate end, for our salvation. While a confession of the encounter between Jesus and me is integral to evangelical faith, it must happen against the horizon of Jesus and his Father. Trinitarian salvation is intensely personal but allows us to construe the word personal as an indication of the infinite depth of the divine life rather than as a pointer to our richly developed inwardness in its religious manifestation. It enables believers to respond with proper gratitude to God’s action on our behalf, without degenerating into a monotonously self-referential and inwardly focused piety. Third, this Trinitarian view of salvation is routed through the economy of salvation and moves from God to salvation history before contacting me and my own experience of salvation. This requires me to see my Christian experience as serving God’s larger ends, employing me as a witness to God’s spreading glory. The economic presences of the Son and the Spirit are, after all, missions, a word that was first of all a technical term in Trinitarian theology before it was a description of cross-cultural world evangelism. Our participation in the twofold mission of the Son and the Spirit is not only our salvation but our employment in the mission of God. Finally, an explicitly and elaborately Trinitarian soteriology commends itself as a hospitable location for the doctrine of assurance in that robust confidence in God and his salvation flourish there. The reason for this is that, as we have seen, the Trinity is the gospel. Trinity and gospel are not just connected in some distant way, as two ideas that can be related to each other by a long train of reasoning. The connection is much more immediate than that. Seeing how closely these two go together depends on seeing both Trinity and gospel as clearly as possible in a large enough perspective to discern their overall forms. When the outlines of both are clear, we should experience the shock of recognition: Trinity and gospel have the same shape! This is because the good news of salvation is ultimately that God opens his Trinitarian life to us. Every other blessing is either a preparation for that or a result of it, but the thing itself is God’s graciously taking us into the fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be our salvation."


Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (pp. 190-191). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"What we have learned about the kind of evangelical Trinitarianism that changes everything is that God’s own eternal being as the Trinity is what matters most; it is the one thing better than the good news. But the good news, God’s free choice to be himself for us by sending the Son and the Spirit into the economy of revelation and salvation, is the crucial link between who God is and what he does to save us. We find our places within that economy of salvation, and our experience of God in the gospel also comes along for the ride. This is the proper order of evangelical talk about the Trinity and the gospel. It should always be at least implicitly observed, and sometimes sometimes that order should be made explicit. THREEFOLD ASSURANCE As we learn to order our understanding of Trinitarian salvation, there are many advantages for evangelical thought. One of the greatest is the way the difficult doctrine of the assurance of salvation can find its proper home. The doctrine of assurance can be slippery. Even among those Protestant evangelical traditions that have recognized the necessity of formulating a doctrine of assurance that answers to the biblical witness about faith’s confidence, there has long been a candid acknowledgment that the doctrine must simultaneously face opposite directions. It must assure me that I, even I, am saved; but it must do this by pointing away from me to an objective ground. To state the doctrine too objectively is to leave the believer as an onlooker to a redemptive spectacle that assures him with absolute confidence that somebody is saved but leaves open, disturbingly open, the question whether he is that somebody. To state the doctrine too subjectively, however, directs the believer’s attention to phenomena of his own biography, experience, and consciousness, where the ground of salvation cannot be seen. A well-ordered doctrine of assurance must underwrite the confident confession that even though I am condemned if considered considered in myself, I am not in fact in myself but in Christ, where I, truly I, am saved."


Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (pp. 187-188). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

Joh 11:32 -36 "Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see.  Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"

Jesus was on a mission to demonstrate the power and glory of God, a demonstration of His relationship with the Father. In the midst of showing His glory God shows compassion, patience, and absolute love. Jesus both God and man demonstrated emotional distress and the experience of pain.

Jesus as a human experienced deep empathy and a strong connection to the people around Him. Some, though hated His very existence as God within the wrapper of man.

Joh 11:37 "But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?

Jesus was moved by both reactions, unbelief was deeply disturbing for what it brings. Unbelief brings death.

Jesus came to defeat sin, death and Satan. "He commanded; "Take away the stone from the tomb."

They all knew that it was going to stink, the lifeless body would be full of decay.

"Jesus said emphatically; "I told you I was here to demonstrate the glory of God in giving life to the dead." "I want you to believe in the power of God, His mercy, grace and love."

Joh 11:38-40  Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"

They opened Lazarus tomb.

Jesus talked loudly, everyone could hear Him. He wanted to provide opportunity for more evidence to believe in Him.

"Father you always listen to Me, Thank you"; Jesus prayed.

Then He exclaimed: "Lazarus come here."

Lazarus body raised up and he came out alive wrapped up in burial clothes. "Unbind and release him, he is not dead, I have raised him to life." 

Joh 11:41 - 44 "So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.  When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Many of the religious leaders believed what Jesus had told them about Himself. Others refused to see the truth and ran off to tell the religious elite, who held themselves up as keepers of truth. 

Joh 11:45, 46 "Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,  but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done."

The high and mighty, self righteous religious elite gathered a council. They were afraid of the political leaders and the civil authorities, they were afraid of the people. Mostly they were afraid of losing their own power and lives. They had lost the fear of God and denied His power and glory even though it had been clearly demonstrated by Jesus. 

Joh 11:47 - 48  "So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

"One of them though, thinking He was the brightest and best, had a plan. (He didn't realize that the plan was exactly what God had planned. He unwittingly prophesied.) Caiaphas said; "We must make sure this one person dies, for the salvation of the people and Israel." 

The religious elite made plans on how to put Jesus to death.

"Jesus would be sacrificed for the sins of people who believed in Him." 

Joh 11:49 - 53 "But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all.  Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.  So from that day on they made plans to put him to death."

Joh 11:1 - 5  "Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." 

Jesus had many close friends and followers. Lazarus, Mary and Martha of Bethany were very close friends and followers. The word came to Jesus that his dear friend was ill and close to death. When He heard the news He declared, " This illness is not going to end in death, it was prepared for the Glory of God to be displayed." Jesus had a deep seated affection for Lazarus, Mary and Martha. They had a deep affection for Jesus. Mary had found forgiveness and acceptance in Jesus as LORD of all and had anointed Jesus feet with costly oil showing homage dependence upon Him. 

Jesus waited two more days to leave for Bethany. He had a plan and a purpose for the timing. 

The close followers the chosen inner circle didn't want Him to go. Bethany was very near Jerusalem and the religious leaders were seeking to kill Jesus. 
Jesus said; "I know Lazarus is dead, but I go to raise him up from the dead!" 
His followers said; "let's go with Jesus to die, for surely they will be seeking to take His life." 

Many of the religious leaders were there seeking to console Mary and Martha because their brother had died. 

Joh 11:6 - 19 "So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again.  The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again? Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.  Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him. Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother." 

Martha heard Jesus was coming and she anticipated what He would do and why He came. 

"She said, "LORD, you are Yahweh." "I know you if you had come you would have healed Lazarus." " Now I know that You have come to do something even more God glorifying, Father God does whatever you ask of Him." "I have seen this." 

Jesus said; "Lazarus will be raised from the dead." 

Martha was taken back saying; " I believe He will rise on the day of the resurrection."

Jesus declared, "I Am, Yahweh." I Am The life giver, I have power over life and death. Believing in Me is the only way that you find everlasting life." "Martha, do you believe what I tell you?"

Joh 11:20 - 26 "So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. "Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again.  Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 

Martha was full of faith and hope. She replied; "Yes I know you are the Messiah, The only begotten Son of God." "You are God coming into this world as a man." 

Martha left in a hurry, anxious with anticipation, to get her sister Mary. 

Joh 11:27 - 30 "She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him." 

Jesus was still outside of town. Mary, still grieving, rushed out to meet Him. The religious leaders followed. 

Mary was distraught with grief saying to Jesus; "If you would have been here Lazarus would not be dead." 

Mary's blaming attitude hurt Jesus deeply, though He understood grief more than anyone ever has. Death, disease, sickness and human misery are deeply troubling to God. They are results of separation, unbelief, and rebellion against the very essence of the life that overflows from God.

The saddest part is that we blame God for His moving away from us, when it is God has remained consistently the same, and we continue to move farther away from Him. 

"Jesus said; "where is Lazarus body?" They said; "We will show you."

Joh 11:31 - 35 "When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 

Fully God in control, knowing His plan and what He would do to bring glory to the Father.
Fully human in every way overcome with emotion and sadness in the time of loss and sorrow. "Jesus Wept."

Joh 11:35  "Jesus wept. 

Joh 10:30  "I and the Father are one." 

Jesus was direct and clear it was unmistakable that He was claiming to be Yahweh. He was "One" with God. 

The religious elite wanted to kill Him.

Joh 10:31  "The Jews picked up stones again to stone him." 

Jesus said; "What is it I have done so wrong to deserve your wrath and judgment?" "What of my actions are deserving of death?" " Everything I do is doing good for others and following after The Fathers' will."

 I am amazed at how cool and in control Jesus is in these confrontations. Full of grace and truth. 
The religious leaders full of vitriol and discord.

Joh 10:32  "Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" 

The religious leaders said they were not angry about anything He did, but only because of what He said. He said He was God.

Joh 10:33  The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God." 


Psa 82:6 - 8  "I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince. Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!"

Jesus trumped them on every step. He was the author of "The Law". They were trapped in their self-justification. They said they weren't wanting to kill Jesus because of His actions. The very "Law" they referenced called messengers of God's word "elohim" (gods). 

Jesus said, "If you don't believe what I say, when I say I Am the only begotten Son of Father God. You should believe what your eyes have seen. I Am doing the very works of God. The things I do should indicate to you that the Fathe is in Me and I Am in the Father. I Am God. I Am Yahweh." 


Joh 10:34 - 38 "Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came--and Scripture cannot be broken-- do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." 

They tried to arrest Jesus, but He slipped away. Jesus went back to the place where He and John had been baptizing. Calling people to repentance and faith. 

Joh 10:39, 40  "Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.  He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained." 

Many were coming to Him. They said, "John didn't perform any signs like Jesus had, but Jesus fulfilled all that John had said about the coming Messiah." They were believing and following after Jesus. He is Absolute Love. 
Only conditions for coming to God, repentance and faith. "Not unconditional" It is clear the religious leaders were condemned by their arrogance and disobedience." 

Joh 10:41, 42  "And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true. And many believed in him there." 


Only conditions for coming to God, repentance and faith. "Not unconditional" It is clear the religious leaders were condemned by their arrogance and disobedience." 

Joh 9:41  "Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains." 

Joh 10:7 - 10 "So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." 

Jesus kept trying to say in as many ways as He had opportunity; "I Am". "I Am Yahweh." I Am the entrance to the presence of God" I Am the way to find sustenance, life, peace and joy." "I have come to give everlasting life." 
"The thief is the one who kills, destroys and steals." 

"I Am the good leader, follow Me." 

"I Am the Son, the owner." "I know who belongs to Me, and I lay down My life for My own people, like a shepherd puts His life on the line for the sheep." " There are pretenders who only care about their own safety and preservation." "They abandon the care of the sheep when they are threatened." 

Joh 10:11 - 15 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep." 

Jesus continued; "I have children that are My brothers and sisters, they are children of God, but they are not children born to this country or race." "I have to bring all of God's children into the fold of God's love." God is Absolute Love. "God the Father loves the that 'I Am' is about the gathering of God's children and giving them life, love and forgiveness." "The Father Loves the Sacrificial Love that 'I Am' provides, giving My life as  a offering to The Father and taking it back up again to be with The Father eternal." " "I do this completely out of My sovereign grace." "No one can take My life from Me, 'I Am' life eternal." " 'I Am' the highest authority, this is given Me by The Father."   

Joh 10:16 - 18 "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." 

This discourse by Jesus completely split the religious leaders apart. Some argued, Jesus is insane or possessed by an evil spirit.  Other said, the things Jesus says are measured and coherent and He heals people from disease. What Jesus says and does are not in line with what happens when a person is demon possessed. He doesn't act or speak like He is insane. 

Joh 10:19 - 21 "There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, "He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?  Others said, "These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" 

"This confrontation with the religious leaders took place during the feast of dedication, right in the Temple, in a large courtyard. The religious leaders tried to corner Him saying; "Tells us in plain talk, are you the Messiah?" "Don't keep talking in riddles and metaphor." "Give it to us in plain talk." 

Jesus said directly, " I have told you many times, but you don't want to believe in Me." " I do everything in God the Father's Name. " "You don't believe because you don't belong to My flock." "You are not children of God." 

Joh 10:22 -26 "At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.  So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock." 

Jesus went on; "My flock, children of God hear and listen to Me." "They follow Me into the presence of the Father and I give them he position of brothers and sisters for all eternity." "The children of God will never perish and no one will take them out of God's family." 

It was so clear that the Jews claimed that Jesus blasphemed, they wanted to stone Him to death. There was no mistaking that He claimed the authority of God. Jesus left no room to the option of His authority. He was Yahweh. 

Joh 10:27 - 31 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him." 

Joh 9:39 - 41 "Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains."

Jesus is the judge and His verdict is just. The judgment of God is that, looking away from Him and setting ourselves up as having the final say for our lives, is a death sentence. Walking away from the live and love of God is the equivalent of walking toward a sharp precipice to a unending chasm of pain with our eyes unable to detect the edge. 
The only way to safety and have unending life is by keeping focus on Jesus. If we believe we are blind without God's leading, there is a path opened up to forgiveness and life. The path is listening to the voice of Jesus as a sheep listens to the shepherds guidance.


Joh 10:1  "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber."

Thieves and robbers are the enemies of the shepherd. Shepherds guard against and drive out or kill the threats to the flock. The robbers and wolves are kept out of the sheep pen. 

The shepherd knows the sheep by name and they hear and understand the shepherds commands. When the shepherd gathers all the sheep together, they all follow after the sound of his voice and the commands that he gives.

Joh 10:2 - 4 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."

The sheep are obedient, they are not deceived though. They know only to obey the voice of the shepherd. 

Jesus talked like a master of language and knowledge. His teaching was unmistakable. Using metaphors and    analogy as a way to bring meaning to everyday people. He was simple, direct and emphatic. 

For the religious elite, it was as though Jesus was talking to a blind and deaf person. They were so full of opinion and hubris that their sense were not open to a different paradigm. They were trapped in their own arrogance. No matter how masterful the presentation of God's Glory and truth in Jesus, they couldn't understand. 

Joh 10:5, 6  "A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them." 

So Jesus said it plainly as matter of fact; "I Am the door, I Am the entrance, I Am the only way to finding life and peace and fulfillment, I Am Yahweh." "Anyone else is an impostor and the people of God, those who belong to God, do not listen to them." 
"All the children of God can discern the difference." "They come to Me and find unending life and fulfillment." 
"I Am Absolute Love." 

Joh 10:7 - 9 "So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture."

It is because of God’s triunity that we have communion with God in prayer. Once we understand that the Christian life is constituted by the Trinity, we have an opportunity to pray in a way that is consistent with that constitution. If the Spirit unites us to the Son and reconciles us to the Father, we have an invitation to pray accordingly: to the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. This is not just the “theologically correct” way to pray but a way of praying that draws real spiritual power from being aligned with reality. The reality is that Christian prayer is already tacitly Trinitarian, whether we recognize it or not. Aligning with it means praying with the grain instead of against it. Wood has a grain to it. The long fibers that make up a piece of wood all run in one direction, and a wise woodworker will always find the direction of that grain before starting to work. He can work along the grain or cut across it, but he avoids planing or sanding against that grain because that is to invite a clash with the directionality built into the piece of wood. Paper has a grain to it as well, which is why you can tear straight lines down the page but not across it. Cat fur has a grain, and if you stroke a cat against that grain, the results are not good for felines or humans. When you work with the grain of the wood, or the paper, or the cat, things go well. When you go against the grain, either because you are oblivious to the structural forces involved or because you consider them negligible, things do not go as well. The act of prayer has, metaphorically speaking, a grain to it. Prayer has an underlying structure built into it, complete with a directionality that is worth observing. This grain is Trinitarian, running from the Spirit through the Son to the Father. It is a built-in logic of mediation, designed that way by God for reasons deeper than we are likely to fathom. But we do not need to understand it in order to benefit from its solid structural integrity. Nor do we need totake special lessons in praying in a properly Trinitarian fashion. The possibility of praying in a more Trinitarian way is all promise and no threat, all invitation and no danger. Christian prayer is already thoroughly, pervasively, structurally Trinitarian whether you have been noticing it or not. The only thing you have to add is your attention, to begin taking notice of what’s Trinitarian about prayer. Prayer is a great blessing, but it can be daunting and difficult when you stop to think what is involved in a finite, sinful creature reaching out to an infinite, holy God. When we recall the distance and dissimilarity between us and God, it is easy to wonder whether we have the ability to pray and whether coming into God’s presence is a good idea anyway. Perhaps it is that pressure that leads us to behave so poorly in our attempts at prayer: mouthing thoughtless clichés that even we don’t know the meaning of; tongue-tied; repetitious; distractible; with wandering minds that only succeed in coming back to self-centeredness as a reliable point of departure. Not only does God know that prayer is daunting, but it is even a biblical doctrine that we are not in ourselves equipped for: Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know what to pray for as we ought.” That same passage goes on to say that “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” And within a few verses, a second intercessor appears: “Christ Jesus is the one who died— more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34). Christian prayer has double intercession built into it. The Father not only welcomes prayers, but he has provided mediation and perhaps even mediation of the mediation. Your prayer life is secure in the two hands of the Father. That built-in logic of mediation is the grain of prayer. We are directed to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, and it is customary to do that by ending prayers with the formula “in Jesus’ name.” But there is a thought experiment that you can do to see more clearly the direction of the grain of prayer. If you try praying backwards, you will find yourself beginning with the formula, “in Jesus’ name,” as an introduction to set up everything you are about to say. This calls attention to the fact that all Christian prayer is offered under this sign: “Not by my authority or according to my fitness or deserving of a hearing, but on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ I approach God.” Now consider that even if you were praying to Jesus, you would still be approaching God the Son on the same basis: not by your own authority but on the basis of the finished work of Christ. Even when you pray to Jesus, you pray in Jesus’ name, because Christian prayer has a built-in logic of mediation, a directionality, a grain. That grain becomes more evident when you do something that runs a little bit against the grain, like petting a cat from tail to head. But when you are alert to the direction of the grain you can intentionally work along it. It is possible to pray with the grain, observing the directionality and the logic of mediation built into the Christian approach to God.

Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (Kindle Locations 3607-3644). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"UNION WITH CHRIST Being properly Christ-centered always entails being Trinity-centered. Everyone who receives the salvation described in the New Testament is saved by being joined to Christ as the incarnate, atoning second person of the Trinity. But when we go on to work out our understanding of that salvation, we need to keep the full scope of the economy of salvation in place. When it comes to soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, there is a watershed that marks some as believers of one type and some as believers of another type. The watershed is a Trinitarian grasp of union with Christ. The New Testament idea of salvation UNION WITH CHRIST Being properly Christ-centered always entails being Trinity-centered. Everyone who receives the salvation described in the New Testament is saved by being joined to Christ as the incarnate, atoning second person of the Trinity. But when we go on to work out our understanding of that salvation, we need to keep the full scope of the economy of salvation in place. When it comes to soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, there is a watershed that marks some as believers of one type and some as believers of another type. The watershed is a Trinitarian grasp of union with Christ. The New Testament idea of salvation joined to him or united to him, or as Paul says succinctly: being “in Christ.” God apparently has two steps for saving people: (1) accomplish salvation in Christ; and (2) put people into Christ. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:30, “because of him you are in Christ Jesus,” which could be rendered “by God’s doing you are in Christ,” or as the KJV has it, “of him are ye in Christ Jesus.” This fact of union with Christ is the core of Christian soteriology. John Calvin put it classically when, having finished a thorough treatment of the work of God in Christ, he opened the third book of The Institutes with these words:   We must now see in what way we become possessed of the blessings which God has bestowed on his only-begotten Son, not for private use, but to enrich the poor and needy.And the first thing to be attended to is, that so long as we are without Christ and separated from him,nothing which he suffered and did for the salvation of the human race is of the least benefit to us.To communicate to us the blessings which he received from the Father, he must become ours and dwell in us. Accordingly, he is called our Head, and the first-born among many brethren, while, on the other hand, we are said to be ingrafted into him and clothed with him, all which he possesses being, as I have said, nothing to us until we become one with him.3 Note the Trinitarian contours here: the Father puts all the blessings of salvation onto the incarnate Son, and the Spirit unites us to that. It is not enough to say that faith links us to the benefits of Christ, because we must “climb higher and examine into the secret energy of the Spirit, by which we come to enjoy Christ and all his benefits.”


Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (pp. 172-173). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

Joh 9:18 - 24 "The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?  His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself. (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him. So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." 

The essence of unbelief is holding onto falsehood, believing you are right, even if it is clear, you're deceived. Self-deception is the essence of not believing in God. The evidences are everywhere. 

 Rom 1:19, 20  "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." 

It was clear the man was healed, everyone knew. It is not that the religious elite didn't want to believe this man. They didn't want to believe that Jesus had the power of healing. 
They questioned the former blind man. They questioned his parents. They threatened. They demanded that their twisted way of spinning lies as truth remained the norm. 

They wanted this man to paint Jesus as sinful and evil.

He told them, "I only know that He healed my sight after a lifetime of blindness." They pressed in, "What did you say He did?" "What did He do that you attribute healing to Him and not to God." 

The man was fed up with this. He retorts, "Why do you keep asking me, expecting a different answer. If you keep hearing about what Jesus says and does, will that cause you to follow after Him?"

"You follow this impostor, we are followers of God's law, given by Moses", the religious leaders said. We know God spoke to Moses on the mountain, but we don't know where Jesus comes from."

Joh 9:25 -29 "He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.  They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 

It was amazingly evident. They knew, they saw, they heard, they didn't acknowledge, they didn't listen, they wouldn't believe what was right before them. They would believe only their version of what God must be like. They thought God must be like them, for they put themselves in the place of God. 

They also believed that the man was born blind because of sin. Because God was punishing him. The truth God was going to use the man's blindness to demonstrate His love, mercy and grace. To instill faith. God is Absolute Love. 

They threw this man out, they refused to believe.


Mat 13:14, 15  "Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.  For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them." 

Joh 9:30 -34  "The man answered, "Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out." 

Jesus heard about the confrontation this man had with the religious leaders. He sought the man He had healed out. He wanted to seal the faith established in this man. 

"Do you believe in Me, that I Am, Yahweh? I Am 'The Son of Man' Daniel prophesied of ages ago?"; Jesus asked." 

The man understood and acknowledged Jesus as God. The man born blind from birth worshiped Jesus giving Him honor as God. 

This was why Jesus had come, not for final judgement. Not for the verdict to be carried out on men. No it was for the verdict to be read to men. Jesus would carry out the verdict, declare the verdict and pardon those who deserved the judgement of the verdict, if only they would repent and accept the grace and pardon offered. 

Joh 9:35 -39  "Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?  Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you. He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.  Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." 

Some of the very elite religious leaders heard Jesus talking about the verdict. "Are we also guilty of not seeing God's truth;" these religious leaders wanted to know. 

Jesus said; "If you didn't see the truth of God's Word you wouldn't be under the verdict." "Because you put yourself in the place of knowing the entire truth of God, the guardians of God's truth; you are under the verdict." "You eliminate yourself from being pardoned." 

You only receive the pardon by faith!

Joh 9:40, 41  "Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains." 

2Ti 3:1-5  "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." 

I am sorry I had to miss my blog post on Johns Gospel yesterday. I hope you maybe took the chance to read Tuesday's post again. 

I was away on a business trip and working on my computer in my hotel room. It was on a connection reserved for hotel guests only to connect their computers. 

While on my computer, beginning to write my blog, I noticed that a device was trying to download a driver for an outside mass storage device. 

I shut down immediately before it could connect. 

The next day in the same hotel where meetings were being held. I looked and deleted a device driver that didn't belong. I disabled my bluetooth. Then I was on a secure network reserved for conference attendees.

 A bit later it began again someone trying to download a remote storage device driver to my computer. 

I shut down and did not use my computer the rest of the trip. 

It is a good reminder of two truths.

1. People do selfish, deceitful and unloving things. Harmful things. We are sinful and need the grace of a loving God to defeat sin in our hearts. Why is there so much pain in this world it is us not God who inflicts the pain. We are responsible.

2. In these last days we have a savior, who is active to seek and to save. He is Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God. He is creator of the universe and holds all things together by His glorious might. He reigns over all but His reach touches and changes the sinful hearts of those who put their faith in His amazingly gracious gift of taking on our punishment. He is Yahweh. He is Absolute Love. 

To Him belong Glory and honor and praise. Through Him we can have a thankful and open heart of forgiveness , peace, hope, faith and love. 

Heb 1:1-13  "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."  Of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.  You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;  they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,  like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.  And to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?"