“The Holy Place” Hebrews 9:1-14 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Twelve)
“The Holy Place” Hebrews 9:1-14 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Twelve)

Setting the Scene

As evangelical Christians (in the truest sense of the term) our religion is not tied to holy things, holy people, or holy places. Our religion is centered in very ordinary things including the “means of grace,” material things through which God’s Spirit works to establish and strengthen our relationship with our God who dwells in heaven. These ordinary things include: the ink and paper of our Bibles (the Word); the bread, wine, and water of the sacraments; and a functional building in which we assemble for worship. As Christians, we have ministers and are no longer represented by high priests in priestly garments encrusted with jewels who make sacrifices on our behalf. Nor do we sacrifice animals on special altars using vessels made of precious metals under a cloud of fragrant incense. We need not make pilgrimages to holy places where God is present, and we do not venerate holy people who have earned, supposedly, a greater righteousness than the rest of us. All of this is because we live in the new covenant era, and all of those things associated with the old covenant have been rendered obsolete by the coming of Jesus Christ. But those elements associated with the old covenant served a very important purpose in redemptive history, and the author of Hebrews now points us to the heavenly reality which these things were designed to illuminate and illustrate–the eternal high priest and the heavenly temple, the true holy place.

We have come to chapter nine of the book of Hebrews. If you’ve been with us for any portion of this series, by now it should be clear that the author of Hebrews is relentless in building his case for the superiority of Jesus Christ. Laying out argument upon argument, the author has shown us from the pages of the Old Testament that Jesus Christ is creator of all things and the promised redeemer of God’s people. The author has made a very compelling case that Jesus is superior to angels, to Moses, and to the priests of Israel. Jesus is not only an eternal priest after the order of Melchizadek, but Jesus is the mediator of a new and better covenant.

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HebrewsKim RiddlebargerThe Holy Place, Hebrews 9Comment
“Regeneration a Supernatural Work” -- Article Twelve, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort
“Regeneration a Supernatural Work” -- Article Twelve, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 12: Regeneration a Supernatural Work

And this is the regeneration, the new creation, the raising from the dead, and the making alive so clearly proclaimed in the Scriptures, which God works in us without our help. But this certainly does not happen only by outward teaching, by moral persuasion, or by such a way of working that, after God has done his work, it remains in man’s power whether or not to be reborn or converted. Rather, it is an entirely supernatural work, one that is at the same time most powerful and most pleasing, a marvelous, hidden, and inexpressible work, which is not lesser than or inferior in power to that of creation or of raising the dead, as Scripture (inspired by the author of this work) teaches. As a result, all those in whose hearts God works in this marvelous way are certainly, unfailingly, and effectively reborn and do actually believe. And then the will, now renewed, is not only activated and motivated by God but in being activated by God is also itself active. For this reason, man himself, by that grace which he has received, is also rightly said to believe and to repent.

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Having established that conversion (defined as the exercise of faith and repentance) is closely connected to effectual calling and is the direct result of the Holy Spirit working upon a person through the proclamation of the Word of God, the Canons go on to make the point that regeneration, likewise, is not the result of an act of human will. Rather, regeneration is the direct result of the supernatural action of God upon the heart of the sinner before the sinner comes to faith in Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is regeneration which enables the sinner to come to faith. Regeneration is brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit and precedes faith. To use a biblical metaphor, a bad tree must become a good tree in order to exercise the good fruit of faith and repentance.

It might be helpful to recall the important distinctions made by Reformed theologians when considering effectual calling, conversion, and regeneration. These are closely related and are connected to the prescribed means by which God calls his elect to faith—the proclamation of the gospel. Effectual calling is that act of God, when, through the preaching of the gospel, God’s elect are summoned (called) to faith in Christ. Effectual calling is, therefore, an objective act of God occurring through the proclamation of the message of reconciliation—the gospel. Conversion, though directly connected to effectual calling and regeneration, strictly speaking, is a conscious act when the sinner who has been effectually called, then, in turn, exercises faith in Jesus Christ and turns from his or her sin (repentance). All of God’s elect are effectually called and converted.

Regeneration, on the other hand, is subconscious. A person may not be aware that regeneration has taken place. It occurs when God supernaturally acts upon the sinner, implanting in them the principle of new life which now becomes the governing disposition of the soul.

Logically speaking, both effectual calling and regeneration must precede conversion (the exercise of faith and repentance). However, the sinner who comes to faith in Christ may not experience these things in such a precise manner. To put it another way, because elect sinners have been effectually called through the preaching of the gospel, the sinner suddenly becomes conscious of his or her sins, and their need of the merits of Christ. Yet the sinner may not be aware that regeneration has already occurred, even though the sinner could never exercise faith in Christ, if they had not been made alive when formerly dead in sin.

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The Canons of DortKim RiddlebargerRegeneration, The work of the Holy SpiritComment
Some Thoughts on Paul's Mention of the Corinthian Practice of Baptism on Behalf of the Dead (1 Corinthians 15:29)
Some Thoughts on Paul's Mention of the Corinthian Practice of Baptism on Behalf of the Dead (1 Corinthians 15:29)

1 Corinthians 15:29 — “Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead?”

Verse 29 of 1 Corinthians 15 is one of the most peculiar verses in the New Testament. Paul’s statement about this Corinthian practice raises a major interpretive problem which has plagued the church from the beginning–“what is this business of baptizing people on behalf of those who have already died?” There is no comparable statement anywhere in the Old or New Testaments. Conzelmann calls verse 29 the most hotly disputed text in the entire epistle.[1] He may be right. One prominent New Testament scholar counted thirty different interpretations, while another counted forty.[2] Still another commentator, who must have had better research assistants than the others, identified over 200 interpretations of this unexpected passage.[3] Yet, putting all the variety of interpretations aside, Paul’s reason for mentioning this practice is crystal clear. If there is no bodily resurrection of the dead at the end of the age, why then are people being baptized for the dead? The Corinthian practice (whatever it is) makes no sense whatsoever, if there is no resurrection.

Most of the proposed answers to this practice assert that this is some sort of vicarious baptism on behalf of the dead–recently departed or otherwise. One widely held view is that according to the second clause of the verse, (“baptized for them”–hupere) people were being vicariously baptized in the place of those who had already died, presumably without having been baptized before death. This particular baptism was being done so that the benefits of baptism would apply to people who had already died without themselves being baptized so as to protect them from the demonic, or claim for them a place in the afterlife.[4] This would reflect the Corinthian’s struggle to properly understand spiritual things, especially what happens at death.

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Pauline StudiesKim Riddlebarger1 Cor 15:29, Baptosm on Behalf of the DeadComment
Calvin on Prayer – God Forgives Us When Our Prayers Are Marked by Human Weakness
Calvin on Prayer – God Forgives Us When Our Prayers Are Marked by Human Weakness

Calvin addresses a matter most Christians have thought or worried about. “Does God accept my prayers when I doubt, am impatient with him, or when I allow my mind to wander carelessly?” Calvin reminds us that our prayers do not require perfection in wording nor perfect faith to be heard and answered by God. What God seeks of us is an awareness and acknowledgement of his majesty.

16. Our prayers can obtain an answer only through God’s forgiveness

Calvin reminds us that the essence of prayer is intimate conversation with God.

This also is worth noting: what I have set forth on the four rules of right praying (What God Offers Us in Prayer ) is not so rigorously required that God will reject those prayers in which he finds neither perfect faith nor repentance, together with a warmth of zeal and petitions rightly conceived.

I have said that, although prayer is an intimate conversation of the pious with God, yet reverence and moderation must be kept, lest we give loose rein to miscellaneous requests, and lest we crave more than God allows; further, that we should lift up our minds to a pure and chaste veneration of him, lest God’s majesty become worthless for us.

He cites David as one forgiven for improper prayer.

No one has ever carried this out with the uprightness that was due; for, not to mention the rank and file, how many complaints of David savor of intemperance! Not that he would either deliberately expostulate with God or clamor against his judgments, but that, fainting with weakness, he finds no other solace better than to cast his own sorrows into the bosom of God. But God tolerates even our stammering and pardons our ignorance whenever something inadvertently escapes us; as indeed without this mercy there would be no freedom to pray. But although David intended to submit completely to God’s will, and prayed with no less patience than zeal to obtain his request, yet there come forth—sometimes, rather, boil up—turbulent emotions, quite out of harmony with the first rule that we laid down.

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John CalvinKim RiddlebargerWeakness and PrayerComment
"Christ Has Been Raised!" -- A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Is Posted! (1 Corinthians 15:20-34)
"Christ Has Been Raised!" -- A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Is Posted! (1 Corinthians 15:20-34)

Episode Synopsis:

Imagine the shock you would feel upon hearing news that the body of Jesus had been found in a tomb somewhere near the city of Jerusalem and the remains were positively identified as those of the central figure of the New Testament. What would your reaction be? Would it even matter? Would you still call yourself a Christian? While no one is going to find the body of Jesus in a tomb near Jerusalem because Jesus was raised from the dead that first Easter, nevertheless, the question is an important one because it pushes us to face a more fundamental question. How do we know that Christianity is true? Why are you a Christian? And why does any of this really matter since faith is supposedly a subjective and merely personal thing often disconnected from a factual basis?

Paul’s response to Corinthian skepticism and confusion regarding our Lord’s resurrection is to declare that Jesus has been raised, bodily, from the dead. We know this to be the case because the evidence for it is overwhelming. The tomb in which Jesus had been buried was empty despite the fact that a huge stone sealed the tomb’s entrance, and that the Romans placed a guard at the tomb. We also know that Jesus was raised from the dead because the risen Lord appeared visibly to all the apostles, to over five hundred people at one time, and then finally to Paul, who considered himself completely unworthy of such an honor. Paul not only appeals to the fact that he himself saw the resurrected Jesus while traveling on the road to Damascus, Paul also appeals to the fact that most of the five hundred people who saw Jesus were still alive–the implication being that the Corinthians knew who many of these people were, and that the events associated with the gospel were not only true, they were common knowledge.

In verses 20-28 of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes Christ’s resurrection as the firstfruits of a great harvest yet to come. Death may have come through Adam, but Jesus (the second Adam) has been raised from the dead. And not only has Jesus been raised from the dead, so will all those who trust in him–all those “in Christ.” On the first Easter Sunday, Jesus defeated death and the grave, he destroyed our last and greatest enemy as death itself was vanquished, the new creation dawned, and we enter the final period of human history, awaiting our Lord’s return when all things are put in subjection under his feet. He is risen! He is risen indeed!

To read the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

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Blessed Hope PodcastKim Riddlebarger1 Corinthians 15:20-34, Christ has been raisedComment
A New "Pauline Studies" Resource List
A New "Pauline Studies" Resource List

Over the life of the Riddleblog and the Blessed Hope Podcast, I have reviewed and introduced a number of books on various aspects of Pauline studies. I’ve also written a number of long-form and short essays on various Pauline texts and topics. I thought it might be useful to assemble them all in one place to make it easier to access them, especially for those who consult the “show notes” for the various episodes of the Blessed Hope Podcast.

The resources will be divided into 1). Book Reviews and Notices, 2). Essays at the Riddleblog, and 3). Links to Important Pauline Resources. Although I’ve completed Paul’s Letters to the Galatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and I’m wrapping up 1 Corinthian, Lord willing, I’ll soon be going through 2 Corinthians and then Romans, so I thought a single page with all of the resources would be useful.

This page will be regularly updated. You can find it here: Pauline Studies and Resources (listed under the Book Reviews and Recommended Reading tab above)

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Pauline StudiesKim RiddlebargerStudy of PaulComment
“A New Covenant” Hebrews 8:1-13 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Eleven)
“A New Covenant” Hebrews 8:1-13 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Eleven)

The Fork in the Road–the New Covenant

It was the eminent philosopher and New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra who once said “when you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Well, the author of Hebrews has brought us to that point in his case for the superiority of Jesus Christ where we must now decide how we will understand the relationship between the old covenant (that covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai) and the new covenant (the new era in redemptive history established by Jesus Christ). Is the new covenant an entirely “new” covenant made from scratch? Or is the new covenant the fulfillment of that covenant that God made with Abraham in which promise becomes reality? How you answer these questions determines where you go to church (a Baptist or a paedobaptist church), how you treat your children (as unbelievers, or as members of the covenant whose faith is to be nurtured), as well as your understanding of the end times (do the end-times center around national Israel?). Hebrews 8 is a theological fork in the road and we must take it.

We have come to that section of the Book of Hebrews in which the author argues that with the coming of Jesus Christ, God’s people enter the new covenant era foretold by the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34), thereby making the old covenant obsolete. As we have seen, the author has been using a number of biblical texts to prove that the Old Testament teaches that Jesus is both creator and sustainer of all things, and that Jesus’s eternal priesthood is tied to Melchizedek, that mysterious figure to whom Abraham paid tithes. Now the author makes the case that with the coming of Jesus Christ, there is a fundamental turning point in the course of redemptive history. The types and shadows (the inferior) must give way to the reality that is found in Jesus Christ (the superior).

Given the fact that the author is writing to a church composed of people who were predominantly Jews, and who had recently become Christians, the author uses terms like “old covenant” assuming that his readers/hearers knew exactly what he meant. Since we are Christians (and predominantly Gentiles) and since we live nearly 2000 years later, we will need to carefully define the terms the author is using so as to make sense of his argument about the obsolescence of the old covenant, the dawn of the new covenant era, and the superiority of Jesus’s priesthood–an argument which runs through the end of chapter 10.

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HebrewsKim RiddlebargerA new and better covenant, the Old Covenant is obsolete, Hebrews 8:1-13Comment
“The Holy Spirit's Work in Conversion” -- Article Eleven, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort
“The Holy Spirit's Work in Conversion” -- Article Eleven, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 11: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Conversion

Moreover, when God carries out this good pleasure in his chosen ones, or works true conversion in them, he not only sees to it that the gospel is proclaimed to them outwardly, and enlightens their minds powerfully by the Holy Spirit so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God, but, by the effective operation of the same regenerating Spirit, he also penetrates into the inmost being of man, opens the closed heart, softens the hard heart, and circumcises the heart that is uncircumcised. He infuses new qualities into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil one good, the unwilling one willing, and the stubborn one compliant; he activates and strengthens the will so that, like a good tree, it may be enabled to produce the fruits of good deeds.

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Scripture assigns the role of working conversion (faith and repentance) in elect sinners to the Holy Spirit. One of the most important passages in this regard is John 3:1-12:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

According to Jesus, the new birth comes not as a result of obeying a command to be born again as many of our contemporaries understand Jesus to be saying– “born yourself again!” – but the new birth comes before one can see the kingdom of God. Such vision of what was previously unseen is the result of the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit, who like the wind, operates sovereignly as he sees fit.

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The Canons of DortKim Riddlebargerconversion, Faith and repentanceComment
B. B. Warfield -- We Preach, God Grants the Increase
B. B. Warfield -- We Preach, God Grants the Increase

This is taken from a Sunday afternoon chapel talk given at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1916.

Warfield’s text was 2 Corinthians 4:13. “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak.” He told those assembled, presumably seminarians and colleagues . . .

When we really believe the Gospel of the Grace of God—when we really believe that it is the power of God unto salvation, the only power of salvation in this wicked world of ours—it is a comparatively easy thing to preach it, to preach it in its purity, to preach it in the face of a scoffing, truculent and murdering world. Here is the secret—I do not now say of a minister’s power as a preacher of God’s grace—but of a minister’s ability to preach at all this Gospel in such a world as we live in. Believe this Gospel, and you can and will preach it. Let men say what they will, and do what they will—let them injure, ridicule, persecute, slay—believe this Gospel and you will preach it.

Men often say of some element of the Gospel: “I can’t preach that.” Sometimes they mean that the world will not receive this or that. Sometimes they mean that the world will not endure this or that. Sometimes they mean that they cannot so preach this or that as to win the respect or the sympathy or the acceptance of the world. The Gospel cannot be preached? Cannot be preached? It can be preached if you will believe it. Here is the root of all your difficulties. You do not fully believe this Gospel! Believe it! Believe it and then it will preach itself!

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B. B. WarfieldKim RiddlebargerPreaching the gospelComment
Francis Schaeffer as Apologist and Evangelist (Part Five)
Francis Schaeffer as Apologist and Evangelist (Part Five)

Schaeffer’s Critics

1). The Evidentialist Critique of Schaeffer’s Apologetics

Most evidentialists have been fairly restrained in their criticisms of Francis Schaeffer. I am not aware of any “evidentialist” who has published negative or critical work concerning Schaeffer (although there must be some out there). This is likely the case for several reasons. Most evidentialists tend to approve of almost any attempt to do apologetics, even if the apologetics themselves are sloppy methodologically speaking. Also, most evidentialists are not concerned with the relationship between apologetics, historical theology, and dogmatics. If Schaeffer is not cogent in his methodology, it is either not noticed, or is simply not an issue. This is unfortunate. Those who are evidentialists need to be aware of the theological reasons and the biblical evidence for their position.[1]

The confusion that I see in Schaeffer results from the fact that he did not articulate his apologetic methodology in a fashion which was consistent with either of the two apologetic methodologies found in the Reformed tradition from which he hailed. A consistent presuppositionalism is consistent with the epistemological framework of Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, and Cornelius Van Til (CVT), but often fails to address matters of common ground and the use of Christian evidences (as utilized by Schaeffer). On the other hand, a consistent evidentialism is compatible with certain varieties of Reformed theology (e.g., Old Princeton), but often fails to deal properly with both presuppositions of method and/or content. Schaeffer seems perfectly content to combine elements from both traditions, as he felt the occasion required.

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Francis SchaefferKim RiddlebargerSchaeffer's critics Comments
"The Gospel: Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection" A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)
"The Gospel: Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection" A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)

Episode Synopsis:

If someone walked up to you and asked, “What is the gospel?, what would you say? If you cannot come up with the answer immediately, then please carefully consider what follows. The definition is given us in a concise form by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5. The gospel is called “good news” because it is the proclamation of a set of particular historical facts—Jesus suffered on a Roman cross, died as a payment for our sins, was buried, and then was raised from the dead by God after three days as proof that his death turned aside God’s wrath toward sinners. And all this, Paul says, is in accordance with the Scriptures (the Old Testament). The gospel is a nonnegotiable and fundamental article of the Christian faith. To deny it is to reject the Christian faith.

When Easter rolls around, I often look at the flyers and social media from neighborhood churches to examine the sermon topics for Easter Sunday. I am amazed and saddened by how many local churches virtually ignore the biblical emphasis on the empty tomb and the bodily resurrection of Jesus, which is both a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith and an objective fact of history. Instead, many churches focus on the so-called “Easter experience” of the apostles. If the meaning of Easter is the experience and change of heart felt by Jesus’s apostles—who at first did not believe, but then later did so—then Easter is yet another experience that we can share with the early followers of Jesus. For these folks, Easter is a time of new beginnings, a time to change our life’s course. Sadly, it is not the account of a crucified savior raised from the dead who came to save us from our sins.

But to remove the resurrection from ordinary history and proclaim it as an example to follow, or to downplay or ignore the fact that Jesus was crucified, dead, buried, and was then raised bodily to life for the forgiveness of our sins, robs the resurrection of any redemptive-historical and biblical significance. The first Easter is not about an experience the apostles had in which we can share; rather, it is the apostles’s account of Jesus being raised bodily from the dead. The empty tomb tells us that Jesus’s death was the payment for our sins, the new creation has dawned, and God has conquered our greatest enemy, death, by overturning the curse. Easter is not an experience in which we share; the bodily resurrection of Jesus is both a fact of history and a biblical doctrine that we must believe.

To see the show notes and listen to this episode, follow the link below

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Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerChrist's resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:11Comment
March 2025 Musings (3/7/2025)
March 2025 Musings (3/7/2025)

Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates:

  • As the current Blessed Hope Podcast series on 1 Corinthians winds down, a head’s up. I’ll be taking a bit of a break to work on a book project, before picking back up with 2 Corinthians. Then, Lord willing, it is on to Romans!

  • To my surprise, my recent piece on releasing the JFK files and the deep state had more traffic than any other Riddleblog post since I updated the blog five years ago. I did have several posts with higher traffic on the Old Riddleblog (such as Jack Bauer’s Man Bag and my reply to J-Mac’s 2007 Shepherd’s Conference lecture on Dispensationalism and Calvinism. But that was in the golden days of blogging . . .

Thinking Out Loud:

  • I gave up Lent for Lent.

  • This year’s Oscars awards ceremony demonstrates how far removed I am from certain elements of pop culture. I did not know the names of any of the five movies nominated, few of the actors nominated (and none of the younger ones). I didn’t watch even two minutes of what has become a series of red carpet wardrobe malfunctions (most are intentional, I am sure) and political diatribes from twits who make bad movies and have never read a book. My sons are grown and have been gone from home for years, my dear wife doesn’t care about Hollywood, so I have finally reached the point of complete and total indifference to the Oscar Awards (the Grammys, too). I don’t miss any of it.

  • Evidence of the decline of Western Civilization continues to mount. The New York Yankees caved on their ban on facial hair—now allowing players to sport groomed beards and mustaches. Somewhere, Johnny Damon is rejoicing. Ugh . . .

  • I’ve heard political commentators of late accuse their opponents of championing “false facts.” Excuse me, but something that is false cannot be a “fact.” Why not speak of your opponent as pushing “falsehoods.”

  • Shaq recently scored an annual contract of 14 mil to laugh at Charles Barkley. Since I can’t stand to watch current NBA games, I catch Shaq, Barkley, et al., on YouTube occasionally. Poor Ernie Johnson trying to corral them . . . they are indeed hilarious.

  • I’m not an RFKjr fan, but I wouldn’t mind seeing his proposed ban on TV and on-line advertising for alphabet bending medications implemented. “Ask your Doctor about `x’” for an illness you’ve never heard of, and didn’t know you possibly had, until the commercial made you wonder about it. Of course, the side effects are worse than the illness and require three more medications to remedy.

  • I’m also tired of YouTube/TV ads with folks rubbing potions, goos, and balms all over themselves while clothed in nothing but their skivvies. Ban them too while you are at it!

  • Now, get off my lawn!

To read the rest of my musings, follow the link below

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MusingsKim RiddlebargerMathison, Cyber War, Updates and links, Monkeys tigers Opossums Comments
“The Mysterious Melchizedek” Hebrews 7:1-28 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Ten)
“The Mysterious Melchizedek” Hebrews 7:1-28 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Ten)

The Mysterious Figure of Melchizedek

You don’t hear much these days about Melchizedek. The last time anyone mentioned Melchizedek to me was when a nineteen year old Mormon elder stood at my door and told me that he belonged to the Melchizedek priesthood–whatever that means. It has long been common for Christian people to use biblical names for their children, yet I don’t recall ever meeting anyone named “Melchizedek.” No doubt, this lack of interest in Melchizedek is because he is a rather obscure and mysterious figure. Yet according to the author of Hebrews, Melchizedek figures prominently in redemptive history as a type of Jesus Christ. Understanding who this man is as well as the role he plays in redemptive history is essential to the author’s case for the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus. Although nobody talks about Melchizedek these days, perhaps we should.

In chapter seven of the Book of Hebrews the author returns to a discussion he began in chapter 5 when he cited from Psalm 110:4 which speaks of the future messianic king as being a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Having made his initial point about Melchizedek’s priesthood, the author of Hebrews then broke off his discussion about Melchizedek to express his frustration with this congregation when he realized that those to whom he was writing probably would not be interested in his theological arguments which demonstrated why Jesus was superior to Moses, to angels, and to the priests of Israel. This lack of interest in what the Old Testament teaches about Jesus Christ, sadly, was indicative of the circumstances under which a number of those in the church receiving the Letter to the Hebrews had quickly wilted under persecution, given up on Christianity, and then returned to Judaism.

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HebrewsKim RiddlebargerMelchizadek, Christ's Priesthood Comments
“Conversion as the Work of God” -- Article Ten, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort
“Conversion as the Work of God” -- Article Ten, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 10: Conversion as the Work of God

The fact that others who are called through the ministry of the gospel do come and are brought to conversion must not be credited to man, as though one distinguishes himself by free choice from others who are furnished with equal or sufficient grace for faith and conversion (as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains). No, it must be credited to God: just as from eternity he chose his own in Christ, so within time he effectively calls them, grants them faith and repentance, and, having rescued them from the dominion of darkness, brings them into the kingdom of his Son, in order that they may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called them out of darkness into this marvelous light, and may boast not in themselves, but in the Lord, as apostolic words frequently testify in Scripture.

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When it comes to the matter of people coming to faith in Jesus Christ, the Reformed place their confidence in the power of God, rather than in the natural ability of sinful men and women. It is quite appropriate at this point for the authors of the Canons to set forth the fact that conversion (which is defined as a person’s coming to faith, as well as the subsequent exercise of the fruit of faith, repentance) is not the work of the sinner, but is solely the work of God upon the sinner.

In this, we see yet again the Trinitarian emphasis of the Reformed ordo salutis (order of salvation). The Father has chosen those whom he will save (redemption decreed). The Father has sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross as the satisfaction for the guilt of the sins of those that he has chosen (redemption accomplished). When the gospel is preached, those whom the Father has chosen, and for whom Christ has died, are effectually called to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit (redemption applied).

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The Canons of DortKim Riddlebargerconversion, God's act, Faith and repentanceComment
Paul and the Charismatics
Paul and the Charismatics

In Chapters 12-14 of his First Letter to the Corinthians (recently featured on The Blessed Hope Podcast), Paul addresses a number of matters often associated with contemporary charismatics and Pentecostals. What follows are the issues covered in the five episodes of the Blessed Hope listed below.

Some of the Ground Covered In the Blessed Hope Episodes

  • Paul’s approach to properly understand spiritual things begins with an acknowledgment of Christ’s Lordship (1 Corinthians 12:3).

  • He addresses spiritual things (especially the Corinthian misunderstanding of them) before discussing spiritual gifts. It is clear that Paul’s concern is to correct the Corinthian’s erroneous views of spiritual matters (which, in Corinth, was often tied to pagan practices—like ecstatic religious experience, and conduct in the churches sadly reflecting what goes on in the pagan temples in and around the city).

  • Paul is not a strict cessationist, since chapters 12-14 of First Corinthians give practical instructions to the church about the use, function, and purpose of spiritual gifts. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to desire these gifts (especially the higher ones), since they build up the body of Christ, equip church officers for service, and enable us to better love our brothers and sisters in Christ.

  • But Paul does imply that the apostolic office is not a perpetual one (1 Corinthians 12:28-32—especially in light of of 1 Timothy 3:1-12), and those gifts typically associated with that office (miracles and healing) have ordinarily ceased. Extraordinary manifestations of these gifts certainly remains possible—but rare.

  • After enumerating a list of the various gifts given by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11), Paul is clear that love for our fellow believers is the glue which holds the church (unity) with its diversity of spiritual gifts together (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).

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Blessed Hope Podcast, Biblical Theology, Reformed ResourcesKim RiddlebargerPaul on the Charismatics, 1 Corinthians 12-14, Gifts of the Spirit, Gift of Tongues, Baptism in the SpiritComment
Calvin on Prayer -- Praying Improperly
Calvin on Prayer -- Praying Improperly

In previous installments, we have seen how insightful is when it comes to the matter of prayer. His discussion provides a helpful guide to praying properly, fervently, and often. But what about those times when we pray angrily or with improper motives? What if we do what televangelist Joyce Meyer cautions us not to do—”pray a stupid prayer”?

Calvin addresses that matter in the next section

15. Hearkening to Perverted Prayer

What about those instances when our prayers are offered from anger or from a desire for revenge or retribution?

Here more than one question is raised: for Scripture relates that God has granted fulfillment of certain prayers, despite the fact that they have burst forth from a heart not at all peaceful or composed. For due cause, yet aroused by passionate wrath and vengeance, Jotham had vowed the inhabitants of Shechem to the destruction that later overtook them [Judg. 9:20]; God in allowing the curse seems to approve ill-controlled outbreaks. Such passion also seized Samson, when he said: “Strengthen me, O God, that I may take vengeance on the uncircumcised” (Judg. 16:28). For even though there was some righteous zeal mixed in, still a burning and hence vicious longing for vengeance was in control. God granted the petition. From this, it seems, we may infer that, although prayers are not framed to the rule of the Word, they obtain their effect.

Indeed, Calvin reminds us there are times when we are ill-informed about matters, and pray improperly, like calling down fire on our enemies.

I reply that a universal law is not abrogated by individual examples; further, that special impulses have sometimes been imparted to a few men, by which it came about that a different consideration applied to them than to the common folk. For we must note Christ’s answer when his disciples heedlessly desired him to emulate the example of Elijah, that they did not know with what sort of spirit they were endowed (Luke 9:55).

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John CalvinKim RiddlebargerPraying improperlyComment
“They Will Think You Are Crazy” The Next Episode of the Blessed Hope Is Up! (1 Corinthians 14:20-40)
“They Will Think You Are Crazy” The Next Episode of the Blessed Hope Is Up! (1 Corinthians 14:20-40)

Episode Synopsis:

My first exposure to tongue-speaking did not go well. In an “afterglow” service which followed a mid-week Bible study at an Orange County megachurch, a large number of the faithful remained after the study to “experience” the gifts of the Spirit, including the “gift of tongues.” A young pastor took over from the Bible teacher and explained how to begin speaking in tongues. He read several passages from Acts 2 and from 1 Corinthians 12-14 and told us that these verses were proof that the gift is “biblical,” “for today,” and enabled you to by-pass the clutter of the mind to commune with God “in the Spirit.” He then told us, if you’d like to speak in tongues here’s what you do. You start by saying “kitty, kitty, kitty,” until the Spirit took over and gave you your prayer language. The room was suddenly filled with people speaking gibberish, swaying, acting as though under the influence, crying, and making contorted faces as they spoke. I wasn’t having it, and quietly slipped out.

Years later, after my biblical knowledge increased, I realized that the “afterglow” I witnessed that night was very much like what Paul was instructing the Corinthians not to do in the last half of 1 Corinthians 14. There was no interpretation of any of these tongues, though several attendees did offer exhortations of their own utterances, but which very much sounded like Christianese made up on the fly. Everyone spoke at once, and the whole room was filled with tongue-speakers, not merely two or three in order. I was a Christian and still thought these people were crazy. I can only imagine what an unbeliever would think.

Once TBN graced the airwaves (emanating from Orange County) tongue-speaking was now televised. This time, tongue-speaking was not done in a worship service but was part of the regular programming and often conflated with predictive prophesy– “the Lord will do this or that, and heal this one or that one.” The interpretation was almost always supplied by the tongue-speaker. The low point came during a televised “anointing service” held at Oral Roberts University in which three older Word-Faith evangelists (Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin Sr. and T. L. Osborn) anointed three younger Word-Faith evangelists (Kenneth Hagin Jr, Kenneth Copeland, and Richard Roberts). Once anointed, the men acted as though in a drunken stupor, spoke in tongues (one of which sounded like the Cab Calloway’s riff from the Blues Brothers–scubity-do, scubity-do--scubity-do). Not a known language. A VHS recording of this made the rounds and to no one’s surprise, the universal assessment was “these people are crazy.”

This is why a study of Paul’s instructions to the churches on 1 Corinthians 14:20-40 about the proper use of prophesy and tongue-speaking is about as practical a matter as one can find. Paul would have none of this. Neither should we.

To read the show notes and listen to the episode follow the link below

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Blessed Hope PodcastKim Riddlebarger1 Corinthians 14:20-40, Speaking in tongues, Decently and in Good OrderComment
“God Made a Promise” Hebrews 6:13-20 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Nine)
“God Made a Promise” Hebrews 6:13-20 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Nine)

Setting the Stage

The contrast could not be greater. The Psalmist says of the human race, “all people are liars” (Psalm 116:11). Yet the author of Hebrews tells us that “it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). Our track record is so–so at best when it comes to keeping our promises. But God cannot lie. When he makes a promise, he will keep it. He must keep it because he is truth itself. In fact, the entire Christian faith and the gospel depend upon this very point. God promises to save sinners who trust in Jesus Christ. This is why the gospel is “good news,” because salvation is of the Lord and grounded in his sacred oath. And this is why the author of Hebrews reminds the struggling church to which he is writing that the gospel they have believed is grounded in God’s unshakable promise. It is not grounded upon human faithfulness, good works, or in our ability to keep our promises. Rather, God made a promise. He will keep that promise and the work of Jesus Christ is the proof.

We pick up where we left off last time with Hebrews 6:1-12, when we considered the author’s stern warning not to turn away from Jesus Christ or else suffer eternal consequences. But that warning is not the end of the author’s overall argument. So, it is helpful to do a brief bit of review before we turn to the specifics of our text (verses 13-20 of chapter six).

The author of Hebrews has spent the first five chapters of this remarkable book making a powerful case for the superiority of Jesus Christ. The author has shown us from the pages of the Old Testament that Jesus is superior to angels, Moses, and the priests of Israel. The reason why the unknown author of this epistle has made this impressive case is because the church to which he is writing is facing a serious crisis. Many of the members of this congregation who were reading/hearing this letter were likely recent converts to Christianity from Judaism. Yet many of these same converts were facing intense persecution from civil authorities, or from the Jewish community they had left behind. Because of this pressure, a number of the members of this church renounced their faith in Jesus, and had returned to the synagogue.

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HebrewsKim RiddlebargerGod's Promise, Hebrews 6:13-20Comment
“Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel” -- Article Nine, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort
“Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel” -- Article Nine, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 9: Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel

The fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life’s cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13).

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The authors of the Canons have been very clear from the very beginning that the only reason why any are delivered from God’s wrath stems from something good in God and not because God sees anything good or meritorious in us. We are sinful creatures.

The theology of the Canons relates to our contemporary situation in that we cannot begin any discussion of human sin and God’s grace with the presuppositions typical of American democratic egalitarianism, namely, that everyone is equally entitled to a chance at heaven and that it would not be fair for God to elect some or bypass others because this would mean that God’s decree in election somehow prevents people from receiving that to which they are supposedly entitled, a chance at heaven.

The Scriptures teach that all of Adam’s children fell into sin when he did (Romans 5:12-19), and we suffered all of the consequences of Adam’s act on our behalf—sin and death. The Scriptures do not teach that everyone has an equal chance to go to heaven. Rather, Scripture teaches that the entire human race equally deserves eternal punishment. The entire human race is under God’s curse, since each one of us have sinned in Adam (the biological and federal head of the human race), in addition to the fact that we have each personally sinned against God’s infinite majesty. God owes us nothing but judgment.

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The Canons of DortKim RiddlebargerResponsibility for UnbeliefComment