This Mystery - Latest Comments

Re: Why just one day in seven?

Stephen Becker — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 22:45:18 -0000

RE: "Why just one day in seven?" I, too, believe this to be true. The sabbath is not defined by the day, Sunday or Saturday, but by the person of Christ. But I also believe as well that this matter needs to be approached in the spirit of Romans 14(with special note given to v5).

Re: Fulfilling the Law of Christ: Applying NCT in church life

René Frey — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 17:27:46 -0000

Hi Ed, My name is René Frey. I'm a French Baptist pastor in Montréal. I've arranged to have Dr.Douglas Moo give a 3 hr. conference on the relationship between the testaments this Sunday afternoon. I'm preparing an Intro to NCT to hand out at that event. I went to a John Bunyan Conference 4 or 5 yrs back in Pennsylvania with John Reisinger. But I've sort of been out of the loop. Any good basic material you would recommend to include in my intro?

Re: Fulfilling the Law of Christ: Applying NCT in church life

Joseph Krygier — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 06:39:06 -0000

Write on brother.

Re: Loving God, loving neighbor

Stephen — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 02:16:18 -0000

Great post.

Re: An audacious statement

Scott T. Ferguson — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:34:47 -0000

Gotta love The Dr.

Re: Not the time for NCT to build fences

R.Rao — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:32:05 -0000

I want to make a brief comment and pls take what I say with a Berean grain of salt as I have not really studied NCT in depth. What prompted a re-study of NCT for me recently was a discussion with a SDA. Your paper on Matthew 5:17-20 helped me to think things through a lot.

Ok... that said. There seem to be philosophical parallels to what is going on in all this. So on the one hand, CT and some understandings of the Law of Christ (LOC) could possibly be classified as falling into an ethical system where either a rule (law, duty, reason) or a end (the good, for which we act) would be primary.

On the other hand, Virtue Ethics seems to state that virtue is what is primary, not rules or an end. And this would seem to comport well with the "no new statutes" understanding of the LOC. However the problem here is that Virtue Ethics is not without its problems. How does one make decisions without recourse to rules and consequences?

Trying to answer this question leads philosophers back to finding ways in which Virtue Ethics and moral rules can mesh together. There are atleast three suggestions for how this can happen, and I wonder if this would take us back in the Classic direction.

Just a thought in passing ... Who knows whats what with all this stuff. I find this stuff to be remarkably difficult to understand... My thanks go out to all who have gone before me who have worked on all this.

~ R. Rao

Re: 180

Matthew Morizio — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:52:00 -0000

Thanks for posting this, brother! Powerful; very powerful. Thank you.

Re: Setting things straight on ‘contextualization’

RGB Rao — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:21:36 -0000

Contextualization can be thought of as a form of pre-evangelism and pre-evangelism is not evangelism. So if we think of it in this sense, then by nature contextualization is not a watering down of the Gospel, because it is not evangelism.

One the one hand, you work to remove the unnecessary impediments, road-blocks and what have you that get in the way of one understanding the Gospel. On the other hand, you lower the cultural draw-bridges and whatever else that make possible a clear communication of the Gospel regardless of acceptance/rejection.

Thanks,
~ Raj Rao

Re: Completed by the Spirit: Download the original paper

Blake W — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:00:07 -0000

Hi Ed! Josh Wood pointed me to your paper. Would you mind sending me a copy in Word if you have it (ablakew@gmail.com)? I would like to shrink the font and print it out (I'm old school).

Re: Setting things straight on ‘contextualization’

Reid Ferguson — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:08:30 -0000

Excellent Ed. A GREAT place to go. A VERy needed corrective.

Re: Setting things straight on ‘contextualization’

Reid Ferguson — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:08:07 -0000

Awesome Ed- great place to to go. A very necessary corrective.

Re: Tempted and Tried

Mike Leake — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:26:28 -0000

Thanks for your kind words about my review. God Bless!

Re: An audio discussion of some of the arguments in Rob Bell’s ‘Love Wins’

Scott T. Ferguson — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:35:24 -0000

Great overview, Ed. Thanks.

Re: Completed by the Spirit, Part 1: Five Propositions

Steve Fuchs — Mon, 23 May 2011 23:38:57 -0000

Good sfuff Ed. I would like to see just a bit more about the transforming of our bodies as the final step of sanctification, or the ultimate achievement of sanctification, since scripture ties the remnant of sin in our lives specifically to the weak flesh we still possess. I know it's hinted at here, but I for one think we can and maybe should speak more directly to it sanctification being the Spirit's work to kill the old flesh and give birth to the bodies we've been promised when the final installment of union comes at His return.