From Evanescent to Eternal

 Fred Zaspel. Warfield on the Christian Life: Living in Light of the Gospel. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012. 240 pp. (Available in Paperback or Kindle) 

For those unfamiliar with Warfield

Fred Zaspel has written a very readable introduction to the theology of Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (1851-1921). Especially for those who are unfamiliar with the significance of B.B. Warfield’s contribution to today’s church, Warfield on the Christian Life goes a long way in a concise form.

Warfield is known to be one of America’s greatest theologians, probably second to Jonathan Edwards in influence. As one of the “Old Princeton” theologians and a devout Presbyterian, Warfield is noted for his dogmatic defense of the doctrine of inspiration–having taught theology at Princeton Seminary from 1887 until his death in 1921.

Even for myself, having been seminary-trained in the Southern Baptist tradition, Zaspel’s presentation of Warfield’s theological writings was presented in well-written prose. At times, for those sections that are not explicit quotations, I was uncertain if what was written was Zaspel’s personal theological convictions, or if they were Warfield’s. Nevertheless, Zaspel’s condensation of Warfield’s theology on the different topics about the Christian life was especially digestible and enlightening.

Strengths

The Holy Spirit

I found Zaspel’s section on Warfield’s theology of the Holy Spirit especially helpful (chapter 7). In our day and age where this person of the Trinity has been described as the “forgotten God,” Warfield’s proclamation of the Holy Spirit is most needed. From Warfield, we are taught that we can be conservative theologically, contenders for the inerrant Scriptures and still have a strong dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Zaspel helpful writes of Warfield’s Spirit beliefs in terms of (1) the conviction of the Holy Spirit, (2) the sealing of the Spirit, (3) the Spirit’s testimony in our sonship, (4) the love of the Spirit, (5) the leading of the Spirit, (6) spiritual strengthening, and (7) the Spirit’s help in our praying. I don’t know if you could say that Warfield was “charismatic” in this theology, but you could certainly call him a super-natural cessationist, because it is evident that he has a high regard for the Holy Spirit.

Yet his emphasis on a correct understanding to the Spirit is not at the expense of his doctrine of inspiration: Zaspel grounds every point he makes about Warfield’s beliefs on the Spirit in Scripture. Even by way of example, Warfield shows us that the Spirit-filled Spirit-gifted Christian is a person wholly devoted to God’s Word.

Contra “Higher Life” Teachings

While we may find the recent “gospel-centered” movement to be a new development, Warfield had written and taught much from this perspective even a century ago. We can see this in Chapter 8 where Zaspel shows Warfield’s emphasis of the Christian life as an outworking of the gospel, holiness as an entailment of salvation. Because we have been united with Christ, Warfield aptly contends that it should be an experiential truth–that if we died with Christ, we also rose again with him. Such a resurrection has significant implications for our sanctification.

And so it is most appropriate that Warfield is adamant in writing against the heretical dogmas of the “higher life” teachers (cf. Keswick theology, “victorious life” teachers). My own church upbringing in the Christian and Missionary Alliance was wrought if this very Higher Life teachings–“Let go and let God!” theology–in a very hidden way. How often have we been taught that in our Christian life, all we need to do is “do your best, and God will do the rest!” ? I still know some who teach and proclaim such a thing–that it is possible to not sin on this side of eternity, if only we would surrender all of our life to God!

How could Christians be so skewed in their understanding of Christian life? Warfield would not be fazed by such aberrant teachings: he contended for a robust doctrine of sanctification that is not passive but aggressive, it is initial, progressive and yet also a final sanctification. To Warfield, Christians who’ve reached the “higher life” may be gaining victory of sinning, but they are certainly not gaining victory over sin–the old nature. When a Christian is made righteous, he is no longer under sin’s dominion. Period. There cannot be a Christian with a carnal nature! Zaspel thus writes succinctly,

Against all this Warfield expounds the doctrine of sanctification in terms of every believer’s progressive struggle against sin, a struggle marked, on the one hand, by a radical freedom from sin experienced in conversion and, on the other, by a final perfection in glory. For Warfield sanctification is a progressive experience growing out of an initial transformation of heart and life in regeneration by the Holy Spirit and culminating in the glory of the eschaton, when we will reach our goal, having been made like Christ. […] the believer’s sinfulness is more than matched by the grace of God in Christ and by the creative work of the Holy Spirit (104)

Intimate view into Warfield’s Heart

These are just a couple strengths I found to be personally notable in this short book on B.B. Warfield’s beliefs about the Christian life. As the first book I have read about Warfield and his theology, I was very much helped in gaining a more gospel-centered perspective on my own spiritual pilgrimage.

Zaspel’s summaries gave me an intimate view into Warfield’s heart for his seminary students and for his church, and the larger body of Christ. His love for God and His Word was especially evident, pulsating through every knick and cranny of his life and ministry. One significant part of Warfield’s ministry was his wife, Annie Kinkead. She was apparently at about 17 years into their marriage when she fell sickly ill and became an invalid for the rest of her life and marriage. In this, we find evidence of Warfield's personal life having been greatly impacted by the gospel of Christ. He is wonderful example of a husband-theologian, and rightfully so:

by all accounts Warfield was a devoted husband in a very happy marriage. The Warfields had no children, and for many years he left his home only for the classroom. He was otherwise home nearly always in the company of his wife. And in the providence of God, without doubt, this contributed to his time in writing so extensively on so many subjects. It was reported by those who knew him that “he has had only two interests in his life–his work, and Mrs. Warfield.” (28-29)

Now that…is a gospel-centered man. I look forward to meeting him in the age to come.

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Fred Zaspel. Warfield on the Christian Life: Living in Light of the Gospel. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012. 240 pp. (Available in Paperback or Kindle)
Part of the new Crossway series of books, “Theologians on the Christian Life”.

Gerald Bray (DLitt, University of Paris-Sorbonne) is Research Professor at Beeson Divinity School. His massive new book, God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology (Crossway, 2012) traces the common theme of God’s love through the Bible categorically. It is a systematic theology, yet it reads unlike any other, revealing Bray's strength of writing theology through prose. From God’s love for himself and his creation to the cross as the ultimate expression of God’s love, the centrality of God’s love in Bray’s theology reflects a deep conviction that the Bible shows us God for who he really is.

In Part Four: The Rejection of God’s Love, Chapter 22: Deviations from Christianity, Bray masterfully summarizes the concern of evangelicals with Seventh-Day Adventists:

Once regarded as a cult, Seventh-day Adventists are now more widely recognized as a genuinely Christian denomination, though there are still points of controversy concerning their beliefs that have not been fully resolved. The church began in mid-nineteenth-century America and was undoubtedly more extreme and eccentric than it is now. Over the years its edges have softened and it has become more like a conservative Protestant church, though one with special emphases of its own, such as the foot-washing ceremony which is an integral part of their celebration of Communion. The main barrier to their full acceptance as a Christian denomination is their insistence on Saturday as their day of worship. For Adventists this is not a matter of indifference, but an essential part of their faith, which they claim brings them particularly close to the love of Christ. Most Christians do not worry too much about which day is set aside for worship, although Sunday has been all but universal since ancient times and it seems odd to change it deliberately, particularly when it means falling out of step with the rest of the Christian world. The deeper objection to Saturday worship is not to the observance but to the significance attached to it, particularly because this was evidently a problem in the early church, when Jewish Christians tried to insist on keeping the law of Moses even when it had been superseded by the coming of Christ. Paul mentioned the Sabbath specifically as something that was not to be imposed on Christians. Seventh-day Adventists have made a minor issue primary and a mark of their identity, and for this reason other Christians hesitate to accept them as fully orthodox.

In recent years there has been a tendency among some Adventists to move into mainstream Protestant evangelicalism, but other members of the church remain more closely wedded to its legalistic origins. Which of these two will triumph, or whether there will be a split, is not yet clear, but it seems safe to say that the closer the church moves toward other Christians, the less likely it is to stress or even to practice the distinctive traits that brought it into being in the first place.

Gerald Bray (2012-03-31). God Is Love (Kindle Locations 9671-9688). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

I am convinced that there are men in our congregations who have never thought about becoming leaders in the church. Maybe it is because no one  has asked them to serve in some teaching/leading capacity. Or maybe they have avoided it altogether because they are too busy. In the worse case scenario, they may have good reason to avoid taking upon themselves leadership in the church, seeing how their church's own leadership is nothing honorable or noble to aspire to. At the least, it could simply be that the church is run by a CEO at the top, with programs, structures, schedules, advertising, and a Board of Directors that resemble Starbucks more than a church.

This is why Thabiti Anyabwile's new book would be very helpful to church members, pastors, and churches. After reading through Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons, I find that the issues addressed and questions posed by Anyabwile confront us for such a time as this: when many evangelical churches all over our country are in decline and in desperate need of a restoration in biblical church government.

This short book is far from purely theoretical, but rather very practical. I shall refrain from summarizing it's content or a thorough review, but I shall mention a few areas of practical application.

You could take the questions in every chapter and use them for your Pastoral Search Interviews. Yes, rip them straight out of the book; you can do that! You can surely use this book in a Men's Ministry study to simply poke and prod the men in your church to man up, to think deeply about their spiritual maturity, to reflect personally about their own and callings in the ministry of the church. It is possible that some men have simply not thought anything of leadership in their church. Leading a ministry in the church, being an elder or deacon, these things may not have come up on their radar, since they may not have ever thought themselves to be gifted or qualified.

But what if we study 1 Timothy 3 and 4 with them, along with Anyabwile's book here? We can surely encourage and inspire such men for growth in biblical manhood. We can sow seeds of desire for church leadership. Or better yet, we could unveil before our own eyes a man who only lacked confidence in his abilities, who does have good and godly desires to humbly serve and lead others in the church, whose aspirations could rise from overseeing the home and farm, to the office of elder or deacon. Maybe all he needed was other men who could lead him along this path of spiritual growth and leadership nurturing. Maybe he always wished one his pastors would disciple him, and groom him up for ministry, like a Timothy hoping for a Paul to show him the ropes.

This being said, Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons is a book I highly recommend. It accomplishes the goal by being a concise resource that many churches need. It even includes Sample Elder Ordination Vows in the Appendix. I plan on using this very book in the coming months for a study with the men in our church. We have young guys who should be stirred on towards leadership in the church. And we have older guys who need to be steered that their gifts at home could be used for the church. In the midst of this pool of men who aspire to the office of elder, and men who have never desired to serve in any church office, we have great hope that our task of finding faithful elders and deacons is not in vain. For our church is founded upon Christ, the solid rock upon which we stand, the Lamb of God who was slain for our sins, the Chief Shepherd of our flock.

Available from Amazon: Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons (Ixmarks)